Unitarianism

A Christian denomination that rejects the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, asserts the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of humanity, and gives a pre-eminent position to Jesus as a religious teacher, while denying his divinity.

Unitarians believe in individual conscience and reason as a guide to right action, rejecting the doctrines of original sin, the atonement, and eternal punishment. Unitarianism is widespread in England and North America. See also Arianism and Socinianism.

Unitarianism arose independently in the 16th century in Poland, where its chief exponent was Faustus Socinus (1539-1604), and in the Transylvanian region of Hungary and Romania. During the 17th century a number of English writers began to accept Jesus' humanity while denying the doctrine of the Trinity. The movement grew amid the rationalism of the 18th century, and the first Unitarian chapel was established in London 1774. American Unitarianism emerged as a secession movement from the Congregational Church in New England. Its most eloquent spokesperson was William Ellery Channing (1780-1842). The transcendentalism of Emerson and Thoreau was a major influence on American Unitarianism. In the 20th century, Unitarianism became identified closely with a liberal political stance and the cause of world peace, and its specific Christian affinities have been replaced gradually by a rational commitment to the moral and spiritual progress of humanity. The chief Unitarian body in the US is the Unitarian Universalist Association, formed 1961 by the merger of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church.