I have just finished reading a book titled: “J.N. Darby and the Roots of Dispensationalism”, by Professor of History at Queens University, Belfast, Crawford Gribben.

What I would like to do is to write about why I have decided to read a book, more likely to appeal to academic types, at a time in my life when I have cut down on heavy book reading and would rather read, watch, listen, check out content that interests me direct from the Internet, with a view to pass on to the man in the street things that may enlighten, and say what I learned when doing so. In the case of this book, instead of providing a semi-comprehensive review of its contents (noting there is a lot that can be found on the Internet that does so, e.g. by searching on the Book’s title when in Google and You Tube, both by way of independent reviews and conversations with the author), my focus is on why I decided to read it and what I discovered when I did, noting that the subjects of Darbyism and Dispensationalism are much to do with my own spiritual journey.

1. Who are the Brethren? (click here)
2. The hearts and minds of J.N.Darby and E.B.Pusey (click here)
3. Coleman Street’s Children (click here)

The above three links are to the titles of papers (in the first two instances) and a book I wrote (third instance), all around 25 years ago, freely downloadable from my website, and all including reference to J.N.Darby, when I enthusiastically researched Brethren history. Darby has long intrigued me (evidenced by these writings and my later writings) because of the most important part in the Brethren Movement, more precisely defined as the Plymouth Brethren that would later comprise the Open and Exclusive (which Darby led) sections he played, a movement I should add that I have been associated with for most of my life but doing my own research in order to figure out what both the Brethren and me believe.

And just as much today given the significant events in Israel and its surrounding regions, especially if one takes into consideration Darby’s views on End Times Bible prophecy. Events now taking place, to a significant extent, are of interest to the pro-Israel, Christian Zionist lobby, who often give little consideration to Darby’s other interests yet home in on his eschatology. Darby has also become a target of disdain by some in the anti-Israel lobby although (as the book points out) others who followed Darby, e.g. Schofield, are even more influential in pushing views that seem to justify what the State of Israel are doing, e.g. with the Palestinians. My fascination arose because of the realisation of how much Darby’s views (more than any) influenced Brethren beliefs, not just among Exclusives but the Open too, and this went far beyond eschatology, and is a factor that this book more than adequately touches on.

I do so mindful that while there is a lot out there concerning Darby, a lot of it is incomplete and inaccurate, often written by those who are either pro (depicting him as a hero) Darby or anti (depicting him as a villain) Darby. It seemed to me there is room to explore more deeply and precisely Darby’s thoughts, which is where Gribbens’ book comes in. I was already aware of the esteem in which he is held in Brethren research circles. I too have had positive exchanges with him. While the book is only 145 pages, it is rich in content. Evidence of the rigorous approach taken in writing is there is a further 86 pages given over to notes, references and an index and in checking a sample out it is evident that he has been diligent and meticulous. I should add the book arrived a day after ordering on Amazon at a fair price (£24) and I liked its presentation, including a hard cover.  

There is a further angle, pertinent to my own situation. In recent years, I have gone from being a Plymouth Brother (due to our assembly closing) to being a Strict Baptist (the best of the around 100 fellowships we could have joined). Besides being an expert on John Darby, Gribben is also one on John Owen, whose Calvinism and Reformed ideas have influenced from the outset the tradition that the fellowship which I am now associated belongs to. This is pertinent because I can think of three families who left the church over its Calvinism. There is an irony insofar those who left had views more aligned to those typically labelled “messianic”, which probably unbeknown to them were influenced by Darby! But back to the book, I had hoped it would make the connection between Darby’s and Owen’s theological views (and I found that it did).

According to Got Questions, when responding to the “What is dispensationalism and is it biblical?” (see here) matter: “A dispensation is a way of ordering things—an administration, a system, or a management. In theology, a dispensation is the divine administration of a period of time; each dispensation is a divinely appointed age. Dispensationalism is a theological system that recognizes these ages ordained by God to order the affairs of the world. Dispensationalism has two primary distinctives: 1) a consistently literal interpretation of Scripture, especially Bible prophecy, and 2) a view of the uniqueness of Israel as separate from the Church in God’s program”. I agree with the above and reckon so did Mr. Darby, but the article goes on to discuss other aspects of dispensational belief (as well as the different understandings, including those adopted by today’s Christian Zionists, that he and I may not agree on) and this is one of the many topics addressed in this book. It is also worth noting that there are many Christians that do not believe dispensationalism to be a biblical belief and believe Israel has been replaced by the Church.

So onto what I got from reading the book, and before I get to the six chapters where Gribben argues his case of what Darby actually believed, there is the Preface and before that there were three Darby “wow” quotes such that from the get go I felt my decision to read the book was the right one, notwithstanding that it was aimed more toward an academic audience rather than Joe Bloggs and people like me who are self/God appointed Watchmen on the Wall trying to make sense of today’s world and also the Bible: “The human intellect will break itself to pieces against the glory of the divine revelation”, “For the Reformers I bless God unfeignedly but they are in no way a rule of faith for me: to the law and the testimony I must have the word of God” and “I believe the word of God, the teaching of the Holy Ghost in the divine word, and not the Evangelicals”.

The Preface does what any good preface should do – whet the appetite of the reader to read what follows. Gribben begins to open up the idea that Darby’s theological system is far from coherent and systematic and that the dispensational premillennialism that is popular in certain quarters and is part of the rationale behind some adopting such a system being Christian Zionists, is not one he can take full responsibility for. Rather, he was someone who wanted to find out what the Bible teaches on matters theological and all honour goes to God. It was something he devoted his life to but never intended to surpass other activities like his involvement in missionary endeavour, church planting and leadership, in particular through the Plymouth Brethren movement where he was arguably its leading light (even among the Open section that he effectively excommunicated) and should take some responsibility for some of the unduly divisive nature of the assemblies with which he dealt with throughout his life and was often instrumental in forming.

Darby was interested in serving all who were truly Christian despite managing to fall out with many throughout his life, in part due to his unflinching views on the need for His Church to separate from evil and flaws in his character, and this no doubt had to do with his high view of the church, a central part of his theology. Calvinistic, Catholic, Charismatic and Catastrophic are four labels that Gribben ascribes to Darby’s preoccupations and it is one that resonates from personal experience and my own research. While writing was not his major emphasis, Darby was nevertheless prolific in his writing endeavours that combined both a thorough exploration of what the Bible taught and devotional aspects. More than most who write about him, Gribben has studied a good deal of what Darby wrote. I liked right from the outset reference being made to Darby’s theology having a lot in common with the Calvinism of the Reformers. He later develops the notion of Darby’s own journey of faith starting from being a High Church Anglican and on changing his position on doctrine and practice matters, including the dispensationalism we are led to believe from the title is the main consideration.  He makes reference (rightly) to the fascinating claim that Darby was the fourth most influential theologian after Luther, Calvin and Wesley.

There are six chapters, beginning with an introduction and ending with a conclusion and in-between are chapters on Soteriology, Ecclesiology, Pneumatology and Eschatology. While Darby’s dispensationalism would seem to come under the fourth of these headings, it is something that underlies all. Also, while Darby’s eschatological beliefs are what has been latched onto by many who give Darby any thought, these other three headings are just as important. Moreover, one light bulb moment was that Darby’s views on these subjects are very significant in my own Open Brethren associations and none less than his eschatology. What I will do now is to reflect briefly on each of these four headings, in particular what struck me personally and apologise in advance if I get anything wrong, failing to address important points, my own obtuseness when it comes to understanding the less obvious and more subtle Darby beliefs, and if I over interject my own thoughts concerning Darby and Dispensationalism, a subject I would imagine most reading this and/or the book will already have views on beforehand.

From what I could make out, Darby’s views on salvation are much in line with those both in the Open Brethren and Strict Baptist set ups I have been associated with and moreover, Calvinist leaning but not overwhelmingly so. Areas of difference that I am grappling with due to my lack of understanding include the matter of imputed righteousness. Linked to Darby’s ideas of the church in ruins, many outside the PBs and SBs will have (wrongly) different views on how to be saved and to what extent preaching the Gospel features. Darby would have come firmly down on the idea of the church evangelising the world rather than changing it through infiltrating its structures and getting involved in social and political activism. Not brought out enough in the book was that, despite Darby’s high Tory leanings and aristocratic links, was his extraordinary, well documented empathy toward the poor, and this was a significant factor in his own thinking and activism. Another, perhaps, is Darby the God worshiper and admirer, evidenced by his many devotional writings and hymns.

I have gone on record in the past saying I am more in tune with Darby’s ecclesiology than his eschatology and his ideas around the church in ruins I find fascinating. His views on the ruined state of the church are both interesting and correct but his pessimistic view on how this can be remedied and how this view ties in with Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17 and the marriage supper of the Lamb when Christ sits down with his glorious radiant bride do not quite resonate. Attaching particular store on the need for separation for evil did cause irreconcilable conflict later on with the common life shared by true believers’ ideal that were shared by and characterised the PBs (coming as they did from a variety of church backgrounds) before the OB/XB split came in the 1840’s. (In my long ago Brethren researching, I recall reading the likes of F.F.Bruce concerning the tension that existed between believers separating from evil and their common life, and to an extent still does – XB and OB.) Darby’s dismissal of notions of apostolic succession and democracy for selecting leaders were often not bettered by what replaced it when it came to church government and the cult like tendencies that followed. While I was aware before reading the book that Darby believed, because of the church’s heavenly calling, it should not get involved in politics, that was confirmed despite much that was of great and alarming significance that was happening in the world at the time, which Darby was more aware off than most. As a personal aside, this reminder and elaboration of Darby’s thinking about not “getting politically involved” was a welcomed wake-up call to this “community activist” that believes there is a place for political involvement, for by doing so it could be a distraction from gospel endeavour, but even so I would still beg to differ from Mr. Darby because while we should not be be sidetracked with pursuing earthly concerns, we should be about doing good in loving our neighbour. While Darby understood the pitfalls of getting involved politically or in community endeavour where the church did not take a lead or we do not invoke the Gospel, doing so can be a good way to show love. Notwithstanding, Darby saw that giving to the poor was important.

Surprisingly, the chapter on Pneumatology I found to be the most interesting, not least the notion to which Darby subscribed and went on to promote of the Holy Spirit overseeing gatherings of believers where any could minister, regardless of clerical or other status, as the Spirit led, who along with the scriptures would lead individual believers irrespective of their station in life, minister status or belonging to a particular denomination. I have seen this principle being worked out in PB meetings I have been associated with (although not always satisfactorily) and while we can thank JND for this emphasis, it was something that characterised the earliest Brethren gatherings in Dublin around 1830, in which Darby was a keen participant! While Darby was not a cessationalist and did not subscribe to the notion of some that the gifts of the Spirit ceased when the canon was completed, he did not push exercising sign gifts, other than healing, at least to an extent. From the book, it appeared Darby’s views on the “Second Blessing” were ambiguous. This understanding is relevant since soon after I became a Christian and joined an OB assembly, the charismatic movement came to town and those in leadership mostly did not welcome it. Yet the idea of the Spirit leading the church and believers continues to this day.

Finally, we come to what I had imagined would be the big one, and while Darby’s evolving beliefs on eschatology were set out, there was little that came out of it by way of surprise. His views on the importance of End Times prophecy and the significance of earthly Israel and how this can be squared with his views on the heavenly calling of the church and how to approach being in the world but not of it would continue to occupy the leading lights among the OBs and PBs long after. The renowned church historian, David Bebbington, once described the Brethren as an “adventist sect”, which was unfair given there was so much else that occupied their interests. But going back to the beginning, as Gribben brings out, it was end times prophecy that brought them together with Darby at the centre of things. Like most of the early Brethren in the early days, he was a classical premillennialist and pushing the idea of the Secret Rapture came later. What was interesting was how these differed from the dispensational beliefs that emerged after Darby, notably those that were enshrined in the Schofield Reference Bible. Given Darby’s other views, it was unlikely he was a Zionist in the political sense although he did believe in Israel’s return to the land promised to Abraham since those promises still applied, although likely with a particular love for the Jewish people. Other themes were touched on to that I found interesting, e.g. the Keswick movement and the subject that erupts from time to time – the immortality of the soul.

Was the book worth reading? The answer is a resounding yes, and while it deserves a second going through, I doubt it will happen for me. I would recommend it to any, irrespective of academic interests and acumen, especially if interested in Darby, the man, and what he believed. I found my reading experience was far from heavy going. Could it be improved on – likely? I suspect publisher demands and intended audience were constraining factors behind the selection of material. I would have been interested in knowing more about Darby’s method, sources and approach in coming to the views he did, although the term “catastrophic” comes to mind. Given my own run ins with anti-Darby types, I would be interested in knowing how the author would respond to their reasons why? Also, given Israel, right or wrong concerning current happenings in the region, is a hot potato subject, I would love to know what might be JND’s views.

We live in a day when lies and deception appear to be and is all too common, made even more pernicious when good Christians fall for them. There are those who trust what I call “the Unholy Trinity” (media, politicians, elites) for their sources of information and others who go to “alternative media” (including those beholden to conspiracy theories) to find out what is really going on in a world maybe even more turbulent than Darby’s, when what is needed are pertinent facts and the truth. Gribben, to give him his due, has to a large extent given us this, with his painstaking commitment to extensive research, on a subject that relates more than might seem to be the case, not least for Christians wishing to know how best to respond. While my gut feeling is that he has been too sympathetic toward Darby, he has tried to maintain balance, including flagging inconsistencies in Darby’s thinking, and has been accurate in his evaluation of this controversial character, showing how one might approach what can be seen as a contentious and complex subject.

We end aptly by making Gribben’s last words in his book the last words of this article that has tried to be mostly about the book “... Now when he is recognised as the “father of dispensationalism”, he is being remembered for arguments he never made and in connection with a model of redemptive history that he abandoned. He might never have wanted to be the fourth most important Protestant theologian. He might have been happier to be forgotten. “The only place for greatness in a world of evil”, he once remarked “is … to be of no esteem in it”. For all his innovation, his reputation might be undeserved. Darby contributed some of the system’s key ideas: he saw the roots, but not the birth, of dispensationalism.”