Sevryn45 wrote:Christadelphians are a small cult, founded in in the United States by John Thomas in 1833. They were also known as the "Brothers of Christ" and the Thomasites. This group may be the parent group of the Jehovah's witnesses. Many of their doctrines are the similar.
We are not the parent group of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
They teach that their founder, John Thomas, brought to light through his interpretations the "lost" truth, which had been corrupted with apostasy for centuries and without his interpretation, the bible cannot be understood.
That is totally false. We do not claim that without John Thomas' interpretation, the Bible cannot be understood.
Their doctrines are as follows:
1. You must become a Christadelphian and be baptized by them in order to have a chance at salvation.
That is totally false. We do not believe that you must become a Christadelphian and be baptised by us to have a chance at salvation.
2. Jesus was the son of God, but not God in the flesh (denying the Trinity).
3. The Holy Spirit is the radiant energy/power of God, not 3rd person of the Trinity, and he does not indwell the believer.
True, we do believe these things.
4. Jesus was not born sinless. But we must achieve sinless perfection, like Christ did in order to save ourselves. This is referred to as the "God Manifestation".
That is totally false. We do not believe that Jesus was not born sinless. We do not believe that we must achieve sinless perfection like Christ did, in order to save ourselves. And this is not what we call "God manifestation."
5. Baptism and other works are necessary for salvation.
Baptism is not a "work"; it is a symbolic act which demonstrates (a) our entrance into a covenant relationship with God and (b) His forgiveness of our sins.
The only "works" that a believer must perform, are works of obedience in love:
- I John 2:3-4
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
We cannot earn salvation, but we can certainly obey our Lord and Master - as indeed we are called to do.
6. Hell is not eternal. The wicked are annihilated. Except for the resurrection there is no type of life after death.
7. They are not to fellowship with any who do not hold to their doctrines.
True. And many other Christian groups do exactly the same thing.
8. Jesus Christ was just an human being. His death on the cross was not substitutionary
True, we do believe this.
does not atone for are sins, and is not sufficient for our salvation. He only died so that we could have an opportunity to be like him, he was only a representative, not a savior.
Totally false. We believe that his death
did atone for our sins, we believe that his death
was sufficient for our salvation and we believe that he
was and is our saviour.
9. The soul is not immortal, it ceases to exist after death.
10. The Devil, fallen angels, and demons are not real. They are just a euphemism for sin and evil men.
True, we do believe this.
They have various by-laws and standards regulating behavior, conscious objectors, no voting in elections, no union membership, no self defense, no employment as a police, or employment where military goods are manufactured.
Actually, many of these are left to the individual to choose. We have no by-law against self defence, we no any by-law against voting in elections, and we have no by-law against union membership.
Children discouraged from playing after school sports or becoming members in boy/girl scouts, no membership in any fraternal organizations at all.
Totally false. My own sister was a girl scout.
Marriage outside the Christadelphians is ground for disfellowship
True.
as is any disagreement on any of the above.
Totally false.
They have no organizational hierarchy, and each ecclesia (church) is presided over by part time lay ministers, who do not have any formal training other than studying for baptism
True.
which is a lengthy trial of interrogation by other Christadelphian brethren.
False. It is a simple, informal interview.
The women are to keep silence in the church, but may teach the children and each other, are to cover their heads and flashy dress is discouraged.
True.
There seems to be a greater tendency than average to utilize holistic health practitioners, (somewhat reminiscent of Christian Scientist) although there is no prohibition against blood transfusions, they have been known to discourage it.
Totally false.
Information taken from "The Constitution of the Glendale Christadelphian Ecclesia", Glendale, California, 1972.
Some of this information has clearly been taken from the constitution of the Glendale Christadelphian ecclesia, but other parts have simply been invented in order to make us look bad.
Your lengthy copy/paste is a mixture of truth and lies, with much of the truth deliberately misrepresented.
That is utterly disgusting - not to mention pathetic.
Please do me a favor and tell your cult leader to stop associating his unbiblical cult with Christianity.
We have no leader and you have no right to tell us what to do.
You guys are new agers for crying outloud.
We are not new agers, and if you continue to slander us in this fashion I shall be complaining to the administrators of this forum.