In today’s episode, Zinnia does a deep dive on the history of Christadelphian “prophecies” and apocalyptic predictions! She starts with the origins of the “prophetic arithmetic” methods by a rather infamous American in the 1840’s, follows the early prophecies by John Thomas and Robert Roberts, and leads into conversations around prophecies, high control groups, and cognitive dissonance in the modern era. We also chat about aliens, people on Instagram talking about the modern feelings of doom, and some incriminating definitions around their prophetic beliefs that make the Christadelphians look more than just a little bit culty.
Ready to learn some Christadelphian history? Let’s get into it!
Listener Discretion Advised.
Resources and References:
Toy Story (1995) “The Claw”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atUUjSLMSiM
William Miller and the Great Disappointment:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment
The Great Disappointment of William Miller:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thereligioushistorynerd/2024/04/the-great-disappointment-of-willliam-miller/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millerism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seekers_(rapturists)
The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance and the book “When Prophecy Fails”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails
Wikipedia: History of the Seventh-day Adventists Church:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Seventh-day_Adventist_Church#:~:text=The%20Seventh%2Dday%20Adventist%20Church%20formed%20out%20of%20the,known%20today%20as%20the%20Millerites.
https://st.network/analysis/top/the-second-coming-files-a-2000-year-investigation-part-vii-adventism-after-the-great-disappointment-adventist.html
https://lineagejourney.com/read/the-advent-movement-beyond-the-great-disappointment/
The Disappointed: Millerite Adventists and Their “New World”
https://adventistdigitallibrary.org/features/the-disappointed
The Advent Movement Beyond the Great Disappointment:
https://lineagejourney.com/read/the-advent-movement-beyond-the-great-disappointment/
The Christadelphian Magazine/ The Ambassador of the Coming Age:
January 1866, October 1893, May 1893, October 1897
https://thechristadelphianlibrary.com/category/digital-library/magazines/
John Thomas: His Friends & His Faith by Peter Hemingray
https://www.amazon.com/John-Thomas-Friends-Christadelphian-Tidings/dp/B0CJSQFWF9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Marsh_(Adventist)
Eureka: An Exposition of the Apocalypse by John Thomas
https://www.antipas.org/pdf_files/eureka_vol_1_lg.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka:_An_Exposition_of_the_Apocalypse
Elpis Israel, 7th edition 1897
https://coggc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Elpis-Israel-John-Thomas-1897.pdf
Elpis Israel with Publishers Comments (2000)
https://antipas.org/pdf_files/elpis_israel_1.pdf
“My Days and My Ways” by Robert Roberts
https://www.antipas.org/pdf_files/my_days_and_my_ways.pdf
“Robert Roberts: A Study of Life and Character” by Islip Collyer
https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Roberts-Study-Life-Character/dp/B002IA7KJE
Whose line is it anyways “The show where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163507/taglines/#:~:text=It's%20the%20show%20where%20everything's,the%20points%20don't%20matter!
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot
Christendom Astray by Robert Roberts (including Chapter 16 and the prophecy on page 271)
https://www.antipas.org/pdf_files/astray.pdf
Wikipedia: ‘Christendom Astray from the Bible”
“In the 1951 edition published by The Christadelphian Office, chapter 16 entitled 'Evidence that the End is Near' was deleted because the start of the millennium age did not start as predicted by 1910.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christendom_Astray_from_the_Bible
“What They Said Would Happen: A Review of Christadelphians Predictions” by John Hutchinson, January 2000
https://ed5015.tripod.com/ReligChristadelphianPredictions70.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_I_of_Russia
The Princess Bride (1987 ) “Have fun storming the castle!”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride_(film)
https://www.loc.gov/collections/stars-and-stripes/articles-and-essays/a-world-at-war/timeline-1914-1921/#:~:text=July%2028%2C%201914,Serbia%2C%20beginning%20World%20War%20I.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (Netflix)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Sweet:_Pray_and_Obey
Clifford the Big Red Dog:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_the_Big_Red_Dog
The Bible, Matthew 24:34:
"Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled"
Willy Wonka Golden Ticket:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Ticket
The Princess Bride (1987):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride_(film)
“Have fun storming the castle!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ1KDf3O-qU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Nemo
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/christadelphian
Dictionary.com definition of a Christadelphian: a member of a Christian millenarian sect founded in the US about 1848, holding that only the just will enter eternal life, that the wicked will be annihilated, and that the ignorant, the unconverted, and infants will not be raised from the dead
Millenarianism: “Millenarianism is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millenarianism
Apocalypticism: “Apocalypticism is the religious belief that the end of the world is imminent, even within one's own lifetime”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypticism
Doomsday Cult: “A doomsday cult is a cult that believes in apocalypticism and millenarianism”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_cult
Instagram: video by abbiesr
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DElSF0gv3DC/?igsh=ejExYnRsZ21kaTl2
