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Synopsis of the Bible

John N Darby

John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren (“Darbyites”), and an influential writer and scholar. Born in London, he studied at Dublin before becoming a lawyer in 1825. He soon gave up practicing law for the ministry, and by 1827 he began to participate in new groups of like-minded “Brethren” – first at Dublin, then Plymouth, which became namesake of a movement. After 1838, Darby was in Lausanne, where his lectures and studies attracted followers and spawned numerous congregations. In the face of persecution, he returned to England in 1845, and worked with the English Brethren. He traveled in Germany and abroad, writing extensively. His greatest literary contributions were as a scholar and textual critic. He translated the Bible into German (1854, 1869) and French (1859, 1878-80), wrote a critique of the Revised NT (1881), and produced the voluminous Synopsis of the Bible (1857-67). He also wrote many hymns, which are still used among the Brethren.

A synopsis of the New Testament from a religious leader and Bible translator of note.

This is the New Testament portion of Darby's Étude sur la Parole, published in English as Synopsis of the Books of the Bible (1857-67). Written originally in French, much of this material stems from lectures given to students and followers (referred to as "Darbyites") during his time in Lausanne, Switzerland. In addition to being a religious leader, Darby was in his own right a scholar and philologist, having translated, or participated in translating, the Bible into French (1859, 1878-80), German (1854, 1869), and English (1871-). As such he possessed a unique viewpoint of the contents of the Bible books, both in terms of their exoteric (linguistic) and esoteric (theological, spiritual, moral) substance. The author's intention is to provide a "short synopsis of the principal subjects of each book… and (as far as I am enabled) the object of the Spirit of God in each part".

Theology & Doctrine

Synopsis