The Five Dissenting Brethren (Independents)

The five ministers — Thomas Goodwin, Philip Nye, Sidrach Simpson, Jeremiah Burroughs, and William Bridge — who signed An Apologeticall Narration (1644), the formal statement of the Independent case at Westminster. Joined by William Greenhill, Joseph Caryl, Peter Sterry, and William Carter among others. They agreed with the Presbyterian majority on almost every doctrinal point but departed on ecclesiology: the keys of the kingdom belong to the local gathered congregation, not to a graded series of presbyterial courts. Synods advise but cannot bind. The Dissenting Brethren lost the polity vote but stayed at the Assembly and continued to vote on doctrine. Their ecclesiology was codified in the Savoy Declaration (1658).