Unitarian and/or Free Christian?

Our parent body is known as the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches. What do these two designations mean, and which of the two is most important to us, if either?

For me, being a Unitarian involves being “open to new light from whatever source it may come”, to use the Quaker phrase, following the tenets of total respect for individual freedom of belief based on reason and conscience, and extending a broad tolerance and acceptance towards the sincerely-held beliefs of others. But working away in a little corner of my deepest beliefs all by itself until fairly recently was the proviso “except that I can’t accept the divinity of Jesus as a valid belief – I’m a Unitarian – that is what defines me.” I still find the designation “Unitarian Christian” quite uneasy, and would much prefer my Christo-centric friends to call themselves “Christian Unitarians”, with ‘Unitarian’ being the noun and ‘Christian’ being the adjective, rather than the other way round, because I see being Unitarian as “the important bit”. And I suspect that many Unitarians would feel the same – they might not admit it, but that proviso is there, ticking away at a very deep level.

A colleague of mine, on the other hand, describes himself as a “Free Christian” or “Liberal Christian” with pride, finds the teachings of Jesus and Jesus himself of fundamental importance, and argues that the current bias against Christianity within the Unitarian movement is intolerant and non-inclusive – positively un-Unitarian, in fact. I have to admit that he has a point – many Unitarians are distinctly “anti-Christian” in a way that they are not against the beliefs of any other religion – Buddhism, Hinduism etc. I think this is because they (we) have come to Unitarianism from a Christian background, and from a position of rejecting the tenets of Christianity. So we bring a lot of sub-conscious anti-Christian baggage with us, as I discovered a while ago when I wrote an article for The Inquirer about attending a Baptist service, and was stunned by the vitriol of some of the responses. And, in spite of secularisation, this is still a nominally Christian country, and it is deep in our culture.

Like many Unitarians, I was not brought up in a Unitarian context, and spent my primary years at a little school, which held assembly every day. We followed the round of the Christian year, and sang all the lovely Christian hymns, without questioning their meaning. It was not until I hit teenage years that the doubts began to kick in. I had never attended a mainstream Christian church (except at Christmas). Then I found out that several of my friends were being confirmed. So I started to investigate Christianity a bit more deeply. With some reluctance, I realised that there were many things about being Christian that I simply couldn’t go along with - the Trinity, the doctrine of the Atonement, the Last Judgement, the exclusivity of it. And yet I still believed in God.

It was at this point that I had a long conversation with my father, who had been brought up a Unitarian, but who had not attended church for many years. He explained that there was an alternative to mainstream Christianity, which didn’t involve outraging your common sense, or requiring you to suspend disbelief. He gave me a copy of Alfred Hall’s little book Beliefs of a Unitarian, and it had a profound effect on me. So this is what it’s all about, I thought.

One of the important things that Dad and Alfred Hall taught me is that it is not necessary to throw the baby Jesus out with the Christian bathwater.  What I mean by that is that you may not believe that Jesus was the divine Son of God, born of a virgin, crucified to save us from eternal hellfire, who rose again on the third day, and will sit at the right hand of the Father on judgement day. But the importance of the man and his teachings should not be underestimated. As a pattern and an example, he can hardly be bettered.

Today there is a wide spectrum of beliefs about Jesus within the Unitarian movement. Some Unitarians have rejected Jesus completely – won’t even say the Lord’s Prayer – and are distinctly uneasy if the readings in today’s service include a passage from the New Testament. Their belief in the essential unity of God (or the Spirit of Life or whatever) is so strong that they view anything that smacks of Christianity with deep suspicion. At the other end of the scale are the Liberal Christians, who cheerfully take communion, sing many Christian hymns with only minor word changes, and reverence Jesus above all other teachers. Some, as I have now discovered, even believe that he is divine. Yet others regard Jesus as one teacher among many, and look equally to the prophets of other faiths for inspiration and guidance. And that’s great – it is one of the strengths of our Unitarian tradition that such a diversity of belief can not only be tolerated, but wholeheartedly accepted. At least that is the theory!

It wasn’t until I talked to my colleague that I truly realised how very Christian some Unitarians are – believing that Jesus is divine, for example. This is certainly not a viewpoint I could share. For me, one of the main points of being a Unitarian is that I believe with Alfred Hall in the true and total humanity of the first century Jewish prophet, Jesus.

For those of us who describe ourselves as ‘Unitarians’ on the grounds of our shared values, “mutual respect and goodwill in personal relations and constructive tolerance and openness towards the sincerely-held beliefs of others”, to quote our leaflet A Faith Worth Thinking About, this must surely include being tolerant and open towards liberal or free Christians. And according to my colleague, this means taking on board that it is not only possible but acceptable for fellow Unitarians to hold Trinitarian beliefs – which is a new idea for many of us. To which I would also add in the words of Cliff Reed:

“no honest and sincere expression of belief should be discounted out of hand. To judge another’s faith is presumptuous and dangerous. All true expressions of the religious impulse come from our encounter with the wonder and mystery of the universe. All result from the joy and pain, the highs and lows of our life-experiences in this world. … Unitarians afford respect to all sincere believers of whatever faith. We seek to learn from the witness of all spiritual traditions, but we do not do so uncritically.” 

Which includes non-theistic beliefs too.

I guess the ultimate question is – what do we care most about? Rejecting Trinitarian Christianity, or being open and inclusive and tolerant and loving? Surely there is room for all of us in our wonderful, uncommon denomination, our faith without a creed. Surely we can agree to differ on our theology, and get on with the important stuff, which is making ourselves a welcoming, inclusive and socially active religious / spiritual community. A lot of instinctive gut reactions will have to be consciously overcome, but if Unitarianism comes to be seen as a haven not only for free thinkers and spiritual seekers, but also for disillusioned liberal Christians, and we can spread the word about it, this might even help to reverse the decline in our numbers that is so worrying everybody at the moment.

It’s a thought …

Tolerance - Spirit and Practice

Freedom and Reason are two of the keystones of British Unitarian thought; the third is Tolerance. Outsiders may find it difficult to understand how the Unitarian movement holds together, placing, as it does, so much importance on the freedom of individual belief based on reason and conscience. But tolerance, this openness to new thoughts and ideas, is a key concept in Unitarianism; indeed it is what has kept it green and growing down the centuries.

image: hdwallpapersinn.com

Our movement has been underpinned by a process of continuous and continuing revelation. At different times and in different countries, different ideas have been considered to be most important. But tolerance also means a tigerish determination to fight for the right of others to enjoy the same freedom to worship in whatever way they choose, so long as it doesn’t harm anyone else. Our “fellowship in diversity” (happy phrase) aims to be tolerant towards others. As Joyce Grenfell beautifully puts it, we believe in “loving in spite of human imperfection.”

Unitarian tolerance is the value which people outside our movement perhaps find hardest to understand – is it just another way of saying “anything goes”? Well, no, it certainly is not. It has both the spiritual and practical aspects, a distinction which it is important to stress.

On the spiritual side, we meet together for Sunday worship, and in discussion groups and engagement groups at other times. And it is understood that each person in the congregation or group will have his or her own beliefs, doubts and questions. The spiritual aspect of Unitarian tolerance is the provision of a safe and supportive space in which these beliefs, doubts and questions may be expressed, and will be listened to respectfully, and without judgement. As Sarah Tinker writes: "we affirm the right of individuals to express themselves fully and to be heard and accepted for who they are, unique human beings.” 

The pragmatic side of Unitarian tolerance concerns how we define it, here in the 21st century. What does tolerance actually mean, in practical terms? I have said earlier that it means wholeheartedly accepting and respecting the right of others to believe what they wish, according to their reason and conscience, so long as it does not  harm anyone else.

We should extend this tolerance not only to our fellow Unitarians and spiritual seekers, but also to the members of other religions. It is not tolerant to rubbish the religious beliefs of others, or to speak disrespectfully about other faith systems. That is spiritual arrogance. True religious tolerance is about recognising that other people's beliefs are different from ours, and being happy that their beliefs give their life meaning and validation.

We also need to recognise that there are limits to tolerance. We should not tolerate beliefs that advocate or condone the oppression of particular members of society on the grounds of their sex, sexual orientation, race, or religious beliefs. And where such intolerant beliefs are held, we need to make our voices heard, standing up for true, inclusive tolerance.

The Unitarian Trinity

We Unitarians often refer to ourselves as "the faith without a creed." This is because we have always insisted that it is not necessary for the members and attenders of our churches and chapels to agree with a particular set of theological beliefs, in order to be accepted as Unitarians. So in the absence of a commonly-held creed, what is it that holds us together as a denomination?

image: all-languages.org.uk

Freedom, reason and tolerance are the underlying principles of Unitarianism, at least in the United Kingdom. They are also three pillars of a good society. A glance at any newspaper can show only too graphically how the lack of these values can lead to suppression, unreason and intolerance. What do Freedom, Reason and Tolerance mean to Unitarians?

If a British Unitarian is asked the question “What do Unitarians believe?” the immediate answer that springs to mind may be “We believe in freedom, reason and tolerance.” I’m not so sure. Our beliefs may be as diverse as ourselves: some of us believe in a personal God; some of us are religious humanists; some of us share beliefs with other world faiths; and so on, and so on.  So what is it that makes us Unitarians? What  binds us together? I would put it another way: I would rather say that freedom, reason and tolerance are the values that underlie Unitarianism, the principles and standards that make the rest possible. As Cliff Reed writes in Unitarian? What's that? “shared values and a shared religious approach are a surer basis for unity than theological propositions.” (10)

So how does this all work out within the context of a Unitarian congregation? What is it that keeps Unitarians coming together in fellowship, Sunday after Sunday, rather than attending another church, or relaxing with our families, or engaging in a touch of retail therapy?

At its best, a Unitarian congregation is a place in which each person can carry on his or her own religious and/or spiritual quest, in the company of others who not only respect, but also wholeheartedly accept, their right to believe what they will, on two conditions. Firstly, that this belief has been sanctioned by the individual's own reason and conscience. And secondly, that this belief does not cause harm to any other living beings. To be a member of such a congregation can be spiritually invigorating, and give a deep sense of belonging.

And yet, it is not an easy way to live. If you want answers, fair and square, set down in black and white with no contradictions, Unitarianism is not the place for you. Some people may find the lack of a creed, a denomination-wide accepted set of beliefs, daunting. Not me – I love the fact that Unitarians do not claim to have all the answers – every Unitarian I’ve ever known has been a spiritual seeker, just like me. We are all on the same journey, supporting each other along the way, and sharing our discoveries and spiritual breakthroughs, in our worship, and in our lives.

What holds us together is that we all have the same attitude to religion and spirituality. All of us believe profoundly in the necessity of personal freedom of religious belief  - the freedom to grow, and to act in accordance with our beliefs, to work out our own answers. We share a devotion to spiritual freedom, and find that the insights of others can enrich our own beliefs. What could be better?

Many members of other faiths find that their bond with others is in scriptural or creedal affirmations. That door is closed to us. Our bond is a belief that people can agree to work together for the deepening of spiritual life, the strengthening of moral character, and the improvement of society without agreeing to a set of theological doctrines. Ours is a fellowship in diversity, a band of pilgrims on the same spiritual seeking path, each having perfect freedom to follow the dictates of our individual reason and conscience to forge a living faith that will help us to follow the best that we know for the greater good of ourselves and the world.