The Unitarians and the Universalists

Denominations in America #1

by David Robinson

"It consists of a narrative text, an extensive series of biographical sketches...and a comprehensive bibliographical essay....The narrative itself is a very able analysis of the intellectual and theological development of Unitarianism and Universalism in America....What it does...it does extremely well...." Choice

Genres: Religion, History, Christianity

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 22, 1985

About the author

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Reviews

[Kalli Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must if you want to know the history of this religion.

I’ve attended for years without actually knowing the beliefs. It makes sense now; they’re non-creedal. Action is paramount to belief.

“Unitarianism and universalism are the most freely unorthodox of the American religious movements” —their theological enemy is Calvinism which is the doctrine of election to Grace holding that God chose those who would be saved before the dawn of time and those not so elected were powerless to affect their own salvation.

They hold that evil is the result of unjust social and economic conditions and called for a religion that addressed those conditions. Among the strikingly prophetic list of recommendations in the report was a call for a more democratic division of Land and industry, equal rights for women, social Insurance , and a World Federation. The true universalism is of this world. It is economic and social as well as spiritual.

Emerson is its most famous adherent, who believed the intuition of the soul is the only possible source of any religious knowledge.

A notable influential thought leader was Henry Nelson Wiemam who taught that Creative transformation, operating beyond the control of conscious volution was the process conventionally termed Grace. The fact of Creative transformation can be termed God -it can be the growth of meaning in the world as God at work in our midst: it was neither supernatural nor outside human life but it was ultra human.

In Unitarianism, the individual is essential and in him all authority is rooted therefore it is a voluntary association.

These ideals are what drew me to the religion; reading the book helped me understand.

[Dan Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half a narrative history and half a biographical encyclopedia of major UU figures, this book provides an excellent primer to the intertwined histories of Unitarians and Universalists in the U.S. from the eighteenth century to the 1980s. Robinson excels at articulating complex theological issues in an accessible, clear manner.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough introduction to Unitarianism and Universalism. Following the series template, the biographical section is a bit atomistic, but the information is very good. I published further thoughts about it on my blog: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

[Danielle Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents a very useful history of Unitarianism and Universalism, and is a must-read if you're interested in those traditions. However, it is really boring and dry; it took me months to get through because it put me to sleep.

[Rev. Sharon Wylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very dry and not particularly compelling summary of the history of Unitarians and Universalists. The most useful aspect is biographical information in encyclopedia form of prominent Unitarians and Universalists throughout history. Required but not exciting reading for UUs.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative scholarly history of both denominations in the United States, beginning in the 1700s with their separate divergences from Congregational Calvinism and going up to the early 1970s after their 1961 merger. The second part is biographies of important figures.