Unitarianism facts for kids

Unitarianism is a type of Christianity. It's a belief that God is just one single being. This is different from what many other Christians believe. Most Christians think God is three different parts in one, which is called the Trinity.

Unitarian Christians believe in Jesus of Nazareth. They see Jesus as a great leader and a prophet. However, they generally do not believe that Jesus is part of God himself.

Different Ways of Thinking About Jesus

Unitarians have different ideas about who Jesus was. These ideas usually fall into two main groups.

Jesus Existed Before He Was Born

Some Unitarians believe that Jesus existed before he was born as a human. They think of him as a special being called the Logos. This Logos was with God from the very beginning. Then, this being was born as the man Jesus.

However, they don't believe Jesus was eternal. They think God created him at some point. This idea is often called Arianism. There are many different versions of this belief. Some think Jesus was a divine spirit, very similar to God. Others believe he was an angel or a lesser spirit, very different from God.

In this view, Jesus is below God but higher than humans. This idea is sometimes called "elevated subordinationism." Important people who held these views include Isaac Newton and William Ellius Channing. Some Unitarians in places like Transylvania, Hungary, and France still follow these Arian ideas.

Other groups, like Jehovah's Witnesses and the Iglesia ni Cristo, also have beliefs where Jesus is not part of a Trinity. They might not call themselves "Unitarian," but their ideas about God are similar. The Christian Churches of God (CCG) also believe Jesus existed before his human life.

Jesus Did Not Exist Before He Was Born

Another main Unitarian belief is that Jesus did not exist before he was born as a human. They believe he was a great man who was filled with God's spirit. This idea is sometimes called Socinianism.

This view is linked to early Christian groups like the Ebionites. Later, during the Protestant Reformation, people like Michael Servetus and Faustus Socinus also held similar beliefs.

In more modern times, this idea is seen in Rationalist Unitarianism. This way of thinking came from the 19th century. People who believed this used a very intellectual and humanistic approach to religion. They often questioned many miraculous events in the Bible, like the virgin birth. They also believed in evolution and thought that humans were good by nature.

Rationalist Unitarianism is different from Deism. Deists believe God created the world but then doesn't get involved. Rationalist Unitarians believe God still actively works in creation.

Famous Rationalist Unitarians include Ralph Waldo Emerson, scientist Joseph Priestley, and writer Charles Dickens. Many Hungarian Unitarians follow these ideas. The only Unitarian high school in the world, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, teaches Rationalist Unitarianism.

This view of Jesus is similar to the Islamic faith. Muslims see Jesus as a non-divine human Prophet. Groups like the Christadelphians also share this belief that Jesus was a human being.

Images for kids

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  A sign for a Unitarian Universalist church in Rochester, Minnesota.

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  Fausto Sozzini was an Italian thinker who helped shape Unitarianism.

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  An old picture showing Constantine I burning books that supported Arian beliefs.

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  The First Unitarian Society of Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, designed by Unitarian Frank Lloyd Wright.

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  The Dârjiu fortified church, a 13th-century church belonging to the Unitarian Church of Transylvania. It is a World Heritage Site.

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  The Newington Green Unitarian Church in London, England. Built in 1708, it's one of London's oldest non-Anglican churches still in use.

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  A Unitarian meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.

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  Sir Isaac Newton had Arian views about Jesus.

See also

In Spanish: Unitarismo para niños