Weaver, J. (Editor), Christian Doctrine. By Thirty-seven Different Writers. 1889.-(Author), Practical Comment on the Confession of Faith of the United Brethren in Christ. 1892.-Discourses on the Resurrection. 1871.-Divine Providence. 1873.-The Doctrine of Universal Restoration Carefully Examined. 1878.

PREFACE.

THE necessary limitations of the space allotted to the sketch which follows have required that it should be presented in the most condensed form. Out of a large amount of material, choice had to be made as to what should be used or what should be passed over. It was the writer's judgment that the general Christian public would be more interested in the earlier than in the more recent or later history of the church, and he has accordingly given the larger amount of space to features pertaining to its origin and early development. This is followed by a view of its doctrinal position and its general polity and organized forms of work. A closing chapter follows, which presents in very brief outline a statement of the conflict which for years troubled the church, and the crisis to which it recently led.

The writer takes pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to Dr. A. W. Drury's "Life of Otterbein," Spayth's "History of the United Brethren Church," Lawrence's "History of the United Brethren Church," "The Life and Journal of Bishop Christian Newcomer," and other sources named in the bibliography which appears herewith. Statistics showing the numerical strength of the church are incidentally referred to in chapters v. and vi. For a fuller view of statistics the reader is referred to volume i. of this series, as given by Dr. H. K. Carroll, on the basis of the United States census of 1890.

DAYTON, OHIO, March, 1894.

D. BERGER.

THE UNITED BRETHREN IN

CHRIST.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY PERIOD, 1752-1774.

1. Preliminary.

THE Church of the United Brethren in Christ took its rise in the revival movement which prevailed in America, with marked power, during the latter part of the eighteenth and opening years of the nineteenth century. In the colonies, previous to the war of the Revolution, a low state of spirituality had for a long time existed, and this condition continued after independence had been achieved and the new States had entered upon their separate national career. The churches in the colonies, as is usually the case in new countries, had been dependent on the churches in the Old World for ministerial supplies, and many of the recruits were no more spiritual than were the churches to whom they came to minister. In the midst of the prevailing spiritual dearth there was great need of new forces and the awakening of new life. The early missionaries of the Methodist movement, whose work proved so effective in America, had not yet come, being preceded by a number of years by the arrival of the young and devoted mission

ary who was destined, under the leadings of Providence, to become the founder of the United Brethren Church. As the history of the movement which led to the founding of the church is so largely the history of the founder and his early co-laborers, the story will be best told by a brief sketch of the men themselves, together with the work which they were led to achieve.

2. Birth and Early Years of Mr. Otterbein.

The central, and in every way the most conspicuous, figure in this history, whose name stands as that of the founder of this branch of the Christian Church, is the Rev. Philip William Otterbein. Mr. Otterbein was born in the town of Dillenburg, in the duchy of Nassau, Germany, on the third day of June, 1726. Dillenburg was for some centuries, in the older Germany, a town of considerable importance, as the capital of a line of princes some of whom gained note in history. Among these was William the Silent, who became king of Holland, and to whose memory a noble monument has within recent years been reared on the site of the ancient castle which for centuries defended the city, and which was destroyed in 1760. The duchy of Nassau is now included in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, and is found in the present map of Germany under the name of Wiesbaden. The town of Dillenburg was early distinguished for its Latin school, its female seminary, and for the high character of its citizens.

The history of the Otterbein family, preserved from the middle of the seventeenth century, presents a number of names distinguished for learning and piety. Mr. Otterbein's grandfather, his father, and his father's brother were ministers, as were also his own five brothers, and the four sons of his eldest brother. His father, John Daniel Otter