I am encountering a group known as the Christadelphians. How did they originate and what do they believe?
The Christadelphians (“brothers of Christ”) were founded in 1848 by John Thomas, a physician and the son of a Congregationalist minister. Thomas for a time had associated himself with the Campbellites (the “Church of Christ” movement). In 1848 he wrote Elpis Israel–An Exposition of the Kingdom of God, a book which contained his religious ideas. The sect attracted members in the U.S., Canada, and England and came to be known as the Christadelphians during the U.S. Civil War, when the members’ pacifism forced them to select a name. They have experienced no significant growth since that time and today have approximately 20,000 members in England and 16,000 in the U.S. Members are also found in Canada, Australia, Germany, and New Zealand. Christadelphians hold to unitarianism, the belief that there is only one person in the Godhead. They see Jesus as one of the many “Elohim” or “created gods” who were at one time mortal men; in this Christadelphians are much like Mormons. The Holy Spirit
