This article is about Unitarianism, a Christian theology that constitutes a belief in God and his unitary nature. For Unitarian Universalism, which holds no specific creeds concerning Christianity, God, or God's unitary nature, see
Unitarian Universalism. For other uses, see
Unitarianism (disambiguation).
The Unitarian movement was not called "Unitarian" initially. It began almost simultaneously in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and in
Transylvania in the mid-16th century. Among the adherents were a significant number of Italians.
[8][9] In England, the
first Unitarian Church was established in 1774 on Essex Street,
London, where today's
British Unitarian headquarters are still located.
[10] Since the theology was also perceived as
deist, it began to attract many people from wealthy and educated backgrounds,
[11] although it was only at the late second half of the 18th century that it started to gain some wider traction within
Christendom.
[12] In the United States, it spread first in
New England, and the first official acceptance of the Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in America was by
King's Chapel in Boston, from where
James Freeman began teaching Unitarian doctrine in 1784, and was appointed rector and revised the
prayer book according to Unitarian doctrines in 1786.
[13] In
J. Gordon Melton's
Encyclopedia of American Religions, it is classified among "the '
liberal' family of churches".
[14]
Terminology[edit]
"Unitarianism" is a
proper noun and follows the same English usage as other theologies that have developed within a religious movement (
Calvinism,
Anabaptism,
Adventism,
Wesleyanism,
Lutheranism, etc.).
[15] The term existed shortly before it became the name of a religious movement, and thus occasionally it is used as a common noun that would describe any
understanding of Jesus Christ that denies the Trinity or which believes that God is only one person. In that case it would be a
nontrinitarian belief system not necessarily associated with the Unitarian religious movement.
[16][17][18] For example, the Unitarian movement has never accepted the Godhood of Jesus, and therefore does not include those
nontrinitarian belief systems that do—such as
Oneness Pentecostalism,
United Pentecostal Church International and the
True Jesus Church and the writings of
Michael Servetus —and which maintain that Jesus is God as a single person. Although these groups are unitarians in the common sense, they are not in the proper sense. To avoid confusion, this article is about Unitarianism as a religious movement (proper noun). For the generic form of unitarianism (the
Christology), see
Nontrinitarianism. Recently some religious groups have adopted the 19th-century term "
biblical unitarianism" to distinguish their theology from Unitarianism.
[19] These likewise have no direct relation to the Unitarian movement.
The term
Unitarian is sometimes applied today to those who belong to a Unitarian church but who do not hold a Unitarian theological belief.
[20]In the past, the vast majority of members of Unitarian churches were Unitarians also in theology. Over time, however, some Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists moved away from the traditional Christian roots of Unitarianism.
[21][22][23] For example, in the 1890s the American Unitarian Association began to allow non-Christian and
non-theisticchurches and individuals to be part of their fellowship.
[24] As a result, people who held no Unitarian belief began to be called "Unitarians" because they were members of churches that belonged to the American Unitarian Association. After several decades, the non-theistic members outnumbered the theological Unitarians.
[25] A similar, though proportionally much smaller, phenomenon has taken place in the Unitarian churches in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other countries, which remain more theistically based. Unitarian theology, therefore, is distinguishable from the belief system of modern Unitarian and
Unitarian Universalist churches and fellowships. This article includes information about Unitarianism as a theology and about the development of theologically Unitarian churches. For a more specific discussion of Unitarianism as it evolved into a pluralistic
liberal religiousmovement, see
Unitarian Universalism (and its national groups the
Unitarian Universalist Association in the United States, the
Canadian Unitarian Council in Canada, the
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches in the United Kingdom, and the
International Council of Unitarians and Universalists).
History[edit]
Unitarianism, both as a theology and as a
denominational family of churches, was defined and developed in Poland, Transylvania, England, Wales and the United States. Although there were common beliefs among Unitarians in each of these regions, they initially grew independently from each other. Only later did they influence one another and accumulate more similarities.
[26]
The
Ecclesia minor or
Minor Reformed Church of Poland, better known today as the
Polish Brethren, was born as the result of a controversy that started on January 22, 1556, when
Piotr of Goniądz (Peter Gonesius), a Polish student, spoke out against the
doctrine of the Trinityduring the general synod of the Reformed (
Calvinist) churches of Poland held in the village of
Secemin.
[27] After nine years of debate, in 1565, the anti-Trinitarians were excluded from the existing synod of the
Polish Reformed Church (henceforth the
Ecclesia maior) and they began to hold their own synods as the
Ecclesia minor. Though frequently called "Arians" by those on the outside, the views of
Fausto Sozzini became the standard in the church, and these doctrines were quite removed from
Arianism. So important was Sozzini to the formulation of their beliefs that those outside Poland usually referred to them as
Socinians. The Polish Brethren were disbanded in 1658 by the
Sejm (Polish Parliament). They were ordered to convert to Roman Catholicism or leave Poland. Most of them went to Transylvania or Holland, where they embraced the name "Unitarian." Sozzini's grandson
Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. in 1665–1668 published
Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant (
Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians 4 vols. 1665–69).
Beliefs[edit]
Christology[edit]
Unitarians believe that mainline Christianity does not adhere to strict
monotheism but that they do by maintaining that Jesus was a great man and a
prophet of God, perhaps even a
supernatural being, but not God himself.
[2] They believe Jesus did not claim to be God and that his teachings did not suggest the existence of a
triune God. Unitarians believe in the
moral authority but not necessarily the
divinity of Jesus. Their theology is thus opposed to the
trinitarian theology of other
Christian denominations.
Unitarian Christology can be divided according to whether Jesus is believed to have had a pre-human existence. Both forms maintain that
God is one being and one "person" and that Jesus is the (or a)
Son of God, but generally not God himself.
[29]
In the early 19th century, Unitarian
Robert Wallace identified three particular classes of Unitarian doctrines in history:
Arians, which believed in a pre-existence of
the divine spirit, but maintained that Jesus was created and lived as human only; "
Socinians", which, denied his original divinity, but agreed that Christ should be
worshipped; and "Strict unitarians", which, believing in an "incommunicable divinity of God", denied both the existence of the
Holy Spirit and the worship of "the man Christ."
[30][31] Unitarianism is considered a factor in the decline of classical deism because there were people who increasingly preferred to identify themselves as Unitarians rather than deists.
[32]Several tenets of unitarianism overlap with the beliefs of
Muwahhid Muslims.
[33]
"Socinian" Christology[edit]
The Christology commonly called "
Socinian" (after
Fausto Sozzini, one of the founders of Unitarian theology) refers to the belief that Jesus Christ began his life when he was born as a human. In other words, the teaching that Jesus
pre-existed his human body is rejected. There are various views ranging from the belief that Jesus was simply a human (
psilanthropism) who, because of his greatness, was adopted by God as his Son (
adoptionism) to the belief that Jesus literally became the
son of God when he was conceived by the
Holy Spirit (see
Virgin birth of Jesus).
This Christology existed in some form or another prior to Sozzini.
Theodotus of Byzantium,
[34] Artemon[35] and
Paul of Samosata[36]denied the pre-existence of Christ. These ideas were continued by
Marcellus of Ancyra and his pupil
Photinus in the 4th century AD.
[37][38]In the
Radical Reformation and
Anabaptist movements of the 16th century this idea resurfaced with Sozzini's uncle,
Lelio Sozzini. Having influenced the
Polish Brethren to a formal declaration of this belief in the
Racovian Catechism, Fausto Sozzini involuntarily ended up giving his name to this Christological position,
[39] which continued with English Unitarians such as
John Biddle,
Thomas Belsham,
Theophilus Lindsey,
Joseph Priestley, and
James Martineau. In America, most of the early Unitarians were "Arian" in Christology (see below), but among those who held to a "Socinian" view was
James Freeman.
Regarding the virgin birth of Jesus among those who denied the preexistence of Christ, some held to it and others did not. Its denial is sometimes ascribed to the
Ebionites; however,
Origen (
Contra Celsumv.61) and
Eusebius (
HE iii.27) both indicate that some Ebionites did accept the virgin birth.
[40] On the other hand,
Theodotus of Byzantium,
Artemon, and
Paul of Samosata all accepted the virgin birth.
[41] In the early days of Unitarianism, the stories of the virgin birth were accepted by most. The
Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1897) incorrectly ascribes denial of the virgin birth to
Ferenc Dávid, leader of the Transylvanian Unitarians.
[citation needed] However, there were a number of Unitarians who questioned the historical accuracy of the Bible (such as
Symon Budny,
Jacob Palaeologus, Thomas Belsham, and
Richard Wright), and this made them question the virgin birth story.
[42][43][44][45] Beginning in England and America in the 1830s, and manifesting itself primarily in
Transcendentalist Unitarianism, which emerged from the German liberal theology associated primarily with
Friedrich Schleiermacher, the psilanthropist view increased in popularity.
[46] Its proponents took an intellectual and humanistic approach to religion. They embraced evolutionary concepts, asserted the "inherent goodness of man", and abandoned the doctrine of biblical infallibility, rejecting most of the miraculous events in the Bible (including the virgin birth). Notable examples are
James Martineau,
Theodore Parker,
Ralph Waldo Emerson and
Frederic Henry Hedge. Famous American Unitarian
William Ellery Channing was a believer in the virgin birth until later in his life, after he had begun his association with the Transcendentalists.
[47][48][49]
"Arian" Christology[edit]
The Christology commonly called "
Arian" holds that Jesus, before his human life, existed as the
Logos, a being created by God, who dwelt with God in heaven. There are many varieties of this form of Unitarianism, ranging from the belief that the Son was a divine spirit of the same nature as God before coming to earth, to the belief that he was an angel or other lesser spirit creature of a wholly different nature from God.
[citation needed] Not all of these views necessarily were held by
Arius, the namesake of this Christology. It is still Nontrinitarian because, according to this belief system, Jesus has always been beneath God, though higher than humans. Arian Christology was not a majority view among Unitarians in Poland, Transylvania or England. It was only with the advent of American Unitarianism that it gained a foothold in the Unitarian movement.
Among early Christian theologians who believed in a pre-existent Jesus who was subordinate to God the Father were
Lucian of Antioch,
Eusebius of Caesarea,
Arius,
Eusebius of Nicomedia,
Asterius the Sophist,
Eunomius, and
Ulfilas, as well as
Felix, Bishop of Urgell. Proponents of this Christology also associate it (more controversially) with
Justin Martyr and
Hippolytus of Rome. Antitrinitarian
Michael Servetus did not deny the pre-existence of Christ, so he may have believed in it.
[50][unreliable source?] (In his "Treatise Concerning the Divine Trinity" Servetus taught that the Logos (Word) was the reflection of Christ, and "that reflection of Christ was 'the Word with God" that consisted of God Himself, shining brightly in heaven, "and it was God Himself"
[51] and that "the Word was the very essence of God or the manifestation of God's essence, and there was in God no other substance or hypostasis than His Word, in a bright cloud where God then seemed to subsist. And in that very spot the face and personality of Christ shone bright."
[51])
Isaac Newton had Arian beliefs as well.
[52][53][54] Famous 19th-century Arian Unitarians include
Andrews Norton[55] and Dr.
William Ellery Channing (in his earlier years).
[56]
Other beliefs[edit]
Although there is no specific authority on convictions of Unitarian belief aside from rejection of the Trinity, the following beliefs are generally accepted:
[57][58][59][60][61][62]
- One God and the oneness or unity of God.
- The life and teachings of Jesus Christ constitute the exemplar model for living one's own life.
- Reason, rational thought, science, and philosophy coexist with faith in God.
- Humans have the ability to exercise free will in a responsible, constructive and ethical manner with the assistance of religion.
- Human nature in its present condition is neither inherently corrupt nor depraved (see original Sin) but capable of both good and evil, as God intended.
- No religion can claim an absolute monopoly on the Holy Spirit ortheological truth.
- Though the authors of the Bible were inspired by God, they were humans and therefore subject to human error.
- The traditional doctrines of predestination, eternal damnation, and the vicarious sacrifice and satisfaction theories of the Atonement are invalid because they malign God's character and veil the true nature and mission of Jesus Christ.[63]
Unitarians have
liberal views of God, Jesus, the
world and
purpose of life as revealed through
reason,
scholarship,
science,
philosophy,
scripture and other prophets and
religions. They believe that reason and belief are complementary and that
religion and science can co-exist and guide them in their understanding of
nature and God. They also do not enforce belief in
creeds or
dogmatic formulas. Although there is flexibility in the nuances of
belief or basic
truths for the individual Unitarian
Christian, general principles of faith have been recognized as a way to bind the group in some commonality. Adherents generally accept
religious pluralism and find value in all teachings, but remain committed to their core belief in
Christ's teachings.
[citation needed]Unitarians generally value a
secular society in which
government is
kept separate from religious affairs. Most contemporary Unitarian Christians believe that one's personal moral convictions guide one's political activities, and that a secular society is the most viable, just and fair.
[citation needed]
Unitarian Christians reject the doctrine of some Christian denominations that God chooses to
redeem or save only those certain individuals that accept the creeds of, or affiliate with, a specific church or religion, from a common ruin or corruption of the mass of humanity.
In 1938,
The Christian leader attributed "
the religion
of Jesus, not
areligion
about Jesus" to Unitarians,
[64] though the phrase was used earlier by
Congregationalist Rollin Lynde Hartt in 1924
[65] and earlier still by US President Thomas Jefferson.
Worship[edit]
Worship within the Unitarian tradition accommodates a wide range of understandings of
God, while the focus of the service may be simply the celebration of life itself. Each Unitarian congregation is at liberty to devise its own form of worship, though commonly, Unitarians will light their chalice (symbol of faith), have a story for all ages; and include sermons, prayers, hymns and songs. Some will allow attendees to publicly share their recent joys or concerns.
[66]
Modern Christian Unitarian organizations[edit]
This section relates to Unitarian churches and organizations today which are still specifically Christian within or outside Unitarian-Universalism, which embraces non-Christian religions.
Hungarian and Transylvanian Unitarian Churches[edit]
Unitarian Christian Conference USA[edit]
The Unitarian Christian Conference USA is a network of congregations and ministers in the United States identifying with the historic Unitarian Christian tradition. The Unitarian Christian Conference USA promotes the concept of the unity of God and the message and example of Jesus of Nazareth as a rational and enriching spiritual path for personal development and a guide for creating a world of justice, peace and human dignity.
[69]
Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship[edit]
International Council of Unitarians and Universalists[edit]
Other Unitarian Christian groups are affiliated with the
International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU), founded in 1995. The ICUU tends to contain a majority membership who express specifically Unitarian Christian beliefs, rather than the religious pluralism of the UUA, but nevertheless remain liberal, open-minded and inclusive communities.
[70] The ICUU has "full member" groups in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.
The ICUU includes small "Associate groups", including Congregazione Italiana Cristiano Unitariana,
Turin (founded in 2004)
[71] and the Bét Dávid Unitarian Association,
Oslo (founded 2005).
[72]
American Unitarian Conference[edit]
The
American Unitarian Conference (AUC) was formed in 2000 and stands between UUA and ICUU in attachment to the Christian element of modern Unitarianism. The American Unitarian Conference is open to non-Christian Unitarians—being particularly popular with non-Christian
theists and
deists.
[73] The AUC has four congregations in the United States.
Unitarian Christian Ministries International[edit]
Unitarian Christian Ministries International was a Unitarian ministry incorporated in South Carolina, U.S. until its dissolution in 2013 when it merged with the Unitarian Christian Emerging Church.
[74]
Unitarian Christian Association[edit]
The majority of Unitarian Christian publications are sponsored by an organization and published specifically for their membership. They generally do not serve as a tool for missionary work or encouraging conversions.
[citation needed]
Australia[edit]
The Sydney Unitarian Church was founded 1850 under a Reverend Stanley and was a vigorous denomination during the 19th century. The modern church has properties in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, and smaller congregations elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand.
[76]
South Africa[edit]
The Unitarian movement in South Africa was founded in 1867 by the Reverend
Dawid Faure, member of a well-known Cape family. He encountered advanced liberal religious thought while completing his studies at the
University of Leiden in Holland for the ministry of the
Dutch Reformed Church in
Cape Town. On his return to South Africa he preached a probationary sermon in the
Groote Kerk, Cape Town. This led to a public appeal to him to found a community based upon what was called the 'new theology'. The 'new theology' as preached by Dawid Faure was grounded in what he described as "the very essence of religion" - love of God and love of neighbor.
[citation needed]
Biblical Unitarian Movement[edit]
In Italy the Biblical Unitarian Movement powered by the ideas of Sozzini and others
[77] is represented today by the churches associated with the
Christian Church in Italy.
[80] This Movement in Italy claims a strong Christian and biblical soul. From the analysis of documents that you can find on the official site of the CCI,
[81][82] it is clear that the doctrinal position of this Christian confession of faith is therefore akin to the so-called Biblical Unitarian movement
[83][84][85] and on the other hand, far from that of
Unitarian Universalist Association who, although sharing a 16th-century origin, have been influenced by many non-biblical ideas (e.g.,
Universalism). The Christian Church in Italy has significant similarities with the Biblical Unitarian movement
[clarification needed], although it maintains a cautious position on some doctrinal points. Wilbur wrote about the Unitarian Movement:
- "The religious movement whose history we are endeavoring to trace...became fully developed in thought and polity in only four countries, one after another, namely Poland, Transylvania, England and America. But in each of these it showed, along with certain individual characteristics, a general spirit, a common point of view, and a doctrinal pattern that tempt one to regard them as all outgrowths of a single movement which passed from one to another; for nothing could be more natural than to presume that these common features implied a common ancestry. Yet such is not the fact, for in each of these four lands the movement, instead of having originated elsewhere, and been translated only after attaining mature growth, appears to have sprung independently and directly from its own native roots, and to have been influenced by other and similar movements only after it had already developed an independent life and character of its own."[86]
The Christian Church in Italy believes that God is only One Person
[87]in direct contrast with the doctrine of the Trinity which defines God as Three coexisting Persons in one Substance (Essence), merged into one being.
[1] So CCI adheres to strict monotheism by believing that Jesus was a perfect and holy man,
[88] virginally begotten in Mary, the promised Christ (i.e., Messiah), the Son of God, and is now at the right hand of God praying for the whole Church.
[89][90]
Ecclesiology[edit]
Several Unitarian organizations still promote Christianity as their central theme. Among them, Unitarian Ministries International,
[94] the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF, an affiliate of the UUA),
[95] the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC) of the United Kingdom, and the Unitarian Christian Association (UCA, an affiliate of the GAUFCC).
[96]
Notable Unitarians[edit]
Notable Unitarians include classical composers
Edvard Grieg and
Béla Bartók,
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Theodore Parker and
Thomas Lamb Eliotin theology and ministry,
Joseph Priestley,
John Archibald Wheeler, and
Linus Pauling in science,
George Boole in mathematics,
Susan B. Anthony in civil government,
Florence Nightingale in humanitarianism and social justice,
John Bowring, and
Samuel Taylor Coleridge in literature,
Frank Lloyd Wright in the arts,
Josiah Wedgwood in industry,
Thomas Starr King in ministry and politics, and
Charles William Eliot in education. Although raised a Quaker, Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, attended the Unitarian church and was one of the founders of Ithaca's First Unitarian Church. Eramus Darwin Shattuck, a signatory to the Oregon State Constitution, founded the first Unitarian Church in Oregon in 1865.
[97]
British Prime Minister,
Neville Chamberlain was raised by his Unitarian statesman father,
Joseph Chamberlain. Certainly, in the United Kingdom, Unitarianism – the religion of only a small minority of the country's population – had an enormous impact on Victorian politics, not only in the larger cities –
Birmingham,
Leeds,
Manchester, and
Liverpool – but in smaller communities like
Leicester where there were so many Unitarian mayors that the Unitarian Chapel was known as the "Mayors' Nest".
In Birmingham, a most impressive Unitarian Church was opened in 1862. The Church of the Messiah, as it was called, was more than the centre of a small sect: it was a cultural and intellectual centre of a whole society, a place where ideas about society were openly and critically discussed. Henry W. Crosskey’s Birmingham Unitarian congregation included:
Joseph Chamberlain, as well as Arthur, his younger brother, who was married to Louisa Kenrick; William Kenrick, his brother-in-law, who was married to Mary Chamberlain; and
Sir Thomas Martineau, who was the nephew of
Harriet Martineau, another outspoken public figure and author of the time. Sir Thomas Martineau (died 1893), was related to the
Chamberlain family by marriage; Sir Thomas had married Emily Kenrick, the sister of Florence Chamberlain, née Kenrick.
[98]
These elite British Unitarian families: the
Nettlefolds, the
Martineaus, the
Luptons, the
Kitsons and the Kenricks, found a most significant place in the social and political history of Victorian through to mid-20th-century Britain.
[99][100]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b Knight, Kevin (ed.), "The dogma of the Trinity", Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent
- ^ Jump up to:a b Miano, David (2003), An Explanation of Unitarian Christianity, AUC, p. 15
- Jump up^ Drzymala, Daren. 2002. Biblical Christianity. Xulon press. p. 122: "Classically, Unitarian Universalist Christians [and Unitarian Christians] have understood Jesus as a Savior because he was a God-filled human being, not a supernatural being."
- Jump up^ Joseph Priestley, one of the founders of the Unitarian movement, defined Unitarianism as the belief of primitive Christianity before later corruptions set in. Among these corruptions, he included not only the doctrine of the Trinity, but also various other orthodox doctrines and usages (Earl Morse Wilbur, A History of Unitarianism, Harvard University Press 1952, pp. 302–303).
- Jump up^ From The Catechism of the Hungarian Unitarian Church in Transylvanian Romania: "Unitarians do not teach original sin. We do not believe that through the sin of the first human couple we all became corrupted. It would contradict the love and justice of God to attribute to us the sin of others, because sin is one's own personal action" (Ferencz Jozsef, 20th ed., 1991. Translated from Hungarian by Gyorgy Andrasi, published in The Unitarian Universalist Christian, FALL/WINTER, 1994, Volume 49, Nos.3–4; VII:107).
- Jump up^ In his history of the Unitarians, David Robinson writes: "At their inception, both Unitarians and Universalists shared a common theological enemy: Calvinism." He explains that they "consistently attacked Calvinism on the related issues of original sin and election to salvation, doctrines that in their view undermined human moral exertion." (D. Robinson, The Unitarians and the Universalists, Greenwood Press, 1985, pp. 3, 17).
- Jump up^ "Although considering it, on the whole, an inspired book, Unitarians also regard the Bible as coming not only from God, but also from humans ... Unitarians therefore do not believe in the infallibility of the Bible, as some other Christians do." (D. Miano, An Explanation of Unitarian Christianity, AUC, 2003, 2007)
- Jump up^ James Hastings Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: Algonquins-Artp 785 – 2001 "The first Unitarians were Italians, and the majority took refuge in Poland, where the laxity of the laws and the independence of the nobility secured for them a toleration which would have been denied to their views in other countries."
- Jump up^ The encyclopedia of Protestantism 137 Hans Joachim Hillerbrand – 2004 "The so-called Golden Age of Unitarianism in Transylvania (1540–1571) resulted in a rich production of works both in Hungarian and Latin".
- Jump up^ Erwin Fahlbusch The encyclopedia of Christianity 5 603 2008 "Lindsey attempted but failed to gain legal relief for Anglican Unitarians, so in 1774 he opened his own distinctly Unitarian church on Essex Street, London, where today's British Unitarian headquarters are still located."
- Jump up^ Boyer, et. al. 2010. p. 290: The Enduring Vision, Volume I: To 1877. Cengage Learning. "Only in the early nineteenth century did Unitarianism emerge as a separate denomination... Although Unitarianism won relatively few converts outside New England, its tendency to attract the wealthy and educated gave Unitarians influence beyond their numbers."
- Jump up^ F. P. Lock. 2006.Edmund Burke, Volume II : 1784-1797: 1784-1797. Oxford University Press. p. 411: "By the 1780s, while may still regarded it as deistic, Unitarianism had achieved an intellectual respectability."
- Jump up^ American Unitarianism: or, A Brief history of "The progress and State of the Unitarian Churches in America, third edition, 1815 "So early as the year 1786, Dr. Freeman had persuaded his church to adopt a liturgy, which the Rev. ... Thus much for the history of Unitarianism at the Stone Chapel. "
- Jump up^ ed. J. Gordon Melton Encyclopedia of American Religions (8th ed.) "Brought together in this chapter as the 'liberal' family of churches and 'religious' organizations are those groups that have challenged the orthodox Christian dominance of Western religious life: Unitarianism, universalism, and infidelism" (p. 611).
- Jump up^ L. Sue Baugh, Essentials of English Grammar: A Practical Guide to the Mastery of English (ISBN 9780844258218). Second Edition 1994, p. 59: "Religious Names and Terms: The names of all religions, denominations, and local groups are capitalized."
- Jump up^ J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of Protestantism, 2005, p. 543: "Unitarianism – The word unitarian [italics] means one who believes in the oneness of God; historically it refers to those in the Christian community who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity (one God expressed in three persons). Non-Trinitarian Protestant churches emerged in the 16th century in ITALY, POLAND, and TRANSYLVANIA."
- Jump up^ Letter from Matthew F. Smith to Editor World faiths Encounter, 7–12 World Congress of Faiths – 1994 – "In an otherwise excellent article by Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, 'Sikh Spirit in an Age of Plurality' (No. 6, November 1993), the writer makes a number of pejorative remarks about 'unitarianism', associating the term with a striving for a monolithic polity and reductionism to a common denominator. This is a very unfortunate misuse of the word. A correct definition of 'unitarianism' (small 'u') is the mono-hypo-static belief system of someone not directly associated with the Unitarian movement, almost always applied to a person from the Christian tradition, as the word was coined in distinction to the orthodox 'Trinitarian' doctrine of Christianity. 'Unitarians' (capital 'U') are, of course, those who follow the Unitarian approach to religion and are formally associated with the movement. In neither case can it be claimed that there is an underlying agenda towards reductionism and uniformity. Quite the reverse, in fact. Modern Unitarianism is remarkable among religions in not only welcoming the variety of faiths that there are to be found but also, as a creedless church, welcoming and encouraging acceptance of the same. We readily accept that not all our members are 'realist' theists, for example. Our long-standing commitment to interfaith understanding, evident in our practical support of the International Association for Religious Freedom, the World Congress of Faiths and the newly established International Interfaith centre in Oxford cannot be taken to mean that Unitarians are seeking the creation of a single world religion out of the old. I do not know a single Unitarian who believes or seeks that. On the contrary, we reject uniformity and cherish instead the highest degree of spiritual integrity, both of the existing religious traditions of the world and of religious persons as unique, thinking individuals. Matthew F Smith, Information Officer" (Essex Street Chapel, Unitarian Church headquarters, UK)
- Jump up^ "The name originated at the time of the great dispute at Gyulafehérvár in 1568, in the course of which Mélius quite often concluded his argument by saying, Ergo Deus est trinitarius.... Hence his party naturally came to be called Trinitarians and their opponents would naturally be called Unitarians. The name seems thus to have come into general use only gradually and it was long before it was employed in the formal proclamations of their Superintendents.... It is not found in print as the denomination of the church until 1600, when the unitaria religio is named as one of the four received religions in a decree of the Diet of Léczfalva (cf. Magyar Emlékek, iv, 551) in the extreme southeastern part of Transylvania. The name was never used by the Socinians in Poland; but late in the seventeenth century Transylvanian Unitarian students made it well-known in Holland, where the Socinians in exile, who had never adopted Socinian as the name of their movement and were more and more objecting to it, welcomed it as distinguishing them from Trinitarians. It thus gradually superseded the term Socinian, and spread to England and America." Earl Morse Wilbur,A History of Unitarianism, vol. 2, pp. 47–48.
- Jump up^ Tuggy, Dale, (2009). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Jump up^ Robinson, The Unitarians and the Universalists, p. 159-184.
- Jump up^ AW Gomes, EC Beisner, and RM Bowman, Unitarian Universalism(Zondervan, 1998), pp. 30–79.
- Jump up^ American Unitarian association, 1886. The Unitarian Register. American Unitarian Association. p. 563
- Jump up^ Rationalist Press Association Limited, 1957. Humanist, Volume 72. p. III
- Jump up^ George Willis Cooke, Unitarianism in America (AUA, 1902), pp. 224–30.
- Jump up^ Engaging Our Theological Diversity (PDF), UUA, pp. 70–2
- Jump up^ "The religious movement whose history we are endeavoring to trace...became fully developed in thought and polity in only four countries, one after another, namely Poland, Transylvania, England and America. But in each of these it showed, along with certain individual characteristics, a general spirit, a common point of view, and a doctrinal pattern that tempt one to regard them as all outgrowths of a single movement which passed from one to another; for nothing could be more natural than to presume that these common features implied a common ancestry. Yet such is not the fact, for in each of these four lands the movement, instead of having originated elsewhere, and been translated only after attaining mature growth, appears to have sprung independently and directly from its own native roots, and to have been influenced by other and similar movements only after it had already developed an independent life and character of its own." Earl Morse Wilbur, A History of Unitarianism, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952), p. 166.
- Jump up^ Hewett, Racovia, pp. 20–1.
- Jump up^ Earl A. Pope, "Protestantism in Romania", in Sabrina Petra Ramet (ed.), Protestantism and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia: The Communist and Postcommunist Eras, Duke University Press, Durham, 1992, p.160. ISBN 0-8223-1241-7
- Jump up^ Hastings, James, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics 2, p. 785,
Unitarianism started, on the other hand, with the denial of the pre-existence... These opinions, however, must be considered apart from Arianism proper
- Jump up^ Wallace, Robert. 1819. A Plain Statement and Scriptural Defence of the Leading Doctrines of Unitarianism. "Statement of The Peculiar Doctrines of Unitarians": pp. 7-10
- Jump up^ See also Socinianism, Arianism and Unitarianism, by Christian Churches of God, Wade Cox, Summary No. 185z
- Jump up^ Mossner, Ernest Campbell (1967). "Deism". Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2. Collier-MacMillan. pp. 326–336.
- Jump up^ Setton, Kenneth (1969). A History of the Crusades. p. 466.
- Jump up^ Hoben, Allan (1903), The virgin birth,
Of the above-stated beliefs that of Theodotus of Byzantium is perhaps the most striking, in that, while it admits the virgin birth, it denies the deductions commonly made therefrom, attributing to Christ only pre-eminent righteousness
- Jump up^ Bright, William, Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life, p. 127,
His original view was put into more definite form by Artemon, who regarded Jesus Christ as distinguished from prophets by (1) virgin-birth, (a) superior virtue
- Jump up^ Charles, Tutorial prayer book, p. 599.
- Jump up^ Houdt, Toon, Self-presentation and social identification, p. 238,
Christian apologists traced the origin of Socinianism to the doctrine of Photinus (4th century), who according to St. Augustine denied the pre-existence of Christ
- Jump up^ R. P. C. Hanson (1916–1988), Lightfoot Professor of Divinity The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318–381 (9780801031465): 1973 "Photinus' doctrine appears to have been a form of what might be called middle Marcellism, i.e. what Marcellus originally taught before his vicissitudes caused him to temper the edge of his doctrine and take account of the criticisms of his friends as well as of his enemies, a little more moderated."
- Jump up^ Watson, R., A Biblical and theological dictionary, p. 999
- Jump up^ Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1982), International Standard Bible Encyclopedia E–J, p. 9,
Origen was the first to distinguish between two types of Ebionites theologically: those who believed in the Virgin Birth and those who rejected it
- Jump up^ Stead, Christopher (1996-01-27), Philosophy in Christian Antiquity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-46955-5 189 pp.[page needed]
- Jump up^ Webb, R. K. (2007), "Miracles in English Unitarian Thought", in Micale, Mark S.; Dietle, Robert L; Gay, Peter, Enlightenment, passion, modernity: historical essays in European Thought and Culture, p. 120
- Jump up^ Belsham (1806), "Remarks on Mr. Proud's Pamphlet", Monthly Repository (I), p. 423
- Jump up^ Wright, Richard (1808), An Essay on the Miraculous Conception of Jesus Christ, London
- Jump up^ Wright, R, A review of the missionary life and labors of Richard Wright, p. 68,
After they were excited to think freely, some gave up the doctrine of the miraculous conception, from reading the scriptures only, and observing certain things there with which it could not be reconciled
- Jump up^ Gura, Philip F. American Transcendentalism: A History. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007: 7–8. ISBN 0-8090-3477-8.
- Jump up^ Placher, William Carl (1983), A history of Christian theology: an introduction, p. 265,
Rationalist Unitarians like William Ellery Channing had argued from the Bible and the evidence of its miracles
- Jump up^ Chadwick, John White, William Ellery Channing: Minister of Religion, p. 440
- Jump up^ Mendelsohn, Jack (1971), Channing, the Reluctant Radical: a biography,
A Suffolk County grand jury indicted him on three charges of blasphemy and obscenity: (1) he had quoted a scurrilous passage by Voltaire disparaging the virgin birth of Jesus
- Jump up^ Odhner, CT (2009), Michael Servetus, His Life and Teachings, p. 77,
It will be seen from these extracts how completely without foundation is the assertion that Servetus denied the eternal pre-existence of Christ
- ^ Jump up to:a b Servetus, Michael (1553). The Restoration of Christianity – An English Translation of Christianismi restitutio, 1553, Translated by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar. Leiston – Queenston – Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-7734-5520-7.
- Jump up^ Pfizenmaier, Thomas C. (1997), "Was Isaac Newton an Arian?",Journal of the History of Ideas (68), pp. 57–80,
Among contemporary scholars, the consensus is that Newton was an Arian
- Jump up^ Wiles, Maurice F (1996), Archetypal Heresy: Arianism Through the Centuries, p. 133,
modern Unitarianism emerged after Newton's death
- Jump up^ Nicholls, David (1995), God and Government in an 'age of Reason', p. 44,
Unitarianism ideas emerged after Newton's death
- Jump up^ A Statement of Reasons for Not Believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians, 1859
- Jump up^ "Unitarian Christianity", The Works of WE Channing, DD, 1841
- Jump up^ May, Samuel Joseph (1867) [1860], What Do Unitarians Believe?, Albany: Weed, Parsons, and Co.
- Jump up^ Henderson, AC (1886), What Do Unitarians Believe?
- Jump up^ Dewey, Orville (1873), The Unitarian Belief, Boston
- Jump up^ Clarke, James Freeman (1924) [1885], Manual of Unitarian Belief(20th ed.)
- Jump up^ Ellis, George H (1890), What Do Unitarians Believe About Jesus Christ?, Boston
- Jump up^ Sunderland, Jabez T (1891), What Do Unitarians Believe?, New York: AUA
- Jump up^ "The Unitarian Denomination". The Quarterly Journal of the American Unitarian Association (Boston: American Unitarian Association) 5: 168. 1858.
- Jump up^ An esteemed Unitarian minister (1938), "2", The Christian leader120, p. 1034,
This view finds pat expression in the dictum that Christianity is the religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus
- Jump up^ Hartt, Rollin Lynde (1924), The Man Himself
- Jump up^ "BBC - Religions - Unitarianism: Unitarian worship".
- Jump up^ a the Diet of Lécfalva 1600, in Gordon A. Heads of Unitarian History
- Jump up^ Keyes, David (1999), Most Like An Arch, p. 106,
And for those [UUs] who take the time to understand Transylvanian Unitarian beliefs, there may be some surprising discoveries to be made. They are humanists! Their Unitarian Christianity is steeped in rationalism, is heavily influenced by judaism
- Jump up^ "Security Check Required".
- Jump up^ "icuu.net".
- Jump up^ Rosso, Rev. Roberto, Protestanti radicale (in Italian), Cesnur
- Jump up^ Unitarforbundet Bét Dávid (Den norske unitarkirke) (in Norwegian)
- Jump up^ The Connection of Deism to American Unitarianism – Nathan De May
- Jump up^ "Unitarian Christian Emerging Church ... a 21st century spiritual community, and faith ministry – Home". Unitarianministries.com. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
- Jump up^ Cross, Tony (1993-01-21), "The Rev. Lancelot Garrard", Obituary, The Independent
- Jump up^ Stephen Crittenden: The President of the Unitarian church in Sydney, Peter Crawford, speaking to John Russell.
- ^ Jump up to:a b cf. SocinianismServetus
- Jump up^ Generally capitalized "b. U." – Dowley 1977, Larsen 2011, Robertson 1929, BFER 1882, PTR 1929, New Encyclopaedia Britannica 1987. SeeWikipedia:Manual of Style (capital letters), article English capitalisationcites source: L. Sue Baugh, Essentials of English Grammar: A Practical Guide to the Mastery of English, Second Edition 1994, p. 59: "Religious Names and Terms: The names of all religions, denominations, and local groups are capitalized." Uncapitalized: Ankerberg.
- Jump up^ Tuggy, Dale, (2009). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Accessed October 30, 2010.
- Jump up^ cf. Christian Church in Italy beliefs
- Jump up^ Chiesa Cristiana di Frosinone, Una delle Chiese o gruppi associati alla CCI.
- Jump up^ "Presentazione della Comunità".
- Jump up^ Christadelphians
- Jump up^ Socinianism
- Jump up^ Polish Brethren
- Jump up^ Earl Morse Wilbur, A History of Unitarianism, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952), p. 166.
- Jump up^ as Atlanta Bible College and The Worldwide Scattered Brethren Network
- Jump up^ Chi è Gesù?
- Jump up^ Miano, David (2003), An Explanation of Unitarian Christianity, AUC, p. 15.
- Jump up^ J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of Protestantism, 2005, p. 543@ "Unitarianism – The word unitarian [italics] means one who believes in the oneness of God; historically it refers to those in the Christian community who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity (one God expressed in three persons). Non-Trinitarian Protestant churches emerged in the 16th century in ITALY, POLAND, and TRANSYLVANIA."
- Jump up^ Joseph Priestley, one of the founders of the Unitarian movement, defined Unitarianism as the belief of primitive Christianity before later corruptions set in. Among these corruptions, he included not only the doctrine of the Trinity, but also various other orthodox doctrines and usages (Earl Morse Wilbur, A History of Unitarianism, Harvard University Press 1952, pp. 302–303).
- Jump up^ From The Catechism of the Hungarian Unitarian Church in Transylvanian Romania: "Unitarians do not teach original sin. We do not believe that through the sin of the first human couple we all became corrupted. It would contradict the love and justice of God to attribute to us the sin of others, because sin is one's own personal action" (Ferencz Jozsef, 20th ed., 1991. Translated from Hungarian by Gyorgy Andrasi, published in The Unitarian Universalist Christian, FALL/WINTER, 1994, Volume 49, Nos.3–4; VII:107).
- Jump up^ In his history of the Unitarians, David Robinson writes: "At their inception, both Unitarians and Universalists shared a common theological enemy: Calvinism." He explains that they "consistently attacked Calvinism on the related issues of original sin and election to salvation, doctrines that in their view undermined human moral exertion." (D. Robinson, The Unitarians and the Universalists, Greenwood Press, 1985, pp. 3, 17.)
- Jump up^ Unitarian Ministries International
- Jump up^ Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship
- Jump up^ Christian, UK Unitarians
- Jump up^ The Centennial History of Oregon 1811–1912 by Joseph Gaston, p. 582.
- Jump up^ Times, Waikato. "Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2328, 11 June 1887, Page 2". Waikato Times (Papers Past) 11 June 1887. Retrieved30 March 2015.
mr Thomas martineau....will rise "Sir Thomas"....he (Sir Thomas) is a nephew of Harriet Martineau
- Jump up^ "Chapter 12 – William Chamberlain comes to London" (PDF). The Parliamentary Chamberlains. Ian Chamberlain – 2003. pp. 57–74. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- Jump up^ Holt, Raymond V. (1906). ": Chapter 3, including Georgian and Victorian period. Ref Chamberlain, Lupton (Leeds) and Martineau, Nettlefold, Kenrick (Birmingham) families". The Unitarian Contribution to Social Progress in England (PDF). Lindsey Press. Retrieved March 1,2013.
- Jump up^ Tim Berners-Lee, The World Wide Web and the "Web of Life"
Sources[edit]
- Tuggy, Dale, "Unitarianism (Supplement to 'Trinity')", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Wilbur, Earl Morse (1925), Our Unitarian Heritage (PDF), Berkeley, CA: Starr King School for the Ministry.
- Joseph Henry Allen, Our Liberal Movement in Theology (Boston, 1882)
- Joseph Henry Allen, Sequel to our Liberal Movement (Boston, 1897)
- Anthony F. Buzzard and Charles F. Hunting, The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound (Lanham, Maryland, 1998). ISBN 1-57309-309-2.
- John White Chadwick, Old and New Unitarian Belief (Boston, 1894).
- George Willis Cooke, Unitarianism in America: a History of its Origin and Development (Boston, 1902).
- Patrick Navas, Divine Truth or Human Tradition: A Reconsideration of the Roman Catholic-Protestant Doctrine of the Trinity in Light of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures (Bloomington, Indiana 2007).ISBN 1-4259-4832-4.
- Earl Morse Wilbur, A History of Unitarianism: Socinianism and Its Antecedents, Harvard University Press, 1945.
- Andrew M. Hill, 'The Unitarian Path', Lindsey Press (London, 1994).ISBN 0-85319-046-1
- Charles A. Howe, For Faith and Freedom: A Short History of Unitarianism in Europe, Skinner House Books (Boston, 1997). ISBN 1-55896-359-6
- Smith, Matthew F (2005), "Unitarians", Christianity: The Complete Guide, London: Continuum, ISBN 0-8264-5937-4.
Bibliography[edit]
- Buzzard, A. and Hunting, C. (1998). The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound. International Scholars Publications. ISBN 1-57309-309-2
- Lloyd, Walter. The Story of Protestant Dissent and English Unitarianism (London: P. Green, 1899).
- Rowe, Mortimer. The History of Essex Hall. London: Lindsey Press, 1959. Full text reproduced here.
Further reading[edit]
External links[edit]
