Whilst
the distinctive aspects of our faith were essentially forged in the
19th Century, when there was great debate not only as to the very
existence of God, but of the doctrine and understanding of Christendom
as a whole, many believers since the time of the first century apostles
have held the same faith as Christadelphians.
There
have been countless independent communities around the world who have
eagerly studied the Bible and accepted its simplest teachings, often
contrary to the established pattern of belief and dogma.
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, the same beliefs and practices resurfaced in Bible-minded
groups such as the Anabaptists in Switzerland and the Socinians in Poland.
The early English Baptists held similar beliefs (although these beliefs
are perhaps not held by Baptists today). In the 18th Century many
leading figures in the Enlightenment such as Sir Isaac Newton and
William Whiston, also held these beliefs.
Today's Christadelphian worldwide fellowship has its origin in the 1830s, and age of revival and reform in America and England. In America, a medical doctor, John Thomas, published the Herald of the Kingdom, which set out Bible teaching on the resurrection and the Kingdom of God. In Britain a journalist named Robert Roberts took up the same cause in the Ambassador of the Coming Age.
Thomas and Roberts made no claim to any vision or personal revelations -
only to try and be honest students of the Bible and its message.
When
the American civil War broke out in 1861 those Christian groups who did
not fight were required to register with Union government. Sam Coffman
and other brothers in Illinois,
registered themselves as "brethren in Christ" or in a single word,
"Christadelphian". This name was soon adopted by many like-minded groups
of believers in America and Britain.
Since
then, independent Christadelphian congregations have been established
in countries in every continent of the world (except Antartica!).
