Who are the Christadelphians

Base for a community

Since the day Jesus got followers, there were serious people who loved to follow everything Jesus told them to belief and to do. Many of them had to bring a lot of changes to their life, which was not always received kindly by family and friends. But they found it more important to take actions under the Law of Christ, doing the Will of God Like Jesus also wanted only to do the Will of his and our heavenly Father.

Those beliefs and practices of the earliest disciples continued to live by many individuals throughout the ages. Several enthusiast continued the preaching work the apostles had started and did not mind going to places far away to preach the Gospel of the Good News, the coming Kingdom of God. Around the world countless independent communities were founded on the same believes the early followers of Christ had. Those people who came together in several places, private and public, found it most important to follow the Holy Scriptures, The Bible, which they considered to be the infallible Word of God.  For them the best way to get to know what God wanted from them and humankind was to eagerly study the Bible and to accept its simple teachings, above the teachings of man

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 and the the Antitrinitarian Council of Venice in 1550, 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 and at the turn of the 20th century many left the Baptist community because it had become more and more trinitarian). In the 18th Century many leading figures in the Enlightenment such as Sir Isaac Newton and William Whiston held these beliefs.

 

A renewed movement

In the world of the Christian religion many times people found it necessary to react against the activities of religious behaviour or against the way of living at that time.

Early in the 19°century lots of people did not like how things were going in their country and looked for better pastures somewhere else. Going from one place to an other far away place they had  lots of time to think about their and others way of life and about the world they were living. They also were confronted by the beauties of nature and looked for the Hand of God.

The modern Christadelphian movement has its origin in the 1830s, an age of revival and reform in America and England. The British medical doctor, John Thomas (1805-1871), whose family descended from French Huguenot refugees, emigrated to America in 1832 where he joined a group of evangelical Christians, the Campbellites. He disagreed with their beliefs and pursued his own study of the Bible. In May 1834 the first issue appeared of his magazine the Apostolic Advocate (1834-39).

He began to believe that the basis of knowledge before baptism was greater than the Restoration Movement believed and also that widely held orthodox Christian beliefs were blatantly wrong. His difference on the works we should do to be able to come in the Kingdom of God and the preaching of these beliefs as necessary for salvation met with a lot of controversial debates particularly between Dr Thomas and Alexander Campbell. For him it was clear that be baptised was not always a clear way to the hope we all should have, to inherit the Kingdom.
In 1843 Dr Thomas was introduced to William Miller, the leader of the Millerites, and agreed with their belief in the second coming of Christ and the founding of a millennial age upon His return.

 

Groups around bible students

John Thomas

Going around the New Country he encouraged many to study the Bible and those Bible Students in turn created small groups or home-churches were they tried to go back to the way the first Christians worshipped. Exchanging his ideas with many other enthusiast Bible students he started bringing all their ideas together and putting them in order. Sometimes it is held against him that he took ideas of different denominations and formed his own sort of faith, but he found what was right should be kept and what was false or doctrinal teaching should have to be abandoned.

He arrived at his unique interpretation of various Bible doctrines by about 1848 and attracted a small group of followers who were, at first, known as 'Thomasites'.

John Thomas published the magazines The Herald of the Future Age (1843-49) and Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come (1851-61). His writings from writings from 1845-61 were posthumous published as Faith In the Last Days. 
The Herald of the Kingdom set out Bible teaching on the resurrection and the Kingdom of God.


On 1 January 1834 in Philadelphia John Thomas married Ellen Hunt who became his lifelong companion and constant support throughout the trials of faith that persisted throughout his life. John Thomas made never a claim to any vision or personal revelation and wanted never to be seen a a prophet.

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.

 

 

To be registered

In 1854  Bro. John Thomas wrote in the Herald of the Kingdom and Age To Come a "Constitution Of the Royal Association Of Believers In New York" which was also published as The Old Man and The New Man In The Coming Tribulation.
 
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 Ogle County, 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.

Those Bible students did not want to be lovers of the world but make sure that they came together as loving of the law of God, finding it a characteristic of the faithful, who search the Scriptures daily as circumstances allow.

 

Robert Roberts

The man who is mainly responsible for having a worldwide community under the name of Christadelphians or having several  Brothers in Christ adhering to the teachings of Dr. John Thomas is the son of a captain of a small coasting vessel, Robert Roberts, born in Link Street, Aberdeen, Scotland (1839 – 1898).
After he had come across a copy of a magazine, belonging to his sister, entitled the Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, by Thomas, when in his teens he started his Bible studies in earnest.

After reading Thomas’ book Elpis Israel, with Bible in hand, he became convinced of its soundness, and ceased attending the Calvinistic Baptist chapel with his family. He was baptised in 1853 aged 14 as part of the "Baptised Believers" (this was 11 years before the name 'Christadelphian' was coined by John Thomas; he was re-baptized in 1863 "on attaining to an understanding of the things concerning the name of Jesus, of which he was ignorant at his first immersion")

The reading plan, later published as The Bible Companion, to facilitate his daily systematic reading of the Scriptures he developed is still followed by many Christadelphians and other Biblestudents.

He married Jane Norrie in Edinburgh on April 8, 1859. They had 6 children, only three of whom survived into adulthood.

Being of one faith

Christadelphians want to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ (Jeshua) and would love to become like the Nazarene man, only doing the will of God.

In the Christadelphian faith each person is responsible for himself and has to make their own choices, this with the knowledge that every man's work is always a portrait of himself.

For Christadelphians it is not persons or organisations that we do have to follow, but we may not be so bounded to the world that we keep to the traditions of that world. Everything what is against the Word of God and against the Will of God, we should avoid to be connected with. Each of us has to make sure to whom we want to be enslaved, man or God.

Christadelphians are convinced that the God of gods is a loving God Who has given His Word for humankind as a guide and a message which can build us up. We should take it at heart so that it can bring us as individuals to faith in God and His Son and can make us to become one part of the sharing community which should be part of the Body of Christ, all having God's hope as our hope.

All believing in only One God, Who has given us His son as the only one mediator between God an man, for salvation, should come into Fellowship to help each other to grow if faith. Christadelphians do believe that it was God Who sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

The Christadelphians do believe that this Jew from Nazareth, born in the tribe of King David was a man of flesh and blood who, though tempted several times, did not sin. He died to show God’s righteousness and to redeem those who receive this sacrifice by faith. God raised him from the dead, gave him immortality, granted him all authority in heaven and on earth, and set him, the one with the other name, as the mediator between God and man in whose death is glorification. (Romans 3:21-26; Ephesians 1:19-23; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:5) 

The Christadelphians want to give Jeshua or Jesus Christ full honour for what he has done. They believe that the unbiblical doctrine of the Trinity diminishes the work of Christ by denying both his humanity and the reality of his death. For if he was God he was not tempted, and could not die. (1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Corinthians 11:3; Hebrews 5:8)

The Christadelphians do believe that the Divine Creator has given many promises to the world which shall become fulfilled and are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and give the believers reason to treasure that Great and Precious Promise. (Acts 13:32; Genesis 13:14-17, 22:15-18; 2 Samuel 7:12,16; Luke 1:31-33; Galatians 3:6-9,16,26-29) Knowing those many promises they are convinced that the world shall not end. Only this system will end but those who believe in the son of God will not perish, but have everlasting or eternal life, because God shall receive us on the basis of our faith. (Matthew 1:20-21, 3:17; Luke 1:35; John 3:16) 

The only hope of life after death is the resurrection of the body and everlasting life in God’s kingdom on earth after the Conclusion of the System of Things. (Psalms 49:12-20; John 11:25-26; Acts 24:15; Romans 8:22-39; 1 Corinthians 15:12; Revelation 5:10, 20:4; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:31-34; Luke 21:20-32; John 5:28-29; Acts 1:11; 2 Tim 4:1; Revelation 22:12)

The Christadelphians do believe that the Kingdom of God will be established on earth. Jesus will be king in Jerusalem; his rule will be worldwide and his government will bring eternal righteousness and peace. (Psalms 72; Isaiah 2:2-4, 9:6-7, 11:1-9, 61:1-11; Jeremiah 3:17; Daniel 2:44, 7:14,27; Acts 3:21)

The Christadelphians are convinced that the way to enter the kingdom of God is by faith. This involves belief in the Bible and obedience to its requirements that men and women confess their sins, repent, be baptised and follow Jesus faithfully. (Matthew 16:24-27; Mark 16:16; John 3:3-5; Acts 2:37-38, 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 11:6)

As parts of the body of Christ we should take all opportunities to share a love like brothers and sisters, reading and studying the Bible, as our only authority, with each other. Together the Christadelphians do look forward to the return of Christ at the Last Days, believing that he will return in power to set up a worldwide theocracy beginning at Jerusalem. Though they believe that we do not know when the Messiah shall return, the Christadelphians believe the world can see the signs of the days coming to an end and that we should prepare ourselves to be ready to enter the Kingdom of God.

For the Christadelphians no one is infallible. We all have our own shortcomings. They also believe each of us has to work on their own failings but should also be prepared to help others to overcome their inadequacies. This helping each other should be done in agapé or brotherly love, together tasting a great promisse of being renewed under Christ.

 

Organisation

Coming together to study the Bible

The Christadelphians want to show the world that not all christians are followers of a Greco-Roman culture, and that we best take care to come to live according to what the Bible teaches. With Power in their life they do find it important to come together at regular times. But their meetings or not dependent of one greater organisation; All Christadelphian groups have their own independence.

Following the teaching and example of the Apostle Paul all Christadelphians aim to support themselves and their family by honest work. Certain professions (politics, the military, the police, criminal law) are avoided. (I Timothy 5:8; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12) For the work of God, the work in the ecclesia, the preaching, the members are not paid for and as such always do have to provide for their own means to live properly.

In the communities there is also no demand to give money to the ecclesia or to tithe (give 10% of our income to the church) because in the Old Testament tithes were to provide for the (Levitical) priesthood - which has now been abolished.(Numbers 18:24; Hebrews 7:1-28)

Christadelphians gathering at the Belgian ecclesia Brussel-Leuven

Christadelphians are, both individually and in groups, involved in charitable work and giving. However they try not to "do our works to be seen of men", and also do not mix charity with preaching to avoid people coming to Christ for the wrong reasons. (Galatians 6:10; James 1:27, 2:15-16; Matthew 6:1-4; John 6:26)

They want to be an open community welcoming everybody without any distinction for culture, race or colour. all people are considered to be created in the image of God and being part of creation and as being a creature of God should be respected likewise.

 

Christadelphianism

Christadelphianism is nothing more nor less than the result of that principle that God intended men to make themselves acquainted with the Bible, the word of God, and to embrace what it teaches, and reject what it denounces, however many may be arrayed against the conclusions to which the study of it may lead them.

All over the world there are different Christadelphian groups which may have or may not have any connection with each other. Most of them are belonging to one of the main deviations like the Amended, Unamended, Central (with the CBM-mlembers), Bereans, Dawn Christadelphians, Carlinks, Christadelphian Bible Students, or are just Free Christadelphians.
Further there are Thomasites, Old-Path, Antipas,  Maranatha Christadelphians, Nasu Christadelphians, Republic Christadelphians, or
Some other groups also may be considered belonging to the Christadelphian breed: Nazarene Fellowship, Nazarene Friends, Church of God of Abrahamic Faith, Abrahamic Faith church, Commandments of Christ, Remnant of Christ's Ecclesia ,United Shepherds, Restoration Fellowship, Restoration church, a.o..

All of the members are free to read whatever theological writings and no Christadelphian writer is considered to have all the knowledge and power. they themselves also not consider themselves as pope, bishop, theologian, or a prophet every Christadelphian should believe in and follow.
Each Christadelphian is free to express himself or herself and every ecclesia, wherever in the world is free to organise its own ecclesia as they want. there is not a central committee that decides everything for all the Christadelphians over the world.

They all are under Christ, liberated and as such not bounded to any man or organisation, but to Christ.

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Please do find also:

What are Brothers in Christ 

&

Find additional literature:

1. Bible Word of God, inspired and infallible
2. Inspired Word
3. Belief of the things that God has promised
4. God of gods
5. Finding God amid all the religious externals
6. Challenging claim 4 Inspired by God 3 Self-consistent Word of God
7. Not all christians are followers of a Greco-Roman culture
8. Catholicism, Anabaptism and Crisis of Christianity
9. Science and the Bible—Do They Really Contradict Each Other?
10. Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences
11. Looking for something or for the Truth and what it might be and self-awareness
12. Many forgot how Christ should be our anchor and our focus
13. Christianity without the Trinity
14. Interpreting the Scriptures (Part 5)
15. Servant of his Father
16. The Law of Christ: Law of Love
17. Hellenistic influences
18. Raising digression
19. Archaeology and the Bible researcher 2/4
20. Gainsayers In Apostolic Days
21. Our openness to being approachable
22. Position of the Bible researcher
23. Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people
24. Religions and Mainliners
25. Not many coming out with their community name
26. Keeping an ecclesia in modern times
27. Christadelphian people
28. Christadelphians
29. Christadelphians or Messianic Christians or Messianic Jews
30. My faith 
31. A Living Faith #8 Change
32. Priority to form a loving brotherhood
33. Small churches of the few Christadelphians
34. What Christadelphians teach
35. About the Belgian Free Christadelphians
36. 19° Century London Christadelphians
37. Faith and works
38. Breathing to teach
39. Breathing and growing with no heir
40. Perishable non theologians daring to go out to preach
41. Self inflicted misery #8 Pruning to strengthen us
42. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #4 Transitoriness #2 Purity
43. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #5 Prayer #2 Witnessing
44. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #5 Prayer #3 Callers upon God
45. Reasons to come to gether
46. Meaning of “speaking in tongues”
47. Tongues a sign of authenticity or divine backing
48. Not words of any organisation should bind you, but the Word of God
49. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #1 Christian Reform
50. Commitment to Christian unity
51. Fellowship
52. The Ecclesia
53. The Ecclesia in the churchsystem
54. The ecclesia or Christadelphian church
55. Atonement And Fellowship 4/8
56. Missional hermeneutics 3/5
57. A Society pleading poverty
58. People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations
59. How long to wait before bringing religiousness and spirituality in practice
60. Power in the life of certain
61. Dedication and Preaching Effort 400 years after the first King James Version
62. Belonging to or being judged by
63. Good or bad preacher
64. Jehovah's Witnesses not only group that preach the good news
65. Last Events Of Old Testament – Right or Wrong ?
66. Not all will inherit the Kingdom
67. Art and other taboos
68. Edward Wightman

The Christadelphian magazine 150th anniversary

This month is the 150th anniversary of The Christadelphian magazine.


It began life in July 1864 as The Ambassador of the Coming Age, changing its name in
1869 to The Christadelphian, and under seven different editors a total of 1,800 continuous monthly issues have been published to date.



 To mark the occasion a special 16-page centre section has been added to the July 2014 issue, reflecting briefly on the history of our community as seen through the pages of the magazine. For those who do not subscribe, individual copies are available from the Office and online. http://buff.ly/1oABJer

New Name a fact

In case you where looking for "Christadelphian World" and came onto "Our World", you are at the right address.

I did not manage to create a new blog with a new url and title, so I shall keep the old url http://christadelphianworld.blogspot.be/ but chose for the title "Our World".

In the past most articles on this site were written to promote the Christadelphian views and have people get to know the Christadelphian teachings.
In a certain way I would love to continue to let others know the Christadelphian community and  the teachings which follow the biblical teachings of the Nazarene Jew Jeshua, better known as Jesus Christ. Today there is not so much to see of the previous announcements for Bible Classes, Bible Weekends, Bible Weeks and Bible Camps from different Christadelphian ecclesiae or 'churches', because the last few months several Christadelphians asked me to take away those articles. Because several did not wanted to be on the same site or pages as some other groups.

I invite all the Christadelphians to let me know their activities and will be glad to announce them on this site, no matter from which group they come from or with what organisation they may be connected with. For me they all are part of one community in the Body of Christ.
I personally let others know that I am a free Christadelphian, not bounded to any other organisation than the Body of Christ.

Previously the main focus of "Christadelphian World" was on the Christadelphian community, but from now on I will look again at the world from a more open vision, following also what is going on in other Christian denominations or what gets the actuality.

On my personal site Marcus's Space I also look already on the world, but from a very personal viewpoint, and mostly on matters of environment, politics, economy and culture.

I also keep presenting the lifestyle magazine "Stepping Toes" I formed a few years ago on Xanga and restarted recently on WordPress from scratch. There you shall also be able to find articles on what is in the actuality or gets attention in the media (in Belgium).

Since March this site got a dip in viewers but I do hope we shall be able to regain some confused readers and shall get more new readers, interested in the more extensive material I shall hope to offer on this site.

Please be welcome on my and your world => Our World

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Please do find related:

Looking from different perspectives

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Related articles

• Change of name
• New platform for Stepping Toes
• A participation in the body of Christ
• Handbook to the Christadelphian Statement of Faith
• The Christadelphian Bible Truth & Prophecy Video Vault
• Recommended sites

Change of name

Dear followers of the blog "Christadelphian World".

The last few months in Belgium I tried to reconcile two big Christadelphian organisations and create the possibility that the different Christadelphians could meet with each other and having worship services together.
Instead of bringing us out of isolation it brought us deeper in isolation. Several accusations went from one side to the other and I at the end became not only the pingpong ball but the target for both organisations.

At last the man from the North succeeded first to censor some of my sites and got the United Kingdom organisation also against me.

Christadelphian Church (St Mark's Presbyterian Church, Queen's Hall), 28 Bath Road, Bournemouth, Dorset (Photo credit: Alwyn Ladell)

The last few months I have seen several unchristian reactions taken by those organisations that I really came to doubt the group of believers.

They have created many sleepless nights for me and got me worrying several hours but got me also checking everything from the past and checking the whole Christadelphian community. I contacted people I knew from the days before I became a Christadelphian, who were then Christadelphian but had by now left the community. Several of them gave the same reason of leaving the community as I am facing now.

The last few weeks I sincerely questioned once again my believes and compared them with other faith groups. To my regret there is no other church group which believes on all points the same as I do. I encountered naturally churches were there are people who do believe exactly the same as I do, but were it is also not the general trend. It is the same as with the Christadelphians, in those churches there are several groups with small or bigger differences.

Christadelphianism has very conservative groups, moderates and a very few progressive ones.
Up until now I belonged to the English Central Fellowship and was pleased to receive support from the Christadelphian Bible Mission or CBM. But with all the trouble of the man from the North, the CBM dropped me now, plus accused me of writing unbiblical articles, having links in my articles to others than their Christadelphians and having contacts with non-christadelphian people and organisations.

Like the man from the North, they would like to have everything under control.

I would like everybody to know I am not bounded or chained to any worldly organisation or any worldly person, except my wife because I am married to her. Jesus has come to liberate us from the chains of this world. My preaching is a work for God and not as such a work for a particular Group or Organisation. I am not married to Carelinks nor to CBM. You could say I am figuratively married to Christ.

I invite everybody to look at my writings on my other religious sites, Stepping Toes, my ecclesia site and on my site which was called Broeders in Christus or Brethren in Christ. They now get the "Free" added to their name, to announce I do consider myself like some other Christadelphians a "Free Christadelphian". There you can see what I do write and compare it with your own Bibles, and compare it with other Christadelphian and other Christian websites.

John Thomas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a few months time an already long ago planned series of early Christadelphian writings shall be placed on the Brethren site. This will proof that I still have the same believes as the founder of the Christadelphian movement, John Thomas.

Because I took again a lot of time to consider either changing or not of denomination, I was confronted by several Christadelphians who encouraged me to keep calling myself a Christadelphian, because I myself gave the answer in my questions and in my findings about other denominations and the Christadelphian believes.

There were also two other groups which some consider also to be Christadelphians whilst others look at them as an other denomination who would not mind taking me in their circles. One group would have meant a name change for my church. But at the end I thought, why would I change again of denomination.

I do fear what I have seen happening now with the CBM, I encountered already by the non-trinitarian Baptists in the 1980ies, having the Southern Baptist Union pressing their power onto others. They being trinitarian Baptists, made thousands of Baptist going to the Jehovah Witnesses and the Church of God, whilst others went to the Church of God of Abrahamic Faith, a few hundreds to the bible Students, a few to the Nazarene Friends and some like me to smaller non-trinitarian churches like the Christadelphians.

Those who went into the Jehovah Witnesses came in a severe controlling group but had most of their teachings in common with us, non-trinitarian Baptists. But we could not keep our name anymore because of the television productions where most people saw trinitarian Baptists and would get a wrong idea about our faith.

For that reason I shall keep the name Christadelphian, because it is a very good name, denoting being a Brother in christ, and that is what I want to be, and except the ideas of slavery and some end of day prognoses by John Thomas I adhere all the same ideas as those early Christadelphian writers.
I could not become a Jehovah Witness because there are "the pre-existence of Christ", Christ being the Archangel Michael, "the return of Christ in 1914", and the Faithful Slave or all saying and directing Watchtower Biblestudy and Tract society, in which I do not believe. No human is infallible. As such a pope or a few people in a group can not dictate what all other people do have to accept or leave the organisation. There is too much mind control in the Jehovah Witnesses organisation.

Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Though I do know Christadelphians have much more in common than they would like with the Jehovah Witnesses. Logically, because John thomas was one of the many bible Students who brought a whole new movement or reformation in the Christian religion. Charles Taze Russell, was one of the students of John Thomas. Russell founded the American Bible Students, and from some offspring directed by Rutherford came the Jehovah Witnesses. so Christadelphians, though they would not like to hear it are in some way 'family' from many other bible students and 'related' to the Jehovah Witnesses.

I only can hope they would not create such controlling bodies, though it looks like some people are trying to get a good grip on the different communities.

For now I decided to continue my preaching. Though some did many efforts to stop me, I shall continue to preach the Gospel of the good News. Financially and organisational wise I shall be very limited. I apologise to the subscribers of the Dutch magazine "Met open bible" which I shall not be able to distribute any more. Paperwork and posting shall be limited.
Those whom I send Glad Tidings I ask to do a request for the magazine at Glad Tidings themselves, but I can not send it free any more.
The same for the persons who requested literature. Sorry for those who waited already more than three weeks. I do hope they shall understand it is impossible to continue from my own family funds to buy myself and distribute those books of others. I advice my readers and those interested in Christadelphian literature or free Bibles to demand it at the publishers themselves.

This redirecting the last few weeks already to the Jehovah Witnesses to ask for their free Bibles, had upset very much the CBM and some other Christadelphians. But my till is just empty, sorry.

My spirit is not yet extinguished, so I shall try to keep going on. Some websites I shall close down and all links to those who do not want to associate to us shall be taken away by time and by request.

At the moment I shall keep linking in my articles to other articles, be it from trinitarian or non-trinitarian websites, because I strongly believe that everybody should be doing good research and should be able to compare with other writings to form a solid idea.

I do hope my readers can appreciate such linking and quoting. In case it is not appreciated or not worthwhile to put so much time in it, I shall stop doing so, but for the time being, I try to continue it on this Blogger site and on the different WordPress sites.

From March the 14th, 2014 several links will be taken away from the linking pages. I also consider going to link only to other webpages when they also link to my pages. In case we do not want to help each other than we do have to row on our own.

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• A Change
• Those who call the Christadelphians a cult
• Draw near to God - Thank you Jesus
• Religion: Trapped in Love Through Shame
• Handbook to the Christadelphian Statement of Faith
• Funeral Arrangements for Wilfred Lambert
• Delay in publications because attack from outside
• No reconciliation possible between CBM and Duncan Heaster from Carelinks
• A participation in the body of Christ

Certain people trying to stem freedom of speech

This early morning I was very surprised to find my blog Christadelphian World blocked for public viewing because of a complaint to Google for inappropriate postings.

I am convinced this action against my writings and also taking away others to react on my writings is a breech of freedom of speech, plus a childish and cowardly action undertaken by a person living in a country which was part of the Soviet Union.  Though that person living it that country up North came originally from the United Kingdom he might have taken over dictatorial ideas of the previous oppressors.

He took care that my defence on the accusations he had made publicly were placed on my own website and where supplemented by other people who have seen the same atrocious action that person undertook in the Christian community.

His behaviour and managing to censure other people calls for the question how it is possible that one person can get so much power that he can silence those he does not like! This is bringing democracy and the freedom of speech in danger.

First of all I apologise to those people who made a comment on my articles:Duncan Heaster en Carelinks onverbiddelijke verhinderaars and No reconciliation possible between CBM and Duncan Heaster from Carelinks and could not find their remarks published. it sincerely is not my fault, and I find it strrange that I do not have any control over the texts that are written and comments that are made on the writing on thise platform. Very scary!

 I did send a request to Google to reconsider the accusation of inappropriate writing.

Either it was one person on his own who wants to silence me, or it is an organisation which backs their dictatorial leader and is prepared to do anything to please him, not considering if it is right and justified. The organisation which has the element "care" in in its name as such did not proof until know that it wants to care for those who want to share the love of God.  it also has the element "link" in its name, though since years our small community wants to link with other baptised Christadelphians which reside in Belgium. We also would have loved to give people who ask us for an address to meet, an address of a meeting place where they could find like-minded people.

It is because that person and his organisation do not want their members to meet with CBM members that it is impossible for us those who are in need of fellowship.

In the past we always have made advertisement for a book written and edited by the person who is against us. We also still said the last weeks, to people who phoned us to take contact with that organisation which refuses to arrange contacts with us. We did not mind to send them forwards to an organisation who did not want to share brotherhood with us. But for us it was more important that the people interested to learn about God and his Son could have regular fellowship and Bible study with people who believed in the same things we do.

For the same reason I also ask people when we can not reach them are they are unable to come to us, that they would take up a Bible study with the Jehovah Witnesses, and ask them to come to us if they have further questions. We also ask anybody interested to pose their questions on the internet itself.

Naturally when an other organisation seems to be able to stem the course of our replies, we have entered a very dangerous situation of an outsider bringing censorship on our own, and not their site.

Clearly someone of their organisation is taking much care to follow everything I am writing; Either there is a mole by my subscribers or there is someone taking much time to follow the many websites I present to the general public. In case there is a spy under my subscribers we do find it a pity such a person comes to us with such bad intentions and to cause such nuisance.

I do hope by Google would be people with more sense, than those childish persons who are fighting against such a small fly like me.

Though I must confess the Australian organisation of the above so called Christian and Christadelphian organisation seem to have weird ideas of my power. (See about that lower concerning taking somebody in fellowship and putting him out of fellowship)


In Belgium, we always have been open to the man who accuse me now of slander and who is trying to block me from writing. He even asked Facebook to withdraw me. Probably it is also him who asked Google to withdraw the writings on Blogger. (For that part I must say I do not know if it is him, so it could also have been somebody else who this time managed to do what the leader or the man living in Riga could not do).

We would have loved to welcome Mr. D.H. and people he had baptised in our midst and we did not want otherwise that those baptised Christadelphians in Belgium and Holland, would come together in unity. Our world is to small and we are not with enough to go into small units which would have no voice as such. Combined forces could do so much more.

Because in May 2012 we still had not come to a conclusion and could not have the so called caring Christadelphians meeting with us because the sir of the North refused us to fellowship with them, I called him Mr. ('mister') in the term of address, instead of 'brother', so the organisation took it as I had disfellowshipped him.


In October last year having seen that the person also was on a Christadelphians Unite Group and he himself asked for addresses of other Christadelphians I thought the time was ripe to come to reconciliation and offered him to join forces again. He kept refusing and coming back on my old writing.


We (the Belgian Christadelphians) let the person know that for us it would be best if we could bury the previous period of conflict as one to forget and make steps to rebuild trustworthy contacts. We wanted and still want unity and respect for all members in the Body of Christ.

After months of trying to come to reconciliation I at last went into the pen publicly and defended myself in front of those who questioned me. It was no intention of me to make false statements that could damage a person his reputation. The things brought forward in the Dutch and the English articles can be crosschecked for their viability. (In the comments I also had given a translation of the Dutch text in English and told the Flemish readers the part I forgot to write in the Dutch article but wrote in the English article.)

To Christadelphians we can show the files from the CBM and our discussions with D.H. and C.H. his wife, so that the readers of my articles can make up their mind and see if I did tell lies or that I reacted on facts which did really happen and where said by D. H..

After I had written the articles on this platform I got to know from a member of the Belgian Christadelphians that the organisation from Australia, with the C from Care in their name, would be willing to continue talks in case I re-installed Mr. D.H.

So in Australia they consider my talking to the person of the North by not calling him brother any more, would have included a worldwide taking away of his fellowship in the Christadelphian community. I would never have thought that I would ever be considered to be so powerful to be able to decide who can fellowship or can not fellowship in the worldwide community of Christadelphians.

So it was a strange reaction of that organisation. For my part there was no reason at all we would not take in Mr.D.H. as our brother.

! But what he has done now, after still refusing to have brethren and sisters in the faith meeting with each other, continuing to blame me and to assault me, accusing me of slander, plus him trying to block everything I bring into my defence, so that I could have the right to speak, makes reconciliation impossible.

I can only sincerely state that the whole situation of Mr. D.H. not allowing baptised C.l. members to have fellowship with our CBM baptised Christadelphians, in my eyes him not willing to have us meet together in Belgium, is an unchristian act, which after many trials to come to reconciliation got us nowhere further, except much more agitation and extra difficulties for our members with the CBM now too.

A person being able to stop having published reactions on what I placed in my articles, is a very dangerous person and also a very dangerous situation for the freedom of speech. It is a real infringement of what people should be able to share ideas and communicate with each other. Taking away such a possibility to communicate and to exchange ideas is going into the law of democracy and liberty.

I also do not know how it comes that I can have no control myself of what is written on my own webpages, and why I myself am not able to judge what can, may or could be added as comments to what I have written.

I wonder what organisation is behind such censorship and why they do not have to come those matters with the people involved.

All bloggers should be aware of such a dangerous situation of censorship by somebody, out of our control.

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Please do find the concerned articles where the comments disappeared:

 Duncan Heaster en Carelinks onverbiddelijke verhinderaars and

 No reconciliation possible between CBM and Duncan Heaster from Carelinks

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