Meet Dr. John Thomas, Founder of the Christadelphians
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A terrifying ocean voyage led to the founding of the Christadelphians, or Brothers in Christ.
It was 1832, and Dr. John Thomas (1805-1871), a London physician, set sail from England to the United States. Shortly after the ship, the Marquis of Wellesley, had cleared the harbor, storms set in.
Wind broke off the main-mast and the tops of two other masts. At one point the ship nearly ran aground, crashing against the bottom a dozen times.
Dr. Thomas uttered a desperate prayer: "Lord have mercy upon me for Christ's sake."
At that moment the wind shifted, and the captain was able to head the vessel away from the rocks. Thomas promised then and there that he would not rest until he uncovered the truth about God and life.
Dr. John Thomas Becomes a Traveling Preacher
The ship landed weeks behind schedule, but safely. On a subsequent trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, Dr. Thomas met Alexander Campbell, a leader in the Restoration Movement. Thomas became a traveling evangelist, but eventually split from the Campbellites, disagreeing with Campbell in a debate. Thomas later rebaptized himself and was disfellowshipped by the Campbellites.
In 1843, Thomas met William Miller, who founded what eventually became the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They agreed on the second coming of Christ and other doctrines. Thomas traveled to New York and preached a series of sermons which eventually became part of his book Elpis Israel, or The Hope of Israel.
Thomas' goal was to return to the beliefs and practices of early Christianity.
In 1847 he was baptized again. A year later he returned to England to preach, and then came back to the States. Thomas and his followers became known as the Royal Association of Believers.
During the American Civil War, people had to belong to a recognized religious group to be conscientious objectors. Dr. John Thomas called his group Christadelphians, which means Brethren in Christ.
Religious Legacy of Dr. John Thomas
During the Civil War, Thomas finished another of his major books, Eureka, which explains the book of Revelation. He returned to England in 1868 to a warm reception by Christadelphians there.
On that visit he met Robert Roberts, a newspaper reporter who became a Christadelphian after Thomas' previous British crusade. Roberts was a staunch supporter of Thomas and eventually assumed leadership of the Christadelphians.
After returning to America, Thomas made a final visit to the Christadelphian ecclesias, as their congregations are called. Dr. John Thomas died March 5, 1871 in New Jersey and was buried in Brooklyn, New York.
Thomas did not consider himself a prophet, only an ordinary believer who dug for the truth through intensive Bible study. He was convinced that mainstream Christian doctrines on the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, and heaven and hell were wrong, and he set out to prove his beliefs.
Today's 50,000 Christadelphians hold firmly to Dr. John Thomas' teachings, still meet in each others' homes, and separate themselves from other Christians. They believe they live out true Christianity, as practiced in the first century Church.
More on the Christadelphians
(Information in this biography is compiled and summarized from the following sources: Christadelphia.org, Bereans/Cornerstones/Pioneers/Life, and Answers.com)
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