Unitarianism (from
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a
nontrinitarian
Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ...
branch of
Christian theology
Christian theology is the theology of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theology, theologian ...
. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the
doctrine of the Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
which states that there is
one God
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...
who exists in three
coequal,
coeternal
Eternity, in common parlance, means infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas sempiter ...
,
consubstantial
Consubstantiality, a term derived from la, consubstantialitas, denotes identity of substance or essence in spite of difference in aspect.
It appears most commonly in its adjectival form, "consubstantial", from Latin ''consubstantialis'', and ...
divine persons:
God the Father
God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, God the Son Jesus Christ, and the third person, God t ...
,
God the Son
God the Son ( el, Θεὸς ὁ υἱός, la, Deus Filius) is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus as the incarnation of God, united in essence (consubstantial) but distinct in ...
(
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
) and
God the Holy Spirit
For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third person of the Trinity, a Triune God manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each entity itself being God.Gru ...
. Unitarian Christians believe that
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
was
inspired by God in his moral teachings and that he is a
savior
Savior or Saviour may refer to:
*A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something
Religion
* Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years
* Maitreya
* Messiah, a saviour or l ...
,
but not God himself.
Unitarianism was established in order to restore "
primitive Christianity
Restorationism (or Restitutionism or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer a ...
before
hat Unitarians saw aslater corruptions setting in"; Unitarians generally reject the
doctrine
Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...
of
original sin
Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...
. The churchmanship of Unitarianism may include liberal denominations or Unitarian Christian denominations that are more conservative, with the latter being known as
biblical Unitarian
Biblical unitarianism (also capitalized as biblical Unitarianism, BU) encompasses the key doctrines of Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christian denomination, Christians who affirm the Christian Bible, Bible as their Sola scriptura, sole authorit ...
s.
The movement is proximate to the
radical reformation
The Radical Reformation represented a response to corruption both in the Catholic Church and in the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century, the Ra ...
, beginning almost simultaneously among the protestant
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called "Arians" or "Socinians" (, ' ...
in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
and in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
in the mid-16th century; the Christian denomination that emerged is known as the
Unitarian Church of Transylvania
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania ( hu, Erdélyi Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană din Transilvania), also known as the Hungarian Unitarian Church ( hu, Magyar Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană Maghiară), is a Christian ...
. Among the adherents were a significant number of Italians who took refuge in Poland. In the 17th century, significant repression in Poland led many Unitarians to flee or be killed for their faith, notably
Katarzyna Weiglowa
Katarzyna Weiglowa (Wajglowa) (German: Katherine Weigel; given erroneously in a Polish source of 17c. as Vogel, and known in many English sources as Catherine Vogel) (circa 1460 – April 19, 1539), was a Polish woman who was burned at the stake fo ...
. From the 16th to 18th centuries, Unitarians in Britain often faced significant political persecution, including
John Biddle,
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...
, and
Theophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey (20 June 1723 O.S.3 November 1808) was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.
Early life
Lindsey was born in Middlewich, Cheshire, t ...
. In England, the
first Unitarian Church was established in 1774 on
Essex Street, London
Essex Street is a street in the City of Westminster that runs from Milford Lane in the south to Strand in the north. It is joined by Little Essex Street on its western side and Devereux Court on the eastern side. It was laid out by Nicholas Barb ...
,
where today's
British Unitarian
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC or colloquially British Unitarians) is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christians, and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom and Irelan ...
headquarters is still located.
As is typical of
dissenters
A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc.
Usage in Christianity
Dissent from the Anglican church
In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...
, Unitarianism does not constitute one single
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...
; rather, it refers to a collection of both existing and extinct Christian groups (whether historically related to each other or not) that share a common theological concept of the
unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation
* Unitarity (physics)
* ''E''-unitary inverse semigroup ...
nature of God. Unitarian communities have developed in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Central Europe, India, Canada, the United States, Jamaica, Nigeria, and Japan.
In the United States, different schools of Unitarian theology first spread in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
and the mid-Atlantic states. The first official acceptance of the Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in America was by
King's Chapel
King's Chapel is an American independent christianity, Christian unitarianism, unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, anglicanism, Anglican in worship, and congrega ...
in Boston, from where
James Freeman began teaching Unitarian doctrine in 1784 and was appointed rector. Later in 1786, he revised the
Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
according to Unitarian doctrines.
Terminology
![UnitarianUniversalistChurchsignRochesterMN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/UnitarianUniversalistChurchsignRochesterMN.JPG)
Unitarianism is a
proper noun
A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', ''Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...
and follows the same English usage as other theologies that have developed within a religious movement (
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
,
Anabaptism
Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...
,
Adventism
Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...
,
Wesleyanism
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...
,
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
, etc.). The term existed shortly before it became the name of a religious movement, thus occasionally it is used as a common noun to describe any
understanding of Jesus Christ that denies the Trinity or believes that God is only one person. In that case, it would be a
nontrinitarian
Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ...
belief system not necessarily associated with the Unitarian religious movement. 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
Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Jesus Only movement) is a nontrinitarian religious movement within the Protestant Christian family of churches known as Pentecostalism. It derives its distinct ...
,
United Pentecostal Church International
The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Weldon Spring, Missouri, United States. The United Pentecostal Church International was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal C ...
, the
True Jesus Church
The True Jesus Church (TJC) is a non-denominational Christian Church that originated in Beijing, China, during the Pentecostal movement in the early twentieth century. The True Jesus Church is currently one of the largest Christian groups in Ch ...
, and the writings of
Michael Servetus
Michael Servetus (; es, Miguel Serveto as real name; french: Michel Servet; also known as ''Miguel Servet'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish th ...
(all of which maintain that Jesus is God as a single person). Recently, some religious groups have adopted the 19th-century term ''
biblical unitarianism
Biblical unitarianism (also capitalized as biblical Unitarianism, BU) encompasses the key doctrines of nontrinitarian Christians who affirm the Bible as their sole authority, and from it base their beliefs that God the Father is one singular bein ...
'' to distinguish their theologies from Unitarianism.
The term ''Unitarian'' is sometimes applied today to those who belong to a Unitarian church but do not hold a Unitarian theological belief. In the past, most 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. For example, in the 1890s the American Unitarian Association began to allow non-Christian and
non-theistic
Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in the existence of god or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject o ...
churches and individuals to be part of their fellowship. 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. For a more specific discussion of Unitarianism as it evolved into a pluralistic
liberal religious movement, see
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth, guided by a ...
(and its national groups the
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...
in the United States, the
Canadian Unitarian Council
The Canadian Unitarian Council (french: link=no, Conseil unitarien du Canada) (CUC) is a liberal religious association of Unitarianism, Unitarian and Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist congregations in Canada. It was formed on May ...
in Canada, the
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC or colloquially British Unitarians) is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christians, and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom and Irelan ...
in the United Kingdom, and the
International Council of Unitarians and Universalists
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) was an umbrella organization founded in 1995 comprising many Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist organizations. It was disolved in 2021 along with the Unitarian ...
).
History
Unitarianism, both as a theology and as a
denominational family of churches, was defined and developed in Poland, Transylvania, England, Wales, India, Japan, Jamaica, the United States, and beyond in the 16th century through the present. Although common beliefs existed 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.
The ''Ecclesia minor'' or ''Minor Reformed Church of Poland'', better known today as the
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called "Arians" or "Socinians" (, ' ...
, 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
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
during the general synod of the Reformed (
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
) churches of Poland held in the village of
Secemin
Secemin is a village in Włoszczowa County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Secemin. It lies historic Lesser Poland, approximately south-west of Włoszczo ...
. After nine years of debate, in 1565, the anti-Trinitarians were excluded from the existing synod of the
Polish Reformed Church
The Polish Reformed Church, officially called the Evangelical Reformed Church in the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Kościół Ewangelicko-Reformowany w RP'') is a historic Calvinistic Protestant church in Poland established in the 16th century, ...
(henceforth the ''Ecclesia maior'') and they began to hold their own synods as the ''Ecclesia minor''. Though frequently called "
Arians
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
" by those on the outside, the views of
Fausto Sozzini
Fausto Paolo Sozzini, also known as Faustus Socinus ( pl, Faust Socyn; 5 December 1539 – 4 March 1604), was an Italian theologian and, alongside his uncle Lelio Sozzini, founder of the Non-trinitarian Christian belief system known as Socinian ...
(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
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
. The Polish Brethren were disbanded in 1658 by the
Sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
(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. Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. (Latin ''Andreas Wissowatius'') (Filipów, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Filipów 1608 - Amsterdam, 1678) was a Socinian theologian who worked with Joachim Stegmann (1595–1633) on the Racovian Catechism of 1605, and taught at the Ra ...
, published ''
Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum
The ''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant'' or ''Library of the Polish Brethren called Unitarians'' 1665, 1668, 1692 (not 1656 as incorrectly listed in some catalogs) is a collection of writings of the Polish Brethren published by ...
quos Unitarios vocant'' (''Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians'' 4 vols. 1665–1669).
The Unitarian Church in Transylvania was first recognized by the
Edict of Torda
The Edict of Torda ( hu, tordai ediktum, ro, Edictul de la Turda, german: Edikt von Torda) was a decree that authorized local communities to freely elect their preachers in the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom of John Sigismund Zápolya. The delegates ...
, issued by the
Transylvanian Diet
The Transylvanian Diet (german: Siebenbürgischer Landtag; hu, erdélyi országgyűlés; ro, Dieta Transilvaniei) was an important legislative, administrative and judicial body of the Principality (from 1765 Grand Principality) of Transylvania ...
under
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
John II Sigismund Zápolya
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
(January 1568),
[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
Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Du ...
, Durham, 1992, p. 160. and was first led by
Ferenc Dávid
Ferenc Dávid (also rendered as ''Francis David'' or ''Francis Davidis''; born as Franz David Hertel, c. 1520 – 15 November 1579) was a Unitarian preacher from Transylvania, the founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, and the lea ...
(a former
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
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
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, 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 Henry Hedworth (1626–1705) of Huntingdon was a Unitarian writer.
Henry Hedworth is chiefly notable for being the first person in the English language to introduce Latin (and Dutch) term "Unitarian" into print in England 1673, fourteen years befo ...
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
Theophilus Lindsey (20 June 1723 O.S.3 November 1808) was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.
Early life
Lindsey was born in Middlewich, Cheshire, t ...
organised meetings with
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...
, founding the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country. This occurred at
Essex Street Church in London.
Official
toleration came in 1813.
The first official acceptance of the Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in America was by
King's Chapel
King's Chapel is an American independent christianity, Christian unitarianism, unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, anglicanism, Anglican in worship, and congrega ...
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
Joseph Stevens Buckminster (May 26, 1784 – June 9, 1812) was an influential Unitarian preacher in Boston, Massachusetts, and a leader in bringing the German higher criticism of the Bible to America.
Biography
Born in Portsmouth, New Hampsh ...
became minister of the
Brattle Street Church
The Brattle Street Church (1698–1876) was a Congregational (1698 – c. 1805) and Unitarian (c. 1805–1876) church on Brattle Street in Boston, Massachusetts.
History
In January 1698, " Thomas Brattle conveyed the land on which the meetin ...
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 The Hollis Chair of Divinity is an endowed chair at Harvard Divinity School. It was established in 1721 by Thomas Hollis, a wealthy English merchant and benefactor of the university, at a salary of £80 per year. It is the oldest endowed chair in t ...
at Harvard College, in 1805.
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
then shifted from its conservative roots to teach Unitarian theology (see
Harvard and Unitarianism). Buckminster's close associate
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
(1780–1842) was settled over the
Federal Street Church
The Federal Street Church (established 1729) was a congregational Unitarianism, Unitarian church in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized in 1727, the originally Presbyterianism, Presbyterian congregation changed in 1786 to "Congregational church, Congr ...
in Boston, 1803, and in a few years he became the leader of the Unitarian movement. A theological battle with the
Congregational Churches
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
resulted in the formation of the
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
at Boston in 1825. Certainly, the unitarian theology was being "adopted" by the Congregationalists from the 1820s onwards. This movement is also evident in England at this time.
Beliefs
![Egy az Isten ! - 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Egy_az_Isten_%21_-_2014.12.14.JPG)
Christology
Unitarians charge that the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
, unlike unitarianism, fails to adhere to strict monotheism. Unitarians maintain that Jesus was a great man and a
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
of God, perhaps even a
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
being, but not God himself.
They believe Jesus did not claim to be God and that his teachings did not suggest the existence of a
triune God
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Fa ...
.
Unitarian Christology can be divided according to whether or not Jesus is believed to have had a pre-human existence. Both forms maintain that
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
is one being and one "person" and that Jesus is the (or a)
Son of God, but generally not God himself.
In the early 19th century, Unitarian
Robert Wallace identified three particular classes of Unitarian doctrines in history:
*
Arian
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
, which believed in a pre-existence of the
Logos
''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive ...
;
*
Socinian
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
, which denied his pre-existence, but agreed that Christ should be
worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...
ped; and
* "Strict Unitarian", which, believing in an "incommunicable divinity of God", denied the worship of "the man Christ."
Unitarianism is considered a factor in the decline of classical
deism
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning "god") is the Philosophy, philosophical position and Rationalism, rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that Empirical evi ...
because there were people who increasingly preferred to identify themselves as Unitarians rather than deists.
Several tenets of Unitarianism overlap with the
predominant Muslim view of Jesus and
Islamic understanding of monotheism.
"Socinian" Christology
![Portret van de theoloog Fausto Paolo Sozzini, RP-P-1908-3942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Portret_van_de_theoloog_Fausto_Paolo_Sozzini%2C_RP-P-1908-3942.jpg)
The Christology commonly called "
Socinian
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
" (after
Fausto Sozzini
Fausto Paolo Sozzini, also known as Faustus Socinus ( pl, Faust Socyn; 5 December 1539 – 4 March 1604), was an Italian theologian and, alongside his uncle Lelio Sozzini, founder of the Non-trinitarian Christian belief system known as Socinian ...
, 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
Denial of the virgin birth of Jesus is found among various groups and individuals throughout the history of Christianity. These groups and individuals often took an approach to Christology which understands Jesus to be human, the literal son of hu ...
) who, because of his greatness, was adopted by God as his Son (
adoptionism
Adoptionism, also called dynamic monarchianism, is an Early Christianity, early Christian Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Diversity in early Christian theology, theological doctrine, which holds that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus was adopted as ...
) to the belief that Jesus literally became the
son of God when he was conceived by the
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
.
This Christology existed in some form or another prior to Sozzini.
Theodotus of Byzantium
Theodotus of Byzantium ( grc, Θεόδoτoς ''Theodotos''; also known as Theodotus the Tanner, Theodotus the Shoemaker, Theodotus the Cobbler, and Theodotus the Fuller; flourished late 2nd century) was an Adoptionist theologian from Byzantium, o ...
,
Artemon
Artemon ( grc, Ἀρτέμων) (fl. c. 230 AD), a prominent Christian teacher in Rome, who held Adoptionist, or Nontrinitarian views. We know little about his life for certain.
He is mentioned as the leader of a nontrinitarian sect at Rome in ...
and
Paul of Samosata
Paul of Samosata ( grc-gre, Παῦλος ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, lived from 200 to 275 AD) was Patriarch of Antioch, Bishop of Antioch from 260 to 268 and the originator of the Paulianist heresy named after him. He was a believer in monarchian ...
denied the pre-existence of Christ. These ideas were continued by
Marcellus of Ancyra
Marcellus may refer to:
* Marcellus (name)
* Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman commander
Places
* Marcellus, Lot-et-Garonne, France
* Marcellus Township, Michigan
** Marcellus, Michigan, a village in Marcellus Township
** Marcellus Community Scho ...
and his pupil
Photinus
Photinus (Greek Φωτεινός; died 376), was a Christian bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia Secunda (today the town Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia), best known for denying the incarnation of Christ, thus being considered a heresiarch by the Catholic C ...
in the 4th century AD. In the
Radical Reformation
The Radical Reformation represented a response to corruption both in the Catholic Church and in the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century, the Ra ...
and
Anabaptist
Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
movements of the 16th century this idea resurfaced with Sozzini's uncle,
Lelio Sozzini
Lelio Francesco Maria Sozzini, or simply Lelio Sozzini (Latin: ''Laelius Socinus''; 29 January 1525 – 4 May 1562), was an Italian Renaissance humanist and theologian and, alongside his nephew Fausto Sozzini, founder of the Non-trinitarian Chri ...
. Having influenced the
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called "Arians" or "Socinians" (, ' ...
to a formal declaration of this belief in the
Racovian Catechism
The Racovian Catechism ('' Pol.'': Katechizm Rakowski) is a nontrinitarian statement of faith from the 16th century. The title ''Racovian'' comes from the publishers, the Polish Brethren, who had founded a sizeable town in Raków, Kielce County, ...
, Fausto Sozzini involuntarily ended up giving his name to this Christological position, which continued with English Unitarians such as
John Biddle,
Thomas Belsham
Thomas Belsham (26 April 175011 November 1829) was an English Unitarian minister
Life
Belsham was born in Bedford, England, and was the elder brother of William Belsham, the English political writer and historian. He was educated at the dissen ...
,
Theophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey (20 June 1723 O.S.3 November 1808) was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.
Early life
Lindsey was born in Middlewich, Cheshire, t ...
,
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...
, and
James Martineau
James Martineau (; 21 April 1805 – 11 January 1900) was a British religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism.
For 45 years he was Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Political Economy in Manchester New College ( ...
. 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
The virgin birth of Jesus is the Christian doctrine that Jesus was conceived by his mother, Mary, through the power of the Holy Spirit and without sexual intercourse. It is mentioned only in and , and the modern scholarly consensus is that the ...
among those who denied the preexistence of Christ, some held to it and others did not. Its denial is sometimes ascribed to the
Ebionites
Ebionites ( grc-gre, Ἐβιωναῖοι, ''Ebionaioi'', derived from Hebrew (or ) ''ebyonim'', ''ebionim'', meaning 'the poor' or 'poor ones') as a term refers to a Jewish Christian sect, which viewed poverty as a blessing, that existed during ...
; however,
Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...
(''Contra Celsum'' v.61) and
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
(''HE'' iii.27) both indicate that some Ebionites did accept the virgin birth. On the other hand,
Theodotus of Byzantium
Theodotus of Byzantium ( grc, Θεόδoτoς ''Theodotos''; also known as Theodotus the Tanner, Theodotus the Shoemaker, Theodotus the Cobbler, and Theodotus the Fuller; flourished late 2nd century) was an Adoptionist theologian from Byzantium, o ...
,
Artemon
Artemon ( grc, Ἀρτέμων) (fl. c. 230 AD), a prominent Christian teacher in Rome, who held Adoptionist, or Nontrinitarian views. We know little about his life for certain.
He is mentioned as the leader of a nontrinitarian sect at Rome in ...
, and
Paul of Samosata
Paul of Samosata ( grc-gre, Παῦλος ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, lived from 200 to 275 AD) was Patriarch of Antioch, Bishop of Antioch from 260 to 268 and the originator of the Paulianist heresy named after him. He was a believer in monarchian ...
all accepted the virgin birth.
[ 189 pp.] In the early days of Unitarianism, the stories of the virgin birth were accepted by most. There were a number of Unitarians who questioned the historical accuracy of the Bible, including
Symon Budny
Szymon Budny or Symon Budny ( be, Сымон Будны, pl, Szymon Budny, russian: Симеон Будный; c.1533, Budne – 13 January 1593, Vishnyeva) was a Polish- Belarusian humanist, educator, Hebraist, Bible translator, Protestant ref ...
,
Jacob Palaeologus
Jacob Palaeologus or Giacomo da Chio ( – March 23, 1585) was a Dominican friar who renounced his religious vows and became an antitrinitarian theologian. An indefatigable polemicist against both Calvinism and Papal Power, Palaeologus cultiva ...
, Thomas Belsham, and
Richard Wright, and this made them question the virgin birth story. 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
Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional P ...
, the psilanthropist view increased in popularity. 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
Biblical infallibility is the belief that what the Bible says regarding matters of faith and Christian practice is wholly useful and true. It is the "belief that the Bible is completely trustworthy as a guide to salvation and the life of faith ...
, rejecting most of the miraculous events in the Bible (including the virgin birth). Notable examples are
James Martineau
James Martineau (; 21 April 1805 – 11 January 1900) was a British religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism.
For 45 years he was Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Political Economy in Manchester New College ( ...
,
Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...
,
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
and
Frederic Henry Hedge
Frederic Henry Hedge (December 12, 1805 – August 21, 1890) was a New England Unitarianism, Unitarian minister and Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist. He was a founder of the Transcendental Club, originally called Hedge's Club, and active in ...
. Famous American Unitarian
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
was a believer in the virgin birth until later in his life, after he had begun his association with the Transcendentalists.
Arianism
Arianism
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...
is often considered a form of Unitarianism.
The
Christology
In Christianity, Christology (from the Ancient Greek, Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, wiktionary:-λογία, -λογία, wiktionary:-logia, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Chr ...
of Arianism holds that Jesus, before his human life, existed as the
Logos
''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive ...
, or the Word, 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
Arius (; grc-koi, Ἄρειος, ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaic presbyter, ascetic, and priest best known for the doctrine of Arianism. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead in Christianity, which emphasized God the Father's un ...
, 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
Lucian of Antioch (c. 240 – January 7, 312), known as Lucian the Martyr, was a Christianity, Christian presbyter, Theology, theologian and martyr. He was noted for both his scholarship and Asceticism, ascetic piety.
History
According to Suda, S ...
,
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christia ...
,
Arius
Arius (; grc-koi, Ἄρειος, ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaic presbyter, ascetic, and priest best known for the doctrine of Arianism. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead in Christianity, which emphasized God the Father's un ...
,
Eusebius of Nicomedia
Eusebius of Nicomedia (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος; died 341) was an Arian priest who baptized Constantine the Great on his deathbed in 337. A fifth-century legend evolved that Pope Saint Sylvester I was the one to baptize Constantine, but this ...
,
Asterius the Sophist
Asterius of Cappadocia (Ἀστέριος; died c. 341) was an Arian Christian theologian from Cappadocia. Few of his writings have been recovered in their entirety; the latest edition is by Markus Vinzent). He is said to have been a pupil of Luc ...
,
Eunomius
Eunomius ( el, Εὐνόμιος Κυζίκου) (died c. 393), one of the leaders of the extreme or "anomoean" Arians, who are sometimes accordingly called Eunomians, was born at Dacora in Cappadocia or at Corniaspa in Pontus. early in th ...
, and
Ulfilas
Ulfilas (–383), also spelled Ulphilas and Orphila, all Latinized forms of the unattested Gothic form *𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌰 Wulfila, literally "Little Wolf", was a Goth of Cappadocian Greek descent who served as a bishop and missionary ...
, as well as
Felix, Bishop of Urgell. Proponents of this Christology also associate it (more controversially) with
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher.
Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...
and
Hippolytus of Rome
Hippolytus of Rome (, ; c. 170 – c. 235 AD) was one of the most important second-third century Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities include Rome, Palestin ...
. Antitrinitarian
Michael Servetus
Michael Servetus (; es, Miguel Serveto as real name; french: Michel Servet; also known as ''Miguel Servet'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish th ...
did not deny the pre-existence of Christ, so he may have believed in it. (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"
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."
)
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
had Arian beliefs as well. Famous 19th-century Arian Unitarians include
Andrews Norton
Andrews Norton (December 31, 1786 – September 18, 1853) was an American preacher and theologian. Along with William Ellery Channing, he was the leader of mainstream Unitarianism of the early and middle 19th century, and was known as the "Unitari ...
and Dr.
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
(in his earlier years).
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:
* 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
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
in a responsible, constructive and ethical manner with the assistance of religion.
*
Human nature
Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...
in its present condition is neither inherently corrupt nor depraved (see
original Sin
Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...
) but capable of both good and evil, as God intended.
* No religion can claim an absolute monopoly on the Holy Spirit or
theological
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
truth.
* Though the authors of the Bible were inspired by God, they were humans and therefore subject to human error.
* The traditional
doctrines
Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...
of
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
,
eternal damnation
Damnation (from Latin '' damnatio'') is the concept of divine punishment and torment in an afterlife for actions that were committed, or in some cases, not committed on Earth.
In Ancient Egyptian religious tradition, citizens would recite t ...
, and the vicarious sacrifice and satisfaction theories of the
Atonement
Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ex ...
are invalid because they malign God's character and veil the true nature and mission of Jesus Christ.
In 1938, ''The Christian leader'' attributed "''the'' religion ''of'' Jesus, not ''a'' religion ''about'' Jesus" to Unitarians, though the phrase was used earlier by
Congregationalist Rollin Lynde Hartt
Rollin Lynde Hartt (1869–1946) was an early 20th-century journalist and congregational minister. His reporting and views on the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy were known nationally and mentioned in ''Time Magazine''. His 1909 articles ...
in 1924.
Worship
Worship within the Unitarian tradition accommodates a wide range of understandings of
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
, 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.
Modern Christian Unitarian organizations
![1st-Unitarian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/1st-Unitarian.jpg)
This section relates to Unitarian churches and organizations today which are still specifically Christian, whether within or outside Unitarian Universalism. Unitarian Universalism, conversely, refers to the embracing of non-Christian religions.
International groups
Some Unitarian Christian groups are affiliated with the
International Council of Unitarians and Universalists
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) was an umbrella organization founded in 1995 comprising many Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist organizations. It was disolved in 2021 along with the Unitarian ...
(ICUU), founded in 1995. The ICUU has "full member" groups in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, EUU, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain. Sri Lanka and the United States. Brazil is a Provisional Member
The ICUU includes small "Associate Groups", including Congregazione Italiana Cristiano Unitariana,
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
(founded in 2004) and the Bét Dávid Unitarian Association,
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
(founded 2005).
Transylvania (Romania)
![derzs1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Derzs1.jpg)
The largest Unitarian denomination worldwide today is also the oldest Unitarian denomination (since 1565, first use of the term "Unitarian" 1600): the
Unitarian Church of Transylvania
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania ( hu, Erdélyi Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană din Transilvania), also known as the Hungarian Unitarian Church ( hu, Magyar Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană Maghiară), is a Christian ...
(in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, which is in union with the Unitarian Church in Hungary). The church in Transylvania 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
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania ( hu, Erdélyi Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană din Transilvania), also known as the Hungarian Unitarian Church ( hu, Magyar Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană Maghiară), is a Christian ...
(25,000 members) and the
Transylvanian Unitarian Church
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania ( hu, Erdélyi Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană din Transilvania), also known as the Hungarian Unitarian Church ( hu, Magyar Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană Maghiară), is a Christian ...
(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
Ferenc Dávid (also rendered as ''Francis David'' or ''Francis Davidis''; born as Franz David Hertel, c. 1520 – 15 November 1579) was a Unitarian preacher from Transylvania, the founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania, and the lea ...
in 1565 in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
under
John II Sigismund Zápolya
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
. 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. Unitarian high schools exist only in Transylvania (Romania), including the
John Sigismund Unitarian Academy
The John Sigismund Unitarian Academy ( hu, János Zsigmond Unitárius Kollégium), located in Cluj-Napoca (formerly Kolozsvár), Romania, was a theological school founded in 1557 by the Unitarian Diocese of Transylvania.
Foundation
The Diet of T ...
in
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
, the
Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj
The Protestant Theological Institute ( ro, Institutul Teologic Protestant; hu, Protestáns Teológiai Intézet; german: Protestantisch-Theologisches Institut) is a Protestant seminary and private university in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The state-recog ...
, and the Berde Mózes Unitárius Gimnázium in
Cristuru Secuiesc
Cristuru Secuiesc (; hu, Székelykeresztúr, ) is a town in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The town administers two villages:
Betești (''Betfalva''), part of Mugeni unt ...
; both teach Rationalist Unitarianism.
United Kingdom
![Unitarian chapel newington green](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Unitarian_chapel_newington_green.jpg)
The
Unitarian Christian Association
The Unitarian Christian Association (UCA) is a relatively small, though growing fellowship of Christians who feel an affinity with traditional Unitarianism and Free Christians (Britain), Free Christianity. The association is based in the United Ki ...
(UCA) was founded in the United Kingdom in 1991 by Rev.
Lancelot Garrard (1904–93) and others to promote specifically Christian ideas within the
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC or colloquially British Unitarians) is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christians, and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom and Irelan ...
(GAUFCC), the national Unitarian body in Great Britain. Just as the UUCF and ICUU maintain formal links with the
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...
in the US, 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. Generally, they do not serve as a tool for missionary work or encouraging conversions.
India
In India, three different schools of Unitarian thought influenced varying movements, including the
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj ( bn, ব্রহ্ম সমাজ, Brahmô Sômaj, ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement of the Hindu religion that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance.
It was one of th ...
, the Unitarian Church of the
Khasi Hills
The Khasi Hills () is a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connects with the Purvanchal Range and larger Patkai Range further east. Khasi Hill ...
, and the Unitarian Christian Church of
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, in Madras, founded in 1795. As of 2011, "Thirty-five congregations and eight fellowships comprising almost 10,000 Unitarians now form the Unitarian Union of North East India."
United States
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...
(UUA) is a network of liberal religious congregations affirming the worth and dignity of every person, shared ethical principles and reverence for a variety of theological sources. The UUA was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
and the
Universalist Church of America
The Universalist Church of America (UCA) was originally a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States (plus affiliated churches in other parts of the world). Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name ...
.
Individual congregations may choose to elevate all of the sources of faith in their worship, or, in their context, move toward affirming particular sources as predominant. As of 2020, the UUA reports 187,689 individual members active in 1,027 congregations.
During the US Civil Rights Movements, the murders of the US veteran
Jimmie Lee Jackson
Jimmie Lee Jackson (December 16, 1938 – February 26, 1965) was an African American civil rights activist in Marion, Alabama, and a deacon in the Baptist church. On February 18, 1965, while unarmed and participating in a peaceful voting rig ...
, the Unitarian Universalist Minister
James Reeb
James Joseph Reeb (January 1, 1927 – March 11, 1965) was an American Unitarian Universalist minister, pastor, and activist during the civil rights movement in Washington, D.C. and Boston, Massachusetts. While participating in the Selma to ...
, and Unitarian Universalist lay leader
Viola Liuzzo
Viola Fauver Liuzzo (née Gregg; April 11, 1925 – March 25, 1965) was an American civil rights activist. In March 1965, Liuzzo heeded the call of Martin Luther King Jr. and traveled from Detroit, Michigan, to Selma, Alabama, in the wake of the ...
during the time of the
marches from Selma to Montgomery highlighted the bigotry and violence of racial injustice to the wider American public. According to the historian Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed, on the final day of the march, "among the 30,000 who marched were about 500 UU lay people and about 250 UU ministers. The ministers who went to Selma represented a quarter to a third of all UU ministers in full fellowship." The Selma protests were critical to supporting passage of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...
.
The current President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is Rev. Susan Frederick Gray. Rev. Gray notes, for Unitarian Universalists, "Our work for justice and equity—our work to dismantle white supremacy culture, racism, and oppression in ourselves and in our world—is the faithful response to our theology of interdependence."
![Civil marriage is a civil right](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Civil_marriage_is_a_civil_right.JPG)
The
Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship
The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF) is the main group serving Christian Unitarian Universalists within the Unitarian Universalist Association of the United States, whose main office is based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The UUCF w ...
(UUCF) was founded in 1945, originally to support Unitarian Christians in the American Unitarian Association. The mission expanded to support Christian members of
Universalist Church of America
The Universalist Church of America (UCA) was originally a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States (plus affiliated churches in other parts of the world). Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name ...
(UCA) in the newly formed Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in 1961. UUCF continues as an affiliate of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) serving Christian members seeking to "freely follow Jesus".
The
American Unitarian Conference
The American Unitarian Conference (AUC) is a religious organization and a missionary and publication society which serves the needs of individual Unitarian believers. It was founded in 2000 by several Unitarian Universalists who felt that the Un ...
(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
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...
and
deists
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation of t ...
. As of 2009, The AUC has three congregations in the United States.
Unitarian Christian Ministries International was a Unitarian ministry incorporated in South Carolina until its dissolution in 2013 when it merged with the Unitarian Christian Emerging Church. The Unitarian Christian Emerging Church has recently undergone reorganization and today is known as the Unitarian Christian Church of America.
Australia and New Zealand
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.
South Africa
The Unitarian movement in South Africa was founded in 1867 by
David Faure, member of a well-known Cape family. He encountered advanced liberal religious thought while completing his studies at the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
in Holland for the ministry of the
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...
in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
.
Ireland
There are two active
Unitarian churches in Ireland, one in Dublin and the other in Cork. Both are member churches of the
Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland
The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland is a non-creedal Christian Church, which maintains a great emphasis on individual conscience in matters of Christian faith.
The Church became part of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free C ...
.
Denmark
Unitarianism was a latecomer to Denmark. Some of the inspiration came from Norway and England – family members of the founders, and the wife of Edward Grieg. 1900-1918 the society priest was Uffe Birkedal, who had previously been a Lutheran priest. He held the first worship 18 February 1900. A founding general assembly 18 May 1900 elected Mary Bess Westenholz as the first chairman of the Society. The Society newsletter was named ‘Protestantisk Tidende’ 1904-1993, and then renamed ‘Unitaren’, reflecting a gradually changing perception of being part of the Danish Lutheran Church, to one where this was no longer assumed ().
Biblical Unitarians
Biblical Unitarianism
Biblical unitarianism (also capitalized as biblical Unitarianism, BU) encompasses the key doctrines of nontrinitarian Christians who affirm the Bible as their sole authority, and from it base their beliefs that God the Father is one singular bein ...
(also known as "biblical Unitarianism" or "biblical unitarianism") identifies the
Christian belief that the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
teaches that God the Father is
one singular being, and that
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
is a distinct being, his son, but not divine.
A few denominations use this term to describe themselves, clarifying the distinction between them and those churches which, from the late 19th century, evolved into
modern British Unitarianism and, primarily in the United States,
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth, guided by a ...
.
In 16th-century Italy, Biblical Unitarianism was powered by the ideas of the Non-trinitarian theologians
Lelio and
Fausto Sozzini
Fausto Paolo Sozzini, also known as Faustus Socinus ( pl, Faust Socyn; 5 December 1539 – 4 March 1604), was an Italian theologian and, alongside his uncle Lelio Sozzini, founder of the Non-trinitarian Christian belief system known as Socinian ...
, founders of
Socinianism
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
;
their doctrine was embraced and further developed by the
Unitarian Church of Transylvania
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania ( hu, Erdélyi Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană din Transilvania), also known as the Hungarian Unitarian Church ( hu, Magyar Unitárius Egyház; ro, Biserica Unitariană Maghiară), is a Christian ...
during the 16th and 17th centuries. Today, it's represented by the churches associated with the
Christian Church in Italy.
Notable Unitarians
![GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg)
Notable Unitarians include classical composers
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...
and
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
;
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
,
Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...
,
Yveon Seon and
Thomas Lamb Eliot in theology and ministry;
Oliver Heaviside
Oliver Heaviside FRS (; 18 May 1850 – 3 February 1925) was an English self-taught mathematician and physicist who invented a new technique for solving differential equations (equivalent to the Laplace transform), independently developed vec ...
,
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet.
His poems ...
,
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...
,
John Archibald Wheeler
John Archibald Wheeler (July 9, 1911April 13, 2008) was an American theoretical physicist. He was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in e ...
,
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...
,
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the great ...
and inventor Sir
Francis Ronalds
Sir Francis Ronalds FRS (21 February 17888 August 1873) was an English scientist and inventor, and arguably the first electrical engineer. He was knighted for creating the first working electric telegraph over a substantial distance. In 1816 ...
in science;
George Boole
George Boole (; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was a largely self-taught English mathematician, philosopher, and logician, most of whose short career was spent as the first professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork in Ire ...
in mathematics; Susan B. Anthony in civil government; Frances Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Whitney Young of the National Urban League, and Florence Nightingale in humanitarianism and social justice; John Bowring, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Elizabeth Gaskell in literature; Frank Lloyd Wright in the arts; Josiah Wedgwood, Richard Peacock and Samuel Carter (Coventry MP), Samuel Carter MP in industry; Thomas Starr King in ministry and politics; and Charles William Eliot in education. Julia Ward Howe was a leader in the woman suffrage movement, the first ever woman to be elected to the Academy of Arts and Letters, and author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", volumes of poetry, and other writing. 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.
![Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, 1825-1911 LCCN 2002698208](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Frances_Ellen_Watkins_Harper%2C_1825-1911_LCCN_2002698208.jpg)
Eleven Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Unitarians: Robert Millikan and John Bardeen (twice) in physics; Emily Green Balch, Albert Schweitzer and
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...
for peace; George Wald and David H. Hubel in medicine;
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...
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; he was the last Unitarian to be nominated by a major party for president as of 2020. Although a self-styled materialist, Thomas Jefferson was pro-Unitarian to the extent of suggesting that it would become the predominant religion in the United States.
In the United Kingdom, although Unitarianism was the religion of only a small minority of the population, its practitioners had an enormous impact on Victorian politics, not only in the larger cities – Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool – but in smaller communities such as Leicester, where there were so many Unitarian mayors that the Unitarian Chapel was known as the "Mayors' Nest".
Numerous Unitarian families were highly significant in the social and political life of Britain from Victorian times to the middle of the 20th century. They included the Joseph Nettlefold, Nettlefolds, Martineau family, Martineaus, Lupton family, Luptons, James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale, Kitsons, Joseph Chamberlain, Chamberlains and Kenricks. In Birmingham, England, a Unitarian church – the Church of the Messiah – was opened in 1862. It became a cultural and intellectual centre of a whole society, a place where ideas about society were openly and critically discussed.
Other Unitarians include Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, Lancelot Ware, founder of Mensa International, 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
* Anomoeanism – radical Arians of the 4th century.
* Binitarianism
* Christadelphians
* Divine simplicity
* Jesus in Islam
* Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs, Jehovah's Witnesses
* Messianic Judaism
* Monarchianism
* The New Church
* New thought
* Nondualism
* Nontrinitarianism
* Non-Trinitarian churches
*
Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland
The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland is a non-creedal Christian Church, which maintains a great emphasis on individual conscience in matters of Christian faith.
The Church became part of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free C ...
, a denomination that maintains close links with Unitarianism while maintaining its own identity.
* Sabellianism
* Tawhid
* Unitarian (disambiguation)
** Unitarian church (disambiguation)
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
*
* .
* 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). .
* 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). .
* 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). .
* Charles A. Howe, ''For Faith and Freedom: A Short History of Unitarianism in Europe'', Skinner House Books (Boston, 1997). .
*
* Unitarisk Kirkesamfund - Unitarian Society in Denmark http://www.unitarerne.dk/
Bibliography
* Buzzard, A. and Hunting, C. (1998). ''The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound''. International Scholars Publications. .
* Lloyd, Walter (1899). ''The Story of Protestant Dissent and English Unitarianism''. London: P. Green.
* Rowe, Mortimer (1959)
''The Story of Essex Hall''. London: Lindsey Press.
Further reading
*
* Hewett, Austin Phillip (1955). ''An Unfettered Faith: the Religion of a Unitarian''. London: Lindsey Press.
*
External links
Unitarian Ministries InternationalUnitarianismat BBC Religions
American Unitarian ConferenceAmerican Unitarian ReformGeneral Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (UK)Biblical Unitarians
{{Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist topics
Unitarianism,
Christian terminology
Nontrinitarianism
Unitarian Universalism