The Brethren Cult

A public lecture on The Brethren Cult and their “FAKE THEOLOGY THAT SHAPES THE WORLD” by © John Russell Oct. 2024 John Russell is the author of the book “History of the Brethren Cult in Guatemala”. Adopted at birth into the Cult by a New Zealand family, he was raised to become their national leader in Guatemala. Russell was an eye witness to their machinations, dastardly acts and behaviour in New Zealand, the US and Guatemala. “I never knew I was in a cult, until I was publicly expelled and began to study their history, their leaders and their theology”. The book can be ordered via email at; jrussell602@gmail.com When you grow up in the Brethren Cult, everything that happens around you seems perfectly normal. The behaviour of the people, the customs, the interactions, the rules, the beliefs, what is allowed and what is not allowed, while everything that happens outside the Cult is considered tabu, un-godly and for the most minor infringement, you could end up in the Eternal Lake of Fire, which is the preferred place of punishment by those who rule the Brethren Cult. It wasn't till after I was publicly expelled from the Cult in the early 70s, (or “read out” as they call it) that I began to seriously question who they were, where they came from, how they started, and what gave these mother-fuckers the right to treat me the way that they did. The answers were not easy to come by and the actual veridical information was difficult to extrapolate from the mountains of self serving writings many Brethren males are prone to create, believing that everything they have to say is carries the same weight as the holy texts. Still, I persevered, and as I delved further into their history, I soon began to discover that the Brethren are not loved by anybody, and that the mainline churches such as the Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholics and Anglicans, possess amazing amounts of documentation, recording what the Brethren get up to in different countries. Through my contacts, I was also to able to peruse some government intelligence reports on their illegal activities in the international arena, which came as no surprise. The Brethren are a strictly male Cult and highly misogynous. Women play no role in the decisions of the Cult and are treated as useful objects to serve, make food, procreate and give pleasure. In most of their Gospel Halls, (churches= the women sit at the back, or separately, must cover their heads and keep their mouths shut. The preachings constantly remind everyone that the Lord (God) is the head of everything, the man is the Head of the house and that women must obey him because he knows best. The men have the relationship with the Lord and pass on any instructions to the women. The Brethren don't mention God or Jesus very often, and refer to either as “The Lord”. As Noam Chomsky would say; “We invaded to bring them freedom”, and my paper today is a brief introduction to the; “FAKE THEOLOGY THAT SHAPES THE WORLD” The Brethren Cult is one of the most influential cults in the Western World. Not because of it's numbers, which are relatively small compared to other cults like the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses and other pseudoreligions that originated in the USA. In the “Theory of Religion” (1987), Rodney Stark y William Sims Bainbridge established the way to classify religious organisations, utilizing the studies made by the sociologist Benton Johnson in 1963, with the following definitios; Church; A conventional religious organiztion with traditional pratices and belefs Sect; An anomalus religious organiztion with traditional pratices and belefs Cult; An anomalus religious organiztion with unusual pratices and belefs The Brethren's world-wide influence comes from their bizarre theology, invented on the fly by John Nelson Darby, a de-frocked Anglican priest who had been given his marching orders for being too contentious, disobedient and a general pain in the ass to the Church of England. Darby wanted to be famous, and in 1827, he met with a few like minded ratbags in the British city of Plymouth to celebrate communion and “BREAK BREAD” in the manner that they thought was the most appropriate. Darby was smart, well educated and forceful and soon became the “brains” of the “PLYMOUTH BRETHREN” movement, as they came to be known, before they morphed into a fully fledged Cult. They soon attracted all sorts of disgruntled followers, misfits and religious anarchists from the mainline churches. Darby made them all feel welcome, but they didn't have anything special that made them unique and separate them from the rest of the religious greys. Darby was smart enough to realize that he had to come up with something, so he started banding around a few preposterous ideas amongst his followers, but most weren't going for it, till he finally came up with his “DISPENSATIONS” scam, based on a few Bible verses that he cobbled together to prove his discovery. The group really liked that, and decided to run with it, as this “NEW THEOLOGY” was something the Brethren could finally call their very own and no else had it. Buoyed by his sudden success, Darby wasn't prepared to stop there and pretty soon began to claim that he had discovered further Biblical evidence, identifying his “FELLOW BRETHREN” as one of the “LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL”, which soon became his next doctrinal scam which he decide to call “CHRISTIAN ZIONISM”. The disgruntled followers, misfits and religious anarchists that surrounded Darby were not easy to control and Charles Spurgeon the Baptist “Prince of Preachers” who preached to more than 10 million people during his lifetime, describes their fights, disagreements and nastiness and was an independent eye witness. In 1869, Spurgeon wrote this about the Brethren in London; “When they have no one to fight with, they fight amongst themselves. So great is their desire to create a drama, that it would be unusual to see two of them remain together for a few minutes, without disagreeing about some doctrinal point”. Spurgeon continues with these observations; “The don't use the “LORDS PRAYER” because it contains the phrase “FORGIVE OUR TRESPASSES”, so they don't confess or acknowledge their sins. . . . We hear much about the Jesuits these days, but the Plymouth Brethren compare with them, not only in their astuteness, but in their efforts to gain converts. . . They are unhappy souls . . . They use insinuation, defamation, insolence, threats and violence to maintain their positions . . .With the mortal heresies taught by the Plymouth Brethren . . . I'm sure that my readers will not be surprised by other major errors they have taken on board and jealously propagate. Amongst these are their “MORAL LAW” and “RULES OF LIFE” doctrines, which claim they have nothing to do with believers in Christ. These doctrines impregnate all their writings, as well as their preachings”. Spurgeon also tells us that; “In 1860 they had a “Conference” at the London Bridge Hotel . . . Many Brethren came from all over the country . . . by the character of their acts and usurpations, I would call it an “Inquisition” . . . the doors had guards and padlocks and one brother was grabbed by the throat and thrown outside”. Spurgeon also tells us about another conference in London; “There were between 400 and 500 Brethren there . . . They had only been there about an hour, when they started an incredibly furious fight. This lasted 5 to 6 hours during 3 successive days, The purpose of the “Conference” had been to try and “re-conciliate” . . . Just the idea of conciliation, drove them into a state of major indignation. Scenes of incredible disruption, mixed with the worst of sentiments, occurred on daily basis. . . The saddest thing about these deplorable scenes was that they reckoned that the Holy Spirit was in all this and that their conclusions were the result of it's special guidance”. Spurgeon also comments about the behaviour of the Brethren towards relatives who didn't follow the rules of the Cult; “The effects on family life, are perhaps the most horrible . . . the testimonies of thousands of people, speak of painful experiences . . . of the domestic unhappiness caused by adopting Darby's opinions. When family members are opposed to his doctrines . . . Darby-ism changes the character of a person . . . for someone who was friendly and content before, the joy of life disappears. It's a fact that it's difficult to find a Darbyite that's friendly, generous and open, even when the family previously lived a happy and harmonious Christian life”. Finally Darby conjured up his greatest “NEW DOCTRINE” of all time, “THE SECRET RAPTURE” scam, which he stole in 1830 from a 15 year old Scottish girl named Margaret Macdonald, who regularly entered into trances of “VISIONS AND PROFECIES”, while supposedly channelling messages from an unnamed celestial being. Darby's Brethren were now ecstatic. They could not believe their good luck. The Brethren could now claim complete uniqueness, which set them far apart from all the other Christian denominations, sects and cults in the world at the time. Darby had hit the jackpot big time, just for them. But Darby isn't the only one to blame for the theological hijacking of modern Christendom. Much of the blame lies on the shoulders of an American wife beater, embezzler and fraudster named Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, who was so enamoured with Darby's “NEW THEOLOGY” that he decided to produce the “SCOFIELD REFERENCE BIBLE”, based on a Bible translation by John Nelson Darby which included supposedly exact dates of the Creation and all other events, which lets the reader follow themes from one chapter and book to another. This Bible, sold like hot cakes in the USA and made Scofield millions of dollars,. Full of Darby's crazy ideas, and all explained in detail with special notes for their simple minds to understand. Today, no self respecting member of the Brethren Cult could face a new day without knowing that his “SCOFIELD REFERENCE BIBLE” is sitting safely on the bookshelf. Essential reading material during my upbringing. The Brethren Cult never took off in a big way in the UK, they found more fertile ground in places like Canada, Australia and New Zealand. From the 1920s onward, New Zealand became a hotbed of Brethrenism. The USA on the other hand, became an indirect stronghold and powerhouse for them, not so much in the number of Cult numbers, but owing to the take-up of the "NEW THEOLOGY". Initially, there was some opposition to this "NEW THEOLOGY" from the mainline churches in the USA, but most fell into line and had to get with the plan, when pressured by the demands of their own followers who thought it would be great to become “CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS” and not have to wait too long for the immediate “SECRET RAPTURE”. A few churches in the USA have managed to hold out, but they are now in the minority. Darby's crazy "DISPENSATIONS" are his code-words for “CREATIONISM”, and has the Fundamentalist Christians demanding that all our school systems must be infected with these falsehoods. Darby's “CHRISTIAN ZIONISM” has the Christians fuelling and financing wars in the Middle East with the specific intention of bringing forward the final battle of Armageddon, so they can watch Jesus appear in the clouds. Christians killing Jews is nothing new. Darby's “SECRET RAPTURE” Has the majority of Christians believing that the state of the world doesn't matter, as they expect to be whisked away any moment. Any disaster they “LEAVE BEHIND” is totally deserved by those that didn't heed the word of the Lord, as determined by the Brethren Cult. The Brethren Cult and the Fundamentalist Christians, lap these Darby falsehoods up, like demons slurping spew. So does almost half the population of the USA. Overnight, Kit Carson and Wyatt Earp became the gun fighting defenders and promoters of Darby's "NEW THEOLOGY" that made the illiterate population in the vast prairies of the USA, feel that they were "VERY SPECIAL" and that God had given all these “NEW TRUTHS AND REVELATIONS", just to them. Without knowing it, they had all become "FOLLOWERS & MEMBERS" of the Brethren Cult. So great was their conviction and belief in Darby's "ORIGINAL LIES", that various groups decide to export his concoction of "FALSE DOCTRINES" down to the gullible Catholics in Central and South America, utilizing missionaries, indoctrinators and emotional blackmailers. Today almost half the population of Guatemala's 23 million people, believe without question in the "FALSE DOCTRINES" invented by John Nelson Darby. Worse still, most of the Latin immigrants, legal and illegal, arrive back in the USA, fully indoctrinated with this tripe. When businessmen breakfast with the President or a Prime Minister, that's a Brethren scam to maintain their influence. Another one of their favourite enterprises is TaxDodging and Tax-Evasion. The Brethren see the payment of taxes to the State, as giving their money to Mammon. On the other hand, they are quite happy to, and go to great lengths to fleece the State demanding subsidies for their schools and fake charities. As a friend of mine commented ; “Brethren will steal the tips from the charity jar”. Brethren are powerful and are constantly lobbying to have vaccines de-funded, abortion de-funded, unemployment benefits cancelled, condoms banned, phycology and psychiatry banned and more jails built. Basically, The Brethren Cult is a Fundamentalist Christo-Fascist para-subversive group, of racists and white supremacists that are a direct threat to Democracy. One could describe the Brethren Cult as red-necks without badges, weapons or training camps. They don't need them, their weapon is their fake theology and just about everyone has bought it hook line and sinker, from the telex-evangelists to the fake healers on TV, and not forgetting the Mega-Churches. There are artists and song writers, movie makers, producers, directors and documentary makers, influencers on social media, all promoting this fake theology as if it had been uttered by Moses or Jesus himself. None of them have a clue where it came from and who started it, but it sounds good, so the lie is repeated. John Nelson Darby would be very proud of what his theological scams have achieved, but would probably be quite miffed at not having achieved the personal fame that he would have felt he deserved, for being such a prick. The End