Open Brethren: A Christian Sect in the Modern World

Peter Herriot, who was brought up in a Brethren family, was Professor of Psychology at the City University and at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has since written on fundamentalism from a social psychological perspective. Among his books are ‘Religious Fundamentalism: Global, Local, and Personal’ (2009) and ‘Warfare and Waves: Calvinists and Charismatics in the Church of England’ (2017).

“Herriot describes what life is like within the tight Open Brethren, including in the discussion conversion, service, opposition to political activity, and the role of women in the church. … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” (W. T. Lindley, Choice, Vol. 56 (11), July, 2019)

• GlossaryIntroduction                                 Part 1: PerspectivesChapter 1. The Tight Brother’s TaleChapter 2. The Loose Brother’s TaleChapter 3. The Historian’s TaleChapter 4. The Psychologist’s TaleChapter 5. Brethren LivesChapter 6. Salvation and Service                       Part 2: AuthorityChapter 7. Conformity and BeliefChapter 8. Authority in ActionChapter 9. The Authority of the BibleChapter 10. The Authority of the Brother                                  Part 3: SeparationChapter 11. Separation and IdentityChapter 12. Pure from the WorldChapter 13. Separated from the SectsChapter 14. Apart from the Apostates                                  Part 4: Fundamentalism Chapter 15. An Archetypal FundamentalismChapter 16. The Brethren and Modernism       Chapter 17. Fundamentalism and ChristianityChapter 18. Religion and Globalisation