Our Common Heritage

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Eph 4:4-7).

The one Gospel

Christadelphians all have the one Gospel, the one Truth. By long tradition, for at least 150 years now, all in the Central, Amended community acknowledge one common statement of faith. Even though many ecclesias have their own internal statement1, they all accept the statement, known, at least in North America, as the BASF, an abbreviation for the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith2. In fact, the “Birmingham” Central ecclesia, of which the BASF was their own “in-house” statement, dissolved in 2008, after an existence of more than 150 years. For many years, at least from around 1870 into the 1970’s, it was the largest ecclesia in the world. Founded in 1852, it owed its prominence to the guidance of Bro. Robert Roberts, who joined in 1864. It grew rapidly, from around 25 or so when he ar­rived: by 1877, the ecclesial “Record” I have shows a membership of 362. Indeed the undoubted primacy of the ecclesia was solidified by the membership by successively of all the editors of The Christadelphian for over 100 years. After Robert Roberts, there was CC Walker, John Carter, and LG Sargent, whose successor, Alfred Nichols, in 1969 retained his membership of his current ecclesia. By the 1980’s, its membership, which peaked at almost 2,000, was rapidly diminishing as suburban ecclesias proliferated and the members moved out of the inner city.

The “Birmingham” statement was modified many times after the issuance of their original statement, which as far as I can tell was first printed in 1869 (the earliest copy I have is dated 1871). It was recast in a major way in 1883, and the phrase which gave rise to the term “amendment” was added in 1898 by the ecclesia at the suggestion of CC Walker, although Robert Roberts had earlier coined the phrase “namely, those who know the revealed will of God, and have been called upon to submit to it”.

Despite the demise of the originating ecclesia, the “Birmingham” Statement of Faith has remained the common Statement for the Amended Community. It was actually subsequently changed in a relatively minor way in 19193, but it has remained a constant in a changing world, through global wars and much change in the society and the religious landscape around us.

So the Christadelphian body around the world are for the most part united on agreement with the Biblical principles as set forth in the BASF, although not every Christadelphian, especially in the mission field, is aware of this4.

The culture

However, this editorial is not about the history of our common statement of faith. Unchanged for almost 150 years, it has defined the bedrock of the faith held by our community, but as I have pointed out, it can be expressed in many ways. And this bedrock can underlain many different types of edifice. Ecclesias of a very few, and ecclesias of many hundreds, inevitably differ not only in the types of buildings they use but the way they conduct their services. Anyone who travels around this continent or, more particularly, abroad will observe differences, not only in the mode of the service, but also in the way the common truth is expressed. Some worship takes place in quiet, solemn reverence where you can almost hear a pin drop. They attempt to express the awe they feel at the majesty of God and the miracle of the forgiveness through Jesus in words of solemn remembrance. Some ecclesias joyfully and happily express the emotion they feel, along with the hubbub that the presence of a number of small children inevitably create.

Some ecclesial members attend in almost a uniform of dark suits, white shirts and sober ties for the brethren and elegant dresses with elaborate hats for the sisters. Others attend in much less formal attire, with jackets, ties and formal dresses rare. There seems no relation that I have been able to discern between the ecclesia’s grasp of the Truth and their eagerness to spread it, and their mode of conducting services, or the care taken in their clothing. Unfortunately, we can tend to confuse behavior, culture, and dress with doctrinal views. Some ecclesias formally or informally attempt to legislate over matters that most would consider irrelevant. It is known for ecclesias to prohibit bearded brethren from platform duty, which has proven difficult when a certain editor of The Christadelphian was invited to speak. To contrast, I have been in ecclesias where all the duties were performed by bearded brethren (including myself) — and we must remember the elaborate beard sported by John Thomas.

The first century ecclesia

It must be admitted that the tendency to equate external form with inward truth is not a new problem. The Jews in the time of Christ attempted to legislate for almost every aspect of their dress and behavior, and as a result ignored kindness to others and the love of God.

“And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wicked­ness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets” (Luke 11:39-43).

And indeed this type of behavior made its way into the early ecclesias.

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:1-4 ESV).

Those who equate “Sunday Best” with true Christian virtue are ignoring the ex­amples of the early church as well as the apostate church. Dress and true Christian beliefs and actions are not related in any discernable way. Certainly we ought to conduct ourselves “decently and in order” (1Cor 14:40), but it must be remembered that the context is the chaos that seemed to have been caused by “speaking in tongues”, not by dress or deportment.

The present day

We are joined by a common set of beliefs, not by a common culture, way of con­ducting our services, or by our dress.

So as we reflect on our common heritage, on the truth that binds us together, we must remember we have no Ordnung, no set of rules to live by as the Amish do today and the Pharisees did in their time. The way of Christ is not in external appearances or even the way we conduct our services, but in the heart. There is nothing wrong in elegant dress: I am sure the “modest apparel” of the Ephesian Sisters was quite elegant in a sober way. We are all joined by a common faith, not by common dress. The faith we have must work out in our actions, in our preaching, in the trustworthiness and honesty in which we conduct ourselves. The BASF itself does not instruct us in the way we conduct ourselves, but in the common faith we share, and this common faith needs to work itself out in our actions more that in our appearance. Our Lord Jesus did not think of his appearance on the cross: we should not think of our appearance or the minutiae of our services as of any real importance, but of the way we can honor our Lord by our thoughts and our deeds. “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God”.

So in this ever changing world, let us rest on the bedrock of the Truth, for we “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Eph 2:20).

  1. There are a large variety of internal Statements of Faith. Some “Amended” Ecclesias use statements that predate the adoption of the “Amendment” of 1895, and others statements that differ considerably in form, although not content.
  2. Although the other major Christadelphian community in North America is called the “Un­amended”, in fact their statement of Faith in its present form was developed in 1909, well after the Amendment, which was adopted in 1898.
  3. The change was to add the words “or as Police Constables”, in the hope of deflecting the then current controversy over conscientious objection (which it did not do).
  4. I personally was baptized in a large Christadelphian ecclesia which had its own Statement. I did not know of the existence of the BASF for until some years later.