J N Darby's strange doctrines

From early Waymarks on Canon floppy disk, vol.1 of 3

(includes Newsletters 1-7, Waymarks 1-20)

. J.N.DARBY'S view on repentance:-

 "If it is put before faith, it unsettles the whole ground we stand upon before God.." Notes & Jottings p.9. On salvation. You can be saved without being born again,:- " I mean really saved, not merely quickened" Notes & Jottings p.186

W KELLY concerning Cornelius, Acts.10. "He was already a converted man....But he did not know salvation proclaimed in the gospel." Exposition of Acts. p.151. Converted without being saved! Again, "Those who are born again do not enter Christian ground until they have received at least the first and most needful blessing ". Ibid.,p.164. This appears to be becoming saved at some time after being born again. Kelly assures his readers that Cornelius was "Already born of God" but"had now to learn of salvation's door open to the Gentile believer". ..."To be born again never did suffice. There may be conversion. But till one knows that all is clear between the soul and God...the Holy Spirit does not seal the person".

 DARBY again:- "Born again we must be to have the smallest part in these things but it is faith in Christ's work which is sealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit". Collected Writings  p.398. When one's knowledge is satisfactory then his faith can be sealed. This, Darby describes as "a deliverance,-not being born again, not forgiveness-though both  be true-but deliverance,...by the Spirit dwelling in us.." Ibid.,p.412. 

These exclusive doctrines appear to accommodate the account of Darby's conversion given by W.G.TURNER in his biography :-"From the age of eighteen until he was twentyfive Mr. Darby underwent much spiritual exercise. Speaking to the late Mr. William Kelly many years after on the subject of the possibility of real conversion before the peace of conversion, Mr. Darby said that for these seven years he practically lived in the 88th Psalm, his  only ray of light [my italics] being in the opening words 'O Lord God of my salvation.' " John Nelson Darby; by W.G.Turner, p.16.

Note that Psalm!  It is the mournful dirge of a man who lacks peace with God. It is not a Christian song. It was what Darby experienced, he tells us

.Michael Browne, in his book Aspects of Some Exclusive Doctrines shows that these views put forward by Darby and Kelly are still being  taught by modern exclusives. He quotes Prof. W.J.OUWENEEL of Holland (a Kellyite) as stating in his commentary on Titus 3:4-7, "...Cornelius was only converted and born again and had only new life from God before he came into contact with the gospel by which he was to be saved (Acts11:14). Besides regeneration he also had to be saved..."   Mr. Browne outlines the major exclusive errors in his book and warns against the blatant sectarian activity by exclusive factions. He  writes of a vigorous attempt to target so-called 'Open' assemblies. Much of their own literature is being published by Chapter Two, Plumstead.

John Nelson Darby was the founder of the Brethren Movement in the 19th Century 

Acts 7: 38

Acts 7: 38

….the church (ekklesia) in the wilderness….

“…..the congregation in the wilderness….”    ESV

“…..the assembly in the wilderness….”          JND

“…..the chirche in wilderness….”                    WYCLIFFE

Ekklesia is translated church consistently in the Authorized Bible, with one exception at Acts 19: 32, where we read the assembly was confused.

This is very instructive and reveals the beauty and accuracy of our English Bible. This is  that ekklesia is not specifically an ecclesiastical term. The assembly in Acts 19 was not Christian .but they were “called out and gathered together” in order to riot. 

The Spirit of God, overseeing the English translation of our Bible, gave us “church” , a word preserved, but now abused, to establish a spiritual meaning.

The AV translators did not coin the word church. Wycliffe (translating from Latin) used chirche, which meant “God’s people”  That’s what they were: called out of Egypt, and led by,  the Angel of the Lord in a congregation, heading for the promised land.

“church” means essentially “God’s people” though in modern times it has become a much abused term. If we abandon its use then we ought also to abandon another abused term,”Christian”

More about “Church” v. “Assembly”

(This article was first published in WaymarksNo.28, 2002)

What word best translates ekklesia? The word I find written in my God-given Bible, of course! There the matter rests for the believer. I read “church” and argument ceases. But we like to assure readers that we do not rest on any bigotted, blind-faith traditionalist untutored biased assumption concerning the word of God.

We are told that the word “church” has been abused and it is better therefore to use the word “assembly”. But the name “Christian” ( a name given by God to those who belong to Him through faith in Christ) is abused, so ought we not to use it? Many other Bible words are abused.

A writer asks,

where does the word church come from? The word is from the Greek “kyriakon doma” or “kyriakon oikia” which means lordly house or lordly place. These Greek expressions never occur in the original manuscripts as representing the assembly. Of course, the word “church” occurs many times in the Authorized Version, but the choice of word to represent “ekklesia” tells us more about the preferences of the translators to use language that reflected their religious affliliation at the time, namely the Church of England. ¾ E Ritchie; Assembly Testimony; Nov/Dec 2001; p141.  

We have no sympathy for the C of E. But God used some of these men in a mighty way to produce the English Bible.

In Learn Ancient Greek, Peter Jones points out that “church” ultimately [my italics] derives from kyrios, “lord”, through “kyriakon doma” “house belonging to the lord”, which was taken up by the Saxons on the continent, who brought it to England, where it emerged as “cirice” in the language of our ancestors the Anglo-Saxons, out of which “church” evolved. (p115).

Ritchie implies that the translators read into the Greek some words not found in any Greek manuscript. If our faithful translators had found the words “doma” or “oikia” in the Greek text replacing “ekklesia”, we can be sure that the English word house would have appeared in the reading. In any case these words are never translated “place”!

The AV translators, reading “ekklesia” used the modern form of  the Anglo-Saxon “cirice”, which is church

And does the word house only speak of bricks and mortar? The Lord said to the nobleman, thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. John 4:53.

The word church means “The Lord’s house” that is, the “Lord’s people”, gathered out and gathered to. Every believer knows this.

The word assembly was used by Darby not so much as to speak of those called out from the world but to distinguish those separating from Christians not holding the same views of ecclesiastical order. 

But our brethren are corrupting the word of God, an error far more serious than that of supporting one man financially to pastor the local church. 

More re Alan Dawson

The trial of Alan Dawson at the Manchester Crown Court has revealed the low level of moral responsibility and the low level of spiritual intelligence of the leadership  in the church where Dawson was also an elder. This is Mauldeth Road Gospel Hall Assembly

Dawson was found guilty of seven sexual assaults and one charge of rape .He was sentenced to 16 years in jail.

He raped a young girl in his basement, who reported this to the church elders. Dawson, a married man, said they had been having an affair. This did not appear to trouble the elders too much and a meeting was held between themselves, the young girl, and Dawson, in Dawson’s own home.

We suspect that the young girl was at first not believed. This is Brethren practice when young girls report molestations to their elders. But Dawson broke down, and on his knees with much weeping begged the girl for forgiveness.

He had complained, when his fellow elders questioned him over an earlier offence  that “Satan had got hold of him”.  These men accepted this incredulous nonsense.  They thus showed themselves devoid of spiritual intelligence. James tells us when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin (James 1: 15) These Bible teachers seem unaware of this. They are also devoid of moral responsibility. Dawson was not to be held responsible for his own actions

Indeed this young girl was subjected to emotional bullying at their bizarre meeting. She was told if she did not forgive Dawson, God would not forgive her .The girl, under pressure, said she forgave him.  There was no evidence of repentance on Dawson’s part. Not then, not at the trial, nor now. This evil man still protests is innocence.

The demand for forgiveness indicates the  spiritual bankrupty of this elder. His words are Brethrenese  and mean “young woman, bow to us or you will go to hell” These words were intended to draw a line under the case,.They probably had some bearing on Dawson’s victim that it took several more decades before she was able to report it to the police.

See report in Manchester Evening News 25 Sep 2015

Alan Dawson jailed

Alan Dawson was on Friday 25th September, 2015, jailed for 16 years, at Manchester Crown Court. Charges against him included the rape of a child. Dawson was a Sunday school teacher at the Mauldeth Road Gospel Hall, Manchester. details may be read by  clickinghere 
 No amount of child protection will prevent this kind of offence. These offences occurred in the home of the victim or in the offender's home, and not on church premises.

The first security point is in reception to the fellowship. Questions must be asked about conversion. I do not believe for one moment that those genuinely born again practice this kind of behaviour.
Dawson was one of those who crept in unawares.

Those who are assaulted by church leadersor others should not discuss the matter with other church leaders. They need to be brave and to report it to the police. A crime has been committed and the victim is not therefore taking the offender to court. This is the responsibilty of the Crown Prosecution Service.

There are those among us who think they are above the law and seek to punish any complaing victim. The law is changing and those who suppress victims in any way will themselves be punished.

RWC Gospel Outreach. Or Paisleyism uncovered

RWC Gospel Outreach

Bible believing Christians need to be wary of this organisation. It is the Rugby World Cup Gospel Outreach organisation, owned and run by the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. Its main purpose is to promote the FPC worldwide.

FPC  was founded by Ian Paisley of Ulster in 1951. Paisley held tenaciously to Reformed Theology which is not the theology of the New Testament. Paisley was a man full of aggression and his organisation follows this line.  The gospel of RWCGO is therefore seriously erroneous. It is steeped in Calvinism.

The RWCGO is advertising for volunteers to assist in their evangelisation of the  rugby crowds.

They will presumably subscribe to the regulations stated below.

MISSION BOARD

The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster Mission Board was created by Presbytery in March 1974 to oversee the entire process of the selection, commissioning, and support of the denomination’s missionaries. It is made up of Ministers and Elders appointed by Presbytery and three members from the Missionary Council.

This step was taken by the church because of the pressing need to send our missionaries from our own church and not under ecumenical and compromised interdenominational missionary societies. There were clear indications that many of the missionary societies were opening their fellowship to Charismatic influences and practises.

There was another pressing reason for creating such a board. As Bible-believing Presbyterians we believe that the doctrine, government, and the stand of the Free Presbyterian Church-and especially its evangelistic, Christ-centred grasp of the Reformed faith-should be reproduced in the churches our missionaries pioneer. The idea of their going forth to establish interdenominational independent, or congregational churches, whose doctrinal basis is far from the one to which we subscribe in the Westminster Confession of Faith, was not what we stood for at home.

Until death do us part

For better or for worse

….Thus the Lord Jesus permitted divorce in the sense of separation from an unfaithful wife (see Jer 3.8), but banned remarriage, labelling it adultery. In essence He was redefining the meaning of divorce. It is a separation, not a disannulling of the marriage bond and, therefore, not a licence to remarry.  ̶   J Gibson; Believers Magazine ; July 2015

Gibson’s use of Jeremiah 3: 8 implies that God was a bigamist. The verse has nothing to do with the normal marital state between a man and a woman.

The charge that the Lord permitted divorce in any sense  is obscene. Malachi 2: 16 reads ,For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away 

Most of us who are married probably, at our marriage, gave assent to the statement below.

I, (name), take you (name), to be my (wife/husband), to have  and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.

These words express what marriage is about. Therefore to renounce them at a later date and walk away from one’s spouse is treachery and mocks God. it is immaterial that it has not been a legal divorce.

Gibson, who does not believe the Bible, relies on a depraved parody of Scripture when he refers to “except for sexual immorality” in Matt, 19: 9. Lusting after a woman in one’s heart is sexual immorality, so there will not be many couples left living together where this principle is applied.
Scripture gives utterly no ground for the spouse to separate. It is the unbelieving spouse who will depart. 

This writer has been married for 53 years. Of course there have been tears along the way