Editing Unitarian Universalism (section)

===Unitarianism===
{{Main|Unitarianism}}

According to Spanish physician, [[Michael Servetus]], he studied the Bible and concluded that the concept of the Trinity, as traditionally conceived, was not biblical. His books ''On the Errors of the Trinity'' and ''Christianismi Restitutio'' caused much uproar. Servetus was eventually arrested, convicted of heresy, and burned at the stake in [[Geneva]] in 1553.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.miguelservet.org/servetus/biography.htm |title=Michael Servetus Institute; Times that Servetus lived |publisher=Miguelservet.org |access-date=2011-02-27}}</ref>

The term "Unitarian" entered the English language via [[Henry Hedworth]], who applied it to the teachings of [[Laelio Sozzini]] and the Polish [[Socinians]]. Unitarian churches were formally established in [[Transylvania]] and [[Poland]] (by the Socinians) in the second half of the 16th century.<ref name="Harris">Harris, MW. Unitarian Universalist Origins: Our Historic Faith</ref> There, the first doctrines of religious freedom in Europe were established (in the course of several [[Diet (assembly)|diets]] between 1557 and 1568, see [[Edict of Torda]]) under the jurisdiction of [[John Sigismund Zápolya|John Sigismund]], King of Hungary and Prince of Transylvania, the only Unitarian monarch. The early Unitarian church not only rejected the Trinity, but also the [[pre-existence of Christ]] as well as, in many cases, [[predestination]] and [[original sin]] as put forward by [[Augustine of Hippo]], and the [[substitutionary atonement]] of Christ developed by [[Anselm of Canterbury]] and John Calvin. There were several different forms of [[Christology]] in the beginnings of the Unitarian movement; ultimately, the dominant Christology became [[psilanthropism]]: that Jesus was a man, but one with a unique relationship to God.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

====Great Britain====
{{Main|History of Unitarianism}}
{{Further|English Dissenters|History of Christianity in the United Kingdom}}

Influenced by the [[Socinianism|Socinian doctrine]] of the [[Polish Brethren]], the Unitarian minister [[Samuel Clarke]] (1675–1729) revised the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'', removing the Trinitarian [[Nicene Creed]] and references to [[Divinity of Jesus|Jesus as God]].<ref name=Clarke>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanunitarian.org/fisherhistory.htm |title=Chris Fisher, ''A Brief History of Unitarian Christianity'', retrieved July 18, 2008 |publisher=Americanunitarian.org |access-date=2011-02-27 |archive-date=7 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307032858/http://www.americanunitarian.org/fisherhistory.htm }}</ref> [[Theophilus Lindsey]] also revised the ''Book of Common Prayer'' to allow a more tolerant, free Unitarian interpretation. Neither cleric was charged under the [[Blasphemy Act 1697]] that made it an "offense for any person, educated in or having made profession of the Christian religion, by writing, preaching, teaching or advised speaking, to deny the [[Holy Trinity]]". The [[Toleration Act 1688|Act of Toleration (1689)]] gave relief to [[English Dissenters]], but excluded Unitarians. The efforts of Clarke and Lindsey met with substantial criticism from the more conservative clergy and laity of the [[Church of England]]. In response, in 1774, Lindsey applied for registration of the [[Essex Street Chapel|Essex House]] as a "Dissenting place of worship" with the assistance of [[barrister]] [[John Lee (Attorney-General)|John Lee]].<ref>{{cite news|title=1959_StoryEssexHall.pdf|first1=Mortimer|last1=Rowe|location=London|publisher=Lindsey Press}}</ref>  On the Sunday following the registration—April 17, 1774—the first true Unitarian congregation discreetly convened in the provisional Essex Street Chapel. In attendance were Lee, [[Joseph Priestley]] and the agent of the Massachusetts Colony, [[Benjamin Franklin]].<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://www.unitarian.org.uk/support/doc-EssexHall2.shtml
|title= The History of Essex Hall
|last1= Rowe |first1= Mortimer
|year= 1959
|work=  Chapter 2&nbsp;– Lindsey's Chapel
|publisher= Lindsey Press
|quote= ...&nbsp;in the early months of 1774 a little group of persons – Lindsey and his chiefpledged supporters – turned the corner out of the Strand into Essex Street and stood looking at a building near the top of the street, a building which alone kept alive the proud name 'Essex House'
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120307014023/http://www.unitarian.org.uk/support/doc-EssexHall2.shtml
|archive-date= March 7, 2012}}</ref> Priestley also founded a reform congregation, but, after his home was burned down in the [[Priestley Riots]], fled with his wife to America, where he became a leading figure in the founding of the church on American soil.<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=4277&&PageID=443569&level=4&css=L4&mode=2
|title= Joseph Priestley
|access-date= 2011-09-24
|last1=Silverman
|first1=  Sharon Hernes
|date= September 24, 2011
|publisher= [[Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission]]
|quote= ...eleven homes and two chapels in Birmingham were destroyed ... on April 8, 1794, Joseph and Mary Priestley set sail for America ... his 1796 lectures on "Evidences of Revelation" led to the formation of the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia
}}</ref>

Once laity and clergy relaxed their vehement opposition to the [[Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813]], which finally allowed for protections of dissenting religions, the [[British and Foreign Unitarian Association]] was founded in 1825. It has its headquarters in Essex Hall, successor to Lindsey's Essex House.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.unitarian.org.uk/sites/default/files/1959_StoryEssexHall.pdf|title=The Story of Essex Hall|first1=Mortimer|last1=Rowe|date=1959|publisher=Lindsey Press|access-date=2017-12-25}}</ref>  Two that have been significant in national life are the [[Cross Street Chapel]] in Manchester and,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cross-street-chapel.org.uk/about/unitarian/members-theology/|title=Theology of Unitarianism|access-date=2017-12-25|archive-date=2017-12-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226073900/http://cross-street-chapel.org.uk/about/unitarian/members-theology/}}</ref> [[Newington Green Unitarian Church]] in [[north London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cross-street-chapel.org.uk/about/unitarian/members-theology/|title=Newington Green Chapel under threat after 300 years?|date=2016-10-25|access-date=2017-12-25|archive-date=2017-12-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226073900/http://cross-street-chapel.org.uk/about/unitarian/members-theology/}}</ref> Unitarian congregations in Britain meet under the auspices of the [[General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches]]. There are 170 communities of Unitarians across Britain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unitarian.org.uk/pages/unitarianism-explained|access-date=2017-12-25|title=Community Without Creed|archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226130513/https://www.unitarian.org.uk/pages/unitarianism-explained}}</ref> The Chief Officer of the British Unitarians was Liz Slade as of 2024.<ref>{{cite web|title=Staff {{!}} Unitarians|url=https://www.unitarian.org.uk/pages/staff|access-date=2024-09-09|website=www.unitarian.org.uk}}</ref>

====United States====
{{Main|History of Unitarianism}}
{{Further|Congregationalism in the United States|History of Christianity in the United States}}

In the United States, the Unitarian movement began primarily in the [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregational]] [[parish]] churches of [[New England]], which were part of the [[state church]] of Massachusetts.<ref>Paul Erasmus Lauer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2J8TAAAAYAAJ ''Church and state in New England''] (Johns Hopkins Press, 1892) p. 105. Retrieved September 20, 2009.</ref> These churches, whose buildings may still be seen in many New England town squares, trace their roots to the division of the [[Puritan]] colonies into parishes for the administration of their religious needs.<ref>[http://www.uunashua.org/sermons/sampson.shtml Bob Sampson, Seventy-three Years In the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Nashua, July 16, 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306013146/http://uunashua.org/sermons/sampson.shtml |date=March 6, 2016 }}. Retrieved July 18, 2008.</ref> In the late 18th century, conflict grew within some of these churches between Unitarian and Trinitarian factions. In 1805, Unitarians gained key faculty positions at [[Harvard University#Religion and philosophy|Harvard]]. In 1819 [[William Ellery Channing]] preached the [[ordination]] sermon for [[Jared Sparks]] in [[Baltimore]], outlining the Unitarian position. The [[American Unitarian Association]] was founded as a separate denomination in 1825.<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://americanunitarian.org/fisherhistory.htm
|title= A Brief History of Unitarian Christianity
|access-date= 2011-09-24
|last1= Fisher
|first1= Chris
|date= September 1, 2004
|work= The 19th Century
|publisher= American Unitarian Conference
|quote= Many churches that were Congregationalist split off and became Unitarian. In 1825, the movement grew large enough that an organization, the American Unitarian Association, was formed
|archive-date= 27 September 2011
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110927143237/http://www.americanunitarian.org/fisherhistory.htm
}}</ref>
By coincidence and unknown to both parties, the AUA was formed on the same day—May 26, 1825—as the [[British and Foreign Unitarian Association]].<ref>Rowe, Ch. 3: "Thus was brought to birth, triumphantly, in 1825, The British And Foreign Unitarian Association. By a happy coincidence, in those days of slow posts, no transatlantic telegraph, telephone or wireless, our American cousins, in complete ignorance as to the details of what was afoot, though moving toward a similar goal, founded the American Unitarian Association on precisely the same day—May 26, 1825."</ref>

In the 19th century, under the influence of [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] (who had been a Unitarian minister)<ref>[http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/UIA%20Online/97emerson.html Ralph Waldo Emerson] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928060401/http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/UIA%20Online/97emerson.html |date=2012-09-28 }}. Harvardsquarelibrary.org. Retrieved on 2010-09-29.</ref> and other [[transcendentalists]], Unitarianism began its long journey from [[Liberal Christianity|liberal Protestantism]] to its more pluralist form.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.uua.org/documents/coa/engagingourtheodiversity.pdf |title=Engaging our theological diversity |date=May 2005 |isbn=978-1-55896-497-6 |publisher=The Commission on Appraisal of the [[Unitarian Universalist Association]]}}</ref>