The Christadelphians:
Introducing a Bible-based Community
Our fellowship, worship and witness
First Century Patterns
The Christadelphians are a small religious body who have attempted to get back to the faith and character of the early Christian church in New Testament times. Matthew 23:8; Colossians 1:2; Hebrews 2:11.
We are located in over 120 countries throughout the world with large groups of Christadelphians in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, North America, India, Asia and Africa. Like the early Christians, we meet in homes, rented rooms and, in some cases, our own halls. Acts 1:13-14; 2:46-47; 18:7; 19:9; 28:30.
We are a lay community patterned after first century Christianity. Each congregation is called an 'ecclesia' (the Greek New Testament word for church). We have no paid clergy or church hierarchy. Members of each congregation are addressed as 'brother' or 'sister', and all are involved in organising our activities. All members contribute their time and energy voluntarily in service to God. A strong common belief binds our brotherhood together. Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Galatians 3:28.
We accept the Bible as our only guide and believe it to be the inspired word of God. Membership is open to those with similar beliefs after being baptised (fully immersed in water).
A brief history
Many believers since the apostles have held the same faith as the Christadelphians. There have been countless independent communities around the world who have eagerly studied the Bible and accepted its simple teachings.
The beliefs and practices of the Christadelphians can be traced from the New Testament to the earliest Christians of the 1st and 2nd Centuries in documents such as the Epistle of Clement, The Didache and The Apostles' Creed.
With the advent of religious freedom in Europe in the 16th Century Reformation, the same beliefs and practices resurfaced in Bible-minded groups such as the Swiss Anabaptists and Polish Socinians. The early English Baptists held similar beliefs (although these beliefs are not held by Baptists today). In the 18th Century many leading figures in the Enlightenment such as Sir Isaac Newton and William Whiston held these beliefs.
The modern Christadelphian movement has its origin in the 1830s, an age of revival and reform in America and England. In America a medical doctor, John Thomas, published the Herald of the Kingdom, which set out Bible teaching on the resurrection and the Kingdom of God. In Britain a journalist named Robert Roberts took up the same cause in the Ambassador of the Coming Age. Thomas and Roberts made no claims to any vision or personal revelations--only to try to be honest students of the Bible.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, those Christian groups who did not fight were required to register with the Union government. Sam Coffman and other brothers in Illinois registered themselves as "Brethren in Christ, or in a word Christadelphian". This name was soon adopted by many like-minded groups of believers in America and Britain. Since then, independent Christadelphian groups have been established in countries all over the world.
Our beliefs
The Bible We believe that the Bible is God's only revealed message to mankind, given to bring individuals to belief and faith in God and his Son. The Bible is our only authority and it should be read prayerfully and with care at every opportunity. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Acts 17:11; Ephesians 2:20; Romans 16:26.
God
There is only one eternal, immortal God, our Creator. Jesus Christ is His only begotten son and the Holy Spirit is His power. Deuteronomy 6:4; Luke 1:35; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Timothy 1:17; 2:5; 6:16.
Man
Man is mortal and a sinner before God. The punishment for sin is death--the end of all life. Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Romans 3:23; James 1:13-15; Romans 6:23; Ecclesiastes 9:5,10; Psalm 115:17; 146:4.
Hope
The only hope of life after death is the resurrection of the body and everlasting life in God's kingdom on earth. Psalms 49:12-20; John 11:25-26; Acts 24:15; Romans 8:22-30 {tip content="What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."}30-39; 1 Corinthians 15:12; Revelation 5:10; 20:4.