About Unitarian Universalism
Unitarians and Universalists are people with an ethical, practical religion. Although we hold different views on such matters as God, immortality and the value of religious traditions — including the Christian one — there is much on which we generally agree.
The word "Unitarian" comes from a distinguishing belief its founders held four centuries ago in the unity of God, in contrast to the Christian belief in the Trinity, God in three persons.
The word "Universalist" comes from a belief in universal salvation: the belief that Jesus achieved what he set out to do in dying on the cross, thereby saving the human race from perdition. All souls were ultimately saved, whatever their beliefs or morals. Universalists became popularly known as "the no hell church." God was a loving god who would never condemn anyone to everlasting punishment.
Establishing roots in the United States in the 19th century, many early Universalists agreed with Unitarians on the undivided oneness of deity. In the 20th century the church became much broader, and many Universalists focused on the universal insights and values of all religions.
While Unitarianism was known for its denial of one Christian doctrine, the Trinity, it was from the first much broader. It was a comprehensive movement for religious reform, rooted in humanism and the Radical Reformation.
Begun in Italy in the 1530s, it spread through Switzerland to Poland and Transylvania and from Poland to England, to the United States and Canada and elsewhere. It placed a premium on unhampered intellectual inquiry, freedom, tolerance and ethical living.
Unitarians have pioneered in civil and religious liberty, in democracy and representative government, in education and social reform, in the abolition of slavery and in universal human rights . . . Unitarians and Universalists today are active in social justice issues, including gay marriage, world peace and international justice. . . . Today we have as many women as men in our ministry.
Unitarian and Universalist views have evolved under the impact of science, philosophy and encounters with world religions. Although many Unitarians and Universalists come from a Christian background, our numbers today include people raised in most of the major world religions and in other traditions. Some describe themselves as theists. Others call themselves humanists, others pagans. Many feel uncomfortable with labels, whether Christian or other.
If you ask Unitarians and Universalists what they believe, you may find them stumped for an answer. If you were to conclude from this and from our diversity and freedom that we don't know what we think, or that one can believe anything one likes and be a Unitarian or a Universalist, or as some say, a Unitarian Universalist, you would be mistaken. In spite of appearances, we are remarkably united in our basic values and beliefs.
I have never known a Unitarian or a Universalist who did not accept the findings of science. I have never known a Unitarian or a Universalist who did not affirm the importance of this life, of living well in the here and now as opposed to preparing now for a life to come. Unitarians and Universalists hold that living well now is the only possible preparation for whatever may come after death - if anything. Life is a gift, a mystery to be respected and lived.
I have never known a Unitarian or a Universalist who did not feel a sense of personal responsibility for how he or she lived his or her life and for what happened to society and the world. I have never known a Unitarian or a Universalist who did not insist on the right to make up her or his own mind, rather than being told what to believe.
I have never known a Unitarian or a Universalist who did not believe that Jesus was the son of normal human parents, conceived and born as you and I were. I know no Unitarian or Universalist who regards the world as a puppet stage over which some higher inscrutable power from time to time pulls strings.
I cannot be sure no Unitarian or Universalist will contradict me on some of this, but I venture to say that Unitarian and Universalist agreement on these matters is as close to unanimity as you will find in any religious movement. We Unitarians and Universalists are not distinguished by one or two simple points of belief. The question "What do Unitarians and Universalists believe?" is almost too broad to answer. Ask what we believe, for instance, about God or human destiny and you will get many answers to that one question. The answers will vary. It will be clear that our beliefs are still evolving. . . .
What you have read is an excerpt from a pamphlet written by Rev. Charles Eddis, who recently celebrated 50 years in the ministry. He has served congregations in Edmonton and Montreal as well as in the United States, England, Australia and New Zealand. The pamphlet, published by the Canadian Unitarian Council /Conseil unitarien du Canada, can be read in its entirety on the CUC website www.cuc.ca There is a wealth of additional material in our church library.
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