Benjamin Wills Newton
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Wills Newton, was an evangelist
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

 and author of Christian books. He was influential in the Plymouth Brethren
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...

. Although initially a close friend of John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism. He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation...

, they began to clash on matters of church doctrine and practice which ultimately led to the 1848 split of the brethren movement into the Open Brethren
Open Brethren
The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren or "Plymouth Brethren", are a group of Protestant Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement...

 and Exclusive Brethren
Exclusive Brethren
The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848....

.

Early days

Newton was born in Davenport near Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, Devon in a Quaker family. His father died shortly before Benjamin was born. Newton had no siblings. He studied at Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...

, where he obtained a 1st Class Classics degree in 1828 and became a fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of the college.

Establishment of a brethren assembly at Plymouth

At Oxford he abandoned Quaker beliefs and joined the Anglican Church. He was friends of Francis William Newman
Francis William Newman
Francis William Newman , the younger brother of Cardinal Newman, was an English scholar and miscellaneous writer.-Life:...

 and George Wigram
George Wigram
George Vicesimus Wigram was an English biblical scholar and theologian.-Early life:He was the 20th child of Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet, a famous and wealthy merchant, and the 14th child of Lady Eleanor Wigram, Robert's 2nd wife...

. Through Newman he first met John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism. He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation...

. Newton and his friends in Oxford became increasingly critical of the Anglican Church especially in regard to its subjection to the sovereign state and the appointment of ordained clergy. In December 1831 Wigram left the Anglican church and bought a nonconformist place of worship, Providence Chapel in Raleigh Street, Plymouth, Devon. Meetings were open to Christians from all denominations for fellowship, prayer, praise and communion. In January 1832, Newton and Darby, although at the time, both Anglican clerics, shared communion with Wigram at such a meeting.
By March 1832 Newton had left the Anglican Church, committed himself to the new fellowship and married a local girl, Hannah Abbott. The “Providence People” as they were known locally, grew quickly, became known as “The Brethren from Plymouth” and then were referred to as the Plymouth Brethren. Around 1832 Darby also left a denominational/sectarian system, the Church of Ireland.

The predominant features of the Plymouth assembly in 1832 included:
  • Rejection of clergy and adoption of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers
  • Plurality of Elders – The elders were unpaid. Newton soon became an elder, and earned his living as a school teacher
  • Weekly communion
  • Separation from evil systems – e.g. not being in the armed forces or a member of any apostate denominational church


The Plymouth assembly was similar to an assembly in Dublin, Ireland which was established in 1827 by Anthony Norris Groves
Anthony Norris Groves
Anthony Norris Groves has been described as the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, now the capital of Iraq, and later in southern India. His ideas influenced a circle of friends who became leaders in the Plymouth...

, Darby and other Christians who sought a return of Christendom to New Testament principles. Like the Dublin assembly which originally was anti sectarian in that it was open to all Christian believers, the Plymouth assembly in 1832 began defining qualifications for membership and an insistence that fellowship could only occur after severing any other fellowship with a denominational church. The shifting to a sectarian position was detected by Anthony Norris Groves
Anthony Norris Groves
Anthony Norris Groves has been described as the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, now the capital of Iraq, and later in southern India. His ideas influenced a circle of friends who became leaders in the Plymouth...

, as shown in his letter to Darby in 1835 .

Relations with John Nelson Darby

John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism. He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation...

 was the dominant force in the early Brethren movement. Newton saw him as his mentor whilst Darby saw Newton as a prized disciple. It was Newton who had first invited Darby to the Plymouth Assembly in 1831 in order that the Plymouth assembly could be modelled on the assembly in Dublin. Darby, eager to evangelise and teach throughout Europe, appointed Newton as the primary elder in Plymouth. Although they were in agreement over many issues, such as the rejection of the pentecostal teachings of Edward Irving
Edward Irving
*For Edward Irving, the Canadian geologist, see Edward A. Irving.Edward Irving was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church.-Youth:...

, by 1834, cracks began to develop in their relationship.

In 1834, a dispute arose over their friend, Francis Newman, who had started to hold heretical beliefs in regards to the divinity of Christ. Darby excommunicated Newman, but Newton allowed Newman to keep fellowship with the Plymouth assembly in the hope that Newman would be restored. In 1835, demonstrating his increasing independence of Darby, Newton stepped down as presiding elder, believing that elders should not be elected by the authority of man as had been the case at Plymouth. Although no longer the presiding elder, his influence and leadership of the assembly continued to grow.

A bigger dispute also began to arise in the 1830s over their differing views of future events predicted in the Bible. Although both were premillennialists, Newton believed the church would go through the tribulation
Tribulation
The Great Tribulation refers to tumultuous events that are described during the "signs of the times", first mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet discourse...

, whilst Darby, who previously also believed in a post tribulation rapture
Post Tribulation Rapture
In Christian eschatology, the Post-Tribulation Rapture doctrine is the belief in a combined Resurrection and Rapture of all believers coming after the Great Tribulation.-Doctrine and implications:...

, began to shift positions and became increasingly convinced in a pretribulation rapture. Newton also had a different view on dispensationalism
Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants.As a system,...

 and believed the present dispensation consisted of three concurrent parts with the Jewish and Christian parts both terminating at the second coming of Christ, and the Gentile part terminating earlier with the appearance of the Antichrist. Newton was particularly critical of Darby’s belief that future events in chapter 24 of the Gospel of Matthew relate primarily to the Jews after the church had been secretly raptured and said that "the Secret Rapture was bad enough, but this [John Darby's equally novel idea that the book of Matthew is on 'Jewish' ground instead of 'Church' ground] was worse."

Newton interpreted 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 2 Thessalonians 2 v1-4 as proof of a post tribulation, non-secret rapture. He viewed Darby's dispensational and pre-tribulation rapture teaching as "the height of speculative nonsense". Unlike Darby, he also believed that the church is made up of both Jews, including Old Testament saints, and Gentiles who have been made one in Christ and that Darby's scheme, followed logically, implied two distinct and separate ways to salvation.

Between 1835 and 1845, Darby spent much of his time in Continental Europe during which time the assembly in Plymouth had grown to over 1000 people with the condition of the assembly being likened to "heaven on earth". In 1840, a larger chapel in Ebrington Street, Plymouth was built and used for the main worship services, while Providence Chapel was retained for smaller meetings such as evangelistic services.

In 1843, Darby briefly visited Plymouth, and tensions with Newton grew. Darby was dismayed by the state of the assembly which, in his absence, he perceived as having shifted away from the priesthood of all believers
Priesthood of all believers
The universal priesthood or the priesthood of all believers, as it would come to be known in the present day, is a Christian doctrine believed to be derived from several passages of the New Testament...

 towards the establishment of official clergy. The doctrinal dispute over future events also was intensified by the publication of Newton’s book Thoughts on the Apocalypse in 1842 which, in the following year, received a hostile 490-page review by Darby.

In March 1845, Darby fled Switzerland, due to a threat of revolution in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, and travelled directly to Plymouth to “battle for the soul of Brethrenism”. A war of words, escalating into a pamphlet war ensued. The battle was over eschatology
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...

, the priesthood of all believers together with the role of assembly leaders, Darby had by this time developed strong views against the formal recognition of elders. Also at dispute was whether, as Newton believed, each assembly was independent and autonomous or, as Darby believed, were connected and integral parts of a universal body. Both Darby and Newton had strong, intransigent personalities which exacerbated the situation.
The dispute became personal with Darby exiting from fellowship with the Plymouth assembly and publicly accusing Newton of deception and dishonesty. The charges against Newton were investigated by the elders at Ebrington Street and were dismissed.

Although most of the Plymouth assembly, at this stage, supported Newton, Darby did have some support in the dispute, particularly from Wigram, by then living in London, who had earlier financed the purchase of both the Raleigh Street and Ebrington Street premises. In December 1845, Wigram wrote to the Plymouth elders formally withdrawing his fellowship from Ebrington Street and revoking his loan of the Raleigh Street chapel. The use of Raleigh Street was given to Darby and his supporters, resulting in two local brethren assemblies at odds with each other. Both parties continued with the dispute and were eager to explain their position to other brethren assemblies which were springing up throughout the country. In 1846 whilst Newton was travelling around London holding private meetings to partly answer charges levelled against him by Darby, a brethren assembly in Rawthorne Street, London, where Wigram was leader, requested Newton to attend a meeting so that the charges against him could again be looked into. Newton, backed by the Ebrington Street meeting, declined their persistent requests to attend, and was subsequently excommunicated by Rawthorne Street.

In 1847 the Darby party discovered that Newton, firstly in an article printed in 1835, had taught heretical doctrine in regards to the Person of Christ. The article was produced as a rebuttal to Edward Irving's
Edward Irving
*For Edward Irving, the Canadian geologist, see Edward A. Irving.Edward Irving was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church.-Youth:...

 heretical teachings regarding the Person of Christ which had gained popularity. Newton believed that Christ, although perfect, experienced sufferings before the day of Crucifixion, not for the sake of others, but due to his association, through his mother, with Adam and his descendents and more specifically with the apostate nation of Israel. Therefore, according to Newton, Christ suffered hunger and pain and had a mortal body. Darby and his supporters seized the opportunity to condemn Newton as a heretic. Although Newton apologised and retracted his “Adamic error”, and withdrew for consideration his views on the sufferings of Christ, some of the elders at Ebrington Street began to lose confidence in him. Darby was not satisfied at this, allegedly due to the lack of repentance shown by Newton or as Henry Groves, the son of Anthony Norris Groves
Anthony Norris Groves
Anthony Norris Groves has been described as the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, now the capital of Iraq, and later in southern India. His ideas influenced a circle of friends who became leaders in the Plymouth...

, another eminent Brethren leader said, Darby was "bent on ruling" and wanted rid of his rival. Darby's persistence in the matter and Newton's refusal to retaliate but rather to "turn the other cheek" resulted in Darby successfully winning over the elders who had supported Newton, leaving Newton isolated. On December 7, 1847 Newton permanently left the brethren movement and moved to London where he established an independent meeting.

The feud ultimately led to the division of the Plymouth Brethren in 1848 when George Muller
George Müller
George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...

, the co-leader of Bethesda chapel, a brethren assembly in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, allowed visitors from Ebrington Street into fellowship in Bristol and was slow to comply to Darby's ultimatum for all assemblies to condemn Newton's heresy. Darby, in response, excommunicated all those in fellowship at Bethesda. The assemblies which supported Darby’s action became known as the Exclusive Brethren
Exclusive Brethren
The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848....

 and those which rallied behind George Muller and Bethesda chapel, and subsequently also excommunicated, were named Open Brethren
Open Brethren
The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren or "Plymouth Brethren", are a group of Protestant Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement...

.

Ironically, in 1858, Darby also was accused of holding a similar heresy to that of Newton’s in regards to the sufferings of Christ.

Post brethren years

Newton married Maria Hawkins in 1849, his first wife having died in 1846. His only child died at the age of 5 in 1855.

Throughout the next 50 years, he remained active as a Christian teacher and writer. After leaving the Plymouth Brethren, he set up an independent chapel in Bayswater, London.
He later lived in Orpingon, Kent, followed by Newport, Isle of Wight. For the last 3 years of his life he lived in Tunbridge Wells.

Although labelled as an evil-doer and a false teacher by the Darbyites, other people view Newton as the John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...

 of the 19th century and believe the Brethren movement may have done better if it had followed his teaching rather than Darby's dispensationalism, and Darby's belief in the any moment pre-tribulation secret return of the Lord for the secret rapture of the saints to heaven, and for the Lord to return publicly with the church 7 years later for the commencement of a 1000 year reign.

His friends and supporters during years of relentless vilification by the Darbyites included Samuel Prideaux Tregelles
Samuel Prideaux Tregelles
Samuel Prideaux Tregelles was an English biblical scholar, textual critic, and theologian.- Life :Tregelles was born at Wodehouse Place, Falmouth, of Quaker parents, but he himself for many years was in communion with the Plymouth Brethren and then later in life became a Presbyterian...

, George Muller
George Müller
George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...

 and Charles Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a large British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers"...

.

Historian Roy Coad notes, "He lived until 1899, retreating into a little circle of two or three churches of his own, and leaving a devoted following, mainly among Strict Baptists."

As a writer he produced more than 200 published works. His great gift was exposition of the Scriptures and, particularly, unfulfilled prophecy.

George Muller

George Muller
George Müller
George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...

 of Bristol wrote "I consider Mr. Newton's writings to be most sound and scriptural, and my wife and I are in the habit of reading them, not only with the deepest interest, but great profit to our souls. His books are certainly most valuable, for they exalt the person and work of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ to the very utmost. If anyone honestly wishes to know what Mr. Newton's views really are, let him carefully and attentively read some of his principle writings through, such as Salvation by Substitution; Atonement and its Result; Gospel Truths, from which he will clearly see, not only that Mr. Newton is sound in the faith, but also that his teaching is of a most valuable character ... I regard Mr. Newton as the most accurate writer on religious themes of the nineteenth century."

Works


Further reading

  • Jonathan D. Burnham: "A Story of Conflict. The Controversial Relationship between Benjamin Wills Newton and John Nelson Darby." Foreword by Grayson Carter. Studies in Evangelical History and Thought. Milton Keynes: Paternoster 2004
  • "Benjamin Wills Newton – Maligned But Magnificent : A Centenary Tribute" by Ian Paisley
    Ian Paisley
    Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...

    . Publisher Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony
    Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony
    The Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony is a Protestant and Reformed Christian organisation begun in 1918 in the United Kingdom. It holds to a manifesto agreed in 1919....

    , 1999

External links

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