Review of “The Christadelphians” (1987) by Harry Tenant

The Christadelphians does not set out to supersede Elpis Israel, Christendom Astray, or God’s Way—in fact Brother Tennant modestly expresses the hope that his “lesser volume will prove to be an encouragement to read the others”—but it is a book from the same stable, with similar aims, and is a companion volume of which the authors of those earlier books would surely have approved wholeheartedly. In addition, it has the supreme advantage of being written specifically for our generation by one who, pre-eminently, shares the unchanging values and standards of those stalwarts of the past.

In the words of Brother Michael Ashton’s preface,

“The author, who has been a Christadelphian all his adult life, has always sought to set forth Scripture’s distinct teachings. He has now written compellingly and honestly about the great hope it contains”.

The book’s full title is self-explanatory: it deals “with the things which Christadelphians believe and do, and what their organisation and way of life are like”. It is carefully written to serve both the Brotherhood and the world outside. For those who know little or nothing of the Truth, it provides a clear survey of the foundations of a true—that is, of a Biblical—faith in God. For those who already share the writer’s faith, it is a much-needed reminder of our common heritage, coming as it does at a time when too many, alas, are tempted to despise their birthright, as Esau did.

Brother Tennant invites us “to pursue a path through the Word of God” in his company; and though he half-apologises that “some parts of the journey will be over familiar ground”, he succeeds in making the reader’s progress a pleasant and profitable one by a combination of clarity of expression and the deep conviction and easy and eloquent authority which so characterise his spoken style. When such abilities are added to the accumulated experience of a lifetime’s ‘contending for the faith’, the outcome is a work of signal importance from which the reader cannot help but benefit.