Talk:Christadelphians/Archive 4

message: I have made some edits, largely removing information given elsewhere in the article, or in the John Thomas article. I have also standardised some of the formatting. RJB 14:08, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: For those wondering, I removed the reference to Alan Eyre's book 'The Protestors' because it is not considered a reliable historical source.  The work is deeply biased in favour of the Christadelphian community, and Eyre frequently misrepresents or obscures critical historical facts.  This article should not be used to direct readers towards Christadelphian works which are so obviously apologetic that they border on falsehood.  Taiwan boi 02:16, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

text: It was me. You can tell who has made edits by going to the article and clicking on history. I think I was signed in. Apologies for the knocking out the Joseph Priestley ref as I was editing. I have restored it. To briefly explain other changes: I corrected two spelling mistakes, removed the reference to Albigenses (the doctrinal overlap with Christadelphians seems small, and they are better known for associations with Cathar gnosticism), amended Eastern European 'Brethren' to 'Polish Brethren', because this is the largest and closest to Christadelphians of the EE Brethren groups. Alan Eyre's thesis that the various groups using the name 'Brethren' were some sort of contiguous community isn't supported by historians such as Williams and Wilbur, so I think its useful to treat them as separate communities. Information about Newton, Locke, Tyndale was replaced with wiki links for the purposes of concision. There has been a tendency to exaggerate the similarities between Christadelphians and some of the Radical Reformation groups. I thought it was preferable to indicate some of the similarities, rather than a vague general statement. Newton and Priestley are known chiefly for their Socinianism, Tyndale and Locke for their rejection of church teaching on the immortality of the soul and the meaning of hell. Stephen Snobelen's work has also demonstrated that Newton's beliefs about the Jews parallel those of Christadelphians. By all means expand on which other doctrines they held, either here or on their own pages, and correct any of my mistakes. Hungary and Transylvania is my area of interest; my knowledge of the Radical Reformation further afield is somewhat cursory.RJB 10:29, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think you must not have been logged on, because I couldn't find your name under the edits.  The Albigenses may have a small overlap with the Christadephians but so do others mentioned.  I see no reason not to include them in the list of unorthodox groups.  That some associate them (inaccurately), with the Cathars is irrelevant.  Regarding 'Eastern European 'Brethren, I actually deliberately used the term 'various Eastern European 'Brethren to avoid giving the impression that they were a homogenous group (when certainly they were not, despite Eyre's inaccurate claims).  But not to matter.  I agree that the tendency of some has been to exaggerate the similarities between Christadelphians and some of the Radical Reformation groups, but I would also like to see a greater specificity in this article on that score, particularly to avoid needless speculation.  There is no point in generalities, as you say.  Taiwan boi 15:52, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: You can find the history page here. The changes discussed above are included under my handle. Think we're on agreement over most of this. I still feel "various Eastern European Brethren groups" could be understood to refer to groups such as the Czech Brethren, who have little connection with Christadelphians. I agree we need more on this. RJB 22:54, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Miscellaneous edits