[aron]

I'm not arguing one way or another on Christ's soon return. I just note that Darby, an Anglican minister who became a 'dissenter' and withdrew, became a divisive force within the congregation in which he met. Today you can buy the collected works of John Nelson Darby in 47 fine leather-bound volumes, and you can also read the testimonies of many who said that his teachings brought in animosity and recrimination among the flock. Many bitter and disillusioned Christians left Darby's group, because they had talked to someone who Darby had "quarantined", or violated some other technicality. They weren't "one" enough.

Secondly, Darby wrote (I can't quote it but remember reading it) that spiritual lethargy and ennui came into the flock that wasn't ready for Christ's second coming. So focusing on this subject made the church ready: "Behold the Bride has made Herself ready" etc.

But the point must also be made that the ignorant hype of Christ's soon return caused many to sell their possessions and wait on the mountaintop, while Christ Himself said that it wasn't to know the times or seasons (Acts 1:7). We should all be ready, always. Life is short. But unbalanced focus on the topic caused many to become tossed about in turmoil. "It is better to eat a dry crust of bread in peace, than a big dinner in a house full of fighting" (Proverbs 17:1)

One 19th century group made such a hype about Christ's second coming, that they fixed the date, and all got ready. Then when the bright glory in the clouds didn't appear, some leaders said that Christ came from Heaven to a hidden cloud, where He now reigns. If you go to the facebook sites of the members, they mark the day, like Oct 15, 1857 (or something like that). Like Christ secretly moved from one part of heaven to another, on a fixed date. O great, that really changes my life.

So Darby wasn't the only one. But the point is that:

1. Darby's writings, like Nee's are shot through with spirituality, and seem impressive. You can read the 47 volumes and come away marveling at his zeal, fervor, care, dedication, and devotion to Christ. But he caused great harm in the flock. He got the first part right: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul and mind", but failed at the second part: "Love your neighbor as yourself". He loved doctrine too much, and his weeding out error in thought ruined the spiritual lives of many in the church.

2. A zeal for God's soon return in Christ's Millennial Kingdom was the antidote for the perceived lethargy in the church. But an obsession with this led to disappointment and fanaticism. Even today people think Christ "secretly came" back in the 19th century, and they have essentially founded their church on this. (I think the 7th Day Adventists hold this, or some of them.)

3. Darby's revealed truth, imposed on his brethren associates, was that Christ would come immediately, and to them. Darby was wrong. All the turmoil and rancor, for what? To be 'rapture-ready'? What about "love your neighbor"? Darby held the Brethren together by his iron hand, but when he died, no personality remaining could do it. So Darby's followers splintered. Today all these isolated groups can read Darby's works and marvel at the spirituality of the man. But what fruit was left? Elitism, division and bitterness.

Similarly, Nee and Lee left behind extensive writings, and everybody agrees they were zealous men. But they divided the flock, according to their private revelations of "recovered truths" which supposedly had been hidden from everyone else, and the movements they founded couldn't even be held together by these recovered truths, so-called. Once the dominant personality was gone, the groups splintered. The newly recovered "truth" revealed itself: every man to his own tent, and the devil take the hindmost. What kind of recovered flock is that?