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An Explanation of Unitarian Christianity D. R. Miano |
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PREFACE
A manual such as this is
meant simply to express the general belief of the majority of
Unitarian Christians and is intended to familiarize the interested
person with the Unitarian Christian faith. The term “Unitarianism”
once referred specifically and exclusively to a Christian
denomination. Over the last century, however, particularly since the
advent of the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961, the movement
has transformed into a diverse body in which there is great variance
in theological opinion, including non-Christian theists and even
“humanist” atheists. The sentiments outlined in this handbook are
representative only of those holding to the original Christian
tradition in the Unitarian movement.
Briefly described,
Unitarian Christianity is, like other forms of Christianity, a
religion that asserts the divine character, divine spirit, and divine
foundation of the teaching of Jesus Christ. It places particular
emphasis on reason, conscience, and free will in religion and uses
contemporary methods to understand myths and symbols of the past. It
is a progressive religion, founded on and patterned after the
elemental Christianity of Jesus and his disciples. Like that model, it
seeks ever to form surer and nobler understandings of God and of the
world by a conscientious search for truth. It lays great stress on the
ethical responsibility of individuals, of the Church, and of the human
race. Unitarian Christianity is distinguished from other Christian
religions in four main respects:
1) the belief that human nature in its present condition is neither inherently corrupt nor depraved, but exactly as God created it and intended it to be from the beginning, capable of both good and evil; 2) the conviction that no religion has a monopoly on holy spirit or theological truth; 3) the belief that the Bible, while inspired of God, is written by humans and therefore subject to human error; 4) the rejection of traditional doctrines that malign God’s character or veil the true nature and mission of Jesus, such as the doctrines of predestination, eternal damnation, the Trinity, and the vicarious sacrifice or satisfaction theory of the Atonement. Other religions may
subscribe to one or more of these views, but Unitarian Christianity is
unique in upholding all of them. It is the rejection of the Trinity
doctrine that gave rise to the name “Unitarian,” although
disavowal of the Trinity teaching is hardly the emphasis of
Unitarianism. Unitarians have great respect for all forms of
Christianity, but are convinced that their Christianity best reflects
Jesus’ own vision. What follows will
attempt to explain in more detail the reasons for the views outlined
above and provide further information about Unitarian Christians and
their religion. This handbook is based loosely on the “Manual of
Unitarian Belief,” penned by James Freeman Clarke in 1884, but
reflects developments made in Unitarian Christian thought since that
time. As in the case of the original, every proposition contained in
it is liable to discussion, correction, and revision. There is, of
course, a variety of religious opinion even among Unitarian Christians
and no doubt many Unitarian Christians would find something in this
handbook with which they disagree. Nevertheless, it is a fair
representation of Unitarian Christian thinking. The author hopes that
it will stimulate and arouse inquiry and deeper reflection on
Unitarian Christianity among both Unitarian Christians and those
interested in learning more about the faith. TABLE
OF CONTENTS I.
Religion II.
Christianity III.
The
Bible IV.
Creeds V.
God VI.
Jesus
Christ VII.
Faith
and Belief in Christ VIII.
The
Work of Christ IX.
The
Holy Spirit X.
Humanity XI.
The
Problem of Evil XII.
Atonement
and Reconciliation XIII.
Probation,
Judgment, and Retribution XIV.
The
Future Life XV.
Conversion
and Regeneration XVI.
Prayer XVII.
Religious
Duty XVIII.
Free
and Rational Christianity XIX.
The
Church ARTICLE
I.
§ 2. Religion can be an enhancement to human life,
as it heightens consciousness, increases emotional wellbeing, draws
one to better oneself, and nourishes the sense of self-value. It is a
vehicle through which to express or develop spirituality through
prayer, ritual, religious or spiritual readings, and connection to
others and God. For some it adds meaning and purpose to life, or a
personal sense of mission. It also provides a source of guidance or
comfort when needed. Faith in things unseen and eternal give people
the hope of continued existence. Successful religion produces a change
in worldview and leads to a wiser, more compassionate society.
§ 3. The following
elements in the human soul constitute the basis of religion: (a) a
sense of dependence upon the Creator, (b) conscience, or the sense of
right and wrong, (c) the ideas of duty and responsibility, (d) reason,
or the faculty which perceives universal and necessary laws, and (e)
aspiration, which tends toward the good, the beautiful, and the true.
That religion is natural to humans is demonstrated by the fact that,
in a higher or lower form, it has been manifested among all peoples
and cultures, in ancient and modern times. § 4. Natural
religion is that which is awakened by the sight of the order and
beauty of nature, of its suitability to the use of living beings, and
of its variety and unity, leading the rational mind up to the
conception of a Creator who is supreme in power, wisdom, and goodness. § 5. Revealed
religion consists of the disclosures, or discoveries, of divine
truth made to inspired persons, thus producing lawgivers, prophets,
philosophers, and spiritual leaders for the human race. ARTICLE
II.
§ 7. All those who try
to live by the words of Jesus are Christians. When they read the life
and teachings of Jesus, they find in them what feeds their moral and
spiritual nature and satisfies the highest needs of their inner being.
They then believe consciously and experimentally in him, because he
helps them to be good and to do good. When a Christian is able to
compare the character and truth of Jesus with those of other teachers
and masters (like Moses, Confucius, Buddha, Mohammed, or Socrates), he
or she finds in him a greater depth and fullness of spiritual life
than in any other. Although they respect and find value in the sayings
of the other great teachers and masters, they believe intellectually
in Jesus as the best of them (1 Cor. 3:11). This is what makes them
Christian. § 8. In accordance with
Jesus’ teaching, Unitarian Christians hold that practical religion
is summed up in love to God and love to humankind (Matt. 22:34-40).
Unitarian Christians highly value those forms of Christianity that
strive to be ever more in accordance with the teaching of Jesus and
that are more frequently associated with free thought and social
progress, two principles that Jesus himself promoted and exemplified. ARTICLE
III.
§ 10. The Bible was
inspired, not to be perfectly accurate in matters of science and
history, but to teach, to reprove, to correct, and to train in
righteousness. In other words, the purpose of its instruction and
training is to equip us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The
Bible accomplishes this purpose perfectly. With this in mind,
Unitarian Christians are keen to pay attention in the Scriptures to
whatever admonitions are directed toward a universal audience and to
learn from principles governing admonitions directed toward a limited
or circumscribed audience. § 11. The respect that
Unitarian Christians give to the Scriptures is a reason, they believe,
for studying them with particular care and for understanding the
principles of interpretation by which God’s messages, embedded
within, may be uncovered. We ought to expect occasional obscurity in
such a book as the Bible, which was written for past and future ages,
as well as for the present. But God's wisdom is a pledge that whatever
is necessary for us, and
necessary for salvation, is revealed too plainly to be mistaken, and
too consistently to be questioned, by a sound and upright mind. § 12. Although
considering it, on the whole, an inspired book, Unitarians also regard
the Bible as coming not only from God, but also from humans. It is
full of human experience, sorrow, joy, temptation, sin, repentance,
trust, hope, and love. Coming from the deepest places in the human
heart, it goes to the deepest places. Written by many people and at
different times, it is of various application and value. We find
that many portions of the Bible, instead of being concerned with
universal truths, refer specifically to the times when they were
written, to the cultures, people, concerns, states of society, and
patterns of thought that have passed away, and without the knowledge
of which we are constantly in danger of assigning to all times and
places what was of local (and temporary) application. These documents
often strongly bear the mark of the persons who wrote them. That an
individual’s genius and character show themselves clearly in such
writings tells us that they did not compose by Divine dictation.
Therefore, acquaintance with their feelings and influences is a vital
preparation for understanding their works. Human language is subject
to various interpretations, and every word and every sentence must be
understood and explained according to the subject under discussion,
according to the intentions, beliefs, circumstances, principles, and
idiosyncrasies of the writer, and according to the idioms and
capabilities of the language that he uses. With these views of the
Bible, we feel it is our duty to exercise our reason upon it
constantly, to compare, to infer, and to look beyond the words
themselves to the spirit of the message itself. § 13. Unitarians see
some variation and discrepancy in the Bible’s theology and morality,
which are affected by the times and circumstances of the various
writers. Beginning with the Hebrew Scriptures and progressing to and
through the New Testament, the truth has unfolded itself gradually to
human eyes and continues to do so. Unitarians give due regard to this
phenomenon. The apostle Paul refers to the growth and development of
knowledge about divine things and compares it to his own personal
experience: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a
child, I thought as a child; now that I have become a man, I have put
away childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11). Unitarians likewise put away
the childish things of former days. § 14. Unitarians
therefore do not believe in the infallibility of the Bible, as some
other Christians do. Objections to the doctrine of plenary or
infallible inspiration of the Scripture are such as these: (a)
The Scriptures nowhere claim or assume infallibility.
The texts usually relied on (2 Tim. 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:21) teach that
the prophets and apostles were inspired, but do not assert that their
inspiration made them infallible.
Inspiration leads to the
sight of truth and reality, but not necessarily to a perfectly
accurate description of what is seen. But these errors of expression
do not detract from the authority of the Bible as a teacher of the
best moral and spiritual truth. ARTICLE
IV.
§ 16. A creed is simply
a statement of belief or a list of points on which people can agree.
In this sense creeds are good, useful, and desirable for individuals.
If a number of persons who hold the same belief unite to convince
others of its truth, this also is natural and right. If they state
their beliefs in propositions and articles, this also may be useful.
To such creeds Unitarians do not object. Many of their churches and
organizations have adopted such statements of opinion. § 17. But Unitarians
object to religious creeds under the following circumstances: (a) When
they are made a test of character; (b) When they are made a condition
of fellowship; (c) When they become an obstacle to the spiritual
progress of the Church or of an individual. Most of the creeds of the
Christian Church have been liable to these objections. They have been
made a test of Christian character, contrary to the distinct statement
of Jesus that obedience, not belief or profession, is the true test of
character (Matt. 7:15-27; 19:16-21; see also Eccl. 12:13), and that
true religion consists in love to God and fellow humans (Mark
12:28-34). They have been made a condition of Christian fellowship,
contrary to the declaration of Jesus that whosoever
shall
do the will of God is like a mother and sister and brother to him
(Mark 3:35). They have been obstacles to progress, imposing the
opinions of past centuries upon present belief. Though Unitarians
reject such creeds as these, their religious convictions are no less
distinct and earnest. But since perfect knowledge is of the future, it
is wise not to be dogmatic at this time (1 Cor. 4:5). § 18. Some object that
Unitarians’ aversion to creeds results in too great a divergence of
opinion in their religious views. But Unitarian Christians agree on
the fundamental aspects of their religion, which include the
indispensable tenets of Christianity (in their most basic, unrefined
form), and which emphasize that which Jesus himself emphasized,
namely, godly attitude and behavior. One of Christ’s apostles, in a
letter to Timothy, urges his reader not to teach doctrine beyond the
healthful words of Jesus and the teaching that accords with godly
devotion, warning that questionings and debates about words can lead
to envy, strife, abusive speech, wicked suspicions, and violent
disputes about trifles (1 Tim. 6:3-5). Indeed, history has shown that
whenever Christian leaders required all worshippers to accept doctrine
beyond the necessary exhortations for good living, these were the sad
results. God has so made the human mind that, as soon as people really
begin to think, they begin to differ. If, therefore, there is no
difference of opinion in a church, it shows that there is no
individual thought in that church. Men think alike only by not
thinking at all. This is assent, not conviction. Such belief is, in
reality, no belief and has no value. The only agreement in opinion
that is worth anything is that harmony which comes after full and free
inquiry about subjects on which men differ. Only thus can questions
really be settled; without such free discussion, differences are only
covered up. The variety of opinions among Unitarians is therefore the
evidence of free thought. ARTICLE
V.
(a) As regards
God’s indivisible unity. Jesus answered, “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O
Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord” (Mark 12:29); “We know . . .
there is no God but one” (1 Cor. 8:4); “God is one” (Gal. 3:20).
We find no intimation that this language was to be taken in an unusual
sense, or that God's unity was a quite different thing from the
oneness of other intelligent beings that were created in God’s
image. (b) That this
one God is called “Father” in Scripture. “To us there is but one God, the Father” (1 Cor.
8:6); “One God and Father of all, who is above all” (Eph. 4:6). (c) That God is
supremely holy, supremely powerful, supremely knowledgeable, and yet
near and accessible to all. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is
to come” (Rev. 4:8); “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows
everything” (1 John 3:20); “He is not far from every one of us;
for in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:27);
“For of him, and through him, and to him are all things” (Rom.
11:35); “One God…who is above all, and through all, and in you
all” (Eph. 4:6). (d) That God is
essentially love and loves all his creatures, both bad and good.
“He that does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John
4:8); “God is love, and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and
God in him” (1 John 4:16); “God loved the world so much that he
gave his only-begotten son” (John 3:16); “Love your enemies . . .
that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he
makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on
the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:44-45). (e) That God is
deserving of worship. “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and
power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and
were created” (Rev. 4:11). However, we give honor, not merely
because God is our Creator, but because we were created for good and
holy purposes; we pay allegiance, not simply because God’s will is
irresistible, but because God’s will is the perfection of virtue.
Could we bow before a being, no matter how great and powerful, who
governs tyrannically? We respect excellence, whether on earth or in
heaven, and believe that in no being is the sense of right so strong,
so omnipotent, as in God. We believe that the Deity’s almighty power
is entirely submitted to that One’s perceptions of rectitude; and
this is the ground of our piety. We venerate not only the loftiness of
God’s position in respect to the creation, but the equity and
goodness on which that position is established. § 20. God cannot be
portrayed in pictures or sculptures, because God is spirit. Therefore
those who worship God—according to Jesus’ teaching—must worship
God in spirit and truth (Acts 17:29; John 4:24). § 21. The doctrine of
the Trinity, as stated in the creeds of all the so-called orthodox
churches, is this: that there are three persons in the Godhead, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and that these three are one God,
the same in substance, equal in power and glory, but distinguished by
personal properties. Unitarians reject the doctrine of the Trinity for
the following reasons: (a) Because the doctrine of the Trinity is
claimed to be derived from the Bible, but is nowhere plainly taught
there.
This difficult and profound doctrine, if it were so fundamental to
Christianity, must have been presented by Jesus and his apostles with
great clarity and precision and guarded from misconstruction with
particular care. However, in the many passages that speak of God’s
nature, there is not one in which we are told that God is a threefold
being, or that God is three persons, or that God is Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. In fact, the Scriptures abstain from stating the Trinity
so entirely, that when Trinitarians wish to describe it, they are
forced to go outside of the Bible and to invent words and phrases not
found in Scripture. The Unitarian opinion is reflected well in the
words of W. E. Channing: “That a doctrine so strange, so liable to
misapprehension, so fundamental as this is said to be, and requiring
such careful exposition, should be left so undefined and unprotected
that it must be made out by inference and hunted through distant and
detached parts of Scripture, this is a difficulty which, we think, no
ingenuity can explain.” (b) Because the texts quoted in support of
the Trinity are inadequate or irrelevant. Scriptural passages that list the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit together prove nothing except that there are a
Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit. Frequently, Trinitarians make their argument by showing instances
where Jesus and God are described as having the same attributes or
titles. But using the same logic, let us notice that in the New
Testament almost every “divine” attribute claimed for Jesus is
also claimed for his disciples. Was he said to “know all things”?
It is also said to them, “You have an anointing from the Holy One,
and you know all things” (1 John 2:20). Is it said that he was
“without sin”? It is also said of them, “Whoever is born of God
does not sin” (1 John 5:18). Did Christ work miracles? He says of
the believer, “Greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12).
Did God give to Christ a glory which he had before the world was? He
says of his disciples, “The glory which you gave me, I have given
them” (John 17:22). Did he rise from the dead to a higher life? Paul
says: “If the dead are not to be raised up, neither has Christ been
raised up” (1 Cor. 15:16) and “As we have borne the image of the
earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor.
15:49). Did Christ come to judge the world? It is said of the
disciples, “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the
world?” (1 Cor. 6:2). Did God dwell in Christ? It is written of his
followers, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that
the spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). No faith can be
supported on this sort of reasoning. The Scriptural passage on which
Trinitarians rely most heavily is John 1:1, which reads in most
Bibles, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.” Most people agree that the Word refers to
Jesus. What is important to note about this verse is that the first
instance of “God” (theos) is preceded by the definite
article (ho), whereas the second is not. The Greek language had
a definite article (“the”), but it did not have an indefinite
article (“a” or “an”). So when a predicate noun is not
preceded by the definite article, it may be indefinite or have a
qualitative meaning, depending on the context. In this case, we should
understand the final clause to mean that the Word was “godlike,”
“divine,” or “a god” (Compare Acts 28:6). Many unbiased
translations reflect this understanding. Surely to speak of the Word as
God contradicts the earlier statement that he was with God. (c) Because there are many texts in the
Bible plainly opposed to the Church doctrine of the Trinity. Such are the texts in which the Father is called the
one or only God, which could not be said if the Son is also God and
the Holy Spirit God: “For though there are many that are called
gods, whether in heaven or on earth, (as there are many gods and many
lords), to us there is one God, the Father” (1 Cor. 8:5,6); “For
there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Jesus prays to the Father, saying, “Father!
The hour is come!” and immediately adds, “This is life eternal,
that they might know you are the only true God” (John 17:3).
He also says, “My Father, who gave me them, is greater than all
(John 10:29), and then he makes it clear that he is one of the
“all” when he says, “I go to the Father, for my Father is
greater than I” (John 14:28). The apostle directs the Ephesians
to give “thanks always, for all things, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father” (Eph. 5:20). If the Son were
God, and the Holy Spirit God, it would be our duty to pray to them
also. But all prayers are commanded to be addressed to the Father (See
Matt. 6:9; John 4:23, 16:23). (d) Because the Trinity teaching, said to
come from Jesus, arose long after Jesus.
The history of the evolution of the doctrine is well known. The
Apostles’ Creed, which in its substance goes back to a very early
Christian period, contains no trace of the doctrine of the Trinity. It
calls God “the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” Before
the outbreak of the Arian controversy, almost every theologian thought
that the Son was in some sense subordinate to the Father. The original
Nicene Creed (produced at the Council of Nicea in 325) took the first
step and declared that the Son is of the same substance as the Father.
A number of bishops were reluctant to sign the creed because of this
expression, but they were coerced into doing so by an appeal to
“unity.” Even so, the creed knows nothing of the Trinity. It calls
Jesus “God,” but speaks of him as “God of God,” meaning “God
derived from God,” and so makes his divinity derived and dependent.
It was not until the year 381, after much controversy and party
strife, that the doctrine of the Trinity was established in the Church
at the Council of Constantinople. Immediately after the Council,
Theodosius the Emperor issued an edict that decisively established
this version of the Christian faith by threatening to declare anyone
who did not accept it as a heretic. (e)
Because the doctrine has no other foundation. Not only is there inadequate support for the Trinity in the Bible, no
valid or credible evidence in support of the Trinity doctrine outside
of the Bible has ever been found. (f) Because the doctrine is unintelligible.
Although many attempts have been made to explain it, none have proved
logically or philosophically satisfactory to the human mind. It
therefore remains, even by the admission of its advocates, a mystery;
and a mystery is something unintelligible and therefore cannot be an
object of belief. It
is clear that Unitarians are no less Christian than the early
followers of Jesus, who also never put Jesus on the same level as God
the Father. § 22. Unitarians object
to the doctrine of the Trinity, because, while acknowledging the unity
of God in words, it subverts that unity in effect. The doctrine
divides and distracts the mind in its devotion to God. It defeats the
effectiveness of true monotheism, which is to offer us one
object of worship, one supreme figure, one person
to whom we may ascribe all goodness, in whom is concentrated all our
love and vitality, and whose beautiful and venerable nature may
pervade all our thoughts. True piety, when it is directed toward an
undivided Deity, has a singularity and a chastity that strengthens and
enriches religious reverence. But the Trinity, though claiming
to represent one God, sets before us three distinct objects of the
highest honor, three infinite persons having equal claim on our
hearts, three divine agents each performing different roles and who
are to be acknowledged in those roles and worshipped accordingly. The
doctrine of the Trinity degrades God and injures devotion, not only by
creating additional objects of worship, but by taking the highest
affection away from the Father, who rightfully deserves such
affection, and transferring it to the Son, the most attractive person
in the Godhead for most Christians. People are inclined to worship a
figure most like themselves, and this is where the snare of idolatry
lies. A God who appears in our own form, having the same desires and
feelings that we do, speaks to us more strongly than an invisible
spirit in heaven, who is unapproachable in a human sense and difficult
to comprehend in human terms. Veneration of Jesus as God is a form of
idolatry. ARTICLE
VI.
(a)
Because the Scriptures teach that there is one God, who is distinct from
the Christ. See 1 Cor. 8:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Eph. 4:5-6. (b)
Because Jesus plainly distinguishes himself from God. See Mark
10:18; John 16:27; 17:7-8 (compare also John 13:3). (c)
Because the highest powers and glory ascribed to Christ are said to be
given to him by God. See Phil. 2:9; Col. 1:19; Acts 2:36; 3:13;
5:31; Matt. 28:18; John 5:19; 10:29; Eph. 1:22; Heb. 1:2, 9; etc. (d) Because we find no account in Scripture where Jesus reveals to his
disciples that he is God. They regarded their Master as a man, but
wiser and better than themselves, and having an intimacy with God so
as to be called “Son of God” (Matt. 16:15-17). We should surely
have found in the New Testament some trace of the astonishment and awe
that must have come upon them if the wonderful fact had been
communicated to them that their Master was the Supreme God. (e) Because we find no opposition made by the Jews to the doctrine that
Jesus was God. It must be remembered that Christianity was born
and grew up among enemies who were on the lookout for any part of the
religion that might be seen as objectionable. They would have found
the Trinity doctrine, with all its apparent contradictions, a
particularly gratifying target. Nothing could have seemed more
abhorrent to the Jewish mind, which adhered to a belief in the unity
of God, than to be told that Jesus was the Sovereign Lord Yahweh. But
in the apostolic writings, which relate so much about objections
against Christianity and to the controversies that grew out of this
religion, not one word is said in defense and explanation of the
Trinity. Had Jesus’ apostles preached a God of three divine persons,
co-equal and co-infinite, one of which was the man who had recently
been executed as a criminal, they would have been obliged to repel a
continual barrage of verbal assaults. Is it not strange that such
objections are not recounted in the early Christian writings? Not even
a hint or whisper reaches our ears from the apostolic period. To be
sure, on one occasion the Judeans falsely bring the charge that Jesus,
being a man, made himself God (John 10:33). Jesus, instead of saying,
“Yes! I am God,” answers by quoting a passage in the Hebrew
Scriptures, where those to whom the word of God came were called gods,
and then says that he had only called himself the Son of God
(John 10:36). After this, no such charge was made by the Jews. We find
many accusations made against the apostles, but they are never charged
with calling their Master the Supreme God. They were only commanded
not to teach in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18, 5:40). (f) Because Jesus prayed to God. See Luke 6:12; Matt. 11:25; Luke
22:42; Heb. 5:7. (g)
Because he taught us to pray, not to himself, but to the Father.
See Matt. 6:9; John 16:23; Luke 11:1, 2. (h) Because he taught us to worship, not himself, but the Father.
“The true worshippers will worship the Father with spirit and truth,
for, indeed, the Father is looking for suchlike ones to worship him”
(John 4:23). (i)
Because God is called the God of Jesus Christ. See Rom. 15:6; 2 Cor.
11:31; Eph. 1:3, 17; 1 Pet. 1:3.
§ 24. The Bible is
clear about Jesus’ subordination to God, but its testimony is less
so regarding Jesus’ precise nature in relationship to God. The
titles “Christ,” “Son of God,” and “Lord,” although
undoubtedly accurate and fitting descriptions of Jesus from a
Christian perspective, are somewhat abstract, and thus Unitarians may
differ in their understandings of them. Some Unitarians believe that
Jesus was a man, entirely human in mind and body (1 Tim. 2:5; Rom.
5:15). However, they say, he was an exceptional man, made free from
sin and kept so by an exceptional divine influence, made perfect in
all spiritual and moral attributes, that he might be the leader of his
race. In this view he was endowed with supernatural gifts by which he
was distinguished from other men. Some Unitarians think Jesus to have
existed as a spirit before he was born a man on earth and to have been
created by God before all other finite beings. This view is supported
by a few texts that call Christ “the first-born of every
creature,” the being through whom all other things were created,
etc. (Col. 1:15, 16; John 1:3), and by Jesus statement: “Before
Abraham existed, I have been” (John 8:58). Other Unitarians hold
that Jesus was neither divine, nor even an exceptional man, but a
representative man, such a man as all are intended to be. In this
sense he is the ideal man. In their view sin is not natural, but
unnatural, and a sinless man is more truly a man than is a sinner.
They also believe that all men will grow up into the stature of Jesus
and become like him, so that he will be the first-born among creation.
They contend that the typical man is not the imperfect, but the
perfect man, just as the typical plant or animal of any species is not
an imperfect but a perfect specimen. Any other view, say they, takes
us back to the doctrine of natural depravity (see § 40). § 25. As the Scriptures
frequently call Jesus “the Son of God,” but never call him “God
the Son,” he must have been the Son in the sense of an intimate
union with God and dependence on him, rather than something of God’s
own essence. When Jesus said, “I and my Father are one” (John
10:30), he must have meant one in sympathy, since he prayed that his
disciples might be one, even as he and the Father were one
(John 17:11). He certainly could not have intended to ask that his
disciples might be one in essence or substance.
§ 26. Unitarian
Christians believe that the great glory of Jesus is his spiritual and
moral glory. His true greatness was in his devotion to the Divine
will, his sympathy with suffering people, his readiness to perform the
lowliest tasks and bear a death of shame in order to save humankind
from the power and evil of sin. All this is continually expressed in
the New Testament, in passages similar to that in Philippians 2:5-11.
In this place the apostle exhorts his disciples to have the same mind
that was in Jesus, who, being the chief manifestation in the world of
the Divine character, did not ambitiously grasp at the honor of that
high dignity, but was willing to die the death of a slave in the
service of humanity; and he adds: “Wherefore God also has highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name: that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.” This passage, often quoted as a proof-text by Trinitarians,
is actually an argument for Unitarian views of Jesus, because, while
it attributes to him the highest honors, it states that these are all
given to him by God, that he is exalted by God, and that this great
authority is “to the glory of God the Father.” And it also
ascribes the origin of all this glory, not to the divine nature of
Jesus, but to his humility of character. The Scriptures thus teach
that (1) all that Christ had, he received from God and (2) that all he
received, he received in order to impart it to his fellow humans. § 27. Though Unitarian Christians do not believe it right to call Jesus “God,” some see no objection to the epithet “divine,” or even “a god,” in the sense that it is used in the Bible of those who receive honor (John 10:34-36), but not in the sense that he should be equated with the Supreme God. All agree that he revealed God as Father, as Love, as Infinite Goodness, as perfect Providence. He is portrayed as the image of the unseen God, the Word of God uttered to the world, the beloved Son dwelling in the bosom of his Father; it is said that he who has seen him has seen the Father, that God dwells in him and he in God. All these expressions teach the intimate union of his soul with the Infinite Spirit, an intimacy which he desired to communicate to all his fellow humans. Unitarian Christians therefore believe in Jesus as a man raised up to be the mediator to his fellow humans of the divine life; but they do not believe that he was God himself. ARTICLE
VII.
§ 29. Jesus asked
people to believe in him because he knew that he clearly saw the way
to help them. If they would only trust in him, he would give them
comfort and peace, put their feet in the right path, and enable them
to conquer their sins. If we have faith in the wise, the good, the
noble, the generous, we also become wiser, nobler, more generous; and
as Christ is the wisest and most generous soul that we have ever
known, faith in him is the strongest influence of all. His great hope
of the coming of a kingdom of heaven on earth has inspired his
disciples to overcome the evils of the world. His faith in the
parental love of God has brought comfort to the sorrowful and the
unfortunate. His faith in the triumph of good over evil has filled the
world with a living hope. § 30. Besides belief in Jesus, there is a belief about
him. We form this belief by study and reason. The good of having a
distinct belief is that it saves us from doubt, hesitation, and
confusion of mind. § 31. Unitarian Christians believe that the four Gospels contain an adequate historical account of the life, teaching, and character of Jesus. They believe him to be the Lord, Christ, or King, not in the same sense as were the former kings of Israel, but as one who is to be the master of the world by the power of the truth that he taught. That he himself held this view appears from John 18:37: “To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” Some Unitarian Christians believe that Jesus wrought wonderful works of healing, but that it is possible that some of the accounts in the Gospels may have been imperfectly reported. Other Unitarian Christians reject the miraculous element in the Gospels altogether and yet believe in the leadership of Jesus.
ARTICLE
XIII.
§ 33. Unitarian
Christians believe it was, and is, the chief work of Christ to save
men from sin and death, here and now. (a) Sin refers to all those actions that are committed with consciousness, through which the moral teaching of God is violated. The apostle Paul speaks of human slavery to sin and defines this slavery as obedience to corporeal desires (Rom. 6:12-23). Christ saves or frees us from slavery to sin by his teaching, which reveals what sin is and how we can avoid it: “Whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock” (Matt. 7:24). His teaching shows us that right and wrong are rooted in the very nature of the universe and iterates the laws of moral consequence (examples: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” [Matt. 23:12]; “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving” [Acts 20:35]; “With whatever judgment you judge, you shall be judged” [Matt. 7:2]; “Give, and people will give to you” [Luke 6:38]; “No one can slave for two masters” (Matt. 6:24); ‘A tree is known by its fruit’ [Matt. 7:15-20]; “Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God” [Matt. 5:8]). While the teaching of Jesus manifests the duty and expediency of doing right, Jesus’ life and sufferings demonstrate the truth of his teaching, and how persons can achieve freedom from sin by turning their allegiance over to righteousness. His example shows the possibility, reality, and beauty of a life given to the service of God and humanity: “I have given you an example so that you should do as I have done to you” (John 14:15), “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5), etc. (b)
The death that Jesus delivers us from is a spiritual death,
referred to in Scripture also as the “second death” (Rev. 2:11),
by which we would fall into a state of alienation from God (Rev.
21:7-8; see also §56). By consistently obeying Jesus’ teachings, we
“conquer the world,” become regenerate (see §§60-61), and attain
everlasting spiritual life, which is the ultimate goal for worshippers
of God (Eph. 2:4-5; Heb. 12:9; 1 John 5:11-12). Thus, by a gracious
mission, by simple and clear instructions, by encouraging
representations of God’s parental love and pity, by winning examples
of the transcendent beauty of goodness, and, most of all, by that
grand consummation, death, by that exhibition of the curse of sin, and
by his compassion even while he was made to bleed, Jesus brings us
nearer to God by helping us to escape sin and spiritual death. ARTICLE
IX.
§ 35. Unitarian
Christians believe this influence to be given by a constant operation,
wherever the human heart is prepared and ready to receive it. It helps
us to do good, clarifies the intellect, cleanses the heart, and
strengthens the will, thus enlightening, calming, encouraging and
making one happy. Therefore Christians are told to “live in the
Spirit,” to “walk in the Spirit,” and the Spirit is said to
“dwell in them” (Gal. 5:16, 25; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). It
is given not only to prophets and apostles, to saints and martyrs, but
to all who desire help to lead better lives. § 36. The difference
between the influence of the Spirit of God and other influences which
come from the Deity is this: that whereas the others come to us from
without, through nature, events, and our fellow humans, the influence
of the Spirit is God speaking to us within our very being. We commune
with God outwardly through God’s works and through the events of our
earthly life. We commune inwardly when we are by ourselves and when,
in the secret chamber of our hearts, we lift up our thoughts and
wishes, our sorrows and sins, to our Heavenly Parent. ARTICLE
X.
§ 38. Unitarians
believe that all virtue derives from the human moral nature, that is,
from conscience, and from the power to mold one’s disposition and
life according to conscience (1 Tim. 1:18-19). This God-given moral
faculty distinguishes human nature from animal nature, and its very
existence assumes an ability to choose between good and bad.
Unitarians therefore reject the notion that all of our actions are
predetermined by God. We are commanded to be virtuous, and virtue
cannot exist without free will, any more than it can exist in the
instinct of lower life forms. § 39. When Unitarians
speak of “the dignity of human nature,” they do not mean the
dignity of human nature in its actual condition, but as God means it
to be and can make it become. No one can say about him- or herself
that she or he has committed no sin, because in spite of the
resistance of our spirits, we frequently do bad instead of good (1
John 1:8). We break the laws of God because we are weak, that is, we
are children of God in development. Besides our
virtues, we have failings as well, which are a
constant danger to our humanity because they obscure our
understanding, they destroy the quietude of our hearts, and disturb
the peace among us (James 1:13-15). But we find in all people powers
and faculties which unite them with eternity, no less than with time.
We have within us reason, which is capable of seeking and finding the
noblest truths. We have conscience, which shows us the difference
between right and wrong. We have the power of freedom, by which we can
choose good and refuse evil. We have the sense of the beautiful, the
true, and the good, and a longing for what is unchanging and eternal.
These powers, which are in all people, constitute the dignity of human
nature and make it capable of perpetual progress. § 40. Unitarians reject
the Calvinistic doctrines of original sin and total depravity, the
responsibility of the human race for Adam's fall, and the belief that,
until converted, man is under the wrath of God. They maintain, on the
contrary, that God, being just, punishes no one for the crimes of
others, and that evils committed by our forefathers may inflict
misery, but not guilt. They maintain that the Bible does not teach
that human nature was corrupted by Adam and passed down hereditarily
to all. When Paul says that “through one man sin entered into the
world” (Rom. 5:12) and “by one man’s trespass, many died”
(Rom. 5:15), he means that Adam was the one who introduced sin and who
set a poor example that others followed. But Paul is very clear that
“death spread to all men because they had all sinned” (Rom.
5:12), and not because someone else had sinned. When Paul speaks of
involuntary wrong-doing (“sin that dwells in me” [Rom. 7:17, 20]),
he is not referring to a something he inherited, but to a selfish
habit, which became ingrained when he personally allowed sin to take
residence inside of him. § 41. Unitarian
Christians agree with the apostle Peter, who said that anyone
that fears God and works
righteousness is acceptable to God (Acts 10:34). Jesus accepted
people who were supportive of him, even if they were not directly
associated with him and his movement (Mark 9:38-40). In the parable of
the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), he commends the good qualities of
an “outsider.” And the account of the Day of Judgment indicates
that those who treat Christ’s family well, even if they do not
embrace Christ himself, will be placed among his sheep (Matt.
25:31-40). § 42. Unitarians
therefore reject the doctrine, taught in some Christian denominations,
that God selects a limited number (the elect) to be saved from the
corrupt mass of the people of this world and retrieves them by a
special influence from the common ruin. Some of them may condemn other
religions and assert that God is revealed to one group and to one
group only, and that the rest of humankind must affiliate with that
group and accept its doctrines of theology (which people by nature may
be disposed to reject) or suffer penalty from the Almighty. Nature,
conscience, common sense, the general message of the Bible, which
includes the mild example of Christ and the numerous positive
statements of God’s universal kindness and equity, stand in direct
contradiction to these positions. The remonstrances of such groups do
not produce all the effects on character that might be anticipated.
They tend to discourage the timid, to feed the egotism of the
fanatical, and to give excuses to the bad. By portraying a severe and
partial Deity, this religious system tends to corrupt and pervert the
human moral sense and to create a religion that is ominous,
proscriptive, and servile. Instead of moving people to tender and
impartial charity, it leads them into censoriousness, bitterness, and
prejudice. This system, which begins by degrading human nature, may
indeed promote humility at the start, but may be expected to end in
pride; for pride grows out of an awareness of distinctions, and no
distinction is greater than that between the elected and rejected of
God. ARTICLE
XI. THE
PROBLEM OF EVIL § 43. Any successful religion has a satisfying
explanation for why evil exists in the world and why good people
suffer. Too many people have turned their backs on God because they
cannot see how the presence of evil can be reconciled with the idea of
a loving God.
§ 44. There
are two types of evils that need explanation: evils of will and evils
of nature. Evils of will result from the choices that
various creatures of God make and usually result from deficiencies or
weaknesses on their part, i.e., a lack of love, tolerance, or empathy,
a lack of knowledge or understanding, a lack of courage, or a lack of
resources. Evils of nature, such as natural disasters or
unpreventable illnesses are not a by-product of free will, but are
attributable to dangers that are built into creation. § 45. With regard to the first type of evil,
Unitarians Christians are in full agreement. God created the universe
and its laws. As part of that creation, we have free will. God
does not determine what we will do ahead of time. We can exercise
this freedom for good or for ill. Just
like a human parent who agrees to allow a child to make some of his or
her own decisions, God cannot countermand the choices that his
children are free to make by divine permission, even if he knows some
harm may befall them. Like a human parent, God can try to persuade
them to do otherwise, but ultimately the decision is up to the child.
And sometimes the young and inexperienced foolishly get themselves
into trouble. Sometimes they actually hurt someone else, someone who
may not deserve to be hurt. God can discipline us afterward, but the
Almighty cannot prevent it from happening without taking away the gift
of free will. God knows that if humans have no free will, then
concepts of virtue and the soul have no meaning. If human beings
cannot choose to be evil, they cannot choose to be good. § 46. The second type of evil is more difficult to
account for. All Unitarians reject the belief that God uses natural
evils as a form of punishment, a lesson learned from the book of Job. Natural
evils are just that: natural. They occur in a more-or-less random
manner, and often we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still,
God, as the Creator, is responsible for the existence of natural
evils, and if humans are harmed by these things through no fault of
their own, we may wonder why God refrains from protecting them. Indeed,
some may say, if God can stop something, but allows it, it is as much his doing as if
he caused it willfully. There is no uniform Unitarian position on this
issue, because the Deity has chosen not to give us a full explanation.
Although the Bible addresses the topic on occasion, its witness is
indefinite. It would seem that the only reason an omnipotent
God of love would refrain from helping people in these sorts of
straits is because some form of restraint exists to prevent such an
action. But who or what could restrain God? Since God is subject to
nothing, the restraint must be of the Deity’s own design.
In other words, there are physical laws and personal principles that
God has already set in place and over which God does not cross. God
may feel pained to see people experience adversity and may suffer
along with us, but God’s own principles prevent him from
stepping in and stopping evil (here and now, anyway) because of some
greater good. It may be that, in the “greater scheme of
things,” the suffering on earth is an acceptable price to pay toward
some other aim. In other words, only through a certain amount of suffering caused by
forces that God has set in motion is God able to truly achieve his
purpose. By interfering, the Divine betrays the Divine. It is a
scientific principle that an element of chaos or indeterminancy in the
ordered universe serves as a much-needed catalyst for change. Natural
evils likewise may be an impetus to necessary change, human progress
for example. The great bulk of human advancement has been aimed at
overcoming adversities. We are learning to combat sickness and
catastrophe. And we are getting better at it as time passes. Some day,
we will conquer these enemies to human life. This must be what God
wants. We are meant to mature and grow and better ourselves. Without
these challenges, we would stagnate. Thus the development of our
people as a whole may be the overriding concern. § 47. No theory about the problem of evil is entirely
satisfying to the human mind. We may never comprehend it. Regardless
of the reasons for evil’s existence, the Unitarian way is to have
faith and trust in the Creator. It is possible to believe that God is
good—even as we understand it—if we accept that God’s goodness
and eternal aims transcend what we consider good. “‘My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ says
the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9). God is the only one who
understands what is really best for the human race, and for us
as individuals. We trust God’s judgment. We could never make the
sorts of decisions that God makes, and we best not even try. We leave
that up to God. The best faith is the faith that accepts and embraces
the perfection and infinity of God’s wisdom and judgment, even
though we have difficulty understanding it ourselves. ARTICLE
XII. |