Unitarian Church
a communion comprising all who maintain that God exists in one Person only. The name Unitarian is applied specially to a small Christian sect whose distinguishing tenet is the Unity as opposed to the Trinity more general sense the name of course includes the Jews and the Mohammedans. From the middle of the 2d century to the end of the 3d century there was a succession of eminent Christian teachers-Monarchians-who maintained, against the eccle- Cyc UNITARIAN CHURCH siastical doctrine of the Logos, the undivided unity of God. There are said to have been two classes of them-those who taught that 'Christ was God in such a sense that it was the Father who be- Christ was in nature a mere man, but came man and those who held that exalted above all other prophets by the superior measure of Divine wisdom with which he was endowed. The latter class was represented by Theodotus, Artemon grand theological struggle which foland especially Paul and especially Paul of Samosata. The lowed in the 4th century between the Arians and the Athanasians may be regarded as but another phase of the Unitarian controversy tarian controversy. named John Ashton was accused of In England, as early as 1548, a priest by recantation; and during the reigns Arianism, and escaped with his life only of Edward VI..
James I. a few suffered martyrdom on of Edward VI., Mary, Elizabeth and VÍ., Mary, Elizabeth and similar charges. In the reign of James I. continental Socinianism began to exercise considerable influence in England, and in 1665 Dr. Owen wrote that "the evil is at the door, that there is not a a village in England, wherein some of land, wherein some of this poison is not was in the last decade of the 17th century that the controversy on this subject was most active, and at this time tive, and at this time were published the tracts." Hitherthe society formed in London by John to the Unitarians, with the exception of Biddle, which did not survive its foundto use the term Unitarians (1687) was er, had no organized existence. The first the heretical mercer and philanthropist, Thomas Firmin ( 1632-1697), a friend of Biddle's. The first preacher who described himself as a Unitarian (1704) 1741), a Presbyterian who was impris- was apparently Thomas Emlyn (1663was apparently Thomas Emlyn (1663oned and fined on the charge of blasphemy. After the passing phemy. After the passing of the Tolerafor that gradual change by which the tion Act in 1689 the way was prepared orthodoxy of the English Presbyterian passed into Unitarianism.
It was at terian chapels were founded; and the this time that most of the old Presbytrusts being "open," ministers and people were left free to adopt whatever new their conscience. Thus the Unitarians opinions should approve themselves to may be said to be the successors of the 2,000 Presbyterian divines who in 1662 left the Church of England in conseto comply conscientiously with the terms of the Act of Uniformity. The English Presbyterians were originally as orthodox as Episcopal brethren; but having refused their conscience. the Unitarians Vol. X UNITARIAN CHURCH to commit themselves to any authoritative creed, they underwent a gradual change to Arian, and at length to Unitarian, views. Many preached such views without exciting attention or controversy, though, till 1813, the law which made it blasphemy to speak against the Trinity was still in existence. During the latter half of the 18th century Dr.
Priestly appeared as the champion of the humanitarian view of Christ's nature, and by the influence of his writings secured the more open advocacy of that doctrine.
Toward the close of the 18th century there was a certain amount of Arianism among the Moderates in the Church of Scotland. Unitarianism, as a distinct system, was preached at Montrose as early as 1783, and at the beginning of the 19th century some attempts were made to diffuse it by means of missionary efforts. There are now nine congregations in Scotland. That at Edinburgh was originally a branch from the Cameronians, but, having adopted the principle of free inquiry, its members gradually embraced Arian, and eventually (1812) humanitarian, views. In Ireland the history of Unitarianism is intimately connected with that of Presbyterianism. It flourishes principally in the N. of the island, and the 10, 000 Irish Unitarians are Presbyterians in fact as well as in name.
After 1740 Arian views of the person of Christ were pretty widely diffused among the New England clergy; and in 1787 took place the first secession from the Episcopal Church. By imperceptible degrees many of the New England churches glided into Unitarianism; but it was not till about 1815 that the name began to be much used. At that time the influence of Dr. Channing was thrown into the scale; and since then Massachusetts, and particularly Boston, has been the stronghold of Unitarianism in the United States. Harvard University is not a denominational institution; but it is at present in the hands of the Unitarians; and most of their ministers are educated either there or at the Meadville Theological School, Pa. Besides the Unitarians, properly so called, the Universalists and the Hicksite Quakers are understood to hold anti-Trinitarian sentiments, though they give no special prominence to the doctrine of Divine Unity. In polity the Unitarians are congregational, each church being independent in the control of its own affairs. There are National, State and local conferences. The National conference, which meets biennially, declares in its constitution "its allegiance to the gos- UNITED BRETHREN pel of Jesus Christ," and its "desire to secure the largest unity of spirit and the widest practical co-operation" in Christian civilization. The Unitarian Church has its largest representation in Massachusetts, that State State containing about onehalf of its membership. In 1900 the reports of the denomination showed ministers, 550; churches, 459; and members, 71,000.
There are a few Unitarian churches in the principal colonies of Great Britain; and Unitarian sentiments, under the names of Liberal Christianity and Rationalism, are more or less widely diffused in France, Switzerland, Germany and Holland.
It will of course be understood that the Unitarians of all shades of opinion are agreed in rejecting the entire orthodox scheme-including the doctrines of the Trinity, the vicarious atonement, the deity of Christ, original sin, and everlasting punishment as both unscriptural and irrational. They celebrate the Lord's Supper in their churches, not as a sacrament, but as a service commemorative of Christ's death, and expressive of spiritual communion with Him. They also adhere generally to the rite of infant baptism, though there are a few Unitarian Baptist churches. Many object to the name Unitarian as one which might be held to imply a doctrinal bond of union, and to be, to that extent, inconsistent with unrestricted freedom of religious thought. When, at the meeting of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association in 1866, it was proposed to add to the rules a clause defining "Unitarian Christianity," the motion was almost unanimously rejected.
UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST, THE, a religious denomination which was form formed among the Germans of Pennsylvania, largely under the direction of Philip William Otterbein, a pastor of the German Reformed Church, and Martin Boehm, a preacher among the Mennonites. The first important meeting was at Baltimore in 1789, annual conferences beginning to be held in 1800, the first at Frederick, Md. It was on this occasion that the designation of this church was adopted, and Otterbein and Boehm were elected bishops. There was a General Conference in 1815, when a Confession of Faith and a Discipline were adopted. The organization calls for quarterly and annual conferences, and a quadrennial general conference, which is the leg legislative part of the organization, and since 1901 has been constituted by an equal number of ministers and laymen. All the ordained preachers are elders, and they are the only order recog- UNITED EVANG'L CHURCH nized. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the two sacraments accepted. The Confession of Faith adopted in 1889 provided for lay delegates to the General Conference. At the General Conference in that year there was a secession of delegates, which adhered to the older unrevised Confession of Faith and Constitution. The larger church has about 390,000 members with 500,000 pupils in the Sunday Schools, with a theological seminary at Dayton, Ohio, 10 colleges and several academies.
UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH, THE, a religious denomination established in 1894 as the result of a secession in the Evangelical Association. The first general conference was held at Naperville, Ill., in that year, and was made up of delegates from six annual conferences. Laws were made to complete the organization of an independent church, a book of discipline was adopted, founded on the old discipline of the Evangelical Association, with the introduction of some changes such as lay representation at the conferences. The church has about 990 organized congregations, 550 preachers, 90,000 church members, and about 94,000 pupils in the Sunday schools. Its General Missionary Society has three missions in Honon, China; and receives the co-operation of the Woman's Missionary Society. It raised about $100,000 for missionary work each year.
It has a number of educational establishments, among them Albright College, Myerstown, Pa.; Dallas College and La Creole Academy, Dallas, Ore.; and Western Union College, Le Mars, Iowa. It also publishes some evangelical journals.
UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH, THE (IN GERMANY), a church a founded in Germany in 1817 by the alliance of parts of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches. A union of the kind had been attempted in 1529, 1631 and 1661. Frederick I. of Prussia (1703- 1722) also endeavored to establish a union, and Frederick William I. issued a number of decrees having the same purpose in view. The evolution of theological thought made the union appear desirable during the eighteenth century, and one proposal was that of a unity of exterior organization, leaving doubtful theological points in abeyance. Finally, in 1817, at the tercentennial celebrations of the Reformation , an outward union was established, under the auspices of the government of Prussia. In other parts of Germany parallel unions have been established, the visible evidences being a single governing body and a common celebration of the Lord's Supper. In 79 UNITED PRESB'N CHURCH Prussia the United Evangelical Church was, previous to November, 1918, the state church, and it is stronger there than in other parts of Germany. A United Evangelical Church was established in the United States at St. Louis in 1840. formed in 1791 by Theobald Wolfe Tone,