What is the Unitarianism religion?

The Unitarians are a community welcoming people of all religious faiths and none. They have no dogma or creed, and take inspiration from all religious teachings, as well as from science and the arts. There is no list of things that Unitarians must believe: instead they think everyone has the right to reach their own conclusions.

What are Unitarian beliefs?

In Unitarianism, everyone is free to search for meaning in life in a responsible way and to reach their own conclusions. Unitarians believe that each person’s spiritual or intuitive experience deserves respect; that everyone’s views and opinions on religious and ethical questions should be taken seriously. To that end Unitarian religious communities offer a setting where people can worship, explore, and share their faith together in an atmosphere of freedom and mutual respect.

Individual beliefs within the community are quite diverse, and personal religious development is seen as a continuing process and they view religious beliefs as relevant to all aspects of life.
Despite having a wide variety of beliefs, amongst Unitarians there is broad agreement on what constitutes their shared values, these build on their central principles of freedom, reason and tolerance to all

Unitarian shared values

Unitarians believe that their shared values form a more effective foundation for true community than insistence on uniformity of belief and doctrine.

  • The nurture of life’s spiritual dimension.
  • The use of reason and honest doubt in the search for truth.
  • Mutual respect and goodwill in personal relations.
  • Constructive tolerance and openness towards the sincerely-held beliefs of others.
  • Peace, compassion, justice and democracy in human affairs.
  • Reverence for the earth and the whole natural system of which we are part

Overview to the religion

Unitarianism is a humanistic religion with its roots in Judeo-Christianity, but that takes inspiration from all faiths and peaceful ideologies, with a particular focus on social justice, equality and compassion. Arising in the 16th century reformation-era Poland and Transylvania, the movement focused on core concepts like perceiving God as a single unit (as opposed to belief in ‘the trinity’ of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), recognising Jesus as a human rather than divine figure, and, like most branches of Judaism, regarding humans as free and not bound by original sin – Unitarians take this concept further, believing in the universal salvation of all souls. Unitarianism was illegal in the UK until 1813 – although the first official church was opened in 1774.