Dr. Thomas, of West Hoboken,
Hudson Co. New Jersey, U. S., has undoubtedly been the great instrument in the
hand of God in digging out, in the nineteenth century, the lost and hidden
treasure of the gospel. The scattered elements of “the truth” had here and
there shown themselves occasionally before his day. The Kingdom of God in some
of its aspects was believed in by a few, the worthlessness of human nature in
respect to immortality was here and there recognised by a stray Bible student;
baptism had long been practised as an essential religious rite, but it was left
to the remarkable man of whom we are speaking to collate and systematise the
truth and evolve it in the complete doctrinal development which is efficacious
for the salvation of men. In the accomplishment of this great work, he studied
much, and brought out many long lost ideas. He also detected the fallacy of
many a revered doctrine, and gave to the Book of God such an altered complexion
that the Bible which before time was enshrined in mystery, and cut off from the
sympathies of intelligent men, became transparent in its intelligibility, and
highly interesting in the grandeur of its revelations, and the adaptation of
its schemes to the wants of the world.
In attaining this magnificent
achievement, Dr. Thomas but yielded to the pressure of circumstances. It was
not a result upon which he had set his mind. He may be said to have drifted
into it through the studies forced upon him. His theological career was
emphatically a providential development as will be seen from the narrative that
is to follow. He did not design it; he did not incline it; it grew as the
result of circumstances acting upon his peculiarly constituted mind. This gives
the history of his life an interest proportionate to the love possessed for the
truth he was instrumental in developing. (Robert Roberts, “Dr. Thomas and His Mission,” The Ambassador of the
Coming Age 1, no. 1 [July 1864]: 9-10; this publication would later be
retitled The Christadelphian)
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