Brethren (religious group)

Brethren is a name adopted by a wide range of mainly Christian religious groups throughout history. The largest movement is Anabaptist.

Groups from the Middle Ages

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Anabaptist groups

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

  • The Hutterites, also known as Hutterian Brethren, originated from German, Swiss, and Tyrolean Anabaptists led by Jacob Hutter in the 1520s
  • The Swiss Brethren, the name Swiss Anabaptists used from 1525 until their split into Amish and Mennonite groups in 1693
  • The Mennonite Brethren, originated among Russian Mennonites in 1860

Schwarzenau Brethren

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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

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Conservatives

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Progressives

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River Brethren

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The River Brethren have their origins in the ministries of Mennonite Bishop Jacob Engle and Mennonite Pastor 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):

Moravian Brethren

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  • Moravian Church, also known as United Brethren, Unitas Fratrum, and Bohemian Brethren, descend from the followers of Jan Hus, a Czech reformer burned at the stake in 1415 and Bohemian 15th-century nobleman and theologian Petr Chelčický
  • Unity of the Brethren, a conservative Moravian denomination that also traces its roots to the work of Hus and Chelčický

Plymouth Brethren

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The Plymouth Brethren originated in the 1820s work of John Nelson Darby and others in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and India. Plymouth Brethren divided into two branches in 1848:

Albright Brethren

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United Brethren

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Former United Brethren

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They merged with a large group of Methodists to become the United Methodist Church in 1968:

Other religious groups

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