Skip to main content

What does it mean that Unitarianism does not start with an experience of revelation?



Last week on the way back from a few days in the Lakes I stopped by in Kendal to visit the Quaker Tapestry.

I found some inspiration in the history of George Fox and the early Quakers, as depicted in the various panels. I was struck by George Fox seeking answers to his questions until his inward revelation that "there is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition."

As I pondered this I reflected on the differences between Quakers and Unitarians. Quakerism has a more definite and clear story of its beginnings - and I think significantly, Quakerism started with an experience of revelation.

In fact most religious paths start with an experience of revelation, major religious traditions, like Islam, and often divisions of religious traditions like Methodism or Zen/Chan Buddhism, begin with some formative, experiential experience of revelation/truth.

What does it mean that Unitarianism does not start with an experience of revelation? How does it affect the way we tell our stories or understand who we are? What would it mean if we could point to an experience of revelation at the beginning of our story?

Universalist history does include some instances of revelation of the truth of the universal love of God, but Unitarianism seems not to. (Am I wrong?)

I wonder if this is something we're missing? 


Comments

Nick H. said…
Steve, I’ve just caught up with your blog again and as ever here is another thought provoking one. This subject has occurred to me too recently - Unitarianism evolved as a movement within the existing churches rather than having a single charismatic and prophetic leader and so you could say that historically it relied on the indigenous Christian revelation although looked at in a new and more questioning way. Unitarians didn’t necessarily intend to create a new church but were sometimes ejected from the mainstream churches. Fast forward to today and if we want to allow ourselves the degree of freedom which we appear to, it means that we are all called to be co-creators of the tradition. Otherwise a historical revelation can become a limitation (ie they are usually rooted in the time, place & culture of the prophet, creating a likely tension further down the line between traditionalists and modernisers).

Can there ever be a universal revelation for all time, or can we have a Unitarian prophet (or buddha if you will) who can give a message for their own day with the warning that it is not carved in stone and needs to be adapted or replaced when the time is right by a future generation or those from another culture? Would that then make it more relevant to our society, or reduce the impact? For myself, the big appeal of being religious is the prospect of having one’s own revelation / enlightenment / awakening experiences, the revelation of others is a pointer for the way but if we rely too much on someone else’s revelation it can all become a bit abstract, theoretical, intellectual, even second-hand. What’s needed is for us to use the revelations of the past to build a spiritual practice for today which can help us to encounter our religious ideal first-hand.

Best wishes, Nick.

Popular posts from this blog

The dumbest thing about American Unitarian Univeralism

I'm glad Peacebang started blogging about this cos I was about to, and now it's like I'm joining in with a conversation rather than doing a big rant and having a go at Americans (though that is always fun ;-)). Why the hell do American (or is it just in New England??) UU churches take, like a quarter of the year off? In the summer they close. They CLOSE!! A church, closing. It's so bloody weird and wrong. Where does it come from? Why? Why? Why? Why do people need church less in the summer? Where are people supposed to go? Where is the Divine supposed to go? My church in Boston didn't close exactly, but moved to the smaller upstairs chapel, but the minister still had all that time off. Now I've spent most of my life around teachers and priests, both jobs where people think people don't put many hours in, when in fact they put in loads ('you only work Sunday mornings/9 to 3.25'). Teachers work hard and need their long holidays. Ministers work hard, a...

Is humanism theologically tolerant?

OK, well this might be controversial, but I feel the need to say it. Is humanist tolerant? Please note I'm not asking about humanism within society. Clearly humanism certainly believes in tolerance within society and I'm forever glad they are often the only people in the media calling for a separation of church and state. No, what I'm talking about is descriptions of Unitarianism like this and adverts like this , discussed at Peacebang here , which say that humanism is one option, Christianity is another, God is one option among many. The trouble is, humanism, by definition is theologically opposed to theism. This is very different from the relationship between Christianity and Buddhism. These two traditions may be vastly different, but Buddhism, by definition , is not opposed to Christianity, and Christianity, by definition , is not opposed to Buddhism. But humanism is consciously defined in opposition to Christianity and theism. So to say that humanism and theism can bot...

LOST and theology: who are the good guys?

***Spoiler alert*** I'm continuing some theological/philosophical reflections while re-watching the series LOST. One of the recurring themes in LOST is the idea of the "good guys" and the "bad guys." We start the series assuming the survivors (who are the main characters) are the "good guys" and the mysterious "Others" are definitely bad guys. But at the end of series 2 one of the main characters asks the Others, "Who are  you people?" and they answer, in an extremely disturbing way, "We're the good guys." The series develops with a number of different factions appearing, "the people from the freighter" "the DHARMA initiative" as well as divisions among the original survivors. The question remains among all these complicated happenings "who really are the good guys?" I think one of the most significant lines in the series is an episode when Hurley is having a conversation with ...