Berean Christadelphians - Distinguishing Characteristics

Distinguishing Characteristics

Over time the Berean Christadelphians have developed a culture which differentiates them radically from mainstream Christadelphians. For example, Berean Christadelphians believe that true Christadelphians are those who agree with the beliefs of John Thomas and Robert Roberts (two early Christadelphians whose writings were influential in the formative years of the movement), and also believe that true Christadelphians are those who learn the gospel from the writings of these men rather than personal study of the Bible. They are also differentiated by a number of doctrinal differences (listed after this paragraph). Some of these doctrines are shared with some of the "Unamended Fellowship" (but not the majority Christadelphian group known as the "Central Fellowship"), particularly beliefs on the atonement and what the Bible teaches about human nature (referred to commonly as 'the flesh'). Some of these doctrines are beliefs which the original Berean Christadelphians held in 1923, whilst others are later developments. A number of these beliefs are not held by any other Christadelphian fellowship, which the Berean Christadelphians take as indicative that they hold the correct understanding of the gospel.

The following is a list of beliefs which differentiate the Bereans from mainstream Christadelphians:

• The Berean position on congregational fellowship (described above)
• That sin is a physical substance which is the cause of moral transgression, disease and death
• That babies die because they are made of this physical substance which is sin (and so inherit the wages of sin)
• That although the Bible uses the word 'sin' in two different senses, it always refers to only one thing and not two separate things since sin and the cause of sin are one and the same
• That God treats both sin and the cause of sin in the same way
• That Jesus, through his miraculous birth and divine parentage, was enabled to resist sin to an extent normal human beings are incapable
• That Jesus earned the wages of sin
• That John Thomas (founder of the Christadelphian movement), was raised up by God to restore the Truth to the earth, and was chosen by God because of his unique fitness to the task
• That God requires a sacrifice for "sinful nature", and that Christ therefore had to make a sacrifice both for his sinful nature and for the sinful nature of humanity
• That human nature is physically defiled by sin even before personal transgression has taken place
• That even without personal transgression, man is an abomination unto His Creator and has need for redemption through the shedding of blood
• That those who do not value the writings of the "Pioneers" (John Thomas and Robert Roberts, early Christadelphians who were influential in the formative years of the movement), are on their way back to "the apostasy"
• That the true body of believers is to be identified by how closely the adhere to the teachings of the 'Pioneers'
• That the "Pioneers" should be the first reference for any interpretation of Scripture, and are authoritative in their interpretation of Scripture

The Berean attitude to the writings of John Thomas and Robert Roberts is almost unique, though shared by a few in the Unamended fellowship, and some in the Central fellowship. They believe that the Bible should be interpreted according to the writings of these two early Christadelphians (to whom they refer as "the Pioneers"), and that all Scripture must be harmonized with the interpretations in these writings. Whilst denying that they believe either man was inspired, some do state both men were raised up by God, and that John Thomas in particular was specifically chosen by God as being unique among men on the earth in his day.