DARBY, JOHN NELSON. - One of the principal founders of the sect of the Darbyites (v. DARBITI) or Plymouth Brethren, b. in London on 18 Nov. 1800, d. at Bournemouth on 29 Apr. 1882. He studied law at Dublin, but shortly afterward devoted himself to the pastoral ministry in the Anglican Church. Having begun to doubt the authority of this Church, a few years later he left it and joined in Dublin with a group of people of his own ideas. In 1830 he moved to Plymouth, where another similar group was already vigorous.
To propagate the new sect he visited Switzerland, where he stayed for two years (1838-40), founding there the Plymouth Brethren congregations of Vaud, Geneva and Bern. Having returned to Plymouth, he chose this city as the center of his activity: he visited Germany, France, and six times he was in the United States; in 1871 he was in Italy and in 1875 in New Zealand. He was a tireless writer, as the 32 volumes of his works demonstrate. He wrote not only in defense of his doctrines and on Holy Scripture, but also against the Wesleyans, the Puseyites, against Newman's apology, and he composed various hymns and religious songs, etc. His main idea was that his sect, without the hindrances of ecclesiastical organization, with the Bible alone but guided by God, would unite all the others. His intransigent character, however, alienated some of his collaborators (G. Müller, S. P. Tregelles, A. N. Groves) and for this reason the sect of the Darbyites is among those that have had the most schisms.
Bibliography4 worksW. Blair Neally, A History of the Plymouth Brethren, London 1901 (per totum); Th. Schaff-Herzog, s. v. in Encyclopedia, III, New York and Lo
BIBL.: W. Blair Neally, A History of the Plymouth Brethren, London 1901 (per totum); Th. Schaff-Herzog, s. v. in Encyclopedia, III, New York and London 1909, pp. 256-57; T. S. Veitch, The Story of the Brethren Movement, London n.d., p. 43 ff.; Anon., The Principles of Christians called 'Open Brethren', Glasgow 1913, p. 89 ff.
Crivelli, Camillo. “Darby, john nelson.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, coll. 1220–1221. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/darby-john-nelson.
MLA
Crivelli, Camillo. “Darby, john nelson.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, coll. 1220–1221. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/darby-john-nelson.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec4_darby_john_nelson,
author = {Crivelli, Camillo},
title = {Darby, john nelson},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IV},
pages = {1220--1221},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/darby-john-nelson}
}
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