Unitarians and Christians

[JVAC]

I haven't really heard much about them, except the random Simpson's quotes which make fun of them. I briefly saw a statement of faith where they apparently stated Jesus as a pretty cool "Man" and the Bible as way groovy, but they have a very funky sense of Christianity.

I was wondering if you guys knew anything about them? Do they count as Protestants or do they fall under the "Mormon/Jehova's witness" category?

 

[theseed]

They don't believe in the Trinity.

 

[Arikereba]

I don't know all that much about the Unitarians, but my best friend used to go to a Unitarian church. They're sort of about accepting you whatever you believe--you can be a pagan or an atheist, and they don't really care. They teach that we can learn a lot from the teachings of Jesus, but he's not necessarily the son of God.

The Unitarian Universalist Association of congregations in Canada and the United States says they believe in:
The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

(from: http://www.ucmtl.ca/beliefs/principals.html)

I thought about becoming a Unitarian a year or two ago, because so much of fundamentalist Christianity frustrates me, but I wasn't an atheist or even really agnostic, and I'd run through the list of major world religions without finding one that was a good fit for me; ultimately I decided that a religion should be a religion, and not a secular humanist life-improvement club. But I still have a lot of respect for them.

 

[Polycarp1]

Technically speaking a "Unitarian" is not a Christian -- but the Unitarian Church was an offshoot of New England Congregationalism in the 1800s.

The Unitarians are merged with the Universalists in the UUA -- and there are many UUA members who are Christians by the definitions used by St. Paul and by this board. The distinction is that they take a very liberal view of God's revelation and non-Christian faiths, and focus on our responsibility to our fellow men.

 

[RhetorTheo]

The Unitarians rejected the trinity ("unity" of God). The Universalists believed that salvation is universal - everyone is saved, nobody goes to Hell. They merged. Today, only a small percentage of Unitarians are liberal Christian (maybe 10%) and the remainder are atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, etc., or some combination of beliefs that most would not call Christian. In short, "anything goes" and there isn't much that they collectively believe in. Look at their web site and see what their beliefs/values are.