What are the origins of Unitarian Universalism?
As Mark Harris says in his pamphlet “Unitarian Universalism: Our Historic Faith,” “Unitarians and Universalists have always been heretics. We are heretics because we want to choose our faith, not because we desire to be rebellious. ‘Heresy’ in Greek means ‘choice’. During the first three centuries of the Christian church, believers could choose from a variety of tenets about Jesus. Among these was a belief that Jesus was an entity sent by god on a divine mission. Thus the word ‘Unitarian’ developed, meaning the oneness of God. Another religious choice in the first three centuries of the Common Era (CE) was universal salvation. This was the belief that no person would be condemned by God to eternal damnation in a fiery pit. Thus a Universalist believed that all people will be saved. Christianity lost its element of choice in 325 CE when the Nicene Creed established the Trinity as dogma. For centuries thereafter, people who professed Unitarian or Universalist beliefs were persecuted.” Un
Related Questions
- If Unitarian Universalism doesn explicitly require its members to believe in a personal God, why does it call itself a religion? Is Unitarian Universalism generally regarded as a religion?
- Does Unitarian Universalism have a creed that sums up its beliefs?
- What is Unitarian Universalism and what are its origins?
