Unitarianism

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).

Unitarianism is historically a Christian theological movement named for the affirmation that God is one entity, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism, which defines God as three persons in one being.[1] Traditional Unitarians maintain that Jesus of Nazareth is in some sense the "son" of God (as all humans are children of the Creator), but that he is not the one God himself.[2] They may believe that he was inspired by God in his moral teachings and can thus be considered a savior,[3] but all Unitarians perceive Christ as human rather than a Deity. Unitarianism is also known for the rejection of several other Western Christian doctrines,[4] including the soteriological doctrines of original sin and predestination,[5][6] and, in more recent history, biblical inerrancy.[7] Unitarians in previous centuries accepted the doctrine of punishment in an eternal hell, but few do today.

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

"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-theistic churches 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 religious movement, 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

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 Trinity during 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 (Faustus Socinus) became the standard in the church, and these doctrines were quite removed from Arianism. So important was Socinus 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." Between 1665 and 1668 a grandson of Socinus, Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr., published Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant (Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians 4 vols. 1665–69).

The Unitarian Church in Transylvania was first recognized by the Edict of Torda, issued by the Transylvanian Diet under Prince John II Sigismund Zápolya (January 1568),[28] and was first led by Ferenc Dávid (a former Calvinist bishop, who had begun preaching the new doctrine in 1566). The term "Unitarian" first appeared as unitaria religio in a document of the Diet of Lécfalva, Transylvania, on 25 October 1600, though it was not widely used in Transylvania until 1638, when the formal recepta Unitaria Religio was published.

The word Unitarian had been circulating in private letters in England, in reference to imported copies of such publications as the Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians (1665). Henry Hedworth was the first to use the word "Unitarian" in print in English (1673), and the word first appears in a title in Stephen Nye's A brief history of the Unitarians, called also Socinians (1687). The movement gained popularity in England in the wake of the Enlightenment and began to become a formal denomination in 1774 when Theophilus Lindsey organised meetings with Joseph Priestley, founding the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Church in London.

The first official acceptance of the Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in America was by King's Chapel in Boston, which settled James Freeman (1759–1835) in 1782, and revised the Prayer Book into a mild Unitarian liturgy in 1785. In 1800, Joseph Stevens Buckminster became minister of the Brattle Street Church in Boston, where his brilliant sermons, literary activities, and academic attention to the German "New Criticism" helped shape the subsequent growth of Unitarianism in New England. Unitarian Henry Ware (1764–1845) was appointed as the Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard College, in 1805. Harvard Divinity School then shifted from its conservative roots to teach Unitarian theology (see Harvard and Unitarianism). Buckminster's close associate William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) was settled over the Federal Street Church in Boston, 1803, and in a few years he became the leader of the Unitarian movement. A theological battle with the Congregational Churches resulted in the formation of the American Unitarian Association at Boston in 1825.

Beliefs

Christology

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

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 Celsum v.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. 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

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. 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] (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

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]

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. 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.

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 a religion 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

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

First Unitarian Meeting House in Madison, Wisconsin, designed by Unitarian Frank Lloyd Wright

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

The largest Unitarian denomination worldwide today is also the oldest surviving Unitarian denomination (since 1565, first use of the term "Unitarian" 1600);[67] the Unitarian Church of Transylvania (in Romania, which is in union with the Unitarian Church in Hungary). The church in Romania and Hungary still looks to the statement of faith, the Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios (1787), though today assent to this is not required. The modern Unitarian Church in Hungary (25,000 members) and the Transylvanian Unitarian Church (75,000 members) are affiliated with the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) and claim continuity with the historical Unitarian Christian tradition established by Ferenc Dávid in 1565 in Transylvania under John II Sigismund Zápolya. The Unitarian churches in Hungary and Transylvania are structured and organized along a church hierarchy that includes the election by the synod of a national bishop who serves as superintendent of the Church. Many Hungarian Unitarians embrace the principles of rationalist Unitarianism.[68] Unitarian high schools exist only in Transylvania (Romania), including the John Sigismund Unitarian Academy in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár), and the Berde Mózes Unitárius Gimnázium in Cristuru Secuiesc (Székelykeresztúr); both teach Rationalist Unitarianism.

Unitarian Christian Conference USA

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

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF, founded 1945) predates the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association (AUA) and Universalist Church of America (UCA) into the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in 1961. UUCF continues as a subgroup of UUA serving the Christian members.

International Council of Unitarians and Universalists

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

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

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

The Unitarian Christian Association (UCA, UK) was founded 1991 by Rev. Lancelot Garrard (1904–93)[75] and others to promote specifically Christian ideas within the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC), the national Unitarian body in Great Britain. Just as the UUCF and ICUU maintain formal links with the Unitarian Universalist Association in the USA, so the UCA is an affiliate body of the GAUFCC in Great Britain.

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.

Australia

The Sydney Unitarian Church was founded 1850 under a Reverend Mr Stanley and was a vigorous denomination during the 19th century. The modern church, no longer unitarian Christian, has properties in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, and smaller congregations elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand.[76]

South Africa

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.

Biblical Unitarian Movement

Main article: Biblical Unitarianism

In the mainstream of the Protestant Reformation there is the Biblical Unitarian Movement.[77] Today, biblical Unitarianism (or "Biblical Unitarianism" or "biblical unitarianism")[78] identifies the Christian belief that the Bible teaches God is a singular person—the Father—and that Jesus is a distinct being, his son. A few denominations use this term to describe themselves, clarifying the distinction between them and those churches[79] which, from the late 19th century, evolved into modern British Unitarianism and, primarily in the United States, Unitarian Universalism.

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 the non-Christian churches in the Unitarian Universalist Association who, although sharing a 16th-century origin, have been influenced by many non-biblical ideas (e.g., Universalism). That Association does included unitarian Christian churches such as King's Chapel, Boston, linked with the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship. The Christian Church in Italy has significant similarities with the Biblical Unitarian movement, 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] A continuing non-Trinitarian unitarian Christian Church is the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, with all except two of its congregations in Northern Ireland.

The Christian Church in Italy rejects certain traditional Christian doctrines[91] including the soteriological doctrines of original sin and predestination.[92][93] The CCI is distinct from other religious movements which exalt Jesus as the only true God, as for example the Oneness Pentecostalism, the United Pentecostal Church International, and the True Jesus Church.

Ecclesiology

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

Notable Unitarians include classical composers Edvard Grieg and Béla Bartók, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodore Parker and Thomas Lamb Eliot in theology and ministry, Joseph Priestley, John Archibald Wheeler, Linus Pauling and inventor Sir Francis Ronalds[97] 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.[98]

Eleven Nobel prizes have been awarded to Unitarians: Robert Millikan and John Bardeen (twice) in Physics; Emily Green Balch, Albert Schweitzer, Linus Pauling, and Geoff Levermore for Peace; George Wald and David H. Hubel in Medicine; Linus Pauling in Chemistry; and Herbert A. Simon in Economics.

Four presidents of the United States were Unitarians: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, and William Howard Taft. Adlai Stevenson II, the Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956, was a Unitarian, and he was the last Unitarian (so far) to be nominated by a major party for president.

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.[99]

In Lambeth, South London, another two members of the Martineau family, Caroline and Constance, worked at Morley College, the former acting as (unpaid) Principal for over eleven years. Several other prominent Unitarians were involved in the development of this liberal arts college, which was founded by actors at the Old Vic theatre.[100]

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.[101][102]

Other Unitarians include Sir Tim Berners-Lee,[103] Lancelot Ware, founder of Mensa, Sir Adrian Boult, the conductor, Ray Kurzweil, notable inventor and futurist, and C. Killick Millard, founder of the Dignity in Dying society to support voluntary euthanasia. Ram Mohan Roy an Indian reformer of the 18th century, was a Unitarian who published a book called Precepts of Jesus.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Knight, Kevin (ed.), "The dogma of the Trinity", Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent
  2. 1 2 Miano, David (2003), An Explanation of Unitarian Christianity, AUC, p. 15
  3. ↑ 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."
  4. ↑ 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).
  5. ↑ 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).
  6. ↑ 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).
  7. ↑ "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)
  8. ↑ James Hastings Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: Algonquins-Art p 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."
  9. ↑ 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".
  10. ↑ 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."
  11. ↑ 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."
  12. ↑ 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."
  13. ↑ 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. "
  14. ↑ 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).
  15. ↑ 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."
  16. ↑ 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."
  17. ↑ 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)
  18. ↑ "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.
  19. ↑ Tuggy, Dale, (2009). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  20. ↑ Robinson, The Unitarians and the Universalists, p. 159-184.
  21. ↑ AW Gomes, EC Beisner, and RM Bowman, Unitarian Universalism (Zondervan, 1998), pp. 30–79.
  22. ↑ American Unitarian association, 1886. The Unitarian Register. American Unitarian Association. p. 563
  23. ↑ Rationalist Press Association Limited, 1957. Humanist, Volume 72. p. III
  24. ↑ George Willis Cooke, Unitarianism in America (AUA, 1902), pp. 224–30.
  25. ↑ Engaging Our Theological Diversity (PDF), UUA, pp. 70–2
  26. ↑ "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.
  27. ↑ Hewett, Racovia, pp. 20–1.
  28. ↑ 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
  29. ↑ 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
  30. ↑ 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
  31. ↑ See also Socinianism, Arianism and Unitarianism, by Christian Churches of God, Wade Cox, Summary No. 185z
  32. ↑ Mossner, Ernest Campbell (1967). "Deism". Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2. Collier-MacMillan. pp. 326–336.
  33. ↑ Setton, Kenneth (1969). A History of the Crusades. p. 466.
  34. ↑ 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
  35. ↑ 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
  36. ↑ Charles, Tutorial prayer book, p. 599.
  37. ↑ 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
  38. ↑ 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."
  39. ↑ Watson, R., A Biblical and theological dictionary, p. 999
  40. ↑ 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
  41. ↑ Stead, Christopher (1996-01-27), Philosophy in Christian Antiquity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-46955-5 189 pp.
  42. ↑ 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
  43. ↑ Belsham (1806), "Remarks on Mr. Proud's Pamphlet", Monthly Repository (I), p. 423
  44. ↑ Wright, Richard (1808), An Essay on the Miraculous Conception of Jesus Christ, London
  45. ↑ 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
  46. ↑ Gura, Philip F. American Transcendentalism: A History. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007: 7–8. ISBN 0-8090-3477-8.
  47. ↑ 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
  48. ↑ Chadwick, John White, William Ellery Channing: Minister of Religion, p. 440
  49. ↑ 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
  50. ↑ Odhner, CT (1910), 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
  51. 1 2 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.
  52. ↑ 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
  53. ↑ Wiles, Maurice F (1996), Archetypal Heresy: Arianism Through the Centuries, p. 133, modern Unitarianism emerged after Newton's death
  54. ↑ Nicholls, David (1995), God and Government in an 'age of Reason', p. 44, Unitarianism ideas emerged after Newton's death
  55. ↑ A Statement of Reasons for Not Believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians, 1859
  56. ↑ "Unitarian Christianity", The Works of WE Channing, DD, 1841
  57. ↑ May, Samuel Joseph (1867) [1860], What Do Unitarians Believe?, Albany: Weed, Parsons, and Co.
  58. ↑ Henderson, AC (1886), What Do Unitarians Believe?
  59. ↑ Dewey, Orville (1873), The Unitarian Belief, Boston
  60. ↑ Clarke, James Freeman (1924) [1885], Manual of Unitarian Belief (20th ed.)
  61. ↑ Ellis, George H (1890), What Do Unitarians Believe About Jesus Christ?, Boston
  62. ↑ Sunderland, Jabez T (1891), What Do Unitarians Believe?, New York: AUA
  63. ↑ "The Unitarian Denomination". The Quarterly Journal of the American Unitarian Association (Boston: American Unitarian Association) 5: 168. 1858.
  64. ↑ An esteemed Unitarian minister (1938), "2", The Christian leader 120, p. 1034, This view finds pat expression in the dictum that Christianity is the religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus
  65. ↑ Hartt, Rollin Lynde (1924), The Man Himself
  66. ↑ "BBC - Religions - Unitarianism: Unitarian worship".
  67. ↑ a the Diet of Lécfalva 1600, in Gordon A. Heads of Unitarian History
  68. ↑ 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
  69. ↑ "Security Check Required".
  70. ↑ "icuu.net".
  71. ↑ Rosso, Rev. Roberto, Protestanti radicale (in Italian), Cesnur
  72. ↑ Unitarforbundet Bét Dávid (Den norske unitarkirke) (in Norwegian)
  73. ↑ The Connection of Deism to American Unitarianism – Nathan De May
  74. ↑ "Unitarian Christian Emerging Church ... a 21st century spiritual community, and faith ministry – Home". Unitarianministries.com. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  75. ↑ Cross, Tony (1993-01-21), "The Rev. Lancelot Garrard", Obituary, The Independent
  76. ↑ Stephen Crittenden: The President of the Unitarian church in Sydney, Peter Crawford, speaking to John Russell.
  77. 1 2 cf. SocinianismServetus
  78. ↑ Generally capitalized "b. U." – Dowley 1977, Larsen 2011, Robertson 1929, BFER 1882, PTR 1929, New Encyclopaedia Britannica 1987. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (capital letters), article English capitalisation cites 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.
  79. ↑ Tuggy, Dale, (2009). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Accessed October 30, 2010.
  80. ↑ cf. Christian Church in Italy beliefs
  81. ↑ Chiesa Cristiana di Frosinone, Una delle Chiese o gruppi associati alla CCI.
  82. ↑ "Presentazione della Comunità".
  83. ↑ Christadelphians
  84. ↑ Socinianism
  85. ↑ Polish Brethren
  86. ↑ Earl Morse Wilbur, A History of Unitarianism, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952), p. 166.
  87. ↑ as Atlanta Bible College and The Worldwide Scattered Brethren Network
  88. ↑ Chi è Gesù?
  89. ↑ Miano, David (2003), An Explanation of Unitarian Christianity, AUC, p. 15.
  90. ↑ 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."
  91. ↑ 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).
  92. ↑ 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).
  93. ↑ 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.)
  94. ↑ Unitarian Ministries International
  95. ↑ Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship
  96. ↑ Christian, UK Unitarians
  97. ↑ Ronalds, B.F. (2016). Sir Francis Ronalds: Father of the Electric Telegraph. London: Imperial College Press. ISBN 978-1-78326-917-4.
  98. ↑ The Centennial History of Oregon 1811–1912 by Joseph Gaston, p. 582.
  99. ↑ Times, Waikato. "Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2328, 11 June 1887, Page 2". Waikato Times (Papers Past) 11 June 1887. Retrieved 30 March 2015. mr Thomas martineau....will rise "Sir Thomas"....he (Sir Thomas) is a nephew of Harriet Martineau
  100. ↑ Offspring of the Vic by Denis Richards, originally published in 1958
  101. ↑ "Chapter 12 – William Chamberlain comes to London" (PDF). The Parliamentary Chamberlains. Ian Chamberlain – 2003. pp. 57–74. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  102. ↑ 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.
  103. ↑ Tim Berners-Lee, The World Wide Web and the "Web of Life"

Sources

Bibliography

Further reading

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Unitarianism.

A.Richard Kingston, God in One Person : The Case for Non-Incarnational Christianity , Basingstoke, The Macmillan Press, 1993 ; re-printed 2014.

External links

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