The Christadelphian, June 1905

“A Birmingham Newspaper Notice”

The Birmingham Gazette and Express, of April 29th, contained a sketch of “The Christadelphian Movement in Birmingham.” A representative had waited on the Editor of the Christadelphian, who supplied a few particulars. The following is the substance of the article, which appeared under the heading “Church and Chapel,” to which, of course, the Christadelphian Movement does not belong:

Christadelphian Movement in Birmingham. History and Growth.

What is a Christadelphian? It would be an interesting experiment to put the question to ten people chosen at random; and it is safe to say that nine of the number would be unable to answer it satisfactorily.

Yet the Christadelphians are an important factor in the religious life of Birmingham, and quietly and steadily their influence and strength are growing side by side. One would hear more of the Christadelphians if they were aggressively self-advertising, but the very suggestion of an appeal to public notice is repugnant to their minds. [Scarcely. But we must evidently rouse up.—Ed. C.] Whether one agrees or not with their views, it is impossible not to admire the dignified and restrained methods they adopt in conducting their worship, and in securing fresh adherents to their cause.

Before I touch upon the more intimate connection of Christadelphianism with the City of Birmingham, it would be fitting to speak of the inception and history of the movement. Whence does it get its name, and in what respect does it differ from other sects? To begin with, as one of their most noteworthy lecturers, the late Mr. Robert Roberts, of Birmingham, has explained, they are not a new sect in the sense in which the Swedenborgians and the followers of Johannah Southcote were so. They have no Swedenborg, no Johannah Southcote. They claim to have received no new revelation; they profess no new principle; they own to no new teachership. They are simply and purely the result of Bible study, thoroughly conducted within the last forty or fifty years.

The name of the sect is derived from the Greek Christou Adelphoi—(the paper said “Christi Delphi”—Ed., C.)—and signifies “Brethren of Christ.” It was adopted as distinctive from the term Christian, because the latter title, as the founders of the sect conceived, is held by many bodies who do not hold the doctrine of Christ and the apostles. During the American Civil War there were numbers of people in both camps who refused on conscientious grounds, to carry arms, and sought legal exemption from conscription. They applied to Dr. Thomas, who may be considered the real founder of the sect, for advice under the circumstances, and he decided to band them together under a distinctive title. In order that they might not be styled “Thomasites,” he suggested the name Christadelphians, and by this title the sect has been known since that day.

The movement soon spread to England, and during the last half-century communities have been established in almost all English-speaking countries. They had to fight a great deal of prejudice, and some of the tenets of the sect were so opposed to ordinary beliefs that opposition was very natural. For one thing, the Christadelphians hold original views on the subject of immortality. They claim that the phrase “immortality of the soul” is entirely absent from God’s Word, nor is there any form of words that has affinity with the phrase, and they teach that the “recompense of reward promised in the Gospel is the possession of the earth and world of mankind under a heavenly constitution, with glory, honour, and immortality.”

They believe in the eternal punishment of the wicked, but not in their eternal tormentation; in a devil and Satan, but not in the popular sense of these terms; in hell, but not as ordinarily expounded. Briefly, their theology is millenniarian, and they look for the establishment of the Kingdom of God in Jerusalem. As to the divinity of Christ, they hold neither the Trinitarian view nor that of the Unitarians. They believe that He was divine—the Son of God, but not God the Son.

The introduction of Christadelphianism into Birmingham took place about 1860. It received a great impetus from the advent of Mr. Robert Roberts—the lecturer already referred to—a few years later. Mr. Roberts was engaged on the Press, and later on became official shorthand writer to the Bankruptcy Court; but afterwards he devoted all his time to the propagation of the Christadelphian faith. He established the Christadelphian, a magazine in furtherance of this object, and travelled largely to expound the principles of the sect in different places. Many of his lectures, which are strikingly thoughtful addresses, illuminated by a unique knowledge of the Bible, have been reprinted, and are still largely in demand.

Mr. Roberts died suddenly in San Francisco—(The paper said South Africa.—Ed., C.)—in 1898, while making a tour round the world; but though his loss was greatly felt here, the sect has continued to prosper in Birmingham. There are several communities in the city, the largest number worshipping at the Temperance Hall. Here an “ecclesia”—as the Christadelphians term a congregation—of about a thousand has its headquarters.

The members meet on Sunday morning for the “breaking of bread.” At this meeting only those who have been baptised take part. When strangers seek to enter the fellowship they are interviewed with a view to finding out whether they are proper candidates, and if this is satisfactory they are baptised. On Sunday night a lecture is given in the Temperance Hall that is open to every comer. At this gathering there is no collection, and another feature of the Christadelphian work is that bazaars are tabooed. The lecturers are unpaid, and the whole movement is supported by voluntary contributions.

The accessions to the Christadelphian ranks come from all sorts and conditions of men, and from all denominations, but the greatest source of strength is found in the children of the Christadelphians. A Sunday School with a membership of between 200 and 300 is attached to the main scheme of work.

Since the death of Mr. Roberts The Christadelphian has been carried on by Mr. C. C. Walker, and the well-known magazine is an appreciable force in propaganda work. Mr. E. Challinor is the secretary of the body, and its affairs are managed by “presiding brothers” elected triennially. But Christadelphianism, as its name implies, rests upon a basis of brotherhood, and to individual effort, though the latter is naturally indispensable, is not attached the importance associated with it in other sects.

Thus it is that none of the leader of the local movement—if it can be said to have leaders—would consent to allow a personal sketch and photograph to appear in this column. The explanation is necessary to those who may wonder at the omission of the accustomed feature.

Layman.