- Jul 23, 2020
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What are your views on Unitarian Universalism?
Just for clarity, one can hold Universalist beliefs and still use a "Christian" faith label here, it can only be discussed in the Controversial Christian Theology forum, however. One cannot be "unitarian" or "Oneness" and use a Christian label as those fall outside of Nicene Christianity. But that does not mean they are not "Christians", they just are not Nicene or Athanasian in their belief system, so they fall outside of the faith - we have to draw a line somewhere and the Creeds seem like a good place.I'll note that there are Christians who are Unitarian in belief, and Christians who are Universalist in belief -- with apologies to CF's rules
I agree.I can see the path by which they grew out of traditional Christianity, but in their present form, the Unitarian Universalists seem to be an interfaith organization rather than a genuine branch of Christianity. (I'll note that there are Christians who are Unitarian in belief, and Christians who are Universalist in belief -- with apologies to CF's rules! -- but the UU as an organization has moved in an interfaith direction.)
They're friendly neighbors, though. When I'm doing social justice work, I can usually count on the UU churches to be there with us.
On the whole, I like their ethical values, and I like their commitment to intellectual exploration of religion; but for myself, I prefer to stay closer to the Nicene Creed.
Just out of curiosity, how they can be dually affiliated if UU is officially Unitarian (there are even some atheist/agnostic UUs) and UCC is officially Trinitarian?Mostly now days, it's a non-Christian religion, though theoretically, Christian belief is optional, in practice this is rarely the case. Transcendentalism had a deep impact on Unitarianism, in this way.
Some congregations in the UCC (my current denomination) are dually affiliated with Unitarian Universalism. Our denomination does not have any creed as a test of faith (though creeds are valid as historical testimonies), and in some smaller towns, joint services are held to share resources. Our denomination also shares certain other resources with Unitarians, particularly for Sunday School programs, and our religions tend to share similar humanistic ethics.
Wow! I wonder how common they are! So they are Trinitarian Universalists! Very interesting.There are actually a few UU churches that identify as Trinitarians, albeit of a Christian Universalist sort. For instance, this one in Providence, Rhode Island:
First Universalist Church Providence Rhode Island | Christian Church Providence, Rhode Island
Providence Christian Church offers an ecumenically-minded home securely rooted in the Gospel, open to all the Lord’s people in a beautiful and historic sanctuarywww.firstuniversalist.net
The "non-churchy" Unitarianism is a result of New England Transcendentalism, which in turn was the result of mixture of Puritan spiritual intimations with ideas from Hinduism and German Idealism.