Unitarian Universalist Principles: A View Of Widening Horizons

February 6, 1983
Lakeland

February 20, 1983
Port Charlotte

When a person belongs to a religious community where no creed is imposed, why devote two Sundays to considering revisions to the principles stated in the by-laws of the Unitarian Universalist Association? With the order of service, there has been included some of the affirmations of Universalists and Unitarians of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries as well as the principles stated when Unitarian Universalists consolidated in 1960; and one proposed revision, these with possible changes and refinements may be adopted in the next couple of years. These statements illustrate how the inevitable process of change has modified the beliefs commonly held by Unitarian Universalists. I believe the changes are a view of widening horizons. Two weeks from now I shall look at dimensions of depth – the plumb line.

Initially there must be one primary emphasis – the historic principles and affirmations have never been creeds – no one has ever been required to say, “Yes, I believe.” Always there has been what the Universalists call the “liberty clause,” sometimes phrased, “neither this nor any other statement shall be required as a creedal test.” This freedom principle is not only for the individual but churches and fellowships as well. Our local congregations are autonomous. As shown by the several unlike affirmations I read, many of our congregations prepared or adopted their own affirmations. Wednesday evening I quoted Marcel Proust, a sentence which I think illustrates why such high priority is placed on individual freedom of belief, “The Universe is true for all of us, but is different for each of us.”

It is this freedom, to disbelieve as well as believe, which contributes to the erroneous notion that Unitarian Universalists simply disbelieve anything anyone else believes. But you will notice that all the affirmations are positive, not negative.

My daughter, Marjorie, who lives in San Francisco, sent me a recent clipping from that city’s newspaper. A columnist had this item: “Tom Youngblood, attending First Unitarian Sunday services for the first time, was assured by a young regular, ‘You’ll love it here. The only thing they’re against is nuclear war.’”

Well, if that were our only proclamation, it would suffice for many. But my intention today is to maintain that the beliefs commonly held through more than 200 years, progressively, positively widened horizons of theology, ethics, and world-view.

First, basic is the search for truth – not the truth that our forbears believed, not the truth of a creed, but the truth as we shall come to it in our individual and shared experiences and reflections. We are guided by truth as an ancient tablet. A verse of James Russell Lowell’s hymn expresses the premise:

“New occasions teach new duties,
Time makes ancient good uncouth
They must upward still and onward
Who would keep abreast of truth.”

This search for truth has been affirmed.

p. 14 Unitarian, 1880 – In the freedom of the truth
p. 14 Unitarian, 1894 – To seek the truth of love

p. 15 Comm. Ch., 1930 – Unite the Church universal ... which seeks truth in freedom

15 Univ., 1933 – The quest of truth is its sacrament

1 Univ., 1935 – We avow our faith ... in the authority of truth known or to be known.

15 – Unit., 1944 – Discipleship to advancing truth

1960 – Bylaws – support the free and disciplined search for truth as the foundation of religious fellowship.

1981 – Proposed – support the free and disciplined search for truth as the center of our religious community.

Those who recommend this revised wording suggest that “foundation” has an hierarchical connotation whereas center connotes heart and expansion. Community is a more inclusive word that fellowship. Such a change seems an improvement.

The second view that has widened is the theological horizon (it is fair to say that there are those who hold that this has been an astigmatic blurring – as with every change). Consider these sequences:

The Winchester Profession – Universalist (1790) stated “We believe there is one God, whose nature is love, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, by one holy spirit of grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.”

This statement embodied the central theological position of Universalists at that time. It was a radical position.... They proclaimed, if the nature of God was love, there could be no hell for the damned, because no child of God could be eternally damned. “No hell was the central position.”

Both Unitarians and Universalists in the 19th century affirmed the Fatherhood of God and the leadership of Jesus. Throughout the late 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries most Unitarians and Universalists considered themselves Christians. They usually attempted to make a primary distinction between the religions about Jesus and the teachings of Jesus. They were “liberal Christians.” Most did not disavow that description.

A 1915 Unitarian declaration said, “We believe in the ideal of human life which reveals itself in Jesus as love to God and love to man.”

The “Great Avowal” of the Universalist Church, 1935, stated, “we avow our faith in God as eternal and all-conquering love.” Thus both these statements describe God as an ideal human quality, not as the King of the Universe.

Then the 1960 statement “to cherish and spread the universal truths taught by the great prophets and teachers of humanity immemorially summarized in the Judeo-Christian heritage as love to God and love to humankind.”

This provision was the most exhaustively and heatedly debated issue of of our merger.

One proposed change is “Recognize our Judeo-Christian heritage as well as other traditions and seek lasting values and new insights.”

I can predict with considerable confidence that this will be the most controversial of all proposed revisions. It can be anticipated that there will be much highly charged orations about the rejection of the Deity by Unitarian Universalists. I, for one, [cannot] predict what changes, if any, there will be on this provision.

One could talk from now until the 4th of July about reasons and causes for the shifts in affirmations in 200 years in varieties of Unitarian Universalist thoughts and beliefs about the ideas of God and Jesus. Without exhausting the list of considerations ... :

The consequences of logic, reason, and the finding of science (geology, physics), psychology, sociology. These disciplines are not theologies, but there are always theological inferences and implications in the views advanced about the nature of the cosmos and human nature.

Universalists and Unitarians have been receptive to the profound implications from the historical studies of the Bible: the scholarly analyses of higher and lower criticism of this collection of books, more authors than there are books, have convinced most Unitarian Universalists that the Bible is literature, not revelation.

Then, too, over the last 130 years or so there has been increasing knowledge and appreciation of other world religions. Most of us here recognized that Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Parsees, others have sought truth in their own ways, guided by their ancient myths of creation, destiny and human nature. Their scriptures had a similar process of growth, change, editing and bias as have the scriptures of Jews and Christians. There are many paths to search for truth and warmth. If our theological trails and by-ways are for us, their trails and by-ways are for them. We seek to learn from them; and if they choose, learn from us.

Correlated with this, and to me, the brightest widened horizon, is the growth of a concern for all persons.

Implicit in the prime Universalist principle, that no one would be damned but all saved, is the belief that all are worth saving. As the 1790 Winchester Profession had it, the whole family of mankind would be restored to holiness and happiness. The older statements asserted belief in the Brotherhood of Man. The 1944 principle of Unitarian advance included “universal brotherhood undivided by nation, race, or creed.” The 1935 Universalist Washington statement asserted belief in the supreme worth of every human personality.

Within the memory of most of us was the recognition that to classify all humans as part of the “brotherhood of man” was an expression of the male bias and a continuation of the ages-old put-down of women. While there were many women who were Universalist ministers in the 19th century, and some Unitarian, there was a male bias. In the church of my youth, the church board was always entirely male. Organizations named “Women’s Auxiliary” were not uncommon. In 1965 I became minister of a Unitarian church whose just-elected President, Margaret Heinold, was the first woman president, although the church had been organized since 1890. Two theological schools I attended never had a woman on the faculty.

Fortunately, although belatedly, this has been changing. More and more women are not only qualifying for our ministry, but are being chosen by Unitarian Universalist congregations. Our present UUA moderator, Sandy Caron, is a woman re-elected to a second term. The Study Commission comments, “Feminism is seen by many in our day as presenting a challenge to theological and social thinking as radical as that of humanism to traditional theism a few decades ago, as that of universal theism to historic Christianity at the turn of the last century, or as Protestantism to the medieval Catholic synthesis in the 16th century. We are being called upon to consider a quantum shift in our perspective on what it means to be human, female and male.”

This is addressed in proposed revisions. One revision adds the principle, “Recognize the importance of equality among women and men.”

In addressing our consciousness of the whole world, instead of just ideas of brotherhood, a revision phrases it, “strive for a world community of love, justice, and peace.”

One thing more, one revision adds, “Acknowledge our responsibility to cherish earth and its resources.” This too is a late arrival in our principles but many Unitarian Universalists have been conscious and active in conservation concerns. The awareness has been growing that by carelessness, greed, and apathy, the air, water, earth could become the poison potions of humankind unless vigilance and outcry are able to place more and more limits on pollution and depletion of the resources of our planet Earth. Many believe this should be plainly stated in our purposes and principles.

I could go on, but let me conclude today with a paragraph from Ray Jones, Chair of the Purposes and Principles,

“This UUA and its constituent societies are our spiritual home. They have been a place of our growing up, they have discovered new and deep roots for us in the birthright heritage of humankind, and they have lent credibility to our basic trust in the good that is possible for us personally and in society, if we are both honest and caring. We intend that this free, challenging, and supporting community shall live and grow.”