The Pageless Book

In my last entry, I wrote concerning the origins of Unitarian Universalism (UUism). I also noted that in 1961 C.E., the Unitarian and the Universalist churches combined to become the UUA. Now that the foundation has been laid, I want delve into answering the original question that I so artfully dodged last time.

The Union of Two Faiths

During the 1950’s, a great number of similarities between the Unitarianism and Universalism became apparent. The church leadership of both denominations began to investigate the possibility of merging into one denomination. I can’t claim to know exactly what was going through the minds of these leaders, but I’m sure that theology was one of the issues they discussed.

What happens when a single Christian organization adopts the stance that Jesus was not God incarnate and that all humanity will be admitted into Heaven? Questions are raised that break down the importance of being Christian over any other religion. If Jesus was a prophet of God, and not his literal son, all reasons to worship Jesus as God incarnate evaporates. When paired with the doctrine of universal salvation, the importance of being Christian over any other religion becomes trivial. What remains important is that each person conducts themselves in a moral manner and have a spiritual component to their life.

Concerning Non-Theists

The problem that this particular view of UUism is it doesn’t allow for non-theists. If this definition of UUism is to remain true to Christianity, we would still exclude agnostics, humanist, and atheists. Obviously, we do not exclude non-theists, as they make up a good 30 to 40 percent of our membership. So how do we theologically justify their inclusion into the fold?

Through the words of Jesus Christ, of course. When we choose to take the words of Jesus figuratively rather than literally, a lot of things change for Christianity. First of all, it makes a lot more sense, but more importantly we can see his insistence in our salvation through him as being through his example. A non-theist who is concerned for the welfare of her fellow human beings, refrains from harming others, and sincerely apologizes for her own bad decisions, is following Christ’s example. When we carefully consider Jesus’s words in light of UUism, we cannot in good conscious exclude these men and women from our organization.

Still Christian?

While UUism may have originated from protestant Christianity, I can understand why some Christians may view our faith as being outside of Christendom. If you define being Christian as believing Jesus to be the literal son of God and that we can only be saved through having faith in his divinity, than UUism is not a form of Christianity. However I believe that being a Christian simply means an honest attempt at being “Christ-like.”

I would even go so far as to suggest that perhaps UUism is more like the religion that Jesus envisioned than what our conservative brethren practice. Consider for a moment the origin of the doctrines of UUism; were they not both present during the founding of Christianity? It wouldn’t take much of a stretch to think these were Jesus’s original teachings. Will anyone besides fellow UUists accept this suggestion? Doubtful. I realize that in order to make this claim, I have taken a non-literal, non-inerrant view of scripture, which doesn’t sit well with most Christians.

So, What is UUism?

It is a liberal religious tradition firmly rooted in the origins of Christianity that has evolved to accept any moral person regardless of their actual beliefs, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or economic status. We worship, teach, and act with the purpose of making the world a better place for all people by following the example of Jesus Christ and other great moral leaders.

The Future of Unitarian Universalism

So where are we, as a denomination, going from here? Last year, the UUA started making a push to grow our numbers with an advertising campaign. Not everyone thinks this is a good idea. In addition to this, many UUists are questioning the importance or wording of our seven principles, which serves as our creed despite not being called such. I’ve heard many reports that our congregations are aging and I am witness to it within my own church. There is a lot to be done and much to be discussed.

For my part, I’ve been trying to drum-up more exposure for UU blogs, with the theory that more exposure online may lead to larger congregations in the future. Dan Harper recently started his own push for further conversation into incorporating emergent theology within UUism. While we may be small, the Unitarian Universalist Church is full of individuals who are willing to ask hard questions and move towards strengthening our voice and making a difference. I suspect that there are people who just don’t know about UUism - those who claim to be “spiritual but not religious” - that would find themselves at home in a UU congregation. With the right leadership, I have no doubt that we can reach those people.

Flaming Chalice Image From The UUCE Website. Cross Image (Heavily Modified) by Drew McKinney.