Arianism

Arianism is the denial that Jesus is God, and the belief that Jesus was a created being.
This Christological heresy is named after Arius, a proponent of it in the early Christian
Church who taught that the Son is a divine being, created by the Father. The First Council
of Nicaea (325 A.D.) condemned Arianism.
Early history
Arianism today

There are many sects and religious offshoots of Christianity today that are Arian. Some of
these include the Jehovah's Witnesses and Christadelphianism

Christadelphianism is a monotheistic (belief in one-God) and non-trinitian (denial of the Trinity)

religion that originated in Britain and North America in the 19th century. A major difference
between Christianity is the rejection of the Trinity and the eternal existence of Jesus Christ in
Christadelphianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in 130 countries.

History of Christadelphianism
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Beliefs
Christadelphians base their beliefs on their interpretation of the Bible. Christadelphians believe:

That God is the creator of all things and the father of true believers. He is a separate
being from his son, Jesus Christ

The Holy Spirit is not a person, but the power of God used in creation and for salvation,
and at certain times in history has been given to believers.

Jesus is the promised Messiah, in whom the prophecies and promises of the Old
Testament (particularly those to Abraham and David) find their fulfilment. Jesus is the

Son of Man, in that he inherited sin-prone human nature from his mother, and Son of God
by virtue of his miraculous conception by the power of God. Although tempted, he
committed no sin, and was therefore a perfect representative sacrifice to bring salvation
to sinful mankind. God raised him to immortality, and he ascended to Heaven, God's
dwelling place. Jesus will return in person to establish the kingdom of God on earth. His
throne will be in Jerusalem and he will be king over the restored kingdom of God in
Israel. Jesus will also rule over the whole earth.

People become disciples of Christ only by belief in his teachings, by repentance, and
through baptism by total immersion in water. Although saved by faith in God's grace, real
faith will manifest in works, thus the disciple should seek to live a life consistent with
Bible teaching.

Christadelphians reject a number of doctrines traditionally held by the mainstream Christian

denominations, notably the

Immortality of the soul

The Trinity

The pre-existence of Christ

Beliefs
Due to the way the Christadelphian body is organised there is no central authority to
establish and maintain a standardised set of beliefs and it depends what Statement of
Faith is adhered to and how liberal the ecclesia is, but there are core doctrines most
Christadelphians would accept. In the formal statements of faith a more complete list is
found. For instance in the Central Fellowship, the BASF the official Statement of Faith
has 30 doctrines to be accepted and 35 to be rejected.
[edit] The Bible

Christadelphians state that their beliefs[77] are based wholly on the Bible,[78] and they
accept no other texts as inspired by God.[79]

[edit] God

They believe that God is the creator of all things and the father of true believers,[80] that
he is a separate being from his son, Jesus Christ,[81][82] and that the Holy Spirit is the
power of God used in creation and for salvation.[83] They also believe that the phrase Holy
Spirit sometimes refers to God's character/mind, depending on the context in which the
phrase appears,[84] but reject the orthodox Christian view that we need strength, guidance
and power from the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life,[85] believing instead that the
spirit a believer needs within themselves is the mind/character of God, which is
developed in a believer by their reading of the Bible (which, they believe, contains words
God gave by his Spirit) and trying to live by what it says during the events of their lives
which God uses to help shape their character.[86][87]
Jesus

Christadelphians believe that Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah, in whom the
prophecies and promises of the Old Testament find their fulfilment.[82][88][89] They believe
he is the Son of Man, in that he inherited human nature (with its inclination to sin) from
his mother, and the Son of God by virtue of his miraculous conception by the power of
God.[82][88][90] Although he was tempted, Jesus committed no sin, and was therefore a
perfect representative sacrifice to bring salvation to sinful humankind.[82][88][90] They
believe that God raised Jesus from death and gave him immortality, and he ascended to
Heaven, God's dwelling place.[88] Christadelphians believe that he will return to the earth
in person to set up the Kingdom of God in fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham
and David.[91][92] This includes the belief that the coming Kingdom will be the restoration

of God's first Kingdom of Israel, which was under David and Solomon.[93][94][95] For
Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the gospel taught by Jesus and the apostles.
[edit] Salvation

Christadelphians believe that people are separated from God because of their sins, but can
be reconciled to him by becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.[96][97] This is by belief in the
gospel, through repentance, and through baptism by total immersion in water.[97][98] They
do not believe we can be sure of being saved, believing instead that salvation comes as a
result of a life of obedience to the commands of Christ [99] After death, believers are in a
state of non-existence, knowing nothing until the Resurrection at the return of Christ.[100]
Following the judgement at that time, the accepted receive the gift of immortality, and
live with Christ on a restored Earth, assisting him to establish the Kingdom of God and to
rule over the mortal population for a thousand years (the Millennium).[101]
Christadelphians believe that the Kingdom will be centred upon Israel, but Jesus Christ
will also reign over all the other nations on the earth.[102] Some believe that the Kingdom
itself is not worldwide but limited to the land of Israel promised to Abraham and ruled
over in the past by David, with a worldwide empire.[103]
[edit] Rejection of some traditional doctrines

Christadelphians reject a number of doctrines held by many other Christians, notably the
immortality of the soul, trinitarianism,[81][84] the pre-existence of Christ,[82][84] the baptism
of infants,[98] the personhood of the Holy Spirit[81][82][83][84] and the present-day possession
of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.[83][84][88] They believe that the word devil is a reference to sin
and human nature in opposition to God while the word satan is merely a reference to an

adversary (be it good or bad). According to Christadelphians, these terms are used in
reference to specific political systems or individuals in opposition or conflict. Hell is
understood to refer to death and the grave, rather than being a place of eternal torment.[90]
[104]

Christadelphians do not believe that anyone can go to Heaven. Instead, they believe

that only Christ Jesus went to Heaven, and when Christ Jesus comes back to the earth the
true believers will live in the Land of Israel which will be the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Christadelphians believe the doctrines they reject were introduced into Christendom after
the 1st century,[105] and cannot be demonstrated from the Bible.[81][82][84]
Life in Christ

The historic Commandments of Christ demonstrates the community's recognition of the

importance of Biblical teaching on morality. Marriage and family life are important.
Christadelphians believe that sexual relationships are limited to heterosexual marriage,
ideally between baptised believers.

Jehovah's Witnesses are members of a religious movement who, although identifying

themselves as Christian, are not generally considered as Christians by mainstream
Christianity because they are non-trinitarian. They number around seven million. Their
headquarters are in New York, USA. It is an international organization known for its
extensive preaching and publishing activities. They are well known for their rejection of
blood transfusions and their specific version of the Bible with a number of crucial
differences from mainstream translations.

History of Jehovah's Witnesses

The Jehovah's Witnesses had their beginnings in the late 1870's when a small group under
the leadership of Charles T. Russell began to question a number of accepted Christian
doctrines including the Trinity and Hell.
Beliefs

The Jehovah's Witnesses teach the following as core doctrine, basing them on certain
passages. Some of these interpretations, in particular, Jesus as a created being, are in
direct conflict with orthodox Christianity.

There is only one true God (Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:6; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians
8:5-6)

God is named Jehovah (or Yahweh) (Exodus 3:15-16; Exodus 6:3; Psalm
83:18)

Jesus is God's son (John 10:36; John 20:17)

Jesus was created by God (Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14)

Bible is God's Word and true (2 Timothy 3:16; John 17:17)

Christ lived a perfect life (1 Peter 2:22)

Christ died for all mankind (Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 2:24)

Christ only had to die once for all mankind (Hebrews 9:25-28)

Only 144,000 will make it to heaven. Revelation 7:4

This is contradicted in Revelation 14

, as it says the 144,000 are celibate Jewish males.

Jehovah's Witnesses: Jesus

According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus was created by God and came to earth and
lived a sinless life that ultimately ended in his death. His death is seen as a sacrifice for
all sinful humans.
Jehovah's Witnesses Today

There are around 7,000,000 Jehovah's Witnesses today. They spend billions of hours
preaching every year and hold millions of Bible studies in an effort to teach people what
they believe the Bible really says. They have the most extensive publishing operations in
an effort to print Bibles and Bible aids in every language to reach all people with the
Gospel. Many find their international operations to be surprisingly impressive.