Biblical UNITARIANS (Gene)
Jack Johnson
didn't know such a group existed. I Googled them........web sites
everywhere. I read some of their beliefs, they sound almost
evangelical to me. Yet, they take credit for membership. in their
church, by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, among
others.
Is this the same (original) Unitarian church, or, is this a different
group entirely?
Jack.
VtSkier
To answer that, I ask another question.
Who are the 'real' Catholics.
Adherents of the Church of Rome?
Eastern Orthodox?
Anglican/Episcopal?
Old Catholics? (look that one up)
The religious laws of Massachusetts in the 18th
and early 19th century said that if you claimed
to be a church, you had to preach the 'word of
God'. Essentially you were required to preach
from the New Testament if you wanted the perks
afforded a religious institution. So, yes, the
early New England Unitarians did indeed preach
from the bible. How they interpreted it is
another matter, but preach they did. So did the
Universalists for that matter.
Gene Douglas
Early American Unitarians were often deists. That is, God created the
universe, but doesn't interfere with it now. They often regarded
Jesus as real, but just a teacher. If they were like Arians, then
Jesus had a rank like that of angels, or maybe a prophet.
Obviously, there's been an evolution. So it's likely that BU's might
claim those people even moreso that UU's, and that those people might
not recognize the current UU church. However, when Jefferson was
elected, old ladies hid Bibles in their wells, for fear that
government agents might come along and confiscate them.
Ed B.
own version. See this article in the LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beliefs5-2008jul05,0,7730914.story
And Google "Jefferson Bible"
--
~)< Love & Peace Ed B.
We grow tyrannical fighting tyranny. The most alarming spectacle today
is not the spectacle of the atomic bomb in an unfederated world, it is
the spectacle of the Americans beginning to accept the device of loyalty
oaths and witchhunts, beginning to call anybody they don't like a
Communist. -E.B. White, writer (1899-1985)
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association,
covenant to affirm and promote:
justice, equity and compassion in human relations. -Unitarian
Universalist 2nd Principle
Jack Johnson
with Jesus Christ, which is why I referred to them as evangelical.
I guess my question, asking if they were the original Unitarians, should
have been.......is this the same group that united with the
Universalists, or, is it another group entirely? I guess that was my
meaning. Or, did a third church arise? I assume not, since they
claim early founding fathers, as members. That would imply they were
the 'original' Unitarian church. I find it fascinating.
Jack.
Gene Douglas
The two groups merged about forty-something years ago. So they were
very similar to how they are now, except there are more Pagans among
UU's than there were at the time. Of course, more than one group can
claim descendency from an earlier one. The Congregationalists can
also claim to be descended from the Puritans, who were descended from
Episcopaleans, who were descended from Catholics, who were descended
from early forms of Christians, who were descended from Jews, who were
descended from proto-semitics who worshiped a god called Moloch, and
would burn their children alive in sacrifice to him. So, you might
say, we've come a long way, baby.
Willy
news:4ce4bd93-31a4-4c7d...@l64g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
And as a side note, most Congregationalist congregations (say that 3 times
fast!!! LOL) are now part of the "United Church of Christ"....
Willy
Jack Johnson
the UU itself. The Biblical Unitarians are the "original" Unitarians,
from my understanding. I am going to try to find a church close to me,
and visit.
Thanks all, for helping me, try and understand the Unitarian Church. I
respect the UU, for it's tolerance and understanding, however, in it's
current form, it seems a bit "aimless"; holding to NO truth (except for
what the individual proclaims as "truth"). I have always been
interested in the Unitarian Church, and if the "Biblical Unitarians" are
correct, they are the original Unitarian church. Therefore, the
Unitarians, absolutely held to a rather traditional interpretation of
the Bible. Not what the UU now represents. I am going to continue to
explore and study, and I thank everyone here, for your advise, and
information.
Jack.
Gene Douglas
of churches in the world and in this country. All contain persons of
intelligence and learning, and most of those persons are not trying to
fool anybody. Yet they come to different conclusions. That
underscores the conclusion that nobody has a monopoly on truth, and
nobody has a logical right to say "I know I'm right, and all the
others are wrong."
The logical outcome of this is to say that "I know my view, and accept
it for the time being, but I must allow the possibility of truth in at
least part of what the others have to say."
Gene Douglas
enthusiast, having learned of Hegelian dialectic, and later dialectic
materialism. It sort of freaked me out. I thought of "truth" as
something carved in stone, and discoverable. Thesis, antithesis,
synthesis, becoming the new thesis, with the cycle forever repeating.
I had never thought of a cycle, but of a forward progression, mainly
oriented toward science. (I wanted to be an engineer at the time.)
The idea that truth was temporary, and was constantly being rebuilt
was repugnant to me. But I got used to it. We can't have the world
as we like it, but always have it as it is.
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Willy
news:11065-488...@baytvnwsxa002.msntv.msn.com...
Jack:
I'm not sure what you're looking for in a church body as I'm catching the
tail end of this thread, but if it's a more Christ centered body of
believers that still hold open minded and somewhat liberal views as similar
to UU's, I would suggest you consider visiting a United Church of Christ,
many of which are also flying under the Congregational banner, although
there ARE Congregational churches that are NOT part of the UCC, and those
independents tend to be a bit homophobic, whereas many UCC's are accepting
of all cultures.
Willy
Gene Douglas
There was a controversy in recent years with a group wanting to use
the copyrighted name of the older Unitarians, maybe AUA or something
like that. They settled it by taking a name like the American
Unitarian Conference. They arose recently, long since the AUA merged
with the Universalists.