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Unitarianism emerged out of Christianity based on a belief in the oneness of God, a rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity, and a belief in the moral authority, but not the deity, of Jesus. Unitarians can be more generally characterized through the ages as free thinkers and dissenters, evolving their beliefs in the direction of freedom, tolerance, rationalism and humanism.Unitarians in the United States (and sometimes in Canada and other countries) use the term Unitarian Universalist or UU, reflecting the institutional consolidation between Unitarians and Universalists. Today, many Unitarian Universalists do not consider themselves Christians [1].
1 Origins
Unitarianism as a system of Christian thought and religious observance has its basis, as opposed to that of orthodox Trinitarianism, in the unipersonality of the Christian GodheadIn Christianity, the Godhead is a unit consisting of God the Father, Jesus Christ (the Son), and the Holy Spirit. Though often used interchangeably with the concept of Trinity the terminology of Godhead is broader than the idea of Trinity and includes oth, i.e. in the idea that the Godhead exists in the person of the Father alone. Unitarians trace their history back to the ApostolicAlternate meaning: See Apostle (Mormonism The Christian Apostles were Jewish men who were "sent forth" (as indicated by the Greek word apostolos , by Jesus to preach Christianity to both Jews and Gentiles, across the world. He called unto him his disciple age, claim for their doctrine a prevalence during the ante- NiceneThe First Council of Nicaea which took place during the reign of the emperor Constantine in 325, was the first ecumenical (from Greek oikumene "worldwide") conference of bishops of the Christian Church. The participating bishops were given free travel to period, and by help of ArianThis article is about the theological doctrine of Arius. See Aryan, Aryan race for the ethnic concept. Arianism was a Christological view held by followers of Arius in the early Christian Church, claiming that Jesus Christ and God the Father were not of t communities and individual thinkers trace a continuity of their views to the present time. Whatever the accuracy of this lineage, the Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and An of the 16th century saw in many European countries an outbreak more or less serious of anti-Trinitarian opinion.
Suppressed as a rule in individual cases, this type of doctrine ultimately became the badge of separate religious communities, in PolandThe Republic of Poland a country in Central Europe, lies between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) t (extinct), HungaryThe Republic of Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. It is known locally as the Country of the Magyars or Magyarorszag''. Magyar Koztarsasag ( In Detail) ( Full s and, at a much later date, in EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England. Compare to Sabellianism.
Along with the fundamental doctrine, certain characteristics have always marked those who profess unitarianism: a large degree of tolerance, a minimizing of essentials, a repugnance to formulated creed and an historical study of scripture.
Martin Cellarius ( 1499- 1564), a friend of Luther, usually appears as the first literary pioneer ( 1527) of the movement; the anti-Trinitarian position of Ludwig Haetzer did not become public until after his execution ( 1529) for anabaptism. Both by his writings (from 1531) and by his fate ( 1533) Servetus stimulated thought in this direction.
The Dialogues ( 1563) of Bernardino Ochino, while defending the Trinity, stated objections and difficulties with a force which captivated many. In his 27th Dialogue Ochino points to Hungary as a possible home of religious liberty. And in Poland and Hungary definitely anti-Trinitarian religious communities first formed and were tolerated.
