I've always had some envy of Quakers who have a strong sense of who their founder was - George Fox - and all Quakers know that and still talk about Fox. Unitarians have less of a sense of a founder, and this gives us less of a sense of identity.
Recently though I've started to read more about Michael Servetus. And I've started to really warm to the idea that he is our founder, and should be viewed as such. True, he didn't start a community, but then, neither did Jesus. True he wasn't perfect, but then, neither was Jesus.
I've recently gained more insights into Servetus that I didn't appreciate before. He was an ethnic minority as a dark-skinned Spanniad in France. He was a healer as he worked as a doctor. He read the Qur'an, and possibly read Arabic, and had a very positive approach to Jews and Muslims. He suffered a death for what he believed in, much like Jesus and Al Hallaj.
But mostly I love his mysticism, his sense of God within, that I'm beginning to think is the very essence of Unitarianism. This is the great mystical strand of Unitarianism that we've lost too much. It's just as important as the rational side.
I think we're very impoversished when British Unitarians only trace ourselves back to Priestley and Lindsey, and Americans only trace themselves back to Channing. I think we're a global family with many branches that starts with Michael Servetus.
Right now I feel like being Unitarian means following Servetus.
Comments
a typical UU contradiction - rejecting Christ, yet championing Servetus
I recommend that you visit the website of the Michael Servetus Institute (of which I am a member), which preserves his legacy:
http://www.miguelservet.org (click the English version of it)
but what seems funny is how after tearing up most of their history and identity, your church still claims Servetus as their patron saint. why is this?
Tony S: You make a good point, but personally I'm not rejecting Christ at all.
Jaume: yes to everything you said. Does the Servetus Institute have any plans to translate the major works of Servetus into English (or Spanish, French, Hungarian) in print or online? I'd love to get into his own writings.
On books: the complete works of Servetus are being edited these days with funds from the autonomous Government of Aragon, in a bilingual Latin/Spanish edition. You can see the books in the shop of the website I quoted above.
As for English, the first two theological books were translated by E.M. Wilbur in the 30s', and now there is at least one translation in progress of the Restitutio in the USA. It will probably be published in several volumes and not just one, to facilitate the process. I cannot give further details for the moment...
Thanks for answering the questions raised.
It really is great to see a Unitarian-Universalist blogger that can address issues directly without having to fall back on the usual monologues about tolerance etc.
Keep up the good work,
Tony