Differences

Some Important Differences

There are a lot of denominations in Christianity. But Christadelphians are most different in certain aspects were you also can find other denominations with the same ideas but all belonging to the smaller group of non-Trinitarian Christians.

Holy-Trinity

We reject the doctrine of the Trinity, which developed after Jesus’ death and resurrection as a result of disputes within the church (Council of Nicea 325AD). The Bible teaches that Jesus was the Son of God and not that he ‘pre-existed’ in heaven as ‘God the Son’.

The Trinity diminishes the work of Christ by denying both his humanity and the reality of his death. For if he was God he was not tempted, and could not die.

“Hear, O, Israel. Jehovah our God [is] one Jehovah.” (De 6:4 MKJV)

“So that [men] may know that Your name is JEHOVAH, that You alone [are] the Most High over all the earth.” (Ps 83:18 MKJV)

“For God [is] one, and [there is] one Mediator of God and of men, [the] Man Christ Jesus,” (1Ti 2:5 MKJV)

“But Jehovah [is] the true God, He [is] the living God, and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to stand His fury.” (Jer 10:10 MKJV)

“But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman [is] the man; and the head of Christ [is] God.” (1Co 11:3 MKJV)

“but [there is] to us [only] one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by Him.” (1Co 8:6 MKJV)

“Though being a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” (Heb 5:8 MKJV)

“Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.” (Joh 14:1 MKJV)

“And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Joh 17:3 MKJV)

“Jesus spoke these words and lifted up His eyes to Heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that Your Son also may glorify You,” (Joh 17:1 MKJV)

“Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God.” (1Jo 4:15 MKJV)

“And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, You are blessed, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal [it] to you, but My Father in Heaven.” (Mt 16:16-17 MKJV)

“Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.” (Joh 14:6 MKJV)

“Jesus said to him, Have I been with you such a long time and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. And how do you say, Show us the Father?” (Joh 14:9 MKJV)

“You have heard how I said to you, I go away and I am coming to you [again]. If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, I go to the Father, for My Father is greater than I.” (Joh 14:28 MKJV)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, A servant is not greater than his master, neither is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.” (Joh 13:16 MKJV)

“Jesus said to them, If God were your father, you would love Me, for I went forth and came from God; for I did not come of Myself, but He sent Me.” (Joh 8:42 MKJV)

Only an offering of a man would be able to liberate the man. Jesus renounced his soul (his life) to service of other men as ransom, necessarily to become liberated from the slavery of sin and dead.

“A man cannot at all redeem a brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of their soul [is] precious, and it ceases forever, yea, he shall yet live forever; he shall never see corruption.” (Ps 49:7-9 MKJV)

“And you know that He was revealed that He might take away our sins, and in Him is no sin.” (1Jo 3:5 MKJV)

“And we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son [to be] the Savior of the world.” (1Jo 4:14 MKJV)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only–begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Joh 3:16 MKJV)

“In this the love of God was revealed in us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.” (1Jo 4:9 MKJV)

“But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Ro 5:8 MKJV)

“even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mt 20:28 MKJV)

“being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;” (Ro 3:24 MKJV)

“Since then the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise partook of the same; that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death (that is, the Devil), and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb 2:14-15 MKJV)

“For such a high priest became us, [who is] holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens,” (Heb 7:26 MKJV)

“Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, even as the high priest enters into the [Holy of] Holies every year with the blood of others (for then He must have suffered often since [the] foundation of the world), but now once in the end of the world He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Heb 9:25-26 MKJV)

“For God [is] one, and [there is] one Mediator of God and of men, [the] Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1Ti 2:5-6 MKJV)

“Who [is] he condemning? [It is] Christ who has died, but rather also [who is] raised, who is also at [the] right [hand] of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Ro 8:34 MKJV)

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed [is] everyone having been hanged on a tree");” (Ga 3:13 MKJV)

“[He] Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.” (1Pe 2:24 MKJV)

Having some of our doctrines quite different from most churches the Biblical thoughts of sin, satan, gehenna and sheool are often difficult to cope with because of long traditional views.:

Soul

We also reject the popular idea of an ‘immortal soul’ that goes to heaven at death. The Bible teaches that the only hope for eternal life is resurrection when Jesus returns and life forever with him in God’s kingdom,.

“Behold, all souls [are] Mine. As the soul of the father, also the soul of the son, they [are] Mine. The soul that sins, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4 MKJV)

“The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.” (Eze 18:20 MKJV)

“For the living know that they shall die; but the dead do not know anything, nor do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.” (Ec 9:5 MKJV)

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do [it] with all your might; for [there is] no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave where you go.” (Ec 9:10 MKJV)

“then the dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.” (Ec 12:7 MKJV)

“Her house [is] the way to hell, going down to the rooms of death.” (Pr 7:27 MKJV)

“For You will not leave My soul in hell; You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” (Ps 16:10 MKJV)

“because You will not leave My soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your holy One to see corruption.” (Ac 2:27 MKJV)

“seeing this beforehand, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor would His flesh see corruption,” (Ac 2:31 MKJV)

“For David has not ascended into the heavens, but he says himself, "The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right [hand]” (Ac 2:34 MKJV)

“I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy; for You have looked on my affliction; You have known my soul in troubles;” (Ps 31:7 MKJV)

“What man lives and never sees death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.” (Ps 89:48 MKJV)

“His breath goes forth; he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Ps 146:4 MKJV)

“You hide Your face, they [are] troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.” (Ps 104:29 MKJV)

“And no one has ascended up to Heaven except He who came down from Heaven, the Son of Man who is in Heaven.” (Joh 3:13 MKJV)

“For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.” (1Th 4:16 MKJV)

“For if God did not spare sinning angels, but thrust [them] down into Tartarus, and delivered [them] into chains of darkness, being reserved to judgment.” (2Pe 2:4 MKJV)

“And if your hand offends you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than to have two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched” (Mr 9:43 MKJV)

“And if your foot offends you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame than to have two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched” (Mr 9:45 MKJV)

“But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will have their part in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Re 21:8 MKJV)

“And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire.” (Re 20:14-15 MKJV)

“Behold! I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil,” (De 30:15 MKJV)

“I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live,” (De 30:19 MKJV)

Baptism

What we also can find by certain protestants by the Trinitarian churches is the way of thinking over the baptism, if it is considered to be important and when it has to happen. As we believe that the sprinkling of newborns is no full baptism. Only as adult one can make a free choice with complete understanding for the following of Jesus and voluntary submit to the will and laws of God and when you can repent over the wrong deeds.

“For you were not called to this? For Christ also suffered on our behalf, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps,” (1Pe 2:21 MKJV)

“which figure now also saves us, baptism; not a putting away of [the] filth of [the] flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by [the] resurrection of Jesus Christ;” (1Pe 3:21 MKJV)

“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day there were added about three thousand souls.” (Ac 2:41 MKJV)

“And Paul said, John truly baptized [with] the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe into Him coming after him, that is, into Jesus Christ.” (Ac 19:4 MKJV)

“I indeed baptize you with water to repentance. But He who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He shall baptize you with [the] Holy Spirit and [with] fire;” (Mt 3:11 MKJV)

“And it happened in the baptizing of all the people, Jesus also being baptized and praying, and the heaven was opened.” (Lu 3:21 MKJV) (when he was 30 years old), “And Jesus Himself was beginning to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) son of Joseph, [son of] of Heli,” (Lu 3:23 MKJV)

“Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (Joh 3:5 MKJV)

“buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead.” (Col 2:12 MKJV)

“And as they passed along the way, they came on some water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water, what hinders me [from] being baptized?” (Ac 8:36 MKJV)

“And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch. And he baptized him. And when they had come up out of the water, [the] Spirit of [the] Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing.” (Ac 8:38-39 MKJV)

“Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Mt 28:19 MKJV)

Baptism is then not an end point giving total freedom. It must be followed by an effort to change our lives, to live by the Spirit and not by the Flesh. By this we do not mean supernatural Spirit powers, any more than we believe that the Flesh (or ‘Devil’) is a supernatural power, but we do recognise that God is active in our lives both by His word, and by His providential care.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? Let it not be! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from [the] dead by the glory of the Father; even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Ro 6:1-4 MKJV)

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. Truly the spirit [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak.” (Mr 14:38 MKJV)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long–suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self–control; against such things there is no law. But those belonging to Christ have crucified the flesh with [its] passions and lusts. If we live in [the] Spirit, let us also walk in [the] Spirit.” (Ga 5:22-25 MKJV)

Satan or devil

One of the most difficult aspects in our belief for traditionalists is that we gladly love to keep to the grammatical and vocabulary rules of the Hebrew, Aramese and Old Greek language. As there are the here above already mentioned words gehenna and sheool as well as satan.

Satan or devil and Lucifer become eagerly personalised through the men. By acknowledgement of the language use and profound Bible study we come to the belief that the Biblical "devil" is a symbol of sinful human nature. Therefore we reject the doctrine of a supernatural seducer or supernatural tempter and recognize the fact, that the temptation lies in our self, and that we cannot blame anybody else for the debt of our own mistakes.

“forming the light and creating darkness; making peace and creating evil. I Jehovah do all these [things].” (Isa 45:7 MKJV)

“You are of the Devil as father, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from [the] beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (Joh 8:44 MKJV)

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit up into the wilderness, to be tempted by the Devil.” … “And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If You are [the] Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” (Mt 4:1,3 MKJV)

“But when He had turned around and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Go behind Me, Satan! For you do not mind the things of God, but of the things of men.” (Mr 8:33 MKJV)

“Jesus answered them, Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? And one [of] you is a devil?” (Joh 6:70 MKJV) (slanderer, enemy, adversary)

“Even so [their] wives are to [be] reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.” (1Ti 3:11 MKJV)

“Let the aged women likewise [be] in reverent behavior, not slanderers, not enslaved by much wine, teachers of good;” (Tit 2:3 MKJV)

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb 1:14 MKJV)

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