Plymouth Brethren leader who is better known as the father of Dispensationalism.
Born and educated in Ireland, Darby worked for several years in the legal profession before he underwent a period of deep spiritual anxiety from which he was delivered by a fresh conviction of Christ's love. Leaving his profession he was ordained a priest in the Church of England and served as a missionary among the rural Irish. He soon became disillusioned by the disparity he saw between the workings of the church and that pictured in Scriptures. A period of recuperation from a leg injury in 1827 gave him the opportunity to reflect on things, and it was during this time that he began to formulate what later became known as Dispensationalism, an interpretation of Scriptures that depends on making a sharp distinction between Israel and the Church. His winsome personality and his powerful preaching made him a persuasive leader. Though not a founder of the Plymouth Brethren, he was certainly one of its most gifted teachers. In 1848, however, differences of opinion arose over the matter of prophesy and church order; this led to the split between the Open and the Exclusive groups. In later years Darby travelled frequently to the Continent, North America and New Zealand to spread his ideas. "Passionate in controversy and at times blinded by prejudice, he was kind and generous to children and poor people." He died in 1882.
©ALBERITH
200520lch