Who are Christadelphians?
- Written By: J. Beam
- Edited By: Bronwyn Harris
- Last Modified Date: 18 March 2013
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2003-2013 Conjecture Corporation
Christadelphians are members of a religious denomination within the Christian faith whose beliefs are based entirely on the Bible, which they hold as the only text inspired by God. Academically, Christadelphians are considered part of a new religious movement with roots being traced back to the United Kingdom and North America in the mid 1800s. The recognized founder of the Christadelphians is Dr. John Thomas, who registered Christadelphians as a church affiliation in 1865. Though some other religious affiliations deem Christadelphians as occult members, the sect affirms they are an official religious denomination.
Christadelphians believe God is the creator of all things and that he alone is the only God. Christadelphians’ beliefs differ from other Christian denominations in a few aspects, primarily in the denial of the Christian Trinity that combines God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit into one entity. Contrarily, Christadelphians believe God is the Father of all things and a separate entity from Jesus, the Son of Man, who took the form of a human. Additionally, the Holy Spirit is believed to be the power of God.
Christadelphians believe in the physical return of Jesus Christ to the earth, at which time he will set up an earthly kingdom under God and will awaken the souls of all believers who are “sleeping” in death. Followers past and present will serve Christ in ruling an earthly kingdom.
Christadelphians practice organized religion, usually congregating on Sundays. Their doctrine is based entirely on their understanding of the Bible and no other text and the only way to become a recognized member is through a self-professed desire to be baptized. Thus, they do not practice infant baptism. There is no paid minister, but rather the roles of leadership and teaching tend to be shared between qualified male members.
Today, Christadelphian congregations, or ecclesias, are known to be present in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Kenya, and India, as well as other locations. Though a true count of worldwide members has not been established, the estimate is less than 100,000. In addition to a number of localized ecclesias, Christadelphians also study through correspondence courses.
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anon325671
Post 5 |
What makes people say that is pretty much the fact we are a small religion. That is the technical definition of a cult. The reason for the usual hatred or despising tone of other article writers is simple: they probably had a discussion with one of us at one time or another. The average christadelphian has studied the bible to a fair degree, and will bring up verses that conflict with what the other Christians learned about the bible growing up. People tend to hate you when you tell them there is no immortal soul and the soul is the body, so therefore all their friends and family are really dead and planted in the ground. Atheists and agnostics generally respond favorably to that but usually hate the defined "God" idea anyway. So in a nutshell, that is why others hate us. |
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anon180869
Post 4 |
Here are a couple of facts about Christadelphians: They do not believe in the Trinity, but they are not Unitarians. They believe that Jesus had no personal existence before his birth, but that he was the perfect and complete manifestation of the Father Almighty. He was a human being, was tempted to sin but didn't and that he died a sacrificial death which was just like the death of anyone else, but that after 3 days his Father raised him to immortal life. Christadelphians believe that the hope of the Christian is resurrection, rather than going to heaven when you die. |
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dega2010
Post 3 |
@grumpyguppy -- I have also read a lot of articles regarding Christadelphians. From what I read, there are several reasons that it is looked upon as a cult. One thing is that they supposedly deny the Deity of Jesus Christ. They also deny that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity (which is said to be a worldwide characteristic of cults). Understand, these are not my opinions. It is just what I read. It also stated that Christadelphians preach that hell and heaven are myths and that man doesn’t have an immortal soul. |
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chrisinbama
Post 2 |
@grumpyguppy -- There are many articles that suggest that Christadelphians (also known as Cristos) are members of a cult. I read a particular article that was written by a former member of the “Cristos” who decided to go public with his knowledge. He stated that one thing that made them a cult was their isolation from the world and their fear of corruption by the world. In his particular group, it was considered a sin to miss a Sunday meeting. He went on to say that friends were selected by criteria. The lower class people were considered unacceptable and “of the world”. I, like you, do not have enough information to form my own opinion. However, I do not doubt that the people of the Christadelphian fellowship are true believers of God.
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GrumpyGuppy
Post 1 |
I have no personal opinion on Christadelphians as I really don't know anything about them. However, I have heard people say that they were some type of cult. What makes people say that? |
