Editing Unitarianism (section)

== Terminology ==

Unitarianism is a [[proper noun]] and follows the same English usage as other Christian theologies that have developed within a religious group or denomination (such as [[Calvinism]], [[Anabaptism]], [[Adventism]], [[Lutheranism]], [[Wesleyanism]], etc.).<ref>L. Sue Baugh, ''Essentials of English Grammar: A Practical Guide to the Mastery of English'' ({{ISBN|978-0844258218}}). Second Edition 1994, p. 59: "Religious Names and Terms: The names of all religions, denominations, and local groups are capitalized."</ref> The term existed shortly before it became the name of a distinct religious tradition, thus occasionally it is used as a common noun to describe any [[Christology|understanding of Jesus Christ]] that denies the doctrine of the [[Trinity]] or affirms the belief that [[Monotheism|God is only one person]]. In that case, it would be a [[Nontrinitarianism|Nontrinitarian]] belief system not necessarily associated with the Unitarian movement.<ref>J. Gordon Melton, ''Encyclopedia of Protestantism'', 2005, p. 543: "Unitarianism – The word ''unitarian'' [italics] means one who believes in the oneness of God; historically it refers to those in the Christian community who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity (one God expressed in three persons). Non-Trinitarian Protestant churches emerged in the 16th century in ITALY, POLAND, and TRANSYLVANIA."</ref><ref>Letter from Matthew F. Smith to Editor ''World faiths Encounter'', 7–12 World Congress of Faiths – 1994 – "In an otherwise excellent article by Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, 'Sikh Spirit in an Age of Plurality' (No. 6, November 1993), the writer makes a number of pejorative remarks about 'unitarianism', associating the term with a striving for a monolithic polity and reductionism to a common denominator. This is a very unfortunate misuse of the word. A correct definition of 'unitarianism' (small 'u') is the mono-[[Hypostasis (philosophy)#Trinitarian definitions|hypo-static]] belief system of someone not directly associated with the Unitarian movement, almost always applied to a person from the Christian tradition, as the word was coined in distinction to the orthodox 'Trinitarian' doctrine of Christianity. 'Unitarians' (capital 'U') are, of course, those who follow the Unitarian approach to religion and are formally associated with the movement. In neither case can it be claimed that there is an underlying agenda towards reductionism and uniformity. Quite the reverse, in fact. Modern Unitarianism is remarkable among religions in not only welcoming the variety of faiths that there are to be found but also, as a creedless church, welcoming and encouraging acceptance of the same. We readily accept that not all our members are 'realist' theists, for example. Our long-standing commitment to interfaith understanding, evident in our practical support of the International Association for Religious Freedom, the World Congress of Faiths and the newly established International Interfaith centre in Oxford cannot be taken to mean that Unitarians are seeking the creation of a single world religion out of the old. I do not know a single Unitarian who believes or seeks that. On the contrary, we reject uniformity and cherish instead the highest degree of spiritual integrity, both of the existing religious traditions of the world and of religious persons as unique, thinking individuals. Matthew F Smith, Information Officer" ([[Essex Street Chapel]], Unitarian Church headquarters, UK)</ref><ref>"The name originated at the time of the great dispute at Gyulafehérvár in 1568, in the course of which Mélius quite often concluded his argument by saying, ''Ergo Deus est trinitarius''.... Hence his party naturally came to be called Trinitarians and their opponents would naturally be called Unitarians. The name seems thus to have come into general use only gradually and it was long before it was employed in the formal proclamations of their Superintendents.... It is not found in print as the denomination of the church until 1600, when the ''unitaria religio'' is named as one of the four received religions in a decree of the Diet of Léczfalva (cf. Magyar Emlékek, iv, 551) in the extreme southeastern part of Transylvania. The name was never used by the Socinians in Poland; but late in the seventeenth century Transylvanian Unitarian students made it well-known in Holland, where the Socinians in exile, who had never adopted Socinian as the name of their movement and were more and more objecting to it, welcomed it as distinguishing them from Trinitarians. It thus gradually superseded the term Socinian, and spread to England and America." Earl Morse Wilbur, ''A History of Unitarianism'', vol. 2, pp. 47–48.</ref> For example, the Unitarian movement has never accepted the Godhood of Jesus, and therefore does not include those ''nontrinitarian'' belief systems that do, such as [[Oneness Pentecostalism]], [[United Pentecostal Church International]], the [[True Jesus Church]], and the writings of [[Michael Servetus]] (all of which maintain that Jesus is God as a single person).  Recently, some religious groups have adopted the 19th-century term ''[[Biblical Unitarianism|biblical unitarianism]]'' to distinguish their theologies from Unitarianism.<ref>Tuggy, Dale, [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/trinity/unitarianism.html'Unitarianism' (2009). ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'']{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>

Unitarianism is a Christian theology and practice that precedes and is distinct from [[Unitarian Universalism]].<ref>Robinson, ''The Unitarians and the Universalists'', pp. 159–184.</ref><ref>AW Gomes, EC Beisner, and RM Bowman, ''Unitarian Universalism'' (Zondervan, 1998), pp. 30–79.</ref><ref>American Unitarian association, 1886. ''The Unitarian Register''. American Unitarian Association. p. 563</ref><ref>Rationalist Press Association Limited, 1957. ''Humanist, Volume 72''. p. III</ref>  In the 1890s the [[American Unitarian Association]] began to allow non-Christian and [[Non-theism|non-theistic]] churches and individuals to be part of their fellowship.<ref>George Willis Cooke, ''Unitarianism in America'' (AUA, 1902), pp. 224–230.</ref>  As a result, people who held no Unitarian belief began to be called ''Unitarians'' because they were members of churches that belonged to the American Unitarian Association. After several decades, the non-theistic members outnumbered the theological Unitarians.<ref>{{citation | publisher = UUA | url = http://www.uua.org/documents/coa/engagingourtheodiversity.pdf | title = Engaging Our Theological Diversity | pages = 70–72 | access-date = 2011-01-02 | archive-date = 2010-06-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100615181113/http://uua.org/documents/coa/engagingourtheodiversity.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>