AboutJon Bond Expertise Will answer all questions regarding Unitarian Universalist (UU)church; including ancient history (Universalists go back to at least 250 A.D.) and medieval history (Unitarians look to 1553 A.D. as their beginning) up to merger of the two movements in 1961 and continuing up to present. Am familiar with Christian church organizations and relationship of UUs to traditional churches.
Experience Currently member of Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, Colorado. Past vice-president of Board of Trustees and currently on Membership Committee. Have taught UU history for over 20 years. Have attended Unitarian Universalist General Assemblies (annual meetings held in June) for past 15 years.
Organizations Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, Colorado
Expert: Jon Bond Date: 12/11/2002 Subject: What is a Christian?
Question Greetings. I am a young man trying to figure some things out about his faith; I'm currently taking a serious look at what I believe and why I believe it. I have been a Christian my entire life, so I'm primarily asking this question in order to get another perspective on the subject. My question is a simple one: If someone completely unfamiliar with Christianity asked you to describe a Christian, what would you have to include in your response? Granted, all Christians are different, but what does one have to do (or believe) in order to be a member of the Christian faith? I thank you for your time and consideration.
Answer Parker Cragg
I'll try to answer your question. Remember, I'm one of over 225,000 people and, if you ask another UU (Unitarian Universalist), you may get a different (but, hopefully, not conflicting) answer. I'd like to divide my response to you into two parts: first, a background of our association and
second, a short answer regarding my belief on the question you posed.
First - a background (including where the two groups originated):
The concept of Unitarianism generally looks to a Catholic priest, Michael Servetus, as a spiritual originator. Servetus was born in Spain in 1511 and died in 1553, after attacking the doctrines of the Trinity. Unitarianism is a doctrinal system characterized chiefly by a belief in
the unipersonality of God and the normal humanity of Jesus, as contrasted with the Trinity and the eternal deity (divinity) of Jesus. Most Unitarians I've spoken with reject the divinity of Jesus, but do recognize
him (Jesus) as a great moral teacher.
Universalism is the theological doctrine that all souls will ultimately be saved and that there are no torments of hell. Universalism has been asserted at various times in different contexts throughout the history of
the "Christian church"--e.g., Origen in the 3rd century. The Universalists also denied the miraculous element in Scripture, and rejected such important Bible doctrines as the total depravity of man and the Trinity.
The Unitarian Universalist Association was created in May of 1961 as a merger of Unitarians and Universalists.
Second - let me try and answer your two questions
a)If someone completely unfamiliar with Christianity asked you to describe a Christian, what would you have to include in your response?
my answer to a) would be that a Christian is a person who believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the "Christ" (annointed one) and that an acceptance of that fact would imply that Jesus of Nazareth would "save" them from eternal damnation.
B) All Christians are different, but what does one have to do (or believe) in order to be a member of the Christian faith?
my answer to b) would be that a member of the Christian faith believes in the doctrine of original sin and accepts Jesus as their Saviour (see above)
Now, Parker Cragg, what I believe you should do is to ask the same question to leaders of Christian churches. There are fewer than 10% of our (Unitarian Universalist) members who consider themselves "Christian" and I'm sure each of them would have a much different answer. Very abbreviated, I believe most Unitarians don't accept the fact that the Trinity is valid (that's why they are called Unitarians, not Trinitarians) and most Universalists don't believe in the concept of "original sin" because they don't believe an acceptance of Jesus as a saviour (that's why they are called Universalists i.e. they believe in "universal salvation or God doesn't punish non-believers)
If you'd like more information, please feel free to check out our web site http://uua.org/ Also, a good book to check on is "The Unitarian
Universalist Pocket Guide" - ISBN 0-933840-45-4
Thank you for taking the time to submit your question and good luck!
