Originally published in the March 1970 issue of The Testimony magazine
Dr. Thomas – His Life and Work
THE above is the title of the book written by our late brother Robert Roberts in 1873. In the preface he remarks, “It is not a mere story – not a story at all, in the ordinary sense. It is the illustration of a development of Bible truth which, in the absence of miracle and direct communication from God, has taken years to come to maturity: which the world at large is unaware of: which some part of the professing Christian world, knowing of it, rejects with bitterness: which others have received with joy …”.
Present day readers, who are so used to the superficial lightness of reading and speech, pressed out in newspaper and radio, will not take so kindly to such a book as Robert Roberts wrote. It is, however, one that all brethren and sisters should seek to read. It may be “heavy going” in parts, but it is very well worth reading.
The book is hardly a Life of Dr. Thomas. It would be of interest to know more of him, but it is better that we should have an account of how the Truth was found, rather than a detailed biography of the man. It is from this point of view (that is, the discovery, or recovery of the Truth), that Bro. Roberts’ book should be read. It is not adulatory, but records the progress of Dr. Thomas’ “spiritual education; and that should interest any brother or sister”.
The reason for Dr. Thomas’ investigations is well known. During the hazards of the journey across the Atlantic in 1832, when his death by drowning seemed a most likely prospect, he determined to seek the truth about “religion” – if safely brought to land. Very happily for us he survived, and soon came into contact with the “Campbellite” sect: was baptised by them, and it was not long before he became a prominent speaker and writer.
However, by diligent reading of the Scriptures, he began to question what he had accepted as truth, and after some thirteen years of intensive Bible study, realised what constituted the essential principles of apostolic truth. There is no doubt as to the originality of his research. He was a well-informed man and had read extensively in science, history and literature, as his occasional allusions to his own writings show. He was living at a time when there was much investigation into prophecy, and Dr. Thomas himself must have read an enormous amount in this connection – as witness, for example, his preface to volume 3 of Eureka. (Eight large pages of small print and charts.)
It is due to his labour that the body to which we belong came into existence. R. Roberts’ book shows this to be true. In conjunction with it, R. Roberts’ own Autobiography, My Days and My Ways should be read; the thirty-six chapters of which were reproduced in 1917, with a seven-chapter Appendix by the late C. C. Walker. We might well, also, read the late Islip Collyer’s Life of Robert Roberts.
These two books can stir up the heart and can make us thankful for the arduous labours of Bro. Roberts, who lived in times so very different from the comparatively easy-going days we now experience.
Brethren and sisters who have not read the books mentioned would indeed profit by so doing and would, we are sure, have an increased appreciation of THE “TRUTH as it is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21 – The New English Bible), which these early brethren did so much to bring to light from the Scriptures.
This review originally appeared in the March 1970 edition of The Testimony Magazine (page 97), and is reproduced by kind permission.
