I.INTRODUCTION
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| Unitarian Church |
Unity can be defined as integrity , as a total , a solid entity , regardless if we are referring to a concept , idea , doctrine or dogma or to a physical object. If we want to put the discussion of unity in a religious context we can come across a number of issues that regard both the unity of the Christian Church and the unity of doctrine within.
The concept of unity can be filled with different meanings depending on one's religious affiliation , as I mentioned in the lines above , if we want to assimilate the notion of unity to the concept of unity of faith we will have to analyze century old doctrinal and dogmatic issues that shaped the structure of the Christian Church .
We can also fill the concept of unity with a other meaning , that of unity within a christian branch or denomination , keeping in mind that it is important to analyze all aspect of christian life and worship from two perspectives : a macro perspective - when we take in consideration only the core christian dogmatic , doctrinal and worship aspects that are found in every branch and denomination ; a micro level - when we are more interested more about the particular aspects of every branch and denomination , distinctive doctrines , dogmas and worship practices.
Christian Unity is a issue that is more stressed nowadays then ever before in the christian world , it could easily overlap with other ideologies which militate for the restoration of the primitive christian faith . Such concepts were at their height during the time of the Radical Reformation , when the anabaptist wanted a purification and simplification of all aspects related to religious life and church .
Unity within Christianity can be possible only if we define it to match the current structure of the Christian Faith , unity in the most basic meaning is more of a ideal or even a unobtainable dream . It is hard to imagine how century old disputes based on differences of view and perception of certain aspects related to faith will be erased in order to set a stable ground for the foundation of the New Christian Church .
As any solid faith , Christianity prescribes or attempts to do so a variety of norms and moral codes that can be handy to the individual and community in keeping a balanced and productive connection with God.
Unitarianism tries to do the same thing but with a less punishmental character , giving the liberty to the faithful to grow both in terms of spiritual experience but also to grow on a cultural - academic level . Because God is Knowledge . God is The Word . Taking the following statements in to consideration , Knowledge which is assimilated through Words is a fundamental characteristic of human existence , do to the fact that Man before anything was engineered by God Him self.
Faith is a fortress , giving the needed shelter to us in times of turmoil , many find in it a solid path for self growth and reinvention . To adjust , redefine or rebuild their axiological system which sets directions for each one of our acts and activities , which helps us to build plans for the future and reevaluate our actions from the past.
Love,Humanitarian Vision and a great interest for social and individual growth made Unitarianism a path preferred by individuals who have a desire to perfect and reevaluate constantly their own persona , which see life as a path that ends with one obtaining Knowledge of both the material and spiritual world.
II.Defining the Christian. The Christian individual and the Christian society.
When we talk about the Christian we come to the conclusion that each of the present day christian tradition designed their own image of him . If we take a look in Christianity's timeline we can see a different design for this ideal image depending on time ans space. We can easily notice that christian morality and religious norms were more rigid in the Middle Ages compared to nowadays.
Can we label this as a sing a weakening of the christian faith?Are churches today more willing to make compromises when it comes to the integrity of their moral norms in order to become more friendly for people?
If we want to give a complete answer to this question we also must answer the following one : Were the moral norms imposed by the Church in the Middle Ages really that valid? Were they really designed to regulate people's actions in order to keep them from committing "sins" or to fall in any kind of deviense or were they to serve less noble inttetions : political and economic manipulation of masses.
The validity of many of the Church's norms came in to question several time , one of the most violent episode was the Reformation in which it's leaders rebuilt a more liberal and human normative system compared to the one that was applied before.
Other questions put in to discussion if many of the Church's norms are just common sense and if a healthy , progressive and well balanced society can be built outside the walls of christian morality. Or if Christianity just based a part of it's moral norms on common sense which it reduces it's degree of social innovation .
Unitarianism tries to find a answer to each of this question , but even so , it dose not attempts to give the ultimate truth. The image of the christian was redesigned by each branch and denomination , for some , the ideal christian must fit in the rigid contour of a prefabricated layout , adding on complex rituals and a high degree of symbolism . Others intermediate the relationship between Man and God through rituals or through figures with the characteristics of a mediatrix .
Depending on personal liking all of this systems can be efficient , Unitarianism tries to set a more personal and direct connection to God and to reorient Man to it's core natural values : love , tolerance , forgiveness , compassion and fraternity. Connecting to the values we mentioned above it practically brings Man back to it's original natural states which was badly deformed over the centuries by hate between churches , religious conflicts and wars which managed to build concrete walls that divided Man on the base of selfish and obscure ideals.
Love was the core value of Christianity and some would say that it still is , but as we can see , more on a theoretical level and not so much on a practical one. Interfaith dialogues are carried nowadays in order to bring the bodies of the Christian Church more closer to each other , actions like this often face opposition from both church members and church leaders which are not willing to go over past conflicts in order to build the foundation of a new youthful and love radiating Christian Church.
As history often showed us , in many cases , love was way to often a secondary condition of Christianity and it was put aside right in the very moment when a higher interests came by.
As a conclusion , can we draw the profile of the ideal unitarian christian? There never was a institutional imposed profile but there are some general lines that are followed and this are:
a) Loving - A fundamental characteristic of any christian regardless of denomination . Love in its purest form that is not conditioned and limited , often hard to obtain but should be a ideal that we are all reaching for.
b) Tolerance - It is associated only to those with a superior intellect which can see the world as a multilayered reality where realism and relativism often come in conflict . The power of accepting differences is denotes a strong self identity and a solid axiological system. Tolerance can be classified as a secondary produce Love.
c) Fraternity - Interest in both individual ans social development , helping others denotes compassion and prosocial behavior. If we would be interested only in self development that would end in selfishness , we should dedicate time to build a better society through helping those in need .
d) Reason and free thinking - This two should never be excluded from christian life , Knowledge was passed on to Man by God through different channels in different periods of history , prohibiting and limiting Knowledge is the reverse of any christian ideal.
III. Christian Life.Unitarian vision
Dogmas and doctrines have the role of setting a common ground for the formation of a religion , they are visions, ideas , concepts which give a religion its distinctive characteristics. The difference between the two is often neglected and they are labeled as synonyms , they key difference between them is that doctrine presence and describes a certain action or event and the dogma is the official position which describes the way in which it happens or comes in to being.
Taking in consideration two very well known concept from philosophy - realism and relativism - we will attempt to explain the variety of norms which regulate christian life. Christian life was describes in many ways , traditional christian literature attempts to set clear boundaries between which actions and behaviors can be called desirable .
Traditional literature has a tendency to be very exact with its definition of this concept and to have a solid set of norms to back it.
Unitarianism tries to eliminate the pressure of traditional christian groups by setting a more liberal vision on christian life , where liberty of opinion and reasoning are foundation rocks for a healthy home and collective life.
The Unitarian vision on Christian Life : Love,Fraternity , Growth and Vision. If we had to resume the unitarian vision of christian life to four concepts these would be it. Christian Life in Unitarian perspective has a multilayered aspect , it is the total of personal and collective life , one could not exist without the other. Having a solid tradition in promoting social change and harmony , Unitarianism is a faith that dose not lock it self between the walls of a church , it like to be present both in the church building and within the heart of the community in the same time.
The movement often promoted the idea of "growth through education" , this shouldn't be misinterpreted as exclusive academic knowledge but of knowledge all that surrounds us , a truly universal approach.
This way we know more about God , by knowing more about the world in which we dwelt because everything that we touch , hear and see are the creations of the Lord. This was one of the reasons that the movement was and still is popular between intellectuals , even though , it never was intended to be a exclusive movement of highly educated people.
Ritualism , ceremonialism and excessive symbolism are replaced by a more personal relationship with God which is more beneficial to the christian , the ways in which worship takes place can vary from one congregation to the other , the variety is a result of the fact that the movement never obsessed over doctrinal aspects , a few core doctrinal points are kept by all unitarians.
IV. Spirit and bidimensinalism
Our soul is our core , more powerful then our heart but less visible , its the prove of divine creation and the uniqueness of Man among the other creatures that dwelt the Earth.
It is hard to define something that in not to be seen , something that is the framework of life but has no physical body. If we attempt to define it or to draw a image of it , traditionally was represented as a form of energy having the exact shape of the body.
Yet again , this is only a form that was largely popularized in books in media , a exact image is impossible to draw .
Traditional christian literature tells us that Man is the only being that is bidimensional being , having both a physical and immaterial component .
All the other being were just made by the Word of God , Man was by God himself and was "injected" with life. Unitarianism has common ground with all the other christian churches when it comes to this particular concept.
The characteristic of bidimensionalism dose not manifest through special norms and moral codes which would set a special regime for the purification and "detoxification" of the spirit ,such as the "Temple of the Holy Spirit" doctrine associated with the pentecostal movement .
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