Brethren (religious group)

Brethren is a name adopted by a wide range of mainly Christian religious groups throughout history which do not necessarily share historical roots, including some of the earliest primitive churches, the Brethren of the Free Spirit, the Schwarzenau Brethren and some Anabaptist groups, the Moravian Brethren, and the Plymouth Brethren, among many others.

Medieval era groups

• Apostolic Brethren (13th century), mendicant order similar to the Franciscans
• Kalands Brethren (13th century), German charitable organization
• Brethren of the Free Spirit (13th century), mystical reform movement
• The Brethren of the Common Life (14th century), intentional communities dedicated to service

Anabaptist groups

These groups grew out of the Anabaptist movement at the time of the Protestant Reformation (16th century).

• The Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren are descendants of German, Swiss, and Tyrolean Anabaptists led by Jacob Hutter, who was burned at the stake in 1536 for refusing to renounce his faith
• The Swiss Brethren were an early Anabaptist group that later divided into the Amish and Mennonite groups (particularly the Swiss Mennonite Conference)
• The Mennonite Brethren originated among Russian Mennonites in 1860

Schwarzenau Brethren

The Schwarzenau Brethren originated in 1708 in Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg, Germany, with Alexander Mack. Their roots are in the Radical Pietism movement but they were strongly influenced by Anabaptist theology. They have also been called "Dunkers" or "German Baptist Brethren". The group split into three wings in 1881–1883:

Traditionalists

• Old German Baptist Brethren
  • Old Brethren German Baptist
  • Old Order German Baptist Brethren

Conservatives

• Church of the Brethren
  • Dunkard Brethren

Progressives

• The Brethren Church
  • Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches
  • Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International
  • Brethren Reformed Church

Plymouth Brethren

The various Plymouth Brethren bodies originated in the 1820s work of John Nelson Darby and others in Ireland and the United Kingdom as well as India:

• Exclusive Brethren
• Needed Truth Brethren
  • Raven–Taylor–Hales Brethren
• Open Brethren
  • Indian Brethren
  • Kerala Brethren Assembly or Verbada Sabha
  • Needed Truth Brethren
  • Gospel Hall Brethren

River Brethren

The River Brethren owe their origins to the combined labors of Reformed pastor Philip William Otterbein and Mennonite Martin Boehm, beginning in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the latter half of the 18th century. They were also influenced by the Schwarzenau Brethren and include (amongst others):

• Brethren in Christ Church
• Church of the United Brethren in Christ
  • Church of the United Brethren in Christ (New Constitution)
  • Church of the United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution)
• Evangelical United Brethren
• Old Order River Brethren

Other religious groups

• Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon fundamentalist group
• The Brethren (Jim Roberts group), an apocalyptic Jesus people movement from the 1970s
• Brethren of Purity, an esoteric Muslim sect
• The Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America is neither Anabaptist nor Pietistic, but is the result of a late 19th-century spiritual awakening among Lutheran congregations in the upper Midwestern United States. They formed a separate synod in 1900.
• Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, a Czech Lutheran–Reformed Protestant church
• The Moravian Brethren (also known as United Brethren or Unitas Fratrum and Bohemian Brethren), descend from the followers of Jan Hus, a Czech reformer burned at the stake in 1415 and mainly Bohemian 15th-century nobleman and theologian Peter Chelcicky
• The Unity of the Brethren also traces its roots to the work of Hus
• The Polish Brethren—also known as Socinians—were an Anti-trinitarian group, forerunners for the Unitarians
• The Social Brethren originated in Saline County, Illinois in 1867, the result of an attempt to put the slavery issue away in favor of uniting on a common belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
• Studite Brethren, a society in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
• United Brethren (England), a group of Methodists who later joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• The United Seventh-Day Brethren is an Adventist body
• "The Brethren" is also a commonly used collective name for the general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[1]

References

1. Gardner, Marvin K. (1992). "General Authorities". In Ludlow, Daniel H. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. pp. 538–540. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.