Mr. Marsden, incumbent of St. Peter's, Birmingham, in his " Dictionary of Christian Churches and Sects," says, of the Brethren, " The influence which the Plymouth Brethren undoubtedly possess upon English Christianity, is to be ascribed rather to their position in society, their zeal and earnestness, than to their numbers. Still, their principles are adopted by a considerable body of our countrymen in India and the Colonies, and we believe they have made some progress in America.
" There is some difficulty in laying before the reader in a simple form the principles of this body. It puts forth no standards of faith, nor publishes any forms of worship or discipline. It professes to practice Christianity as Christianity was taught by the Lord and the apostles in the New Testament. It regards all churches as either corrupt in practice, or partial and exclusive. The tracts, which are issued in great numbers by the Brethren, are either of a practical nature, or they consist mainly, of attacks upon the constitution and church government of other bodies.... Professing neither to teach nor practice anything but the religion of the gospel in its primitive simplicity and purity, their aim is, naturally, to show that other churches are more or less in error, trusting chiefly for the defense of their own peculiarities to the letter of the New Testament.
"The Brethren equally object to the national church, and to all forms of dissent. Of national churches one and all of them, they say, that the opening of the door to receive the whole population of a country into the most solemn acts of worship and Christian fellowship, is a latitudinarian error. Dissenters, on the other hand, are sectarian, because they close the door on real Christians who cannot utter the Shibboleth of their party. In a word, the characteristic evil of the latter is, that they do not treat as Christians many who are known to be such, whereas the equally characteristic evil of the former is, that they do treat as Christians many who are known not to be such at all.' The one system, they affirm, makes the church wider, the other narrower than God's limits; thus, in either way, the proper scriptural idea of the church is practically destroyed, dissent virtually affirming, that it is not one body but many, while nationalism virtually affirms that this one body is the body of Christ.
" That which constitutes a church is the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is the owning of the Holy Ghost as Christ's vicar-the really present, sole, and sufficient sovereign in the church during our Lord's absence, which is our special responsibility, and ought to be a leading feature in our testimony.' Scripture, say the Brethren, never prescribes a human commission as necessary for the Christian minister. Doctrine, not ordination, is the divine test of rejecting or receiving those who profess to be ministers of Christ: and every Christian man who can do so is not only at liberty, but is bound to preach the gospel. The parable of the talents, in Matthew 25, teaches the danger of waiting for other warrant than the possession of the necessary gift; ' and to doubt the grace of the Master, or to fear because one has not the authentication of those who presumptuously claim and trifle with this right, is to bury his talent in the earth, and to act the part of the wicked and slothful servant.' For the Lord of the harvest alone has the title to send forth laborers.
" We have only to add that the doctrines held by the Plymouth Brethren agree in all essentials with the Church of England and other churches of the Reformation. Their worship is conducted in the simplest manner. Circumstances apart, any brother is competent to baptize or to break the bread,' that is, administer the Lord's supper. They deny, however, that all Christians are ministers of the word, or that they undervalue a Christian ministry. ‘So far,’ say they, ‘from supposing there is no such thing as ministry, Brethren hold, and have always held, from Eph. 4:12, 1312For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:12‑13), that Christ cannot fail to maintain and perpetuate a ministry so long as His body is here below.' Their printed books and tracts, their teachings in private and in public affirm this as a certain settled truth; insomuch that it is as absurd to charge them with denying the permanent and divine place of ministry in the church on earth, as it would be to charge Charles I. with denying the divine right of kings. Wherever it has pleased God to raise up pastors after His own heart, they gladly, thankfully own His grace, and esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake.
" We infer, that a minister is received as such when the Brethren are satisfied of his fitness for the office; but that he then obtains no other distinction or authority than that of a teacher or exhorter. It has been recently said that they neither pray for the pardon of sin, nor for the presence and influence of the Spirit, and carefully exclude such petitions from their hymns; but this statement, which we transcribe from a recent account of Christian Sects in the Nineteenth Century,' is extremely unjust. It is only true, so far as this: the Brethren, regarding themselves as, in theological language, in a state of grace, do not ask for blessings they have already received, but rather for an increase of the gifts of which they have already a portion."
The reader will do well to put himself in possession of a tract, entitled, " One Body and one Spirit," by W. K. It is from this paper that Mr. Marsden has gathered all his thoughts and information respecting the Brethren. And though we may not agree with all he says in the article as a whole, we cannot fail to notice the great contrast between his account of the Brethren, and the false statements and envenomed style which have characterized the papers of his brethren in the Establishment, but more especially of dissenters. It stands as a witness against them all, and as a testimony to the fairness, candor, and sobriety of Mr. Marsden as an ecclesiastical writer.
We marvel at men of education and high status in society, yea the ministers of the meek and lowly Jesus, hazarding their own reputation and the honor of Him of whom they are the professed ambassadors, by an unrelenting persecution of their Brethren in Christ for a difference of judgment! May we not forget the divine exhortation, " Let brotherly love continue:" and, " Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth." (Hebrews 13:11Let brotherly love continue. (Hebrews 13:1); Romans 14:44Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4).) If the judgment of Brethren be sound and scriptural, where is the discernment, where the love of their adversaries?