Citizendia
Your Ad Here

The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren or "Plymouth Brethren", are a group of Protestant Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement. The Plymouth Brethren is a Conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Evangelicalism is a theological movement tradition and system of beliefs most closely associated with Protestant Christianity, which identifies with the Gospel A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Events and trends Nationalistic independence helped reshape the world during this decade Greece gains independence from the Ottoman Empire They originated in England and Ireland and now have many assemblies world wide. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

The Open Brethren form independent, autonomous assemblies and the name "Open" is given to them to distinguish them from "Exclusive Brethren", with whom they share historical roots. The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. The division of the Plymouth Brethren into the Open Brethren and Exclusive Brethren took place in the 1840's[1] and has been well documented. The Plymouth Brethren is a Conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. The Open Brethren are committed to missionary work and hold that the Holy Bible is the first authority in matters of faith and practice. A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Each assembly (or congregation) is independent of the others in doctrinal matters, yet there is a high degree of communication and cooperation between those who share similar doctrine and practice. Open Brethren assemblies vary from tight gatherings which only extend fellowship to those who have first left the denominations to very loose gatherings which receive any stranger without question into fellowship. [2]

The buildings associated with the open brethren are usually called Gospel Chapel, Gospel Hall, Bible Chapel, Christian Assembly or other similar terms.

Contents

Beliefs

Justification by faith

Justification by faith alone (sola fide) states that it is by grace through faith alone that Christians receive salvation and not through any works of their own (see Ephesians 2:8, Romans 3:23). Faith is a Belief in the trustworthiness of an Idea. Formal usage of the word "faith" is usually reserved for concepts of Religion, as in Sola fide ( Latin: by Faith alone also historically known as the doctrine of justification by faith is a doctrine that distinguishes most Open Brethren have a strong emphasis on the concept of salvation. In Theology, salvation can mean three related things being saved from or Liberation from something such as Suffering or the punishment of The brethren teach that the consequence of human sin is condemnation to eternal death in hell. Christ's death on the cross paid sin's penalty and his resurrection is evidence that eternal life is available to any who will have it. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) The only requirements being that each individual willfully repents of sin, accepts the substitutionary payment of his own sin by faith in Christ's death and declares that Jesus is Lord (see John 3:14-18 and Acts 10:34-43).

Believer's baptism

The Open Brethren teach that baptism plays no role in salvation and, being properly performed only after salvation, is performed after a person professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Believer's baptism (occasionally called credobaptism, from the Latin word credo) is the Christian practice of Baptism as this is understood by It is an outward expression that is symbolic of the inward cleansing or remission of their sins that has already taken place. It is also a public identification of that person with Christianity and with that particular local church. An individual is often considered a member of the assembly once they are baptized.

Open Brethren emphasize baptism by full immersion. This mode is preferred for its parallel imagery to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE)

Leadership

One of the most defining elements of the Open Brethren is the rejection of the concept of clergy. Rather, in keeping with the doctrine of the Priesthood of all believers, they view all Christians as being ordained by God to serve and are therefore ministers. The universal priesthood or the priesthood of all believers, as it would come to be known in the present day is a Christian doctrine believed to be derived from several

Generally, Open Brethren recognize two Scriptural offices, those of elder and deacon. An elder (in Greek, πρεσβυτερος; see Presbyter) in Christianity is a person valued for his Wisdom who accordingly holds a particular Deacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind but which varies among theological and denominational traditions The office of pastor, common in some evangelical churches, is usually considered to be the same as that of elder, and not a separate office. A pastor is an official person within a Protestant group of people and related to the positions of Priest or Bishop within the Anglican, Roman Catholic Evangelicalism is a theological movement tradition and system of beliefs most closely associated with Protestant Christianity, which identifies with the Gospel The office of overseer or bishop is always considered to be the same as that of elder or presbyter. A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight Presbyter in the New Testament refers to a leader in local Christian congregations then a synonym of episkopos (which has now come to mean Bishop

The prevalent view among Open Brethren is that these offices are limited to men only, following the model of Christ and His apostles and interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:12-14. Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e This is, however, a controversial issue among Assemblies, and since each Assembly is free to make its own decisions on such matters, it is not uncommon today to see women taking positions of leadership (especially in Assemblies with relatively young memberships).

Neither of these roles are served with pay in most cases, but larger assemblies may sometimes employ a paid bible teacher or evangelist if specific circumstances make it necessary.

Elder

The Open Brethren believe in a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23; 15:6,23; 20:17; Philippians 1:1) - men meeting the Biblical qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. This position is also taken in some Baptist churches, especially Reformed Baptists. Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging to a Baptist church or a Baptist denomination. The name Reformed Baptist refers both to a distinct Christian denomination, and to a description of theological leaning It is understood that elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28) and are recognised as meeting the qualifications by the assembly and by previously existing elders, whereas in the time of the establishment of the first New Testament assemblies it was either the Apostles or their directly appointed delegates (Timothy and Titus) who ordained elders. This original order being consistent with the Christian concept that authority comes from above and does not arise from men.

Deacon

The main role of the deacon is to assist the elders with members' needs. Deacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind but which varies among theological and denominational traditions Deacons are usually chosen from members who have demonstrated exceptional Christian piety. (see 1 Timothy 3:8-12). However, in many meetings there is no official list of deacons, the work of deaconship being shared by anyone willing to give a helping hand in a particular task.

Kerala Brethren

An important stream of the Open Brethren is the Kerala Brethren. The Kerala Brethren are a subgroup of the larger Christian movement known as the Plymouth Brethren. Kerala is a small state in India, but has more than 500 Open or Plymouth Brethren Assemblies. Brethren members believe that these assemblies are the result of an independent movement of the Holy Spirit in India. In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is one of the three entities of the Holy Trinity which make up the single substance Eventually the Plymouth Brethren and the Kerala Brethren recognized the similarities in both the movements and thus the Kerala Brethren came to be identified as a sub-set of the Open Brethren.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.bruederbewegung.de/pdf/collingwood.pdf
  2. ^ History Since 1870

References

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic