The Life After Leaving Podcast: An Ex-Christadelphian Podcast

Today we’re learning about the history of hands-on energy healing in the early Christadelphian community! In this episode, Zinnia discusses the founding of an ecclesia in Edinburgh, Scotland that quickly became interested in practicing hands-on energy healing. These new believers were radical free thinkers who offered sassy -but scriptural- retorts to the demands of Robert Roberts and John Thomas around the validity of baptisms. They also hosted lectures and classes for anyone interested in learning the art of “curative mesmerism”. The Edinburgh ecclesia not only became practitioners of “curative mesmerism” themselves, but also became involved in creating and supporting a local mesmerism organization and promoted the practice as part of the “doctrine of health” to other ecclesias while attributing their healing abilities to God. We also discuss the attitudes that attracted these early believers to Mesmerism and the various theories around what may have contributed to the decline of the practice of mesmerism in this ecclesia. We also learn about Robert Roberts “irresistible” experience with another man, the reason why Robert’s wife was re-baptized after their marriage, and hear about Zinnia’s experiences with hands-on energy healing in the modern day. Please join us for another fun blast to the past learning more forgotten history about the Christadelphians! 

 

Listener discretion advised.

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

 

References:

 

The Early History of the Kingdom of God in Britain" by William Norrie 

Part one

Pg. 128 “The Edinburgh Church of Baptised Believers of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God”

Pg 167 Sassy Rebuttals

Pg 178 Edinburgh Church

Page 202 Curative Mesmerism

Pg 245 On Jane Norrie’s rebaptism

 

The Life after Leaving Podcast Episodes:

S1 Ep 8 Robert Roberts and the Fandom of John Thomas

S1 Ep 10. The Bearded Wisdom of the Christadelphians

S1 Ep. 13 Hypnosis, Telepathy, and Ghosts

S1. Ep 4 Fellowship with Rob

S2. Ep 16. Fellowship with Steve

S3. Ep 32 Fellowship with Ben

 

‘John Thomas: His Friends and His Faith’ by Peter Hemingray 

P 131-132 Declaration of Beliefs in 1847

P 127-129 John Thomas’ Rebaptism

P 192-194 The Marturion Magazine

 

My Days and My Ways by Robert Roberts 

Mesmerism story pages 78-79

 

“Dr. John Thomas: His Life and Work” by Robert Roberts

 

Mesmer (1994) 

 

Alan Rickman

 

The Brief and Strange History of Mesmerism and Surgery

 

The phony health craze that inspired hypnotism (Youtube)

 

The Mesmerist by Wendy Moore 

 

Drake-Kendrick Lamar Feud

 

Referenced by William Norrie: “Messenger of the Churches” issued in July 1858 No. 2

 

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come by John Thomas, May 1858

 

The Zoist: A Journal of Cerebral Physiology & Mesmerism and Their Applications to Human Welfare Volume 12 Christadelphians named as members of the Scottish Curative Mesmeric Association

 

Reiki

 

Prana 

 

Qi 

 

The Astrological Roots of Mesmerism

 

Mesmerising Science: The Franklin Commission and the Modern Clinical Trial

 

Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism

 

Mesmerism (History of Hypnosis Documentary Series - Episode 02)

 

The History of Bad Ideas: Mesmerism (Podcast)

Today we’re chatting with Rebecca! In this episode, we hear from a former Christadelphian who had no intention of leaving the community until the day she walked out the door. Rebecca shares how she was raised in a small ecclesia in a rural area with the expectation that she would get baptized, become a wife and mother, and play piano for the Sunday memorial services. Despite asking a lot of questions during her childhood, she generally conformed to the traditional Christadelphian path for a woman, married a Christadelphian “brother”, and even raised her children to be Christadelphians. But as her children reached adolescence and began to grow into their identities, she was faced with a choice between accepting her children or allowing them to be harmed by the community she loved and served. Unlike most of our guests, Rebecca hadn’t been preparing to leave mentally or emotionally. But motivated by her love for her family, she navigated the unexpected turbulence of leaving the Christadelphian community and shares both the positives and negatives of life outside the group. We also talk about the guilt of recognizing the harms of authoritarian parenting, raising sensitive children in an environment focused on doomsday theology, and about deconstructing Christadelphian views on the LGBTQ community.

 

Listener discretion advised.

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

 

References:

 

Shippensburg/ Mid-Atlantic Christadelphian Bible School

 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone- Mailbox Scene (Youtube)

Today we’re chatting with Kate! In this episode, Kate begins by discussing her childhood in religious education where she grew up attending a Seventh Day Adventist School before later commuting over an hour to a Christadelphian Heritage College in Australia. We also discuss her family’s religious split over a relatives’ divorce and about the high expectations for “appropriate dress” for a “sister in Christ”- even outside the meeting. We discuss questions like, how much hair does a head covering need to cover in order to be an acceptable head covering? Do hoodies count as a head covering? And how can we style floor length denim skirts without a head covering or hat now that we’ve left?? We also chat about religious opinions on the Harry Potter series, the perils of Christadelphian relationships, and the name of a touch rugby team that was right on the [bottle]nose- the “Crystal Dolphins”!

 

Listener discretion advised.

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

 

References:

 

Seventh Day Adventists

 

Life After Leaving Podcast, Episode 21

(The Millerites split and many became Seventh Day Adventists while a small number became Christadelphians)

 

Christadelphian Heritage Colleges

 

Charlie Chaplin

 

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto

 

The Christian Dolphin’s website is no longer available to view

 

The Religious Trauma Collective

 

God to Gay podcast

Today we’re chatting with Ben! In this episode, we explore how Ben went from a youth role model as the son of a renowned conservative Christadelphian preacher to pushing the limits of even the most liberal Christadelphians before leaving. Raised in a conservative branch of Christadelphia, Ben was told that some of their family had “left the faith” but was surprised to discover that there were actually just attending other, less conservative, Christadelphian ecclesias nearby! Even at Ben’s baptism, which surprisingly morphed into a roast, Ben defied convention by asking a member of the “Shield” group to baptism them  at a “Logos” hall as Ben began to resist the labels and expectations they had been raised with. Throughout the episode, Ben and I also discuss Christadelphian music. From singing our favorite songs from “Fruit of Our Lips” to discussing what instruments and songs were allowed to be played to learning about their incredibly popular music nights at SCYP, we dive into what was a pivotal moment in Christadelphian music as Ben and their contemporaries created new music that pushed the limits and was even met with walk-outs and bullying. As a singer-songwriter, Ben left a lasting legacy on Christadelphian music as their songs continue to be popular in the present day. However, most Christadelphians probably don’t know that one of their favorite songs was written by a gay man and a non-binary person who both left the faith! We also talk about puppet plays, the Portland frog, and their experience helping create a LGBTQ affirming evangelical church in New York City.

 

Listener discretion advised.

 If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

Resources and References:

 

Left handedness and sexual orientation

 

Fruit of our Lips CD (2002)

 

El Shaddai (Youtube)

 

As the Deer (unable to find CD Version)

 

A New Commandment (Youtube) 

 

Shout

Living Moving Being

Wonder

Every day

Songs in a strange land

Endless

 

Sydney Christadelphian Young People

 

Flamy Grant 

 

Bible Belt Baby (Spotify)

 

Drag Queen Album Tops Christian Music Charts

 

Hymnary.org

School of Rock

 

Christadelphian Art Trust

 

Yahweh's Youth from Living Moving Being (Youtube)

 

Purple Worship Book

 

Worship Books Audio

 

With All My Heart by Ben Grace, Worship Vol 1 Track 88

 

Rob Bell and the Mars Hill Church

 

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

 

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

 

David Crowder

 

Hurricane/ Superstorm Sandy

 

The Liturgists Podcast

 

Secular Humanism

 

What is Christian Nationalism

 

The Danger of Christian Nationalism

 

Christian Nationalism is neither Christian nor Patriotic

 

Experts Discuss Christian Nationalism 

 

The Portland Frog : 

ICE Protest Frogs Have a Long History 

Frogs For Peace: How the Portland Frog Became a Symbol of Resistance and Hope

 

 

It’s a Wonderful Life Movie (1946)

 

It’s a Wonderful Life and World War II

 

Sean Feucht

 

Jane Goodall's Final Message to the World

 

Audrey Hepburn: “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow”

 

Heathen Happy Hour Podcast

 

Story and Tune 

 

Purity Culture Trauma

 

Purity Culture Support

 

“Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver

 

Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor

 

Ben Grace Music

 

Ben Grace Music (IG) 

 

As if Words Could Heal the Wounds

 

Ex Mormon Bookclub Podcast

 

Ben Grace: Naked and Unashamed Podcast Episode 

 

As if Words Could Heal the Wounds Podcast

Today we’re chatting with Steve about one of his favorite topics, Biblical Studies! In this episode, we learn about the Bible from a former Christadelphian brother who left behind Christadelphian dogma for an open-minded scholarly approach to the Bible. In this episode, Dr. Steve reframes and explores many topics that we thought we knew about to see how context, translation, and history play a part in truly understanding the Bible. We learn that the Dead Sea Scrolls do *not* prove that the Bible hasn’t changed (like some of us were told), that the Bible underwent editing, redaction, and other changes throughout history (rather than being the perfect, unchangeable word of God), and that numerous passages in the Bible actually quote texts that are not found in the KJV Bible we read at all (and we never noticed?!) Steve’s expertise also brings about interesting discussion about the evolution of the doctrine of resurrection, the idea of atonement, whether God forbids homosexuality in Leviticus, and whether “Paul” actually wrote that women should be silent in the ecclesia. We also had fun exploring “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll” in the Bible, reading “Solomon’s top ten pick-up lines”, and listening to Steve’s memory of a satirical prayer given at a Christadelphian ecclesia. Be warned, you’ll need to leave your Strongs Concordance at home for this episode, otherwise you’ll fail this class!   

 

Listener discretion advised. 

 

If you’re interested in coming on the podcast or have comments or questions, you can contact Zinnia at [email protected]

 

Resources and References:

 

Reading the Bible Again For the First Time by Marcus Borg

 

Grimms’ Fairy Tales

 

The Documentary Hypothesis

 

Who wrote the Bible? By Richard Elliot Friedman

 

Redaction Criticism 

 

National Treasure

 

Pseudopigrapha

 

Catholic Bible

 

Orthodox Bible

 

Coptic Bible

 

Ethiopic Bible

 

Testament of Moses

 

Testament of the 12 patriarchs

 

The Wisdom of Solomon

 

Solomon's Top Ten Pick-Up Lines

 

3 books of Isaiah

 

Wisdom of Sirach/ Ben Sira

 

The Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith

 

Hapax legomenon (a word that occurs in only one place)

 

Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres

 

Testament of Job 

 

Strong’s concordance

 

The Book of Judith

 

Judith beheading Holofernes (Caravaggio)

 

Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi)

 

The Talmud

 

Cult Bride: How I was Brainwashed- and How I Broke Free by Liz Cameron

 

Book of Enoch

 

Instagram video on pseudepigrapha 

 

The Ancient Greeks and Quotation Marks

 

The Bible: Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13, James 5:11, Ezekiel 18:20,  2 Tim 3:16, Song of Solomon 1:9, Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2, 1 Timothy 2:11-12, 1 Corinthians 11:2-16