Unitarian Universalists

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History of Unitarian Universalism

The concept of God as a single unitary being—as an alternative to traditional Christian Trinitarianism—can be traced in ancient times to the teachings of Arius (A.D. 256-336), a pastor in Alexandria, Egypt, who taught that the Son was a created being and not equal to the Father. Arius, and his movement called Arianism, argued that the Bible does not teach a Trinitarian concept of God and that Jesus made no claims to deity. His Unitarian view was rejected as heretical by the Council of Nicea in 325. The Unitarian view remained dormant in church history until after the Protestant Reformation when Michael Servetus (1511-1553) in Spain, and Faustus Socinus (1539-1604) in Poland, questioned anew the historic Trinitarian doctrine. Later, a Hungarian named Frances David (1510-1579) led a movement that was the first to be labeled Unitarian. In England, Unitarianism raised its head in the teachings of John Biddle (1615- 1662), who attempted to disprove the Trinity from the Bible.

In the United States, the first church to adopt Unitarian doctrine officially was King's Chapel in Boston, Mass. In 1786, the congregation left its Episcopal roots to embrace the Unitarian view. Soon afterward, Harvard University followed suit.

The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was formally established in 1825. It was led by William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), pastor of Federal Street Congregational Church in Boston. Channing, as did most Unitarian ministers of the time, despite their rejection of Trinitarianism, still relied on the Bible for their theological formulations.

Unitarians claim that a number of prominent eighteenth and nineteenth century Americans embraced Unitarian, or deist, beliefs. They include five presidents of the United States: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, and William Howard Taft. Other famous Americans claimed by Unitarians include Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Susan B. Anthony.

In the twentieth century Unitarianism abandoned any claim to biblical authority. In fact, in the years from 1918 to 1937, the movement internally debated the very existence of God. Eventually, it fell under the domination of naturalism and humanism. This culminated in 1933 with the publishing of the starkly naturalistic Humanist Manifesto. One-half of its signees were Unitarian ministers. Some prominent Americans in the late twentieth century who were claimed by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) included statesman Adlai Stevenson, writer Robert Fulghum, actor Paul Newman, poet Carl Sandburg, and writer and producer Rod Serling.

In 1961, the Unitarian churches merged with a small movement called the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). In the decades since, the UUA has developed into a society of local congregations that focus primarily on liberal social, political, environmental, and gender-related issues. One surprising trend is the increasing growth of neo-paganism and witchcraft in some UUA congregations. The influence of secular humanism, while still strong, has diminished somewhat with the rise of postmodernism.

The UUA Today

In 1997, a survey was taken of more than 8,000 active members of the UUA in North America. The results revealed a number of surprising facts about people involved in the modern UUA.

When asked about their theological perspective, 46% described themselves as humanist (atheist or agnostic). 55% regarded themselves as earth or nature-centered (pantheists), Buddhists, Hindu, undefined theists, mystics (New Agers) or other (pagan). About 1.5% identified themselves as Jewish. Only 9.5% described themselves as Christian by any definition.

The median age of UUA respondents to the poll was 55.7 years, and only 27.5% still have children at home. 67.6% of the respondents were women, meaning less than one-third of UUA members are men. Only 27% of the UUA respondents answering the survey described themselves as heterosexual men. 10.5% identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgender.

As expected, more than 78% of UUA followers favored greater racial and cultural diversity in their congregations. Nevertheless, the most surprising finding of the survey was that 98% of all UUA people described themselves as European Americans (white), meaning only 2% represent ethnic or racial minorities.