Ouch, PR. I hope I'm not one of those idol worshipers you speak of. ;)
But I would dig deeper into Christadelphians and see them as they are. You don't have a big problem with them rejecting the theology of living eternally with the Lord? You believe hell is the product of legends?
How much more to the central tenets of Christianity could they be misleading people about. Jesus wasn't God, wasn't eternal, no heaven, no hell. This is starting to sound like a John Lennon song. Imagine all the people... being caught up in this strain of heresy. Fortunately not many have, but even a few is a few too many. Strip our faith of what they stripped it of, and it doesn't even resemble Christianity anymore.
You do sound like John Lennon.
I especially like the portion I bolded -- quite nice pitch you have. :D And to my knowledge you do not belong to a group that I'd consider an idol worshiper.
I do plan to eventually read more on their beliefs so that I can make a better informed opinion in the future. I can't say that it is high on my priority list though. I have too many other more important things on my list.
To be honest, I don't have a big problem with their beliefs concerning the afterlife. From what i saw so far, some of it is not much different from Judaic beliefs, as I previously stated. At least their concept is more akin to the "soul sleep" ideology as opposed to reincarnation (as is a belief held in some Jewish sects). Let's just flip a coin: heads your soul is reincarnated, tails it goes to sleep for a time, or throw the coin high enough up and just send it straight to heaven. (I'm being facetious there, so don't take that comment too seriously. :p All three beliefs can be found in Judaism though.) For me, the afterlife and where my soul goes directly after death is not something that I honestly care much about. God is going to do what he does, regardless of what I believe he will do, and I am quite fine with figuring it out after death one day. I have almost died several times in my life, and once had a near death experience that is unlike any other I have ever read about-- and I am totally at peace with whatever happens, even if it means being cleansed in the fires of gehenna. I have absolutely no concern about what will happen after I die. The important thing to me is my time in the here and now. I'll let God worry about the tomorrow. And in that regard, no I honestly have no problem with what is taught concerning the afterlife.
From my understanding of the wee bit I read on the site you provided about Christadelphians, it is not that they reject the theology of living eternally with the Lord, but the difference is in the how and where this occurs. They believe in the "resurrection to eternal life at the return of Christ." They basically believe the soul does something (sleep?, dormant?, ceases to exist?) until the resurrection of the dead when Christ establishes his kingdom on earth. It is not a new belief that I haven't heard before many times, but each time with slight variation (as happens with most beliefs).
But I realize the essence of your post was not about this one particular belief anyhow. You were only using it as an example. Yes, I do not agree with some of their beliefs. Yes, I really have no opinion either way about some of their beliefs. And yes, I think some are just fine. There are things in almost every denomination and (Abrahamic) religion that I don't agree with-- but I am probably one of the few people who doesn't throw all the babies out with the bathwater. If I did I'd be back to rejecting all religion as I have been in the past. Instead I came to the place where I realized that I do not need to know all things, nor have all the answers. All I need to do is trust God and let him take care of it all. If something or someone doesn't agree with my own personal beliefs, then that is perfectly fine and I am no one to say they are wrong. One of my pastors joked during a sermon not to long ago that when he dies God is probably going to tell him he is preaching the sermon on the mount all wrong.
I realize that some people wouldn't like a preacher who jokes in that manner-- since they are supposed to be the mighty men of God with all the answers and having God on their Holy Spirit speed dial, but to be honest I live having a pastor like that. To me it shows his humility in acknowledging that with all his education and knowledge-- he could be wrong. But I am sidetracking....
You said that if our faith is stripped of what it is stripped of, then it hardly resembles Christianity anymore. For me, this goes along the lines of the "bricks/ springs" thread..... but my intention is NOT to bring up that discussion again.
I am only pointing it out, because I think the problem is in how an individual defines Christianity then and the important elements thereof... for example, I have seen it said that non-trinitarians are not Christian. (This is not a trinitarian debate either. LOL I am just using it as an example.) The problem I have with that logic is...... well, to be honest....... I have a problem with the fact that two people can have identical beliefs and one believes he is a trinitarian, professing the trinity, and they other acknowledges that he is not trinitarian in his belief. Both can not be right. Either the belief is trinitarian or it isn't. Interestingly, I have noticed this a lot recently. So, what makes the non-trinitarian a non-christian in that example? Is it the fact that he acknowledges he is non-trinitarian, even though his belief is no different than the one professing the trinity? Or is the trinitarian confused and simply fooling himself into believing he is trinitarian and a Christian? I have noticed many trinitarians lately who actually espouse non-trinitarian beliefs and they do not know it. Far be it from me to call them on it and tell them they are sinners damned to hell unless they alter their belief on the nature of the father, son, and holy spirit. I am certainly not one who believes that non-trinitarians are non-christian.
But the trinitarian/ non-trinitarian is just an example of a belief that some would adamantly say that in order to be a christian one must be trinitarian, and without that belief then one is not christian.
Let me give an example that fits your words about how if something is stripped, then it doesn't resemble Christian anymore. I have probably told about this individual before.
There was an individual who was so strongly questioning his faith that he rejected Christianity because he was unable to find answers to questions he had. I was talking to him during this crisis he was going through and I asked him what his questions were that no one could answer. When he told me, they were things that I find so simple to explain and understand, so I asked him if I might share how I see those things. When I shared my beliefs he said to me that what I believed about those things is not what he believes to be Christian, and even though my answers make perfect sense to him, if he accepted my answers then to him it would mean rejecting everything he knew to be Christian. He held so strongly, and believed so strongly, that PQRS- beliefs were essential to Christianity, but he felt they held fatal flaws, and he was so rigid in what he believed was essential to being a Christian, that he was unable to accept and entertain beliefs-LMNO, because to him they were not "Christian" even though they made sense.
That is why I said that in some ways this is like the springs vs. bricks discussion. If someone believes absolutely without a shadow of a doubt that a christian MUST be trinitarian, then they find themself unable to reconcile the trinitarian doctrine within themself, nor are they flexible enough to consider non-trinitarian doctrines within their belief system-- then that inner turmoil, and the loose brick, will begin to crumble their entire belief system. Again, I am not picking on trinitarianism, but I am just using it as an example. I see countless of people who say "I turned to Islam, because I could never believe in the trinity or understand it."
Those people were unable to accept that one can be a christian without holding a trinitarian belief-- and so they rejected everything and turned to Islam.
(My post was too long...... first time!....... continued below.)