WHAT AND WHY...

What Christadelphians Believe and Why they Believe it.

1. They believe that man is MORTAL, because the Bible says: "Shall mortal man be more just than God'? (Job 4:17) and that "the first man is of the earth earthly" (1 Cor 15:47), and because the Bible never says man is immortal nor that he has immortality.

2. They believe that man when he is dead is dead, and is not alive, because the Bible says: "The dead know not anything, neither any that go down into SILENCE (Ecc 9:4; Psa 115:17), and that when man dies "his breath goeth forth, HE RETURNETH TO HIS EARTH,AND IN THAT VERY DAY HIS THOUGHTS PERISH." (Psa 146:3-4).

3. They believe that that which is buried – returns to the dust - is the MAN, because the Bible says: "DUST THOU ART, AND UNTO DUST SHALT THOU RETURN" (Gen 3:19), and that if God "take unto himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh shall perish together, and MAN SHALL TURN AGAIN UNTO DUST" (Job 34:14-15).

4. They believe that man in the death state, instead of knowing more than when alive, knows not anything, because the Bible says:" The dead KNOW NOT ANYTHING" (Ecc 9:5), and that "There is no work ,nor device, NOR KNOWLEDGE, nor wisdom in the grave, whither THOU GOEST" (Ecc 9:10).

5. They believe that if there were no resurrection, even those who have died "in Christ" would "remain in the congregation of the dead," because the Bible says that "if the dead rise not*** then they also which are FALLEN ASLEEP in Christ ARE PERISHED" (1Cor 15:18).

6. They believe that to be asleep, in the sense referred to in the foregoing text, is to be dead, because the Bible says, first, "Our friend LAZARUS sleepeth" (John 11:11), and then to correct a misunderstanding, says: "Then says Jesus unto them plainly, LAZARUS IS DEAD" (Verse 14).

7. They believe that they are asleep in the dust, having returned to the dust from whence man was taken, because the Bible says: "Many of them that SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH SHALL AWAKE" (Dan 12:2).

8. They believe that the dead will be raised to LIFE AGAIN, because the Bible says: "ALL THAT ARE IN THE GRAVES shall hear his voice and come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation"(John 5:28-29).

9. They believe that the RESURRECTION is a bringing forth from the dust of the earth, of the just and the unjust, because the Bible says: "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust" (Acts 24:15); and that "Many of them that sleep in the DUST OF THE EARTH SHALL AWAKE" (Dan 12:2).

10. They believe that "the just and the unjust" will be JUDGED, because the Bible says: "For we must all appear before the JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST; that every one may RECEIVE the things done IN his BODY, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Corinthians5:10).

11. They believe that the judgment will take place at the appearing of Christ, because the Bible says that the Lord Jesus "SHALL JUDGE the quick and the dead AT HIS APPEARING and his kingdom (2 Tim 4:1).

12. They believe that the rewarding of the just and punishment of the unjust are after the resurrection, because the Bible says: "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some TO everlasting life, and some TO shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan 12:2); also," And all that are in the graves shall*** COME FORTH; they that have done good UNTO the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil UNTO,: etc (John 5:28-29).

13. They believe that the judgment of the just and the unjust will take BEFORE they are rewarded and punished, because the Bible says "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may RECEIVE the things in the body according to what he hath done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor 5:10); and that God will "render to every man according to his deeds, *** IN THE DAY WHEN GOD SHALL JUDGE THE SECRETS of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel" (Rom 2:6,16).

14. They believe that all those who hold that the just and unjust go to their reward and punishment at death- before the judgment - nullify these truths of the Bible, because there would be no need of a resurrection if the real, responsible being is enjoying the reward in the case of the just, and suffering the punishment in the case of the unjust, independent of the body, and therefore independent of a resurrection.

15. They believe that theories which teach that the just and the unjust have gone to their supposed respected places of reward and punishment, make void the word of God, and stulify themselves.
(1) because the Bible teaches (see Nos. 11, 12), that the judgment is BEFORE the reward and punishing, and
(2) because it is both unscriptural and contradictory to teach that men are rewarded and punished FIRST, and JUDGED AFTERWARDS.

WHAT NOT AND WHY NOT...

What Christadelphians Do Not Believe And Why they Do Not Believe it

1. They do not believe that man is a part of God's immortal nature deposited in the body, because the Bible says that "the Lord God FORMED MAN OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND"(Gen 2:7).

2. They do not believe that man was made alive by giving him an immortal soul, because the Bible says that it was by breathing "into his nostrils, the breath of life that he BECAME A LIVING SOUL" (Gen2:7).

3. They do not believe "living soul" means immortal soul, because the Bible says that "living souls" can die - "Every living soul died in the sea" (Rev 16:3) - and because "living soul" is more frequently applied to the beasts than to man - Gen 1:20,21,24,30 (see margin, "living creature", from the same words in the original as "living soul").

4. They do not believe that it is scriptural to make use of the expression "immortal soul", because it is NOT ONCE TO BE FOUND IN THE BIBLE.

5. They do not believe that the soul is "never-dying", because the Bible says: "The soul that sinneth, it SHALL DIE" (Ezekiel18:4, 20).

6. They do not believe that man knows more after he is dead than when he is alive, because the Bible says: "The LIVING KNOW that they shall die, but THE DEAD KNOW NOT ANYTHING" (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 9).

7. They do not believe that people praise the Lord when they are dead, because the Bible says:
"The dead praise not the Lord" (Isaiah 38:18-19).

8. They do not believe that the good who have died area live in happiness, because the Bible says that "If there is no resurrection nof the dead THEY ARE PERISHED" (1 Cor. 15:18).

9. They do not believe that man is no better than a brute, as some people have said, because the Bible says "there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust" (Acts 24:15).

10. They do not believe that they could ever be appropriately described as infidels, because they take the Bible as their only authority in the important matters herein treated of.

11. They do not believe that those who have died have gone to places of reward and punishment, because the Bible teaches that they are "asleep in the dust of the earth". (Dan 12:2).

12. They do not believe the theory that the good and bad go to their reward and punishment at death, and then that they are to be judged at the coming of the Lord, because the Bible teaches that God will render to every man according to his deeds, "in the day when he shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ" (Romans 2:6, 16).

13. They do not believe that men are judged when they die, because the Bible teaches that the "Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the quick (living) and the dead AT HIS APPEARING and his kingdom"(2 Tim 4:2).

14. They do not believe that men can be saved who make God's word of none effect, because the Bible teaches that those who do so worship God in vain: "Howbeit, in VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men; *** making the Word of God of NON EEFFECT through their traditions" (Mark 7: 7, 13).

15. They do not believe that men can be saved who teach that the good and bad are rewarded at death, thus logically ignoring the necessity of a resurrection, and therefore making the Word of God relative to that doctrine of none effect, because the Bible teaches that the resurrection is among the chief things to be believed; and by a belief of which, among other things, we are saved, if we keep it in memory (1 Cor 15:1-2).

16. They do not believe that the matter of belief or non-belief in these things is unimportant, because the Bible teaches that "He that BELIEVETH and is baptised shall be saved, and he that BELIEVETH NOT shall be condemned" (Mark 16:16); and "he that believeth not God's record(Word) maketh God a liar" (1 John 5:10).

17. They do not believe that men can be saved by following "the dictates of their own conscience"; because men's conscience lead them in opposite directions, while there is only one way of salvation. Even "the strait and narrow way" (Matt 7:14).

18. They do not believe that every man has a right to his own opinion as to what the gospel is, because the Bible says, "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8).

Back to We're In The Last Days Ministries Home Page

Apostasy | Statement of Faith | The Papacy in Prophecy