William Blair Neatby

“ Nevertheless, this interpretation lent colour to the accusations of their adversaries; though indeed it had no real organic association with their general scheme, for they stood with the first in upholding the great Protestant principle that justification is no more granted in consideration of works following regeneration than of works preceding it.
It is almost universally charged against the Brethren by their opponents, that they refuse to pray for the forgiveness of sins. ”

“ Mackintosh withdrew the objectionable expressions—in whole or in part, according to the critic’s point of view. All this is quite illustrative of Mackintosh’s status. On the other hand, what Darby or Mr. Kelly wrote may be accepted as the theology of Brethrenism, but with two reservations. In the first place, any peculiarity merely generated by a horror of New- tonianism filtered through scantily, if at all, to the level of the laity; and secondly, Darby’s views on the sufferings of Christ (of which the next chapter will present some account) always remained to a great extent esoteric. ”

“ They were far from denying that the duties of the moral law are duties now and for ever, but they maintained the insufficiency of the law as a guide to a life lived in the energy and illumination of the indwelling Spirit of God. ”

“ One prominent man among them, as I am informed on unimpeachable testimony, said that he would be willing to stand at the street corner and baptise any one that would let him,—a confession of faith being, in this view, uncalled for. ”

“ Possibly Darby was driven back upon it by the force of the reaction against everything Newtonian. However this may be, an impression has arisen in some quarters that his general system was far less evangelical than was really the case. It has actually been suggested that the Brethren sympathised with the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that justification is partially granted in virtue of an “inherent” or “infused” righteousness in the believer. ”

“ The writers that have made this subject their special province are generally extremely untrustworthy. They are commonly passionately prejudiced against the Brethren. For the most part they make the writings of altogether unrepresentative men the basis of their attack, and even these men they have misrepresented. [1] For example, in the principal book of this class, Reid’s Plymouth Brethrenism Unveiled and Refuted, many quotations are taken from Mackintosh, Charles Stanley, and a Dr. Davis, of Aberdeen, for every one taken from Darby or Mr. ”