What Makes Unitarians “Unitarian”
(The July 30 Spirituality U. Weekly Insight from Interfaith Paths to Peace)
Actually, the people we call Unitarian
are, to be accurate, usually called“Unitarian Universalists” (or UU’s). We’ll
get back to the Universalist part in a minute, but first, what makes Unitarians
“Unitarian.”
In a word, it is their belief that God (or whatever is
Holy), is one; they don’t accept the Christian concept of the Trinity and do
not acknowledge the unique Divinity of Jesus.
According to the UU’s of Bloomington, Indiana, “Some of us would say that Jesus was the son of God, as we are all
sons and daughters of God, but not the same as God. Generally UUs regard Jesus
as one of several important moral and ethical teachers who have shown humans
how to live a life of love, service, and compassion. Our concern is not with
how he was born or how he died, but with how he lived.”
In fact, most Unitarian Universalists
while gathering in churches, would not describe themselves as specifically Christian.
Their teachings and religious services embrace teachings and practices from many
religions, including Christianity. UU’s also welcome atheists and agnostics and
embrace their wisdom.
And what makes the UU’s “Universalist?”
Historically, Unitarians taught the
oneness of God, while Universalists taught
that
ultimately all would be restored to oneness with God, i.e., universal
salvation. The Rev. Thomas Starr King,
who served both Universalist and Unitarian congregations in the mid-1800s joked
that the difference between the two traditions was that Unitarians believed
that people were too good to be damned forever, while the Universalists
believed that God was too good to damn anyone to eternal punishment.
Debbie
Horvay and Barb Friedland from Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Universalist Church
in Louisville add, “UUs believe in a never ending individual process of
discovery guided by reason,
rooted in love, and honoring diversity, rather than the acceptance of
revealed truth. Guided by seven key principles, UUs respect the inherent
worth and dignity of all beings and value the interconnected web of life of
which we are part.”
For more information about Unitarian
Universalism visit:
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