Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Darby and the Origins of the Plymouth Brethren
3. Raven and the Time of Divisions: A Map of the Brethren
Movement
4. Retrenchment and Mainstreaming: The Plymouth Brethren Christian
Church in the 21st Century
Bibliography
Index of Personal Names
Massimo Introvigne, one of the leading international scholars of new religious movements, is the managing director of CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) in Torino, Italy. He is the author of some sixty books on religious minorities, including Satanism: A Social History (2016).
"This book is recommended to readers interested in aspects of
comtemporary religion, both for its brevity and its
comprehensiveness, and for its clarity and informativeness. It is
suitable for academics, tertiary students, and matriculation school
students...I recommend it unreservedly." -- Carole M. Cusak,
University of Sydney, The Journal for Academic Study of
Religion
"Precisely what constitutes the "Plymouth Brethren" can be a bit
elusive, but Introvigne has captured its essence in this short but
thorough and fair-minded introduction." -- George Adams, Nova
Religio
"In this most insightful survey of the movement founded by
influential nineteenth-century theologian John Nelson Darby,
Massimo Introvigne opens the world of the intensely controversial
and highly separatist branch of Darby's movement, the Plymouth
Brethren Christian Church, little understood by the general public
and the academic world. He provides a most welcome map of the
church's defence of its austere path amid the attacks of
critics."--J. Gordon Melton,
Distinguished Professor of American Religious History, Baylor
University
"Though John Nelson Darby is one of the most influential Protestant
thinkers of the nineteenth century, his life and mission have not
been properly evaluated. This is what Massimo Introvigne does in
this book. Displaying masterly scholarship, this volume is a
must-read to understand the immense influence of the Brethren
theology in the Protestant world to this day. Far from just being a
quaint outdated group, the Brethren are a most active community in
our
contemporary world."--Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor of North
American Literature and Civilization, University of Bordeaux
"This is a sympathetic portrayal of the Plymouth Brethren Christian
Church, which, with a lawyer's meticulous attention to detail,
describes its intellectual history and contextualises it within
contemporary society. Furthermore, by demonstrating that the Church
has engaged in beneficial practices for non-members, and that the
'separation' it practices has an undeniable religious basis,
Massimo Introvigne adroitly argues that it is rightly entitled to
such
benefits as charitable status."--Eileen Barker, Professor Emeritus
of Sociology of Religion, London School of Economics
"This is a beautifully produced little book on an important
subject. Massimo Introvigne is a lawyer who has become concerned
with the rights of religious minorities, and who in this book has
turned his interests to explaining the background to one of the
most controversial of the so-called 'new religious movements,' the
Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC). The PBCC is a difficult
choice of subject, as the author recognizes, and it has over many
years
attracted its share of negative headlines. The Plymouth Brethren
attempts to recognize these problems, and to defend the group on
its own terms... The Plymouth Brethren is a valuable
publication,
therefore, in giving voice to a distinctive Christian community
that sometimes struggles to make its voice heard." -- Reading
Religion
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