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Pilgrim Church

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It ought to be obvious to even the casual observer of history that the real story of the church is not the one recorded in secular history. But this classic work demonstrates that the true heart of this amazing drama is not even recorded in church history books. Right from apostolic days there have always been little groups of persecuted believers who just wanted to follow the Lamb.

This hardcover contains 448 pages with a timeline and subject index, plus 8 more pages of full color maps to enrich the text. Written in an engaging style, this volume will thrill your heart with the stories of unknown heroes of the faith. It will spur you on to greater devotion to the Lord Jesus and a deeper concern for His suffering people in many countries today.

421 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

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About the author

E.H. Broadbent

7 books1 follower
Edmund Hamer Broadbent (1861 – 1945) was a Christian missionary and author. Born in Lancashire, England, Broadbent operated under the auspices of the Plymouth Brethren movement.[2]

His missionary work from 1900 into the 1920s took him to Austria, Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Poland, Russia, Turkey, the Baltic states, North and South America, and Uzbekistan. He spoke fluently French and German and could speak some Russian.[3]

His book, The Pilgrim Church, first published in 1931, is still in print. The Pilgrim Church is an alternative history of the church, unrecorded by secular history. It covers the history of many small churches throughout the ages that have attempted to follow the New Testament church pattern, the success of those that followed the pattern laid out by the apostles and the consequences to the churches that fell away from the pattern. He looks broadly at many groups such as the Paulicians, the Bogomils, the Nestorians, the Waldensians, the Anabaptists, the Hutterites, the Methodists, the Russian Mennonites and the Mennonite Brethren. He classified early primitive churches to Anabaptist, and to Moravian Brethren were historical Brethren Movement.

Edmund Hamer Broadbent fathered eight children by his wife Dora.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Lee Harmon.
Author 5 books114 followers
March 27, 2012
Broadbent writes with the dramatic flair of an apologist, but with the atonal precision of an historian. This is obviously a topic dear to his heart. It’s not an exciting read, but an awful lot of data is presented, and if you're seriously interested in the topic, you’ll find it captivating. I did, so much so that I was able to forgive Broadbent’s bias (he tends to classify everyone into three divisions: Catholic, heathen and Christian).

Broadbent was born in England in 1861, and this is a reprint of a 1935 book. Broadbent's thesis is that God has preserved a remnant of faithful underground believers through the ages, who depended solely upon the Spirit and strict Biblical teachings, and who resisted the institutionalization of the Catholic Church. He treks methodically through the centuries from Christ to about the year 1900, highlighting individuals and groups that appear to fit the mold of true Christianity. This means meeting in inauspicious groups (usually private homes), identifying by no name except perhaps that of Christian or Brethen, and denying any reliance upon authoritative structure with the exception of local guiding elders (Christ alone is the "head" of the church). These tiny Christian gatherings objected to taking the name of anyone as their founder. Seeking to mimic only Bible teachings, they refused to venerate the cross, denied transubstantiation, discouraged infant baptism and sprinkling, and most important of all, displayed a willingness to stand true in the face of great persecution. So many thousands of believers died for their convictions that I quit counting. Broadbent is particularly appreciative of Christian martyrs, so much so that he seems to consider it a primary identifying mark of the "Pilgrim Church." Constantine’s conversion afforded no relief, since persecution only intensified under the Catholic Church. Systematic beheading, burning, and drowning persisted throughout church history.

The rest of my review will give you a run-down of Broadbent's favored selections. In the first couple centuries of Christian development, Broadbent praises Origin and appears sympathetic to the Montanist movement, perhaps because of their emphasis on direction by the Spirit. He uncovers an anonymous letter sent to Diognetus which provides not a word of doctrine, but mimics the tone of the earliest believers. The letter indicates that Christians "pass their days on earth, but are citizens of heaven," enduring all things as if foreigners even in their own land.

Broadbent denounces Arianism, but praises Athanaius for "maintaining a valiant witness to the true divinity of the Savior." Priscillian kept true, but Augustine was a man of good intentions with “strong affections and quick and tender sympathies” who nevertheless departed from principles of Scripture. In particular, Augustine was unable to embrace the Donatists. From the third to the fifth centuries, true Christians kept their distance from four false teachings: Manichaeism (attributing the natural world to an evil creator), Arianism (which taught that Jesus is not God manifest in the flesh), Pelagianism (which denies the sinful state of man), and Sacerdotalism (dependency upon the Church for salvation).

Several early movements do display evidence of the Spirit’s leading, though. Broadbent approves of the Paulicians, Bogomils, Waldenses (Vaudois), Albigenses, Lollards, and others. Broadbent explains: “No authority of any man was allowed to set aside the authority of Scripture. Yet, throughout the centuries, and in all countries, they confessed the same truths and had the same practices.” The Waldenses in the Alpine valleys especially earned Broadbent’s praise. Waldensian “apostles” (a travelling ministry) left property, goods, home and family to travel in simplicity, without money, their needs being supplied by the believers among whom they ministered. They always went two and two, an elder with a younger man. The name “Friends of God” was often given to them.

These collections of believers rarely named themselves, but were named by their opponents. One exception is a period in seventh, eighth and ninth centuries when some were wont to name their elders after men of the Bible, and their gatherings after churches of the Bible (Achaia, Philip, Colosse, etc.) All claimed apostolic tradition, some believed in apostolic succession through the laying on of hands. Yet one must be very careful in rightly divining which groups are Godly, because such groups are invariably slandered, and one must read between the lines of the smears. As with martyrdom, a prime determinant of a Spirit-led church is one whom the Catholic church denounces.

Around the time of the Reformation, the Pilgrim Church blossomed. This is not due to Luther’s influence, for though Luther began on the straight and narrow, he didn’t fully return to the Scriptures. Perhaps the growth of the Pilgrim Church can be attributed to a period of little persecution, or perhaps to the printing press and the ready availability of translated Bibles. Even so, they never used written prayers; instead, an elder among them would “begin to pray and continue for a longer or shorter time as it may seem suitable to him.” They memorized the scripture in their mother tongue from much reading. They held seven points of faith, including a Triune God and that this God chose for Himself a spotless church. Among this resurgence was found the Anabaptists, Mennonites, Puritans, and Lollards. Clusters of believers sprang up in place after place, known among themselves as “the Friends,” but derisively called Quakers. Relief from persecution was again short-lived; Anabaptists were tortured or banished from their homelands, and seldom were there less than a thousand Friends in prison at a time.

These groups were not of one mind on all points, such as whether it was appropriate to bear arms, but they were of like character and appreciation for the Bible’s primitive teachings. John Wesley, an influential Christian figure, nearly adopted the righteous teachings of a group named the Moravians. A Methodist group in North Carolina took the name of “Republican Methodists” but soon rightfully abandoned the name, acknowledging no head of the Church but Christ, and no creed or rules, but accepted the Scripture alone for their guidance. Soon after, a similar movement originated among Baptists. The “Christian Connection” formed. These movements, although arising independently and only discovering each other later, held much in common. Even in Russia, a group began to form, forsaking their church for “meetings,” calling each other brethren. They were reproachfully labeled “Stundists.” In Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Romania numerous congregations sprang up calling themselves Nazarenes, and living quietly below the radar.

As groups proliferated, a new danger surfaced; that of the ease in which any particular spiritual movement could crystallize into a sect. In the 19th century, John Nelson Darby was influential in teaching a humble Spirit-led church, encouraging the independence of each congregation, though he later shifted from that ground and adopted the Catholic position of an organized body of churches. Many churches followed Darby into error, condemning others and excluding all churches outside their own circle subject to central authority, but many endeavored to carry out the principles of Scripture, refusing to cut off one another but recognizing that minute differences—particularly non-scriptural differences—did not necessitate division. Broadbent concludes his research with a plea to recognize the Church as One, members of one Pilgrim Church, acknowledging as our fellow-pilgrims all who tread the Way of Life.
Profile Image for RANGER.
313 reviews29 followers
January 16, 2025
A Masterpiece of Church History; should be read by historians and all thinking Christians
E. H. Broadbent's monumental classic traces the history of the dissenting church (i.e. those churches that rejected the formal liturgical ritualism, non-biblical doctrines and/or political connections of the State Protestant, Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches) from the 1st Century until the end of the 19th Century. The Pilgrim Church sets the record straight by citing original sources and un-revised histories to correct the established view that dissenting, independent, radical Protestant and separatist churches were all persecuted by the Popes and state churches due to heretical beliefs. In fact, these churches were persecuted all through the ages because they refused to compromise God's Word and in doing so, exposed the religious hypocrisy and apostasy of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and State supported Protestant religious systems. The book is well written and comprehensive - so comprehensive it sometimes appears to jump back and forth in the narrative as each successive generation of dissenting churches has to be discussed in terms of back-story. This can confuse some readers who are new to this material. One minor flaw is that the end of the book is overly focused on the Plymouth Brethren (whom Broadbent was associated with) and misses the contributions of the 19th century holiness, adventist, and revivalist movements. The writing style may seem archaic to the modern ear but will be appreciated by people with a taste for older books. Should be read as a companion to Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Highly recommended.
Author 9 books9 followers
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April 12, 2021
This must be the best book on church history I have ever read. I have never encountered anything before that tackles the question of what happened to the church in the middle ages in such a sensible way. There is a wealth of information here about movements and individuals that I had never heard of before and the picture that emerges makes a great deal of sense. When it comes to the Reformation the information is more familiar but once more there are new strands and a fresh attitude that has a gentle logic to it that is refreshing. The chapter on the nineteenth century has more in it about the Brethren movement than perhaps will interest most readers but is still interesting.
The author was a missionary in Germany and Eastern Europe in the nineteen twenties and thirties and he gathered information in the course of extensive travels from people he met and also documents he read which were destroyed during WW2 and under Communism. The fact that he had time to write such a comprehensive book at all is remarkable. What has emerged from his studies and experience is a kind of grass roots church history based on the ideas that no Christians are perfect; your persecutor is not the best source of information about your beliefs and the only standard by which we can make any assessment of movements or groupings of Christians is the Scripture.

Profile Image for Al.
28 reviews5 followers
May 1, 2009
Broadbent introduces the history of those Christian groups which have, throughout the centuries, sought a return to a simple expression of new testament church life without the baggage of denominational labels.

Wonderful, inspiring, scholarly, heart warming, prophetic.
Profile Image for Ginta.
21 reviews4 followers
September 16, 2011
I would give 10 stars if there would be! That is must-read book. It helps to understand why Christianity is in such a mess today as it is.
Profile Image for Rick Robertson.
10 reviews
October 4, 2025
This is a monumental book in scope, tracing the church from Pentecost right up to the mid-20th century. I loved the vision of ordinary believers seeking to follow Jesus faithfully, with Broadbent repeatedly contrasting a church rooted in Scripture and the Spirit with one that drifts away. His central point—that the true church is the one that clings to the Bible—still feels vital today.

However, I found it a hard read. Broadbent assumes prior knowledge of movements and figures, often naming people without context, which left me lost. The structure, moving between eras and regions, also felt disjointed. It took me months to finish, and I often needed lighter books alongside it.

I admire the achievement, but the style makes it heavy and inaccessible for newcomers or casual readers. For me, it whetted my appetite for church history, but I’ll be looking for more accessible accounts next.
Profile Image for Kathryn.
120 reviews1 follower
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June 30, 2021
Interesting book sad to hear about all the killings. Worse still being killed because 1 doctrine is a bit different then theirs. I am very glad that I am apart of the continuing legacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. May his word go forth and hearts and lives be changed.
Profile Image for Reese Walling.
112 reviews5 followers
April 8, 2020
An incredibly unique Church History, exploring not the gargantuan development of Christendom as a whole, but rather tracing a silver lining of faithful believers who continued in the New Testament pattern of obedience to the Word, separation from the world, and unity among the brethren.

While Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy evolved into entities totally foreign to the early church of Acts (as they believed they should - since the early church may be considered primitive and lacking by these groups), a remnant, persecuted and libeled as heretics, maintained the pilgrim ways of the church.

The Reformation, with its grand pillars of sola scriptura and the universal priesthood, only returned to the New Testament principles in part, maintaining much of the mutations gleaned from the established religion. Throughout, a remnant refused union with the world and sought the full return to the New Testament pattern.

Many believed the New Testament pattern could never be attained, fleeing to forms of mysticism, evangelism, or deliberations in the Apocalypse. These groups sought something besides the Church as their pursuit: attaining communion and union with God, seeking the salvation of the lost, or looking to a coming age as the only hope respectively.

Broadbent explores Church History from an incredible point of view, and the bibliography alone makes this book a treasure for continual studies. A must read for all who long for the New Testament realities in our day and age.
Profile Image for Stan.
29 reviews4 followers
March 24, 2019
This is an excellent history of the church. It was exciting to find out about many little-known groups throughout time who held very carefully to New Testament principles of church. Near the end, Broadbent asks the "church question": "the question whether we can, and should, continue to carry out the New Testament teaching and example as to the ordering of churches." He goes on to say this question has been answered in various ways throughout church history (as described throughout the book). But there have been faithful believers in many times and places who have answered "yes" to this question. That is exciting!

Definitely not a book you will read in one sitting, but totally worth it!
Profile Image for Robert Drumheller.
Author 0 books1 follower
May 21, 2018
This book should be required reading for anyone that is teaching the word of God, especially pastors from the pulpit. The author provides much detail that the pulpit is a holy place and the minister should choose his or her words carefully as they are ministering to the people and they are speaking the words from the holy God to the people. The message from the pulpit must focus on Jesus and not on stories to amuse the congregation.
23 reviews
May 28, 2018
This is a good book of history untold

This book shows that Christians have followed the protestant reformation since the day that Jesus went into heaven out of the site of his disciples.
2 reviews
August 31, 2023
This is the best book on the history of the Christian church of all time: objective, non-partisan and spiritual. He identifies what the Christian church is - a community of millions of believers around the world, not a human institution. It has opened my eyes. John
Profile Image for Josh Peglow.
60 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2024
Very interesting book but unfortunately borders on “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” argumentation. Most of the groups recorded would not be considered orthodox in any meaningful use of the term. Still a good read for those that want to hear a different take on church history.
Profile Image for Kyle.
244 reviews3 followers
April 17, 2020
Interesting read but a big stretch historically.
13 reviews
March 31, 2012
A fantastic introductory Church History book for "those who have not much time for reading or research..." Broadbent has done an amazing job, although his leanings toward the Open Brethren, so called, are apparent in his criticism of Darby, when he covers the history of the British Brethren in the 1800's. Great Church history book none the less, excellent for quick over view of the line of life throughout the centuries.
Author 5 books18 followers
January 23, 2014
A tremendous work. Broadbent breathes life into the skeleton of church history, showing a side of the Christian story that has often been ignored, denied and otherwise marginalized by the mainstream church.

The more I consider this book and the people who are written about therein, the more I am amazed by Mr. Broadbent's broadmindedness.
Profile Image for David Bruyn.
Author 14 books27 followers
October 8, 2019
Very helpful alternative history. Broadbent attempts to trace the "Church within the church" without veering into explicit successionism. Some of his assertions regarding the orthodoxy of persecuted movements seem exaggerated and the errors of the sects are airbrushed, lumping together orthodox and unorthodox as one "Pilgrim Church". Here the book veers into hagiography.
77 reviews1 follower
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January 16, 2017
for those of us that love history of the church this is a must read. The Pilgrim church pressents the view of the remnant, the group of dissidents that uphold the truth of the Bible even before the Reformation. Greatly recommended. I love it!
1 review
August 31, 2016
Lots of history

Enjoyable I learned a lot about early churches a history I was previously unaware of. I would recommended it .
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