Unitarianism - another cult

Michael D · Goldfish Joined: 01 Nov 2002 Posts: 56 Location: Colorado

What is Unitarianism?

Unitarianism is the belief that God exists in one person, not three. It is a denial of the doctrine of the Trinity as well as the full divinity of Jesus. Therefore, it is not Christian. There are several groups that fall under this umbrella: Jehovah's Witnesses, Christadelphianism, The Way International, etc. Another term for this type of belief is called monarchianism.
In the context of universalism, the Unitarianism discussed here is that belief that denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the personhood of the Holy Spirit, eternal punishment, and the vicarious atonement of Jesus. Unitarian universalists use many biblical concepts and terms but with non-biblical meanings. Unitarianism is not Christian.
There is a group known as the Unitarian Universalists Association. This denomination which was formed in 1961 in the United States when the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America merged. Its membership is around 175,000.
The General Convention of the Unitarian Universalists formulated the five principles of the Universalist Faith in 1899.

The Universal Fatherhood of God
The spiritual authority and leadership of His Son Jesus Christ
The trustworthiness of the Bible as containing a revelation from God
The certainty of just retribution for sin
The final harmony of all souls with God
Additional beliefs generally held by Unitarian Universalists are:
Salvation is by grace through faith and not by works in any way.
Jesus became the Son of God at His baptism.
The Holy Spirit is not a person, does not have a will, etc.
There now is and will be rewards and punishments according to one's actions but this does not consist of the traditional doctrine of hell.
Human reason and experience should be the final authority in determining spiritual truth.
This last point, "Human reason and experience should be the final authority in determining spiritual truth," is perhaps the most revealing of the character of Unitarian Universalists. Instead of God and his word being the final authority on truth and error, or right and wrong, Unitarian Universalists subject God and his word to their understanding, feeling, and reason. This is exemplified in the following quote obtain from the official Unitarian Universalist website at http://uua.org/. This was found under the heading Unitarian Universalists say:

"I want a religion that respects the differences between people and affirms every person as an individual."
"I want a church that values children, that welcomes them on their own terms—a church they are eager to attend on Sunday morning."
"I want a congregation that cherishes freedom and encourages open dialogue on questions of faith, one in which it is okay to change your mind."
"I want a religious community that affirms spiritual exploration and reason as ways of finding truth."
"I want a church that acts locally and thinks globally on the great issues of our time—world peace; women's rights; racial justice; homelessness; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights; and protection of the environment."
Notice that each of the five statements begins with "I want..." This is not the humble attitude of one indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. It is not the attitude of one who wants to put God first.
It can plainly be seen that this is a religion based upon personal hopes and desires and not upon the the Bible.
I cannot help but think of the five "I will's" listed in Isaiah 14:13-14:

"But you said in your heart,
I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’

Many commentators believe that these five "I wills" were uttered by Satan as he sought to be exalted and equal to God. They reflect the arrogance of the evil one as his heart was filled with pride and put his own will before God's. He had his desires before God's.
But notice what Isaiah says in the next verse:

"Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit."

Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks," (Matt. 12:34). We can see that the Unitarian Universalists speak first from their own desires, according to their own wisdom, and not according to the wisdom of God. What does God say about this?

"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God," ( 1 Cor. 3:19).

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CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS AND RESEARCH MINISTRY

Tiger75 · Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2002 12:52 am Post subject: Unitarianism - another cult

Good post Mike.

Thanks for the reminder. I think I shall cease discussing with Iris.

Tiger

iris89 · Pit Bull Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Posts: 359

Hi Michael D:

It is high time you stop barking and start learning:

Reject The Trinity:

It is high time all start really learning the Bible and follow the path of Francis David out of Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

The Reformation entered Transylvania early, by way of the Saxons, who imported Luther’s writings before 1520. A royal decree, designed to secure the support of the Holy Roman Emperor against the Turks, was issued in 1523, outlawing heretics. However, the political situation was too unstable to allow the government to muster the resources to enforce its edict. What is more, the territories controlled by the Turks offered a constant nearby refuge for Anabaptists and other radical Protestants.

On his return to Transylvania, Francis David became rector of a Catholic School, and later served as a parish priest. In 1553, he embraced the Lutheran Reformation, and two years later he was named Rector of the Lutheran School at Kolozsvar. In 1557 he was chosen Bishop of the Hungarian section of the Lutheran Churches. The following year he was the Lutheran spokesman, successfully defending his church in public debate with Calvinists. At issue between the contending Protestant parties was the strong and continuing difference of opinion concerning the meaning of the communion ritual--whether Christ was present in the elements of the service, the bread and wine, or whether the Lord’s Supper was a symbolic, memorial meal. In the long run, through the Calvinists lost the debate; they succeeding in lodging doubts in the mind of the Lutheran Bishop. [excerpt from THE EDICT OF TORDA: RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND THE RISE OF UNITARIANISM IN TANSYLVANIA, David E. Bumbaugh, ]http://www.lhup.edu/library/InternationalReview/david.htm]

Now note, Francis David, although he was a Catholic parish priest saw the errors of the Catholic church and was intellectually honest to admit her errors and leave her.

Rector of the Lutheran school in Kolozsvar in 1555. In 1557 he was chosen Bishop of the Hungarian section of the Lutheran Churches. In 1559, struggling with his beliefs following a debate with the Calvinists, he resigned as Lutheran Bishop and joined the Calvinist Reformed Church. After a debate arranged by court physician Georgio Biandrata, in which it became clear that no compromise could join the protestants, David was chosen as superintendent of the Reformed churches in Transylvania and named Court Preacher. Biandrata led David to further explore the doctrine of the Trinity, which he had already began to question after reading Servetus and Erasmus. David soon came to a Unitarian view which he ably defended in a series of public debates. In 1569, King John Sigismund
declared himself Unitarian. [http://www.uufkc.org/pdf/s051902.pdf]

David Francis kept searching for Biblical truths and began to question the Trinity after reading Servetus and Erasmus. He learned it was wrong dogma and rejected it, why do you not learn the same and do the same?

Yet his extraordinary life becomes even more meaningful if we find in it relevance for the circumstances of our own day. As we shall see, Francis David, the 16th Century son of a Saxon shoemaker, helped lay the foundation for a new sort of tower that may at last provide humanity with an enduring refuge.

The problem with most towers, that is, with the ideological constructs we adopt to make us feel safe, is that they are maintained by force. For example, when the Roman Emperor Constantine became a Christian, he wanted to rule a unified Christian empire. But first he would have to find a way to end the dispute over the divinity of Jesus—was he a man or God? So he ordered his Christian bishops to meet at Nicaea in 325 A.D. to settle the matter once and for all. Their solution was to create a creed making it illegal for anyone to believe Jesus was not the same as God by inventing the notion of a Trinity. This intellectual tower remained in full force for well over a thousand years, until the Reformation. [Francis David's Tower, Strength through Peace, by Todd F. Eklof (06-16-02)]

World conditions were hardly conducive to the foundation of a new and different religion. Pagan gods were still the gods of the state, and the Roman government was very superstitious. Whether it rained too much or not enough, all was considered the displeasure of the gods. When the dissolute Roman government began to crumble, it was not seen as a result of corruption within, but as the anger of the gods. If gods are angry they must be placated – and who better to sacrifice than the worshippers of a new god – a god who was totally foreign to their gods, and thus there were strong persecutions against Christians. [http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/doc_42.htm]

This proves the Trinity came into existence only as a way a pagan emperor a worshiper of the Unconquered Sun could maintain control of his empire and regain the approval of the Gods. He cared not about the ‘purity’ of Christian belief to Jesus’ and the Apostles words, nor whether the false doctrine was in harmony with the Word of God, the Holy Bible. Yet so many deluded individuals consider the false dogma of the Trinity Christian which it is not.

The search for the origins of the Trinity begins with the earliest writings of man. Records of early Mesopotamian and Mediterranean civilizations show polytheistic religions, though many scholars assert that earliest man believed in one god. The 19th century scholar and Protestant minister, Alexander Hislop, devotes several chapters of his book The Two Babylons to showing how this original belief in one god was replaced by the triads of paganism which were eventually absorbed into Catholic Church dogmas. A more recent Egyptologist, Erick Hornung, refutes the original monotheism of Egypt: ‘[Monotheism is] a phenomenon restricted to the wisdom texts,’ which were written between 2600 and 2530 BC (50-51); but there is no question that ancient man believed in ‘one infinite and Almighty Creator, supreme over all’ (Hislop 14); and in a multitude of gods at a later point. Nor is there any doubt that the most common grouping of gods was a triad.1 [The Origin of the Trinity: From Paganism to Constantine by Cher-El L. Hagensick]

This brought the people away from turning to the One True Invisible God, and returned them to the worship of the sun, moon and stars, with Nimrod's father Cush represented by Jupiter, and Nimrod represented by Saturn. According to mythology Saturn was born from Jupiter. We get the word 'Satan" from the word "Saturn"--the star of Nimrod. This religion spread all over the world. The Bible says that there were different languages throughout Nimrod's empire, there was a confusion of tongues. The way to say Nimrod and his attributes was different from place to place. Thus it eventually became lost that the various pagan male gods were the same--it was all the same religion centered around Nimrod.
[http://www.alaska.net/~peace/trinity.htm]

Many historians and Bible scholars agree that the Trinity of Christianity owes more to Greek Philosophy and pagan polytheism than to the monotheism of the Jew and the Jewish Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves)

Records of early Mesopotamian and Mediterranean civilizations show a polytheistic religion, though many scholars believe that earliest man was monotheistic. Rev. Alexander Hislop devotes several chapters of his book The two Babylons to showing how this original belief in one God was replaced by the triads of paganism which were eventually absorbed into Catholic church dogmas. An Egyptologist, Erick Hornung, refutes the original monotheism of Egypt: "Monotheism is . . . a phenomenon restricted to the wisdom texts," dated between 2600 and 2530 BC (50-51), but there is no question that ancient man believed in a "sole and omnipotent Deity who created all things" (Hislop, 14) at one time; and in a multitude of gods at a later point. Nor is there any doubt that the most common grouping of gods was a triad; usually Father, Mother, and Child. [The Two Babylons, by Reverend Alexander Hilsop, ]http://philologos.org/__eb-ttb/default.htm]

"Christianity did not destroy paganism, it adopted it." The concept of the trinity finds its roots in Pagan theology and Greek philosophy. It is a stranger to the Jewish Jesus and the Hebrew people from which he sprang. [Durant, Will. , Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon. 1944. Vol. 3 of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75.– note, I believe this author was Catholic]

With this background, let’s look at the growth and evolution of the Trinity. As previous stated, the Bible does not mention the trinity. Harnack affirms that the early church view of Jesus was as Messiah. After his resurrection he was "raised to the right hand of God" – but not considered as God. (78) Lonergan concurs that the educated Christians of the early centuries believed in one, supreme God. (119). As for the Holy Spirit, McGiffert tells us that "They [early Christians] thought of [the Holy Spirit] not as an individual being or person but simply as the divine power working in the world and particularly in the Church." (111) Durant summarizes Apostolic Christianity thus: "In Christ and Peter Christianity was Jewish; in Paul it became half Greek; in Catholicism it became half Roman." [Durant, Will. , Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon. 1944. Vol. 3 of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75.– note, I believe this author was Catholic]

As the apostles died, various writers undertook the task of defending Christianity against the persecutions evoked by the Church’s expansion. The writers of these "Apologies" are known to us now as "Apologists". Pelikan states that "it was at least partly in response to pagan criticism of the stories in the Bible that the Christian apologists... took over and adapted the methods and even vocabulary of pagan allegorism." [Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). Chicago: U of Chicago P. 1971. Vol. 1 of The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. 5 vols.]

The most famous of these Apologists was Justin Martyr (c.107-166 AD). He was born a pagan, became a pagan philosopher, then a Christian. He believed that Christianity and Greek Philosophy were related. According to McGiffert, "Justin insisted that Christ came from God; he did not identify him with God. . . [He] conceiv[ed] of God as a transcendent being, who could not possibly come into contact with the world of men and things." ." [Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). Chicago: U of Chicago P. 1971. Vol. 1 of The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. 5 vols.]

Jay P. Green’s Classic Bible Dictionary says about the word trinity, "This is not itself a Biblical term, but was a term coined by Tertullian to refer to this whole concept under one word" (p. 483). The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature says forthrightly, "Respecting the manner in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit make one G-d, the Scripture teaches nothing, since the subject is of such a nature as not to admit of its being explained to us" [page 503, The Trinity- Fact or Fiction? By Yahweh's Restoration Ministry. ] [note a booklet on this subject can be had by contacting, ]http://www.yrm.org/_vti_bin/shtml.dll/literature.htm]

An exhaustive review of Scripture and history reveals the simple fact that the Trinity teaching was unknown to the early New Testament Christians. That the doctrine of the Trinity is a “borrowed doctrine” and foreign to the Scriptures is supported by many authorities. Under the article Trinity we read, "The term ‘Trinity’ is not a biblical term…In point of fact, the doctrine of the Trinity is a purely revealed doctrine…As the doctrine of the Trinity is indiscoverable by reason, so it is incapable of proof from reason" [(vol. 5, p. 3012). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]

As can readily be seen from the foregoing, even the concept of the Trinity came from the pagan world, and the Bible shows “ In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4 AV) is trying to keep out the glorious gospel of Christ. Satan the Devil is slipping false dogma in its place. Do not be trapped by him, reject false dogma of the Trinity.

Your friend Iris

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Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth."Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell."

iris89 · Pit Bull Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Posts: 359

Hi Everyone:

The formal definition of a Cult is as follows:

Cult – Noun

1.
a. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
b. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5.
a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
b. The object of such devotion.
An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.
[The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition ]

Note, by definition 1 a. The Church of Jesus Christ of the Later Day Saints which has a “prophet” as its head, and the Catholic church which has a leader who claims, per the canon of the first Council of the Vatican to be infallible when he speaks ex cathedra are cults since by definition they have a charismatic leader, i.e., one who is infallible at times.

Your friend Iris

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Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth."Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell."