What is wrong with the Brethren?

1. They have a false rallying cry.
It is “We gather to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”. The Brethren have produced a number of works defending this slogan. One such work is Gathering unto His Name by N Crawford and was published in 1985 by Truth and Tidings, an American Brethren magazine. There is no Scripture calling believers to gather to the Name.
The phrase is built on a mutilation of Scripture, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. Mtt.18:

There are some who make a play of the first “in”. They want to make it read “unto my name” on the grounds that the preposition eis may be translated “unto”. J N Darby appears to be the first (and only translator, that I can find ) who makes this change. The change was made in order to promote an ecclesiastical system. The system became known as Exclusive Brethrenism and is now as much a false cult as any can be. We note that Exclusive Brethren (now entirely a false cult) continue to proclaim they gather to the name of the Lord Jesus. (see Stephen Hesterman; Plymouth Brethren.com).

“Unto” is an archaic word and has been replaced almost entirely by “to” (not “in”) in modern usage.. Eis is translated by many English prepositions; to, into. in, throughout, for, unto, by, at, among, against, upon, toward, on, concerning. “In” is used at least 70 times, so we may deduce there is no reason at all why it should not be “in” in Matt. 18: 20.

The phrase is use to set up an ecclesiastical boundary. Outside are the denominations and systems of men. They are regarded as gathered to a system, e.g. Methodism, or another name; Wesleyan, or a practice, e.g. Baptist. etc.

The use of the phrase “gathered to His name” takes us to 1 Cor. 1: 12 where we read every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
Those saying they were of Christ were the most spiritually arrogant. They were claiming a higher standing than all other believers. So today, those “gathering to the name” refer to themselves as Assemblies of Christian Brethren. They appropriate to themselves a title which belongs to all those born again by the Spirit of God.

2. They have a false gospel
The error is more in what is omitted rather than in what is said. Essentially there is no call for repentance made. There is no warning given of final judgment. There is no teaching that one must believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. The cross is hardly touched upon. The Brethren’s gospel is on more than an emotional appeal to be saved.

3. They have a false bible
In early days emphasis was given to Darby’s New Translation. It was the bible of the Brethren. Few could explain why they considered it to be superior to the AV Bible. Also high regard was given to the RV for reasons which appear obscure this version now being obsolete. Now the NKJB and the NIV are given prominence and the AV is decried publicly by almost all those engaged in public preaching.
The rejection of the AV Bible has led to much false teaching. An example may be seen in false translation of 2 Thess.2: 2 by the Brethren. The y deny the Scripture, God was manifest in the flesh. They reject 1 John 5: 7-8.

4. They have a false baptism
The emphasis the brethren give is not in the answer of a good conscience toward God (1 Pet. 3:21), but in a public show to draw others. Baptism is used as an initiation rite into the assembly. The majority of those baptized are the children of assembly members. These do not usually speak of Biblical conversion experiences but of when as small children they “asked Jesus into their hearts”.

5. They have a false government.
Assemblies are ruled by an oversight comprising several brethren. As most assemblies are very small the control is often in the hands of one man.
Historically oversights have been self perpetuating. From time to time brethren are invited to join the oversight. There is of course no Scripture for this procedure. Those invited are not selected because of their labours among the saints in shepherding and teaching; rather because they will uphold the views of those already ruling. The main exercise of oversights is to get the members to conform to their decrees. There has always been a degree of interference in the personal lives of the members. Members are taught to show unquestioning loyalty to the leaders. The decisions may not be challenged or even questioned.

6. A false class of teachers .

They will not separate from evil.
The most conservative brethren are willing to preach in liberal assemblies and to work alongside those who hold to error. They are prepared to have fellowship with those who blaspheme the name of Christ rather than risk losing a preaching engagement. There is at least one assembly where a man has been in fellowship who has publicly taught the Lord could sin. This does not prevent outreaching brethren from sitting down and breaking bread with him.
Undiscerning secretaries will invite men to preach because their names have appeared on the circuit cards and other assemblies have accepted them. So a secretary not holding to the errors of Calvinism invites a man to preach who holds to a limited atonement, because he is a leading Brethren teacher.
They will not permit their teaching to be challenged.
Preachers from liberal assemblies are not barred from the platforms of more conservative assemblies, particularly if they can draw a crowd. One of such goes about preaching that the Lord did NOT die for all.
None of the public men are prepared to name a bible they can trust implicitly as the word of God from cover to cover.

7. They have no pastors

The only place where pastors are mentioned in the N T, is at Eph. 4: 11, And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.

The Greek word poimēn means literally, a shepherd. It is translated 16 times thus in the N T and once as Pastor. It denotes the shepherd care of the elder or overseer.
Brethren do not recognize pastors, because they think by implication it shows one man to be in charge, which they claim is a characteristic of apostate Christendom. They ignore the fact that most assemblies are in the control of one man.
It is rare to find a man with a true shepherd heart in assembly fellowship. Governing bodies are preferred. If a sheep should be found to be straying he made need disciplining or excommunication. There will not be a shepherd seeking him out on the hills ready to carry him lovingly back to the flock. Pastoral work as seen in Eph. 4: 11 is linked to teaching. i.e. feeding.

What is the answer?
Brethren will speak of the autonomy of the local assembly. By this they claim they are self governing but will hasten to add that really the Holy Spirit is ruling in the assembly. But assemblies are locked into a circle of fellowship and its members are strongly influenced by what is believed and practiced in other assemblies. If the belief and practice is scriptural so well and good, but this is not the case. All accept the false rallying cry. All accept the “no reliable bible” philosophy.
The answer is not in autonomy but in independence. If the local assembly is independent it may still enjoy fellowship with other like-minded gatherings but will not be influenced by the majority of assemblies which are now apostate. But Bible criticizing preachers must be denied access to the platform. They cannot be accepted simply because they are popular among the Brethren at large.