Unitarianism is aproper noun and follows the same English usage as other Christian theologies that have developed within a religious group or denomination (such asCalvinism,Anabaptism,Adventism,Lutheranism,Wesleyanism, etc.).[19] The term existed shortly before it became the name of a distinct religious tradition, thus occasionally it is used as a common noun to describe anyunderstanding of Jesus Christ that denies the doctrine of theTrinity or affirms the belief thatGod is only one person. In that case, it would be aNontrinitarian belief system not necessarily associated with the Unitarian movement.[20][21][22] For example, the Unitarian movement has never accepted the Godhood of Jesus, and therefore does not include thosenontrinitarian belief systems that do, such asOneness Pentecostalism,United Pentecostal Church International, theTrue Jesus Church, and the writings ofMichael Servetus (all of which maintain that Jesus is God as a single person). Recently, some religious groups have adopted the 19th-century termbiblical unitarianism to distinguish their theologies from Unitarianism.[23]
Unitarianism is a Christian theology and practice that precedes and is distinct fromUnitarian Universalism.[24][25][26][27] In the 1890s theAmerican Unitarian Association began to allow non-Christian andnon-theistic churches and individuals to be part of their fellowship.[28] As a result, people who held no Unitarian belief began to be calledUnitarians because they were members of churches that belonged to the American Unitarian Association. After several decades, the non-theistic members outnumbered the theological Unitarians.[29]
Unitarianism, both as a theology and as adenominational family of churches, was defined and developed in Poland, Transylvania, England, Wales, India, Japan, Jamaica, the United States, and beyond in the 16th century through the present.[30][31] Although common beliefs existed among Unitarians in each of these regions, they initially grew independently from each other. Only later did they influence one another and accumulate more similarities.[32]
TheEcclesia minor orMinor Reformed Church of Poland, better known today as thePolish Brethren, was born as the result of a controversy that started on January 22, 1556, whenPiotr of Goniądz (Peter Gonesius), a Polish student, spoke out against thedoctrine of the Trinity during the general synod of the Reformed (Calvinist) churches of Poland held in the village ofSecemin.[33] After nine years of debate, in 1565, the anti-Trinitarians were excluded from the existing synod of thePolish Reformed Church (henceforth theEcclesia maior) and they began to hold their own synods as theEcclesia minor. Though frequently called "Arians" by those on the outside, the views ofFausto Sozzini (Faustus Socinus) became the standard in the church, and these doctrines were quite removed from Arianism. So important was Socinus to the formulation of their beliefs that those outside Poland usually referred to them asSocinians.[34] The Polish Brethren were disbanded in 1658 by theSejm (Polish Parliament). They were ordered to convert to Roman Catholicism or leave Poland. Most of them went to Transylvania or Holland, where they embraced the name "Unitarian". Between 1665 and 1668 a grandson of Socinus,Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr., publishedBibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant (Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians 4 vols. 1665–1669).[citation needed]
The wordUnitarian had been circulating in private letters in England, in reference to imported copies of such publications as theLibrary of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians (1665).Henry Hedworth was the first to use the word "Unitarian" in print in English (1673), and the word first appears in a title inStephen Nye'sA Brief History of the Unitarians, called also Socinians (1687). The movement gained popularity in England in the wake of theEnlightenment and began to become a formal denomination in 1774 whenTheophilus Lindsey organised meetings withJoseph Priestley, founding the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country. This occurred atEssex Street Church in London.[16] Officialtoleration came in 1813.
The first official acceptance of the Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in America was byKing's Chapel in Boston, which settledJames Freeman (1759–1835) in 1782, and revised the Prayer Book into a mild Unitarian liturgy in 1785. In 1800,Joseph Stevens Buckminster became minister of theBrattle Street Church in Boston, where his brilliant sermons, literary activities, and academic attention to theGerman "New Criticism" helped shape the subsequent growth of Unitarianism in New England. UnitarianHenry Ware (1764–1845) was appointed as theHollis professor of divinity at Harvard College, in 1805.Harvard Divinity School then shifted from its conservative roots to teach Unitarian theology (seeHarvard and Unitarianism). Buckminster's close associateWilliam Ellery Channing (1780–1842) was settled over theFederal Street Church in Boston, 1803, and in a few years he became the leader of the Unitarian movement. A theological battle with theCongregational Churches resulted in the formation of theAmerican Unitarian Association at Boston in 1825. Certainly, the unitarian theology was being "adopted" by the Congregationalists from the 1820s onwards. This movement is also evident in England at this time.[36]
Unitarians charge that the doctrine of theTrinity, unlike Unitarianism, fails to adhere to strict monotheism. Unitarians maintain that Jesus was a great man and aprophet of God—perhaps even asupernatural being—but not God himself.[3] They believe Jesus did not claim to be God and that his teachings did not suggest the existence of atriune God.
UnitarianChristology can be divided according to whether or not Jesus is believed to have had a pre-human existence. Both forms maintain thatGod is onebeing and oneperson and that Jesus is the (or a)Son of God, but generally not God himself.[37]
In the early 19th century, UnitarianRobert Wallace identified three particular classes of Unitarian doctrines in history:
Arian, which believed in a pre-existence of theLogos;
Socinian, which denied his pre-existence but agreed that Jesus should beworshipped;
"Strict Unitarian", which, believing in an "incommunicable divinity of God", denied the worship of "the man Christ."[38][39]
Unitarianism is considered a factor in the decline of classicaldeism because believers increasingly preferred to identify themselves as Unitarians rather than deists.[40]
The Christology commonly called "Socinian"—afterFausto Sozzini, one of the founders of Unitarian theology—refers to the belief that Jesus began his life when he was born as a human. In other words, the teaching that Jesuspre-existed his human body is rejected. There are various views ranging from the belief that Jesus was simply a human (psilanthropism) who, because of his greatness, was adopted by God as his Son (adoptionism) to the belief that Jesus literally became theson of God when he was conceived by theHoly Spirit.[a][citation needed]
Constantine I burningArian books, illustration from a book of canon law, c. 825
Arianism is often considered a form of Unitarianism.[57]
The Christology of Arianism holds that Jesus, before his human life, existed as theLogos (Word), a being begotten or created by God, who dwelt with God inHeaven.[citation needed] There are many varieties of this form of Unitarianism, ranging from the belief that the Son was a divine spirit of the same substance (calledsubordinationism) orof a similar substance to that of God (calledsemi-Arianism) to the belief that he was an angel or other lesser spirit creature of a wholly different nature from God.[citation needed] Not all of these views necessarily were held byArius, the namesake of Arianism. It is still nontrinitarian because, according to it, Jesus was and is a being always been beneath God in divinity, though higher than humans. Arian Christology was not the majority view among Unitarians in Poland, Transylvania, or England. It was only with the advent of American Unitarianism that it gained a foothold in the Unitarian movement.[citation needed]
Among early Christian theologians who believed in a pre-existent Jesus subordinate to God the Father wereLucian of Antioch,Eusebius of Caesarea,Arius,Eusebius of Nicomedia,Asterius the Sophist,Eunomius, andUlfilas, as well asFelix, Bishop of Urgell. Proponents also associate it (more controversially) withJustin Martyr andHippolytus of Rome. AntitrinitarianMichael Servetus did not deny the pre-existence of the Christ.[58][unreliable source?] In hisTreatise Concerning the Divine Trinity, Servetus taught that the Logos was the reflection of Jesus, that said reflection of the Logos was the Word with God "and it was God Himself".[59] He further wrote that "the Word was the very essence of God or the manifestation of God's essence, and there was in God no other substance or hypostasis than His Word, in a bright cloud where God then seemed to subsist. And in that very spot the face and personality of Christ shone bright."[59]Isaac Newton held Arian beliefs as well.[60][61][62] Other 19th-century Arian Unitarians includedAndrews Norton[63] andWilliam Ellery Channing (in his earlier years).[64]
Although there is no specific authority on Unitarian beliefs aside from their inclusion of the rejection of the Trinity, the following beliefs are generally accepted:[65][66][67][68][69][70]
One God and the oneness or unity of God.
The life and teachings of Jesus constitute the exemplary model for living one's own life.
Reason, rational thought, science, and philosophy coexist with faith in God.
Humans have the ability to exercisefree will in a responsible, constructive and ethical manner with the assistance of religion.
Human nature in its present condition is neither inherently corrupt nor depraved (seeoriginal sin) but capable of both good and evil, as God intended.
No religion can claim an absolute monopoly on the Holy Spirit or theological truth.
Though God inspired the authors of the Christian Bible, they were humans and, therefore, subject to human error.
In 1938,The Christian Leader attributed "the religionof Jesus, nota religionabout Jesus", to Unitarians,[72] though the phrase was used earlier byCongregationalistRollin Lynde Hartt in 1924.[73]
Worship within the Unitarian tradition accommodates a wide range of understandings ofGod, while the focus of the service may be simply the celebration of life itself. Each Unitarian congregation is at liberty to devise its own form of worship, though commonly, Unitarians will light their chalice[further explanation needed] (symbol of faith), have a story for all ages; and include sermons, prayers, hymns and songs. Some will allow attendees to publicly share their recent joys or concerns.[74]
This section relates to Unitarian churches and organizations today which are still specifically Christian, whether within or outside Unitarian Universalism. Unitarian Universalism, conversely, refers to the embracing of non-Christian religions.
Some Unitarian Christian groups are affiliated with theInternational Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU), founded in 1995.[75] The ICUU has "full member" groups in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, EUU, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland,[76] Romania, South Africa, Spain. Sri Lanka and the United States. Brazil is a Provisional Member.[77]
The ICUU includes small "Associate Groups", including Congregazione Italiana Cristiano Unitariana,Turin (founded in 2004)[78][79] and the Bét Dávid Unitarian Association,Oslo (founded 2005).[80]
The largest Unitarian denomination worldwide today is also the oldest Unitarian denomination (since 1565, first use of the term "Unitarian" 1600):[81] theUnitarian Church of Transylvania (inRomania, which is in union with the Unitarian Church in Hungary). The church in Transylvania still looks to the statement of faith, theSumma Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios (1787), though today assent to this is not required. The modernUnitarian Church in Hungary (25,000 members) and theTransylvanian Unitarian Church (75,000 members) are affiliated with the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) and claim continuity with the historical Unitarian Christian tradition established byFerenc Dávid in 1565 inTransylvania underJohn II Sigismund Zápolya. The Unitarian churches in Hungary and Transylvania are structured and organized along a church hierarchy that includes the election by the synod of a national bishop who serves as superintendent of the Church. Many Hungarian Unitarians embrace the principles of rationalist Unitarianism.[82] Unitarian high schools exist only in Transylvania (Romania), including theJohn Sigismund Unitarian Academy inCluj-Napoca, theProtestant Theological Institute of Cluj, and the Berde Mózes Unitárius Gimnázium inCristuru Secuiesc; both teach Rationalist Unitarianism.[citation needed]
The majority of Unitarian Christian publications are sponsored by an organization and published specifically for their membership. Generally, they do not serve as a tool for missionary work or encouraging conversions.[citation needed]
In India, three different schools of Unitarian thought influenced varying movements, including theBrahmo Samaj, the Unitarian Church of theKhasi Hills,[84] and the Unitarian Christian Church ofChennai, in Madras, founded in 1795.[85] As of 2011, "Thirty-five congregations and eight fellowships comprising almost 10,000 Unitarians now form the Unitarian Union of North East India."[86]
The American Unitarian Conference (AUC) was formed in 2000 and stands between UUA and ICUU in attachment to the Christian element of modern Unitarianism. The American Unitarian Conference is open to non-Christian Unitarians, being particularly popular with non-Christiantheists anddeists.[87] As of 2009, The AUC has three congregations in the United States.[88]
Unitarian Christian Ministries International was a Unitarian ministry incorporated in South Carolina until its dissolution in 2013 when it merged with the Unitarian Christian Emerging Church. The Unitarian Christian Emerging Church has recently undergone reorganization and today is known as the Unitarian Christian Church of America. In addition, the Unitarian Universalist Faith Alliance and Ministries follow a Progressive Christian format honoring Sacred Space and Creation Spirituality.[89]
The Unitarian Christian Church of America (UCCA) was formed on 1 October 2016 through the merging of the Unitarian Christian Emerging Church and the Unitarian Christian Conference. The church's current ministry in on-line and through local fellowship gatherings. The current senior pastor and current president of the UCCA is the Reverend Dr. Shannon Rogers. The UCCA has both ordained and lay members.[90]
The first Unitarian Church in Australia was built in 1854 in Melbourne and was followed soon afterwards by chapels in Sydney and Adelaide, and later regional centres including Ballarat.[91][92] The modern church, no longer unitarian Christian, retains properties in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, and smaller congregations elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand.[93]
Unitarianism was a latecomer to Denmark. Some of the inspiration came from Norway and England – family members of the founders, and the wife of Edward Grieg. 1900–1918 the society priest was Uffe Birkedal, who had previously been a Lutheran priest. He held the first worship 18 February 1900. A founding general assembly 18 May 1900 elected Mary Bess Westenholz as the first chairman of the Society. The Society newsletter was namedProtestantisk Tidende 1904–1993, and then renamedUnitaren, reflecting a gradually changing perception of being part of the Danish Lutheran Church, to one where this was no longer assumed ([95]).
Four presidents of the United States were Unitarians:John Adams,John Quincy Adams,Millard Fillmore, andWilliam Howard Taft.[107]Adlai Stevenson II, the Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956, was a Unitarian; he was the last Unitarian to be nominated by a major party for president as of 2024.[citation needed] Although a self-styled materialist,Thomas Jefferson was pro-Unitarian to the extent of suggesting that it would become the predominant religion in the United States.[108]
In the United Kingdom, although Unitarianism was the religion of only a small minority of the population, its practitioners had an enormous impact on Victorian politics, not only in the larger cities –Birmingham,Leeds,Manchester andLiverpool – but in smaller communities such asLeicester, where there were so many Unitarian mayors that the Unitarian Chapel was known as the "Mayors' Nest".[109] Numerous Unitarian families were highly significant in the social and political life of Britain from Victorian times to the middle of the 20th century. They included theNettlefolds,Martineaus,Luptons,Kitsons,Chamberlains and Kenricks.[110][111] InBirmingham, England, a Unitarian church – the Church of the Messiah – was opened in 1862. It became a cultural and intellectual centre of a whole society, a place where ideas about society were openly and critically discussed.[b]
^The biblical narrative of Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit is primarily found in the Gospel of Luke (1:26-38) and Matthew (1:18-25). In Luke, the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will conceive through the Holy Spirit, and in Matthew, the angel explains to Joseph that the child conceived in Mary is of the Holy Spirit.
^ Henry W. Crosskey's congregation includedJoseph Chamberlain, father of British prime ministerNeville Chamberlain[109] and Arthur, his younger brother, who was married to Louisa Kenrick; William Kenrick, his brother-in-law, who was married to Mary Chamberlain; andSir Thomas Martineau, who was the nephew ofHarriet Martineau, another outspoken public figure and author. Sir Thomas Martineau (died 1893) was related to theChamberlain family by marriage; Sir Thomas had married Emily Kenrick, the sister of Florence Chamberlain, née Kenrick.[112] In Lambeth, South London, another two members of the Martineau family, Caroline and Constance, worked at Morley College, the former acting as (unpaid) principal for over 11 years. Several other prominent Unitarians were involved in the development of this liberal arts college, which was founded by actors at the Old Vic theatre.[113]
^abcdBremer, Thomas S. (2015)."Transcendentalism".Formed From This Soil: An Introduction to the Diverse History of Religion in America.Chichester, West Sussex:Wiley-Blackwell. p. 235.doi:10.1002/9781394260959.ISBN978-1-4051-8927-9.LCCN2014030507.S2CID127980793.Archived from the original on 2023-01-13. Retrieved2023-01-13.Unitarian theology, which developed in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, included a critique of thetraditional Christian theology of theTrinity, which regardedGod as three distinct but unified beings—transcendentCreator God, human Savior God (i.e.,Jesus Christ), and immanent Spiritual God (i.e., theHoly Spirit). Unitarians viewed this understanding of God as a later theological corruption, and they embraced a view of God as a singular, unified entity; in most Unitarian theological interpretations,Jesus Christ retains highest respect as a spiritual and moral teacher of unparalleled insight and sensitivity, buthe is not regarded as divine, or at least his divine nature is not on the same level as the singular and uniqueCreator God.
^Drzymala, Daren. 2002.Biblical Christianity. Xulon press. p. 122: "Classically, Unitarian Universalist Christians [and Unitarian Christians] have understood Jesus as a Savior because he was a God-filled human being, not a supernatural being."
^Joseph Priestley, one of the founders of the Unitarian movement, defined Unitarianism as the belief of primitive Christianity before later corruptions set in. Among these corruptions, he included not only the doctrine of the Trinity, but also various other orthodox doctrines and usages (Earl Morse Wilbur,A History of Unitarianism,Harvard University Press 1952, pp. 302–303).
^FromThe Catechism of the Hungarian Unitarian Church in Transylvanian Romania: "Unitarians do not teach original sin. We do not believe that through the sin of the first human couple we all became corrupted. It would contradict the love and justice of God to attribute to us the sin of others, because sin is one's own personal action" (Ferencz Jozsef, 20th ed., 1991. Translated from Hungarian by Gyorgy Andrasi, published inThe Unitarian Universalist Christian, Fall/Winter, 1994, Volume 49, Nos. 3–4; VII:107).
^In his history of the Unitarians, David Robinson writes: "At their inception, both Unitarians and Universalists shared a common theological enemy: Calvinism." He explains that they "consistently attacked Calvinism on the related issues of original sin and election to salvation, doctrines that in their view undermined human moral exertion." (D. Robinson,The Unitarians and the Universalists, Greenwood Press, 1985, pp. 3, 17).
^Larsen, Timothy (27 January 2011).A People of One Book: The Bible and the Victorians.Oxford University Press. p. 143.ISBN978-0-19-161433-0.Biblical Unitarians are standardly portrayed as denouncing liberal Unitarians
^Mandelbrote, Scott; Ledger-Lomas, Michael (October 2013).Dissent and the Bible in Britain, C.1650–1950.Oxford University Press. p. 160.ISBN978-0-19-960841-6.Although a biblical Unitarian, Mary Carpenter was lifelong friends with James Martineau, the pioneer of English liberal Unitarianism.
^James HastingsEncyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: Algonquins-Art p. 785 – 2001 "The first Unitarians were Italians, and the majority took refuge in Poland, where the laxity of the laws and the independence of the nobility secured for them a toleration which would have been denied to their views in other countries."
^The encyclopedia of Protestantism 137 Hans Joachim Hillerbrand – 2004 "The so-called Golden Age of Unitarianism in Transylvania (1540–1571) resulted in a rich production of works both in Hungarian and Latin".
^Erwin Fahlbusch The encyclopedia of Christianity 5 603 2008 "Lindsey attempted but failed to gain legal relief for Anglican Unitarians, so in 1774 he opened his own distinctly Unitarian church on Essex Street, London, where today's British Unitarian headquarters are still located."
^American Unitarianism: or, A Brief history of "The progress and State of the Unitarian Churches in America, third edition, 1815 "So early as the year 1786, Dr. Freeman had persuaded his church to adopt a liturgy, which the Rev. ... Thus much for the history of Unitarianism at the Stone Chapel."
^L. Sue Baugh,Essentials of English Grammar: A Practical Guide to the Mastery of English (ISBN978-0844258218). Second Edition 1994, p. 59: "Religious Names and Terms: The names of all religions, denominations, and local groups are capitalized."
^J. Gordon Melton,Encyclopedia of Protestantism, 2005, p. 543: "Unitarianism – The wordunitarian [italics] means one who believes in the oneness of God; historically it refers to those in the Christian community who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity (one God expressed in three persons). Non-Trinitarian Protestant churches emerged in the 16th century in ITALY, POLAND, and TRANSYLVANIA."
^Letter from Matthew F. Smith to EditorWorld faiths Encounter, 7–12 World Congress of Faiths – 1994 – "In an otherwise excellent article by Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, 'Sikh Spirit in an Age of Plurality' (No. 6, November 1993), the writer makes a number of pejorative remarks about 'unitarianism', associating the term with a striving for a monolithic polity and reductionism to a common denominator. This is a very unfortunate misuse of the word. A correct definition of 'unitarianism' (small 'u') is the mono-hypo-static belief system of someone not directly associated with the Unitarian movement, almost always applied to a person from the Christian tradition, as the word was coined in distinction to the orthodox 'Trinitarian' doctrine of Christianity. 'Unitarians' (capital 'U') are, of course, those who follow the Unitarian approach to religion and are formally associated with the movement. In neither case can it be claimed that there is an underlying agenda towards reductionism and uniformity. Quite the reverse, in fact. Modern Unitarianism is remarkable among religions in not only welcoming the variety of faiths that there are to be found but also, as a creedless church, welcoming and encouraging acceptance of the same. We readily accept that not all our members are 'realist' theists, for example. Our long-standing commitment to interfaith understanding, evident in our practical support of the International Association for Religious Freedom, the World Congress of Faiths and the newly established International Interfaith centre in Oxford cannot be taken to mean that Unitarians are seeking the creation of a single world religion out of the old. I do not know a single Unitarian who believes or seeks that. On the contrary, we reject uniformity and cherish instead the highest degree of spiritual integrity, both of the existing religious traditions of the world and of religious persons as unique, thinking individuals. Matthew F Smith, Information Officer" (Essex Street Chapel, Unitarian Church headquarters, UK)
^"The name originated at the time of the great dispute at Gyulafehérvár in 1568, in the course of which Mélius quite often concluded his argument by saying,Ergo Deus est trinitarius.... Hence his party naturally came to be called Trinitarians and their opponents would naturally be called Unitarians. The name seems thus to have come into general use only gradually and it was long before it was employed in the formal proclamations of their Superintendents.... It is not found in print as the denomination of the church until 1600, when theunitaria religio is named as one of the four received religions in a decree of the Diet of Léczfalva (cf. Magyar Emlékek, iv, 551) in the extreme southeastern part of Transylvania. The name was never used by the Socinians in Poland; but late in the seventeenth century Transylvanian Unitarian students made it well-known in Holland, where the Socinians in exile, who had never adopted Socinian as the name of their movement and were more and more objecting to it, welcomed it as distinguishing them from Trinitarians. It thus gradually superseded the term Socinian, and spread to England and America." Earl Morse Wilbur,A History of Unitarianism, vol. 2, pp. 47–48.
^"The religious movement whose history we are endeavoring to trace...became fully developed in thought and polity in only four countries, one after another, namely Poland, Transylvania, England and America, but in each of these it showed, along with certain individual characteristics, a general spirit, a common point of view, and a doctrinal pattern that tempt one to regard them as all outgrowths of a single movement which passed from one to another; for nothing could be more natural than to presume that these common features implied a common ancestry. Yet such is not the fact, for in each of these four lands the movement, instead of having originated elsewhere, and been translated only after attaining mature growth, appears to have sprung independently and directly from its own native roots, and to have been influenced by other and similar movements only after it had already developed an independent life and character of its own." Earl Morse Wilbur,A History of Unitarianism, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952), p. 166.
^Earl A. Pope, "Protestantism in Romania", in Sabrina Petra Ramet (ed.),Protestantism and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia: The Communist and Postcommunist Eras,Duke University Press, Durham, 1992, p. 160.ISBN0-8223-1241-7.
^Bowers, J. (2010).Joseph Priestley and English Unitarianism in America. Penn State Press. p. 245.ISBN978-0271045818.Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved21 July 2020....Before 1819, American Unitarians followed the teachings of [England's] Priestly...[in the next few decades] the liberal Congregationalists adopted their Unitarian theology.
^Hastings, James,Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 2, p. 785,Unitarianism started, on the other hand, with the denial of the pre-existence... These opinions, however, must be considered apart from Arianism proper.
^Mossner, Ernest Campbell (1967). "Deism". Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2. Collier-MacMillan. pp. 326–336.
^Hoben, Allan (1903),The Virgin Birth,Of the above-stated beliefs that of Theodotus of Byzantium is perhaps the most striking, in that, while it admits the virgin birth, it denies the deductions commonly made therefrom, attributing to Christ only pre-eminent righteousness.
^Bright, William,Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life, p. 127,His original view was put into more definite form by Artemon, who regarded Jesus Christ as distinguished from prophets by (1) virgin-birth, (a) superior virtue.
^Houdt, Toon,Self-Presentation and Social Identification, p. 238,Christian apologists traced the origin of Socinianism to the doctrine of Photinus (4th century), who according to St. Augustine denied the pre-existence of Christ.
^R. P. C. Hanson (1916–1988),Lightfoot Professor of DivinityThe Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318–381 (9780801031465): 1973 "Photinus' doctrine appears to have been a form of what might be called middle Marcellism, i.e., what Marcellus originally taught before his vicissitudes caused him to temper the edge of his doctrine and take account of the criticisms of his friends as well as of his enemies, a little more moderated."
^Watson, R.,A Biblical and Theological Dictionary, p. 999.
^Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (1982),International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. E–J, p. 9,Origen was the first to distinguish between two types of Ebionites theologically: those who believed in the Virgin Birth and those who rejected it.
^Webb, R. K. (2007), "Miracles in English Unitarian Thought", in Micale, Mark S.; Dietle, Robert L; Gay, Peter (eds.),Enlightenment, Passion, Modernity: Historical Essays in European Thought and Culture, p. 120.
^Belsham (1806), "Remarks on Mr. Proud's Pamphlet",Monthly Repository, p. 423.
^Wright, Richard (1808),An Essay on the Miraculous Conception of Jesus Christ, London.
^Wright, R,A Review of the Missionary Life and Labors of Richard Wright, p. 68,After they were excited to think freely, some gave up the doctrine of the miraculous conception, from reading the scriptures only, and observing certain things there with which it could not be reconciled.
^Gura, Philip F.American Transcendentalism: A History. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007: 7–8.ISBN0-8090-3477-8.
^Placher, William Carl (1983),A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction, p. 265,Rationalist Unitarians like William Ellery Channing had argued from the Bible and the evidence of its miracles.
^Chadwick, John White,William Ellery Channing: Minister of Religion, p. 440.
^Mendelsohn, Jack (1971),Channing, the Reluctant Radical: A Biography,A Suffolk County grand jury indicted him on three charges of blasphemy and obscenity: (1) he had quoted a scurrilous passage by Voltaire disparaging the virgin birth of Jesus.
^"Arianism".Britannica. 28 August 2023.Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved15 September 2022.
^Odhner, CT (1910),Michael Servetus, His Life and Teachings, p. 77,It will be seen from these extracts how completely without foundation is the assertion that Servetus denied the eternal pre-existence of Christ.
^abServetus, Michael (1553).The Restoration of Christianity – An English Translation of Christianismi restitutio, 1553, Translated by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar.Lewiston, New York:Edwin Mellen Press. p. 75.ISBN978-0-7734-5520-7.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Pfizenmaier, Thomas C. (1997), "Was Isaac Newton an Arian?",Journal of the History of Ideas, pp. 57–80,Among contemporary scholars, the consensus is that Newton was an Arian.
^Wiles, Maurice F (1996),Archetypal Heresy: Arianism Through the Centuries, p. 133,Modern Unitarianism emerged after Newton's death.
^Nicholls, David (1995),God and Government in an 'age of Reason', p. 44,Unitarianism ideas emerged after Newton's death.
^A Statement of Reasons for Not Believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians, 1859.
^"Unitarian Christianity",The Works of WE Channing, DD, 1841.
^May, Samuel Joseph (1867) [1860],What Do Unitarians Believe?, Albany: Weed, Parsons, and Co.,hdl:2027/hvd.32044081810715.
^An esteemed Unitarian minister (1938), "2",The Christian Leader, vol. 120, p. 1034,This view finds pat expression in the dictum that Christianity is the religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus.
^Keyes, David (1999),Most Like An Arch, p. 106,And for those [UUs] who take the time to understand Transylvanian Unitarian beliefs, there may be some surprising discoveries to be made. They are humanists! Their Unitarian Christianity is steeped in rationalism, is heavily influenced by judaism
^abTuggy, Dale (Winter 2020)."Trinity – Unitariansm". InZalta, Edward N. (ed.).Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Metaphysics Research Lab,Center for the Study of Language and Information,Stanford University.ISSN1095-5054.OCLC643092515.Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved9 August 2021.There are presently a number of small Christian groups calling themselves "biblical unitarians" (or: Christian monotheists or one God believers) to distinguish themselves from late 19th to 21st century Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists. Their arguments draw on early modern unitarian sources, while eschewing some of the idiosyncrasies ofSocinus's theology and most of the extra revisions of thePriestley-derived stream of unitarians. Like late 18th to early 19th century unitarians, they argue at length that trinitarianism has no biblical foundation, and is inconsistent with its clear teachings. They also reject trinitarianism as contradictory or unintelligible, as involvingidolatry, and as having been, as it were, illegally imported fromPlatonic philosophy [...]. On some issues they draw support from recentbiblical scholarship, for example, the point that talk of "generation" and "procession" in theGospel of John doesn't support later claims about inter-trinitarian relations [...]. Although this literature points out real tensions within contemporary theology (between text-oriented commentators and systematic theologians) it is widely ignored in academic theology and philosophy, and its adherents are generally excluded from the institutions ofmainstream Christianity.
^"Francis Ronalds".Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography. Archived fromthe original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved10 February 2017.
^Lang, Ernest F. (July 1927). "The early history of our firm: Richard Peacock".The Beyer-Peacock Quarterly Review. London:Beyer, Peacock & Company. p. 17.
^"Samuel Carter".Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography. Archived fromthe original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved20 March 2018.
^The Centennial History of Oregon 1811–1912 by Joseph Gaston, p. 582.
^Holt, Raymond V. (1906). "Chapter 3, including Georgian and Victorian period. Ref Chamberlain, Lupton (Leeds) and Martineau, Nettlefold, Kenrick (Birmingham) families".The Unitarian Contribution to Social Progress in England(PDF). Lindsey Press. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on March 2, 2014. RetrievedMarch 1, 2013.
Joseph Henry Allen,Our Liberal Movement in Theology (Boston, 1882)
Joseph Henry Allen,Sequel to our Liberal Movement (Boston, 1897)
Anthony F. Buzzard and Charles F. Hunting,The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound (Lanham, Maryland, 1998).ISBN1-57309-309-2.
John White Chadwick,Old and New Unitarian Belief (Boston, 1894).
George Willis Cooke,Unitarianism in America: a History of its Origin and Development (Boston, 1902).
Patrick Navas,Divine Truth or Human Tradition: A Reconsideration of the Roman Catholic-Protestant Doctrine of the Trinity in Light of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures (Bloomington, Indiana 2007).ISBN1-4259-4832-4.
Earl Morse Wilbur,A History of Unitarianism: Socinianism and Its Antecedents, Harvard University Press, 1945.
Andrew M. Hill,The Unitarian Path, Lindsey Press (London, 1994).ISBN0-85319-046-1.
Charles A. Howe,For Faith and Freedom: A Short History of Unitarianism in Europe, Skinner House Books (Boston, 1997).ISBN1-55896-359-6.
Smith, Matthew F (2005).Christianity: The Complete Guide. London: Continuum.ISBN0-8264-5937-4.
Bibliography
Buzzard, A. and Hunting, C. (1998).The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound. International Scholars Publications.ISBN1-57309-309-2.
Lloyd, Walter (1899).The Story of Protestant Dissent and English Unitarianism. London: P. Green.
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