Editing Unitarianism (section)

== Beliefs ==
[[File:Egy az Isten ! - 2014.12.14.JPG|thumb|"God is One" ({{lang|hu|Egy az Isten}}) stained glass window in a Unitarian church in [[Budapest]], Hungary]]

=== Christology ===

Unitarians charge that the [[doctrine of the Trinity|Trinity]], unlike Unitarianism, fails to adhere to strict monotheism. Unitarians maintain that Jesus was a great man and a [[prophet]] of God—perhaps even a [[supernatural]] being—but not God himself.<ref name="Miano 2003 15"/> They believe Jesus did not claim to be God and that his teachings did not suggest the existence of a [[triune God]].

Unitarian Christology can be divided according to whether or not Jesus is believed to have had a pre-human existence. Both forms maintain that [[God]] is one [[Ousia|being]] and one [[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|person]] and that Jesus is the (or a) [[Son of God]], but generally not God himself.<ref>{{citation |last=Hastings |first=James |title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics |volume=2 |page=785 |quote=Unitarianism started, on the other hand, with the denial of the pre-existence...  These opinions, however, must be considered apart from Arianism proper. |author-link=James Hastings}}</ref>

In the early 19th century, Unitarian [[Robert Wallace (Unitarian)|Robert Wallace]] identified three particular classes of Unitarian doctrines in history:
* '''[[Arianism|Arian]]''', which believed in a pre-existence of the [[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]];
* '''[[Socinianism|Socinian]]''', which denied his pre-existence but agreed that Jesus should be [[worship]]ped;
* '''"Strict Unitarian"''', which, believing in an "incommunicable divinity of God", denied the worship of "the man Christ."<ref>Wallace, Robert. 1819. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=a-orAAAAYAAJ A Plain Statement and Scriptural Defence of the Leading Doctrines of Unitarianism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164814/https://books.google.com/books?id=a-orAAAAYAAJ |date=2023-03-26 }}''. "Statement of The Peculiar Doctrines of Unitarians": pp. 7–10</ref><ref>See also ''[http://www.ccg.org/z/P185z.html Socinianism, Arianism and Unitarianism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120235633/http://www.ccg.org/z/P185z.html |date=2015-01-20 }}'', by Christian Churches of God, Wade Cox, Summary No. 185z</ref>

Unitarianism is considered a factor in the decline of classical [[deism]] because people increasingly preferred to identify themselves as Unitarians rather than deists.<ref>Mossner, Ernest Campbell (1967). "Deism". Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2. Collier-MacMillan. pp. 326–336.</ref>

==== "Socinian" Christology ====
{{Main|Socinianism}}
[[File:Portret van de theoloog Fausto Paolo Sozzini, RP-P-1908-3942.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Fausto Sozzini]] was an Italian theologian who helped define Unitarianism and also served the [[Polish Brethren]] church.]]
The Christology commonly called "[[Socinianism|Socinian]]" (after [[Fausto Sozzini]], one of the founders of Unitarian theology) refers to the belief that Jesus began his life when he was born as a human. In other words, the teaching that Jesus [[pre-existence of Christ|pre-existed]] his human body is rejected. There are various views ranging from the belief that Jesus was simply a human ([[psilanthropism]]) who, because of his greatness, was adopted by God as his Son ([[adoptionism]]) to the belief that Jesus literally became the [[Son of God (Christianity)|son of God]] when he was conceived by the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]].{{efn|The biblical narrative of Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit is primarily found in the Gospel of Luke (1:26-38) and Matthew (1:18-25). In Luke, the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will conceive through the Holy Spirit, and in Matthew, the angel explains to Joseph that the child conceived in Mary is of the Holy Spirit.}}{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

This Christology existed in some form or another before Sozzini. [[Theodotus of Byzantium]],<ref>{{citation |last=Hoben |first=Allan |title=The Virgin Birth |year=1903 |quote=Of the above-stated beliefs that of Theodotus of Byzantium is perhaps the most striking, in that, while it admits the virgin birth, it denies the deductions commonly made therefrom, attributing to Christ only pre-eminent righteousness.}}</ref> [[Artemon]]<ref>{{citation |last=Bright |first=William |title=Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life |page=127 |quote=His original view was put into more definite form by Artemon, who regarded Jesus Christ as distinguished from prophets by (1) virgin-birth, (a) superior virtue.}}</ref> and [[Paul of Samosata]]<ref>Charles, Tutorial Prayer Book, p. 599.</ref> denied the pre-existence of the [[Christ (title)|Christ]]. These ideas were continued by [[Marcellus of Ancyra]] and his pupil [[Photinus]] in the 4th century AD.<ref>{{citation |last=Houdt |first=Toon |title=Self-Presentation and Social Identification |page=238 |quote=Christian apologists traced the origin of Socinianism to the doctrine of Photinus (4th century), who according to St. Augustine denied the pre-existence of Christ.}}</ref><ref>[[R. P. C. Hanson]] (1916–1988), [[Lightfoot Professor of Divinity]] ''The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318–381'' (9780801031465): 1973 "Photinus' doctrine appears to have been a form of what might be called middle Marcellism, i.e., what Marcellus originally taught before his vicissitudes caused him to temper the edge of his doctrine and take account of the criticisms of his friends as well as of his enemies, a little more moderated."</ref> In the [[Radical Reformation]] and [[Anabaptist]] movements of the 16th century, this idea resurfaced with Sozzini's uncle, [[Lelio Sozzini]]. Having influenced the [[Polish Brethren]] to a formal declaration of this belief in the [[Racovian Catechism]], Fausto Sozzini involuntarily ended up giving his name to this Christological position,<ref>{{citation |last=Watson |first=R. |title=A Biblical and Theological Dictionary |page=999}}.</ref> which continued with English Unitarians such as [[John Biddle (Unitarian)|John Biddle]], [[Thomas Belsham]], [[Theophilus Lindsey]], and [[James Martineau]]. In America, most of the early Unitarians were [[Arianism|Arian]] in Christology (see below), but among those who held to a "Socinian" view was [[James Freeman (clergyman)|James Freeman]].{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

Regarding the [[virgin birth of Jesus]], among those who denied the preexistence of the [[Christ (title)|Christ]], some held to it, and others did not. Its denial is sometimes ascribed to the [[Ebionites]]; however, [[Origen]] (''Contra Celsum'' v.61) and [[Eusebius]] (''HE'' iii.27) both indicate that some Ebionites did accept the virgin birth.<ref>{{citation |last=Bromiley |first=Geoffrey W. |title=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |volume=E–J |page=9 |year=1982 |quote=Origen was the first to distinguish between two types of Ebionites theologically: those who believed in the Virgin Birth and those who rejected it.}}</ref> On the other hand, [[Theodotus of Byzantium]], [[Artemon]], and [[Paul of Samosata]] all accepted the virgin birth.<ref name="Stead">{{Citation |last=Stead |first=Christopher |title=Philosophy in Christian Antiquity |pages=189 |year=1996 |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-46955-5}}.</ref> In the early days of Unitarianism, the stories of the virgin birth were accepted by most. There were a number of Unitarians who questioned the historical accuracy of the Bible, including [[Symon Budny]], [[Jacob Palaeologus]], Thomas Belsham, and [[Richard Wright (Unitarian)|Richard Wright]], and this made them question the virgin birth story.<ref>{{citation |last=Webb |first=R. K. |title=Enlightenment, Passion, Modernity: Historical Essays in European Thought and Culture |page=120 |year=2007 |editor1-last=Micale |editor1-first=Mark S. |contribution=Miracles in English Unitarian Thought |editor2-last=Dietle |editor2-first=Robert L |editor3-last=Gay |editor3-first=Peter}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Belsham |title=Monthly Repository |issue=I |page=423 |year=1806 |contribution=Remarks on Mr. Proud's Pamphlet}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Wright |first=Richard |title=An Essay on the Miraculous Conception of Jesus Christ |year=1808 |place=London}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Wright |first=R |title=A Review of the Missionary Life and Labors of Richard Wright |page=68 |quote=After they were excited to think freely, some gave up the doctrine of the miraculous conception, from reading the scriptures only, and observing certain things there with which it could not be reconciled.}}</ref> Beginning in England and America in the 1830s and manifesting itself primarily in [[Transcendentalist Unitarianism]], which emerged from the German liberal theology associated primarily with [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]], the psilanthropist view increased in popularity.<ref>Gura, Philip F. ''American Transcendentalism: A History''. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007: 7–8. {{ISBN|0-8090-3477-8}}.</ref> Its proponents took an intellectual and humanistic approach to religion. They embraced evolutionary concepts, asserted the "inherent goodness of man", and abandoned the doctrine of [[biblical infallibility]], rejecting most of the miraculous events in the Bible (including the virgin birth). Notable examples are [[James Martineau]], [[Theodore Parker]], [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] and [[Frederic Henry Hedge]]. Famous American Unitarian [[William Ellery Channing]] was a believer in the virgin birth until later in his life, after he had begun his association with the Transcendentalists.<ref>{{citation |last=Placher |first=William Carl |title=A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction |page=265 |year=1983 |quote=Rationalist Unitarians like William Ellery Channing had argued from the Bible and the evidence of its miracles.}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Chadwick |first=John White |title=William Ellery Channing: Minister of Religion |page=440}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Mendelsohn |first=Jack |title=Channing, the Reluctant Radical: A Biography |year=1971 |quote=A Suffolk County grand jury indicted him on three charges of blasphemy and obscenity: (1) he had quoted a scurrilous passage by Voltaire disparaging the virgin birth of Jesus.}}</ref>

==== Arianism ====
[[File:Constantine burning Arian books (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Constantine I]] burning [[Arian]] books, illustration from a book of canon law, c. 825]]

[[Arianism]] is often considered a form of Unitarianism.<ref>{{cite web |title=Arianism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arianism |website=Britannica |date=28 August 2023 |access-date=15 September 2022 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327091909/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arianism |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Christology]] of Arianism holds that Jesus, before his human life, existed as the [[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]], or the Word, a being begotten or created by God, who dwelt with God in Heaven.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} There are many varieties of this form of Unitarianism, ranging from the belief that the Son was a divine spirit of the same substance (called [[Subordinationism]]) or [[Homoiousian|of a similar substance]] to that of God (called [[Semi-Arianism]]) to the belief that he was an angel or other lesser spirit creature of a wholly different nature from God.{{citation needed|date=May 2011}} Not all of these views necessarily were held by [[Arius]], the namesake of this Christology. It is still Nontrinitarian because, according to this belief system, Jesus has always been beneath God, though higher than humans. Arian Christology was not a majority view among Unitarians in Poland, Transylvania, or England. It was only with the advent of American Unitarianism that it gained a foothold in the Unitarian movement.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

Among early Christian theologians who believed in a pre-existent Jesus who was subordinate to God the Father were [[Lucian of Antioch]], [[Eusebius of Caesarea]], [[Arius]], [[Eusebius of Nicomedia]], [[Asterius the Sophist]], [[Eunomius]], and [[Ulfilas]], as well as [[Felix, Bishop of Urgell]]. Proponents of this Christology also associate it (more controversially) with [[Justin Martyr]] and [[Hippolytus of Rome]]. Antitrinitarian [[Michael Servetus]] did not deny the pre-existence of the Christ so that he may have believed in it.<ref>{{citation |last=Odhner |first=CT |title=Michael Servetus, His Life and Teachings |url=https://archive.org/details/michaelservetush00odhn |page=77 |year=1910 |quote=It will be seen from these extracts how completely without foundation is the assertion that Servetus denied the eternal pre-existence of Christ.}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=March 2013}} (In his "Treatise Concerning the Divine Trinity" Servetus taught that the Logos (Word) was the reflection of Jesus, and "that reflection of Christ was the Word with God" that consisted of God himself, shining brightly in Heaven, "and it was God Himself"<ref name="Servetus 1553 75">{{cite book|last=Servetus|first=Michael|title=The Restoration of Christianity – An English Translation of Christianismi restitutio, 1553, Translated by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar|year=1553|publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|isbn=978-0-7734-5520-7|page=75}}</ref> and that "the Word was the very essence of God or the manifestation of God's essence, and there was in God no other substance or hypostasis than His Word, in a bright cloud where God then seemed to subsist. And in that very spot the face and personality of Christ shone bright."<ref name="Servetus 1553 75"/>) [[Isaac Newton]] had Arian beliefs as well.<ref>{{citation |last=Pfizenmaier |first=Thomas C. |title=Journal of the History of Ideas |issue=68 |pages=57–80 |year=1997 |contribution=Was Isaac Newton an Arian? |quote=Among contemporary scholars, the consensus is that Newton was an Arian.}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Wiles |first=Maurice F |title=Archetypal Heresy: Arianism Through the Centuries |page=133 |year=1996 |quote=Modern Unitarianism emerged after Newton's death.}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Nicholls |first=David |title=God and Government in an 'age of Reason' |page=44 |year=1995 |quote=Unitarianism ideas emerged after Newton's death.}}</ref> Famous 19th-century Arian Unitarians include [[Andrews Norton]]<ref>{{citation |title=A Statement of Reasons for Not Believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians |year=1859}}.</ref> and [[William Ellery Channing]] (in his earlier years).<ref>{{citation |title=The Works of WE Channing, DD |year=1841 |chapter=Unitarian Christianity}}.</ref>

=== Other beliefs ===
Although there is no specific authority on convictions of Unitarian belief aside from rejection of the Trinity, the following beliefs are generally accepted:<ref>{{citation |last=May |first=Samuel Joseph |title=What Do Unitarians Believe? |year=1867 |place=Albany |publisher=Weed, Parsons, and Co. |orig-year=1860 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044081810715 |hdl-access=free}}.</ref><ref>{{citation | first = AC | last = Henderson | title = What Do Unitarians Believe? | year = 1886}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Dewey |first=Orville |title=The Unitarian Belief |year=1873 |place=Boston}}.</ref><ref>{{citation | first = James Freeman | last = Clarke | title = Manual of Unitarian Belief | orig-year = 1885 | edition = 20th | year = 1924}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Ellis |first=George H |title=What Do Unitarians Believe About Jesus Christ? |year=1890 |place=Boston}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Sunderland |first=Jabez T |title=What Do Unitarians Believe? |year=1891 |place=New York |publisher=AUA |author-link=Jabez T. Sunderland}}.</ref>
* One God and the oneness or unity of God.
* The life and teachings of Jesus constitute the exemplary model for living one's own life.
* Reason, rational thought, science, and philosophy coexist with faith in God.
* Humans have the ability to exercise [[free will]] in a responsible, constructive and ethical manner with the assistance of religion.
* [[Human nature]] in its present condition is neither inherently corrupt nor depraved (see [[original sin]]) but capable of both good and evil, as God intended.
* No religion can claim an absolute monopoly on the Holy Spirit or [[theological]] truth.
* Though God inspired the authors of the Bible, they were humans and, therefore, subject to human error.
* The traditional [[doctrines]] of [[predestination]], [[Hell in Christianity|Hell]], and the [[Substitutionary atonement|vicarious sacrifice]] and [[Satisfaction theory of atonement|satisfaction]] theories of the [[Atonement in Christianity|atonement]] are invalid because they malign God's character and veil the true nature and mission of Jesus.<ref>{{cite journal|year=1858|title=The Unitarian Denomination|journal=The Quarterly Journal of the American Unitarian Association|volume=5|publisher=[[American Unitarian Association]]|location=Boston|page=168|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zPgQAAAAIAAJ&q=%22unitarian+theory+of+atonement%22&pg=PA168|access-date=2020-11-22|archive-date=2023-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928230522/https://books.google.com/books?id=zPgQAAAAIAAJ&q=%22unitarian+theory+of+atonement%22&pg=PA168#v=snippet&q=%22unitarian%20theory%20of%20atonement%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1938, ''The Christian Leader'' attributed "''the'' religion ''of'' Jesus, not ''a'' religion ''about'' Jesus" to Unitarians,<ref>{{citation |author=An esteemed Unitarian minister |title=The Christian Leader |volume=120 |page=1034 |year=1938 |chapter=2 |quote=This view finds pat expression in the dictum that Christianity is the religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus.}}</ref> though the phrase was used earlier by [[Congregationalist]] [[Rollin Lynde Hartt]] in 1924.<ref>{{citation |last=Hartt |first=Rollin Lynde |title=The Man Himself |year=1924}}.</ref>