Cross Denominational Mission
The
Christadelphian Church was founded by Dr. John Thomas (1805-1871) in
about 1840, although the name was not given to his followers until
1864. The word 'Christadelphian' means Brothers in Christ. The Christadelphian church has anti-Trinitarian Socinianist and
pacifist Anabaptist tendancies. There are Christadelphian congregations throughout the world.
Early History
John
Thomas M.D., born in London in 1805, was the son of a
Dissenting minister who was also called John Thomas. When he was young
his family moved
frequently, as his father served various congregations: in London, a
short but eventful stay in northern Scotland,
back to London, and Chorley, Lancashire. John Thomas (junior) was a
very disciplined student: he taught himself Hebrew before starting his
medical studies at
the age of 16, while the family was in Chorley. His family moved
back to London, but John Thomas (junior) stayed in Chorley at his
medical studies. After two years, he moved to London, joining his
family and continued his studies at the Guy’s and St. Thomas’s
hospitals for a further three years. He trained as a surgeon and had a
keen interest in chemistry and biology, publishing several
medical articles for The Lancet (the British Medical Journal), one of
which argued in favour of using corpses for the study of medicine (it was
illegal in England to dissect them at that time).
Journey to the United States
Like
many people of that era his father decided to emigrate to America and
the young Dr John
Thomas decided to go with his family. More than that, he
offered to go
on ahead and prepare for the family's move. An opportunity arose to further
his career and travel to America ahead of his family: he accepted an
appointment as ship's surgeon on the 'Marquis
of Wellesley' which left from London on 1st May 1832 bound for New
York. The ship immediately sailed
into stormy weather that lasted the whole voyage. In the passage the
ship lost the top of the main-mast and heavy seas caused much damage
and washed everything moveable off the deck. The ship
eventually ran aground off the coast of Nova
Scotia and was raised up by the waves on numerous
occasions, each time the keel struck the rocks with such force that
crew and passengers were convinced the ship would break up. Fearing he
was about to die Thomas prayed. He made a
vow to dedicate his life, should he live, to religious study and
learning the truth about life and death. The wind
changed direction and the captain’s efforts to turn the ship
back out to sea were successful: after one final bone-jarring
grounding, the ship floated free. Thomas never forgot his vow and spent
the rest of his life devoted to Bible study, determined to understand
the true message of the scriptures.
Influence of Alexander Campbell
The
Marquis of Wellesley docked in New York and Thomas travelled on to
Cincinnati, Ohio where he discovered the teachings of Alexander
Campbell. After further bible study he joined the Restoration
Movement in October 1832. He was baptised, becoming a
Campbellite evangelist and travelled around America preaching, until
eventually settling down as a
preacher in Philadelphia. Here he met Ellen Hunt and they were
married on the 1st January 1834. Ellen was not only his wife
but became his lifelong companion and constant
support throughout the trials of faith that persisted throughout his
life.
Dr Thomas wrote articles for and was editor of the
'Apostolic
Advocate' which was first published in May 1834. His studies during
this
period generated the foundation for many of the beliefs that
became Christadelphian. However, disagreement over doctrine
surfaced: Thomas believed that the Bible taught the requirement for
candidates
to demonstrate knowledge of the scriptures before baptism and that
there would be a general resurrection when Jesus Christ returned at His
second
coming. Alexander Campbell did not. Because of these differences Dr Thomas was
disfellowshipped in 1837, some of the Campbellite
congregations agreeing with his views and leaving with him. At
this time the Millerite and Adventist movements were growing and in 1843
Dr Thomas was introduced to William Miller, the leader of the
Millerites. He admired their willingness to question orthodox beliefs
and agreed with their beliefs on the second coming of Christ and the
founding of a millennial age upon his return. Thomas continued his
studies of the Bible and in 1846 travelled to New York where he gave a
series of lectures covering thirty doctrinal subjects that later formed
part of his book Elpis Israel (The Hope of Israel).
The Christadelphians
Based
upon this new understanding of the Bible, Thomas was rebaptised in
1847 and the groups of congregations (and individuals) who shared his
beliefs continued to grow. In 1848 the movement became international
when he travelled to England in order to preach what he now saw as the
true gospel message. On his return to America, Thomas moved to New York City and began preaching there. He made
a point of including the Jewish community because Dr Thomas had come
to believe that Christianity did not replace the Law of Moses,
rather it fulfilled it. He believed that Christians must, though faith and
baptism, become the people of Abraham. Instead of having a system of clergy, all the brethren took equal
responsibility on a rota to take on the role of presiding and speaking
during their meetings. Thomas
and those who shared his beliefs were
known at this time as the 'Royal Association of Believers' and they
used the term "ecclesia", a Greek word meaning church, to describe each
congregation. When the American Civil War broke
out, Dr Thomas became concerned that the war
had placed believers upon opposing sides. The movement as a whole
considered that the war required them to make a stand for what they
believed in as conscientious objectors. However, in order to be
exempted from military service, believers had to
belong to a recognised religious group that did not agree with
participation in war. So in 1864, Dr. Thomas changed the name
to Christadelphian which comes from Greek and means ‘Brethren in
Christ’. It was
during that war that Dr Thomas worked on the three volumes of Eureka,
which explores the meaning of the Book of Revelation.
In 1868 Thomas returned to England where he travelled extensively
giving lectures on the Gospel message and meeting with
Christadelphians in England. At this time he found
extensive support and help from Robert Roberts who had been converted
during Thomas's previous visit to England. Dr Thomas returned
to America making one final tour of the Christadelphian congregations
prior to his death on 5th March 1871. He is buried in
the Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. Christadelphians
see John Thomas not as a prophet, nor a type of messiah: he was a man determined to find out what the Bible taught and was
able to inspire others to do so too. He wrote several books, one of
which called Elpis Israel (means 'Hope of Israel'), sets out the fundamental
principles believed by Christadelphians to this day.
Links
Christadelphians International.
Christadelphians UK
Christadelphians Asia Pacific
Christadelphians in Pakistan
Lincoln Christadelphians a typical UK fellowship