In those days, sectarian names were held in abhorrence by many of the more Biblically-minded, (including of course, Dr Thomas) and therefore no denominational label can be attached to these pre-Christadelphian brethren Each little congregation adopted a name of its own choice, usually a long and involved definition of the Faith in itself Evangelization was fragmentary and piecemeal, and scattered groups of believers had little contact with one another There was also opposition, from both Catholics and Protestants A couple holding a campaign somewhere in Canada erected a marquee for their meeting,, During the night the tent was uprooted and destroyed and their own lives were endangered In the 1820’s a preacher named D L Robinson travelled extensively over the Mid-West and Canada He owned no sectarian ties himself but it is out of work he and other friends of his accomplished that there developed the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith This small body, centered in Illinois, U S A had contact with Dr Thomas during his sojourn as a farmer and journalist in that state It is worth mentioning that they considered Dr Thomas’s work as an “interesting alignment” to their own, and it is rather surprising that no reference to this contact is made in his biography Though temporary, it must have been fruitful of ideas Surviving correspondence indicates that in the south and south west of the United States particularly, and possibly elsewhere, many early adherents of Dr Thomas had already had contact with earlier preachers of the good news of the Kingdom and Name, but were influenced with Mr Thomas’ energy and un compromising preaching” Records preserved in the National Bible Institution in the United States show that a considerable number of Dr Thomas’s friends who subscribed to his publications were already associated with loosely federated assemblies of believers with a strongly Millenarian, mortalist, anti trinitarian and baptist outlook It may be that he actually knew of these groups before he made his journey to Illinois and considered that the contact might prove fruitful On a later visit to Illinois in the 1860’s Dr Thomas held a number of discussions At first it appeared possible that some groups there would link themselves with him, but later some strong personalities wielded an opposite influence Two men, brothers called Wilson, whose names do not occur in Christadelphian records, but who are known to have established “ecclesias’ on the general principles of the Truth earlier than Dr Thomas, were particularly active in deflecting their own followers from becoming Christadelphians ” While superficially the dispute centered around certain details concerning the resurrection of the dead and the use of sectarian names, one suspects a deeper motivation in a certain amount of jealousy at the possible effects of linking with Dr Thomas The Churches of God of the Abrahamic Faith still survive as a small sect in the United States, and their Statement of Faith presents a remarkable parallel to our own, and similarities of language would certainly make a higher critic’ postulate very close links There are, however, significant differences in church organization Other fragmentary groups, descending from the Anabaptist tradition and maintaining tenets closely approximating to our own, also still remain in isolated places here and there in North America Recently (1960) Christadelphians in Ohio made fruitful contact in the vicinity of Piketon in that state, with such an independent group whose origins go back into the far past Where else there still may be those who love the Lord and his appearing we cannot tell The Lord knows those that are his.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One