- Photograph from Light Magazine on Christadelphians cover.
Christadelphian Beliefs
Based on the "Light on Christadelphians" special issue.
This is part 2 covering chapter 4 Christadelphian Beliefs?
Part 1 covers Christadelphian Basics and part 3 covers Christadelphian Hope.
Christadelphian Beliefs
When Dr Thomas began to study the Bible in earnest, he was surprised to find that some established church doctrines were not found in the Bible. Was he right in his conclusions? The following pages set out the main beliefs of the Christadelphians, many of which are opposed to the teaching of the established churches.
A Summary of Christadelphian Beliefs
- There is only one God the Creator Jesus Christ is the Son of God
- The Holy Spirit is the power of God
- The Bible is the inspired word of God
- Man is mortal and dies because of sin
- Resurrection is the true hope of believers
- Salvation is only possible through Jesus
- Belief and baptism are essential for salvation
- There is only one Gospel
- The Gospel was preached to Abraham
- The Jewish people are God's witnesses
- The kingdom of Israel was the kingdom of God
- Jesus is coming to re-establish the kingdom of God
- The kingdom of God will be on earth
- Jesus will be king over the kingdom of God
- The reward of the righteous is eternal life on earth
Most of these are detailed below.
The Godhead
Firstly, most churches believe in the doctrine of 'The Trinity' which claims that there is one God in Three Persons the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. These Three Persons are co-equal in every respect. Where did this belief come from? It is not found in the Bible!
The clear teaching of Scripture is set out for us by Moses: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!"
and confirmed by Jesus: "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one"
The Apostle Paul's teaching was the same: "yet for us there is only one God, the Father of whom are all things"
Christadelphians believe that God is a Unity, that God reigns supreme and that neither Jesus Christ nor the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) are part of the Trinity. We read in Isaiah:
"For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me"
The question is - where did this idea of the Trinity come from? The Illustrated Bible Dictionary tells us,
"The word Trinity is not found in the Bible, and though used by Tertullian (a 2nd Century AD theologian) in the last decade of the 2nd century, it did not find a place formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century."
- The Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Part 3. Page 1597
In fact the doctrine of the Trinity was only officially adopted in AD 325 at the Church Council held at Nicea in Asia Minor. So we see how soon the leaders of the early church had already departed from the clear teaching of the Scriptures.
Jesus Christ - Sone of God
The phrase, 'God the Son' is not found in the Bible. Jesus we are told was,
"born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law."
The Apostle Paul describes Jesus as The last Adam [see 1 Corinthians 15.45]. Jesus had to possess human nature to be able to redeem those who are the descendants of Adam. We read in the letter to the Hebrews:
"Therefore he (Jesus) had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he may become a merciful and faithful high priest."
To make Jesus part of 'the Trinity' destroys the meaning of redemption, as we read again in Hebrews:
"it was fitting that he, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified have all one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brethren."
The clear teaching of the Bible is that Jesus shared our mortal nature:
"Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered."
Jesus needed salvation as much as we do, for we read that,
"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death."
Because of his righteousness he was saved from death and God raised him from the dead. After his resurrection he was,
"made perfect" and "became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him."
The Holy Spirit
In the older English versions of the Bible we often read the phrase 'Holy Ghost'. This has been classified as the third person of the Trinity. Christadelphians do not accept this teaching. Nearly all modern translations of the Bible render the word 'Ghost' as 'Spirit'. The clear teaching of Scripture is that the 'Holy Spirit' is the power of God used for special purposes. For example, when Mary was told by the angel that she would be the mother of Jesus, the words used demonstrate this:
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you."
This same power of God was given to Jesus and the apostles to enable them to perform miracles for the glory of God.
The prophets of the Old Testament were also guided by this power, as Peter wrote:
"For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit"
We read in the book of Acts:
"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing."
Jesus received this power of the Holy Spirit at his baptism — it was something given to him by God that he did not possess before his baptism.
The teaching of God's Word is that the Holy Spirit is God's power and there is no mention of the third person of a Trinity. The 1st Century followers of Christ did not believe in the Trinity, neither do Christadelphians today.
Immortal Souls
Many Christians believe that at death the soul leaves the body and goes to heaven (a place of reward) or hell (a place of punishment). Where have these ideas come from? We do not find the phrase 'immortal soul' in the Bible! The words of Scripture tell us just the opposite, that all human beings are mortal - that is dying creatures. God said to Adam:
"For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."
What happened for example to one of the most illustrious Bible characters, King David? The Apostle Peter wrote:
"let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried ... David did not ascend into the heavens."
David's son, the wise man Solomon wrote:
"All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust."
and again: "for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going."
The word 'soul' as used in the Bible, is a translation from the original languages (Hebrew - 'nephesh' and Greek 'psuche'). We find these two words are translated in the Scriptures in different ways, such as 'body', 'breath', 'person', 'himself', 'creature', 'heart' and 'mind'. So all these descriptions refer to the human makeup that is destroyed at death. The Psalmist puts it very bluntly:
"His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."
- Psalm 146.4 King James AV
The Bible teaching is quite plain - after death there is nothing! However the idea of immortal souls goes back to the earliest history of mankind. Long before the time of Christ, the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks and other ancient civilisations all had these ideas about the afterlife. After the time of Christ many of the believers who had converted from paganism to Christianity, revived these pagan ideas and eventually adopted them as 'Christian' beliefs.
So what was the true hope of the first century Christians?
The True Christian Hope - in belief
We have already stated that Christianity is rooted in the Old Testament Scriptures and we find there that resurrection from the dead was the hope of God's servants in Old Testament times. When Abraham was commanded to offer up Isaac, he was prepared to do so because he
"considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead."
Job is another faithful man who expressed his hope this way:
"For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God."
Job's belief clearly necessitates a resurrection of his body.
The Apostle Peter told the Jews in Jerusalem that David 'foresaw' the resurrection of Christ from the grave [from Acts 2.25-28].
If you look at the Psalm that Peter referred to, it is obvious that the resurrection was David's hope as well,
"Therefore my heart is glad ... My flesh also will rest in hope."
The prophet Daniel expressed the same hope in the resurrection:
"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt ... But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days"
When Jesus heard that his friend Lazarus was dead he came to Bethany. When he arrived, Martha told Jesus how she had hoped he would have come earlier and healed her brother. Notice here that Jesus didn't comfort her with words about his 'soul' having gone to 'heaven' Instead he said: "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
The resurrection was a fundamental part of Jesus' teaching and this is what his immediate followers believed.
However, by the time the Apostle Paul was writing his New Testament letters to the 1st Century ecclesias, some were already departing from this fundamental doctrine! Paul challenged the believers at Corinth:
"Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?"
If we study this chapter, we find that Paul was not just writing about the resurrection of Jesus for he continues:
"And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished...But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep...But each one in his own order; Christ the first fruits, afterwards those who are Christ's at his coming."
- l Corinthians 15.17,18,20,23
Paul is showing here that Christ is the first man to have overcome the power of the grave. He is the 'first' to have risen and those who believe in him will rise 'afterwards', at his coming.
The Second Coming of Christ
Another fundamental belief of the early Christians, closely linked to the resurrection, was that Jesus would return to the earth. One distinguished church leader has admitted this. He wrote: When the expected second coming of Christ did not take place within the lifetime of his earliest disciples the church had to settle down into a routine pattern of life. There were some who resented this: they tried to revive the early spirit; they continued to look for the second coming, usually in the form of the setting up of a visible kingdom of Christ. - [The Churches Search for Unity: Barry Till: Pelican Books]
However, this theologian goes on to denounce those who cling to this belief as heretics - but are we to ignore the teaching of the Scriptures on the subject?
After Christ's ascension to heaven from the Mount of Olives an angel told the disciples,
"This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven."
Was the angel mistaken? No, he was only repeating what Jesus had already told his disciples:
"For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels."
These disciples later preached the same message with great fervour in the temple at Jerusalem:
"And that he may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."
We note here that not only did they believe it, but it was also rooted in the Old Testament Scriptures!
The Apostle Paul had been educated in those Scriptures - did he teach anything different? His letters to the early believers set out his convictions very clearly.
"To those who eagerly wait for him he (Jesus) will appear a second time."
In another letter he wrote about
"Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom."
Again he reminded the early believers at Thessalonica that
"the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."
Could anything be clearer? The second coming of Christ is the hope of Christadelphians, as it was the hope of the 1st Century believers. This aspect is dealt with more fully in the next on Hope.
The Devil , Satan and Sin
Many Christians believe that there is a fallen angel called the 'Devil' or 'Satan' who is responsible for sin and wrongdoing. On the contrary, the Bible tells us that Jesus destroyed the 'Devil' when he died:
"that through (Christ's) death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil."
A study of God's Word shows that the origin of sin came not from some supernatural monster, but from Adam's failure to follow God's command in Eden. We are clearly told by the Apostle Paul that
"... through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.!"
The Apostle James wrote:
"each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."
So when we are taught in the Bible that by his death, Jesus destroyed the devil it means that because he didn't give way to the promptings of his flesh, he overcame the sinful nature he inherited from his mother Mary. Jesus had the same nature as ourselves and he "was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
God raised him from the grave as the Apostle Peter told the Jews in Jerusalem: "God raised him from the dead ... because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."
When we examine the word 'devil' in the New Testament we find that it is translated from a Greek word, 'diabolos', which means 'slanderer' or 'false accuser' and in no way can this be associated with an evil monster called the 'devil'. The same applies to the word 'satan', a Hebrew word which means 'adversary'. The Apostle Peter was called 'satan' by Jesus. Did this mean he had turned into a supernatural monster when Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an offence to me?"
Of course not it means that Peter at that moment was trying to dissuade Jesus from doing God's will. That made him for a while, a 'satan' or 'adversary' who at that time tried to put an obstacle in Jesus' path to detract him from the real purpose of his mission.
The Scriptures teach quite clearly that the words 'devil' and 'satan' are used to personify 'sin in the flesh', in other words the human nature we all possess. The Apostle Paul described his own nature very clearly to the early believers:
"I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells...But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
Paul's answer to that is, "I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Hell, Hades and Gehenna
Some churches teach that 'hell' is a place of punishment for the wicked but again when we study the Bible we find out what is really meant by this word. The word translated 'hell' in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word sheol which means a 'covered place' and refers to 'the grave'. In all cases the word should have been translated in the Bible as 'grave'. So we see that by a mistranslation a false idea has been taught about the destiny of the wicked.
As an example let us consider what happened to Jesus when he died. The Apostle Peter spoke to the Jews in Jerusalem at Pentecost and he referred to a Psalm, the words of David:
"Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."
Peter then explained that David was foretelling the death and resurrection of Jesus,
"He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption."
Peter was teaching here that all human beings including Jesus, go to the grave at death, but the difference with Jesus was that he didn't stay there! When we look at the New Testament we find there are two Greek words translated 'hell'; these are hades and gehenna. The word hades like the word 'sheol' is only referring to the 'grave.'
In some New Testament passages the word gehenna is translated 'hell.' This is a reference to the rubbish tip that was in the Valley of Hinnom outside the walls of Jerusalem. There the fires were burning continuously and the bodies of criminals were thrown onto it. As a result of bad translation and a mixture of existing superstitions, we have this idea of a terrible place of torment that has terrorised the minds of believers over the ages — a place that never existed at all!
Baptism
Another practice of the first century believers was to follow the command of Christ to be baptised. Although some churches practice this, the majority accept 'christening', a sprinkling of water on a young child, as baptism. The Bible teaches that only adults who have a true understanding and belief should be baptised.
Where baptisms were recorded in Scripture, it was by complete immersion in water. The Greek word used in the Bible is baptizo. It means to wash, to completely immerse in a liquid. We read that,
"John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized"
This shows clearly that a depth of water was needed for baptism, otherwise John the Baptist could have just carried a goatskin of water around with him and sprinkled a few drops to achieve his purpose!
The book of Acts records a number of baptisms including that of the Ethiopian eunuch who was baptised by Philip. We read that
"he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptised him"
If a few drops of water are sufficient why didn't Philip just get a drop in his hands or a cup? The actions of these two men indicate that they went down into the water for the complete immersion of the Ethiopian. But what is the purpose of baptism? Why is it necessary at all?
As he preached on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter told his listeners
"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins."
We find then that the act of baptism is very significant, as the Apostle Paul further explained to the early believers,
"...do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection."
Baptism is therefore a burial in water and an act of faith that signifies the believer's association with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The following sequence of actions is required of those who desire to be related to Christ through baptism:
- Knowledge and understanding
- Belief
- Repentance
- Baptism for the remission of past sins
By being baptised believers then become related to Christ as his brethren and sisters:
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Christadelphians believe, like the first century followers of Christ, that baptism is essential for salvation.
This section only gives an overview of our beliefs where we differ radically from generally accepted Christian beliefs. If you would like more information on Christadelphian beliefs, please contact us.
Author Many people were involved in writing and checking this article
Country UK
Source Light on a New World special edition "Light on the Christadelphians"
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