About founder Dr. John Thomas

In the history of Christianity, there have always been brave and faithful individuals who questioned the doctrines and practices of the dominant denominations of their time and day.

When people from Europe went to the New World they had lots of time to read the Bible and to come into contact and to go in discussion with people from all sorts of denominations. This gave much reason to Dr. John Thomas, the founder of the Christadelphian movement to question what the Christian churches taught.

John Thomas

No Christadelphian would ever say that Dr. Thomas was more than just a man. He was not a prophet or another messiah or any such thing, but just a man who was determined to find out what God was really teaching through His Word, the Bible. Dr. Thomas believed very strongly that it is crucial for men and women, to not simply accept what clergy and theologians have been saying for centuries, but seek out Biblical truth for themselves. According to him and previously also many other searchers for truth, the Bible is the Word of God Which can give all the answers to man and certainly gives all the answers about Who God is and what He wants form mankind.

Dr. Thomas was a medical doctor, born April 12th, 1805, in Great Britain. In 1832 his family decided to emigrate to the New World, the United States. He went first, taking passage in a ship bound for America. The ship encountered a series of severe storms off the coast of Nova Scotia causing the ship to flounder and shipwreck became imminent. In fear Dr. Thomas cried out to God and vowed that if he survived he would dedicate himself to studying religion until he found the Truth. God spared the doctor’s life and John Thomas kept his vow.

Dr. Thomas was ultimately bound for Cincinnati, Ohio, where he joined the Campbellite movement (now known as the Churches of Christ and the Disciples of Christ) soon after arriving. The Campbellites were followers of Alexander Campbell, a preacher who was determined to restore Christianity to its first-century simplicity and authenticity. Dr. Thomas was rebaptized as a Campbellite, and became a well-known speaker in the Campbellite movement.

The early nineteenth century was a time of great religious ferment in the United States, especially on the expanding frontier. America was being settled by a new kind of men and women, who were independent, and untraditional. The last part of the eighteenth century had seen a revival of interest and enthusiasm in the churches known as the Great Awakening. The Methodist movement of John Wesley had swept across the country at the turn of the century. Then came the Campbellites, preaching a reform of the paganism of the churches of the day, to be followed soon by the Millerites (also known as the Adventists) preaching the close of the age or end of the world. Each of these movements questioned some part of the traditional Christianity of the time.

It was a stirred-up time and place and Dr. Thomas moved in it, editing several magazines, preaching and debating to anyone who would listen. After a few years, he came to understand some things that caused some disagreements with the Campbellites. After several meetings with Campbell himself, he found his differences with the Campbellites to be unreconcilable and Dr. Thomas had to leave and push on with his search. Some of the Campbellite congregations left with him, and began to look to him as their leader.

At this time the Millerite or Adventist movement was growing and Dr. Thomas began to associate with this movement. He admired their enthusiasm, their desire for the return of Christ, and their questioning spirit. He influenced the movement and was influenced by it. To this day, some Adventist groups have similar doctrines to the Christadelphians, especially the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith

The group of congregations and individuals who looked to Dr. Thomas grew in the decades that followed. In 1848 the movement became international when Dr. Thomas went to Britain for a speaking tour. In Britain he was very well-received and to this day Great-Britain has always had the largest number of Christadelphians. Great-Britain became another centre for the growing Christadelphia or Christadelphian community.

Before his tour of Great-Britain, Dr. Thomas was based in Virginia. When he returned from Great Britain, he moved to New York and began to preach there, concentrating especially on the Jewish community in New York. Dr. Thomas believed strongly that Christianity was not a replacement for Judaism, but a fulfilment of it, and emphasized that Christians become “grafted on” descendants of Abraham.

The movement had no official name until 1864. The Civil War in the United States found believers on both sides. The movement believed strongly in conscientious objection to participation in the war. However, in order to be exempted from military service, believers had to belong to a recognized religious group that did not permit participation in the war. So in 1864, Dr. Thomas gave the movement a name to identify it, “The Christadelphians“, which was Greek for “Brethren in Christ“.

Since that time, the Christadelphian movement has grown to include believers in every continent and more than 50 countries. But all Christadelphians recognize Dr. Thomas not so much as a founder, but as an inspirational example of someone who strongly desired to know God and searched the Bible until he found the truth. Such a spirit is not common today, but it is a spirit that pleases God. Like Jesus Christ did not his own will, the Christadelphians aim not to do their nor man’s will but doing God’s Will.