Furthermore, the Unamended Christadelphians maintain the Holy Spirit is not a distinct member of the Godhead, but the manifestation of God’s power.
The Unamended Christadelphians affirm a belief in the Virgin Birth of Jesus as the literal son of God and Mary.
[4] An additional distinguishing feature of doctrine is the teaching on the nature of man, particularly the rejection of a belief in a Platonic immortal soul.
By baptism, mankind may also escape their inherited condemnation to death and enter an atoned state, justified before God.
Since, under Unamended Christadelphian doctrines, the hope of mankind does not depend on an immortal soul, the group proclaims a bodily resurrection of the dead at the literal return of Jesus Christ to the earth.
The kingdom will be worldwide and last for 1,000 years, after which sin and death will be completely eradicated and “God will be all in all.”(1 Corinthians 15:28) Further distinguishing the Unamended Christadelphians from other Christian denominations is the absence of any church hierarchy or compensated clergy.
The group believes in an inerrancy of the Bible and no other word of modern or ancient times is considered divinely inspired.
Since no formal hierarchical structure existed within Christadelphians (see Organization), the death of the founding member was a sad occurrence, but did not result in a collapse of the denomination.
Scriptural instruction and cohesion was aided by the work of Roberts in Birmingham, England in the 1860s and in the 1880s Thomas Williams in Chicago, Illinois.
In America the registration of "groups of believers" and the coining of the name Christadelphian (Ogle County Illinois, 1863) coincided with the British arm of the movement taking a fixed stand against belief in a supernatural devil (Edinburgh, 1863).
Turney essentially preached Jesus Christ was "not born of a condemned nature" (that is a "free life") and therefore he did not benefit in any way from his own death.
This removed a large part of the British Christadelphian movement into the "Suffolk St." (name of the location of the second major ecclesia in Birmingham) or "Fraternal visitor" (name of the group's magazine) "fellowship".
In the same year, March 1885, Thomas Williams commenced publication of The Christadelphian Advocate Magazine in Waterloo, Iowa.
Williams supported Birmingham Temperance Hall's addition to BSF 1877 of the new "Foundation Clause", and therefore the "disfellowship" of the Suffolk St. group.
At question was whether or not persons who knew the word of God but were not baptised would be judged and condemned for rejecting the “Truth”, subsequently called in Unamended literature “enlightened rejectors”.
[12] Although the exact phrase was not used in Britain, the Sydney Australia ecclesia had already excommunicated "ten who are not able to see that unbaptised and knowing rejectors of the truth are responsible" in 1884.
In 1898 following the examples of London Islington and some other London ecclesias the Birmingham Central meeting amended Clause 24 of BSF to read “the responsible (namely, those who know the revealed will of God, and have been called upon to submit to it)” in BASF, where the original 1877 BSF had stated only the “responsible (faithful and unfaithful)” would be judged.
The London Clapham brethren led by Frank Jannaway urged all ecclesias who did not already have "amendments" prior to 1898 to adopt the new Birmingham amendment, and made it a fellowship issue in London, although the new editor Charles Curwen Walker in Birmingham and his assistant Henry Sulley in Nottingham did not push the issue.
Williams visited Britain in 1903–04 at Owler and Hall's invitation, supporting their position against the "amendment", also urging the British "Unamended" (known as the "Up and be doing" movement) not to join with the large "Suffolk St" group.
[17] Thomas Williams, editor of the Advocate, explained: The amendment in the UK had little lasting effect other than moving a number of meetings from "Central" to "Suffolk St" groupings.
The current situation is complicated by the presence of a part of the Unamended grouping who hold views compatible with the main worldwide body of Christadelphians and who have succeeded in doctrinal agreement with the "Amended" arm of that body in North America, but have not so far found ways to implement that doctrinal agreement as a basis for fellowship.
The fourth grouping (in terms of numbers) the Berean Christadelphians, stand aside from all unity discussions as an exclusive fellowship.
As described by Wilson[26] and Lippy,[27] in general aside from the progress, or otherwise, of local and national unity efforts, Christadelphians in North America continue to regard members of other fellowships as "brethren" and inside the larger denominational circle.
As outlined above, the group's doctrinal positions are contrary to most mainstream Christianity, and are recognized to view both Catholic and Protestant denominations as having lost the 1st century beliefs of the apostles.
[30] The Unamended Christadelphians could also be identified as one of the 19th century restoration movements,[31] which would better suit their open proclamation that mainstream Christianity is corrupted and adheres to false beliefs.
Paul Conkin, in book on American religious reformers, wrote that Unamended Christadelphians remain “the only sect that blends an extreme restorationist or primitivist bent with separatism and Adventism.
"[32] The millennialism or adventism faith of the Unamended Christadelphians has also grouped the denomination into a broad category with Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, despite obvious doctrinal differences.
Baptized men in good standing with the ecclesia preside over the memorial service, offer prayers, lecture and teach adult classes.
At Bible schools and gatherings individuals are exposed to guest teachers and lectures and meet fellow believers from different ecclesias.
Family ties are prominent, given the statement of faith lists marriage with an unbelieving person is a belief to be rejected.