Life
Wilson was born in Halifax, England, probably in 1817, [2] but spent the majority of his life in the United States (to which he moved, initially to Geneva, Illinois, with his family, in 1844), where he died on May 8, 1900, in Sacramento, California.
Halifax is a minster town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town has been a centre of woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Piece Hall. Halifax is known for Mackintosh's chocolate and toffee products including Rolo and Quality Street. The Halifax Bank was also founded and is still headquartered in Halifax. Dean Clough, one of the largest textile factories in the world at more than 1⁄2 mile (800 m) long, was in the north of the town. The premises have since been converted for office and retail use including a gym, theatre, Travelodge and radio station.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Geneva is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the western side of the Chicago suburbs.
Although originally Baptists, Wilson's family joined the growing Campbellite movement in 1840, but began to distance themselves from the Campbellites while in Geneva. In 1846 Wilson wrote his first letter to another ex-Campbellite John Thomas, as recorded in the latter's magazine The Herald of the Future Age, agreeing with the Thomas' views on the immortal soul – the initial cause of his break with Campbell. There is considerable correspondence in Thomas' magazines from various members of the Wilson family over the next several years.
Baptists are Christians distinguished by baptizing professing believers only, and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the tenets of soul competency/liberty, salvation through faith alone, scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local congregation. Baptists generally recognize two ordinances: baptism and the Lord's supper.
Campbellite is a mildly pejorative term referring to adherents of certain religious groups that have historic roots in the Restoration Movement, among whose most prominent 19th-century leaders were Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Members of these groups generally consider the term Campbellite inappropriate, saying that they are followers of Jesus, not Campbell. They draw parallels with Martin Luther's protest of the name Lutherans and the Anabaptists' protest of the name given to them by their enemies. With specific reference to the early Restoration Movement, "[t]he terms Campbellism and Campbellites were universally rejected by those to whom they were applied."
Dr. John Thomas was an English religious leader, the founder of the Christadelphian movement. He was a Restorationist, with doctrines similar in part to some 16th-century Antitrinitarian Socinians and the 16th-century Swiss-German pacifist Anabaptists.
Benjamin Wilson was rebaptised in 1851, marking off a new start from the Campbellites, just as John Thomas had been in 1847. [3] In August 1856, Benjamin Wilson and John Thomas finally met, as recorded in The Herald of the Kingdom for that year. Wilson recognized Thomas from his picture in Elpis Israel.
Elpis Israel - An Exposition of the Kingdom of God is a theological book written by John Thomas, founder of the Christadelphians, in 1848-1849 and published in 1849.
Wilson published a monthly religious magazine, the Gospel Banner, which ran from 1855 to 1869, when it was merged with his nephew Thomas Wilson's magazine, Herald of the Coming Kingdom. He also published a hymnbook, the Sacred Melodist, in 1860.
Good relations between Wilson and Thomas lasted until 1863 or 1864 when the two brethren fell out over how to reconcile 1 Corinthians 15:52 "raised incorruptible" with Romans 14:10 & 2 Corinthians 5:10. Wilson, stressing 1Co.15:52, took the view that the righteous dead would not be judged before the bema, Thomas, stressing Ro.14:10 and 2Co.5:10, took the view that there was a physical change involved between being raised mortal and then, following judgement, transformed and clothed with immortality. [4] Thomas' 1st Edition of Elpis Israel 1848 had been, at best, ambiguous on the subject, so several passages in the 4th Edition of 1866 were changed to reflect the 'increased clarity' in his position. John Thomas never directly acknowledged that he, and not Wilson, was the one who had changed his view, nevertheless Robert Roberts did so in 1896, [5] as did Charles Curwen Walker in 1906. [6]
Robert Roberts is the man generally considered to have continued the work of organising and establishing the Christadelphian movement founded by Dr. John Thomas. He was a prolific author and the editor of The Christadelphian Magazine from 1864–1898.
Charles Curwen Walker (1856–1940) was a Christadelphian writer and editor of The Christadelphian Magazine from 1898 to 1937.
As a result of what later came to be known as the "immortal emergence" controversy, fellowship between the two men, and their groups, was severed. Then in 1865 when both groups registered with the Union Government as conscientious objectors using different denominational names the breach was made permanent. In 1865 the group of Christians Benjamin Wilson was then associated with had become known by the name Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith. Although some local groups were not able to register by this name and registered as Church of the Blessed Hope. Some other groups in Illinois who had previously associated with Wilson took the side of John Thomas, and registered with the Union Government as Christadelphians.
The Church of the Blessed Hope is a small first-day Adventist Christian body. The churches¹ have common roots with the Christadelphians and the Church of God General Conference.
The Christadelphians are a millenarian Christian group who hold a view of Biblical Unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century around the teachings of John Thomas, who coined the name Christadelphian from the Greek for "Brethren in Christ".
Legacy
Wilson's main legacy consists in two areas:
The original 1865 Fowler and Wells edition of the Emphatic Diaglott was one of the earliest interlinear Greek-English New Testaments published in America and thus had considerable influence. After Wilson's death the copyright was purchased by the International Bible Students Association (IBSA) (later the Watchtower Society) which from 1902 distributed Wilson's work widely around the world. For this reason Wilson's name is often incorrectly associated with Jehovah's Witnesses (then known as simply as "Bible Students" [7] ), though Wilson never had any association with the founder of the Bible Students group Charles Taze Russell. Further, Wilson's own views on the allegorical nature of the devil, non-preexistence of Christ, literal return of Christ – increasing in conflict with the Watchtower Society after 1914 – are occasionally reflected in the side column of the Diaglot, giving Wilson's own English translation.
The church Wilson was a leading figure in founding still exists today. In 1921 the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith split into two, primarily over the issue of whether the devil was to be understood as literal or figurative, both taking the name Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith, resulting in some confusion today:
- The smaller group, which retained the view of Wilson on the devil as allegory, is now sometimes also known as the Church of the Blessed Hope. This group is in unity talks with Christadelphians.
- The larger group, which today predominantly believe in a supernatural devil, are also known as the Church of God General Conference. Their publications commonly cite Joseph Marsh (1802–1863) rather than Wilson as their spiritual forebear, though Marsh's role in the formation of the group is not clearly documented. [8]
The Church of God General Conference (CoGGC) is a nontrinitarian, Adventist Christian body which is also known as the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith and the Church of God General Conference . The Church of the Blessed Hope, some of whose congregations also use the name Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith (CGAF), are a separate denomination, although they share the same origins.
Benjamin or Ben Wilson may refer to:
The Christadelphian Tidings of the Kingdom of God is a Bible magazine published monthly by the Christadelphians.
In mainstream Christianity, the Devil is a fallen angel who rebelled against God. Satan was expelled from Heaven and sent to Earth. The devil is often identified as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, whose persuasions led to the two corresponding Christian doctrines: the Original Sin and its cure, the Redemption of Jesus Christ. He is also identified as the accuser of Job, the tempter of the Gospels, Leviathan and the dragon in the Book of Revelation.
Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith may refer to the following two modern Christian groups that had the same origin and common history from the 1850s to 1921:
The Unamended Christadelphians are a "fellowship" within the broader Christadelphian movement worldwide, found only in the United States and Canada. They are, like all Christadelphians, millennialist and non-Trinitarian. The term Unamended Christadelphians is not the formal name of this community but is used informally to identify the grouping since a statement of faith traditionally used by many in this community is the "Unamended Statement of Faith". Similarly, most of the much larger grouping of Amended Christadelphians traditionally use a statement of faith that has been amended and therefore, in North America is known by the prefix "Amended". Nevertheless, Christadelphians worldwide and both Amended and Unamended Christadelphians in North America share fundamentally the same doctrines, with a few exceptions.
The Voice is an English translation of the Bible developed by Thomas Nelson and the Ecclesia Bible Society. The Voice is a modern language, dynamic equivalent translation. The New Testament was released in November 2011, and the full Bible was released in April 2012.
Joseph Marsh (1802–1863) was an American Millerite Protestant preacher, and editor of The Advent Harbinger, Bible Advocate and The Voice of Truth and Glad Tidings of the Kingdom at Hand".
Nathaniel Field M.D (1805–1887) was an American abolitionist, and Adventist preacher.
Thomas Williams (1847–1913) was a Welsh Christadelphian who emigrated to America in 1872, and eventually became editor of The Christadelphian Advocate magazine and author of The Great Salvation and The World's Redemption, reserving him a place alongside Christadelphian founders Dr. John Thomas and Robert Roberts. When his appeals to English brethren went unheeded, he became the most prominent of the brethren who avoided these divisive factions, and later became known as Unamended Christadelphians because they never adopted a particular amendment to the Christadelphian statement of faith.
F. G. Jannaway was an English Christadelphian writer on Jewish settlement in Palestine, and notable for his role in the conscientious objector tribunals of World War I. His reaction to controversy was to separate from others in the name of purity, and he was instrumental in the formation of minority factions, such as the Berean Christadelphians. However, this reasoning eventually caused him to separate even from his own brother, A.T.Jannaway.
The following is a bibliography of books in the English language relating to the general topic of Christadelphians.
Alan Hayward (1923–2008) was a British engineer and physicist who was also active as an old-earth Creationist writer, and Christadelphian.
The earliest Christadelphian hymn book published was the "Sacred Melodist" which was published by Benjamin Wilson in Geneva, Illinois in 1860. The next was the hymn book published for the use of Baptised Believers in the Kingdom of God by George Dowie in Edinburgh in 1864. "The Golden Harp" was put together in 1864 by Scotsman Robert Roberts.
