The Open Brethren: A Christian Sect in the Modern World by Peter Herriot

Author:Peter Herriot
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9783030032197
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Assembly as Family

We know that fundamentalist believers are likely to be more authoritarian than average (see p. 42). If this is so, then we might expect to see this trait demonstrated in other areas of their life than the assembly. We should stress that it is just as likely they have developed more authoritarian attitudes as a consequence of their adherence as that they chose assembly fellowship as a consequence of existing attitudes.

One such area is parenting , and we have evidence that a Brethren upbringing typically emphasized obedience and conformity. In Chap. 7, it became evident that parents had very clear expectations about what their children should believe from a very early age. The story (see pp. 60–61) of the parents whose adult children now demonstrate “a lack of spiritual interest and a lifestyle so different to what we taught them”1 is a painful example. Having imposed a demanding regime of home and assembly religious practice, they are at a loss as to why their children should leave the Brethren. They attribute their children’s ‘backsliding’ entirely to them, failing to entertain the possibility that their own parenting regime might have had something to do with it.

The Brethren magazines repeatedly advocate punitive child-rearing practices.2,3 Following the wisdom of the book of Proverbs 13.24, a writer indicates the benefit of some form of corporal punishment, but draws the line at ‘the rod’. Similar tight control is recommended in all matters sexual, in relationships with the political authorities, and in participation in the education system.

However, to single out particular areas of authoritarian control is to run the risk of missing the main point: the overall culture of the tight Brethren is authoritarian, and the issue of authority permeates their lives. And the ultimate authority from which all belief and practice stem is the Bible. The primacy of the Bible’s authority is the root belief of the Brethren culture, and it is to its detailed consideration that the next chapter is devoted.

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