The "Renunciationist controversy" began with the teaching of David Handley who first raised the idea that Christ was born with a "free life" – meaning that had he not submitted to his Father's will and death on the cross, he would still have been granted immortality, but renounced this of his own choice.
In response Roberts and the other "Arranging Brethren" of Temperance Hall called together the general membership of the Birmingham Ecclesia and invited them to declare their rejection of Turney and Handley's teachings.
In October 1873 shortly after Turney had left, Roberts was able to declare that 'With the exception of Nottingham, Maldon and Plymouth it [Renunciationism] has failed to establish a footing anywhere."
After 1873 the number of baptisms in Nottingham dropped off sharply, as the small remaining ecclesia carried on led by younger brethren such as Henry Sulley – who had only been baptised two years prior to the 1873 split.
A. Wilson notes that during the period between 1864–1885 "Apart from the Inspiration Controversy, which came to a head in 1885, no other schism appears from official figures to have influenced the Christadelphian movement so much as the 'Clean Flesh' heresy".
[15] The rebaptism took place at Handley's own request, and may have been inspired by Thomas and Roberts, both of whom were rebaptised some time after their initial baptisms when they came to a more detailed understanding of the Scriptures.
Brady wrote extensively in opposition to traditional Christadelphian teachings on the atonement, "sin-in-the-flesh", God-manifestation, mortal resurrection, judgment and baptism, and he produced a large number of booklets dealing with these and other controversies.
This claim may well be true given that many well-known Christadelphian speakers had publicly written on the atonement implicitly taking issue with some of the terms of reference of both Turney and Roberts in the original 1873 controversy.
The original Nottingham and Maldon congregations of the Nazarene Fellowship died out after the death of Turney and the return to the Christadelphians of Handley.