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"Brother Roberts Sets the Matter Clear"
On Fellowship and Fellowship Practices
"The true fellowship which the apostles have been sent to create, is that fellowship with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ, which will be triumphantly established in a multitude upon the earth at last on the basis of incorruptibility of nature."
More quotes absent from Berean representations of the pioneer position on fellowship...
"'Justice.'—Your proposal for the simultaneous adoption of a common statement of faith by all the ecclesias is made with the best of objects; but it could not accomplish the end you seek. It is not possible in the present state of things to bring all to harmony and stop the mouths of talkers. If the Apostles did not succeed in this, none else need hope to do so. We can but do our best and let things take their course." Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian, 1881, p. 572 [Readers: Note the contrast between these comments of brother Roberts and those from the introductory comments of the Berean Restatement... and further, notice that this is not even going nearly as far as the Bereans have with their "common constitution" and other added fellowship documents. In short brother Robert Roberts mature judgment was against what the Bereans have done and what they claim brother Roberts was in favor of. This overthrows the illusion that brother Roberts taught the worldwide fellowship doctrine that Bereans hold. And further, it shows that he was in agreement with brother Thomas' comments concerning the near impossibility of having an ecclesia "without tares, without a black sheep, or spotted heifer"]
"It is well to be zealous for ecclesial purity; but if we are to abstain from ecclesial association till we find an ecclesia that is perfect, we shall never have ecclesial association at all. We must have compassion as well as zeal. We are all imperfect, and unless we practice some of the charity that 'hides a multitude of sins,' we shall hinder and destroy instead of helping one another." Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian, 1886, p. 230 [Bereans might be quick to admit their ecclesias are not perfect, but they would lose no time in recommending non-Bereans forsake their current ecclesia in favor of any Berean ecclesia... not on the basis of merits or demerits of the specific ecclesia you belong to but on the basis of what name you have on your "Fellowship" card]
"'Purity of fellowship' is a laudable cry, but it requires to be carried out with the discriminations of wisdom. A brother on the plea of 'purity' once called upon me to subscribe to a particular date for the ending of the 1260 years of Daniel and John as a condition of fellowship, and some other similarly outrageous demands in matters of detail. The present contention is not so absurd as that: still, the case shows that 'purity of fellowship' may be carried too far, and that as a watch word it is in itself too vague unless it is supported by justifiable applications in detail." Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian, 1898, p. 129
"True fellowship is a state of being a fellow of, a state of being in close companionship and congenial intimacy with another. It amounts almost to identity. Association is a pure satisfaction bordering on ecstacy; separation a cause of the reverse experience. The grounds of it lie in identity of view, taste, feeling, principle, and aim. It is because there is little of this identity, that there is little of pure fellowship in the present evil state.There may be any amount of association without true fellowship, though true fellowship craves association. There may be nominal fellowship that is sincere enough without being real. The obligations of duty may lead to it without the heart tasting the sweets of it, for lack of the mutuality of the conditions out of which it springs. This is speaking of the fellowships of probation, but this is all preliminary. The true fellowship which the apostles have been sent to create, is that fellowship with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ, which will be triumphantly established in a multitude upon the earth at last on the basis of incorruptibility of nature." Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian, 1895, p. 53-54
Last Update: March 12, 2007