Christadelphians
Encyclopedia
Christadelphians is a Christian
group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century. The name was coined by John Thomas
, who was the group's founder.
Christadelphians hold a view of Biblical Unitarianism
.
Although no official membership figures are published, the Columbia Encyclopedia
gives an estimated figure of 50,000 Christadelphians, who are spread across approximately 120 countries; there are established churches (or ecclesias, as they are often called) in many of those countries, along with isolated members. Census
statistics are available for some countries. Estimates for the main centres of Christadelphian population are as follows: United Kingdom
(18,000), Australia
(9,987), Malawi
(7,000), United States
(6,500), Mozambique
(5,300), Canada
(3,375), New Zealand
(1,782), Kenya
(1,700), India
(1,300), Tanzania
(1,000), and Philippines
(1,000). This puts the figure at around 60,000.
(1805–1871), who migrated to North America from England in 1832. Following a near shipwreck he vowed to find out the truth about life and God through personal Biblical study. Initially he sought to avoid the kind of sectarianism
he had seen in England. In this he found sympathy with the rapidly emerging Restoration Movement
in the United States of America at the time. This movement sought for a reform based upon the Bible alone
as a sufficient guide and rejected all creed
s. However this liberality eventually led to dissent as John Thomas developed in his personal beliefs and started to question mainstream orthodox Christian beliefs. Whilst the Restoration Movement accepted Thomas's right to have his own beliefs, when he started preaching that they were essential to salvation, it led to a fierce series of debates with a notable leader of the movement, Alexander Campbell. John Thomas believed that scripture, as God's word, did not support a multiplicity of differing beliefs, and challenged the leaders to continue with the process of restoring first century Christian beliefs and correct interpretation through a process of debate. The history of this process appears in the book Dr. Thomas, His Life and Work (1873) by a Christadelphian, Robert Roberts
.
During this period of formulating his ideas he was baptised
twice, the second time after renouncing the beliefs he previously held. His new position was based on a new appreciation for the reign of Christ on David's throne. It was this abjuration of his former beliefs that eventually led to the Restoration Movement disfellowshipping him when he toured England and they became aware of his abjuration in the United States of America.
The Christadelphian community in Britain effectively dates from Thomas's first lecturing tour (May 1848 – October 1850). His message was particularly well received in Scotland, and Campbellite
, Unitarian
and Adventist
friends separated to form groups of "Baptised Believers". Two thirds of ecclesias, and members, in Britain before 1864 were in Scotland. In 1849, during his tour of Britain he completed (a decade and a half before the name Christadelphian was conceived) Elpis Israel
(elpis being Greek for "hope") – in which he laid out his understanding of the main doctrines of the Bible. Since his medium for bringing change was print and debate, it was natural for the origins of the Christadelphian body to be associated with journals and books, namely the Herald of the Kingdom and The Ambassador (which later became The Christadelphian
).
In this desire to seek to establish Biblical truth and test out orthodox Christian beliefs through independent scriptural study he was not alone and, amongst other churches, he also had links with Adventist
movement and with Benjamin Wilson
(who later set up the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
in the 1860s).
Although the Christadelphian movement originated through the activities of John Thomas, he never saw himself as setting up his own disciples. Rather he believed he had rediscovered first century beliefs from the Bible alone, and sought to prove that through a process of challenge and debate and writing journals. Through that process a number of people were convinced and set up various fellowships that had sympathy with that position. Groups associated with John Thomas met under various names, including Believers, Baptised Believers, the Royal Association of Believers, Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God, Nazarines (or Nazarenes) and The Antipas until the time of the American Civil War
(1861–1865). At that time, church affiliation was required to register for conscientious objector
status, and in 1865 Thomas chose for registration purposes the name Christadelphian.
Through the teaching of John Thomas and the need in the American civil war for a name, the Christadelphians emerged as a denomination, but they were formed into a lasting structure through a passionate follower of his interpretation of the Bible, Robert Roberts
. At the age of 10 he was taken by his mother to hear a talk given by John Thomas in Aberdeen
, Scotland
. At the age of 13 he read Thomas's Elpis Israel
and was subsequently baptised in 1853 at the age of 14 in the River Dee
and joined the "Baptised Believers". He was 're-baptised' in 1863 "on attaining to an understanding of the things concerning the name of Jesus, of which he was ignorant at his first immersion". In 1864 he began to publish The Ambassador magazine. This was renamed The Christadelphian in 1869 and continues to be published under that name. Roberts was prominent in the period following the death of John Thomas and helped craft the structures of the Christadelphian body.
Robert Roberts was certain that John Thomas had rediscovered the truth, and it is largely down to Roberts' organisation that the Christadelphian body exists in its present form. His life was characterised by debates over issues that arose within the fledgling organisation and some of this process can be found in the book Robert Roberts—A study of his life and character by Islip Collyer. He also wrote a booklet called a A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. which has been significant in establishing the basic structure most ecclesias follow today.
Initially the denomination grew in the English-speaking world, particularly in the English Midlands
and parts of North America. In the early days after the death of John Thomas the group could have moved in a number of directions. Doctrinal issues arose, debates were held and statements of faith were created and amended as other issues arose. These attempts were felt necessary by many to both settle and define a doctrinal stance for the newly emerging denomination and to keep out error.
. Varying degrees of exemption from military service were granted to Christadelphians in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. In the Second World War, this frequently required the person seeking exemption to undertake civilian work under the direction of the authorities.
During the Second World War
the Christadelphians in Britain assisted in the Kindertransport
, helping to relocate several hundred Jewish children away from Nazi persecution and founding a hostel Elpis Lodge
. In Germany the small Christadelphian community founded by Albert Maier
went underground from 1940–1945, and a leading brother, Albert Merz
, was imprisoned as a conscientious objector and later executed.
The emphasis on the restoration of truth has led to a history of division and schism that many have felt unpleasant and that has divided friends and families. Moves have been made to try to solve them with some success. In the early 1950s the majority of the Berean Fellowship re-joined the Temperance Hall Fellowship, with the remainder continuing as a separate community. In 1957–1958, there was further reunion with the Suffolk Street Fellowship, which had already incorporated many of the Unamended Fellowship outside North America. This re-united group, which now included the large majority of Christadelphians, became known as the Central Fellowship named after the Birmingham Central ecclesia. In Australia and New Zealand a union occurred in 1958 between the Central fellowship and the Shield fellowship (which was allied to the Suffolk Street fellowship) through an understanding expressed in a document called the Cooper-Carter Addendum. Those who held that the reasons for separation from the Suffolk Street Fellowship remained, opposed the re-union and formed the Old Paths Fellowship. There is also some co-operation between the Central (Amended) and Unamended Fellowships in North America – most recently in the Great Lakes region, where numerous Amended & Unamended ecclesias have opened fellowship to one another despite the failure of wider attempts at re-union under the North American Statement of Understanding (NASU) in recent years.
Despite success in reuniting large sections of the wider Christadelphian community and periodic efforts at reuniting smaller offshoots, there are still a number of groups who remain separate from other bodies of Christadelphians. These include the Berean Fellowship (who use precisely the same Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF) as the central fellowship), the Dawn Fellowship, the Old Paths Fellowship, the Companion Fellowship and the Pioneer Maranatha Fellowship. However, Dawn Christadelphians and the former Lightstand Fellowship in Australia united in November 2007. Most of the divisions still in existence within the Christadelphian community today stem from further divisions of the Berean fellowship.
organisations such as the Christadelphian Bible Mission (for preaching and pastoral support overseas), the Christadelphian Support Network (for counselling), and the Christadelphian Meal-A-Day Fund
(for charity and humanitarian work).
The period following the reunions was accompanied by expansion in the developing world, which now accounts for around 40% of Christadelphians.
and CGAF
are not received by most North American Amended
ecclesias. But outside North America this functional definition no longer holds. Many ecclesias in the "Central" grouping would not refuse a baptised Christadelphian from a minority "fellowship" from breaking bread, the exclusion is more usually the other way.
Today the Christadelphian body remains divided into "fellowships", the largest being the Central Fellowship, named after the now-defunct Birmingham Central ecclesia, once its largest and most influential ecclesia. There remains a large number of Unamended Christadelphians, particularly in the US and Canada. Smaller fellowships include the Berean Christadelphians, the Dawn Christadelphians, the Old Paths Christadelphians, and the Pioneer Maranatha Christadelphians. The number of adherents to the various smaller groups of Christadelphians varies from approximately 1,850 members (the Unamended Christadelphians as of 2006) to groups made up of little more than one or two immediate families
.
Estimates of numbers:
They tend to operate organisationally fairly similarly, although there are different emphases. For instance the Berean Christadelphians
focus on the pioneer Christadelphians and the Dawn Christadelphians put a huge importance on the need to follow a consistent set of disciplines regarding divorce and remarriage. These different Christadelphian fellowships are to some degree localised. For example, the Unamended Fellowship exists only in North America, and some of the others are confined to the English-speaking world.
Each fellowship has a Statement of Faith, the most common of which is the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF), named after an ecclesia in Birmingham. This is used by all Old Paths ecclesias without amendment from the days of Robert Roberts. Most Unamended ecclesias have a similar Statement of Faith called the Birmingham Unamended Statement of Faith (BUSF) with one clause being different. The Berean Christadelphians generally use BASF. The Dawn Christadelphians use a statement of faith which is based on the original 1886 statement of faith, but has four additions addressing issues that have arisen since that time. Some Christadelphian groups which are separated to a greater or lesser degree from the main body of Christadelphians use statements of faith
which differ in some regard from the BASF and from each other. Within the "Central" grouping individual ecclesias also may have their own statement of faith, whilst still accepting the statement of faith of the larger community.
For each fellowship, anyone who publicly assents to the doctrines described in the statement and is in good standing in their "home ecclesia" is generally welcome to participate in the activities of any other ecclesia.
) being the final response to those with unorthodox practices or beliefs.
The relative uniformity of organisation and practice is undoubtedly due to the influence of a booklet, written early in Christadelphian history, called A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. It recommends a basically democratic arrangement by which congregational members elect 'brothers' to arranging and serving duties, and includes guidelines for the organisation of committees, as well as conflict resolution between congregational members and between congregations. Christadelphians do not have paid ministers
. Male members are assessed by the congregation for their eligibility to teach and perform other duties, which are usually assigned on a rotation basis, as opposed to having a permanently appointed preacher. Congregational governance typically follows a democratic
model, with an elected arranging committee for each individual ecclesia. This unpaid committee is responsible for the day-to-day running of the ecclesia and is answerable to the rest of the ecclesia's members.
Inter-ecclesial organisations co-ordinate the running of, among other things, Christadelphian schools and elderly care homes, the Christadelphian Isolation League
(which cares for those prevented by distance or infirmity from attending an ecclesia regularly) and the publication of Christadelphian magazines.
, and they accept no other texts as inspired by God
. They regard the Bible as inspired by God and, therefore, believe that, in its original form, it was error free (errors in later copies are thought to be due to 'errors of transcription or translation'). Based on this, Christadelphians teach what they believe to be true Bible teaching.
Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is the power of God used in creation and for salvation. They also believe that the phrase Holy Spirit sometimes refers to God's character/mind, depending on the context in which the phrase appears, but reject the orthodox Christian view that we need strength, guidance and power from the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life, believing instead that the spirit a believer needs within themselves is the mind/character of God, which is developed in a believer by their reading of the Bible (which, they believe, contains words God gave by his Spirit) and trying to live by what it says during the events of their lives which God uses to help shape their character.
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, in whom the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament
find their fulfilment. They believe he is the Son of Man
, in that he inherited human nature (with its inclination to sin) from his mother, and the Son of God
by virtue of his miraculous conception by the power of God. Although he was tempted, Jesus committed no sin, and was therefore a perfect representative sacrifice to bring salvation to sinful humankind. They believe that God raised Jesus from death and gave him immortality
, and he ascended to Heaven
, God's dwelling place. Christadelphians believe that he will return to the earth in person to set up the Kingdom of God in fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham
and David. This includes the belief that the coming Kingdom will be the restoration of God's first Kingdom of Israel, which was under David and Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the gospel
taught by Jesus and the apostles.
, and through baptism
by total immersion in water. They do not believe we can be sure of being saved, believing instead that salvation comes as a result of a life of obedience to the commands of Christ After death, believers are in a state of non-existence
, knowing nothing until the Resurrection
at the return of Christ. Following the judgement at that time, the accepted receive the gift of immortality
, and live with Christ on a restored Earth, assisting him to establish the Kingdom of God
and to rule over the mortal population for a thousand years (the Millennium
). Christadelphians believe that the Kingdom will be centred upon Israel, but Jesus Christ will also reign over all the other nations on the earth. Some believe that the Kingdom itself is not worldwide but limited to the land of Israel promised to Abraham and ruled over in the past by David, with a worldwide empire.
of the soul (see also mortalism; conditionalism), trinitarianism
, the personal pre-existence of Christ
, the baptism of infants
, the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the present-day possession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see cessationism
). They believe that the word devil
is a reference in the scriptures to sin and human nature in opposition to God, while the word satan
is merely a reference to an adversary (be it good or bad). According to Christadelphians, these terms are used in reference to specific political systems or individuals in opposition or conflict. Hell
(Hebrew: Sheol; Greek: Hades, Gehenna) is understood to refer exclusively to death and the grave, rather than being a place of everlasting torment (see also annihilationism
). Christadelphians do not believe that anyone will "go to Heaven" upon death. Instead, they believe that only Christ Jesus went to Heaven, and when he comes back to the earth the true believers will live in the Land of Israel which will be the Kingdom of God on Earth. Christadelphians believe the doctrines they reject were introduced into Christendom
after the first century in large part through exposure to pagan Greek philosophy, and cannot be substantiated from the Biblical texts.
The most notable Christadelphian attempts to find a continuity of those with doctrinal similarities since that point have been geographer Alan Eyre
's two books The Protesters (1975) and Brethren in Christ (1982) in which he shows that many individual Christadelphian doctrines had been previously believed. Eyre focused in particular on the Radical Reformation
, and also among the Socinians and other early Unitarians
and the English Dissenters
. In this way, Eyre was able to demonstrate substantial historical precedents for individual Christadelphian teachings and practices, and believed that the Christadelphian community was the 'inheritor of a noble tradition, by which elements of the Truth were from century to century hammered out on the anvil of controversy, affliction and even anguish'. Although noting in the introduction to 'The Protestors' that 'Some recorded herein perhaps did not have "all the truth" — so the writer has been reminded', Eyre nevertheless claimed that the purpose of the work was to 'tell how a number of little-known individuals, groups and religious communities strove to preserve or revive the original Christianity of apostolic times', and that 'In faith and outlook they were far closer to the early springing shoots of first century Christianity and the penetrating spiritual challenge of Jesus himself than much that has passed for the religion of the Nazarene in the last nineteen centuries'.
Eyre's research has been criticized by some of his Christadelphian peers, and as a result Christadelphian commentary on the subject was subsequently more cautious and circumspect, with caveats being issued concerning Eyre's claims, and the two books less used and publicized than in previous years.
Nevertheless, all the distinctive Christadelphian doctrines, down to interpretations of specific verses, can be found particularly among 16th century Socinian
writers (e.g. the rejection of the doctrines of the trinity, pre-existence of Christ
, immortal souls, a literal hell of fire, original sin) Early English Unitarian writings also correspond closely to those of Christadelphians. Also, recent discoveries and research have shown a large similarity between Christadelphian beliefs and those held by Isaac Newton who, among other things, rejected the doctrines of the trinity, immortal souls, a personal devil and literal demons. Even with most source writings of those later considered "heretics" destroyed, evidence can be provided that since the first century CE there have been various groups and individuals who have held certain individual Christadelphian beliefs or similar ones.
For example:
Organised worship in England for those whose beliefs anticipated those of Christadelphians only truly became possible in 1779 when the Act of Toleration 1689
was amended to permit denial of the Trinity, and only fully when property penalties were removed in the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
. This is only 35 years before John Thomas' 1849 lecture tour in Britain which attracted significant support from an existing non-Trinitarian Adventist
base, particularly, initially, in Scotland where Arian
Socinian and unitarian (with a small 'u' as distinct from the Unitarian Church of Theophilus Lindsey
) views were prevalent.
s, which is taken from usage in the New Testament and is Greek for gathering of those summoned. Congregational worship, which usually takes place on Sunday, centres on the remembrance of the death and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the taking part in the "memorial service". Additional meetings are often organised for worship, prayer, evangelism
and Bible study.
Ecclesias are typically involved in evangelism in the form of public lectures on Bible teaching, college-style seminars on reading the Bible, and Bible Reading Groups. Correspondence courses are also used widely, particularly in areas where there is no established Christadelphian presence. Some ecclesias, organisations or individuals also preach through other media like video, podcasts and internet forums.
Only baptised believers are considered members of the ecclesia. However, the children of members are encouraged to attend Christadelphian Sunday Schools and youth groups. Interaction between youth from different ecclesias is encouraged through regional and national youth gatherings. Many ecclesias organise holidays for young people, the most popular form in the UK being camping
holidays.
Christadelphians understand the Bible to teach that male and female believers are equal in God's sight, and also that there is a distinction between the roles of male and female members. Women are typically not eligible to teach in formal gatherings of the ecclesia when male believers are present, and do not sit on the main ecclesial arranging committees. They do, however: participate in other ecclesial and inter-ecclesial committees; participate in discussions; teach children, other women and non-members; perform music; discuss and vote on business matters; and engage in the majority of other activities.
There are ecclesially-accountable committees for co-ordinated evangelism, youth and Sunday School work, military service
issues, care of the elderly, and humanitarian work. These do not have any legislative authority, and are wholly dependent upon ecclesial support. Ecclesias in an area may regularly hold joint activities combining youth groups, fellowship, preaching, and Bible study.
Christadelphians refuse to participate in any military because they are conscientious objectors.
There is a strong emphasis on personal Bible reading and study and many Christadelphians use the Bible Companion
to help them systematically read the Bible each year
denomination. Christadelphian ecclesias are autonomous and free to adopt whatever pattern of worship they choose. However, in the English-speaking world, there tends to be a great deal of uniformity in order of service and hymn
ody.
Christadelphian hymnody makes considerable use of the hymns of the Anglican and British Protestant traditions (even in US ecclesias the hymnody is typically more British than American). In many Christadelphian hymn books a sizeable proportion of hymns are drawn from the Scottish Psalter
and non-Christadelphian hymn-writers including Isaac Watts
, Charles Wesley
, William Cowper
and John Newton
. Despite incorporating non-Christadelphian hymns however, Christadelphian hymnody preserves the essential teachings of the community.
The earliest hymn book published was the "Sacred Melodist" which was published by Benjamin Wilson
in Geneva, Illinois in 1860. The next was the hymn book published for the use of Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God (an early name for Christadelphians) by George Dowie in Edinburgh in 1864. In 1865 Robert Roberts
published a collection of Scottish psalms and hymns called The Golden Harp (which was subtitled "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, compiled for the use of Immersed Believers in 'The Things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ'"). This was replaced only five years later by the first "Christadelphian Hymn Book" (1869), compiled by J. J. and A. Andrew, and this was revised and expanded in 1874, 1932 and 1964. A thorough revision by the Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association resulted in the latest (2002) edition which is almost universally used by English-speaking Christadelphian ecclesias. In addition some Christadelphian fellowships have published their own hymn books.
A more contemporary worship style is now popular in some quarters. The Praise the Lord songbook was produced with the aim of making contemporary songs which are consistent with Christadelphian theology more widely available. This book is either used as a supplement to the more traditional Hymn Book or is used in place of the traditional Hymn Book. Another publication, the "Worship" book is a compilation of songs and hymns that have been composed only by members of the Christadelphian community. This book was produced with the aim of providing extra music for non-congregational music items within services (eg voluntaries, meditations, etc) but has been adopted by congregations worldwide and is now used to supplement congregational repertoire.
In the English-speaking world, worship is typically accompanied by organ or piano, though in recent years a few ecclesias have promoted the use of other instruments (e.g. strings, wind and brass as mentioned in the Psalms). This trend has also seen the emergence of some Christadelphian bands and the establishment of the Christadelphian Arts Trust to support performing, visual and dramatic arts within the Christadelphian community.
In other countries, hymnbooks have been produced in local languages, sometimes resulting in styles of worship which reflect the local culture. It has been noted that Christadelphian hymnody has historically been a consistent witness to Christadelphian beliefs, and that hymnody occupies a significant role in the community.
group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century. The name was coined by John Thomas
, who was the group's founder.
Christadelphians hold a view of Biblical Unitarianism
.
Although no official membership figures are published, the Columbia Encyclopedia
gives an estimated figure of 50,000 Christadelphians, who are spread across approximately 120 countries; there are established churches (or ecclesias, as they are often called) in many of those countries, along with isolated members. Census
statistics are available for some countries. Estimates for the main centres of Christadelphian population are as follows: United Kingdom
(18,000), Australia
(9,987), Malawi
(7,000), United States
(6,500), Mozambique
(5,300), Canada
(3,375), New Zealand
(1,782), Kenya
(1,700), India
(1,300), Tanzania
(1,000), and Philippines
(1,000). This puts the figure at around 60,000.
(1805–1871), who migrated to North America from England in 1832. Following a near shipwreck he vowed to find out the truth about life and God through personal Biblical study. Initially he sought to avoid the kind of sectarianism
he had seen in England. In this he found sympathy with the rapidly emerging Restoration Movement
in the United States of America at the time. This movement sought for a reform based upon the Bible alone
as a sufficient guide and rejected all creed
s. However this liberality eventually led to dissent as John Thomas developed in his personal beliefs and started to question mainstream orthodox Christian beliefs. Whilst the Restoration Movement accepted Thomas's right to have his own beliefs, when he started preaching that they were essential to salvation, it led to a fierce series of debates with a notable leader of the movement, Alexander Campbell. John Thomas believed that scripture, as God's word, did not support a multiplicity of differing beliefs, and challenged the leaders to continue with the process of restoring first century Christian beliefs and correct interpretation through a process of debate. The history of this process appears in the book Dr. Thomas, His Life and Work (1873) by a Christadelphian, Robert Roberts
.
During this period of formulating his ideas he was baptised
twice, the second time after renouncing the beliefs he previously held. His new position was based on a new appreciation for the reign of Christ on David's throne. It was this abjuration of his former beliefs that eventually led to the Restoration Movement disfellowshipping him when he toured England and they became aware of his abjuration in the United States of America.
The Christadelphian community in Britain effectively dates from Thomas's first lecturing tour (May 1848 – October 1850). His message was particularly well received in Scotland, and Campbellite
, Unitarian
and Adventist
friends separated to form groups of "Baptised Believers". Two thirds of ecclesias, and members, in Britain before 1864 were in Scotland. In 1849, during his tour of Britain he completed (a decade and a half before the name Christadelphian was conceived) Elpis Israel
(elpis being Greek for "hope") – in which he laid out his understanding of the main doctrines of the Bible. Since his medium for bringing change was print and debate, it was natural for the origins of the Christadelphian body to be associated with journals and books, namely the Herald of the Kingdom and The Ambassador (which later became The Christadelphian
).
In this desire to seek to establish Biblical truth and test out orthodox Christian beliefs through independent scriptural study he was not alone and, amongst other churches, he also had links with Adventist
movement and with Benjamin Wilson
(who later set up the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
in the 1860s).
Although the Christadelphian movement originated through the activities of John Thomas, he never saw himself as setting up his own disciples. Rather he believed he had rediscovered first century beliefs from the Bible alone, and sought to prove that through a process of challenge and debate and writing journals. Through that process a number of people were convinced and set up various fellowships that had sympathy with that position. Groups associated with John Thomas met under various names, including Believers, Baptised Believers, the Royal Association of Believers, Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God, Nazarines (or Nazarenes) and The Antipas until the time of the American Civil War
(1861–1865). At that time, church affiliation was required to register for conscientious objector
status, and in 1865 Thomas chose for registration purposes the name Christadelphian.
Through the teaching of John Thomas and the need in the American civil war for a name, the Christadelphians emerged as a denomination, but they were formed into a lasting structure through a passionate follower of his interpretation of the Bible, Robert Roberts
. At the age of 10 he was taken by his mother to hear a talk given by John Thomas in Aberdeen
, Scotland
. At the age of 13 he read Thomas's Elpis Israel
and was subsequently baptised in 1853 at the age of 14 in the River Dee
and joined the "Baptised Believers". He was 're-baptised' in 1863 "on attaining to an understanding of the things concerning the name of Jesus, of which he was ignorant at his first immersion". In 1864 he began to publish The Ambassador magazine. This was renamed The Christadelphian in 1869 and continues to be published under that name. Roberts was prominent in the period following the death of John Thomas and helped craft the structures of the Christadelphian body.
Robert Roberts was certain that John Thomas had rediscovered the truth, and it is largely down to Roberts' organisation that the Christadelphian body exists in its present form. His life was characterised by debates over issues that arose within the fledgling organisation and some of this process can be found in the book Robert Roberts—A study of his life and character by Islip Collyer. He also wrote a booklet called a A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. which has been significant in establishing the basic structure most ecclesias follow today.
Initially the denomination grew in the English-speaking world, particularly in the English Midlands
and parts of North America. In the early days after the death of John Thomas the group could have moved in a number of directions. Doctrinal issues arose, debates were held and statements of faith were created and amended as other issues arose. These attempts were felt necessary by many to both settle and define a doctrinal stance for the newly emerging denomination and to keep out error.
. Varying degrees of exemption from military service were granted to Christadelphians in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. In the Second World War, this frequently required the person seeking exemption to undertake civilian work under the direction of the authorities.
During the Second World War
the Christadelphians in Britain assisted in the Kindertransport
, helping to relocate several hundred Jewish children away from Nazi persecution and founding a hostel Elpis Lodge
. In Germany the small Christadelphian community founded by Albert Maier
went underground from 1940–1945, and a leading brother, Albert Merz
, was imprisoned as a conscientious objector and later executed.
The emphasis on the restoration of truth has led to a history of division and schism that many have felt unpleasant and that has divided friends and families. Moves have been made to try to solve them with some success. In the early 1950s the majority of the Berean Fellowship re-joined the Temperance Hall Fellowship, with the remainder continuing as a separate community. In 1957–1958, there was further reunion with the Suffolk Street Fellowship, which had already incorporated many of the Unamended Fellowship outside North America. This re-united group, which now included the large majority of Christadelphians, became known as the Central Fellowship named after the Birmingham Central ecclesia. In Australia and New Zealand a union occurred in 1958 between the Central fellowship and the Shield fellowship (which was allied to the Suffolk Street fellowship) through an understanding expressed in a document called the Cooper-Carter Addendum. Those who held that the reasons for separation from the Suffolk Street Fellowship remained, opposed the re-union and formed the Old Paths Fellowship. There is also some co-operation between the Central (Amended) and Unamended Fellowships in North America – most recently in the Great Lakes region, where numerous Amended & Unamended ecclesias have opened fellowship to one another despite the failure of wider attempts at re-union under the North American Statement of Understanding (NASU) in recent years.
Despite success in reuniting large sections of the wider Christadelphian community and periodic efforts at reuniting smaller offshoots, there are still a number of groups who remain separate from other bodies of Christadelphians. These include the Berean Fellowship (who use precisely the same Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF) as the central fellowship), the Dawn Fellowship, the Old Paths Fellowship, the Companion Fellowship and the Pioneer Maranatha Fellowship. However, Dawn Christadelphians and the former Lightstand Fellowship in Australia united in November 2007. Most of the divisions still in existence within the Christadelphian community today stem from further divisions of the Berean fellowship.
organisations such as the Christadelphian Bible Mission (for preaching and pastoral support overseas), the Christadelphian Support Network (for counselling), and the Christadelphian Meal-A-Day Fund
(for charity and humanitarian work).
The period following the reunions was accompanied by expansion in the developing world, which now accounts for around 40% of Christadelphians.
and CGAF
are not received by most North American Amended
ecclesias. But outside North America this functional definition no longer holds. Many ecclesias in the "Central" grouping would not refuse a baptised Christadelphian from a minority "fellowship" from breaking bread, the exclusion is more usually the other way.
Today the Christadelphian body remains divided into "fellowships", the largest being the Central Fellowship, named after the now-defunct Birmingham Central ecclesia, once its largest and most influential ecclesia. There remains a large number of Unamended Christadelphians, particularly in the US and Canada. Smaller fellowships include the Berean Christadelphians, the Dawn Christadelphians, the Old Paths Christadelphians, and the Pioneer Maranatha Christadelphians. The number of adherents to the various smaller groups of Christadelphians varies from approximately 1,850 members (the Unamended Christadelphians as of 2006) to groups made up of little more than one or two immediate families
.
Estimates of numbers:
They tend to operate organisationally fairly similarly, although there are different emphases. For instance the Berean Christadelphians
focus on the pioneer Christadelphians and the Dawn Christadelphians put a huge importance on the need to follow a consistent set of disciplines regarding divorce and remarriage. These different Christadelphian fellowships are to some degree localised. For example, the Unamended Fellowship exists only in North America, and some of the others are confined to the English-speaking world.
Each fellowship has a Statement of Faith, the most common of which is the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF), named after an ecclesia in Birmingham. This is used by all Old Paths ecclesias without amendment from the days of Robert Roberts. Most Unamended ecclesias have a similar Statement of Faith called the Birmingham Unamended Statement of Faith (BUSF) with one clause being different. The Berean Christadelphians generally use BASF. The Dawn Christadelphians use a statement of faith which is based on the original 1886 statement of faith, but has four additions addressing issues that have arisen since that time. Some Christadelphian groups which are separated to a greater or lesser degree from the main body of Christadelphians use statements of faith
which differ in some regard from the BASF and from each other. Within the "Central" grouping individual ecclesias also may have their own statement of faith, whilst still accepting the statement of faith of the larger community.
For each fellowship, anyone who publicly assents to the doctrines described in the statement and is in good standing in their "home ecclesia" is generally welcome to participate in the activities of any other ecclesia.
) being the final response to those with unorthodox practices or beliefs.
The relative uniformity of organisation and practice is undoubtedly due to the influence of a booklet, written early in Christadelphian history, called A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. It recommends a basically democratic arrangement by which congregational members elect 'brothers' to arranging and serving duties, and includes guidelines for the organisation of committees, as well as conflict resolution between congregational members and between congregations. Christadelphians do not have paid ministers
. Male members are assessed by the congregation for their eligibility to teach and perform other duties, which are usually assigned on a rotation basis, as opposed to having a permanently appointed preacher. Congregational governance typically follows a democratic
model, with an elected arranging committee for each individual ecclesia. This unpaid committee is responsible for the day-to-day running of the ecclesia and is answerable to the rest of the ecclesia's members.
Inter-ecclesial organisations co-ordinate the running of, among other things, Christadelphian schools and elderly care homes, the Christadelphian Isolation League
(which cares for those prevented by distance or infirmity from attending an ecclesia regularly) and the publication of Christadelphian magazines.
, and they accept no other texts as inspired by God
. They regard the Bible as inspired by God and, therefore, believe that, in its original form, it was error free (errors in later copies are thought to be due to 'errors of transcription or translation'). Based on this, Christadelphians teach what they believe to be true Bible teaching.
Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is the power of God used in creation and for salvation. They also believe that the phrase Holy Spirit sometimes refers to God's character/mind, depending on the context in which the phrase appears, but reject the orthodox Christian view that we need strength, guidance and power from the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life, believing instead that the spirit a believer needs within themselves is the mind/character of God, which is developed in a believer by their reading of the Bible (which, they believe, contains words God gave by his Spirit) and trying to live by what it says during the events of their lives which God uses to help shape their character.
, in whom the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament
find their fulfilment. They believe he is the Son of Man
, in that he inherited human nature (with its inclination to sin) from his mother, and the Son of God
by virtue of his miraculous conception by the power of God. Although he was tempted, Jesus committed no sin, and was therefore a perfect representative sacrifice to bring salvation to sinful humankind. They believe that God raised Jesus from death and gave him immortality
, and he ascended to Heaven
, God's dwelling place. Christadelphians believe that he will return to the earth in person to set up the Kingdom of God in fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham
and David. This includes the belief that the coming Kingdom will be the restoration of God's first Kingdom of Israel, which was under David and Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the gospel
taught by Jesus and the apostles.
, and through baptism
by total immersion in water. They do not believe we can be sure of being saved, believing instead that salvation comes as a result of a life of obedience to the commands of Christ After death, believers are in a state of non-existence
, knowing nothing until the Resurrection
at the return of Christ. Following the judgement at that time, the accepted receive the gift of immortality
, and live with Christ on a restored Earth, assisting him to establish the Kingdom of God
and to rule over the mortal population for a thousand years (the Millennium
). Christadelphians believe that the Kingdom will be centred upon Israel, but Jesus Christ will also reign over all the other nations on the earth. Some believe that the Kingdom itself is not worldwide but limited to the land of Israel promised to Abraham and ruled over in the past by David, with a worldwide empire.
of the soul (see also mortalism; conditionalism), trinitarianism
, the personal pre-existence of Christ
, the baptism of infants
, the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the present-day possession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see cessationism
). They believe that the word devil
is a reference in the scriptures to sin and human nature in opposition to God, while the word satan
is merely a reference to an adversary (be it good or bad). According to Christadelphians, these terms are used in reference to specific political systems or individuals in opposition or conflict. Hell
(Hebrew: Sheol; Greek: Hades, Gehenna) is understood to refer exclusively to death and the grave, rather than being a place of everlasting torment (see also annihilationism
). Christadelphians do not believe that anyone will "go to Heaven" upon death. Instead, they believe that only Christ Jesus went to Heaven, and when he comes back to the earth the true believers will live in the Land of Israel which will be the Kingdom of God on Earth. Christadelphians believe the doctrines they reject were introduced into Christendom
after the first century in large part through exposure to pagan Greek philosophy, and cannot be substantiated from the Biblical texts.
The most notable Christadelphian attempts to find a continuity of those with doctrinal similarities since that point have been geographer Alan Eyre
's two books The Protesters (1975) and Brethren in Christ (1982) in which he shows that many individual Christadelphian doctrines had been previously believed. Eyre focused in particular on the Radical Reformation
, and also among the Socinians and other early Unitarians
and the English Dissenters
. In this way, Eyre was able to demonstrate substantial historical precedents for individual Christadelphian teachings and practices, and believed that the Christadelphian community was the 'inheritor of a noble tradition, by which elements of the Truth were from century to century hammered out on the anvil of controversy, affliction and even anguish'. Although noting in the introduction to 'The Protestors' that 'Some recorded herein perhaps did not have "all the truth" — so the writer has been reminded', Eyre nevertheless claimed that the purpose of the work was to 'tell how a number of little-known individuals, groups and religious communities strove to preserve or revive the original Christianity of apostolic times', and that 'In faith and outlook they were far closer to the early springing shoots of first century Christianity and the penetrating spiritual challenge of Jesus himself than much that has passed for the religion of the Nazarene in the last nineteen centuries'.
Eyre's research has been criticized by some of his Christadelphian peers, and as a result Christadelphian commentary on the subject was subsequently more cautious and circumspect, with caveats being issued concerning Eyre's claims, and the two books less used and publicized than in previous years.
Nevertheless, all the distinctive Christadelphian doctrines, down to interpretations of specific verses, can be found particularly among 16th century Socinian
writers (e.g. the rejection of the doctrines of the trinity, pre-existence of Christ
, immortal souls, a literal hell of fire, original sin) Early English Unitarian writings also correspond closely to those of Christadelphians. Also, recent discoveries and research have shown a large similarity between Christadelphian beliefs and those held by Isaac Newton who, among other things, rejected the doctrines of the trinity, immortal souls, a personal devil and literal demons. Even with most source writings of those later considered "heretics" destroyed, evidence can be provided that since the first century CE there have been various groups and individuals who have held certain individual Christadelphian beliefs or similar ones.
For example:
Organised worship in England for those whose beliefs anticipated those of Christadelphians only truly became possible in 1779 when the Act of Toleration 1689
was amended to permit denial of the Trinity, and only fully when property penalties were removed in the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
. This is only 35 years before John Thomas' 1849 lecture tour in Britain which attracted significant support from an existing non-Trinitarian Adventist
base, particularly, initially, in Scotland where Arian
Socinian and unitarian (with a small 'u' as distinct from the Unitarian Church of Theophilus Lindsey
) views were prevalent.
s, which is taken from usage in the New Testament and is Greek for gathering of those summoned. Congregational worship, which usually takes place on Sunday, centres on the remembrance of the death and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the taking part in the "memorial service". Additional meetings are often organised for worship, prayer, evangelism
and Bible study.
Ecclesias are typically involved in evangelism in the form of public lectures on Bible teaching, college-style seminars on reading the Bible, and Bible Reading Groups. Correspondence courses are also used widely, particularly in areas where there is no established Christadelphian presence. Some ecclesias, organisations or individuals also preach through other media like video, podcasts and internet forums.
Only baptised believers are considered members of the ecclesia. However, the children of members are encouraged to attend Christadelphian Sunday Schools and youth groups. Interaction between youth from different ecclesias is encouraged through regional and national youth gatherings. Many ecclesias organise holidays for young people, the most popular form in the UK being camping
holidays.
Christadelphians understand the Bible to teach that male and female believers are equal in God's sight, and also that there is a distinction between the roles of male and female members. Women are typically not eligible to teach in formal gatherings of the ecclesia when male believers are present, and do not sit on the main ecclesial arranging committees. They do, however: participate in other ecclesial and inter-ecclesial committees; participate in discussions; teach children, other women and non-members; perform music; discuss and vote on business matters; and engage in the majority of other activities.
There are ecclesially-accountable committees for co-ordinated evangelism, youth and Sunday School work, military service
issues, care of the elderly, and humanitarian work. These do not have any legislative authority, and are wholly dependent upon ecclesial support. Ecclesias in an area may regularly hold joint activities combining youth groups, fellowship, preaching, and Bible study.
Christadelphians refuse to participate in any military because they are conscientious objectors.
There is a strong emphasis on personal Bible reading and study and many Christadelphians use the Bible Companion
to help them systematically read the Bible each year
denomination. Christadelphian ecclesias are autonomous and free to adopt whatever pattern of worship they choose. However, in the English-speaking world, there tends to be a great deal of uniformity in order of service and hymn
ody.
Christadelphian hymnody makes considerable use of the hymns of the Anglican and British Protestant traditions (even in US ecclesias the hymnody is typically more British than American). In many Christadelphian hymn books a sizeable proportion of hymns are drawn from the Scottish Psalter
and non-Christadelphian hymn-writers including Isaac Watts
, Charles Wesley
, William Cowper
and John Newton
. Despite incorporating non-Christadelphian hymns however, Christadelphian hymnody preserves the essential teachings of the community.
The earliest hymn book published was the "Sacred Melodist" which was published by Benjamin Wilson
in Geneva, Illinois in 1860. The next was the hymn book published for the use of Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God (an early name for Christadelphians) by George Dowie in Edinburgh in 1864. In 1865 Robert Roberts
published a collection of Scottish psalms and hymns called The Golden Harp (which was subtitled "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, compiled for the use of Immersed Believers in 'The Things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ'"). This was replaced only five years later by the first "Christadelphian Hymn Book" (1869), compiled by J. J. and A. Andrew, and this was revised and expanded in 1874, 1932 and 1964. A thorough revision by the Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association resulted in the latest (2002) edition which is almost universally used by English-speaking Christadelphian ecclesias. In addition some Christadelphian fellowships have published their own hymn books.
A more contemporary worship style is now popular in some quarters. The Praise the Lord songbook was produced with the aim of making contemporary songs which are consistent with Christadelphian theology more widely available. This book is either used as a supplement to the more traditional Hymn Book or is used in place of the traditional Hymn Book. Another publication, the "Worship" book is a compilation of songs and hymns that have been composed only by members of the Christadelphian community. This book was produced with the aim of providing extra music for non-congregational music items within services (eg voluntaries, meditations, etc) but has been adopted by congregations worldwide and is now used to supplement congregational repertoire.
In the English-speaking world, worship is typically accompanied by organ or piano, though in recent years a few ecclesias have promoted the use of other instruments (e.g. strings, wind and brass as mentioned in the Psalms). This trend has also seen the emergence of some Christadelphian bands and the establishment of the Christadelphian Arts Trust to support performing, visual and dramatic arts within the Christadelphian community.
In other countries, hymnbooks have been produced in local languages, sometimes resulting in styles of worship which reflect the local culture. It has been noted that Christadelphian hymnody has historically been a consistent witness to Christadelphian beliefs, and that hymnody occupies a significant role in the community.
group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century. The name was coined by John Thomas
, who was the group's founder.
Christadelphians hold a view of Biblical Unitarianism
.
Although no official membership figures are published, the Columbia Encyclopedia
gives an estimated figure of 50,000 Christadelphians, who are spread across approximately 120 countries; there are established churches (or ecclesias, as they are often called) in many of those countries, along with isolated members. Census
statistics are available for some countries. Estimates for the main centres of Christadelphian population are as follows: United Kingdom
(18,000), Australia
(9,987), Malawi
(7,000), United States
(6,500), Mozambique
(5,300), Canada
(3,375), New Zealand
(1,782), Kenya
(1,700), India
(1,300), Tanzania
(1,000), and Philippines
(1,000). This puts the figure at around 60,000.
(1805–1871), who migrated to North America from England in 1832. Following a near shipwreck he vowed to find out the truth about life and God through personal Biblical study. Initially he sought to avoid the kind of sectarianism
he had seen in England. In this he found sympathy with the rapidly emerging Restoration Movement
in the United States of America at the time. This movement sought for a reform based upon the Bible alone
as a sufficient guide and rejected all creed
s. However this liberality eventually led to dissent as John Thomas developed in his personal beliefs and started to question mainstream orthodox Christian beliefs. Whilst the Restoration Movement accepted Thomas's right to have his own beliefs, when he started preaching that they were essential to salvation, it led to a fierce series of debates with a notable leader of the movement, Alexander Campbell. John Thomas believed that scripture, as God's word, did not support a multiplicity of differing beliefs, and challenged the leaders to continue with the process of restoring first century Christian beliefs and correct interpretation through a process of debate. The history of this process appears in the book Dr. Thomas, His Life and Work (1873) by a Christadelphian, Robert Roberts
.
During this period of formulating his ideas he was baptised
twice, the second time after renouncing the beliefs he previously held. His new position was based on a new appreciation for the reign of Christ on David's throne. It was this abjuration of his former beliefs that eventually led to the Restoration Movement disfellowshipping him when he toured England and they became aware of his abjuration in the United States of America.
The Christadelphian community in Britain effectively dates from Thomas's first lecturing tour (May 1848 – October 1850). His message was particularly well received in Scotland, and Campbellite
, Unitarian
and Adventist
friends separated to form groups of "Baptised Believers". Two thirds of ecclesias, and members, in Britain before 1864 were in Scotland. In 1849, during his tour of Britain he completed (a decade and a half before the name Christadelphian was conceived) Elpis Israel
(elpis being Greek for "hope") – in which he laid out his understanding of the main doctrines of the Bible. Since his medium for bringing change was print and debate, it was natural for the origins of the Christadelphian body to be associated with journals and books, namely the Herald of the Kingdom and The Ambassador (which later became The Christadelphian
).
In this desire to seek to establish Biblical truth and test out orthodox Christian beliefs through independent scriptural study he was not alone and, amongst other churches, he also had links with Adventist
movement and with Benjamin Wilson
(who later set up the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
in the 1860s).
Although the Christadelphian movement originated through the activities of John Thomas, he never saw himself as setting up his own disciples. Rather he believed he had rediscovered first century beliefs from the Bible alone, and sought to prove that through a process of challenge and debate and writing journals. Through that process a number of people were convinced and set up various fellowships that had sympathy with that position. Groups associated with John Thomas met under various names, including Believers, Baptised Believers, the Royal Association of Believers, Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God, Nazarines (or Nazarenes) and The Antipas until the time of the American Civil War
(1861–1865). At that time, church affiliation was required to register for conscientious objector
status, and in 1865 Thomas chose for registration purposes the name Christadelphian.
Through the teaching of John Thomas and the need in the American civil war for a name, the Christadelphians emerged as a denomination, but they were formed into a lasting structure through a passionate follower of his interpretation of the Bible, Robert Roberts
. At the age of 10 he was taken by his mother to hear a talk given by John Thomas in Aberdeen
, Scotland
. At the age of 13 he read Thomas's Elpis Israel
and was subsequently baptised in 1853 at the age of 14 in the River Dee
and joined the "Baptised Believers". He was 're-baptised' in 1863 "on attaining to an understanding of the things concerning the name of Jesus, of which he was ignorant at his first immersion". In 1864 he began to publish The Ambassador magazine. This was renamed The Christadelphian in 1869 and continues to be published under that name. Roberts was prominent in the period following the death of John Thomas and helped craft the structures of the Christadelphian body.
Robert Roberts was certain that John Thomas had rediscovered the truth, and it is largely down to Roberts' organisation that the Christadelphian body exists in its present form. His life was characterised by debates over issues that arose within the fledgling organisation and some of this process can be found in the book Robert Roberts—A study of his life and character by Islip Collyer. He also wrote a booklet called a A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. which has been significant in establishing the basic structure most ecclesias follow today.
Initially the denomination grew in the English-speaking world, particularly in the English Midlands
and parts of North America. In the early days after the death of John Thomas the group could have moved in a number of directions. Doctrinal issues arose, debates were held and statements of faith were created and amended as other issues arose. These attempts were felt necessary by many to both settle and define a doctrinal stance for the newly emerging denomination and to keep out error.
. Varying degrees of exemption from military service were granted to Christadelphians in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. In the Second World War, this frequently required the person seeking exemption to undertake civilian work under the direction of the authorities.
During the Second World War
the Christadelphians in Britain assisted in the Kindertransport
, helping to relocate several hundred Jewish children away from Nazi persecution and founding a hostel Elpis Lodge
. In Germany the small Christadelphian community founded by Albert Maier
went underground from 1940–1945, and a leading brother, Albert Merz
, was imprisoned as a conscientious objector and later executed.
The emphasis on the restoration of truth has led to a history of division and schism that many have felt unpleasant and that has divided friends and families. Moves have been made to try to solve them with some success. In the early 1950s the majority of the Berean Fellowship re-joined the Temperance Hall Fellowship, with the remainder continuing as a separate community. In 1957–1958, there was further reunion with the Suffolk Street Fellowship, which had already incorporated many of the Unamended Fellowship outside North America. This re-united group, which now included the large majority of Christadelphians, became known as the Central Fellowship named after the Birmingham Central ecclesia. In Australia and New Zealand a union occurred in 1958 between the Central fellowship and the Shield fellowship (which was allied to the Suffolk Street fellowship) through an understanding expressed in a document called the Cooper-Carter Addendum. Those who held that the reasons for separation from the Suffolk Street Fellowship remained, opposed the re-union and formed the Old Paths Fellowship. There is also some co-operation between the Central (Amended) and Unamended Fellowships in North America – most recently in the Great Lakes region, where numerous Amended & Unamended ecclesias have opened fellowship to one another despite the failure of wider attempts at re-union under the North American Statement of Understanding (NASU) in recent years.
Despite success in reuniting large sections of the wider Christadelphian community and periodic efforts at reuniting smaller offshoots, there are still a number of groups who remain separate from other bodies of Christadelphians. These include the Berean Fellowship (who use precisely the same Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF) as the central fellowship), the Dawn Fellowship, the Old Paths Fellowship, the Companion Fellowship and the Pioneer Maranatha Fellowship. However, Dawn Christadelphians and the former Lightstand Fellowship in Australia united in November 2007. Most of the divisions still in existence within the Christadelphian community today stem from further divisions of the Berean fellowship.
organisations such as the Christadelphian Bible Mission (for preaching and pastoral support overseas), the Christadelphian Support Network (for counselling), and the Christadelphian Meal-A-Day Fund
(for charity and humanitarian work).
The period following the reunions was accompanied by expansion in the developing world, which now accounts for around 40% of Christadelphians.
and CGAF
are not received by most North American Amended
ecclesias. But outside North America this functional definition no longer holds. Many ecclesias in the "Central" grouping would not refuse a baptised Christadelphian from a minority "fellowship" from breaking bread, the exclusion is more usually the other way.
Today the Christadelphian body remains divided into "fellowships", the largest being the Central Fellowship, named after the now-defunct Birmingham Central ecclesia, once its largest and most influential ecclesia. There remains a large number of Unamended Christadelphians, particularly in the US and Canada. Smaller fellowships include the Berean Christadelphians, the Dawn Christadelphians, the Old Paths Christadelphians, and the Pioneer Maranatha Christadelphians. The number of adherents to the various smaller groups of Christadelphians varies from approximately 1,850 members (the Unamended Christadelphians as of 2006) to groups made up of little more than one or two immediate families
.
Estimates of numbers:
They tend to operate organisationally fairly similarly, although there are different emphases. For instance the Berean Christadelphians
focus on the pioneer Christadelphians and the Dawn Christadelphians put a huge importance on the need to follow a consistent set of disciplines regarding divorce and remarriage. These different Christadelphian fellowships are to some degree localised. For example, the Unamended Fellowship exists only in North America, and some of the others are confined to the English-speaking world.
Each fellowship has a Statement of Faith, the most common of which is the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF), named after an ecclesia in Birmingham. This is used by all Old Paths ecclesias without amendment from the days of Robert Roberts. Most Unamended ecclesias have a similar Statement of Faith called the Birmingham Unamended Statement of Faith (BUSF) with one clause being different. The Berean Christadelphians generally use BASF. The Dawn Christadelphians use a statement of faith which is based on the original 1886 statement of faith, but has four additions addressing issues that have arisen since that time. Some Christadelphian groups which are separated to a greater or lesser degree from the main body of Christadelphians use statements of faith
which differ in some regard from the BASF and from each other. Within the "Central" grouping individual ecclesias also may have their own statement of faith, whilst still accepting the statement of faith of the larger community.
For each fellowship, anyone who publicly assents to the doctrines described in the statement and is in good standing in their "home ecclesia" is generally welcome to participate in the activities of any other ecclesia.
) being the final response to those with unorthodox practices or beliefs.
The relative uniformity of organisation and practice is undoubtedly due to the influence of a booklet, written early in Christadelphian history, called A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. It recommends a basically democratic arrangement by which congregational members elect 'brothers' to arranging and serving duties, and includes guidelines for the organisation of committees, as well as conflict resolution between congregational members and between congregations. Christadelphians do not have paid ministers
. Male members are assessed by the congregation for their eligibility to teach and perform other duties, which are usually assigned on a rotation basis, as opposed to having a permanently appointed preacher. Congregational governance typically follows a democratic
model, with an elected arranging committee for each individual ecclesia. This unpaid committee is responsible for the day-to-day running of the ecclesia and is answerable to the rest of the ecclesia's members.
Inter-ecclesial organisations co-ordinate the running of, among other things, Christadelphian schools and elderly care homes, the Christadelphian Isolation League
(which cares for those prevented by distance or infirmity from attending an ecclesia regularly) and the publication of Christadelphian magazines.
, and they accept no other texts as inspired by God
. They regard the Bible as inspired by God and, therefore, believe that, in its original form, it was error free (errors in later copies are thought to be due to 'errors of transcription or translation'). Based on this, Christadelphians teach what they believe to be true Bible teaching.
Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is the power of God used in creation and for salvation. They also believe that the phrase Holy Spirit sometimes refers to God's character/mind, depending on the context in which the phrase appears, but reject the orthodox Christian view that we need strength, guidance and power from the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life, believing instead that the spirit a believer needs within themselves is the mind/character of God, which is developed in a believer by their reading of the Bible (which, they believe, contains words God gave by his Spirit) and trying to live by what it says during the events of their lives which God uses to help shape their character.
, in whom the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament
find their fulfilment. They believe he is the Son of Man
, in that he inherited human nature (with its inclination to sin) from his mother, and the Son of God
by virtue of his miraculous conception by the power of God. Although he was tempted, Jesus committed no sin, and was therefore a perfect representative sacrifice to bring salvation to sinful humankind. They believe that God raised Jesus from death and gave him immortality
, and he ascended to Heaven
, God's dwelling place. Christadelphians believe that he will return to the earth in person to set up the Kingdom of God in fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham
and David. This includes the belief that the coming Kingdom will be the restoration of God's first Kingdom of Israel, which was under David and Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the gospel
taught by Jesus and the apostles.
, and through baptism
by total immersion in water. They do not believe we can be sure of being saved, believing instead that salvation comes as a result of a life of obedience to the commands of Christ After death, believers are in a state of non-existence
, knowing nothing until the Resurrection
at the return of Christ. Following the judgement at that time, the accepted receive the gift of immortality
, and live with Christ on a restored Earth, assisting him to establish the Kingdom of God
and to rule over the mortal population for a thousand years (the Millennium
). Christadelphians believe that the Kingdom will be centred upon Israel, but Jesus Christ will also reign over all the other nations on the earth. Some believe that the Kingdom itself is not worldwide but limited to the land of Israel promised to Abraham and ruled over in the past by David, with a worldwide empire.
of the soul (see also mortalism; conditionalism), trinitarianism
, the personal pre-existence of Christ
, the baptism of infants
, the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the present-day possession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see cessationism
). They believe that the word devil
is a reference in the scriptures to sin and human nature in opposition to God, while the word satan
is merely a reference to an adversary (be it good or bad). According to Christadelphians, these terms are used in reference to specific political systems or individuals in opposition or conflict. Hell
(Hebrew: Sheol; Greek: Hades, Gehenna) is understood to refer exclusively to death and the grave, rather than being a place of everlasting torment (see also annihilationism
). Christadelphians do not believe that anyone will "go to Heaven" upon death. Instead, they believe that only Christ Jesus went to Heaven, and when he comes back to the earth the true believers will live in the Land of Israel which will be the Kingdom of God on Earth. Christadelphians believe the doctrines they reject were introduced into Christendom
after the first century in large part through exposure to pagan Greek philosophy, and cannot be substantiated from the Biblical texts.
The most notable Christadelphian attempts to find a continuity of those with doctrinal similarities since that point have been geographer Alan Eyre
's two books The Protesters (1975) and Brethren in Christ (1982) in which he shows that many individual Christadelphian doctrines had been previously believed. Eyre focused in particular on the Radical Reformation
, and also among the Socinians and other early Unitarians
and the English Dissenters
. In this way, Eyre was able to demonstrate substantial historical precedents for individual Christadelphian teachings and practices, and believed that the Christadelphian community was the 'inheritor of a noble tradition, by which elements of the Truth were from century to century hammered out on the anvil of controversy, affliction and even anguish'. Although noting in the introduction to 'The Protestors' that 'Some recorded herein perhaps did not have "all the truth" — so the writer has been reminded', Eyre nevertheless claimed that the purpose of the work was to 'tell how a number of little-known individuals, groups and religious communities strove to preserve or revive the original Christianity of apostolic times', and that 'In faith and outlook they were far closer to the early springing shoots of first century Christianity and the penetrating spiritual challenge of Jesus himself than much that has passed for the religion of the Nazarene in the last nineteen centuries'.
Eyre's research has been criticized by some of his Christadelphian peers, and as a result Christadelphian commentary on the subject was subsequently more cautious and circumspect, with caveats being issued concerning Eyre's claims, and the two books less used and publicized than in previous years.
Nevertheless, all the distinctive Christadelphian doctrines, down to interpretations of specific verses, can be found particularly among 16th century Socinian
writers (e.g. the rejection of the doctrines of the trinity, pre-existence of Christ
, immortal souls, a literal hell of fire, original sin) Early English Unitarian writings also correspond closely to those of Christadelphians. Also, recent discoveries and research have shown a large similarity between Christadelphian beliefs and those held by Isaac Newton who, among other things, rejected the doctrines of the trinity, immortal souls, a personal devil and literal demons. Even with most source writings of those later considered "heretics" destroyed, evidence can be provided that since the first century CE there have been various groups and individuals who have held certain individual Christadelphian beliefs or similar ones.
For example:
Organised worship in England for those whose beliefs anticipated those of Christadelphians only truly became possible in 1779 when the Act of Toleration 1689
was amended to permit denial of the Trinity, and only fully when property penalties were removed in the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
. This is only 35 years before John Thomas' 1849 lecture tour in Britain which attracted significant support from an existing non-Trinitarian Adventist
base, particularly, initially, in Scotland where Arian
Socinian and unitarian (with a small 'u' as distinct from the Unitarian Church of Theophilus Lindsey
) views were prevalent.
s, which is taken from usage in the New Testament and is Greek for gathering of those summoned. Congregational worship, which usually takes place on Sunday, centres on the remembrance of the death and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the taking part in the "memorial service". Additional meetings are often organised for worship, prayer, evangelism
and Bible study.
Ecclesias are typically involved in evangelism in the form of public lectures on Bible teaching, college-style seminars on reading the Bible, and Bible Reading Groups. Correspondence courses are also used widely, particularly in areas where there is no established Christadelphian presence. Some ecclesias, organisations or individuals also preach through other media like video, podcasts and internet forums.
Only baptised believers are considered members of the ecclesia. However, the children of members are encouraged to attend Christadelphian Sunday Schools and youth groups. Interaction between youth from different ecclesias is encouraged through regional and national youth gatherings. Many ecclesias organise holidays for young people, the most popular form in the UK being camping
holidays.
Christadelphians understand the Bible to teach that male and female believers are equal in God's sight, and also that there is a distinction between the roles of male and female members. Women are typically not eligible to teach in formal gatherings of the ecclesia when male believers are present, and do not sit on the main ecclesial arranging committees. They do, however: participate in other ecclesial and inter-ecclesial committees; participate in discussions; teach children, other women and non-members; perform music; discuss and vote on business matters; and engage in the majority of other activities.
There are ecclesially-accountable committees for co-ordinated evangelism, youth and Sunday School work, military service
issues, care of the elderly, and humanitarian work. These do not have any legislative authority, and are wholly dependent upon ecclesial support. Ecclesias in an area may regularly hold joint activities combining youth groups, fellowship, preaching, and Bible study.
Christadelphians refuse to participate in any military because they are conscientious objectors.
There is a strong emphasis on personal Bible reading and study and many Christadelphians use the Bible Companion
to help them systematically read the Bible each year
denomination. Christadelphian ecclesias are autonomous and free to adopt whatever pattern of worship they choose. However, in the English-speaking world, there tends to be a great deal of uniformity in order of service and hymn
ody.
Christadelphian hymnody makes considerable use of the hymns of the Anglican and British Protestant traditions (even in US ecclesias the hymnody is typically more British than American). In many Christadelphian hymn books a sizeable proportion of hymns are drawn from the Scottish Psalter
and non-Christadelphian hymn-writers including Isaac Watts
, Charles Wesley
, William Cowper
and John Newton
. Despite incorporating non-Christadelphian hymns however, Christadelphian hymnody preserves the essential teachings of the community.
The earliest hymn book published was the "Sacred Melodist" which was published by Benjamin Wilson
in Geneva, Illinois in 1860. The next was the hymn book published for the use of Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God (an early name for Christadelphians) by George Dowie in Edinburgh in 1864. In 1865 Robert Roberts
published a collection of Scottish psalms and hymns called The Golden Harp (which was subtitled "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, compiled for the use of Immersed Believers in 'The Things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ'"). This was replaced only five years later by the first "Christadelphian Hymn Book" (1869), compiled by J. J. and A. Andrew, and this was revised and expanded in 1874, 1932 and 1964. A thorough revision by the Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association resulted in the latest (2002) edition which is almost universally used by English-speaking Christadelphian ecclesias. In addition some Christadelphian fellowships have published their own hymn books.
A more contemporary worship style is now popular in some quarters. The Praise the Lord songbook was produced with the aim of making contemporary songs which are consistent with Christadelphian theology more widely available. This book is either used as a supplement to the more traditional Hymn Book or is used in place of the traditional Hymn Book. Another publication, the "Worship" book is a compilation of songs and hymns that have been composed only by members of the Christadelphian community. This book was produced with the aim of providing extra music for non-congregational music items within services (eg voluntaries, meditations, etc) but has been adopted by congregations worldwide and is now used to supplement congregational repertoire.
In the English-speaking world, worship is typically accompanied by organ or piano, though in recent years a few ecclesias have promoted the use of other instruments (e.g. strings, wind and brass as mentioned in the Psalms). This trend has also seen the emergence of some Christadelphian bands and the establishment of the Christadelphian Arts Trust to support performing, visual and dramatic arts within the Christadelphian community.
In other countries, hymnbooks have been produced in local languages, sometimes resulting in styles of worship which reflect the local culture. It has been noted that Christadelphian hymnody has historically been a consistent witness to Christadelphian beliefs, and that hymnody occupies a significant role in the community.
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century. The name was coined by John Thomas
John Thomas (Christadelphian)
Dr. John Thomas was the founder of the Christadelphian movement, a Restorationist religion with doctrines similar in part to some 16th century Antitrinitarian Rationalist Socinians and the 16th century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.-Early life:John Thomas M.D., born in Hoxton Square, Hackney,...
, who was the group's founder.
Christadelphians hold a view of Biblical Unitarianism
Biblical Unitarianism
Today, biblical Unitarianism identifies the Christian belief that the Bible teaches God is a singular person—the Father—and that Jesus his son is a distinct being...
.
Although no official membership figures are published, the Columbia Encyclopedia
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Encyclopedia is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and sold by the Gale Group. First published in 1935, and continuing its important relationship with Columbia University, the encyclopedia underwent major revisions in 1950 and 1963; the current edition is...
gives an estimated figure of 50,000 Christadelphians, who are spread across approximately 120 countries; there are established churches (or ecclesias, as they are often called) in many of those countries, along with isolated members. Census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
statistics are available for some countries. Estimates for the main centres of Christadelphian population are as follows: United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(18,000), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(9,987), Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
(7,000), United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(6,500), Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
(5,300), Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(3,375), New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(1,782), Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
(1,700), India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(1,300), Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
(1,000), and Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
(1,000). This puts the figure at around 60,000.
Nineteenth century
The Christadelphian religious group traces its origins to Dr John ThomasJohn Thomas (Christadelphian)
Dr. John Thomas was the founder of the Christadelphian movement, a Restorationist religion with doctrines similar in part to some 16th century Antitrinitarian Rationalist Socinians and the 16th century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.-Early life:John Thomas M.D., born in Hoxton Square, Hackney,...
(1805–1871), who migrated to North America from England in 1832. Following a near shipwreck he vowed to find out the truth about life and God through personal Biblical study. Initially he sought to avoid the kind of sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
he had seen in England. In this he found sympathy with the rapidly emerging Restoration Movement
Restoration Movement
The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century...
in the United States of America at the time. This movement sought for a reform based upon the Bible alone
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
as a sufficient guide and rejected all creed
Creed
A creed is a statement of belief—usually a statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community—and is often recited as part of a religious service. When the statement of faith is longer and polemical, as well as didactic, it is not called a creed but a Confession of faith...
s. However this liberality eventually led to dissent as John Thomas developed in his personal beliefs and started to question mainstream orthodox Christian beliefs. Whilst the Restoration Movement accepted Thomas's right to have his own beliefs, when he started preaching that they were essential to salvation, it led to a fierce series of debates with a notable leader of the movement, Alexander Campbell. John Thomas believed that scripture, as God's word, did not support a multiplicity of differing beliefs, and challenged the leaders to continue with the process of restoring first century Christian beliefs and correct interpretation through a process of debate. The history of this process appears in the book Dr. Thomas, His Life and Work (1873) by a Christadelphian, Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
.
During this period of formulating his ideas he was baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
twice, the second time after renouncing the beliefs he previously held. His new position was based on a new appreciation for the reign of Christ on David's throne. It was this abjuration of his former beliefs that eventually led to the Restoration Movement disfellowshipping him when he toured England and they became aware of his abjuration in the United States of America.
The Christadelphian community in Britain effectively dates from Thomas's first lecturing tour (May 1848 – October 1850). His message was particularly well received in Scotland, and Campbellite
Campbellite
Campbellite refers to any of the religious groups historically descended from the Restoration Movement, a religious reform movement in the early 19th century in the United States...
, Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
friends separated to form groups of "Baptised Believers". Two thirds of ecclesias, and members, in Britain before 1864 were in Scotland. In 1849, during his tour of Britain he completed (a decade and a half before the name Christadelphian was conceived) Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, in 1848-1849 and published in 1849.The book was based on a series of lectures given by Thomas in 1848 and is written in three parts, The...
(elpis being Greek for "hope") – in which he laid out his understanding of the main doctrines of the Bible. Since his medium for bringing change was print and debate, it was natural for the origins of the Christadelphian body to be associated with journals and books, namely the Herald of the Kingdom and The Ambassador (which later became The Christadelphian
The Christadelphian
The Christadelphian is a Bible magazine published monthly by The Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association . It states that it is 'A magazine dedicated wholly to the hope of Israel' and, according to the magazine website, it 'reflects the teachings, beliefs and activities of the...
).
In this desire to seek to establish Biblical truth and test out orthodox Christian beliefs through independent scriptural study he was not alone and, amongst other churches, he also had links with Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
movement and with Benjamin Wilson
Benjamin Wilson (Biblical scholar)
Benjamin Wilson was an autodidact Biblical scholar and writer of the Emphatic Diaglott translation of the Bible...
(who later set up the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith may refer to the following two modern Christian groups that had the same origin and common history from 1850s to 1921:* Church of God General Conference or "CoGGC"...
in the 1860s).
Although the Christadelphian movement originated through the activities of John Thomas, he never saw himself as setting up his own disciples. Rather he believed he had rediscovered first century beliefs from the Bible alone, and sought to prove that through a process of challenge and debate and writing journals. Through that process a number of people were convinced and set up various fellowships that had sympathy with that position. Groups associated with John Thomas met under various names, including Believers, Baptised Believers, the Royal Association of Believers, Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God, Nazarines (or Nazarenes) and The Antipas until the time of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861–1865). At that time, church affiliation was required to register for conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
status, and in 1865 Thomas chose for registration purposes the name Christadelphian.
Through the teaching of John Thomas and the need in the American civil war for a name, the Christadelphians emerged as a denomination, but they were formed into a lasting structure through a passionate follower of his interpretation of the Bible, Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
. At the age of 10 he was taken by his mother to hear a talk given by John Thomas in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. At the age of 13 he read Thomas's Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, in 1848-1849 and published in 1849.The book was based on a series of lectures given by Thomas in 1848 and is written in three parts, The...
and was subsequently baptised in 1853 at the age of 14 in the River Dee
River Dee, Aberdeenshire
The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen...
and joined the "Baptised Believers". He was 're-baptised' in 1863 "on attaining to an understanding of the things concerning the name of Jesus, of which he was ignorant at his first immersion". In 1864 he began to publish The Ambassador magazine. This was renamed The Christadelphian in 1869 and continues to be published under that name. Roberts was prominent in the period following the death of John Thomas and helped craft the structures of the Christadelphian body.
Robert Roberts was certain that John Thomas had rediscovered the truth, and it is largely down to Roberts' organisation that the Christadelphian body exists in its present form. His life was characterised by debates over issues that arose within the fledgling organisation and some of this process can be found in the book Robert Roberts—A study of his life and character by Islip Collyer. He also wrote a booklet called a A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. which has been significant in establishing the basic structure most ecclesias follow today.
Initially the denomination grew in the English-speaking world, particularly in the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and parts of North America. In the early days after the death of John Thomas the group could have moved in a number of directions. Doctrinal issues arose, debates were held and statements of faith were created and amended as other issues arose. These attempts were felt necessary by many to both settle and define a doctrinal stance for the newly emerging denomination and to keep out error.
- In 1873, the Nazarene FellowshipNazarene fellowshipNot to be confused with the Wesleyan Church of the Nazarene, or the German Nazarene movement of religious artists.The Nazarene fellowship was an offshoot from Christadelphians from 1873–1881, led by Edward Turney of Nottingham and David Handley of Maldon...
, led by Edward Turney of Nottingham, separated over the atonement. Following his death in 1879 his most active supporter David Handley of Maldon returned to the main grouping, and the group gradually died out. In the 1950s Turney's cause, and the name of the group, were revived by Ernest Brady.
- In 1885, the Suffolk Street Fellowship was formed over the inspirationBiblical inspirationBiblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology that the authors and editors of the Bible were led or influenced by God with the result that their writings many be designated in some sense the word of God.- Etymology :...
of the Bible. Robert Ashcroft, a leading member, wrote an article which challenged Christadelphian belief in plenary inspiration and which, although he himself left, led to a division in the main body. One group formed a new ecclesia which later met in Suffolk Street, Birmingham. Other ecclesias throughout the world which supported them became known as the "Suffolk Street fellowship" to distinguish itself from the group they were separated from, which became known as the "Temperance Hall fellowship". The main magazine of this group from 1884–1957 was The Fraternal Visitor, whose editors included J.J. Bishop and J.J. Hadley (d.1912), then Thomas TurnerThomas Turner (metallurgist)thumb|right|Thomas Turner, A.R.S.MThomas Turner Sc., A.R.S.M., F.R.I.C. was the first Professor of Metallurgy in Britain, at the University of Birmingham. The University was created in 1900 and the department founded in 1902. He retired in 1926. He was also a leading member of the Christadelphian...
, and finally Cyril Cooper (till reunion in 1957).
- In 1898, the Unamended FellowshipUnamended ChristadelphiansThe Unamended Christadelphians are a "fellowship" within the broader Christadelphian movement worldwide, found only in the United States and Canada. They are, like all Christadelphians, millennialist and non-Trinitarian...
was separated from as a result of differing views on who would be raised to judgment at the return of Christ. The majority of Christadelphians believe that the judgment will include anyone who had sufficient knowledge of the gospel message, and is not limited to baptized believers. The majority in Britain, Australia and North America amended their statement of faith accordingly. Those who opposed the amendment in North America became known as the "Unamended fellowship" and allowed the teaching that God either could not or would not raise those who had no covenant relationship with him. Opinions vary as to what the established position was on this subject prior to the controversy. In North America those who continued to associate with Britain on the basis of the amended 1898 statement became known as the Amended FellowshipAmended ChristadelphiansThis article refers to a distinction that is today only directly relevant in North America. For more complete information on Christadelphians please see the main article...
,in contrast to the Unamended Fellowship, who took their lead from the Christadelphian Advocate Magazine of Thomas WilliamsThomas Williams (Christadelphian)thumb|right||Thomas WilliamsThomas Williams was a Welsh Christadelphian who emigrated to America and became editor of the Advocate magazine of the Unamended Christadelphians.-Life:...
of Chicago.
- In 1923, the Berean FellowshipBerean ChristadelphiansThe Berean Christadelphians are a Christian denomination that separated from the main Christadelphian denomination in the 1920s, withdrawing congregational fellowship in the process...
was formed, as a result of varying views on military service in Britain, and on the atonement in North America. In 1942 the Bereans again divided over marriage and divorce with the stricter party forming the Dawn Fellowship. The majority of the North American Bereans re-joined the main body of Christadelphians in 1952; though a small number continue as a separate community to the present day.
Twentieth century
The Christadelphian position on conscientious objection came to the fore with the introduction of conscription during the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Varying degrees of exemption from military service were granted to Christadelphians in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. In the Second World War, this frequently required the person seeking exemption to undertake civilian work under the direction of the authorities.
During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Christadelphians in Britain assisted in the Kindertransport
Kindertransport
Kindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...
, helping to relocate several hundred Jewish children away from Nazi persecution and founding a hostel Elpis Lodge
Elpis Lodge
Elpis Lodge was a hostel provided by Christadelphians for Jewish refugee boys in Birmingham, England, from 1940-1948.- Early Christadelphians and Palestine :...
. In Germany the small Christadelphian community founded by Albert Maier
Albert Maier
Albert Maier was the founder of the German Christadelphians.As a young man he had travelled to America, where he was converted to the Christadelphian church and taught by A. H. Zilmer, a German-speaking Christadelphian of Waterloo, Iowa...
went underground from 1940–1945, and a leading brother, Albert Merz
Albert Merz
Albert Merz was a German Christadelphian who was executed for refusing to bear arms in the Second World War.The Merz family were leading members of what was then known as the Urchristen movement in Berlin started by Albert Maier, a German who had converted to the Christadelphian church in America...
, was imprisoned as a conscientious objector and later executed.
The emphasis on the restoration of truth has led to a history of division and schism that many have felt unpleasant and that has divided friends and families. Moves have been made to try to solve them with some success. In the early 1950s the majority of the Berean Fellowship re-joined the Temperance Hall Fellowship, with the remainder continuing as a separate community. In 1957–1958, there was further reunion with the Suffolk Street Fellowship, which had already incorporated many of the Unamended Fellowship outside North America. This re-united group, which now included the large majority of Christadelphians, became known as the Central Fellowship named after the Birmingham Central ecclesia. In Australia and New Zealand a union occurred in 1958 between the Central fellowship and the Shield fellowship (which was allied to the Suffolk Street fellowship) through an understanding expressed in a document called the Cooper-Carter Addendum. Those who held that the reasons for separation from the Suffolk Street Fellowship remained, opposed the re-union and formed the Old Paths Fellowship. There is also some co-operation between the Central (Amended) and Unamended Fellowships in North America – most recently in the Great Lakes region, where numerous Amended & Unamended ecclesias have opened fellowship to one another despite the failure of wider attempts at re-union under the North American Statement of Understanding (NASU) in recent years.
Despite success in reuniting large sections of the wider Christadelphian community and periodic efforts at reuniting smaller offshoots, there are still a number of groups who remain separate from other bodies of Christadelphians. These include the Berean Fellowship (who use precisely the same Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF) as the central fellowship), the Dawn Fellowship, the Old Paths Fellowship, the Companion Fellowship and the Pioneer Maranatha Fellowship. However, Dawn Christadelphians and the former Lightstand Fellowship in Australia united in November 2007. Most of the divisions still in existence within the Christadelphian community today stem from further divisions of the Berean fellowship.
Today
The post-war, and post-reunions, period saw an increase in co-operation and interaction between ecclesias, resulting in the establishment of a number of week-long Bible schools and the formation of national and internationalInternational
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
organisations such as the Christadelphian Bible Mission (for preaching and pastoral support overseas), the Christadelphian Support Network (for counselling), and the Christadelphian Meal-A-Day Fund
Meal-a-Day Fund
The Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund is a UK registered charity set up and run by the Christadelphians. It was founded in 1976 after the founders heard Henry Kissinger give a speech in which he said everyone on earth should have at least one meal a day....
(for charity and humanitarian work).
The period following the reunions was accompanied by expansion in the developing world, which now accounts for around 40% of Christadelphians.
Fellowships today
Since the reunions in UK and Australia in 1957 two generations of Christadelphians have grown up with little awareness of the existence of the minority "fellowships", or awareness that the main group is called "Central" by the minority groups. Parallel with this generational change, the articles and books on the doctrine and practice of fellowship with the main "Central" grouping now reject the notion itself of separate "fellowships" among those who recognise the same baptism as "schism". A third significant change, outside North America, has been the shrinking of the minority "fellowships" due to defection to the main group and natural causes. According to Bryan Wilson functionally the definition of a "fellowship" within Christadelphian History has been mutual or unilateral exclusion of groupings of ecclesias from the breaking of bread. This functional definition still holds true in North America, where two other sizeable groups, Unamended ChristadelphiansUnamended Christadelphians
The Unamended Christadelphians are a "fellowship" within the broader Christadelphian movement worldwide, found only in the United States and Canada. They are, like all Christadelphians, millennialist and non-Trinitarian...
and CGAF
Church of the Blessed Hope
The Church of the Blessed Hope is a small first-day Adventist Christian body.-Background:...
are not received by most North American Amended
Amended Christadelphians
This article refers to a distinction that is today only directly relevant in North America. For more complete information on Christadelphians please see the main article...
ecclesias. But outside North America this functional definition no longer holds. Many ecclesias in the "Central" grouping would not refuse a baptised Christadelphian from a minority "fellowship" from breaking bread, the exclusion is more usually the other way.
Today the Christadelphian body remains divided into "fellowships", the largest being the Central Fellowship, named after the now-defunct Birmingham Central ecclesia, once its largest and most influential ecclesia. There remains a large number of Unamended Christadelphians, particularly in the US and Canada. Smaller fellowships include the Berean Christadelphians, the Dawn Christadelphians, the Old Paths Christadelphians, and the Pioneer Maranatha Christadelphians. The number of adherents to the various smaller groups of Christadelphians varies from approximately 1,850 members (the Unamended Christadelphians as of 2006) to groups made up of little more than one or two immediate families
Nuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
.
Estimates of numbers:
- Central = 55,000
- Unamended = 1,850 (East Coast and Mid West USA, Ontario)
- Dawn = 800 (UK, Australia, Ontario, India, Poland, Russia)
- CGAF = 400 (primarily Ohio, Florida)
- Old Paths = 400 (UK 250, Aus-NZ 150)
- Berean = 330 (US 200 primarily Texas, Kenya 100, Wales 30)
- Companion = 80 (Australia, New Zealand), United Kingdom)
- Watchman = 50 (UK, India)
- Pioneer Maranatha = ?
- Other very small groups = 100~150 total
They tend to operate organisationally fairly similarly, although there are different emphases. For instance the Berean Christadelphians
Berean Christadelphians
The Berean Christadelphians are a Christian denomination that separated from the main Christadelphian denomination in the 1920s, withdrawing congregational fellowship in the process...
focus on the pioneer Christadelphians and the Dawn Christadelphians put a huge importance on the need to follow a consistent set of disciplines regarding divorce and remarriage. These different Christadelphian fellowships are to some degree localised. For example, the Unamended Fellowship exists only in North America, and some of the others are confined to the English-speaking world.
Each fellowship has a Statement of Faith, the most common of which is the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF), named after an ecclesia in Birmingham. This is used by all Old Paths ecclesias without amendment from the days of Robert Roberts. Most Unamended ecclesias have a similar Statement of Faith called the Birmingham Unamended Statement of Faith (BUSF) with one clause being different. The Berean Christadelphians generally use BASF. The Dawn Christadelphians use a statement of faith which is based on the original 1886 statement of faith, but has four additions addressing issues that have arisen since that time. Some Christadelphian groups which are separated to a greater or lesser degree from the main body of Christadelphians use statements of faith
Statement of faith
A statement of faith is a statement of the core beliefs of a religious group.A typical statement of faith is said to be a non-comprehensive summary of the core beliefs of a particular faith within a tradition . Even religious organizations without affiliation will use a statement of faith for...
which differ in some regard from the BASF and from each other. Within the "Central" grouping individual ecclesias also may have their own statement of faith, whilst still accepting the statement of faith of the larger community.
For each fellowship, anyone who publicly assents to the doctrines described in the statement and is in good standing in their "home ecclesia" is generally welcome to participate in the activities of any other ecclesia.
General organisation
In the absence of centralised organisation, some differences exist amongst Christadelphians on matters of belief and practice. This is because each congregation (commonly styled 'ecclesias') is organised autonomously, typically following common practices which have altered little since the 19th century. Most ecclesias have a constitution, which includes a 'Statement of Faith', a list of 'Doctrines to be Rejected' and a formalized list of 'The Commandments of Christ'. With no central authority individual congregations are responsible for maintaining orthodoxy in belief and practice, and the Statement of Faith is seen by many as useful to this end. The Statement of Faith acts as the official standard of most ecclesias to determine fellowship within and between ecclesias, and as the basis for co-operation between ecclesias. Congregational discipline and conflict resolution are applied using various forms of consultation, mediation, and discussion, with disfellowship (similar to excommunicationExcommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
) being the final response to those with unorthodox practices or beliefs.
The relative uniformity of organisation and practice is undoubtedly due to the influence of a booklet, written early in Christadelphian history, called A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. It recommends a basically democratic arrangement by which congregational members elect 'brothers' to arranging and serving duties, and includes guidelines for the organisation of committees, as well as conflict resolution between congregational members and between congregations. Christadelphians do not have paid ministers
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
. Male members are assessed by the congregation for their eligibility to teach and perform other duties, which are usually assigned on a rotation basis, as opposed to having a permanently appointed preacher. Congregational governance typically follows a democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
model, with an elected arranging committee for each individual ecclesia. This unpaid committee is responsible for the day-to-day running of the ecclesia and is answerable to the rest of the ecclesia's members.
Inter-ecclesial organisations co-ordinate the running of, among other things, Christadelphian schools and elderly care homes, the Christadelphian Isolation League
Christadelphian Isolation League
The Christadelphian Isolation League is a non-profit organisation run by the Christadelphians. The main object of the organisation is to look after the 'spiritual welfare' of baptised members of the denomination, and their children, who are distant from an ecclesia due to physical distance or...
(which cares for those prevented by distance or infirmity from attending an ecclesia regularly) and the publication of Christadelphian magazines.
Beliefs
Due to the way the Christadelphian body is organised there is no central authority to establish and maintain a standardised set of beliefs and it depends what Statement of Faith is adhered to and how liberal the ecclesia is, but there are core doctrines most Christadelphians would accept. In the formal statements of faith a more complete list is found. For instance in the Central Fellowship, the BASF the official Statement of Faith has 30 doctrines to be accepted and 35 to be rejected.The Bible
Christadelphians state that their beliefs are based wholly on the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, and they accept no other texts as inspired by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. They regard the Bible as inspired by God and, therefore, believe that, in its original form, it was error free (errors in later copies are thought to be due to 'errors of transcription or translation'). Based on this, Christadelphians teach what they believe to be true Bible teaching.
God
They believe that God is the creator of all things and the father of true believers, that he is a separate being from his son, JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is the power of God used in creation and for salvation. They also believe that the phrase Holy Spirit sometimes refers to God's character/mind, depending on the context in which the phrase appears, but reject the orthodox Christian view that we need strength, guidance and power from the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life, believing instead that the spirit a believer needs within themselves is the mind/character of God, which is developed in a believer by their reading of the Bible (which, they believe, contains words God gave by his Spirit) and trying to live by what it says during the events of their lives which God uses to help shape their character.
Jesus
Christadelphians believe that Jesus is the promised Jewish MessiahMessiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
, in whom the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
find their fulfilment. They believe he is the Son of Man
Son of man
The phrase son of man is a primarily Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or self. The phrase is also used in Judaism and Christianity. The phrase used in the Greek, translated as Son of man is ὁ υἱὸς τοὺ ἀνθρώπου...
, in that he inherited human nature (with its inclination to sin) from his mother, and the Son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
by virtue of his miraculous conception by the power of God. Although he was tempted, Jesus committed no sin, and was therefore a perfect representative sacrifice to bring salvation to sinful humankind. They believe that God raised Jesus from death and gave him immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
, and he ascended to Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, God's dwelling place. Christadelphians believe that he will return to the earth in person to set up the Kingdom of God in fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
and David. This includes the belief that the coming Kingdom will be the restoration of God's first Kingdom of Israel, which was under David and Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
taught by Jesus and the apostles.
Salvation
Christadelphians believe that people are separated from God because of their sins, but can be reconciled to him by becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. This is by belief in the gospel, through repentanceRepentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
, and through baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
by total immersion in water. They do not believe we can be sure of being saved, believing instead that salvation comes as a result of a life of obedience to the commands of Christ After death, believers are in a state of non-existence
Psychopannychism
Christian mortalism incorporates the belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal, and the belief that the soul is uncomprehending during the time between bodily death and Judgment Day resurrection, known as the Intermediate state...
, knowing nothing until the Resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
at the return of Christ. Following the judgement at that time, the accepted receive the gift of immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
, and live with Christ on a restored Earth, assisting him to establish the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
and to rule over the mortal population for a thousand years (the Millennium
Millennialism
Millennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
). Christadelphians believe that the Kingdom will be centred upon Israel, but Jesus Christ will also reign over all the other nations on the earth. Some believe that the Kingdom itself is not worldwide but limited to the land of Israel promised to Abraham and ruled over in the past by David, with a worldwide empire.
Life in Christ
The historic Commandments of Christ demonstrates the community's recognition of the importance of Biblical teaching on morality. Marriage and family life are important. Christadelphians believe that sexual relationships are limited to heterosexual marriage, ideally between baptised believers.Rejection of some mainstream doctrines
Christadelphians reject a number of doctrines held by many other Christians, notably the immortalityImmortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
of the soul (see also mortalism; conditionalism), trinitarianism
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, the personal pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, the baptism of infants
Infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
, the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the present-day possession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see cessationism
Cessationism
In Christian theology, Cessationism is the view that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as tongues, prophecy and healing, ceased being practiced early on in Church history. The opposite of Cessationism is Continuationism...
). They believe that the word devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
is a reference in the scriptures to sin and human nature in opposition to God, while the word satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
is merely a reference to an adversary (be it good or bad). According to Christadelphians, these terms are used in reference to specific political systems or individuals in opposition or conflict. Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
(Hebrew: Sheol; Greek: Hades, Gehenna) is understood to refer exclusively to death and the grave, rather than being a place of everlasting torment (see also annihilationism
Annihilationism
Annihilationism is a Christian belief that apart from salvation the death of human beings results in their total destruction rather than their everlasting torment. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given...
). Christadelphians do not believe that anyone will "go to Heaven" upon death. Instead, they believe that only Christ Jesus went to Heaven, and when he comes back to the earth the true believers will live in the Land of Israel which will be the Kingdom of God on Earth. Christadelphians believe the doctrines they reject were introduced into Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
after the first century in large part through exposure to pagan Greek philosophy, and cannot be substantiated from the Biblical texts.
Other historical groups and individuals with some shared doctrines
One criticism of the Christadelphian movement has been over the claim of John Thomas and Robert Roberts to have "rediscovered" scriptural truth. However, although both men believed that they had "recovered" the true doctrines for themselves and contemporaries, they also believed there had always existed a group of true believers throughout the ages, albeit marred by the apostasy.The most notable Christadelphian attempts to find a continuity of those with doctrinal similarities since that point have been geographer Alan Eyre
Alan Eyre
L. Alan Eyre is a British-born naturalised Jamaican geographer and environmentalist. He is also a member of the Christadelphian church....
's two books The Protesters (1975) and Brethren in Christ (1982) in which he shows that many individual Christadelphian doctrines had been previously believed. Eyre focused in particular on the Radical Reformation
Radical Reformation
The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland, the Radical Reformation birthed many radical...
, and also among the Socinians and other early Unitarians
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and the English Dissenters
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
. In this way, Eyre was able to demonstrate substantial historical precedents for individual Christadelphian teachings and practices, and believed that the Christadelphian community was the 'inheritor of a noble tradition, by which elements of the Truth were from century to century hammered out on the anvil of controversy, affliction and even anguish'. Although noting in the introduction to 'The Protestors' that 'Some recorded herein perhaps did not have "all the truth" — so the writer has been reminded', Eyre nevertheless claimed that the purpose of the work was to 'tell how a number of little-known individuals, groups and religious communities strove to preserve or revive the original Christianity of apostolic times', and that 'In faith and outlook they were far closer to the early springing shoots of first century Christianity and the penetrating spiritual challenge of Jesus himself than much that has passed for the religion of the Nazarene in the last nineteen centuries'.
Eyre's research has been criticized by some of his Christadelphian peers, and as a result Christadelphian commentary on the subject was subsequently more cautious and circumspect, with caveats being issued concerning Eyre's claims, and the two books less used and publicized than in previous years.
Nevertheless, all the distinctive Christadelphian doctrines, down to interpretations of specific verses, can be found particularly among 16th century Socinian
Socinianism
Socinianism is a system of Christian doctrine named for Fausto Sozzini , which was developed among the Polish Brethren in the Minor Reformed Church of Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries and embraced also by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the same period...
writers (e.g. the rejection of the doctrines of the trinity, pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, immortal souls, a literal hell of fire, original sin) Early English Unitarian writings also correspond closely to those of Christadelphians. Also, recent discoveries and research have shown a large similarity between Christadelphian beliefs and those held by Isaac Newton who, among other things, rejected the doctrines of the trinity, immortal souls, a personal devil and literal demons. Even with most source writings of those later considered "heretics" destroyed, evidence can be provided that since the first century CE there have been various groups and individuals who have held certain individual Christadelphian beliefs or similar ones.
For example:
- The typical Old Testament belief in unconsciousness till resurrection, instead of the immortality of the soul, has been held marginally throughout the history of both Judaism and Christianity: such sources include certain Jewish pseudepigraphal works, rabbinical works, Clement of Rome, ArnobiusArnobiusArnobius of Sicca was an Early Christian apologist, during the reign of Diocletian . According to Jerome's Chronicle, Arnobius, before his conversion, was a distinguished Numidian rhetorician at Sicca Veneria , a major Christian center in Proconsular Africa, and owed his conversion to a...
in the third to 4th century, a succession of Arabic and Syrian Christians from the third to the 8th century including AphrahatAphrahatAphrahat was a Syriac-Christian author of the 4th century from the Adiabene region of Northern Mesopotamia, which was within the Persian Empire, who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice...
, EphremEphrem the SyrianEphrem the Syrian was a Syriac and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. He is venerated by Christians throughout the world, and especially in the Syriac Orthodox Church, as a saint.Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as...
, NarsaiNarsaiNarsai was one of the foremost of Syriac poet-theologians, perhaps equal in stature to Jacob of Serugh, both second only to Ephrem the Syrian...
, and Jacob of Sarug, Jewish commentators such as Isaac of NinevehIsaac of NinevehIsaac of Nineveh also remembered as Isaac the Syrian and Isaac Syrus was a Seventh century bishop and theologian best remembered for his written work. He is also regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church...
(d.700), Abraham Ibn EzraAbraham ibn EzraRabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born at Tudela, Navarre in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra....
(1092–1167), MaimonidesMaimonidesMoses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
(1135–1204), and Joseph AlboJoseph AlboJoseph Albo was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived in Spain during the fifteenth century, known chiefly as the author of Sefer ha-Ikkarim , the classic work on the fundamentals of Judaism.-Early life:Albo's birthplace is generally assumed to be Monreal, a town in Aragon...
(1380–1444), and later Christians such as John WycliffeJohn WycliffeJohn Wycliffe was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached...
, Michael SattlerMichael SattlerMichael Sattler was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession.Born in approximately 1490 in Staufen, Germany....
, and many Anabaptists, long before Martin LutherMartin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
challenged Roman Catholic views on heaven and hell with his teaching of "soul sleep"
- The Christadelphian denial of the pre-existence of ChristPre-existence of ChristThe pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, and interpretation of verses such as "I came down from heaven" (John 6:38) as relating to the virgin birth and Christ's mission only, are found in the teachings of: the early Jewish ChristiansJewish ChristiansJewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
, the EbionitesEbionitesEbionites, or Ebionaioi, , is a patristic term referring to a Jewish Christian sect or sects that existed during the first centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus as the Messiah and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish religious law and rites...
, the Nazoreans (or Nazarenes), the Theodotians of Theodotus the Cobbler (who believed Jesus was supernaturally begotten but a man nonetheless), ArtemonArtemonArtemon , a prominent Christian teacher in Rome, who held Adoptionist, or Nontrinitarian views. We know little about his life for certain.He is mentioned as the leader of a nontrinitarian sect at Rome in the third century...
, Paul of SamosataPaul of SamosataPaul of Samosata was Bishop of Antioch from 260 to 268. He was a believer in monarchianism, and his teachings anticipate adoptionism.-Life:...
, the Pseudo-Clementines, and PhotinusPhotinusPhotinus was a Christian heresiarch and bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia, best known for denying the incarnation of Christ. His name became synonymous in later literature for someone asserting that Christ was not God.- Life :...
(d.376); naturally however, given that non-Trinitarian beliefs were punishable with death from the 4th Century to the 17th, it would be foolish to expect to discover any consistent line of people or groups holding such beliefs. Such attempts become possible only after the Protestant ReformationProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. Christadelphian Christology is found from the publication of Lelio Sozzini's commentary on John (1561) through to the increasing resistance to the miraculous among English Unitarians after 1800.
- The Christadelphian concept of the devil and/or demons is found in a range of early Jewish and later Christian sources such as: Jonathan ben UzzielJonathan ben UzzielJonathan ben Uzziel is known as the author of Targum Jonathan. He is also said to have written a book of kabbalah known as Megadnim. He was one of the 80 tannaim who studied under Hillel the Elder. His tomb is in Amuka, Galilee near Tzfat, Israel...
(100s AD); Joshua Ben KarhaJoshua Ben KarhaJoshua Ben Karha , was a Jewish Tanna sage of the fourth generation. Colleague of Rabbi Meir and Shimon ben Gamliel II, and the disciplines of Akiva ben Joseph. Some are in the opinion that he is the son of R...
(135-160); Levi ben Gershon (d. 1344); David Kimchi (1160); Saadia ben JosephSaadia GaonSaʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
(892-942); Shimon ben Lakish (230-270), Joseph MedeJoseph MedeJoseph Mede was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow from 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist and Egyptologist...
(1640), Jacob BauthumleyJacob BauthumleyJacob Bauthumley or Bottomley was a significant English radical religious writer, usually identified as a central figure among the Ranters. He is known principally for The light and dark sides of God . This work was regarded as blasphemous...
(1650), Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
(1651), Lodowick Muggleton (1669), Dr. Anthonie van Dale (1685), Balthasar BekkerBalthasar BekkerBalthasar Bekker was a Dutch minister and author of philosophical and theological works. Opposing superstition, he was a key figure in the end of the witchcraft persecutions in early modern Europe.-Life:...
(1695), Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
; Christian ThomasiusChristian ThomasiusChristian Thomasius was a German jurist and philosopher.- Biography :He was born at Leipzig and was educated by his father, Jakob Thomasius , at that time head master of Thomasschule zu Leipzig...
(1704), Arthur Ashley SykesArthur Ashley Sykes-Life:Sykes was born in London in 1683 or 1684 and educated at St. Paul's School. In 1701 he was admitted to Corpus Christi College at Cambridge, where he received scholarship , B.A. , M.A. , and D.D....
(1737), Nathaniel Lardner (1742), Dr. Richard MeadRichard MeadRichard Mead was an English physician. His work, A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it , was of historic importance in the understanding of transmissible diseases.-Life:The eleventh child of Matthew Mead , Independent divine, Richard was born...
(1755), Hugh FarmerHugh FarmerHugh Farmer was an English Dissenter and theologian.He was educated at the Dissenting Academy in Northampton under Philip Doddridge, and became pastor of a congregation at Walthamstow, Essex. In 1701 he became preacher and one of the Tuesday lecturers at Salters' Hall, London...
(at least in the account of Christ's temptation; 1761), William AshdowneWilliam Ashdowne- Life :As a probationer for the ministry, William Ashdowne went to Dover,, then following the death of his father-in-law became minister in the General Baptist denomination at Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, Kent...
(1791), John SimpsonJohn Simpson (Unitarian)John Simpson was an English Unitarian minister and religious writer, known as a biblical critic. Some of his essays were very well known in the nineteenth century....
(1804) and John EppsJohn EppsDr John Epps was best known as a "homoeopathic physician", although his influence was wider as he was involved in "the advancement of commercial, political or religious freedom".-Early years and education:...
(1842)
Organised worship in England for those whose beliefs anticipated those of Christadelphians only truly became possible in 1779 when the Act of Toleration 1689
Act of Toleration 1689
The Act of Toleration was an act of the English Parliament , the long title of which is "An Act for Exempting their Majestyes Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the Penalties of certaine Lawes".The Act allowed freedom of worship to Nonconformists who had pledged to the...
was amended to permit denial of the Trinity, and only fully when property penalties were removed in the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
The Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. This is only 35 years before John Thomas' 1849 lecture tour in Britain which attracted significant support from an existing non-Trinitarian Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
base, particularly, initially, in Scotland where Arian
Arian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
Socinian and unitarian (with a small 'u' as distinct from the Unitarian Church of Theophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.-Life:...
) views were prevalent.
Modern mainstream theology developing similar beliefs
Over the last 100 years mainstream Christian theologians and Biblical scholars have gradually been developing beliefs which the Christadelphian community has historically held. Example areas are satan and demons; the atonement; justification; heaven and hell; the state of the dead.- The state of the dead: The majority of standard scholarly Jewish and Christian sources today describe the state of the dead in terms identical or very close to the Christadelphian view.
- The atonement: The majority Christian interpretation of the AnselmianAnselm of CanterburyAnselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
-CalvinistJohn CalvinJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
doctrine of the atonement as penal substitutionPenal substitutionPenal substitution is a theory of the atonement within Christian theology, developed with the Reformed tradition. It argues that Christ, by his own sacrificial choice, was punished in the place of sinners , thus satisfying the demands of justice so God can justly forgive the sins...
has been criticized in mainstream Christianity since the 19th century, resulting in increasing rejection of traditional penal substitution. The Christadelphian distinction between representation and substitution has been noted in the relevant scholarly literature, and representative participation (an interpretation long held by Christadelphians), is widely considered the original Biblical teaching on the atonement.
Practices and worship
Christadelphians are organised into local congregations, that commonly call themselves ecclesiaEcclesia
-Ecclesia:* the Christian Church**See Church militant and church triumphant for ecclesia militans, ecclesia penitens, ecclesia triumphans* Congregation among many English-speaking Christadelphians....
s, which is taken from usage in the New Testament and is Greek for gathering of those summoned. Congregational worship, which usually takes place on Sunday, centres on the remembrance of the death and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the taking part in the "memorial service". Additional meetings are often organised for worship, prayer, evangelism
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
and Bible study.
Ecclesias are typically involved in evangelism in the form of public lectures on Bible teaching, college-style seminars on reading the Bible, and Bible Reading Groups. Correspondence courses are also used widely, particularly in areas where there is no established Christadelphian presence. Some ecclesias, organisations or individuals also preach through other media like video, podcasts and internet forums.
Only baptised believers are considered members of the ecclesia. However, the children of members are encouraged to attend Christadelphian Sunday Schools and youth groups. Interaction between youth from different ecclesias is encouraged through regional and national youth gatherings. Many ecclesias organise holidays for young people, the most popular form in the UK being camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
holidays.
Christadelphians understand the Bible to teach that male and female believers are equal in God's sight, and also that there is a distinction between the roles of male and female members. Women are typically not eligible to teach in formal gatherings of the ecclesia when male believers are present, and do not sit on the main ecclesial arranging committees. They do, however: participate in other ecclesial and inter-ecclesial committees; participate in discussions; teach children, other women and non-members; perform music; discuss and vote on business matters; and engage in the majority of other activities.
There are ecclesially-accountable committees for co-ordinated evangelism, youth and Sunday School work, military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
issues, care of the elderly, and humanitarian work. These do not have any legislative authority, and are wholly dependent upon ecclesial support. Ecclesias in an area may regularly hold joint activities combining youth groups, fellowship, preaching, and Bible study.
Christadelphians refuse to participate in any military because they are conscientious objectors.
There is a strong emphasis on personal Bible reading and study and many Christadelphians use the Bible Companion
Bible Companion
The Bible Companion is a guide developed by the Christadelphians to aid reading the Bible. It was first produced by Robert Roberts when he was just 14 years of age, in about 1853, and revised by him over a number of years into its current format.-Background:Christadelphians believe that reading...
to help them systematically read the Bible each year
Hymnody and music
Christadelphians are a non-liturgicalLiturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
denomination. Christadelphian ecclesias are autonomous and free to adopt whatever pattern of worship they choose. However, in the English-speaking world, there tends to be a great deal of uniformity in order of service and hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
ody.
Christadelphian hymnody makes considerable use of the hymns of the Anglican and British Protestant traditions (even in US ecclesias the hymnody is typically more British than American). In many Christadelphian hymn books a sizeable proportion of hymns are drawn from the Scottish Psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
and non-Christadelphian hymn-writers including Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
, Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
, William Cowper
William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
and John Newton
John Newton
John Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
. Despite incorporating non-Christadelphian hymns however, Christadelphian hymnody preserves the essential teachings of the community.
The earliest hymn book published was the "Sacred Melodist" which was published by Benjamin Wilson
Benjamin Wilson (Biblical scholar)
Benjamin Wilson was an autodidact Biblical scholar and writer of the Emphatic Diaglott translation of the Bible...
in Geneva, Illinois in 1860. The next was the hymn book published for the use of Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God (an early name for Christadelphians) by George Dowie in Edinburgh in 1864. In 1865 Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
published a collection of Scottish psalms and hymns called The Golden Harp (which was subtitled "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, compiled for the use of Immersed Believers in 'The Things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ'"). This was replaced only five years later by the first "Christadelphian Hymn Book" (1869), compiled by J. J. and A. Andrew, and this was revised and expanded in 1874, 1932 and 1964. A thorough revision by the Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association resulted in the latest (2002) edition which is almost universally used by English-speaking Christadelphian ecclesias. In addition some Christadelphian fellowships have published their own hymn books.
A more contemporary worship style is now popular in some quarters. The Praise the Lord songbook was produced with the aim of making contemporary songs which are consistent with Christadelphian theology more widely available. This book is either used as a supplement to the more traditional Hymn Book or is used in place of the traditional Hymn Book. Another publication, the "Worship" book is a compilation of songs and hymns that have been composed only by members of the Christadelphian community. This book was produced with the aim of providing extra music for non-congregational music items within services (eg voluntaries, meditations, etc) but has been adopted by congregations worldwide and is now used to supplement congregational repertoire.
In the English-speaking world, worship is typically accompanied by organ or piano, though in recent years a few ecclesias have promoted the use of other instruments (e.g. strings, wind and brass as mentioned in the Psalms). This trend has also seen the emergence of some Christadelphian bands and the establishment of the Christadelphian Arts Trust to support performing, visual and dramatic arts within the Christadelphian community.
In other countries, hymnbooks have been produced in local languages, sometimes resulting in styles of worship which reflect the local culture. It has been noted that Christadelphian hymnody has historically been a consistent witness to Christadelphian beliefs, and that hymnody occupies a significant role in the community.
Further reading
Christadelphians (a word created using Greek which means "Brethren in Christ" — "brethren in Christ") is a ChristianChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century. The name was coined by John Thomas
John Thomas (Christadelphian)
Dr. John Thomas was the founder of the Christadelphian movement, a Restorationist religion with doctrines similar in part to some 16th century Antitrinitarian Rationalist Socinians and the 16th century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.-Early life:John Thomas M.D., born in Hoxton Square, Hackney,...
, who was the group's founder.
Christadelphians hold a view of Biblical Unitarianism
Biblical Unitarianism
Today, biblical Unitarianism identifies the Christian belief that the Bible teaches God is a singular person—the Father—and that Jesus his son is a distinct being...
.
Although no official membership figures are published, the Columbia Encyclopedia
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Encyclopedia is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and sold by the Gale Group. First published in 1935, and continuing its important relationship with Columbia University, the encyclopedia underwent major revisions in 1950 and 1963; the current edition is...
gives an estimated figure of 50,000 Christadelphians, who are spread across approximately 120 countries; there are established churches (or ecclesias, as they are often called) in many of those countries, along with isolated members. Census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
statistics are available for some countries. Estimates for the main centres of Christadelphian population are as follows: United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(18,000), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(9,987), Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
(7,000), United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(6,500), Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
(5,300), Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(3,375), New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(1,782), Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
(1,700), India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(1,300), Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
(1,000), and Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
(1,000). This puts the figure at around 60,000.
Nineteenth century
The Christadelphian religious group traces its origins to Dr John ThomasJohn Thomas (Christadelphian)
Dr. John Thomas was the founder of the Christadelphian movement, a Restorationist religion with doctrines similar in part to some 16th century Antitrinitarian Rationalist Socinians and the 16th century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.-Early life:John Thomas M.D., born in Hoxton Square, Hackney,...
(1805–1871), who migrated to North America from England in 1832. Following a near shipwreck he vowed to find out the truth about life and God through personal Biblical study. Initially he sought to avoid the kind of sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
he had seen in England. In this he found sympathy with the rapidly emerging Restoration Movement
Restoration Movement
The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century...
in the United States of America at the time. This movement sought for a reform based upon the Bible alone
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
as a sufficient guide and rejected all creed
Creed
A creed is a statement of belief—usually a statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community—and is often recited as part of a religious service. When the statement of faith is longer and polemical, as well as didactic, it is not called a creed but a Confession of faith...
s. However this liberality eventually led to dissent as John Thomas developed in his personal beliefs and started to question mainstream orthodox Christian beliefs. Whilst the Restoration Movement accepted Thomas's right to have his own beliefs, when he started preaching that they were essential to salvation, it led to a fierce series of debates with a notable leader of the movement, Alexander Campbell. John Thomas believed that scripture, as God's word, did not support a multiplicity of differing beliefs, and challenged the leaders to continue with the process of restoring first century Christian beliefs and correct interpretation through a process of debate. The history of this process appears in the book Dr. Thomas, His Life and Work (1873) by a Christadelphian, Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
.
During this period of formulating his ideas he was baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
twice, the second time after renouncing the beliefs he previously held. His new position was based on a new appreciation for the reign of Christ on David's throne. It was this abjuration of his former beliefs that eventually led to the Restoration Movement disfellowshipping him when he toured England and they became aware of his abjuration in the United States of America.
The Christadelphian community in Britain effectively dates from Thomas's first lecturing tour (May 1848 – October 1850). His message was particularly well received in Scotland, and Campbellite
Campbellite
Campbellite refers to any of the religious groups historically descended from the Restoration Movement, a religious reform movement in the early 19th century in the United States...
, Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
friends separated to form groups of "Baptised Believers". Two thirds of ecclesias, and members, in Britain before 1864 were in Scotland. In 1849, during his tour of Britain he completed (a decade and a half before the name Christadelphian was conceived) Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, in 1848-1849 and published in 1849.The book was based on a series of lectures given by Thomas in 1848 and is written in three parts, The...
(elpis being Greek for "hope") – in which he laid out his understanding of the main doctrines of the Bible. Since his medium for bringing change was print and debate, it was natural for the origins of the Christadelphian body to be associated with journals and books, namely the Herald of the Kingdom and The Ambassador (which later became The Christadelphian
The Christadelphian
The Christadelphian is a Bible magazine published monthly by The Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association . It states that it is 'A magazine dedicated wholly to the hope of Israel' and, according to the magazine website, it 'reflects the teachings, beliefs and activities of the...
).
In this desire to seek to establish Biblical truth and test out orthodox Christian beliefs through independent scriptural study he was not alone and, amongst other churches, he also had links with Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
movement and with Benjamin Wilson
Benjamin Wilson (Biblical scholar)
Benjamin Wilson was an autodidact Biblical scholar and writer of the Emphatic Diaglott translation of the Bible...
(who later set up the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith may refer to the following two modern Christian groups that had the same origin and common history from 1850s to 1921:* Church of God General Conference or "CoGGC"...
in the 1860s).
Although the Christadelphian movement originated through the activities of John Thomas, he never saw himself as setting up his own disciples. Rather he believed he had rediscovered first century beliefs from the Bible alone, and sought to prove that through a process of challenge and debate and writing journals. Through that process a number of people were convinced and set up various fellowships that had sympathy with that position. Groups associated with John Thomas met under various names, including Believers, Baptised Believers, the Royal Association of Believers, Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God, Nazarines (or Nazarenes) and The Antipas until the time of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861–1865). At that time, church affiliation was required to register for conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
status, and in 1865 Thomas chose for registration purposes the name Christadelphian.
Through the teaching of John Thomas and the need in the American civil war for a name, the Christadelphians emerged as a denomination, but they were formed into a lasting structure through a passionate follower of his interpretation of the Bible, Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
. At the age of 10 he was taken by his mother to hear a talk given by John Thomas in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. At the age of 13 he read Thomas's Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, in 1848-1849 and published in 1849.The book was based on a series of lectures given by Thomas in 1848 and is written in three parts, The...
and was subsequently baptised in 1853 at the age of 14 in the River Dee
River Dee, Aberdeenshire
The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen...
and joined the "Baptised Believers". He was 're-baptised' in 1863 "on attaining to an understanding of the things concerning the name of Jesus, of which he was ignorant at his first immersion". In 1864 he began to publish The Ambassador magazine. This was renamed The Christadelphian in 1869 and continues to be published under that name. Roberts was prominent in the period following the death of John Thomas and helped craft the structures of the Christadelphian body.
Robert Roberts was certain that John Thomas had rediscovered the truth, and it is largely down to Roberts' organisation that the Christadelphian body exists in its present form. His life was characterised by debates over issues that arose within the fledgling organisation and some of this process can be found in the book Robert Roberts—A study of his life and character by Islip Collyer. He also wrote a booklet called a A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. which has been significant in establishing the basic structure most ecclesias follow today.
Initially the denomination grew in the English-speaking world, particularly in the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and parts of North America. In the early days after the death of John Thomas the group could have moved in a number of directions. Doctrinal issues arose, debates were held and statements of faith were created and amended as other issues arose. These attempts were felt necessary by many to both settle and define a doctrinal stance for the newly emerging denomination and to keep out error.
- In 1873, the Nazarene FellowshipNazarene fellowshipNot to be confused with the Wesleyan Church of the Nazarene, or the German Nazarene movement of religious artists.The Nazarene fellowship was an offshoot from Christadelphians from 1873–1881, led by Edward Turney of Nottingham and David Handley of Maldon...
, led by Edward Turney of Nottingham, separated over the atonement. Following his death in 1879 his most active supporter David Handley of Maldon returned to the main grouping, and the group gradually died out. In the 1950s Turney's cause, and the name of the group, were revived by Ernest Brady.
- In 1885, the Suffolk Street Fellowship was formed over the inspirationBiblical inspirationBiblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology that the authors and editors of the Bible were led or influenced by God with the result that their writings many be designated in some sense the word of God.- Etymology :...
of the Bible. Robert Ashcroft, a leading member, wrote an article which challenged Christadelphian belief in plenary inspiration and which, although he himself left, led to a division in the main body. One group formed a new ecclesia which later met in Suffolk Street, Birmingham. Other ecclesias throughout the world which supported them became known as the "Suffolk Street fellowship" to distinguish itself from the group they were separated from, which became known as the "Temperance Hall fellowship". The main magazine of this group from 1884–1957 was The Fraternal Visitor, whose editors included J.J. Bishop and J.J. Hadley (d.1912), then Thomas TurnerThomas Turner (metallurgist)thumb|right|Thomas Turner, A.R.S.MThomas Turner Sc., A.R.S.M., F.R.I.C. was the first Professor of Metallurgy in Britain, at the University of Birmingham. The University was created in 1900 and the department founded in 1902. He retired in 1926. He was also a leading member of the Christadelphian...
, and finally Cyril Cooper (till reunion in 1957).
- In 1898, the Unamended FellowshipUnamended ChristadelphiansThe Unamended Christadelphians are a "fellowship" within the broader Christadelphian movement worldwide, found only in the United States and Canada. They are, like all Christadelphians, millennialist and non-Trinitarian...
was separated from as a result of differing views on who would be raised to judgment at the return of Christ. The majority of Christadelphians believe that the judgment will include anyone who had sufficient knowledge of the gospel message, and is not limited to baptized believers. The majority in Britain, Australia and North America amended their statement of faith accordingly. Those who opposed the amendment in North America became known as the "Unamended fellowship" and allowed the teaching that God either could not or would not raise those who had no covenant relationship with him. Opinions vary as to what the established position was on this subject prior to the controversy. In North America those who continued to associate with Britain on the basis of the amended 1898 statement became known as the Amended FellowshipAmended ChristadelphiansThis article refers to a distinction that is today only directly relevant in North America. For more complete information on Christadelphians please see the main article...
,in contrast to the Unamended Fellowship, who took their lead from the Christadelphian Advocate Magazine of Thomas WilliamsThomas Williams (Christadelphian)thumb|right||Thomas WilliamsThomas Williams was a Welsh Christadelphian who emigrated to America and became editor of the Advocate magazine of the Unamended Christadelphians.-Life:...
of Chicago.
- In 1923, the Berean FellowshipBerean ChristadelphiansThe Berean Christadelphians are a Christian denomination that separated from the main Christadelphian denomination in the 1920s, withdrawing congregational fellowship in the process...
was formed, as a result of varying views on military service in Britain, and on the atonement in North America. In 1942 the Bereans again divided over marriage and divorce with the stricter party forming the Dawn Fellowship. The majority of the North American Bereans re-joined the main body of Christadelphians in 1952; though a small number continue as a separate community to the present day.
Twentieth century
The Christadelphian position on conscientious objection came to the fore with the introduction of conscription during the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Varying degrees of exemption from military service were granted to Christadelphians in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. In the Second World War, this frequently required the person seeking exemption to undertake civilian work under the direction of the authorities.
During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Christadelphians in Britain assisted in the Kindertransport
Kindertransport
Kindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...
, helping to relocate several hundred Jewish children away from Nazi persecution and founding a hostel Elpis Lodge
Elpis Lodge
Elpis Lodge was a hostel provided by Christadelphians for Jewish refugee boys in Birmingham, England, from 1940-1948.- Early Christadelphians and Palestine :...
. In Germany the small Christadelphian community founded by Albert Maier
Albert Maier
Albert Maier was the founder of the German Christadelphians.As a young man he had travelled to America, where he was converted to the Christadelphian church and taught by A. H. Zilmer, a German-speaking Christadelphian of Waterloo, Iowa...
went underground from 1940–1945, and a leading brother, Albert Merz
Albert Merz
Albert Merz was a German Christadelphian who was executed for refusing to bear arms in the Second World War.The Merz family were leading members of what was then known as the Urchristen movement in Berlin started by Albert Maier, a German who had converted to the Christadelphian church in America...
, was imprisoned as a conscientious objector and later executed.
The emphasis on the restoration of truth has led to a history of division and schism that many have felt unpleasant and that has divided friends and families. Moves have been made to try to solve them with some success. In the early 1950s the majority of the Berean Fellowship re-joined the Temperance Hall Fellowship, with the remainder continuing as a separate community. In 1957–1958, there was further reunion with the Suffolk Street Fellowship, which had already incorporated many of the Unamended Fellowship outside North America. This re-united group, which now included the large majority of Christadelphians, became known as the Central Fellowship named after the Birmingham Central ecclesia. In Australia and New Zealand a union occurred in 1958 between the Central fellowship and the Shield fellowship (which was allied to the Suffolk Street fellowship) through an understanding expressed in a document called the Cooper-Carter Addendum. Those who held that the reasons for separation from the Suffolk Street Fellowship remained, opposed the re-union and formed the Old Paths Fellowship. There is also some co-operation between the Central (Amended) and Unamended Fellowships in North America – most recently in the Great Lakes region, where numerous Amended & Unamended ecclesias have opened fellowship to one another despite the failure of wider attempts at re-union under the North American Statement of Understanding (NASU) in recent years.
Despite success in reuniting large sections of the wider Christadelphian community and periodic efforts at reuniting smaller offshoots, there are still a number of groups who remain separate from other bodies of Christadelphians. These include the Berean Fellowship (who use precisely the same Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF) as the central fellowship), the Dawn Fellowship, the Old Paths Fellowship, the Companion Fellowship and the Pioneer Maranatha Fellowship. However, Dawn Christadelphians and the former Lightstand Fellowship in Australia united in November 2007. Most of the divisions still in existence within the Christadelphian community today stem from further divisions of the Berean fellowship.
Today
The post-war, and post-reunions, period saw an increase in co-operation and interaction between ecclesias, resulting in the establishment of a number of week-long Bible schools and the formation of national and internationalInternational
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
organisations such as the Christadelphian Bible Mission (for preaching and pastoral support overseas), the Christadelphian Support Network (for counselling), and the Christadelphian Meal-A-Day Fund
Meal-a-Day Fund
The Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund is a UK registered charity set up and run by the Christadelphians. It was founded in 1976 after the founders heard Henry Kissinger give a speech in which he said everyone on earth should have at least one meal a day....
(for charity and humanitarian work).
The period following the reunions was accompanied by expansion in the developing world, which now accounts for around 40% of Christadelphians.
Fellowships today
Since the reunions in UK and Australia in 1957 two generations of Christadelphians have grown up with little awareness of the existence of the minority "fellowships", or awareness that the main group is called "Central" by the minority groups. Parallel with this generational change, the articles and books on the doctrine and practice of fellowship with the main "Central" grouping now reject the notion itself of separate "fellowships" among those who recognise the same baptism as "schism". A third significant change, outside North America, has been the shrinking of the minority "fellowships" due to defection to the main group and natural causes. According to Bryan Wilson functionally the definition of a "fellowship" within Christadelphian History has been mutual or unilateral exclusion of groupings of ecclesias from the breaking of bread. This functional definition still holds true in North America, where two other sizeable groups, Unamended ChristadelphiansUnamended Christadelphians
The Unamended Christadelphians are a "fellowship" within the broader Christadelphian movement worldwide, found only in the United States and Canada. They are, like all Christadelphians, millennialist and non-Trinitarian...
and CGAF
Church of the Blessed Hope
The Church of the Blessed Hope is a small first-day Adventist Christian body.-Background:...
are not received by most North American Amended
Amended Christadelphians
This article refers to a distinction that is today only directly relevant in North America. For more complete information on Christadelphians please see the main article...
ecclesias. But outside North America this functional definition no longer holds. Many ecclesias in the "Central" grouping would not refuse a baptised Christadelphian from a minority "fellowship" from breaking bread, the exclusion is more usually the other way.
Today the Christadelphian body remains divided into "fellowships", the largest being the Central Fellowship, named after the now-defunct Birmingham Central ecclesia, once its largest and most influential ecclesia. There remains a large number of Unamended Christadelphians, particularly in the US and Canada. Smaller fellowships include the Berean Christadelphians, the Dawn Christadelphians, the Old Paths Christadelphians, and the Pioneer Maranatha Christadelphians. The number of adherents to the various smaller groups of Christadelphians varies from approximately 1,850 members (the Unamended Christadelphians as of 2006) to groups made up of little more than one or two immediate families
Nuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
.
Estimates of numbers:
- Central = 55,000
- Unamended = 1,850 (East Coast and Mid West USA, Ontario)
- Dawn = 800 (UK, Australia, Ontario, India, Poland, Russia)
- CGAF = 400 (primarily Ohio, Florida)
- Old Paths = 400 (UK 250, Aus-NZ 150)
- Berean = 330 (US 200 primarily Texas, Kenya 100, Wales 30)
- Companion = 80 (Australia, New Zealand), United Kingdom)
- Watchman = 50 (UK, India)
- Pioneer Maranatha = ?
- Other very small groups = 100~150 total
They tend to operate organisationally fairly similarly, although there are different emphases. For instance the Berean Christadelphians
Berean Christadelphians
The Berean Christadelphians are a Christian denomination that separated from the main Christadelphian denomination in the 1920s, withdrawing congregational fellowship in the process...
focus on the pioneer Christadelphians and the Dawn Christadelphians put a huge importance on the need to follow a consistent set of disciplines regarding divorce and remarriage. These different Christadelphian fellowships are to some degree localised. For example, the Unamended Fellowship exists only in North America, and some of the others are confined to the English-speaking world.
Each fellowship has a Statement of Faith, the most common of which is the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF), named after an ecclesia in Birmingham. This is used by all Old Paths ecclesias without amendment from the days of Robert Roberts. Most Unamended ecclesias have a similar Statement of Faith called the Birmingham Unamended Statement of Faith (BUSF) with one clause being different. The Berean Christadelphians generally use BASF. The Dawn Christadelphians use a statement of faith which is based on the original 1886 statement of faith, but has four additions addressing issues that have arisen since that time. Some Christadelphian groups which are separated to a greater or lesser degree from the main body of Christadelphians use statements of faith
Statement of faith
A statement of faith is a statement of the core beliefs of a religious group.A typical statement of faith is said to be a non-comprehensive summary of the core beliefs of a particular faith within a tradition . Even religious organizations without affiliation will use a statement of faith for...
which differ in some regard from the BASF and from each other. Within the "Central" grouping individual ecclesias also may have their own statement of faith, whilst still accepting the statement of faith of the larger community.
For each fellowship, anyone who publicly assents to the doctrines described in the statement and is in good standing in their "home ecclesia" is generally welcome to participate in the activities of any other ecclesia.
General organisation
In the absence of centralised organisation, some differences exist amongst Christadelphians on matters of belief and practice. This is because each congregation (commonly styled 'ecclesias') is organised autonomously, typically following common practices which have altered little since the 19th century. Most ecclesias have a constitution, which includes a 'Statement of Faith', a list of 'Doctrines to be Rejected' and a formalized list of 'The Commandments of Christ'. With no central authority individual congregations are responsible for maintaining orthodoxy in belief and practice, and the Statement of Faith is seen by many as useful to this end. The Statement of Faith acts as the official standard of most ecclesias to determine fellowship within and between ecclesias, and as the basis for co-operation between ecclesias. Congregational discipline and conflict resolution are applied using various forms of consultation, mediation, and discussion, with disfellowship (similar to excommunicationExcommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
) being the final response to those with unorthodox practices or beliefs.
The relative uniformity of organisation and practice is undoubtedly due to the influence of a booklet, written early in Christadelphian history, called A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. It recommends a basically democratic arrangement by which congregational members elect 'brothers' to arranging and serving duties, and includes guidelines for the organisation of committees, as well as conflict resolution between congregational members and between congregations. Christadelphians do not have paid ministers
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
. Male members are assessed by the congregation for their eligibility to teach and perform other duties, which are usually assigned on a rotation basis, as opposed to having a permanently appointed preacher. Congregational governance typically follows a democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
model, with an elected arranging committee for each individual ecclesia. This unpaid committee is responsible for the day-to-day running of the ecclesia and is answerable to the rest of the ecclesia's members.
Inter-ecclesial organisations co-ordinate the running of, among other things, Christadelphian schools and elderly care homes, the Christadelphian Isolation League
Christadelphian Isolation League
The Christadelphian Isolation League is a non-profit organisation run by the Christadelphians. The main object of the organisation is to look after the 'spiritual welfare' of baptised members of the denomination, and their children, who are distant from an ecclesia due to physical distance or...
(which cares for those prevented by distance or infirmity from attending an ecclesia regularly) and the publication of Christadelphian magazines.
Beliefs
Due to the way the Christadelphian body is organised there is no central authority to establish and maintain a standardised set of beliefs and it depends what Statement of Faith is adhered to and how liberal the ecclesia is, but there are core doctrines most Christadelphians would accept. In the formal statements of faith a more complete list is found. For instance in the Central Fellowship, the BASF the official Statement of Faith has 30 doctrines to be accepted and 35 to be rejected.The Bible
Christadelphians state that their beliefs are based wholly on the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, and they accept no other texts as inspired by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. They regard the Bible as inspired by God and, therefore, believe that, in its original form, it was error free (errors in later copies are thought to be due to 'errors of transcription or translation'). Based on this, Christadelphians teach what they believe to be true Bible teaching.
God
They believe that God is the creator of all things and the father of true believers, that he is a separate being from his son, JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is the power of God used in creation and for salvation. They also believe that the phrase Holy Spirit sometimes refers to God's character/mind, depending on the context in which the phrase appears, but reject the orthodox Christian view that we need strength, guidance and power from the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life, believing instead that the spirit a believer needs within themselves is the mind/character of God, which is developed in a believer by their reading of the Bible (which, they believe, contains words God gave by his Spirit) and trying to live by what it says during the events of their lives which God uses to help shape their character.
Jesus
Christadelphians believe that Jesus is the promised Jewish MessiahMessiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
, in whom the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
find their fulfilment. They believe he is the Son of Man
Son of man
The phrase son of man is a primarily Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or self. The phrase is also used in Judaism and Christianity. The phrase used in the Greek, translated as Son of man is ὁ υἱὸς τοὺ ἀνθρώπου...
, in that he inherited human nature (with its inclination to sin) from his mother, and the Son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
by virtue of his miraculous conception by the power of God. Although he was tempted, Jesus committed no sin, and was therefore a perfect representative sacrifice to bring salvation to sinful humankind. They believe that God raised Jesus from death and gave him immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
, and he ascended to Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, God's dwelling place. Christadelphians believe that he will return to the earth in person to set up the Kingdom of God in fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
and David. This includes the belief that the coming Kingdom will be the restoration of God's first Kingdom of Israel, which was under David and Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
taught by Jesus and the apostles.
Salvation
Christadelphians believe that people are separated from God because of their sins, but can be reconciled to him by becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. This is by belief in the gospel, through repentanceRepentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
, and through baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
by total immersion in water. They do not believe we can be sure of being saved, believing instead that salvation comes as a result of a life of obedience to the commands of Christ After death, believers are in a state of non-existence
Psychopannychism
Christian mortalism incorporates the belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal, and the belief that the soul is uncomprehending during the time between bodily death and Judgment Day resurrection, known as the Intermediate state...
, knowing nothing until the Resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
at the return of Christ. Following the judgement at that time, the accepted receive the gift of immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
, and live with Christ on a restored Earth, assisting him to establish the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
and to rule over the mortal population for a thousand years (the Millennium
Millennialism
Millennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
). Christadelphians believe that the Kingdom will be centred upon Israel, but Jesus Christ will also reign over all the other nations on the earth. Some believe that the Kingdom itself is not worldwide but limited to the land of Israel promised to Abraham and ruled over in the past by David, with a worldwide empire.
Life in Christ
The historic Commandments of Christ demonstrates the community's recognition of the importance of Biblical teaching on morality. Marriage and family life are important. Christadelphians believe that sexual relationships are limited to heterosexual marriage, ideally between baptised believers.Rejection of some mainstream doctrines
Christadelphians reject a number of doctrines held by many other Christians, notably the immortalityImmortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
of the soul (see also mortalism; conditionalism), trinitarianism
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, the personal pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, the baptism of infants
Infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
, the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the present-day possession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see cessationism
Cessationism
In Christian theology, Cessationism is the view that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as tongues, prophecy and healing, ceased being practiced early on in Church history. The opposite of Cessationism is Continuationism...
). They believe that the word devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
is a reference in the scriptures to sin and human nature in opposition to God, while the word satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
is merely a reference to an adversary (be it good or bad). According to Christadelphians, these terms are used in reference to specific political systems or individuals in opposition or conflict. Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
(Hebrew: Sheol; Greek: Hades, Gehenna) is understood to refer exclusively to death and the grave, rather than being a place of everlasting torment (see also annihilationism
Annihilationism
Annihilationism is a Christian belief that apart from salvation the death of human beings results in their total destruction rather than their everlasting torment. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given...
). Christadelphians do not believe that anyone will "go to Heaven" upon death. Instead, they believe that only Christ Jesus went to Heaven, and when he comes back to the earth the true believers will live in the Land of Israel which will be the Kingdom of God on Earth. Christadelphians believe the doctrines they reject were introduced into Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
after the first century in large part through exposure to pagan Greek philosophy, and cannot be substantiated from the Biblical texts.
Other historical groups and individuals with some shared doctrines
One criticism of the Christadelphian movement has been over the claim of John Thomas and Robert Roberts to have "rediscovered" scriptural truth. However, although both men believed that they had "recovered" the true doctrines for themselves and contemporaries, they also believed there had always existed a group of true believers throughout the ages, albeit marred by the apostasy.The most notable Christadelphian attempts to find a continuity of those with doctrinal similarities since that point have been geographer Alan Eyre
Alan Eyre
L. Alan Eyre is a British-born naturalised Jamaican geographer and environmentalist. He is also a member of the Christadelphian church....
's two books The Protesters (1975) and Brethren in Christ (1982) in which he shows that many individual Christadelphian doctrines had been previously believed. Eyre focused in particular on the Radical Reformation
Radical Reformation
The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland, the Radical Reformation birthed many radical...
, and also among the Socinians and other early Unitarians
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and the English Dissenters
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
. In this way, Eyre was able to demonstrate substantial historical precedents for individual Christadelphian teachings and practices, and believed that the Christadelphian community was the 'inheritor of a noble tradition, by which elements of the Truth were from century to century hammered out on the anvil of controversy, affliction and even anguish'. Although noting in the introduction to 'The Protestors' that 'Some recorded herein perhaps did not have "all the truth" — so the writer has been reminded', Eyre nevertheless claimed that the purpose of the work was to 'tell how a number of little-known individuals, groups and religious communities strove to preserve or revive the original Christianity of apostolic times', and that 'In faith and outlook they were far closer to the early springing shoots of first century Christianity and the penetrating spiritual challenge of Jesus himself than much that has passed for the religion of the Nazarene in the last nineteen centuries'.
Eyre's research has been criticized by some of his Christadelphian peers, and as a result Christadelphian commentary on the subject was subsequently more cautious and circumspect, with caveats being issued concerning Eyre's claims, and the two books less used and publicized than in previous years.
Nevertheless, all the distinctive Christadelphian doctrines, down to interpretations of specific verses, can be found particularly among 16th century Socinian
Socinianism
Socinianism is a system of Christian doctrine named for Fausto Sozzini , which was developed among the Polish Brethren in the Minor Reformed Church of Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries and embraced also by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the same period...
writers (e.g. the rejection of the doctrines of the trinity, pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, immortal souls, a literal hell of fire, original sin) Early English Unitarian writings also correspond closely to those of Christadelphians. Also, recent discoveries and research have shown a large similarity between Christadelphian beliefs and those held by Isaac Newton who, among other things, rejected the doctrines of the trinity, immortal souls, a personal devil and literal demons. Even with most source writings of those later considered "heretics" destroyed, evidence can be provided that since the first century CE there have been various groups and individuals who have held certain individual Christadelphian beliefs or similar ones.
For example:
- The typical Old Testament belief in unconsciousness till resurrection, instead of the immortality of the soul, has been held marginally throughout the history of both Judaism and Christianity: such sources include certain Jewish pseudepigraphal works, rabbinical works, Clement of Rome, ArnobiusArnobiusArnobius of Sicca was an Early Christian apologist, during the reign of Diocletian . According to Jerome's Chronicle, Arnobius, before his conversion, was a distinguished Numidian rhetorician at Sicca Veneria , a major Christian center in Proconsular Africa, and owed his conversion to a...
in the third to 4th century, a succession of Arabic and Syrian Christians from the third to the 8th century including AphrahatAphrahatAphrahat was a Syriac-Christian author of the 4th century from the Adiabene region of Northern Mesopotamia, which was within the Persian Empire, who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice...
, EphremEphrem the SyrianEphrem the Syrian was a Syriac and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. He is venerated by Christians throughout the world, and especially in the Syriac Orthodox Church, as a saint.Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as...
, NarsaiNarsaiNarsai was one of the foremost of Syriac poet-theologians, perhaps equal in stature to Jacob of Serugh, both second only to Ephrem the Syrian...
, and Jacob of Sarug, Jewish commentators such as Isaac of NinevehIsaac of NinevehIsaac of Nineveh also remembered as Isaac the Syrian and Isaac Syrus was a Seventh century bishop and theologian best remembered for his written work. He is also regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church...
(d.700), Abraham Ibn EzraAbraham ibn EzraRabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born at Tudela, Navarre in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra....
(1092–1167), MaimonidesMaimonidesMoses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
(1135–1204), and Joseph AlboJoseph AlboJoseph Albo was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived in Spain during the fifteenth century, known chiefly as the author of Sefer ha-Ikkarim , the classic work on the fundamentals of Judaism.-Early life:Albo's birthplace is generally assumed to be Monreal, a town in Aragon...
(1380–1444), and later Christians such as John WycliffeJohn WycliffeJohn Wycliffe was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached...
, Michael SattlerMichael SattlerMichael Sattler was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession.Born in approximately 1490 in Staufen, Germany....
, and many Anabaptists, long before Martin LutherMartin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
challenged Roman Catholic views on heaven and hell with his teaching of "soul sleep"
- The Christadelphian denial of the pre-existence of ChristPre-existence of ChristThe pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, and interpretation of verses such as "I came down from heaven" (John 6:38) as relating to the virgin birth and Christ's mission only, are found in the teachings of: the early Jewish ChristiansJewish ChristiansJewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
, the EbionitesEbionitesEbionites, or Ebionaioi, , is a patristic term referring to a Jewish Christian sect or sects that existed during the first centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus as the Messiah and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish religious law and rites...
, the Nazoreans (or Nazarenes), the Theodotians of Theodotus the Cobbler (who believed Jesus was supernaturally begotten but a man nonetheless), ArtemonArtemonArtemon , a prominent Christian teacher in Rome, who held Adoptionist, or Nontrinitarian views. We know little about his life for certain.He is mentioned as the leader of a nontrinitarian sect at Rome in the third century...
, Paul of SamosataPaul of SamosataPaul of Samosata was Bishop of Antioch from 260 to 268. He was a believer in monarchianism, and his teachings anticipate adoptionism.-Life:...
, the Pseudo-Clementines, and PhotinusPhotinusPhotinus was a Christian heresiarch and bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia, best known for denying the incarnation of Christ. His name became synonymous in later literature for someone asserting that Christ was not God.- Life :...
(d.376); naturally however, given that non-Trinitarian beliefs were punishable with death from the 4th Century to the 17th, it would be foolish to expect to discover any consistent line of people or groups holding such beliefs. Such attempts become possible only after the Protestant ReformationProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. Christadelphian Christology is found from the publication of Lelio Sozzini's commentary on John (1561) through to the increasing resistance to the miraculous among English Unitarians after 1800.
- The Christadelphian concept of the devil and/or demons is found in a range of early Jewish and later Christian sources such as: Jonathan ben UzzielJonathan ben UzzielJonathan ben Uzziel is known as the author of Targum Jonathan. He is also said to have written a book of kabbalah known as Megadnim. He was one of the 80 tannaim who studied under Hillel the Elder. His tomb is in Amuka, Galilee near Tzfat, Israel...
(100s AD); Joshua Ben KarhaJoshua Ben KarhaJoshua Ben Karha , was a Jewish Tanna sage of the fourth generation. Colleague of Rabbi Meir and Shimon ben Gamliel II, and the disciplines of Akiva ben Joseph. Some are in the opinion that he is the son of R...
(135-160); Levi ben Gershon (d. 1344); David Kimchi (1160); Saadia ben JosephSaadia GaonSaʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
(892-942); Shimon ben Lakish (230-270), Joseph MedeJoseph MedeJoseph Mede was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow from 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist and Egyptologist...
(1640), Jacob BauthumleyJacob BauthumleyJacob Bauthumley or Bottomley was a significant English radical religious writer, usually identified as a central figure among the Ranters. He is known principally for The light and dark sides of God . This work was regarded as blasphemous...
(1650), Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
(1651), Lodowick Muggleton (1669), Dr. Anthonie van Dale (1685), Balthasar BekkerBalthasar BekkerBalthasar Bekker was a Dutch minister and author of philosophical and theological works. Opposing superstition, he was a key figure in the end of the witchcraft persecutions in early modern Europe.-Life:...
(1695), Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
; Christian ThomasiusChristian ThomasiusChristian Thomasius was a German jurist and philosopher.- Biography :He was born at Leipzig and was educated by his father, Jakob Thomasius , at that time head master of Thomasschule zu Leipzig...
(1704), Arthur Ashley SykesArthur Ashley Sykes-Life:Sykes was born in London in 1683 or 1684 and educated at St. Paul's School. In 1701 he was admitted to Corpus Christi College at Cambridge, where he received scholarship , B.A. , M.A. , and D.D....
(1737), Nathaniel Lardner (1742), Dr. Richard MeadRichard MeadRichard Mead was an English physician. His work, A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it , was of historic importance in the understanding of transmissible diseases.-Life:The eleventh child of Matthew Mead , Independent divine, Richard was born...
(1755), Hugh FarmerHugh FarmerHugh Farmer was an English Dissenter and theologian.He was educated at the Dissenting Academy in Northampton under Philip Doddridge, and became pastor of a congregation at Walthamstow, Essex. In 1701 he became preacher and one of the Tuesday lecturers at Salters' Hall, London...
(at least in the account of Christ's temptation; 1761), William AshdowneWilliam Ashdowne- Life :As a probationer for the ministry, William Ashdowne went to Dover,, then following the death of his father-in-law became minister in the General Baptist denomination at Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, Kent...
(1791), John SimpsonJohn Simpson (Unitarian)John Simpson was an English Unitarian minister and religious writer, known as a biblical critic. Some of his essays were very well known in the nineteenth century....
(1804) and John EppsJohn EppsDr John Epps was best known as a "homoeopathic physician", although his influence was wider as he was involved in "the advancement of commercial, political or religious freedom".-Early years and education:...
(1842)
Organised worship in England for those whose beliefs anticipated those of Christadelphians only truly became possible in 1779 when the Act of Toleration 1689
Act of Toleration 1689
The Act of Toleration was an act of the English Parliament , the long title of which is "An Act for Exempting their Majestyes Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the Penalties of certaine Lawes".The Act allowed freedom of worship to Nonconformists who had pledged to the...
was amended to permit denial of the Trinity, and only fully when property penalties were removed in the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
The Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. This is only 35 years before John Thomas' 1849 lecture tour in Britain which attracted significant support from an existing non-Trinitarian Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
base, particularly, initially, in Scotland where Arian
Arian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
Socinian and unitarian (with a small 'u' as distinct from the Unitarian Church of Theophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.-Life:...
) views were prevalent.
Modern mainstream theology developing similar beliefs
Over the last 100 years mainstream Christian theologians and Biblical scholars have gradually been developing beliefs which the Christadelphian community has historically held. Example areas are satan and demons; the atonement; justification; heaven and hell; the state of the dead.- The state of the dead: The majority of standard scholarly Jewish and Christian sources today describe the state of the dead in terms identical or very close to the Christadelphian view.
- The atonement: The majority Christian interpretation of the AnselmianAnselm of CanterburyAnselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
-CalvinistJohn CalvinJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
doctrine of the atonement as penal substitutionPenal substitutionPenal substitution is a theory of the atonement within Christian theology, developed with the Reformed tradition. It argues that Christ, by his own sacrificial choice, was punished in the place of sinners , thus satisfying the demands of justice so God can justly forgive the sins...
has been criticized in mainstream Christianity since the 19th century, resulting in increasing rejection of traditional penal substitution. The Christadelphian distinction between representation and substitution has been noted in the relevant scholarly literature, and representative participation (an interpretation long held by Christadelphians), is widely considered the original Biblical teaching on the atonement.
Practices and worship
Christadelphians are organised into local congregations, that commonly call themselves ecclesiaEcclesia
-Ecclesia:* the Christian Church**See Church militant and church triumphant for ecclesia militans, ecclesia penitens, ecclesia triumphans* Congregation among many English-speaking Christadelphians....
s, which is taken from usage in the New Testament and is Greek for gathering of those summoned. Congregational worship, which usually takes place on Sunday, centres on the remembrance of the death and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the taking part in the "memorial service". Additional meetings are often organised for worship, prayer, evangelism
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
and Bible study.
Ecclesias are typically involved in evangelism in the form of public lectures on Bible teaching, college-style seminars on reading the Bible, and Bible Reading Groups. Correspondence courses are also used widely, particularly in areas where there is no established Christadelphian presence. Some ecclesias, organisations or individuals also preach through other media like video, podcasts and internet forums.
Only baptised believers are considered members of the ecclesia. However, the children of members are encouraged to attend Christadelphian Sunday Schools and youth groups. Interaction between youth from different ecclesias is encouraged through regional and national youth gatherings. Many ecclesias organise holidays for young people, the most popular form in the UK being camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
holidays.
Christadelphians understand the Bible to teach that male and female believers are equal in God's sight, and also that there is a distinction between the roles of male and female members. Women are typically not eligible to teach in formal gatherings of the ecclesia when male believers are present, and do not sit on the main ecclesial arranging committees. They do, however: participate in other ecclesial and inter-ecclesial committees; participate in discussions; teach children, other women and non-members; perform music; discuss and vote on business matters; and engage in the majority of other activities.
There are ecclesially-accountable committees for co-ordinated evangelism, youth and Sunday School work, military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
issues, care of the elderly, and humanitarian work. These do not have any legislative authority, and are wholly dependent upon ecclesial support. Ecclesias in an area may regularly hold joint activities combining youth groups, fellowship, preaching, and Bible study.
Christadelphians refuse to participate in any military because they are conscientious objectors.
There is a strong emphasis on personal Bible reading and study and many Christadelphians use the Bible Companion
Bible Companion
The Bible Companion is a guide developed by the Christadelphians to aid reading the Bible. It was first produced by Robert Roberts when he was just 14 years of age, in about 1853, and revised by him over a number of years into its current format.-Background:Christadelphians believe that reading...
to help them systematically read the Bible each year
Hymnody and music
Christadelphians are a non-liturgicalLiturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
denomination. Christadelphian ecclesias are autonomous and free to adopt whatever pattern of worship they choose. However, in the English-speaking world, there tends to be a great deal of uniformity in order of service and hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
ody.
Christadelphian hymnody makes considerable use of the hymns of the Anglican and British Protestant traditions (even in US ecclesias the hymnody is typically more British than American). In many Christadelphian hymn books a sizeable proportion of hymns are drawn from the Scottish Psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
and non-Christadelphian hymn-writers including Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
, Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
, William Cowper
William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
and John Newton
John Newton
John Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
. Despite incorporating non-Christadelphian hymns however, Christadelphian hymnody preserves the essential teachings of the community.
The earliest hymn book published was the "Sacred Melodist" which was published by Benjamin Wilson
Benjamin Wilson (Biblical scholar)
Benjamin Wilson was an autodidact Biblical scholar and writer of the Emphatic Diaglott translation of the Bible...
in Geneva, Illinois in 1860. The next was the hymn book published for the use of Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God (an early name for Christadelphians) by George Dowie in Edinburgh in 1864. In 1865 Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
published a collection of Scottish psalms and hymns called The Golden Harp (which was subtitled "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, compiled for the use of Immersed Believers in 'The Things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ'"). This was replaced only five years later by the first "Christadelphian Hymn Book" (1869), compiled by J. J. and A. Andrew, and this was revised and expanded in 1874, 1932 and 1964. A thorough revision by the Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association resulted in the latest (2002) edition which is almost universally used by English-speaking Christadelphian ecclesias. In addition some Christadelphian fellowships have published their own hymn books.
A more contemporary worship style is now popular in some quarters. The Praise the Lord songbook was produced with the aim of making contemporary songs which are consistent with Christadelphian theology more widely available. This book is either used as a supplement to the more traditional Hymn Book or is used in place of the traditional Hymn Book. Another publication, the "Worship" book is a compilation of songs and hymns that have been composed only by members of the Christadelphian community. This book was produced with the aim of providing extra music for non-congregational music items within services (eg voluntaries, meditations, etc) but has been adopted by congregations worldwide and is now used to supplement congregational repertoire.
In the English-speaking world, worship is typically accompanied by organ or piano, though in recent years a few ecclesias have promoted the use of other instruments (e.g. strings, wind and brass as mentioned in the Psalms). This trend has also seen the emergence of some Christadelphian bands and the establishment of the Christadelphian Arts Trust to support performing, visual and dramatic arts within the Christadelphian community.
In other countries, hymnbooks have been produced in local languages, sometimes resulting in styles of worship which reflect the local culture. It has been noted that Christadelphian hymnody has historically been a consistent witness to Christadelphian beliefs, and that hymnody occupies a significant role in the community.
Further reading
Christadelphians (a word created using Greek which means "Brethren in Christ" — "brethren in Christ") is a ChristianChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century. The name was coined by John Thomas
John Thomas (Christadelphian)
Dr. John Thomas was the founder of the Christadelphian movement, a Restorationist religion with doctrines similar in part to some 16th century Antitrinitarian Rationalist Socinians and the 16th century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.-Early life:John Thomas M.D., born in Hoxton Square, Hackney,...
, who was the group's founder.
Christadelphians hold a view of Biblical Unitarianism
Biblical Unitarianism
Today, biblical Unitarianism identifies the Christian belief that the Bible teaches God is a singular person—the Father—and that Jesus his son is a distinct being...
.
Although no official membership figures are published, the Columbia Encyclopedia
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Encyclopedia is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and sold by the Gale Group. First published in 1935, and continuing its important relationship with Columbia University, the encyclopedia underwent major revisions in 1950 and 1963; the current edition is...
gives an estimated figure of 50,000 Christadelphians, who are spread across approximately 120 countries; there are established churches (or ecclesias, as they are often called) in many of those countries, along with isolated members. Census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
statistics are available for some countries. Estimates for the main centres of Christadelphian population are as follows: United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(18,000), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(9,987), Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
(7,000), United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(6,500), Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
(5,300), Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(3,375), New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(1,782), Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
(1,700), India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(1,300), Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
(1,000), and Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
(1,000). This puts the figure at around 60,000.
Nineteenth century
The Christadelphian religious group traces its origins to Dr John ThomasJohn Thomas (Christadelphian)
Dr. John Thomas was the founder of the Christadelphian movement, a Restorationist religion with doctrines similar in part to some 16th century Antitrinitarian Rationalist Socinians and the 16th century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.-Early life:John Thomas M.D., born in Hoxton Square, Hackney,...
(1805–1871), who migrated to North America from England in 1832. Following a near shipwreck he vowed to find out the truth about life and God through personal Biblical study. Initially he sought to avoid the kind of sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
he had seen in England. In this he found sympathy with the rapidly emerging Restoration Movement
Restoration Movement
The Restoration Movement is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century...
in the United States of America at the time. This movement sought for a reform based upon the Bible alone
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
as a sufficient guide and rejected all creed
Creed
A creed is a statement of belief—usually a statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community—and is often recited as part of a religious service. When the statement of faith is longer and polemical, as well as didactic, it is not called a creed but a Confession of faith...
s. However this liberality eventually led to dissent as John Thomas developed in his personal beliefs and started to question mainstream orthodox Christian beliefs. Whilst the Restoration Movement accepted Thomas's right to have his own beliefs, when he started preaching that they were essential to salvation, it led to a fierce series of debates with a notable leader of the movement, Alexander Campbell. John Thomas believed that scripture, as God's word, did not support a multiplicity of differing beliefs, and challenged the leaders to continue with the process of restoring first century Christian beliefs and correct interpretation through a process of debate. The history of this process appears in the book Dr. Thomas, His Life and Work (1873) by a Christadelphian, Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
.
During this period of formulating his ideas he was baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
twice, the second time after renouncing the beliefs he previously held. His new position was based on a new appreciation for the reign of Christ on David's throne. It was this abjuration of his former beliefs that eventually led to the Restoration Movement disfellowshipping him when he toured England and they became aware of his abjuration in the United States of America.
The Christadelphian community in Britain effectively dates from Thomas's first lecturing tour (May 1848 – October 1850). His message was particularly well received in Scotland, and Campbellite
Campbellite
Campbellite refers to any of the religious groups historically descended from the Restoration Movement, a religious reform movement in the early 19th century in the United States...
, Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
friends separated to form groups of "Baptised Believers". Two thirds of ecclesias, and members, in Britain before 1864 were in Scotland. In 1849, during his tour of Britain he completed (a decade and a half before the name Christadelphian was conceived) Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, in 1848-1849 and published in 1849.The book was based on a series of lectures given by Thomas in 1848 and is written in three parts, The...
(elpis being Greek for "hope") – in which he laid out his understanding of the main doctrines of the Bible. Since his medium for bringing change was print and debate, it was natural for the origins of the Christadelphian body to be associated with journals and books, namely the Herald of the Kingdom and The Ambassador (which later became The Christadelphian
The Christadelphian
The Christadelphian is a Bible magazine published monthly by The Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association . It states that it is 'A magazine dedicated wholly to the hope of Israel' and, according to the magazine website, it 'reflects the teachings, beliefs and activities of the...
).
In this desire to seek to establish Biblical truth and test out orthodox Christian beliefs through independent scriptural study he was not alone and, amongst other churches, he also had links with Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
movement and with Benjamin Wilson
Benjamin Wilson (Biblical scholar)
Benjamin Wilson was an autodidact Biblical scholar and writer of the Emphatic Diaglott translation of the Bible...
(who later set up the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith
Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith may refer to the following two modern Christian groups that had the same origin and common history from 1850s to 1921:* Church of God General Conference or "CoGGC"...
in the 1860s).
Although the Christadelphian movement originated through the activities of John Thomas, he never saw himself as setting up his own disciples. Rather he believed he had rediscovered first century beliefs from the Bible alone, and sought to prove that through a process of challenge and debate and writing journals. Through that process a number of people were convinced and set up various fellowships that had sympathy with that position. Groups associated with John Thomas met under various names, including Believers, Baptised Believers, the Royal Association of Believers, Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God, Nazarines (or Nazarenes) and The Antipas until the time of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861–1865). At that time, church affiliation was required to register for conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
status, and in 1865 Thomas chose for registration purposes the name Christadelphian.
Through the teaching of John Thomas and the need in the American civil war for a name, the Christadelphians emerged as a denomination, but they were formed into a lasting structure through a passionate follower of his interpretation of the Bible, Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
. At the age of 10 he was taken by his mother to hear a talk given by John Thomas in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. At the age of 13 he read Thomas's Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel
Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, in 1848-1849 and published in 1849.The book was based on a series of lectures given by Thomas in 1848 and is written in three parts, The...
and was subsequently baptised in 1853 at the age of 14 in the River Dee
River Dee, Aberdeenshire
The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen...
and joined the "Baptised Believers". He was 're-baptised' in 1863 "on attaining to an understanding of the things concerning the name of Jesus, of which he was ignorant at his first immersion". In 1864 he began to publish The Ambassador magazine. This was renamed The Christadelphian in 1869 and continues to be published under that name. Roberts was prominent in the period following the death of John Thomas and helped craft the structures of the Christadelphian body.
Robert Roberts was certain that John Thomas had rediscovered the truth, and it is largely down to Roberts' organisation that the Christadelphian body exists in its present form. His life was characterised by debates over issues that arose within the fledgling organisation and some of this process can be found in the book Robert Roberts—A study of his life and character by Islip Collyer. He also wrote a booklet called a A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. which has been significant in establishing the basic structure most ecclesias follow today.
Initially the denomination grew in the English-speaking world, particularly in the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and parts of North America. In the early days after the death of John Thomas the group could have moved in a number of directions. Doctrinal issues arose, debates were held and statements of faith were created and amended as other issues arose. These attempts were felt necessary by many to both settle and define a doctrinal stance for the newly emerging denomination and to keep out error.
- In 1873, the Nazarene FellowshipNazarene fellowshipNot to be confused with the Wesleyan Church of the Nazarene, or the German Nazarene movement of religious artists.The Nazarene fellowship was an offshoot from Christadelphians from 1873–1881, led by Edward Turney of Nottingham and David Handley of Maldon...
, led by Edward Turney of Nottingham, separated over the atonement. Following his death in 1879 his most active supporter David Handley of Maldon returned to the main grouping, and the group gradually died out. In the 1950s Turney's cause, and the name of the group, were revived by Ernest Brady.
- In 1885, the Suffolk Street Fellowship was formed over the inspirationBiblical inspirationBiblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology that the authors and editors of the Bible were led or influenced by God with the result that their writings many be designated in some sense the word of God.- Etymology :...
of the Bible. Robert Ashcroft, a leading member, wrote an article which challenged Christadelphian belief in plenary inspiration and which, although he himself left, led to a division in the main body. One group formed a new ecclesia which later met in Suffolk Street, Birmingham. Other ecclesias throughout the world which supported them became known as the "Suffolk Street fellowship" to distinguish itself from the group they were separated from, which became known as the "Temperance Hall fellowship". The main magazine of this group from 1884–1957 was The Fraternal Visitor, whose editors included J.J. Bishop and J.J. Hadley (d.1912), then Thomas TurnerThomas Turner (metallurgist)thumb|right|Thomas Turner, A.R.S.MThomas Turner Sc., A.R.S.M., F.R.I.C. was the first Professor of Metallurgy in Britain, at the University of Birmingham. The University was created in 1900 and the department founded in 1902. He retired in 1926. He was also a leading member of the Christadelphian...
, and finally Cyril Cooper (till reunion in 1957).
- In 1898, the Unamended FellowshipUnamended ChristadelphiansThe Unamended Christadelphians are a "fellowship" within the broader Christadelphian movement worldwide, found only in the United States and Canada. They are, like all Christadelphians, millennialist and non-Trinitarian...
was separated from as a result of differing views on who would be raised to judgment at the return of Christ. The majority of Christadelphians believe that the judgment will include anyone who had sufficient knowledge of the gospel message, and is not limited to baptized believers. The majority in Britain, Australia and North America amended their statement of faith accordingly. Those who opposed the amendment in North America became known as the "Unamended fellowship" and allowed the teaching that God either could not or would not raise those who had no covenant relationship with him. Opinions vary as to what the established position was on this subject prior to the controversy. In North America those who continued to associate with Britain on the basis of the amended 1898 statement became known as the Amended FellowshipAmended ChristadelphiansThis article refers to a distinction that is today only directly relevant in North America. For more complete information on Christadelphians please see the main article...
,in contrast to the Unamended Fellowship, who took their lead from the Christadelphian Advocate Magazine of Thomas WilliamsThomas Williams (Christadelphian)thumb|right||Thomas WilliamsThomas Williams was a Welsh Christadelphian who emigrated to America and became editor of the Advocate magazine of the Unamended Christadelphians.-Life:...
of Chicago.
- In 1923, the Berean FellowshipBerean ChristadelphiansThe Berean Christadelphians are a Christian denomination that separated from the main Christadelphian denomination in the 1920s, withdrawing congregational fellowship in the process...
was formed, as a result of varying views on military service in Britain, and on the atonement in North America. In 1942 the Bereans again divided over marriage and divorce with the stricter party forming the Dawn Fellowship. The majority of the North American Bereans re-joined the main body of Christadelphians in 1952; though a small number continue as a separate community to the present day.
Twentieth century
The Christadelphian position on conscientious objection came to the fore with the introduction of conscription during the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Varying degrees of exemption from military service were granted to Christadelphians in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. In the Second World War, this frequently required the person seeking exemption to undertake civilian work under the direction of the authorities.
During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Christadelphians in Britain assisted in the Kindertransport
Kindertransport
Kindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...
, helping to relocate several hundred Jewish children away from Nazi persecution and founding a hostel Elpis Lodge
Elpis Lodge
Elpis Lodge was a hostel provided by Christadelphians for Jewish refugee boys in Birmingham, England, from 1940-1948.- Early Christadelphians and Palestine :...
. In Germany the small Christadelphian community founded by Albert Maier
Albert Maier
Albert Maier was the founder of the German Christadelphians.As a young man he had travelled to America, where he was converted to the Christadelphian church and taught by A. H. Zilmer, a German-speaking Christadelphian of Waterloo, Iowa...
went underground from 1940–1945, and a leading brother, Albert Merz
Albert Merz
Albert Merz was a German Christadelphian who was executed for refusing to bear arms in the Second World War.The Merz family were leading members of what was then known as the Urchristen movement in Berlin started by Albert Maier, a German who had converted to the Christadelphian church in America...
, was imprisoned as a conscientious objector and later executed.
The emphasis on the restoration of truth has led to a history of division and schism that many have felt unpleasant and that has divided friends and families. Moves have been made to try to solve them with some success. In the early 1950s the majority of the Berean Fellowship re-joined the Temperance Hall Fellowship, with the remainder continuing as a separate community. In 1957–1958, there was further reunion with the Suffolk Street Fellowship, which had already incorporated many of the Unamended Fellowship outside North America. This re-united group, which now included the large majority of Christadelphians, became known as the Central Fellowship named after the Birmingham Central ecclesia. In Australia and New Zealand a union occurred in 1958 between the Central fellowship and the Shield fellowship (which was allied to the Suffolk Street fellowship) through an understanding expressed in a document called the Cooper-Carter Addendum. Those who held that the reasons for separation from the Suffolk Street Fellowship remained, opposed the re-union and formed the Old Paths Fellowship. There is also some co-operation between the Central (Amended) and Unamended Fellowships in North America – most recently in the Great Lakes region, where numerous Amended & Unamended ecclesias have opened fellowship to one another despite the failure of wider attempts at re-union under the North American Statement of Understanding (NASU) in recent years.
Despite success in reuniting large sections of the wider Christadelphian community and periodic efforts at reuniting smaller offshoots, there are still a number of groups who remain separate from other bodies of Christadelphians. These include the Berean Fellowship (who use precisely the same Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF) as the central fellowship), the Dawn Fellowship, the Old Paths Fellowship, the Companion Fellowship and the Pioneer Maranatha Fellowship. However, Dawn Christadelphians and the former Lightstand Fellowship in Australia united in November 2007. Most of the divisions still in existence within the Christadelphian community today stem from further divisions of the Berean fellowship.
Today
The post-war, and post-reunions, period saw an increase in co-operation and interaction between ecclesias, resulting in the establishment of a number of week-long Bible schools and the formation of national and internationalInternational
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
organisations such as the Christadelphian Bible Mission (for preaching and pastoral support overseas), the Christadelphian Support Network (for counselling), and the Christadelphian Meal-A-Day Fund
Meal-a-Day Fund
The Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund is a UK registered charity set up and run by the Christadelphians. It was founded in 1976 after the founders heard Henry Kissinger give a speech in which he said everyone on earth should have at least one meal a day....
(for charity and humanitarian work).
The period following the reunions was accompanied by expansion in the developing world, which now accounts for around 40% of Christadelphians.
Fellowships today
Since the reunions in UK and Australia in 1957 two generations of Christadelphians have grown up with little awareness of the existence of the minority "fellowships", or awareness that the main group is called "Central" by the minority groups. Parallel with this generational change, the articles and books on the doctrine and practice of fellowship with the main "Central" grouping now reject the notion itself of separate "fellowships" among those who recognise the same baptism as "schism". A third significant change, outside North America, has been the shrinking of the minority "fellowships" due to defection to the main group and natural causes. According to Bryan Wilson functionally the definition of a "fellowship" within Christadelphian History has been mutual or unilateral exclusion of groupings of ecclesias from the breaking of bread. This functional definition still holds true in North America, where two other sizeable groups, Unamended ChristadelphiansUnamended Christadelphians
The Unamended Christadelphians are a "fellowship" within the broader Christadelphian movement worldwide, found only in the United States and Canada. They are, like all Christadelphians, millennialist and non-Trinitarian...
and CGAF
Church of the Blessed Hope
The Church of the Blessed Hope is a small first-day Adventist Christian body.-Background:...
are not received by most North American Amended
Amended Christadelphians
This article refers to a distinction that is today only directly relevant in North America. For more complete information on Christadelphians please see the main article...
ecclesias. But outside North America this functional definition no longer holds. Many ecclesias in the "Central" grouping would not refuse a baptised Christadelphian from a minority "fellowship" from breaking bread, the exclusion is more usually the other way.
Today the Christadelphian body remains divided into "fellowships", the largest being the Central Fellowship, named after the now-defunct Birmingham Central ecclesia, once its largest and most influential ecclesia. There remains a large number of Unamended Christadelphians, particularly in the US and Canada. Smaller fellowships include the Berean Christadelphians, the Dawn Christadelphians, the Old Paths Christadelphians, and the Pioneer Maranatha Christadelphians. The number of adherents to the various smaller groups of Christadelphians varies from approximately 1,850 members (the Unamended Christadelphians as of 2006) to groups made up of little more than one or two immediate families
Nuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
.
Estimates of numbers:
- Central = 55,000
- Unamended = 1,850 (East Coast and Mid West USA, Ontario)
- Dawn = 800 (UK, Australia, Ontario, India, Poland, Russia)
- CGAF = 400 (primarily Ohio, Florida)
- Old Paths = 400 (UK 250, Aus-NZ 150)
- Berean = 330 (US 200 primarily Texas, Kenya 100, Wales 30)
- Companion = 80 (Australia, New Zealand), United Kingdom)
- Watchman = 50 (UK, India)
- Pioneer Maranatha = ?
- Other very small groups = 100~150 total
They tend to operate organisationally fairly similarly, although there are different emphases. For instance the Berean Christadelphians
Berean Christadelphians
The Berean Christadelphians are a Christian denomination that separated from the main Christadelphian denomination in the 1920s, withdrawing congregational fellowship in the process...
focus on the pioneer Christadelphians and the Dawn Christadelphians put a huge importance on the need to follow a consistent set of disciplines regarding divorce and remarriage. These different Christadelphian fellowships are to some degree localised. For example, the Unamended Fellowship exists only in North America, and some of the others are confined to the English-speaking world.
Each fellowship has a Statement of Faith, the most common of which is the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF), named after an ecclesia in Birmingham. This is used by all Old Paths ecclesias without amendment from the days of Robert Roberts. Most Unamended ecclesias have a similar Statement of Faith called the Birmingham Unamended Statement of Faith (BUSF) with one clause being different. The Berean Christadelphians generally use BASF. The Dawn Christadelphians use a statement of faith which is based on the original 1886 statement of faith, but has four additions addressing issues that have arisen since that time. Some Christadelphian groups which are separated to a greater or lesser degree from the main body of Christadelphians use statements of faith
Statement of faith
A statement of faith is a statement of the core beliefs of a religious group.A typical statement of faith is said to be a non-comprehensive summary of the core beliefs of a particular faith within a tradition . Even religious organizations without affiliation will use a statement of faith for...
which differ in some regard from the BASF and from each other. Within the "Central" grouping individual ecclesias also may have their own statement of faith, whilst still accepting the statement of faith of the larger community.
For each fellowship, anyone who publicly assents to the doctrines described in the statement and is in good standing in their "home ecclesia" is generally welcome to participate in the activities of any other ecclesia.
General organisation
In the absence of centralised organisation, some differences exist amongst Christadelphians on matters of belief and practice. This is because each congregation (commonly styled 'ecclesias') is organised autonomously, typically following common practices which have altered little since the 19th century. Most ecclesias have a constitution, which includes a 'Statement of Faith', a list of 'Doctrines to be Rejected' and a formalized list of 'The Commandments of Christ'. With no central authority individual congregations are responsible for maintaining orthodoxy in belief and practice, and the Statement of Faith is seen by many as useful to this end. The Statement of Faith acts as the official standard of most ecclesias to determine fellowship within and between ecclesias, and as the basis for co-operation between ecclesias. Congregational discipline and conflict resolution are applied using various forms of consultation, mediation, and discussion, with disfellowship (similar to excommunicationExcommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
) being the final response to those with unorthodox practices or beliefs.
The relative uniformity of organisation and practice is undoubtedly due to the influence of a booklet, written early in Christadelphian history, called A Guide to the Formation and Conduct of Christadelphian Ecclesias. It recommends a basically democratic arrangement by which congregational members elect 'brothers' to arranging and serving duties, and includes guidelines for the organisation of committees, as well as conflict resolution between congregational members and between congregations. Christadelphians do not have paid ministers
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
. Male members are assessed by the congregation for their eligibility to teach and perform other duties, which are usually assigned on a rotation basis, as opposed to having a permanently appointed preacher. Congregational governance typically follows a democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
model, with an elected arranging committee for each individual ecclesia. This unpaid committee is responsible for the day-to-day running of the ecclesia and is answerable to the rest of the ecclesia's members.
Inter-ecclesial organisations co-ordinate the running of, among other things, Christadelphian schools and elderly care homes, the Christadelphian Isolation League
Christadelphian Isolation League
The Christadelphian Isolation League is a non-profit organisation run by the Christadelphians. The main object of the organisation is to look after the 'spiritual welfare' of baptised members of the denomination, and their children, who are distant from an ecclesia due to physical distance or...
(which cares for those prevented by distance or infirmity from attending an ecclesia regularly) and the publication of Christadelphian magazines.
Beliefs
Due to the way the Christadelphian body is organised there is no central authority to establish and maintain a standardised set of beliefs and it depends what Statement of Faith is adhered to and how liberal the ecclesia is, but there are core doctrines most Christadelphians would accept. In the formal statements of faith a more complete list is found. For instance in the Central Fellowship, the BASF the official Statement of Faith has 30 doctrines to be accepted and 35 to be rejected.The Bible
Christadelphians state that their beliefs are based wholly on the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, and they accept no other texts as inspired by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. They regard the Bible as inspired by God and, therefore, believe that, in its original form, it was error free (errors in later copies are thought to be due to 'errors of transcription or translation'). Based on this, Christadelphians teach what they believe to be true Bible teaching.
God
They believe that God is the creator of all things and the father of true believers, that he is a separate being from his son, JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is the power of God used in creation and for salvation. They also believe that the phrase Holy Spirit sometimes refers to God's character/mind, depending on the context in which the phrase appears, but reject the orthodox Christian view that we need strength, guidance and power from the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life, believing instead that the spirit a believer needs within themselves is the mind/character of God, which is developed in a believer by their reading of the Bible (which, they believe, contains words God gave by his Spirit) and trying to live by what it says during the events of their lives which God uses to help shape their character.
Jesus
Christadelphians believe that Jesus is the promised Jewish MessiahMessiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
, in whom the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
find their fulfilment. They believe he is the Son of Man
Son of man
The phrase son of man is a primarily Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or self. The phrase is also used in Judaism and Christianity. The phrase used in the Greek, translated as Son of man is ὁ υἱὸς τοὺ ἀνθρώπου...
, in that he inherited human nature (with its inclination to sin) from his mother, and the Son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
by virtue of his miraculous conception by the power of God. Although he was tempted, Jesus committed no sin, and was therefore a perfect representative sacrifice to bring salvation to sinful humankind. They believe that God raised Jesus from death and gave him immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
, and he ascended to Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, God's dwelling place. Christadelphians believe that he will return to the earth in person to set up the Kingdom of God in fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
and David. This includes the belief that the coming Kingdom will be the restoration of God's first Kingdom of Israel, which was under David and Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
taught by Jesus and the apostles.
Salvation
Christadelphians believe that people are separated from God because of their sins, but can be reconciled to him by becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. This is by belief in the gospel, through repentanceRepentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
, and through baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
by total immersion in water. They do not believe we can be sure of being saved, believing instead that salvation comes as a result of a life of obedience to the commands of Christ After death, believers are in a state of non-existence
Psychopannychism
Christian mortalism incorporates the belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal, and the belief that the soul is uncomprehending during the time between bodily death and Judgment Day resurrection, known as the Intermediate state...
, knowing nothing until the Resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
at the return of Christ. Following the judgement at that time, the accepted receive the gift of immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
, and live with Christ on a restored Earth, assisting him to establish the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
and to rule over the mortal population for a thousand years (the Millennium
Millennialism
Millennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
). Christadelphians believe that the Kingdom will be centred upon Israel, but Jesus Christ will also reign over all the other nations on the earth. Some believe that the Kingdom itself is not worldwide but limited to the land of Israel promised to Abraham and ruled over in the past by David, with a worldwide empire.
Life in Christ
The historic Commandments of Christ demonstrates the community's recognition of the importance of Biblical teaching on morality. Marriage and family life are important. Christadelphians believe that sexual relationships are limited to heterosexual marriage, ideally between baptised believers.Rejection of some mainstream doctrines
Christadelphians reject a number of doctrines held by many other Christians, notably the immortalityImmortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
of the soul (see also mortalism; conditionalism), trinitarianism
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, the personal pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, the baptism of infants
Infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
, the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the present-day possession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see cessationism
Cessationism
In Christian theology, Cessationism is the view that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as tongues, prophecy and healing, ceased being practiced early on in Church history. The opposite of Cessationism is Continuationism...
). They believe that the word devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
is a reference in the scriptures to sin and human nature in opposition to God, while the word satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
is merely a reference to an adversary (be it good or bad). According to Christadelphians, these terms are used in reference to specific political systems or individuals in opposition or conflict. Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
(Hebrew: Sheol; Greek: Hades, Gehenna) is understood to refer exclusively to death and the grave, rather than being a place of everlasting torment (see also annihilationism
Annihilationism
Annihilationism is a Christian belief that apart from salvation the death of human beings results in their total destruction rather than their everlasting torment. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given...
). Christadelphians do not believe that anyone will "go to Heaven" upon death. Instead, they believe that only Christ Jesus went to Heaven, and when he comes back to the earth the true believers will live in the Land of Israel which will be the Kingdom of God on Earth. Christadelphians believe the doctrines they reject were introduced into Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
after the first century in large part through exposure to pagan Greek philosophy, and cannot be substantiated from the Biblical texts.
Other historical groups and individuals with some shared doctrines
One criticism of the Christadelphian movement has been over the claim of John Thomas and Robert Roberts to have "rediscovered" scriptural truth. However, although both men believed that they had "recovered" the true doctrines for themselves and contemporaries, they also believed there had always existed a group of true believers throughout the ages, albeit marred by the apostasy.The most notable Christadelphian attempts to find a continuity of those with doctrinal similarities since that point have been geographer Alan Eyre
Alan Eyre
L. Alan Eyre is a British-born naturalised Jamaican geographer and environmentalist. He is also a member of the Christadelphian church....
's two books The Protesters (1975) and Brethren in Christ (1982) in which he shows that many individual Christadelphian doctrines had been previously believed. Eyre focused in particular on the Radical Reformation
Radical Reformation
The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland, the Radical Reformation birthed many radical...
, and also among the Socinians and other early Unitarians
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and the English Dissenters
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
. In this way, Eyre was able to demonstrate substantial historical precedents for individual Christadelphian teachings and practices, and believed that the Christadelphian community was the 'inheritor of a noble tradition, by which elements of the Truth were from century to century hammered out on the anvil of controversy, affliction and even anguish'. Although noting in the introduction to 'The Protestors' that 'Some recorded herein perhaps did not have "all the truth" — so the writer has been reminded', Eyre nevertheless claimed that the purpose of the work was to 'tell how a number of little-known individuals, groups and religious communities strove to preserve or revive the original Christianity of apostolic times', and that 'In faith and outlook they were far closer to the early springing shoots of first century Christianity and the penetrating spiritual challenge of Jesus himself than much that has passed for the religion of the Nazarene in the last nineteen centuries'.
Eyre's research has been criticized by some of his Christadelphian peers, and as a result Christadelphian commentary on the subject was subsequently more cautious and circumspect, with caveats being issued concerning Eyre's claims, and the two books less used and publicized than in previous years.
Nevertheless, all the distinctive Christadelphian doctrines, down to interpretations of specific verses, can be found particularly among 16th century Socinian
Socinianism
Socinianism is a system of Christian doctrine named for Fausto Sozzini , which was developed among the Polish Brethren in the Minor Reformed Church of Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries and embraced also by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the same period...
writers (e.g. the rejection of the doctrines of the trinity, pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, immortal souls, a literal hell of fire, original sin) Early English Unitarian writings also correspond closely to those of Christadelphians. Also, recent discoveries and research have shown a large similarity between Christadelphian beliefs and those held by Isaac Newton who, among other things, rejected the doctrines of the trinity, immortal souls, a personal devil and literal demons. Even with most source writings of those later considered "heretics" destroyed, evidence can be provided that since the first century CE there have been various groups and individuals who have held certain individual Christadelphian beliefs or similar ones.
For example:
- The typical Old Testament belief in unconsciousness till resurrection, instead of the immortality of the soul, has been held marginally throughout the history of both Judaism and Christianity: such sources include certain Jewish pseudepigraphal works, rabbinical works, Clement of Rome, ArnobiusArnobiusArnobius of Sicca was an Early Christian apologist, during the reign of Diocletian . According to Jerome's Chronicle, Arnobius, before his conversion, was a distinguished Numidian rhetorician at Sicca Veneria , a major Christian center in Proconsular Africa, and owed his conversion to a...
in the third to 4th century, a succession of Arabic and Syrian Christians from the third to the 8th century including AphrahatAphrahatAphrahat was a Syriac-Christian author of the 4th century from the Adiabene region of Northern Mesopotamia, which was within the Persian Empire, who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice...
, EphremEphrem the SyrianEphrem the Syrian was a Syriac and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century. He is venerated by Christians throughout the world, and especially in the Syriac Orthodox Church, as a saint.Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as...
, NarsaiNarsaiNarsai was one of the foremost of Syriac poet-theologians, perhaps equal in stature to Jacob of Serugh, both second only to Ephrem the Syrian...
, and Jacob of Sarug, Jewish commentators such as Isaac of NinevehIsaac of NinevehIsaac of Nineveh also remembered as Isaac the Syrian and Isaac Syrus was a Seventh century bishop and theologian best remembered for his written work. He is also regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church...
(d.700), Abraham Ibn EzraAbraham ibn EzraRabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born at Tudela, Navarre in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra....
(1092–1167), MaimonidesMaimonidesMoses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
(1135–1204), and Joseph AlboJoseph AlboJoseph Albo was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived in Spain during the fifteenth century, known chiefly as the author of Sefer ha-Ikkarim , the classic work on the fundamentals of Judaism.-Early life:Albo's birthplace is generally assumed to be Monreal, a town in Aragon...
(1380–1444), and later Christians such as John WycliffeJohn WycliffeJohn Wycliffe was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached...
, Michael SattlerMichael SattlerMichael Sattler was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession.Born in approximately 1490 in Staufen, Germany....
, and many Anabaptists, long before Martin LutherMartin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
challenged Roman Catholic views on heaven and hell with his teaching of "soul sleep"
- The Christadelphian denial of the pre-existence of ChristPre-existence of ChristThe pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
, and interpretation of verses such as "I came down from heaven" (John 6:38) as relating to the virgin birth and Christ's mission only, are found in the teachings of: the early Jewish ChristiansJewish ChristiansJewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
, the EbionitesEbionitesEbionites, or Ebionaioi, , is a patristic term referring to a Jewish Christian sect or sects that existed during the first centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus as the Messiah and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish religious law and rites...
, the Nazoreans (or Nazarenes), the Theodotians of Theodotus the Cobbler (who believed Jesus was supernaturally begotten but a man nonetheless), ArtemonArtemonArtemon , a prominent Christian teacher in Rome, who held Adoptionist, or Nontrinitarian views. We know little about his life for certain.He is mentioned as the leader of a nontrinitarian sect at Rome in the third century...
, Paul of SamosataPaul of SamosataPaul of Samosata was Bishop of Antioch from 260 to 268. He was a believer in monarchianism, and his teachings anticipate adoptionism.-Life:...
, the Pseudo-Clementines, and PhotinusPhotinusPhotinus was a Christian heresiarch and bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia, best known for denying the incarnation of Christ. His name became synonymous in later literature for someone asserting that Christ was not God.- Life :...
(d.376); naturally however, given that non-Trinitarian beliefs were punishable with death from the 4th Century to the 17th, it would be foolish to expect to discover any consistent line of people or groups holding such beliefs. Such attempts become possible only after the Protestant ReformationProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. Christadelphian Christology is found from the publication of Lelio Sozzini's commentary on John (1561) through to the increasing resistance to the miraculous among English Unitarians after 1800.
- The Christadelphian concept of the devil and/or demons is found in a range of early Jewish and later Christian sources such as: Jonathan ben UzzielJonathan ben UzzielJonathan ben Uzziel is known as the author of Targum Jonathan. He is also said to have written a book of kabbalah known as Megadnim. He was one of the 80 tannaim who studied under Hillel the Elder. His tomb is in Amuka, Galilee near Tzfat, Israel...
(100s AD); Joshua Ben KarhaJoshua Ben KarhaJoshua Ben Karha , was a Jewish Tanna sage of the fourth generation. Colleague of Rabbi Meir and Shimon ben Gamliel II, and the disciplines of Akiva ben Joseph. Some are in the opinion that he is the son of R...
(135-160); Levi ben Gershon (d. 1344); David Kimchi (1160); Saadia ben JosephSaadia GaonSaʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
(892-942); Shimon ben Lakish (230-270), Joseph MedeJoseph MedeJoseph Mede was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow from 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist and Egyptologist...
(1640), Jacob BauthumleyJacob BauthumleyJacob Bauthumley or Bottomley was a significant English radical religious writer, usually identified as a central figure among the Ranters. He is known principally for The light and dark sides of God . This work was regarded as blasphemous...
(1650), Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
(1651), Lodowick Muggleton (1669), Dr. Anthonie van Dale (1685), Balthasar BekkerBalthasar BekkerBalthasar Bekker was a Dutch minister and author of philosophical and theological works. Opposing superstition, he was a key figure in the end of the witchcraft persecutions in early modern Europe.-Life:...
(1695), Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
; Christian ThomasiusChristian ThomasiusChristian Thomasius was a German jurist and philosopher.- Biography :He was born at Leipzig and was educated by his father, Jakob Thomasius , at that time head master of Thomasschule zu Leipzig...
(1704), Arthur Ashley SykesArthur Ashley Sykes-Life:Sykes was born in London in 1683 or 1684 and educated at St. Paul's School. In 1701 he was admitted to Corpus Christi College at Cambridge, where he received scholarship , B.A. , M.A. , and D.D....
(1737), Nathaniel Lardner (1742), Dr. Richard MeadRichard MeadRichard Mead was an English physician. His work, A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it , was of historic importance in the understanding of transmissible diseases.-Life:The eleventh child of Matthew Mead , Independent divine, Richard was born...
(1755), Hugh FarmerHugh FarmerHugh Farmer was an English Dissenter and theologian.He was educated at the Dissenting Academy in Northampton under Philip Doddridge, and became pastor of a congregation at Walthamstow, Essex. In 1701 he became preacher and one of the Tuesday lecturers at Salters' Hall, London...
(at least in the account of Christ's temptation; 1761), William AshdowneWilliam Ashdowne- Life :As a probationer for the ministry, William Ashdowne went to Dover,, then following the death of his father-in-law became minister in the General Baptist denomination at Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, Kent...
(1791), John SimpsonJohn Simpson (Unitarian)John Simpson was an English Unitarian minister and religious writer, known as a biblical critic. Some of his essays were very well known in the nineteenth century....
(1804) and John EppsJohn EppsDr John Epps was best known as a "homoeopathic physician", although his influence was wider as he was involved in "the advancement of commercial, political or religious freedom".-Early years and education:...
(1842)
Organised worship in England for those whose beliefs anticipated those of Christadelphians only truly became possible in 1779 when the Act of Toleration 1689
Act of Toleration 1689
The Act of Toleration was an act of the English Parliament , the long title of which is "An Act for Exempting their Majestyes Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the Penalties of certaine Lawes".The Act allowed freedom of worship to Nonconformists who had pledged to the...
was amended to permit denial of the Trinity, and only fully when property penalties were removed in the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
The Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
. This is only 35 years before John Thomas' 1849 lecture tour in Britain which attracted significant support from an existing non-Trinitarian Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
base, particularly, initially, in Scotland where Arian
Arian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
Socinian and unitarian (with a small 'u' as distinct from the Unitarian Church of Theophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.-Life:...
) views were prevalent.
Modern mainstream theology developing similar beliefs
Over the last 100 years mainstream Christian theologians and Biblical scholars have gradually been developing beliefs which the Christadelphian community has historically held. Example areas are satan and demons; the atonement; justification; heaven and hell; the state of the dead.- The state of the dead: The majority of standard scholarly Jewish and Christian sources today describe the state of the dead in terms identical or very close to the Christadelphian view.
- The atonement: The majority Christian interpretation of the AnselmianAnselm of CanterburyAnselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
-CalvinistJohn CalvinJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
doctrine of the atonement as penal substitutionPenal substitutionPenal substitution is a theory of the atonement within Christian theology, developed with the Reformed tradition. It argues that Christ, by his own sacrificial choice, was punished in the place of sinners , thus satisfying the demands of justice so God can justly forgive the sins...
has been criticized in mainstream Christianity since the 19th century, resulting in increasing rejection of traditional penal substitution. The Christadelphian distinction between representation and substitution has been noted in the relevant scholarly literature, and representative participation (an interpretation long held by Christadelphians), is widely considered the original Biblical teaching on the atonement.
Practices and worship
Christadelphians are organised into local congregations, that commonly call themselves ecclesiaEcclesia
-Ecclesia:* the Christian Church**See Church militant and church triumphant for ecclesia militans, ecclesia penitens, ecclesia triumphans* Congregation among many English-speaking Christadelphians....
s, which is taken from usage in the New Testament and is Greek for gathering of those summoned. Congregational worship, which usually takes place on Sunday, centres on the remembrance of the death and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the taking part in the "memorial service". Additional meetings are often organised for worship, prayer, evangelism
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
and Bible study.
Ecclesias are typically involved in evangelism in the form of public lectures on Bible teaching, college-style seminars on reading the Bible, and Bible Reading Groups. Correspondence courses are also used widely, particularly in areas where there is no established Christadelphian presence. Some ecclesias, organisations or individuals also preach through other media like video, podcasts and internet forums.
Only baptised believers are considered members of the ecclesia. However, the children of members are encouraged to attend Christadelphian Sunday Schools and youth groups. Interaction between youth from different ecclesias is encouraged through regional and national youth gatherings. Many ecclesias organise holidays for young people, the most popular form in the UK being camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
holidays.
Christadelphians understand the Bible to teach that male and female believers are equal in God's sight, and also that there is a distinction between the roles of male and female members. Women are typically not eligible to teach in formal gatherings of the ecclesia when male believers are present, and do not sit on the main ecclesial arranging committees. They do, however: participate in other ecclesial and inter-ecclesial committees; participate in discussions; teach children, other women and non-members; perform music; discuss and vote on business matters; and engage in the majority of other activities.
There are ecclesially-accountable committees for co-ordinated evangelism, youth and Sunday School work, military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
issues, care of the elderly, and humanitarian work. These do not have any legislative authority, and are wholly dependent upon ecclesial support. Ecclesias in an area may regularly hold joint activities combining youth groups, fellowship, preaching, and Bible study.
Christadelphians refuse to participate in any military because they are conscientious objectors.
There is a strong emphasis on personal Bible reading and study and many Christadelphians use the Bible Companion
Bible Companion
The Bible Companion is a guide developed by the Christadelphians to aid reading the Bible. It was first produced by Robert Roberts when he was just 14 years of age, in about 1853, and revised by him over a number of years into its current format.-Background:Christadelphians believe that reading...
to help them systematically read the Bible each year
Hymnody and music
Christadelphians are a non-liturgicalLiturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
denomination. Christadelphian ecclesias are autonomous and free to adopt whatever pattern of worship they choose. However, in the English-speaking world, there tends to be a great deal of uniformity in order of service and hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
ody.
Christadelphian hymnody makes considerable use of the hymns of the Anglican and British Protestant traditions (even in US ecclesias the hymnody is typically more British than American). In many Christadelphian hymn books a sizeable proportion of hymns are drawn from the Scottish Psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
and non-Christadelphian hymn-writers including Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
, Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
, William Cowper
William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
and John Newton
John Newton
John Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
. Despite incorporating non-Christadelphian hymns however, Christadelphian hymnody preserves the essential teachings of the community.
The earliest hymn book published was the "Sacred Melodist" which was published by Benjamin Wilson
Benjamin Wilson (Biblical scholar)
Benjamin Wilson was an autodidact Biblical scholar and writer of the Emphatic Diaglott translation of the Bible...
in Geneva, Illinois in 1860. The next was the hymn book published for the use of Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God (an early name for Christadelphians) by George Dowie in Edinburgh in 1864. In 1865 Robert Roberts
Robert Roberts (Christadelphian)
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas...
published a collection of Scottish psalms and hymns called The Golden Harp (which was subtitled "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, compiled for the use of Immersed Believers in 'The Things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ'"). This was replaced only five years later by the first "Christadelphian Hymn Book" (1869), compiled by J. J. and A. Andrew, and this was revised and expanded in 1874, 1932 and 1964. A thorough revision by the Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association resulted in the latest (2002) edition which is almost universally used by English-speaking Christadelphian ecclesias. In addition some Christadelphian fellowships have published their own hymn books.
A more contemporary worship style is now popular in some quarters. The Praise the Lord songbook was produced with the aim of making contemporary songs which are consistent with Christadelphian theology more widely available. This book is either used as a supplement to the more traditional Hymn Book or is used in place of the traditional Hymn Book. Another publication, the "Worship" book is a compilation of songs and hymns that have been composed only by members of the Christadelphian community. This book was produced with the aim of providing extra music for non-congregational music items within services (eg voluntaries, meditations, etc) but has been adopted by congregations worldwide and is now used to supplement congregational repertoire.
In the English-speaking world, worship is typically accompanied by organ or piano, though in recent years a few ecclesias have promoted the use of other instruments (e.g. strings, wind and brass as mentioned in the Psalms). This trend has also seen the emergence of some Christadelphian bands and the establishment of the Christadelphian Arts Trust to support performing, visual and dramatic arts within the Christadelphian community.
In other countries, hymnbooks have been produced in local languages, sometimes resulting in styles of worship which reflect the local culture. It has been noted that Christadelphian hymnody has historically been a consistent witness to Christadelphian beliefs, and that hymnody occupies a significant role in the community.
Further reading
- Bibliography of ChristadelphiansBibliography of ChristadelphiansThe following is a bibliography of books in the English language relating to the general topic of Christadelphians.*Alfs, Matthew - Concepts of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit : a classification and description of the Trinitarian and non-Trinitarian theologies existent within Christendom*Andrew, J. J....
- Fred Pearce, Who are the Christadelphians? Introducing a Bible Based Community (Birmingham: CMPA). Available online
- Stephen Hill, The Life of Brother John Thomas – 1805 to 1871 (2006).
- Peter Hemingray, John Thomas, His Friends and His Faith (Canton, Michigan: The Christadelphian Tidings, 2003 ISBN 81-7887-012-6).
- Andrew R. Wilson, The History of the Christadelphians 1864–1885 The Emergence of a Denomination (Shalom Publications, 1997 ISBN 0-646-22355-0).
- Charles H. Lippy, The Christadelphians in North America Studies in American Religion Volume 43 (Lewiston/Queenston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1989 ISBN 0-88946-647-5).
- Harry Tennant, The Christadelphians: What they believe and preach (Birmingham, England: The Christadelphian, 1986 ISBN 0-85189-119-5). Also titled What the Bible Teaches (see 'Foundations' on thechristadelphian.com).
- Bryan R. WilsonBryan R. WilsonBryan Ronald Wilson, , was Reader Emeritus in Sociology at the University of Oxford and President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion 1971-75.-Academic life:...
, Sects and Society: A Sociological Study of the Elim Tabernacle, Christian Science and Christadelphians (London: Heinemann, 1961; Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1961). - BBC article, Religion & Ethics—Chrisitanity: Subdivisions: Christadelphians. Available online
- Rob HyndmanRob J. HyndmanRob J Hyndman is an Australian statistician known for his work on forecasting. He is Professor of Statistics at Monash University and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Forecasting...
, The Christadelphians (Brothers and Sisters in Christ): Introducing a Bible-based Community (Beechworth, VIC: Bethel Publications, 1999 ISBN 81-87409-34-7). Available online - Rachel Hocking, A Study of Christadelphian Hymnody: singing with the spirit and with the understanding, 2000. Available online
External links
