Brethren is a name adopted by a wide range of mainly Christian religious
groups throughout history which do not necessarily share historical roots,
including some of the earliest primitive churches, the Paulician Brethren, the
Bogomil Brethren, the Brethren of the Free Spirit, the Schwarzenau Brethren
and some Anabaptist groups, the Moravian Brethren, and the Plymouth Brethren,
among many others. Anabaptist groups
These groups grew out of the Anabaptist movement at the time of the Protestant
Reformation. The Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren are
descendants of German, Swiss, and Tyrolean Anabaptists led by Jacob
Hutter, who was burned at the stake in 1536 for refusing to renounce his faith.
The Swiss Brethren were an early Anabaptist group that later divided into
the Amish and Mennonite groups The Mennonite Brethren originated among
Russian Mennonites in 1860. = Schwarzenau Brethren =
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
Old German Baptist Brethren Old Brethren German Baptist
Old Order German Baptist Brethren Conservatives
Church of the Brethren Dunkard Brethren
Progressives The Brethren Church
Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches Conservative Grace Brethren Churches,
International Brethren Reformed Church
Plymouth Brethren The various Plymouth Brethren bodies
originated in the 1820s work of John Nelson Darby and others in Ireland and
the United Kingdom as well as India: Exclusive Brethren
Needed Truth Brethren Raven–Taylor–Hales Brethren
Open Brethren Indian Brethren
Kerala Brethren Assembly or Verbada Sabha
Needed Truth Brethren Gospel Hall Brethren
Methodist groups Some groups named "Brethren" have
contributed to United Methodism: Church of the United Brethren in Christ
Evangelical United Brethren United Brethren, a group of Methodists
who later joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
River Brethren The River Brethren owe their origins to
the combined labors of Reformed pastor Philip William Otterbein and Mennonite
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: Brethren in Christ Church
Church of the United Brethren in Christ Church of the United Brethren in Christ
Church of the United Brethren in Christ Old Order River Brethren
Medieval Catholic reformist groups Apostolic Brethren, 13th-century
Italians The Brethren of the Common Life was a
Middle-Age group. Brethren of the Free Spirit
Kalands Brethren, a 13th-century German charitable organization
Other religious groups Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon
fundamentalist group. The Brethren, an apocalyptic Jesus
people movement from the 1970s. Brethren of Purity, an esoteric Muslim
sect. The Church of the Lutheran Brethren of
America is neither Anabaptist nor Pietistic, but is the result of a late
19th-century spiritual awakening among Lutheran congregations in the upper
Midwestern United States. They formed a separate synod in 1900.
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, a Czech Lutheran–Reformed Protestant
church The Moravian Brethren descend from the
followers of Jan Hus, a Czech reformer burned at the stake in 1415 and mainly
Bohemian 15th-century nobleman and theologian Peter Chelcicky.
The Polish Brethren—also known as Socinians—were an Antitrinitarian group,
forerunners for the Unitarians. The Social Brethren originated in Saline
County, Illinois in 1867, the result of an attempt to put the slavery issue away
in favor of uniting on a common belief in the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Studite Brethren, a society in the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The United Seventh-Day Brethren is an
Adventist body. The Unity of the Brethren also traces
its roots to the work of Hus. Miscellaneous
Brethren, an Australian hip hop group. Brethren of the Coast, a loose coalition
of Caribbean pirates. Brethren of the Croatian Dragon, a
Croatian historical society. See also
All pages beginning with "Brethren"