Who was John Nelson Darby?

Whosoever Will, The Man They Could Not Bury: In October 1827, John Nelson Darby was thrown from a horse. The accident was serious enough to require a three-month convalescence at his sister's home in Dublin. He was twenty-six years old, already a deacon in the Church of Ireland, already dissatisfied with the institutional church's distance from the New Testament pattern. During those three months, he read his Bible. Darby made two important discoveries: first, that "the Christian, having his place in Christ in heaven, has nothing to wait for save the coming of the Saviour," and second, that, according to Isaiah 32, "there was still an economy to come when Christ would reign as King upon the earth."

Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.