moved to London in 1880 McKilliam himself entered the movement. The lay spirit of the awakenings has perhaps been underestimated in histories of the Brethren as an important shaping force on its ethos. After 1859 the movement to some extent was remade, with Brethrenism inheriting not only the anti-establishment spirit of mid-century revivalism, but also its lay orientation. The upsurge in lay activity was an important part of the evangelicalism from which Brethrenism emerged and tensions between clerical establish-ments and laypeople became a significant cause of accessions to the new movement. The Brethren developed their own thinking on the laity, but their principles and practices did not arrive fully fledged. The commemoration of the Lord’s supper in Dublin to which Brethren origins are traced, initially had a set order of service, but it gradually came to allow spontaneous participa-tion by attendants. The mature thought of Darby, in particular, slowly

doi:10.4324/9780203166505-110

Chapter

moved to London in 1880 McKilliam himself entered the movement. The lay spirit of the awakenings has perhaps been underestimated in histories of the Brethren as an important shaping force on its ethos. After 1859 the movement to some extent was remade, with Brethrenism inheriting not only the anti-establishment spirit of mid-century revivalism, but also its lay orientation. The upsurge in lay activity was an important part of the evangelicalism from which Brethrenism emerged and tensions between clerical establish-ments and laypeople became a significant cause of accessions to the new movement. The Brethren developed their own thinking on the laity, but their principles and practices did not arrive fully fledged. The commemoration of the Lord’s supper in Dublin to which Brethren origins are traced, initially had a set order of service, but it gradually came to allow spontaneous participa-tion by attendants. The mature thought of Darby, in particular, slowly

Chapter

moved to London in 1880 McKilliam himself entered the movement. The lay spirit of the awakenings has perhaps been underestimated in histories of the Brethren as an important shaping force on its ethos. After 1859 the movement to some extent was remade, with Brethrenism inheriting not only the anti-establishment spirit of mid-century revivalism, but also its lay orientation. The upsurge in lay activity was an important part of the evangelicalism from which Brethrenism emerged and tensions between clerical establish-ments and laypeople became a significant cause of accessions to the new movement. The Brethren developed their own thinking on the laity, but their principles and practices did not arrive fully fledged. The commemoration of the Lord’s supper in Dublin to which Brethren origins are traced, initially had a set order of service, but it gradually came to allow spontaneous participa-tion by attendants. The mature thought of Darby, in particular, slowly

ABSTRACT

R.M. Beverley sought to show that Luther had realized the priesthood of all believers, liberty of ministry and the abrogation of the official priesthood, but had not judged it politic to insist on his views as part of the Reformation.51

For Beverley, as for Harris, every true Christian was a priest ‘in the gospel sense’. To divide the church into clergy and laity was to take away the glory of Christ who ‘anoints all his elect servants to be kings and priests’.52 If any ecclesiastical institution separated believers into two distinct categories ‘then is the design of the gospel not answered’.53 The division into clergy and laity was seen as a product of confusion between Judaism and Christianity.54

Attacks on the Judaizing of Christianity were particularly marked among those with an Anglican background,55 probably because the Old Testament example was used to defend establishment and church order. It was Darby who, in developing the scheme known as dispensationalism, which rigidly divided Judaism from the church, pressed the contrast furthest.56 The radical implications which the Brethren saw in the New Testament led them to reject any division between members of the church.