Information
site on churches and mission, beliefs and practice associated
with the Christian Brethren (CB) denomination in Western
Australia
"These things I
write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am
delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct
yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth."
1 Timothy
3:14-15
NKJV
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IHS-WA.net
Brethren History |
A Brief History of
the Brethren
(Ed. Note: I
have often heard the criticism that the "Brethren" have been
split by divisions and breakaways over the years, much more so
than any other denomination, which has played at the back of
my mind in my 40+ years since my conversion and joining the
Christian Brethren. How ignorant of the truth I was since
coming across this short history article by Ian McDowell.
To
see that in 185 years (as at 2011) of the
Christian Brethren church they have remained firm to the
original premise of the gathered church in 1826, and have had
only 3 breakaways (in 1848 & 1883) which is astounding, and also
had 4 returns to the
fold. Almost all the splits and divisions have
occurred to the Exclusives - NOT to the Open / Christian
Brethren. While the first 22 years is not classed as
"Open" simply because there were no "Exclusives" at
that time, they were indeed open to any true Christ
follower wanting the freedom of open worship and fellowship,
then Darby's group split from this stream to begin the
"Exclusivists" line. The (Open) Christian Brethren church has maintained
a faithful, strong and far reaching influence upon the wider
New Testament church system than most people are aware of. The
chart below shows the faithfulness and care of our amazing God
to a people who love the truth of His precious Word, the
Bible, and the fellowship of ALL believers in Christ,
regardless of denominational background.)
A Brief History of the
"Brethren" - Chart of Divisions
Click
chart for larger version.
This simplified
chart is based upon the one by Ian McDowell in his booklet, 'A Brief History of the Brethren'.
For
those who wish to view the history of the wider Brethren movement
(Open & Exclusives) without delving into a myriad of volumes, here is a concise
booklet written by the late Australian Christian Brethren author
Ian McDowell, that you can read now for free - just click the link
below for the .PDF document...
A Brief History of the Brethren, (60 page booklet) published
in 1968 by Ian McDowell and made available by kind permission
of the author to the website
www.discourses.org.uk/
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