One of, if not the, weakest links in the chain of Christadelphian truth claims is the group's rejection of the personal pre-existence of Jesus. I have addressed this topic a bit in my critiques of the group (see Listing of Articles on Christadelphian Issues). One Christadelphian apologist, George McHaffie, writing in 1959, admitted this, too, and the problems with the common approaches they and other proponents of “Socinian” Christology take to the Gospel of John:
(ii) His Pre-existence
This subject has always been a
weak link. Many of our arguments lack
power in the case of such texts as ‘I came down from heaven not to do mine own
will’ (John 6:38) which implies a decision in heaven before he descended. Or again, ‘Ye have neither heard his voice at
any time, nor seen his shape’ (John 5:37) carrying the obvious implication that
Jesus had. Normally we explain such
passages in reference to the Logos of John, chapter 1 verses 1-14, and by
implication take them as relating to a period prior to his birth. With such a view there seems no logical
escape from the conclusion that he existed as a personality ‘I’ before his
birth. The teaching of the Socinians on
this yields a lost clue. They believed
that prior to his ministry, but when Jesus was a grown man, he ascended to Heaven
and had conversations with God and afterwards returned to earth with knowledge
of Heavenly things (John 3:12). This view is elaborated (of all places) in a
book by a Trinitarian who does not believe John’s Gospel teaches the
pre-existence of Christ! (C. J. Wright in Jesus,
the Revelation of God according to John).
If we take this ascent as a figure of receipt of revelation, we strike
truth (compare Rev. 4:1, 2 Cor. 12:1-4). (George McHaffie, Christadelphia
Redivivus [1959], 26-27)
