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The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Protestant Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement. They originated in Ireland before spreading throughout the British Isles, and now have an estimated 26,000 assemblies worldwide. 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 division of the Plymouth Brethren into the Open Brethren and Exclusive Brethren took place in 1848.〔http://www.bruederbewegung.de/pdf/collingwood.pdf〕 Open Brethren are also commonly known as Plymouth Brethren, especially in North America. Many Open Brethren outside of North America, however, are unwilling to use the Plymouth Brethren designation because it is associated with the Exclusive Brethren, particularly the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, which has often been accused of being a cult and has attracted a considerable degree of unfavourable publicity in the media. The Brethren are committed to missionary work and hold that the Holy Bible is the first authority in matters of faith and practice. Each assembly (or congregation) is independent of the others in doctrinal matters; yet there is a high degree of communication and cooperation among those who share similar doctrine and practice.〔Open Brethren customarily adhere to dispensational concepts like other historically related groups, though the Open Brethren's congregational polity tolerates various personally held views of biblical prophecy and other issues.〕 Open Brethren assemblies form a continuum, from tight gatherings which extend fellowship only to those who have first left other denominations, to very loose gatherings which receive into fellowship any stranger without question.〔(History Since 1870 )〕 A building associated with a group of open brethren is usually called a "Gospel Chapel," "Gospel Hall," "Bible Chapel," "Christian Assembly," or other similar term. A sub-set of the Open Brethren are the Gospel Hall Assemblies who tend to be more conservative than their fellow-Brethren in their practices.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.gospelhall.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17 )〕 Theologically, however, they differ very little. == History == The separation of the independent or open brethren from the Exclusive Brethren occurred when John Nelson Darby denounced Benjamin Wills Newton, an elder of the Plymouth assembly, at that time the largest of the Brethren assemblies, over disagreements concerning prophecy and church organisation. Darby forced him to admit to theological errors, then attacked George Müller and Henry Craik at Bethesda Chapel in Bristol for accepting two others of that assembly, even though they were not implicated in any of Newton's errors. This led to a separation of Bethesda from Darby and a clear adoption of an independent or congregational stance by many of the assemblies. The statement of the assembly at Tottenham gives clearly the position of the Open Brethren: We welcome to the table, on individual grounds, each saint, not because he or she is a member of this or that gathering or denomination of Christians nor because they are followers of any particular leader, but on such testimony as commends itself to us as being sufficient. We distinctly refuse to be parties to any exclusion of those who, we are satisfied, are believers—except on grounds personally applying to their individual faith and conduct. The exclusive Darbyites "became more and more introverted and mystical as the years passed", while the open brethren continued to develop an emphasis on the "faith missions" pioneered by Anthony Norris Groves in India and George Müller with his orphanages in Bristol. In 1853, they started their first missionary journal, ''The Missionary Reporter''. In 1859, the religious revival which reached Britain had a transforming effect on many of the assemblies and brought in new leaders such as Joseph Denham Smith. Ulster became one of the stronger centres, and expansion occurred in Scotland and northern England. In London, Thomas John Barnardo began his rescue work with orphans. Dwight L. Moody from Chicago, on a trip to England to visit George Müller and Charles H. Spurgeon met a young man in a Dublin assembly, Henry Moorhouse who was to profoundly influence his preaching style when he preached at Moody's church, revolutionising his work as an evangelist. In Barnstaple, one of the largest early brethren assemblies developed from the inspiring example of Robert Cleaver Chapman, who continued his ministry until the end of the century. He had made an evangelistic tour of Spain in 1838 and after 1869 the work expanded in Barcelona and Madrid and also in Portugal. In Italy, an indigenous development by Count Guicciardini linked up with T. P. Rossetti (a cousin of Dante Gabriel Rossetti) in England although the Protestant "Brethren" faced persecution and imprisonment by the Catholic church. The movement soon spread with English-speaking emigrants to Australia and New Zealand as well as to the United States and Canada. Some 600 congregations were recorded in 1959 in the U.S. and 300 in Canada.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Open Brethren」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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