Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Lest anyone think that I don't esteem brother Darby ... there is nearly none in all the kingdom of God who can match his labors and sacrifices for the Lord. I have read that he was the sweetest of shepherds, most personable, to all the new believers. His difficult writings do not portray this side of him. His habit was to spend all his afternoons visiting God's children.
Others have also have wondered if not brother Darby's "rougher edges" might not have been softened thru marriage, in particular to the distinguished Lady Powerscourt, who was much used by the Lord to gather the early Brethren together.
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Amen, dear brother Ohio. It it good to "affirm" as well as "critique".
My knowledge of Darby is limited to what I heard in the LC, along with reading brother H.A. Ironside's book
A Historical Sketch of the Brethren Movement after I was led out of the LC. Brother Ironside points out that before Darby's days with the Brethren, when Darby was still an Anglican minister, he would spend many hours traveling through the mountainous region of Ireland in order to bring fellowship to families who were isolated. He surely had a shepherd's heart right from the beginning!
Hmmmm . . . marriage certainly could have been a very good thing for dear brother Darby!
The system that overly elevated Darby certainly should bear as much of the blame for the eventual divisions and the terrible acrimony between brothers as Darby himself.