Misplaced Pages

#201798

167-473: Unitarianism was established in order to restore " primitive Christianity before later corruptions set in". Likewise, Unitarian Christians generally reject the doctrine of original sin . The churchmanship of Unitarianism may include liberal denominations or Unitarian Christian denominations that are more conservative , with the latter being known as biblical Unitarians . The birth of the Unitarian faith

334-540: A Nontrinitarian belief system not necessarily associated with the Unitarian movement. 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

501-499: A "Socinian" view was James Freeman . Regarding the virgin birth of Jesus among those who denied the preexistence of 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. On the other hand, Theodotus of Byzantium , Artemon , and Paul of Samosata all accepted

668-762: A "preincarnate appearance of the Messiah". While the developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , the New Testament contains several Trinitarian formulas , including Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 4:4–6, 1 Peter 1:2, and Revelation 1:4–6. Reflection by early Christians on passages such as the Great Commission : "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in

835-406: A "restoration". It is a view that often "seeks to correct faults or deficiencies, in other branches of Christianity , by appealing to the primitive church as normative model". Efforts to restore an earlier, purer form of Christianity are frequently a response to denominationalism . As Rubel Shelly put it, "the motive behind all restoration movements is to tear down the walls of separation by

1002-679: A basic component of some Pentecostal movements such as the Assemblies of God . The terms "Restorationism movement" and "Restorationist movement" have also been applied to the British New Church Movement . Capitalized, the term is also used as a synonym for the American Restoration Movement . The term "restorationism" can also include the belief that the Jewish people must be restored to

1169-665: A belief that historic Christianity lost the true faith during the Great Apostasy and that the Church needed to be restored. The term has been used in reference to the Stone–Campbell Movement in the United States, and has been also used by more recent groups, describing their goal to re-establish Christianity in its original form, such as some anti-denominational Charismatic Restorationists , which arose in

1336-972: A church hierarchy that includes the election by the synod of a national bishop who serves as superintendent of the Church. Many Hungarian Unitarians embrace the principles of rationalist Unitarianism. Unitarian high schools exist only in Transylvania (Romania), including the John Sigismund Unitarian Academy in Cluj-Napoca , the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj , and the Berde Mózes Unitárius Gimnázium in Cristuru Secuiesc ; both teach Rationalist Unitarianism. The Unitarian Christian Association (UCA)

1503-610: A common ritual practice inducting new members into the early Jesus sect by baptizing them in Jesus' name (2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5). According to Dale Allison , Acts depicts the appearances of Jesus to Paul as a divine theophany , styled on and identified with the God responsible for the theophany of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. The Gospel of John has been seen as especially aimed at emphasizing Jesus' divinity, presenting Jesus as

1670-680: A common theological concept of the unitary nature of God. Unitarian Christian communities and churches have developed in Central Europe (mostly Romania and Hungary ), Ireland , India , Jamaica , Japan , Canada , Nigeria , South Africa , the United Kingdom , and the United States . In British America , different schools of Unitarian theology first spread in the New England Colonies and subsequently in

1837-534: A controversy that started on January 22, 1556, when Piotr of Goniądz (Peter Gonesius), a Polish student, spoke out against the doctrine of the Trinity during the general synod of the Reformed ( Calvinist ) churches of Poland held in the village of Secemin . After nine years of debate, in 1565, the anti-Trinitarians were excluded from the existing synod of the Polish Reformed Church (henceforth

SECTION 10

#1732773161202

2004-399: A cultural and intellectual centre of a whole society, a place where ideas about society were openly and critically discussed. Restorationism Restorationism , also known as Restitutionism or Christian primitivism , is a religious perspective according to which the early beliefs and practices of the followers of Jesus were either lost or adulterated after his death and required

2171-749: A few years he became the leader of the Unitarian movement. A theological battle with the Congregational Churches resulted in the formation of the American Unitarian Association at Boston in 1825. Certainly, the unitarian theology was being "adopted" by the Congregationalists from the 1820s onwards. This movement is also evident in England at this time. The first school founded by the Unitarians in

2338-619: A means of hastening the millennium. Both also saw restoring the early church as a route to Christian freedom. Both believed that unity among Christians could be achieved by using apostolic Christianity as a model. They were united, among other things, in the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; that Christians should celebrate the Lord's Supper on the first day of each week ; and that baptism of adult believers by immersion in water

2505-648: 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 Christ, so he may have believed in it. (In his "Treatise Concerning

2672-474: A religious group or denomination (such as Calvinism , Anabaptism , Adventism , Lutheranism , Wesleyanism , etc.). 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 understanding of Jesus Christ that denies the doctrine of the Trinity or affirms the belief that God is only one person . In that case, it would be

2839-565: 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. Unitarianism, both as a theology and as a denominational family of churches , was defined and developed in Poland, Transylvania, England, Wales, India, Japan, Jamaica,

3006-553: A return to the practice of the original, essential and universal features of the Christian religion." Different groups have tried to implement the restorationist vision in a variety of ways; for instance, some have focused on the structure and practice of the church, others on the ethical life of the church , and others on the direct experience of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The relative importance given to

3173-551: A signatory to the Oregon State Constitution, founded the first Unitarian church in Oregon in 1865. Eleven Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Unitarians: Robert Millikan and John Bardeen (twice) in physics; Emily Green Balch , Albert Schweitzer and Linus Pauling for peace; George Wald and David H. Hubel in medicine; Linus Pauling in chemistry; and Herbert A. Simon in economics. Four presidents of

3340-715: A significant number of Italians who took refuge in Bohemia , Moravia , Poland, and Transylvania in order to escape from the religious persecution perpetrated against them by the Roman Catholic and Magisterial Protestant churches. In the 17th century, significant repression in Poland led many Unitarians to flee or be killed for their faith. From the 16th to 18th centuries, Unitarians in Britain often faced significant political persecution, including John Biddle , Mary Wollstonecraft , and Theophilus Lindsey . In England,

3507-654: A single substance, despite the plurality of persons. Christians interpret the theophanies , or appearances of the Angel of the Lord , as revelations of a person distinct from God, who is nonetheless called God. This interpretation is found in Christianity as early as Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis , and reflects ideas that were already present in Philo . The Old Testament theophanies were thus seen as Christophanies , each

SECTION 20

#1732773161202

3674-465: A slave performs προσκύνησις to his master so that he would not be sold after being unable to pay his debts). The term can also refer to the religious act of devotion towards a deity. While Jesus receives προσκύνησις a number of times in the synoptic Gospels , only a few can be said to refer to divine worship. This includes Matthew 28:16–20, an account of the resurrected Jesus receiving worship from his disciples after proclaiming his authority over

3841-609: A son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." This is because both the Ancient of Days (God the Father) and the Son of Man (Jesus, Matt 16:13) have an everlasting dominion, which

4008-445: A story for all ages; and include sermons, prayers, hymns and songs. Some will allow attendees to publicly share their recent joys or concerns. This section relates to Unitarian churches and organizations today which are still specifically Christian, whether within or outside Unitarian Universalism. Unitarian Universalism, conversely, refers to the embracing of non-Christian religions. Some Unitarian Christian groups are affiliated with

4175-554: A temple of God, thus proving that the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son. They also combined "the servant does not know what his master is doing" (John 15:15) with 1 Corinthians 2:11 in an attempt to show that the Holy Spirit is not the slave of God, and therefore his equal. The Pneumatomachi contradicted the Cappadocian Fathers by quoting, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for

4342-865: A tool for missionary work or encouraging conversions. In India, three different schools of Unitarian thought influenced varying movements, including the Brahmo Samaj , the Unitarian Church of the Khasi Hills , and the Unitarian Christian Church of Chennai , in Madras, founded in 1795. As of 2011, "Thirty-five congregations and eight fellowships comprising almost 10,000 Unitarians now form the Unitarian Union of North East India." The American Unitarian Conference (AUC)

4509-416: A tool to more effectively proclaim the gospel rather than as ends in themselves. Luther opposed efforts to restore "biblical forms and structures," because he saw human efforts to restore the church as works righteousness. He did seek the "marks of the true church," but was concerned that by focusing on forms and patterns could lead to the belief that by "restoring outward forms alone one has restored

4676-445: Is God as a single person). Recently, some religious groups have adopted the 19th-century term biblical unitarianism to distinguish their theologies from Unitarianism. Unitarianism is a Christian theology and practice that precedes and is distinct from Unitarian Universalism . In the 1890s the American Unitarian Association began to allow non-Christian and non-theistic churches and individuals to be part of their fellowship. As

4843-462: Is a divine being manifest in flesh, and the point of the texts is in part to make his higher nature known in a kind of intellectual epiphany." In the Gospels Jesus is described as forgiving sins, leading some theologians to believe Jesus is portrayed as God. This is because Jesus forgives sins on the behalf of others, people normally only forgive transgressions against oneself. The teachers of

5010-464: Is a necessary condition for salvation . Because the founders wanted to abandon all denominational labels, they used the biblical names for the followers of Jesus that they found in the Bible. The commitment of both movements to restoring the early church and to uniting Christians was enough to motivate a union between many in the two movements. With the merger, there was the challenge of what to call

5177-468: Is ascribed to God in Psalm 145:13. Some also argue "Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven." to be Trinitarian in apparently distinguishing between the Lord in heaven and the Lord on earth. People also see the Trinity when the Old Testament refers to God's word (Psalm 33:6), His Spirit (Isaiah 61:1), and Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1), as well as narratives such as

Unitarianism - Misplaced Pages Continue

5344-538: Is at variance with Isaiah 40:13–14, Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? That is, if the plural pronouns of Genesis 1 teach that God consults and creates with a 'heavenly court', then it contradicts the statement in Isaiah that God seeks

5511-421: Is considered a factor in the decline of classical deism because there were people who increasingly preferred to identify themselves as Unitarians rather than deists. Several tenets of Unitarianism overlap with the predominant Muslim view of Jesus and Islamic understanding of monotheism . The Christology commonly called " Socinian " (after Fausto Sozzini , one of the founders of Unitarian theology) refers to

5678-463: Is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:11). They reasoned that this passage proves that the Holy Spirit has the same relationship to God as the spirit within us has to us. The Cappadocian Fathers also quoted, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16) and reasoned that it would be blasphemous for an inferior being to take up residence in

5845-411: Is lying to the Holy Spirit, he then says he is lying to God. In the New Testament, the Spirit is not portrayed as the recipient of cultic devotion, which instead, is typically offered to God the Father and to the risen/glorified Jesus. Although what became mainstream Christianity subsequently affirmed the propriety of including the Spirit as the recipient of worship as reflected in the developed form of

6012-737: Is not required. The modern Unitarian Church in Hungary (25,000 members) and the Transylvanian Unitarian Church (75,000 members) are affiliated with the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) and claim continuity with the historical Unitarian Christian tradition established by Ferenc Dávid in 1565 in Transylvania under John II Sigismund Zápolya . The Unitarian churches in Hungary and Transylvania are structured and organized along

6179-661: Is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church". When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , they explained "that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and the councils". In contrast, the Reformed approach can be described as one of "restoration," seeking "to restore

6346-811: Is proximate to the Radical Reformation , beginning almost simultaneously among the Protestant Polish Brethren in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and in the Principality of Transylvania in the mid-16th century; the first Unitarian Christian denomination known to have emerged during that time was the Unitarian Church of Transylvania , founded by the Unitarian preacher and theologian Ferenc Dávid ( c.  1520 –1579). Among its adherents were

6513-414: Is revealing the roles of the Son and Holy Spirit as co-creators. And since, according to them, because only the holy God can create holy beings such as the angels, the Son and Holy Spirit must be God. Yet another argument from the Cappadocian Fathers to prove that the Holy Spirit is of the same nature as the Father and Son comes from "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which

6680-530: Is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God , which defines one God existing in three, coeternal , consubstantial divine persons : God the Father , God the Son ( Jesus Christ ) and God the Holy Spirit , three distinct persons ( hypostases ) sharing one essence/substance/nature ( homoousion ). As the Fourth Lateran Council declared, it is the Father who begets ,

6847-800: Is the New Apostolic Church ), Latter Day Saints (i.e., Mormonism ), Jehovah's Witnesses (from the tetragrammaton for God), La Luz del Mundo (Spanish: 'the Light of the World'), and Iglesia ni Cristo ( Tagalog : 'Church of Christ'). In this sense, Restorationism has been regarded as one of the six taxonomic groupings of Christianity : the Church of the East , Oriental Orthodoxy , Eastern Orthodoxy , Roman Catholicism , Protestantism , and Restorationism. These Restorationist groups share

Unitarianism - Misplaced Pages Continue

7014-524: Is the reference in Christian fellowship for a religious ritual meal (the Lord's Supper ; 1 Corinthians 11:17–34). Jesus is described as "existing in the very form of God" (Philippians 2:6), and having the "fullness of the Deity [living] in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). Jesus is also in some verses directly called God (Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1). The Gospels depict Jesus as human through most of their narrative, but "[o]ne eventually discovers that he

7181-605: The Logos , pre-existent and divine, from its first words: " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God " (John 1:1). The Gospel of John ends with Thomas's declaration that he believed Jesus was God, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). Modern scholars agree that John 1:1 and John 20:28 identify Jesus with God. However, in a 1973 Journal of Biblical Literature article, Philip B. Harner, Professor Emeritus of Religion at Heidelberg College , claimed that

7348-636: The American Civil War . The New Church was founded on the basis of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg . As such, it is often known as the Swedenborgian Church. The New Church's view of God is that "Jesus is God incarnate, not (as certain interpretations of the traditional Christian trinity contend) an emanation of the Godhead." The New Church propounds the doctrine of Correspondence , which teaches that "Every word or fact of

7515-573: The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) . Some see divisions in the movement as the result of the tension between the goals of restoration and ecumenism, with the churches of Christ and the Christian churches and churches of Christ resolving the tension by stressing restoration while the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) resolved the tension by stressing ecumenism. Non-U.S. churches associated with this movement include

7682-523: The Churches of Christ or the Baptists – are more restorationist than others". A number of historical movements within Christianity may be described as "restoration movements", including the Glasites in Scotland and England, the independent church led by James Haldane and Robert Haldane in Scotland, the American Restoration Movement , the Landmark Baptists and the Mormons . A variety of more contemporary movements have also been described as "restorationist". Restorationism has been described as

7849-410: The Churches of Christ in Australia and the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada . John Thomas (April 12, 1805 – March 5, 1871), was a devout convert to the Restoration Movement after a shipwreck at sea on his emigration to America brought to focus his inadequate understanding of the Bible , and what would happen to him at death. This awareness caused him to devote his life to the study of

8016-458: The Ecclesia maior ) and they began to hold their own synods as the Ecclesia minor . Though frequently called " Arians " by those on the outside, the views of Fausto Sozzini (Faustus Socinus) became the standard in the church, and these doctrines were quite removed from Arianism. So important was Socinus to the formulation of their beliefs that those outside Poland usually referred to them as Socinians . The Polish Brethren were disbanded in 1658 by

8183-520: The Holiness Movement are examples of this form of restorationism. The movement often requires observance of universal commandments, such as a biblical Sabbath as given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden , and the Hebrew calendar to define years, seasons, weeks, and days. Circumcision , animal sacrifices, and ceremonial requirements, as practiced in Judaism, are distinguished from the Ten Commandments , Noahide laws and High Sabbaths as given to, and in effect for, all humanity. The Sermon on

8350-436: The Holy Spirit . This Christology existed in some form or another prior to Sozzini. Theodotus of Byzantium , Artemon and Paul of Samosata denied the pre-existence of Christ. These ideas were continued by Marcellus of Ancyra and his pupil Photinus in the 4th century AD. In the Radical Reformation and Anabaptist movements of the 16th century this idea resurfaced with Sozzini's uncle, Lelio Sozzini . Having influenced

8517-510: The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU), founded in 1995. The ICUU has "full member" groups in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, EUU, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain. Sri Lanka and the United States. Brazil is a Provisional Member. The ICUU includes small "Associate Groups", including Congregazione Italiana Cristiano Unitariana, Turin (founded in 2004) and

SECTION 50

#1732773161202

8684-484: The Logos , or the Word, a being begotten or created by God, who dwelt with God in heaven. 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 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. Not all of these views necessarily were held by Arius ,

8851-478: The Mid-Atlantic States . The first official acceptance of the Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in North America was by King's Chapel in Boston, from where James Freeman began teaching Unitarian doctrine in 1784 and was appointed rector. Later in 1785, he created a revised Unitarian Book of Common Prayer based on Lindsey's work. Unitarianism is a proper noun and follows the same English usage as other Christian theologies that have developed within

9018-404: The National Urban League , and Florence Nightingale in humanitarianism and social justice; John Bowring , Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Elizabeth Gaskell in literature; Frank Lloyd Wright in the arts; Josiah Wedgwood , Richard Peacock and Samuel Carter MP in industry; Thomas Starr King in ministry and politics; and Charles William Eliot in education. Julia Ward Howe was a leader in

9185-423: The Nicene Creed , perhaps the closest to this in the New Testament is in Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 which describe the Spirit as the subject of religious ritual. As the Arian controversy was dissipating, the debate moved from the deity of Jesus Christ to the equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and Son. On one hand, the Pneumatomachi sect declared that the Holy Spirit was an inferior person to

9352-412: 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, which continued with English Unitarians such as John Biddle , Thomas Belsham , Theophilus Lindsey , and James Martineau . In America, most of the early Unitarians were "Arian" in Christology (see below), but among those who held to

9519-441: The Sejm (Polish Parliament). They were ordered to convert to Roman Catholicism or leave Poland. Most of them went to Transylvania or Holland, where they embraced the name "Unitarian". Between 1665 and 1668 a grandson of Socinus, Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. , published Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant ( Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians 4 vols. 1665–1669). The Unitarian Church in Transylvania

9686-640: The Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the 16th and 17th centuries. Today, it's represented by the churches associated with the Christian Church in Italy . Notable Unitarians include classical composers Edvard Grieg and Béla Bartók ; Ralph Waldo Emerson , Theodore Parker , Yveon Seon and Thomas Lamb Eliot in theology and ministry; Oliver Heaviside , Erasmus Darwin , Joseph Priestley , John Archibald Wheeler , Linus Pauling , Sir Isaac Newton and inventor Sir Francis Ronalds in science; George Boole in mathematics; Susan B. Anthony in civil government; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper , Whitney Young of

9853-405: The divine messenger of Genesis 16:7, Genesis 21:17, Genesis 31:11, Exodus 3:2 and Wisdom of the sapiential books with the Son, and "the spirit of the Lord" with the Holy Spirit. Other Church Fathers, such as Gregory Nazianzen , argued in his Orations that the revelation was gradual, claiming that the Father was proclaimed in the Old Testament openly, but the Son only obscurely, because "it

10020-413: The ecclesiastical practices of the early church. Huldrych Zwingli , John Calvin and the Puritans all advocated ecclesiastical primitivism. The strongest advocate of ecclesiastical primitivism in the United States was Alexander Campbell . Ethical primitivism focuses on restoring the ethical norms and commitment to discipleship of the early church. The Anabaptists , Barton W. Stone and

10187-412: The first Unitarian Church was established in 1774 on Essex Street, London , where today's British Unitarian headquarters is still located. As is typical of dissenters and nonconformists , Unitarianism does not constitute one single Christian denomination ; rather, it refers to a collection of both existing and extinct Christian groups (whether historically related to each other or not) that share

SECTION 60

#1732773161202

10354-418: The promised land in fulfillment of biblical prophecy before the Second Coming of Christ . Christian restorationism is generally used to describe the 19th century movement based on this belief, though the term Christian Zionism is more commonly used to describe later forms. "Restorationism" is also used to describe a form of postmillennialism developed during the later half of the 20th century, which

10521-486: The religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus" to Unitarians, though the phrase was used earlier by Congregationalist Rollin Lynde Hartt in 1924. Worship within the Unitarian tradition accommodates a wide range of understandings of God , while the focus of the service may be simply the celebration of life itself. Each Unitarian congregation is at liberty to devise its own form of worship, though commonly, Unitarians will light their chalice (symbol of faith), have

10688-430: The 1970s in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The terms restorationism , restorationist and restoration are used in several senses within Christianity . "Restorationism" in the sense of "Christian primitivism" refers to the attempt to correct perceived shortcomings of the current church by using the primitive church as a model to reconstruct early Christianity , and has also been described as "practicing church

10855-401: The 4th century and found in later translations such as the King James Translation, cannot be found in the oldest Greek and Latin texts. Verse 7 is known as the Johannine Comma , which most scholars agree to be a later addition by a later copyist or what is termed a textual gloss and not part of the original text. This verse reads: Because there are three in Heaven that testify – the Father,

11022-459: The Apostles and the Great Commission . These restorationist threads are sometimes regarded critically as being Judaizers in the Ebionite tradition. The restoration ideal has been interpreted and applied in a variety of ways. Four general historical models can be identified based on the aspect of early Christianity that the individuals and groups involved were attempting to restore. These are: Ecclesiastical primitivism focuses on restoring

11189-430: The Bible and he promoted interpretations of it which were at variance with the mainstream Christian views the Restoration Movement held. In particular he questioned the nature of man. He held a number of debates with one of the leaders of the movement, Alexander Campbell , on these topics but eventually agreed to stop because he found the practice bestowed no further practical merits to his personal beliefs and it had

11356-405: The Bible corresponded to a spiritual truth or mystical truth." Additionally, The New Church teaches that "Objects in the physical world have spiritual correspondences." The Catholic Apostolic Church (Irvingian Church) was founded according to the theology of Edward Irving (1792–1834), who taught that "God could work miracles in His Church as easily now as two thousand years ago." Belonging to

11523-446: The British churches magazines certain churches in the movement still allowed him to present his views. Thomas also gained a hearing in Unitarian and Adventist churches through his promotion of the concept of "independence of thought" with regards to interpreting the Bible. Through a process of creed setting and division the Christadelphian movement emerged with a distinctive set of doctrines incorporating Adventism, anti-trinitarianism ,

11690-487: The Bét Dávid Unitarian Association, Oslo (founded 2005). The largest Unitarian denomination worldwide today is also the oldest Unitarian denomination (since 1565, first use of the term "Unitarian" 1600): the Unitarian Church of Transylvania (in Romania , which is in union with the Unitarian Church in Hungary). The church in Transylvania still looks to the statement of faith, the Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios (1787), though today assent to this

11857-420: The Caroline Divines, who flourished in the 1600s during the reigns of Charles I and Charles II . They regularly appealed to the Primitive Church as the basis for their reforms. Unlike many other Christian Primitivists, the Church of the England and the Caroline Divines did not subject Scriptural interpretation to individual human reason, but rather to the hermeneutical consensus of the Church Fathers, holding to

12024-571: The Divine Trinity" Servetus taught that the Logos (Word) was the reflection of Christ, and "that reflection of Christ was 'the Word with God" that consisted of God Himself, shining brightly in heaven, "and it was God Himself" 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

12191-564: The Father and Son. On the other hand, the Cappadocian Fathers argued that the Holy Spirit was equal to the Father and Son in nature or substance. Although the main text used in defense of the deity of the Holy Spirit was Matthew 28:19, Cappadocian Fathers such as Basil the Great argued from other verses such as "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of

12358-645: The First Great Awakening, a movement developed among the Baptists known as Separate Baptists . Two themes of this movement were the rejection of creeds and "freedom in the Spirit." The Separate Baptists saw scripture as the "perfect rule" for the church. While they turned to the Bible for a structural pattern for the church, they did not insist on complete agreement on the details of that pattern. This group originated in New England , but

12525-454: The German liberal theology associated primarily with Friedrich Schleiermacher , the psilanthropist view increased in popularity. 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

12692-581: The God who visited Abraham as Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. Augustine, in contrast, held that the three visitors to Abraham were the three persons of the Trinity. He saw no indication that the visitors were unequal, as would be the case in Justin's reading. Then in Genesis 19, two of the visitors were addressed by Lot in the singular: "Lot said to them, 'Not so, my lord ' " (Gen. 19:18). Augustine saw that Lot could address them as one because they had

12859-737: The Little Gidding Community and others. Methodism Methodism began in the 1700s as a Christian Primitivist movement within the Church of England. John Wesley and his brother Charles, the founders of the movement, were high church Anglican priests in the vein of the Caroline Divines, who had a deep respect for the Primitive Church, which they generally defined as the Church before the Council Of Nicea. Unlike many other Christian Primitivists,

13026-474: The Messiah will represent the Trinity on earth. This is because Counselor is a title for the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), the Trinity is God, Father is a title for God the Father, and Prince of Peace is a title for Jesus. This verse is also used to support the Deity of Christ . Another verse used to support the Deity of Christ is "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like

13193-664: The Mount and particularly the Expounding of the Law warn against antinomianism , the rejection of biblical teachings concerning observance of the Law. Experiential primitivism focuses on restoring the direct communication with God and the experience of the Holy Spirit seen in the early church. Examples include the Latter Day Saint movement of Joseph Smith and Pentecostalism . Gospel primitivism may be best seen in

13360-604: The New Apostolic Church is the largest Irvingian Christian denomination today, with 16 million members. Irvingianism, possessing elaborate liturgies , teaches three sacraments : Baptism , Holy Communion and Holy Sealing . Adherents to the Latter Day Saint movement believe that founder Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, chosen to restore the primitive, apostolic church established by Jesus. Like other restorationist groups, members believe that

13527-573: The New Testament references often portray actions that seem to give the Spirit an intensely personal quality, probably more so than in Old Testament or ancient Jewish texts. So, for example, the Spirit "drove" Jesus into the wilderness (Mk 1:12; compare "led" in Mt. 4:1/Lk 4:1), and Paul refers to the Spirit interceding for believers (Romans 8:26–27) and witnessing to believers about their filial status with God (Romans 8:14–16). To cite other examples of this, in Acts

13694-516: The New Testament were brought together to form the concept of the Trinity—one Godhead subsisting in three persons and one substance . The concept of the Trinity was used to oppose alternative views of how the three are related and to defend the church against charges of worshiping two or three gods. Modern Biblical scholarship largely agrees that 1 John 5:7 seen in Latin and Greek texts after

13861-834: The Restorationist branch of Christianity, the Irvingian Churches teach that they "exercise the charismata of the Apostolic age". The church was organised in 1835 with the fourfold ministry of "apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors." As a result of schism within the Catholic Apostolic Church, other Irvingian Christian denominations emerged, including the Old Apostolic Church , New Apostolic Church , Reformed Old Apostolic Church and United Apostolic Church ; of these,

14028-503: The Second Great Awakening, which served as an "organizing process" that created "a religious and educational infrastructure" across the trans-Appalachian frontier that encompassed social networks, a religious journalism that provided mass communication, and church related colleges. The American Restoration Movement aimed to restore the church and sought "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after

14195-422: The Son who is begotten , and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. In this context, one essence/nature defines what God is, while the three persons define who God is. This expresses at once their distinction and their indissoluble unity. Thus, the entire process of creation and grace is viewed as a single shared action of the three divine persons, in which each person manifests the attributes unique to them in

14362-578: The Spirit alerts Peter to the arrival of visitors from Cornelius (10:19), directs the church in Antioch to send forth Barnabas and Saul (13:2–4), guides the Jerusalem council to a decision about Gentile converts (15:28), at one point forbids Paul to missionize in Asia (16:6), and at another point warns Paul (via prophetic oracles) of trouble ahead in Jerusalem (21:11). The Holy Spirit is described as God in

14529-473: The Spirit within the Old Testament and 35 identified in the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls , the New Testament, despite its significantly shorter length, mentions the Spirit 275 times. In addition to its larger emphasis and importance placed on the Spirit in the New Testament, the Spirit is also described in much more personalized and individualized terms than earlier. Larry Hurtado writes; Moreover,

14696-456: The Trinity in many places. For example, in the Genesis creation narrative , specifically the first-person plural pronouns in Genesis 1:26–27 and Genesis 3:22 ('Let us make man in our image [...] the man is become as one of us '). "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over

14863-415: The Trinity, thereby proving that everything comes "from the Father," "through the Son," and "in the Holy Spirit." This doctrine is called Trinitarianism and its adherents are called Trinitarians , while its opponents are called antitrinitarians or nontrinitarians and considered non-Christian by most mainline groups. Nontrinitarian positions include Unitarianism , Binitarianism and Modalism . While

15030-534: The Unitarian Chapel was known as the "Mayors' Nest". Numerous Unitarian families were highly significant in the social and political life of Britain from Victorian times to the middle of the 20th century. They included the Nettlefolds , Martineaus , Luptons , Kitsons , Chamberlains and Kenricks. In Birmingham, England , a Unitarian church – the Church of the Messiah – was opened in 1862. It became

15197-615: The Unitarian Christian Emerging Church. The Unitarian Christian Emerging Church has recently undergone reorganization and today is known as the Unitarian Christian Church of America. In addition, the Unitarian Universalist Faith Alliance and Ministries follow a Progressive Christian format honoring Sacred Space and Creation Spirituality. The Unitarian Christian Church of America (UCCA) was formed on 1 October 2016 through

15364-718: The Unitarian faith on the part of a congregation in America was by King's Chapel in Boston, which settled James Freeman (1759–1835) in 1782, and revised the Prayer Book into a mild Unitarian liturgy in 1785. In 1800, Joseph Stevens Buckminster became minister of the Brattle Street Church in Boston, where his brilliant sermons, literary activities, and academic attention to the German "New Criticism" helped shape

15531-552: The United States was the Clinton Liberal Institute , in Clinton, Oneida County, New York , founded in 1831. Unitarians charge that the 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. They believe Jesus did not claim to be God and that his teachings did not suggest

15698-475: The United States were Unitarians: John Adams , John Quincy Adams , Millard Fillmore , and William Howard Taft . Adlai Stevenson II , the Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956, was a Unitarian; he was the last Unitarian to be nominated by a major party for president as of 2024. Although a self-styled materialist, Thomas Jefferson was pro-Unitarian to the extent of suggesting that it would become

15865-468: The United States, and beyond in the 16th century through the present. Although common beliefs existed among Unitarians in each of these regions, they initially grew independently from each other. Only later did they influence one another and accumulate more similarities. The Ecclesia minor or Minor Reformed Church of Poland , better known today as the Polish Brethren , was born as the result of

16032-652: The Wesleys and the early Methodists did not subject Scriptural interpretation to individual human reason, but rather to the hermeneutical consensus of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, holding to a view of authority more akin to Prima Scriptura rather than Sola Scriptura. They did not hold to the separatist ecclesiology of many primitivist groups, but rather saw themselves as working within the historic established church to return it to its foundation in Scripture and

16199-598: The Word and the Holy Spirit – and these three are one. This verse is absent from the Ethiopic, Aramaic, Syriac, Slavic, early Armenian, Georgian, and Arabic translations of the Greek New Testament. It is primarily found in Latin manuscripts, although a minority of Greek, Slavonic and late Armenian manuscripts contain it. In the Pauline epistles , the public, collective devotional patterns towards Jesus in

16366-410: The appearance of the three men to Abraham . However, it is generally agreed among Trinitarian Christian scholars that it would go beyond the intention and spirit of the Old Testament to correlate these notions directly with later Trinitarian doctrine. Some Church Fathers believed that a knowledge of the mystery was granted to the prophets and saints of the Old Testament, and that they identified

16533-547: The author of Genesis was too theologically primitive to deal with such a concept as 'plurality within unity'; Hamilton thus argues for a framework of progressive revelation , in which the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed at first obscurely then plainly in the New Testament. Another of these places is the prophecy about the Messiah in Isaiah 9. The Messiah is called "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Some Christians see this verse as meaning

16700-428: The belief that God is a "substantial and corporeal" being, objection to military service , a lay-membership with full participation by all members, and other doctrines consistent with the spirit of the Restorationist movement. One consequence of objection to military service was the adoption of the name Christadelphians to distinguish this small community of believers and to be granted exemption from military service in

16867-412: The belief that Jesus Christ began his life when he was born as a human. In other words, the teaching that Jesus 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 when he was conceived by

17034-548: The book of the Acts of the Apostles But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God". Acts 5:3–4 Peter first says Ananias

17201-689: The camp meetings, the Southern phase of the Awakening "was an important matrix of Barton Stone's reform movement" and shaped the evangelistic techniques used by both Stone and the Campbells. The Restoration Movement has seen several divisions, resulting in multiple separate groups. Three modern groups originating in the U.S. claim the Stone-Campbell movement as their roots: Churches of Christ , Christian churches and churches of Christ , and

17368-700: The church and priesthood established by Jesus were withdrawn from the Earth after the end of the apostolic age and before the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Unlike other reformers, who based their movements on their own interpretations of the Bible, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery held that they were visited by John the Baptist to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. This restoration authorized members to receive revelation from God in order to restore

17535-558: The church of the New Testament." While the Restoration Movement developed from several independent efforts to go back to apostolic Christianity, two groups that independently developed similar approaches to the Christian faith were particularly important to its development. The first, led by Barton W. Stone began at Cane Ridge , Bourbon County, Kentucky and called themselves simply Christians . The second began in western Pennsylvania and Virginia, now West Virginia, and

17702-469: The cosmos and his ever-continuing presence with the disciples (forming an inclusion with the beginning of the Gospel, where Jesus is given the name Emmanuel, "God with us," a name that alludes to the God of Israel's ongoing presence with his followers throughout the Old Testament (Genesis 28:15; Deuteronomy 20:1). Whereas some have argued that Matthew 28:19 was an interpolation on account of its absence from

17869-424: The counsel of nobody. According to Hamilton, the best interpretation 'approaches the trinitarian understanding but employs less direct terminology'. Following D. J. A. Clines , he states that the plural reveals a 'duality within the Godhead' that recalls the 'Spirit of God' mentioned in verse 2, And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Hamilton also says that it is unreasonable to assume that

18036-497: The day were corrupted. In addition to restoring the primitive church, Smith claimed to receive new and ongoing revelations. In 1830, he published The Book of Mormon , with him and witnesses declaring to be a translation through divine means from the Golden Plates he obtained from an angel . Trinity The Trinity ( Latin : Trinitas , lit.   'triad', from Latin : trinus 'threefold')

18203-537: The developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , the New Testament possesses a triadic understanding of God and contains a number of Trinitarian formulas . The doctrine of the Trinity was first formulated among the early Christians (mid-2nd century and later) and fathers of the Church as they attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions. The Old Testament has been interpreted as referring to

18370-400: The developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , it was first formulated as early Christians attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions. According to Margaret Baker, trinitarian theology has roots in pre-Christian Palestinian beliefs about angels. An early reference to

18537-468: The distinction between them and those churches which, from the late 19th century, evolved into modern British Unitarianism and, primarily in the United States, Unitarian Universalism . In 16th-century Italy, Biblical Unitarianism was powered by the ideas of the Non-trinitarian theologians Lelio and Fausto Sozzini , founders of Socinianism ; their doctrine was embraced and further developed by

18704-404: The doctrine of Prima Scriptura as opposed to Sola Scriptura. They did not hold to the separatist ecclesiology of many primitivist groups, but rather saw themselves as working within the historic established church to return it to its foundation in Scripture and the patristic tradition. Among the Caroline Divines were men like Archbishop William Laud, Bishop Jeremy Taylor, Deacon Nicholas Ferrar and

18871-527: The early Christian community are reflective of Paul's perspective on the divine status of Jesus in what scholars have termed a "binitarian" pattern or shape of devotional practice (worship) in the New Testament, in which "God" and Jesus are thematized and invoked. Jesus receives prayer (1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9), the presence of Jesus is confessionally invoked by believers (1 Corinthians 16:22; Romans 10:9–13; Philippians 2:10–11), people are baptized in Jesus' name (1 Corinthians 6:11; Romans 6:3), Jesus

19038-453: The early Christian movement as a public cult centered around Jesus in several passages. In Acts, it is common for individual Christians to "call" upon the name of Jesus (9:14, 21; 22:16), an idea precedented in the Old Testament descriptions of calling on the name of YHWH as a form of prayer. The story of Stephen depicts Stephen invoking and crying out to Jesus in the final moments of his life to receive his spirit (7:59–60). Acts further describes

19205-716: The essence and form of the primitive church based on biblical precedent and example; tradition received scant respect." While Luther focused on the question "How can we find forgiveness of sins?", the early Reformed theologians turned to the Bible for patterns that could be used to replace traditional forms and practices. Heinrich Bullinger and Martin Bucer in particular emphasized the restoration of biblical patterns. John Calvin reflected an intermediate position between that of Luther and Reformed theologians such as Zwingli , stressing biblical precedents for church governance, but as

19372-422: The essence." Thus, Luther believed that restoring the gospel was the first step in renewing the church, rather than restoring biblical forms and patterns. In this sense, Luther can be described as a gospel restorationist, even though his approach was very different from that of other restorationists. Protestant groups have generally accepted history as having some "jurisdiction" in Christian faith and life;

19539-431: 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 being and one person and that Jesus is the (or a) Son of God , but generally not God himself. In the early 19th century, Unitarian Robert Wallace identified three particular classes of Unitarian doctrines in history: Unitarianism

19706-415: The face and personality of Christ shone bright.") Isaac Newton had Arian beliefs as well. Famous 19th-century Arian Unitarians include Andrews Norton and William Ellery Channing (in his earlier years). Although there is no specific authority on convictions of Unitarian belief aside from rejection of the Trinity, the following beliefs are generally accepted: In 1938, The Christian Leader attributed "

19873-613: The first few centuries of early Christian quotations, scholars largely accept the passage as authentic due to its supporting manuscript evidence and that it does appear to be either quoted in the Didache (7:1–3) or at least reflected in the Didache as part of a common tradition from which both Matthew and the Didache emerged. Jesus receiving divine worship in the post-resurrection accounts is further mirrored in Luke 24:52. Acts depicts

20040-496: The first half of the 15th century. Preachers at the time regularly harangued delegates to these conferences regarding simony , venality , lack of chastity and celibacy , and the holding of multiple benefices . The lack of success of the restorationist movements led, arguably, to the Protestant Reformation . The Protestant Reformation came about through an impulse to repair the Church and return it to what

20207-781: The historic, institutional church while at the same time preserving as much of the tradition as possible." The Lutheran Churches traditionally sees themselves as the "main trunk of the historical Christian Tree" founded by Christ and the Apostles, holding that during the Reformation, at the Council of Trent , the Church of Rome fell away. As such, the Augsburg Confession , the Lutheran confession of faith, teaches that "the faith as confessed by Luther and his followers

20374-454: The law next to Jesus recognizes this and said "Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7 Jesus also receives προσκύνησις ( proskynesis ) in the aftermath of the resurrection, a Greek term that either expresses the contemporary social gesture of bowing to a superior, either on one's knees or in full prostration (in Matthew 18:26

20541-464: The livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' [...] "Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil [...]" A traditional Christian interpretation of these pronouns is that they refer to a plurality of persons within the Godhead. Biblical commentator Victor P. Hamilton outlines several interpretations, including

20708-513: The logos, no less than the theos, had the nature of theos," which in his case means the Word is as fully God as the person called "God". John also portrays Jesus as the agent of creation of the universe. Some have suggested that John presents a hierarchy when he quotes Jesus as saying, "The Father is greater than I", a statement which was appealed to by nontrinitarian groups such as Arianism . However, influential theologians such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas argued this statement

20875-775: The membership of both the Stone and Campbell groups drew heavily from among the ranks of the Separate Baptists. Separate Baptist restorationism also contributed to the development of the Landmark Baptists in the same area at about the same time as the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement. Under the leadership of James Robinson Graves , this group looked for a precise blueprint for the primitive church, believing that any deviation from that blueprint would keep one from being part of

21042-1195: The merging of the Unitarian Christian Emerging Church and the Unitarian Christian Conference. The church's current ministry in on-line and through local fellowship gatherings. The current senior pastor and current president of the UCCA is the Reverend Dr. Shannon Rogers. The UCCA has both ordained and lay members. The first Unitarian Church in Australia was built in 1854 in Melbourne and was followed soon afterwards by chapels in Sydney and Adelaide, and later regional centres including Ballarat. The modern church, no longer unitarian Christian, retains properties in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, and smaller congregations elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand. The Unitarian movement in South Africa

21209-538: The most widely held among Biblical scholars, which is that the pronouns do not refer to other persons within the Godhead but to the 'heavenly court' of Isaiah 6 . Theologians Meredith Kline and Gerhard von Rad argue for this view, as von Rad says, 'The extraordinary plural ("Let us") is to prevent one from referring God's image too directly to God the Lord. God includes himself among the heavenly beings of his court and thereby conceals himself in this majority.' Hamilton notes that this interpretation assumes that Genesis 1

21376-534: The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" and Paul the Apostle 's blessing: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all", leading theologians across history in attempting to articulate the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Eventually, the diverse references to God, Jesus, and the Spirit found in

21543-417: 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. Among early Christian theologians who believed in

21710-409: The new movement. Clearly, finding a biblical, non-sectarian name was important. Stone wanted to continue to use the name "Christians." Alexander Campbell insisted upon "Disciples of Christ". As a result, both names were used. The Restoration Movement began during, and was greatly influenced by, the Second Great Awakening. While the Campbells resisted what they saw as the spiritual manipulation of

21877-413: The original apostolic organization lost after the events of the New Testament. According to Allen and Hughes, "[n]o group used the language of 'restoration' more consistently and more effectively than did the [Latter Day Saints] ... early Mormons seemed obsessed with restoring the ancient church of God." According to Smith, God appeared to him in 1820, instructing him that the creeds of the churches of

22044-412: The other was an intriguing text for those who believed in a single God in three persons. Justin Martyr , and John Calvin similarly, interpreted it such that Abraham was visited by God, who was accompanied by two angels. Justin supposed that the God who visited Abraham was distinguishable from the God who remains in the heavens, but was nevertheless identified as the (monotheistic) God. Justin interpreted

22211-543: The potential to create division. He later determined that salvation was dependent upon having the theology he had developed for baptism to be effective for salvation and published an "Confession and Abjuration" of his previous position on March 3, 1847. He was also rebaptised . Following his abjuration and rebaptism he went to England on a preaching tour in June 1848 including Reformation Movement churches, Although his abjuration and his disfellowship in America were reported in

22378-463: The predominant religion in the United States. In the United Kingdom, although Unitarianism was the religion of only a small minority of the population, its practitioners had an enormous impact on Victorian politics, not only in the larger cities – Birmingham , Leeds , Manchester and Liverpool – but in smaller communities such as Leicester , where there were so many Unitarian mayors that

22545-609: The primitive Christianity movement reject the patristic tradition of the prolific extrabiblical 2nd- and 3rd-century redaction of this knowledge (the Ante-Nicene Fathers ), and instead attempt to reconstruct primitive church practices as they might have existed in the Apostolic Age . To do this, they revive practices found in the Old Testament. The term apostolic refers to a nonmainstream, often literal, apostolic succession or historical lineage tracing back to

22712-525: The proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. ' " (Acts 5:3–4). Another passage the Cappadocian Fathers quoted from was "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host" (Psalm 33:6). According to their understanding, because "breath" and "spirit" in Hebrew are both "רוּחַ" ("ruach"), Psalm 33:6

22879-416: The question has been the extent of that jurisdiction. A commitment to history and primitivism are not mutually exclusive; while some groups attempt to give full jurisdiction to the primitive church, for others the apostolic "first times" are given only partial jurisdiction. Perhaps the most primitivist minded of the Protestant Reformation era were a group of scholars within the Church of England known as

23046-474: The reformers saw as its original biblical structure, belief, and practice, and was motivated by a sense that "the medieval church had allowed its traditions to clutter the way to God with fees and human regulations and thus to subvert the gospel of Christ." At the heart of the Reformation was an emphasis on the principle of "scripture alone" ( sola scriptura ). As a result, the authority of church tradition, which had taken practical precedence over scripture,

23213-458: The restoration ideal, and the extent to which the full restoration of the early church is believed to have been achieved, also varies among groups. More narrowly, the term "Restorationism" is used as a descriptive term for unrelated Restorationist groups which were formed during the eras of the Great Awakenings , such as the Christadelphians (Greek: 'Brothers of Christ'), Swedenborgians (i.e., The New Church ), Irvingians (the largest of which

23380-399: The sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14) in effect arguing that the Holy Spirit is no different from other created angelic spirits. The Church Fathers disagreed, saying that the Holy Spirit is greater than the angels, since the Holy Spirit is the one who grants the foreknowledge for prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:8–10) so that the angels could announce events to come. While

23547-433: The sole authority for the church. These models are not mutually exclusive, but overlap; for example, the Pentecostal movement sees a clear link between ethical primitivism and experiential primitivism. Beginning in about 1470 a succession of Popes focused on the acquisition of money, their role in Italian politics as rulers of the papal states and power politics within the college of cardinals . Restorationism at

23714-435: The subsequent growth of Unitarianism in New England. Unitarian Henry Ware (1764–1845) was appointed as the Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard College, in 1805. Harvard Divinity School then shifted from its conservative roots to teach Unitarian theology (see Harvard and Unitarianism ). Buckminster's close associate William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) was settled over the Federal Street Church in Boston, 1803, and in

23881-482: The theology of Martin Luther . Luther was not, in the strictest sense, a restorationist because he saw human effort to restore the church as works righteousness and was sharply critical of other Reformation leaders who were attempting to do so. On the other hand, he was convinced that the gospel message had been obscured by the Roman Catholic Church of the time. He also rejected church traditions he considered contrary to Scripture and insisted on scripture as

24048-467: The three "persons" of later Trinitarian doctrines appears towards the end of the first century, where Clement of Rome rhetorically asks in his epistle as to why corruption exists among some in the Christian community; "Do we not have one God, and one Christ, and one gracious Spirit that has been poured out upon us, and one calling in Christ?" (1 Clement 46:6). A similar example is found in the first century Didache , which directs Christians to "baptize in

24215-439: The time was centered on movements that wanted to renew the church, such as the Lollards , the Brethren of the Common Life , the Hussites , and Girolamo Savonarola 's reforms in Florence . While these pre-reformation movements did presage and sometimes discussed a break with Rome and papal authority, they also provoked restorationist movements within the church, such as the councils of Constance and Basle, which were held in

24382-429: The tradition of the pre-Nicene Church. John Wesley very regularly asserted Methodism's commitment to the Primitive Church, saying, "From a child I was taught to love and reverence the Scripture, the oracles of God; and, next to these, to esteem the primitive Fathers, the writers of the first three centuries. Next after the primitive church, I esteemed our own, the Church of England, as the most Scriptural national Church in

24549-453: The traditional translation of John 1:1c ("and the Word was God") is incorrect. He endorses the New English Bible translation of John 1:1c, "and what God was, the Word was." However Harner's claim has been criticized by other scholars. In the same article, Harner also noted that; "Perhaps the clause could be translated, 'the Word had the same nature as God". This would be one way of representing John's thought, which is, as I understand it, that

24716-487: The true church. The ideal of restoring a "primitive" form of Christianity grew in popularity in the United States after the American Revolution . This desire to restore a purer form of Christianity played a role in the development of many groups during this period, known as the Second Great Awakening, including the Mormons , Baptists and Shakers . Several factors made the restoration sentiment particularly appealing during this time period. Camp meetings fueled

24883-444: 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. Arianism is often considered a form of Unitarianism. The Christology of Arianism holds that Jesus, before his human life, existed as

25050-466: The virgin birth. 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 , and this made them question the virgin birth story. Beginning in England and America in the 1830s, and manifesting itself primarily in Transcendentalist Unitarianism , which emerged from

25217-538: The way it is perceived to have been done in the New Testament ". Restorationism is called "apostolic" as representing the form of Christianity that the Twelve Apostles followed. These themes arise early in church history, first appearing in the works of Iranaeus , and appeared in some movements during the Middle Ages . It was expressed to varying degrees in the theology of the Protestant Reformation , and Protestantism has been described as "a form of Christian restorationism, though some of its forms – for example

25384-401: The woman suffrage movement, the first ever woman to be elected to the Academy of Arts and Letters, and author of the " Battle Hymn of the Republic ", volumes of poetry, and other writing. Although raised a Quaker, Ezra Cornell , founder of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, attended the Unitarian church and was one of the founders of Ithaca's First Unitarian Church. Eramus Darwin Shattuck,

25551-504: The word first appears in a title in Stephen Nye 's A Brief History of the Unitarians, called also Socinians (1687). The movement gained popularity in England in the wake of the Enlightenment and began to become a formal denomination in 1774 when Theophilus Lindsey organised meetings with Joseph Priestley , founding the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country. This occurred at Essex Street Church in London. Official toleration came in 1813 . The first official acceptance of

25718-403: The world." And, "Methodism, so called, is the old religion, the religion of the Bible, the religion of the primitive Church, the religion of the Church of England." On his epitaph is written, "This GREAT LIGHT arose (By the Singular providence of GOD) To enlighten THESE NATIONS, And to revive, enforce, and defend, The Pure Apostolical DOCTRINES and PRACTICES of THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH…" During

25885-409: Was a latecomer to Denmark. Some of the inspiration came from Norway and England – family members of the founders, and the wife of Edward Grieg. 1900–1918 the society priest was Uffe Birkedal, who had previously been a Lutheran priest. He held the first worship 18 February 1900. A founding general assembly 18 May 1900 elected Mary Bess Westenholz as the first chairman of the Society. The Society newsletter

26052-406: Was especially strong in the South where the emphasis on a biblical pattern for the church grew stronger. In the last half of the 18th century it spread to the western frontier of Kentucky and Tennessee , where the Stone and Campbell movements would later take root. The development of the Separate Baptists in the southern frontier helped prepare the ground for the Restoration Movement , as

26219-401: Was first recognized by the Edict of Torda , issued by the Transylvanian Diet under Prince John II Sigismund Zápolya (January 1568), and was first led by Ferenc Dávid (a former Calvinist bishop, who had begun preaching the new doctrine in 1566). The term "Unitarian" first appeared as unitaria religio in a document of the Diet of Lécfalva , Transylvania , on 25 October 1600, though it

26386-473: Was formed in 2000 and stands between UUA and ICUU in attachment to the Christian element of modern Unitarianism. The American Unitarian Conference is open to non-Christian Unitarians, being particularly popular with non-Christian theists and deists . As of 2009, The AUC has three congregations in the United States. Unitarian Christian Ministries International was a Unitarian ministry incorporated in South Carolina until its dissolution in 2013 when it merged with

26553-458: Was founded in 1867 by David Faure , member of a well-known Cape family. He encountered advanced liberal religious thought while completing his studies at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands for the ministry of the Dutch Reformed Church in Cape Town . There are two active Unitarian churches in Ireland, one in Dublin and the other in Cork. Both are member churches of the Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland . Unitarianism

26720-590: Was founded in the United Kingdom in 1991 by Rev. Lancelot Garrard (1904–93) and others to promote specifically Christian ideas within the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC), the national Unitarian body in Great Britain. Just as the UUCF and ICUU maintain formal links with the Unitarian Universalist Association in the US, so the UCA is an affiliate body of the GAUFCC in Great Britain. The majority of Unitarian Christian publications are sponsored by an organization and published specifically for their membership. Generally, they do not serve as

26887-422: Was influential among a number of charismatic groups and the British new church movement . The term primitive , in contrast with other uses, refers to a basis in scholarship and research into the actual writings of the church fathers and other historical documents. Since written documents for the underground first-century church are sparse, the primitive church passed down its knowledge verbally. Elements of

27054-440: Was led by Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander Campbell . They used the name Disciples of Christ . The Campbell movement was characterized by a "systematic and rational reconstruction" of the early church, in contrast to the Stone movement which was characterized by radical freedom and lack of dogma. Despite their differences, the two movements agreed on several critical issues. Both saw restoring apostolic Christianity as

27221-476: Was named 'Protestantisk Tidende' 1904–1993, and then renamed 'Unitaren', reflecting a gradually changing perception of being part of the Danish Lutheran Church, to one where this was no longer assumed (). Biblical Unitarianism identifies the Christian belief that the Bible teaches that God the Father is one singular being , and that Jesus Christ is a distinct being, his son, but not divine. A few denominations use this term to describe themselves, clarifying

27388-399: Was not safe, when the Godhead of the Father was not yet acknowledged, plainly to proclaim the Son". Genesis 18–19 has been interpreted by Christians as a Trinitarian text. The narrative has the Lord appearing to Abraham, who was visited by three men. In Genesis 19, "the two angels" visited Lot at Sodom. The interplay between Abraham on the one hand and the Lord/three men/the two angels on

27555-400: Was not widely used in Transylvania until 1638, when the formal recepta Unitaria Religio was published. The word Unitarian had been circulating in private letters in England, in reference to imported copies of such publications as the Library of the Polish Brethren who are called Unitarians (1665). Henry Hedworth was the first to use the word "Unitarian" in print in English (1673), and

27722-423: Was rejected. The Reformation was not a monolithic movement, but consisted of at least three identifiable sub-currents. One was centered in Germany , one was centered in Switzerland , and the third was centered in England . While these movements shared some common concerns, each had its own particular emphasis. The Lutheran approach can be described as one of "reformation," seeking "to reform and purify

27889-476: Was to be understood as Jesus speaking about his human nature. Prior Israelite theology held that the Spirit is merely the divine presence of God himself, whereas orthodox Christian theology holds that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person of God the Father himself. This development begins early in the New Testament, as the Spirit of God receives much more emphasis and description comparably than it had in earlier Jewish writing. Whereas there are 75 references to

#201798