VIII. Christadelphians—Likewise Adhere to Main Conditionalist Positions CFF2 399

Mention should also be made of the Christadelphians (meaning “Christ’s brethren”), founded by Dr. John Thomas in 1848. Having previously come from England, Thomas first joined Alexander Campbell and the Disciples of Christ. Later he became convinced that they had likewise retained corrupt doctrines. Curiously enough, he held that while Christ is the Son of God, He is not God the Son. He also rejected belief in a personal devil—“devil” being regarded as the personification of sin. Thomas formed his followers into societies, but they took no distinctive name until 1864. They have no church edifices but meet in hired “upper rooms.” ^{20John Thomas, M.D. (1805-1871), was the son of and English dissenting Baptist clergyman. Educated as a physician, in 1831 he began to study the creeds and to investigate the question of immortality, writing thereon in The Lancet. On his first trip to the States, in 1832, he joined the Campbellites, continuing to practice medicine. Publishing a journal called The Apostolic Advocate, he maintained the ultimate annihilation of the wicked. This led to a break with the Campbellites.
Lecturing meanwhile at the Franklin Medical College, he continued preaching. In 1843 he began publishing The Herald of a Future Age. After fourteen years of search he was satisfied that he had found the truth. Returning briefly to England, he came back in 1850 and resumed publication of The Herald of a Future Age. One of his earlier works was The Apostasy Unveiled (1838). His The Things’ of the Spirit God (1845) portrays the “Unscriptural Character, and Heathen Origin, of Popular Traditions of the Age, concerning Immortality, Heaven, and Hell.” (See Abbot, The Literature of the Doctrine of a Future Life, no. 2298a.) 20} CFF2 399.3

1. NAME CHRISTADELPHIAN SUBSTITUTED FOR CHRISTIAN CFF2 400

The name Christadelphian was substituted by Thomas for Christian, because he believed that apostasy had honeycombed the Christian church at large. He sought to return to the beliefs and practices of primitive Christianity, as he understood them. This investigation also led to the belief that man is mortal, as a consequence of Adam’s sin, with Christ as man’s only means of salvation. Eternal Life is only for the righteous, and the wicked will all ultimately be annihilated. CFF2 400.1

The Christadelphians are strong millenarians, and believe that Christ will soon come to bestow immortality upon the righteous and destroy the wicked. The second resurrection comes at the close of the thousand years, when judgment will be pronounced and executed. They hold that at the outburst of divine judgment the approved are immortalized while the rejected are destroyed. Sin and death will then be abolished. None will remain but the righteous, who will inherit the earth forever. CFF2 400.2

2. EPITOME OF CHRISTADELPHIAN CONDITIONALIST BELIEFS CFF2 400

Christ, they say, holds immortality in trust for the obedient. They teach that in the Bible “soul” means creature, but never involves the idea of immortality. “Spirit” stands for breath or vitality. The doctrine of inherent immortality is, they aver, a pagan fiction, attainable immortality being the Bible view. And this results from resurrection and the change then supernaturally wrought upon the believer. Immortality is not therefore a right, or an inherent possession, but a bestowal. And it will be enjoyed upon the earth, which will become the habitation of the saints. CFF2 400.3

Death is the penalty of sin, and in death man is utterly unconscious. The theory of Hell as a place of Eternal Torment is untrue. But the wicked will be committed to utter destruction, and the second death will eventuate m an endless sleep. They believe that after the death of the apostles men turned from the Bible to pagan philosophy, and the apostolic prediction of apostasy was fulfilled. That is why they felt impelled to separate. ^{2121) See A Declaration of the Truth Revealed in the Bible (rev. ed), 1956.} CFF2 401.1

3. POSITIONS UNCHANGED IN CURRENT WRITINGS CFF2 401

One of the current Christadelphian writers, W. L. Bedwell, makes four significant statements: CFF2 401.2

a. “When living persons die and return to dust, they cease to exist; all the functions associated with life disappear. A dead soul is unable to praise God and is without thought, work, knowledge or wisdom.” ^{2222) W L Bedwell, The Nature and Destiny of Man (1956), p. 10.} CFF2 401.3

b. “When the organism is disrupted by death, it ceases to exist and no part survives as a conscious entity. This is the plain teaching of Scripture and of modern biological science on the nature of man. Neither offers any hope of survival after death.” ^{2323) Ibid, p 12.} CFF2 401.4

c. “His [Lazarus’] death, as we have already seen, was likened by Jesus to sleep, a period of unconsciousness with awakening to life.” ^{2424) Ibid, p 16} CFF2 401.5

d. “The resurrection from the dead is thus of supreme importance in the Christian hope of life everlasting .... The importance of the resurrection is only appreciated when it is realized that without it men and women perish in death.” ^{2525) Ibid} CFF2 401.6

So the Christadelphians, who are not reckoned among the orthodox Christian bodies, likewise adhere, in general, to Conditionalism. CFF2 401.7

MAJOR 19TH CENTURY WITNESSES TO CONDITIONALISM—SECTION A CFF2 402

SIGNIFICANCE OF EVIDENCE REVEALED BY CHART A

1. A new and significant development marks the nineteenth century—Conditionalist witnesses appear for the first time in the Western World. Thencerth the two groups parallel and collaborate on both sides of the Atlantic.

2. The introduction of specific Conditionalist periodicals—Herald of Gospel Liberty, Examiner, Rainbowin—in both Old World and New. Their recurring contacts give fresh impetus to the message of Conditionalisrn. (Five additional periodicals appear on Chart B; others on Chart C.)

3. The launching of organizations, for the first time, designed to unify, intensify, and promote the cause of Conditionalism.

4. The introduction of popular symposiums—newspaper, periodical, and book—proves effective and successful.

5. Entire congregations, and finally whole denominations, begin to adopt Conditionalism in their statements of belief, thus giving new group status.

6. The spread of Conditionalism to overseas continents and countries—Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Jama—is likewise a new development. It now becomes a world movement.

7. The caliber of Conditionalist proponents takes on impressive proportions and stature, according Conditionalism a new place and power.

8. Concurrently a wave of ecclesiastical repression by established religious bodies leads to the expulsion of numerous Conditionalists from their ministries. On the other hand, greater freedom is accorded in certain other groups.

9. The Conditionalist movement parallels, but is distinct from, the great Second Advent Awakening, or movement, of the Old and New world. Each pains independent of the other until nearly midcentury. One is based on Bible prophecy; the other on Bible promises. Then they begin to merge, in midcentury, in the witness of certain bodies.

10. Halfway through the century, under Edward White, of London, Conditionalism takes on a new form, force, and influence, as it changes from a negative to the positive approach, and scholars of Britain and the Continent rally around the new emphasis. This marks the turning of the tide in Conditionalist advance.

11. Certain Conditionalist literature—such as Canon Henry Constable’s books—now surpass in scholarship, comprehensiveness, and effectiveness, any previous literature on the subject.

12. The year 1877—Canon Farrar’s Westminster sermon—marks a turning point, as is developed on Chart B.

13. A majority of Conditionalists now stress unconscious sleep between death and the resurrection (or the intermediate state), and practically all emphasize the utter, ultimate destruction of the incorrigibly wicked.

Technical and Statistical Aspects of Section A

Certain statistical aspects revealed by Chart A are illuminating. In denominational spread, eighteen of the forty-two witnesses are Anglican (or Episcopalian), six are Baptist, four are Independent or Non-Conformist, three are Congregationalist, two are Methodist (or Wesleyan), and one each are of the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Free Church, Christian Connection, Plymouth Brethren, and Christadelphian bodies.

Geographically, twenty-eight lived in England, nine in North America, two in Ireland, and one each in Scotland and Jamaica.

Practically all are writers of books—with a few restricted to periodical articles.

As to leadership and influence, the group includes one archbishop, four bishops, three canons, six university or college professors, fourteen ministers (or pastors or rectors), three editors, two founders of religious bodies, one advocate, one essayist, and one evangelist, one secretary of British and Foreign Bible Society—yet all are uniquely and consistently united on Conditionalism. The picture unfolds in Charts B and C, covering the remainder of the century.