Brethren of the Free Spirit, a fraternity
which sprung up in the thirteenth century, and which gained many adherents in Italy, France, and Germany. They took their designation from the words of St. Paul, Rom. viii, 2, 14, and maintained that the true children of God were invested with perfect freedom from the jurisdiction of the law. In their principles they were Pantheists, and in practice the}- were enthusiasts. In their aspect, dress, and mode of life they resembled the Beghards, and were sometimes called after them. In their extreme pantheistical creed they held that every thing (even formalities) is God ; that rational souls are a portion of God ; that sin lias separated man from God, but by the power of contemplation man is reunited to the Deity, and acquires thereby a glorious and sublime liberty, both from sinful lusts, ami from the common instincts of nature. Hence that a person thus absorbed in the abyss of Deity is the son of God in the same sense and manner that Christ was, ami freed from the obligation of all laws, human and di- vine. They treated with contempt Christian ordi- nances, and all external acts of religion, as unsuitable to the state of perfection to which they had arrived. From 1300 to 1350 they were found largely on the Rhine from Cologne to Strasburg. In Brussels they
BRETHREN
88G
BREVIARY
appeared as homines mtelligentue. Many edicts were published against them ; but, notwithstanding the se- verities which they suffered, they continued till about the middle of the fifteenth century. They were called by several names, such as Schwestriones, Picards, Adamites, and Turlujuns. Gieseler traces the sect to Amalric of Bena (q. v.) ; Mosheim (De Beghardis) as- signs their origin to Italy.— Mosheint, Ch. Hist, ii, 351, 304 : Gieseler, Ch. Hist. per. iii, div. iii, § 87. Brethren, Plymouth. See Plymouth. Brethren, United, or Brethren of the Law of Christ. See Moravians.
Erethren, United in Christ {German Method- ists). See United Brethren in Christ.
Brethren, White, the followers of an unknown 1 :ader, said by some writers to be from Scotland, who appeared in the neighborhood of the Alps about the year 1399, and proclaimed himself commissioned to preach a new crusade. He named his followers Peni- tents, but from their white dresses the}' were more com- monly called Fratres Albati, or White Brothers, or White Penitents (Ital. Bianchi). Boniface IX, suspect- ing the leader of insidious designs, caused him to be apprehended and committed to the flames, upon which bis followers dispersed, and the sect became extin- guished.—Mosheim, Ch. Hist, ii, 4G7.
Bretschneider, Charles Gottlieb, a German rationalistic divine, was born in Gersdorf, Feb. 11, 177G, and educated at Chemnitz and the University of Leip- zig. He was designed for the Church at an early age, but he inclined more to belles-lettres, and showed a strong sceptical turn at the university. In 1807 he became pastor at Schneeburg, in 1808 superintendent in Annaberg. In 1812 he disputed on Capita theolo- r/i.i JuJiiurum digmaticce, and from this time devoted himself more completely to theology. In 1810 he was made general superintendent at Gotha, which office he held till his death, Jan. 22, 1848. His activity as a writer was very great, and covered the fields of exe- gesis, text of Scripture, dogmatics, and history. From 1824 lie shared in the editorship of the Theol. Litera- turblatt (Darmstadt), and contributed largely to other periodicals. His most important publications are the Corpus Reformatorum, a collection of the writings of the German Reformers, continued after his death by Bindseil (the first 28 vols., Halle, 1834-1800, comprise the works of Melancthon) : — Lexici in V. T., max. a/mc- rnp. spirit, ilium { Leips. 1805, 8vo) : — De Evang. ct Epist. .Ink, inn. origine < t indole (Leips. 1820, 8vo) : — Hist. Doom. . I us/i (jimxj des N. T., etc. (Leips. 1806, 8vo) : — Lexicon Manuale Gr. Lat. in N. T. (1824, 8vo; best ed. Leips. 1841, 8vo): — Systemat. Entwickelung alter i. d. Dogm. vorhmmenden Beariffe n. d. Syrrib. Bi'aher d. LiAher. Kircke (Leips. 1805, 1819, 1825, 1841, 8vo) :— Drgm. u. Mnrid d. apocryph. Schrift. d. A. T. (Leips. 1805, 6vd):—Dogmatik it. Evang. Lath. Kirche (Leips. 4th cd. 2 vols. 8vo, 1838) : — Gnmdlage d. Evang. Pktis- mus (Leips. 1833, 8vo): — V. Sinmnismus (Leips. 1852, Bvo I. In all the. theological controversies of his stormy took large part. His position in theology is that of rational svpernaiuralism, admitting revelation, yet subjecting it to the supremacy of reason. His writings, though generally evincing candor, industry, and great acuteness, are devoid of religious life. Ills autobiography, published by his son Horst (Gotha. 1851, 8vo), i- translated, in part, in the Bibliotheca Sacra, vols, ix, x. A transl. of his Views of Schleiermacher's Theology (Bibl. Sacra, -Lily, 1853) gives a good speci- men of his critical talent.
Brett, Philip Milledoler, D.D., a divine of the Reformed Dutch Church, was born in New York. July 13, 1817, graduated at Rutgers' College, and studied theology in the theological seminary of New Bruns- wick, lie was licensed by the New York Classis in 1838, ordained in the same year, and installed as pas-
tor of the church at Nyaek, N. Y. In 1842 he supplied the church at the island of St. Thomas, W. I., iu 184G he became pastor at Mt. Pleasant Church, N. Y., and in 1851 he removed to Tompkinsville, L. I., where he died, Jan. 14, I860, of an internal cancer. He was a man of ardent piety, and affectionate in his intercourse with his people. He exerted a good influence in St. Thomas, and his memory is fondly cherished in his de- nomination. He was the author of a volume of ser- mons.