Showing posts with label law of christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label law of christ. Show all posts

Thursday 6 November 2014

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 

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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

Friday 29 October 2010

Keeping an ecclesia in modern times

The last weeks in Belgium we thought about the formation of and giving the possibility to grow for an ecclesia.

Important is the position people have to take to go ahead. In the traditional institutional churches we can see that they did try to make everybody happy, the last few years. They looked for all sorts of formulas to be "cool". To be with its time is no problem in such a way, as long as the church does not betray its calling. The church has to show others that it is part of this world and that they they self already are anchored in a particular culture. The church or ecclesia can show that they stand open for contemporary influences and trends.  In some affairs, the community can go along but it may not disavow with it its own individual character.  In the Church it must be possible as in the society having cultures live together  and lead churches together.  That variety can only feed the church community only when everybody holds them self to God's Laws and follows the teachings of Christ Jesus.

If the church will wring itself into different positions to grow then the church becomes in danger. We can see this in the institutional churches who twisted them self in all sorts of curves to bring about that growth.  And that can have unwanted effects.  The attention for 'outsiders' can swallow so much attention that the care for the members of the municipality with it shatters.  One can go so far in adapting the ecclesia to what one thinks that outsiders expect or wish that members of the municipality become hit and get a feeling of alienation. According to me lies there the reason that the institutional churches became crooked and many churches become empty.  One has given too much attention to serve the others to their wish so that the individual character of that church went up and down as a jojo on and changed as hygienic men change of underpants. This was however not the manner to hold the Church clean.  Purity in the belief community can be there only as it holds clear belief points and keeps to them.

Identity gives security. Every ecclesia has the freedom to choose its own form or identity, but it has to keep to the Biblical teachings in all ways. We cannot avoid that men in this post-modern time is more directed on relations.  Churches have to form a community.  The dividing of the meal is just as important as the listening to a sermon. But for us Christadelphians the Word of god is the most important and the Word part or reading of chapters from the Bible should take the most time of the service and be the central focus. All the texts in the meeting can be centred on the Bible chapters been read.
Men of this time have difficulties to be quite or to listen for a long time. Therefore it is most adviced that each member of the community also is actively involved with the service, a.o. by reading each some verses froem the daily reading. They are no longer been directed on the listening to a long sermon through one person, but the reader of the exhortation could try to have it enlived with examples and changes in his voice. It can also help that when an exhortation from somebody is taken that all the members read succesively. Men can sometimes learn more in a service through to participating more active and more creative.

In the Dutch article Al of niet toegeven aan de wereld we discuss how far we can go to adapt to this world. In Opbouw van een ecclesia and in Opbouw van een ecclesia en  verbonden kosten we look at how we can construct and keep an ecclesia.




For our Dutch readers thye can find more in the following articles:
Nederlandstalige lezers kunnen hier meer over vinden in de volgende artikelen:

Kerkgroei en samengaan
Al of niet toegeven aan de wereld
Opbouw van een ecclesia
Opbouw van een ecclesia en  verbonden kosten

Friday 27 November 2009

The Law of Christ: Law of Love

The Exhortation to the Apostles
The Exhortation to the Apostles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"... we find that the law of love is the basis of all the instruction given by Christ and his Apostles. They often mentioned details which would not have occurred to us, but the details are all strictly related to the fundamental principle presented in the law through Moses and stated by Christ to be the foundation of his teaching: the whole-hearted love of God, and the self-sacrificing love of man.

The Lord Jesus gave a new impetus and even a new significance to the old command. Some disciples have been puzzled by his saying: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another" (John 13:34). In view of the fact that this law was so old and Christ had emphasized its fundamental character, why did he call it new? It is easy to find the answer to this question, and when found it becomes perhaps the most moving and searching of all thoughts for disciples.

The Mosaic law commanded that a man should love the Lord his God with all the heart, soul and strength, and that he should love his neighbour as himself; but these were not, and could not be, the laws by which a man could be judged before any merely human tribunal. The feelings and thoughts of a man's mind cannot be assessed correctly by a human judge. The law courts of mortal men can only judge in a negative manner. That was inevitably true in the old dispensation, and so a man who in no way injured his neighbours was legally correct in his social behaviour, even though wrong feelings were in his heart and wrong thoughts in his mind. Human judges were guided by the sight of their eyes and the hearing of their ears. Christ is under no such limitations. Even in the days of his flesh he knew what was in man, and needed not that any should tell him. When he comes as the ruler of mankind, he will not judge after the sight of his eyes or the hearing of his ears. With an all-penetrating knowledge, he will look into the heart of a man, and judge him by what he really is, and not what he appears to be. For us to be acceptable disciples this law of love must be in our hearts. There must be not merely an outward show of piety, but the reality of love for God, not merely a formal show of solicitude for a neighbour's welfare, or conventional acts of charity, but a real love of man. The Lord will look into our inmost being, and require that the reality of love shall be there."

- Islip Collyer
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The Law of Love
What it Means to be a Christian

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