John Thomas (12 April 1805 – 5 March 1871) was an English religious leader, the founder of the
Christadelphian
The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the U ...
movement. He was a
Restorationist
Restorationism (or Restitutionism or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer a ...
, with doctrines similar in part to some 16th-century
Antitrinitarian
Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ...
Socinians
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
and the 16th-century Swiss-German pacifist
Anabaptists
Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
.
Early life
John Thomas was born in
Hoxton Square
Hoxton Square is a public garden square in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney. Laid out in 1683, it is thought to be one of the oldest in London. Since the 1990s it has been at the heart of the Hoxton national (digit ...
,
Hackney, London, on 12 April 1805, was the son of a Dissenting minister, also named John Thomas. His family is reputed to be descended from French
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
refugees. His family moved frequently, as his father took up various pastorships including a congregation in London, a brief stay in northern
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, back to London, and then to
Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...
, Lancashire. At the age of 16, in Chorley, he began studying medicine. His family moved back to London, but John Thomas stayed in Chorley. After two years, he returned to London to continue his studies at the
Guy's and
St Thomas's hospitals for a further three years. He trained as a surgeon and had an interest in chemistry and biology, publishing several learned medical articles for ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'', one of which argued in favour of the importance of the use of
corpses
A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stu ...
for the study of medicine (it was illegal in England to dissect them at this time).
Association with Alexander Campbell
The ''
Marquis of Wellesley'' docked in New York and Thomas travelled on to
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Ohio where he became convinced by the
Restoration Movement
The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (179 ...
of the need for baptism and joined them in October 1832. He soon came to know a prominent leader in the movement,
Alexander Campbell, who encouraged him to become an evangelist. He spent his time travelling around the eastern States of America preaching, until eventually settling down as a preacher in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. It was here on 1 January 1834 that he married Ellen Hunt.
Thomas also wrote for and was editor of the ''Apostolic Advocate'' which first appeared in May 1834. His studies during this period of his life generated the foundation for many of the beliefs he came to espouse as a
Christadelphian
The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the U ...
and he began to believe that the basis of knowledge before baptism was greater than the
Restoration Movement
The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (179 ...
believed and also that widely held orthodox Christian beliefs were wrong. Whilst his freedom to believe his unique beliefs was accepted, many objected to the preaching of these beliefs as necessary for salvation. This difference led to a series of debates particularly between Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Because Thomas eventually rebaptised himself and rejected his former beliefs and associations, he was formally
disfellowshipped
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
in 1837. Some people, nonetheless, associated with him and accepted his views.
At this time the
Millerite
Millerite is a nickel sulfide mineral, Ni S. It is brassy in colour and has an acicular habit, often forming radiating masses and furry aggregates. It can be distinguished from pentlandite by crystal habit, its duller colour, and general la ...
or
Adventist
Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...
movement was growing, and in 1843 Thomas was introduced to
William Miller, the leader of the Millerites. He admired their willingness to question orthodox beliefs and agreed with their belief in the
second coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...
of Christ and the founding of a
millennial age upon His return. Thomas continued his studies of the Bible and in 1846 travelled to New York, where he gave a series of lectures covering 30 doctrinal subjects that later formed part of his book ''
Elpis Israel
''Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God'' (commonly called ''Elpis Israel'' (English transliteration of Greek for "the hope of Israel", taken from Actsbr>28:20) is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelp ...
'' (The Hope of Israel).
Christadelphians
Based upon his newfound understanding of the Bible, Thomas was rebaptised (a third and final time) in 1847 and the groups of
congregations and individuals who shared his beliefs continued to grow. In 1848 the movement became international when he travelled to England in order to preach what he now saw as the true
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
message. Upon his return to America, Thomas moved from
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, Virginia to New York City and began to preach there. He made a point of speaking to the
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
community because Dr Thomas had come to believe that Christianity did not replace the Law of Moses but rather fulfilled it. He believed that Christians must, though faith and baptism, become the "seed" (or, "descendant") of
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
.
It was at this time that Thomas and those who shared similar beliefs became known as the Royal Association of Believers. This group of believers used the term "
ecclesia", a Greek word meaning "assembly", to describe them. However, the movement did not have an ‘official’ name until 1864, when a name was chosen during the American Civil War (see below). Instead of having a system of clergy, all the brethren took equal responsibility on a rota to take on the role of presiding and speaking during their meetings.
When in 1861 the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
broke out, Thomas travelled to the South and became concerned that the war had placed believers upon opposing sides. The movement as a whole considered that the war required them to make a stand for what they believed in as
conscientious objectors
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
. In order to be exempted from
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...
, it was required that believers had to belong to a recognised religious group that did not agree with participation in war. Thus in 1864, Thomas coined the name ''Christadelphian'' to identify members of the movement. The term ''Christadelphian'' comes from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and means "Brethren in Christ". It was during the war that Thomas worked on the three volumes of ''Eureka'', which discusses the meaning of the
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...
.
On 5 May 1868, Thomas returned to England, where he travelled extensively giving lecturers about the Gospel message and meeting with Christadelphians in England. During this period of his life he found extensive support and help from
Robert Roberts who had been converted during a previous visit to England by Thomas. Following his return to America, he made one final tour of the Christadelphian congregations prior to his death on 5 March 1871 in
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...]
, Brooklyn, New York.
Legacy
Thomas did not claim to be any kind of
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
, or in any way inspired, but through study and borrowing from the work of others he believed that many traditional church teachings were incorrect and that from the Bible he could prove that position.
:The Lecturer
ohn Thomascommenced by denying a statement which had appeared in many of the London and county newspapers, and amongst them, one made by a religious Editor in this town, to the effect that he assumed to himself the true, infallible, prophetic character, as one sent from God, ''verbatim''. He would appeal to his writings -- and he had written a great deal in twelve years -- and to his speeches, whether he had ever claimed to be such, in the remotest degree whatever. He believed truth as it was taught in the scriptures of truth....
Modern Christadelphians generally believe Thomas was right and adhere to the positions he established as defined within the Christadelphian statements of faith; Christadelphians feel, too, that Thomas' example of an inquiring attitude is also an important legacy.
Thomas wrote several books, one of which, ''
Elpis Israel
''Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God'' (commonly called ''Elpis Israel'' (English transliteration of Greek for "the hope of Israel", taken from Actsbr>28:20) is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelp ...
'' (1848), in its first section, sets out many of the fundamental scriptural principles believed by Christadelphians to this day.
Thomas' exposition of Bible prophecy led to him making various detailed predictions about then current-day events of which some did not come to pass, as was noted in the foreword to subsequent editions of ''Elpis Israel'' after his death, a point that Thomas himself
accepted could happen.
Bibliography
Books
* ''
Elpis Israel
''Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God'' (commonly called ''Elpis Israel'' (English transliteration of Greek for "the hope of Israel", taken from Actsbr>28:20) is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelp ...
'' (1848)
* ''
Eureka: An Exposition of the Apocalypse (In 5 Volumes)''
* ''Exposition of Daniel'' (1868)
Booklets
* ''Anastasis''
* ''The Apostacy Unveiled'' (1872)
* ''Blasphemy and the Names of Blasphemy''
* ''The Book Unsealed: A Lecture on the Prophetic Periods of Daniel and John'' (1869)
* ''Catechesis''
* ''Chronikon Hebraikon''
* ''Destiny of the British Empire as revealed in the Scriptures'' (1871)
* ''Eternal Life'' (1848)
* ''Faith In the Last Days'' (posthumous anthology of writings from 1845 to 1861)
* ''How to Search the Scriptures'' (1867)
* ''The Last Days of Judah's Commonwealth''
* ''Mystery of the Covenant of the Holy Land Explained'' (1854)
* ''Odology''
* ''Phanerosis'' (1869)
* ''The Revealed Mystery''
Magazines
*''The Apostolic Advocate'' (Editor) (1834–39)
*''The Herald of the Future Age'' (Editor) (1843–49)
*''Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come'' (Editor) (1851–61)
See also
*
Christadelphians
The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the U ...
*
Elpis Israel
''Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God'' (commonly called ''Elpis Israel'' (English transliteration of Greek for "the hope of Israel", taken from Actsbr>28:20) is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelp ...
References
Bibliography
* Peter Hemingray, ''John Thomas, His Friends and His Faith'' (2003: )
* Charles H. Lippy, ''The Christadelphians in North America'' (Lewiston/Queenston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1989).
* Robert Roberts, ''Dr Thomas: His Life and Work'' (Birmingham: The Christadelphian, 1873). Available online
AngelFire.com
*
Bryan R. Wilson, ''Sects and Society: A Sociological Study of the Elim Tabernacle, Christian Science and Christadelphians'' (London: Heinemann, 1961; Berkeley/Los Angeles:
University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
, 1961).
External links
Works by John Thomas and other authorsWorks by John Thomas and other Christadelphian writers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, John
1805 births
1871 deaths
19th-century biblical scholars
19th-century British writers
19th-century Christian theologians
American Christian religious leaders
American Christian theologians
British biblical scholars
Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery
Christadelphians
English Christians
English emigrants to the United States
People from Hackney Central
People from Hoxton