A Brethren Intro

“Who are the Brethren?” That is often a question I receive when I mention my denomination. I am caught off guard, not for a loss of words, but how to answer. As of 2024, there is 316 years of History with the Brethren.

My standard answer is, “What specific questions do you have?” This allows me to zero in on the major questions while not wasting time with info not needed or wanted. But who we are is still not answered deeply.

Our full history will not be presented here. Donald Durnbaugh did the best job taking our History from a little before its beginning, to the 1990's. This is found in the work, “Fruit of the Vine”.

Instead, I will give a quick recap. The Brethren are a blending of the AnaBaptist and Pietist movements. AnaBaptism is the belief that only after confession of faith should someone be baptized. Pietism is, in the simplist term, having a life that reflects our faith, and our faith dictating how we live our life. This prevents, or should prevent, hypocrisy. These two movements were in direct response and contrast to the cold and empty creedal church of the day, mainly the Lutherns, Catholic, and Reformed churches.

Why would someone seek separation from the churches of the reformation? Did they not reform and awaken the church? By the time of the 1700's, these churches were cold, lifeless and far from where and how they started.The churches were not fulfilling their calling and were missing the mark Biblically.

For example, they held to and practiced infant baptism. This was a carry over from Roman Catholicism. Second, while they had creeds, it became an empty rehtoric, recited with no heart, feeling, and meaning. Third, the churches, for starting out strong, were in large part, dead. The clergy lived in a way unlike the professions they claimed. Their ungodly life and oppulant existance caused some to wonder if they really were saved.

The Brethren, known as German Baptist Brethren, started out as a small group of eight who decided to just study the Bible and practice what it said. They sought humble lives, a peaceful and quiet existence, and to put in practical application the physical outworking of their faith.

From these humble beginnings in Schwarzenau, Germany and Alexander Mack, this new group started to grow in size and reach.

This brought persecution from the Catholics, Lutherans, Calvanist/Reformed churches, and the state.

Despite the attacks and eventual fleeing to America, they continued to grow. In the 1800's, they changed their name to the Church of the Brethren. The Brethren is not without its own issues and there have been two major splits, in 1881 and 1883, and again in 2019-2024. Of course the groups that split off also had splits so there could be many splits discussed. I want to focus on the Brethren are in general, who we were, who we are, and what we should hold to and believe. From there move into modern times and use that to frame our underatanding of the world around us.

When I speak of Brethren, in this and future posts, I am referring to the Brethren who still hold fast and desire to live the tenenats of our faith. Sadly, there are many "Brethren" in name only and who have walked away from much of what and who we are as Brethren, and more importantly, Christian. I wish to lay out our beliefs. Perhaps this can help identify who we are and are not.

We hold to similar beliefs as many denominations for a few things, such as communion, faith in Jesus for Salvation, and the Bible. We also hold to some aspects found in Mennonites, and Amish. We, as Brethren, desire a simple life, freed from ungodly distractions, things that could build pride, and anything that can draw us from God. We also hold to a strong peace position and are part of traditional peace church.

Unlike most other churches, there are things we believe and do that many churches give lip service but do not practice. These are what sets us apart.

First, our ordinances. We hold to three, baptism, communion, AND feet washing. This is from the Gospel of John where Jesus said that we aught to do as He did. Most churches and movements no longer practice feet washing, except during extremely special events. The Brethren still practice this during what we call our Agape or love, Feast.

Second is our stance on creeds. A very famous quote, from Brethren History, is, “We have no creed but the New Testament.” This flows from our History where we witnessed how reciting a creed does not make us better Christians, nor move us closer to God. The creedal churches would state these beliefs, then be everything opposite. Durnbaugh even says on page 45 of his work,

"Because the Brethren were in reaction to what they considered to be an overly creedalized and dogmatic state church, they opposed any effort to spell out their beliefs in a systematic and complete fashion."

The Brethren did not want to become what they saw. The New Testament, not creeds, forms the basis of our faith and life. This in turn prepared the way to what is called, The Brethren Card. This card is a simple notecard size list of practices with the Biblical references. It is too small to be creedal, but enough to lay out our beliefs simply.

The Brethren, traditionally, were very skeptical about writing anything down. They did not want empty words or dead churches. It was not that they were without belief. If studied, we find several major beliefs that all Brethren usually hold to.

1) Discipleship and Obedience
2) Restitution
3) Nonconformity
4) Church Discipline
5) Mutual Aid
6) Biblicism
7) Nonresistance
8) Love and Unity

Each one of these points will be delved into a little more to show where the Brethren should stand and how. From there, the reader is encouraged to look at all Brethren, measure up the truth of the Scripture to what is being practiced, and confirm if the Brethren are following in the paths of the faith handed down to us.