Theology
What do Unitarian Universalists Believe?
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote eight Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from Six Sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.
Eight Principles of Unitarian Universalists our congregation affirms and promotes.
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote eight Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from Six Sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.
Eight Principles of Unitarian Universalists our congregation affirms and promotes.
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
- Working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
- Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
- Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
- Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
- Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
That all sounds good, But how do you answer the Big Questions?
Is there a God, and if so, what is He (or She, or It) like?
Who are we?
Why are we here?
What happens when we die?
What do you teach about right and wrong?
As is true for people from all faiths and denominations, Unitarian Universalists differ in their interpretation and practice of their faith, so answers across Unitarian Universalism may vary; these answers are the truth as best understood at the First Parish Church in Taunton.
Is there a God, and if so, what is He (or She, or It) like?
Not to be evasive about it, but it really depends on what you mean by God.
Many Unitarian Universalist ministers have a strong affection for saying “I don’t believe in the God that you don’t believe in, either.” Let’s get this out of the way first: there are very few, if any, Unitarian Universalists who believe in a judgmental, volatile God who punishes disobedience during our short time on earth with an eternity of torment. The “universal” in Universalism comes from an 18th century argument between two groups of American Christians; one group believed that the vast majority of human beings would spend eternity in Hell, while the other believed that everyone, regardless of faith or actions while on earth, would eventually be saved. That second group got tagged with the name “Universalists” for that belief, and it stuck. (For those wondering where the “Unitarian” part comes from, it was intended as an insult to a group of 18th century Christians, in this case Protestant Christians who couldn’t find anything about Jesus being a co-equal aspect of a three-part God anywhere in the Bible.)
While there are Christian Unitarian Universalists, and many Unitarian Universalists were raised as Christians, we are not an explicitly Christian church. In fact, we are a non-creedal church ~ that means there cannot be any particular test of faith or belief required to join. This in turn means that we won’t make agreeing with any particular statement about God, up to and including the bare fact of “God’s” existence, a requirement for worshipping with us. Yet we do, in fact, worship together. How does that work?
James Luther Adams, our most influential 20th century theologian, understood the word “God” as meaning “that which is sacred, sovereign, and utterly reliable.” Whether atheist or theist, each of us has something we will sacrifice to protect and keep safe beyond all else. Each of us has something that we serve, that can command our loyalty and motivate us to action. Each of us has some principle or reality without which life would lose its meaning. When we understand our answers to these three questions, we will have found our God. We worship our God in the lives we lead, the ways we think, and the relationships we form; it is with us always.
So if God is personal, and we cannot help but worship our God, why gather in church? If everyone has faith in their God, and yet truth, beauty, and goodness do not yet reign on earth, then we know that simply having faith alone is not enough, and not every God is worthy of being followed. Unitarian Universalists have faith that the most reliable test of faith is to be found in community – not against the checklist of a set creed, but in open discussion with others. We gather to comfort, companion, and challenge each other along the journey of faith.
And we gather because a meaningful faith, a worthy God, not only answers the questions we ask, but also asks things of us in return. Much of what is asked is beyond the power of even the most talented individual working on their own. A full, faithful engagement with the precious, commanding, inescapable reality we call God requires the ears, eyes, hearts, and hands of others as well as our own.
So what is God like? We cannot answer that for you, but we can help you find out.
Is there a God, and if so, what is He (or She, or It) like?
Who are we?
Why are we here?
What happens when we die?
What do you teach about right and wrong?
As is true for people from all faiths and denominations, Unitarian Universalists differ in their interpretation and practice of their faith, so answers across Unitarian Universalism may vary; these answers are the truth as best understood at the First Parish Church in Taunton.
Is there a God, and if so, what is He (or She, or It) like?
Not to be evasive about it, but it really depends on what you mean by God.
Many Unitarian Universalist ministers have a strong affection for saying “I don’t believe in the God that you don’t believe in, either.” Let’s get this out of the way first: there are very few, if any, Unitarian Universalists who believe in a judgmental, volatile God who punishes disobedience during our short time on earth with an eternity of torment. The “universal” in Universalism comes from an 18th century argument between two groups of American Christians; one group believed that the vast majority of human beings would spend eternity in Hell, while the other believed that everyone, regardless of faith or actions while on earth, would eventually be saved. That second group got tagged with the name “Universalists” for that belief, and it stuck. (For those wondering where the “Unitarian” part comes from, it was intended as an insult to a group of 18th century Christians, in this case Protestant Christians who couldn’t find anything about Jesus being a co-equal aspect of a three-part God anywhere in the Bible.)
While there are Christian Unitarian Universalists, and many Unitarian Universalists were raised as Christians, we are not an explicitly Christian church. In fact, we are a non-creedal church ~ that means there cannot be any particular test of faith or belief required to join. This in turn means that we won’t make agreeing with any particular statement about God, up to and including the bare fact of “God’s” existence, a requirement for worshipping with us. Yet we do, in fact, worship together. How does that work?
James Luther Adams, our most influential 20th century theologian, understood the word “God” as meaning “that which is sacred, sovereign, and utterly reliable.” Whether atheist or theist, each of us has something we will sacrifice to protect and keep safe beyond all else. Each of us has something that we serve, that can command our loyalty and motivate us to action. Each of us has some principle or reality without which life would lose its meaning. When we understand our answers to these three questions, we will have found our God. We worship our God in the lives we lead, the ways we think, and the relationships we form; it is with us always.
So if God is personal, and we cannot help but worship our God, why gather in church? If everyone has faith in their God, and yet truth, beauty, and goodness do not yet reign on earth, then we know that simply having faith alone is not enough, and not every God is worthy of being followed. Unitarian Universalists have faith that the most reliable test of faith is to be found in community – not against the checklist of a set creed, but in open discussion with others. We gather to comfort, companion, and challenge each other along the journey of faith.
And we gather because a meaningful faith, a worthy God, not only answers the questions we ask, but also asks things of us in return. Much of what is asked is beyond the power of even the most talented individual working on their own. A full, faithful engagement with the precious, commanding, inescapable reality we call God requires the ears, eyes, hearts, and hands of others as well as our own.
So what is God like? We cannot answer that for you, but we can help you find out.
Who are we?
American Universalists split from Christianity because they believed that all human beings would be saved, without exception. They believed that all of humanity shared the same fate, despite differences in behavior, creed, and practice. It is a testament to the challenging nature of this belief that it has been debated in Christianity since the 3rd century yet remains radical today.
Our modern principles call on us to recognize both the “inherent worth and dignity of every human being” (emphasis added) and to “respect the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” These two are frequently understood as a complementary pair, and are a reminder of the connectedness and unity within humankind and between humanity and the world. This is not to say that the very real differences that exist in our world don’t matter, but instead to remind us that where difference becomes division, “we” into “us versus them,” we have lost sight of our interdependence.
Interdependence is the truth of our world – readily apparent upon short reflection, vibrantly assertive upon closer inspection – and losing sight of it is to lose sight of reality. We generate changes in the web of interdependence with every action; learning and teaching changes the physical structure of the brain, acts of kindness or cruelty can resonate through generations, even yawning is contagious. In every relationship on every scale, from personal to global and every step between, our actions have consequences for ourselves and the world. Many of us spend our lives looking for a connection with something larger than ourselves; that connection already exists, has always existed, and is waiting us to acknowledge it and be transformed by it.
We answer the question “who are we?” by saying “we are one.” Our interdependence is vital to understanding who we are as human beings on a religious path. Many of us were raised within systems of religion that understood the world through an “us versus them” model – the few living correctly and the many in error, the island of good in the ocean of evil, the saved and the damned. Such a distinction has no place in the religion of Unitarian Universalism; in fact, the realization of interdependence is itself an authentically Unitarian Universalist religious act. It is a change in thought that changes the world; it expands boundaries, opens possibilities, transforms relationships. This is not to say that we treat all answers, all ways of living, all forms of interaction as beneficial, appropriate, or even permissible; but it is to say that we can never finally sever ties and wash our hands of another by pretending they are something totally different than us, something fundamentally lesser, something not human.
There is no “them.” There’s only “us.” No exceptions.
Why are we here? We are free to decide, and responsible for the use of that freedom.
Each of us is free to believe whatever we can. This is a given. Human beings are blessed with the responsibility of choosing and building what they believe in, what they place faith in, what they have chosen for that highest purpose they serve, defend, or love above all others. We can do anything we want with this responsibility… except avoid it.
Of course, we are not claiming that each of us can believe absolutely anything. We are limited in what we can believe by our history, our personality, our reason; but we are always writing new history for ourselves, our personalities can change over time (and through new beliefs), and our reason may see possibilities tomorrow that it cannot today.
Our freedom to choose our beliefs and discover our purpose extends to “not choosing” and “not discovering.” We can try to defer the responsibility to which beliefs to encourage or diminish to others, although in doing so we trade the difficult question of “what should I believe?” for the equally difficult question of “who should I believe?” while still remaining responsible for the answer we choose. If both these questions seem too daunting, we can choose to let our beliefs remain unquestioned, without ever asking which ones serve us well. This is also choice our freedom allows. However, if we do not examine our beliefs, then they will far more often serve another’s purpose or none at all. Even the most noble work, unsupported by the beliefs that would transform into a purpose, is just a job… and a job without purpose cannot long sustain us. The world asks more of us than this, and we ask it of ourselves.
We inherit the responsibility of our freedom whether we want it or not, just like every single person ever born. This freedom is not a one-time gift, but is forever open, forever available. Knowing this, we may set aside the burden of looking for a single, ultimate, true-for-everyone-for-all-time answer… and why do we want one? Such an answer is ridiculously overqualified for the needs of today and inflexible against the changing needs of tomorrow. Instead, our freedom lets us seek the beliefs we need to strengthen the purpose we have chosen, or seek new purpose as our beliefs grow and change. In either case, the enduring satisfaction of a life lived with faith, purpose, and meaning is ours for the choosing.
We are free, and responsible for how we use our freedom.
American Universalists split from Christianity because they believed that all human beings would be saved, without exception. They believed that all of humanity shared the same fate, despite differences in behavior, creed, and practice. It is a testament to the challenging nature of this belief that it has been debated in Christianity since the 3rd century yet remains radical today.
Our modern principles call on us to recognize both the “inherent worth and dignity of every human being” (emphasis added) and to “respect the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” These two are frequently understood as a complementary pair, and are a reminder of the connectedness and unity within humankind and between humanity and the world. This is not to say that the very real differences that exist in our world don’t matter, but instead to remind us that where difference becomes division, “we” into “us versus them,” we have lost sight of our interdependence.
Interdependence is the truth of our world – readily apparent upon short reflection, vibrantly assertive upon closer inspection – and losing sight of it is to lose sight of reality. We generate changes in the web of interdependence with every action; learning and teaching changes the physical structure of the brain, acts of kindness or cruelty can resonate through generations, even yawning is contagious. In every relationship on every scale, from personal to global and every step between, our actions have consequences for ourselves and the world. Many of us spend our lives looking for a connection with something larger than ourselves; that connection already exists, has always existed, and is waiting us to acknowledge it and be transformed by it.
We answer the question “who are we?” by saying “we are one.” Our interdependence is vital to understanding who we are as human beings on a religious path. Many of us were raised within systems of religion that understood the world through an “us versus them” model – the few living correctly and the many in error, the island of good in the ocean of evil, the saved and the damned. Such a distinction has no place in the religion of Unitarian Universalism; in fact, the realization of interdependence is itself an authentically Unitarian Universalist religious act. It is a change in thought that changes the world; it expands boundaries, opens possibilities, transforms relationships. This is not to say that we treat all answers, all ways of living, all forms of interaction as beneficial, appropriate, or even permissible; but it is to say that we can never finally sever ties and wash our hands of another by pretending they are something totally different than us, something fundamentally lesser, something not human.
There is no “them.” There’s only “us.” No exceptions.
Why are we here? We are free to decide, and responsible for the use of that freedom.
Each of us is free to believe whatever we can. This is a given. Human beings are blessed with the responsibility of choosing and building what they believe in, what they place faith in, what they have chosen for that highest purpose they serve, defend, or love above all others. We can do anything we want with this responsibility… except avoid it.
Of course, we are not claiming that each of us can believe absolutely anything. We are limited in what we can believe by our history, our personality, our reason; but we are always writing new history for ourselves, our personalities can change over time (and through new beliefs), and our reason may see possibilities tomorrow that it cannot today.
Our freedom to choose our beliefs and discover our purpose extends to “not choosing” and “not discovering.” We can try to defer the responsibility to which beliefs to encourage or diminish to others, although in doing so we trade the difficult question of “what should I believe?” for the equally difficult question of “who should I believe?” while still remaining responsible for the answer we choose. If both these questions seem too daunting, we can choose to let our beliefs remain unquestioned, without ever asking which ones serve us well. This is also choice our freedom allows. However, if we do not examine our beliefs, then they will far more often serve another’s purpose or none at all. Even the most noble work, unsupported by the beliefs that would transform into a purpose, is just a job… and a job without purpose cannot long sustain us. The world asks more of us than this, and we ask it of ourselves.
We inherit the responsibility of our freedom whether we want it or not, just like every single person ever born. This freedom is not a one-time gift, but is forever open, forever available. Knowing this, we may set aside the burden of looking for a single, ultimate, true-for-everyone-for-all-time answer… and why do we want one? Such an answer is ridiculously overqualified for the needs of today and inflexible against the changing needs of tomorrow. Instead, our freedom lets us seek the beliefs we need to strengthen the purpose we have chosen, or seek new purpose as our beliefs grow and change. In either case, the enduring satisfaction of a life lived with faith, purpose, and meaning is ours for the choosing.
We are free, and responsible for how we use our freedom.
What happens when we die?
We don’t know, but we know that it’s here that matters now.
One of the major concerns of most world religions is the fate of human beings after they die; since everyone dies, it would be comforting to know what our choices are for final destinations and how to end up someplace nice. Achieving control of our fate after our physical body dies is frequently the basis for religious morality; do this to gain credit towards a better hereafter, don’t do that or you’ll be punished eternally.
Unitarian Universalism does not make these claims. Our Universalist forebearers believed in the salvation of all human beings; everyone, without exception, ended up in Heaven. While some Unitarian Universalists still hold this idea, the fact is that there is no official modern UU doctrine that attempts to explain the hereafter. Many of us believe that real certainty as to the fate of human beings after death is simply impossible. As a result, most UUs do not base their spirituality or morality on achieving a particular post-life destination.
Yet the mere reality of death, without making any claims about what comes after, remains a spiritually profound reality. Forrest Church, a modern UU theologian, wrote: “Knowing that we are going to die not only places an acknowledged limit upon our lives, it also gives a special intensity and poignancy to the time we are given to live and love. The fact that death is inevitable gives meaning to our love, for the more we love the more we risk losing. Love’s power comes in part from the courage required to give ourselves to that which is not ours to keep: our spouses, children, parents, dear and cherished friends, even life itself.” As human beings we want so badly to resolve the mystery of what comes after death in a way that lets us keep all that we have loved close to us; but for many of us, holding such a belief with certainty is impossible. If that seems familiar, try this instead: the next time you are with someone you love, think to yourself, “I don’t know how long I have in this life, and I don’t know what comes after, but what time I have I choose to spend with you.”
Not knowing for sure what comes after this life, we are called to live this life, right now. If there is no afterlife, then the only love, reconciliation and justice that we will ever know lies within this life, between us, and we must seek it here or never find it at all. We must allow others to seek the same, for the same reason. And if there is an afterlife, then a life fully lived in the pursuit of love, reconciliation, and justice for ourselves and others must surely be the best preparation for entry into that other world.
We are alive, here and now. All else is mystery.
We don’t know, but we know that it’s here that matters now.
One of the major concerns of most world religions is the fate of human beings after they die; since everyone dies, it would be comforting to know what our choices are for final destinations and how to end up someplace nice. Achieving control of our fate after our physical body dies is frequently the basis for religious morality; do this to gain credit towards a better hereafter, don’t do that or you’ll be punished eternally.
Unitarian Universalism does not make these claims. Our Universalist forebearers believed in the salvation of all human beings; everyone, without exception, ended up in Heaven. While some Unitarian Universalists still hold this idea, the fact is that there is no official modern UU doctrine that attempts to explain the hereafter. Many of us believe that real certainty as to the fate of human beings after death is simply impossible. As a result, most UUs do not base their spirituality or morality on achieving a particular post-life destination.
Yet the mere reality of death, without making any claims about what comes after, remains a spiritually profound reality. Forrest Church, a modern UU theologian, wrote: “Knowing that we are going to die not only places an acknowledged limit upon our lives, it also gives a special intensity and poignancy to the time we are given to live and love. The fact that death is inevitable gives meaning to our love, for the more we love the more we risk losing. Love’s power comes in part from the courage required to give ourselves to that which is not ours to keep: our spouses, children, parents, dear and cherished friends, even life itself.” As human beings we want so badly to resolve the mystery of what comes after death in a way that lets us keep all that we have loved close to us; but for many of us, holding such a belief with certainty is impossible. If that seems familiar, try this instead: the next time you are with someone you love, think to yourself, “I don’t know how long I have in this life, and I don’t know what comes after, but what time I have I choose to spend with you.”
Not knowing for sure what comes after this life, we are called to live this life, right now. If there is no afterlife, then the only love, reconciliation and justice that we will ever know lies within this life, between us, and we must seek it here or never find it at all. We must allow others to seek the same, for the same reason. And if there is an afterlife, then a life fully lived in the pursuit of love, reconciliation, and justice for ourselves and others must surely be the best preparation for entry into that other world.
We are alive, here and now. All else is mystery.
What Do You Teach about Right and Wrong?
As a non-creedal faith, UUs don’t itemize morality. Shopping lists of prohibited and encouraged behaviors rarely capture the nuances and grey areas that are the fabric of daily life, and if someone really wanted to trespass on some of the simple cases a list isn’t going to stop them. Pretty much everyone already knows how to treat people, anyway; it’s just that not everyone gets included in the list of “people.” We’ve already discussed that above, but let’s say it again – there is no “them,” there’s only “us.”
Besides that, a few additional guidelines may be useful.
a. When in doubt, be kind
That is: be sympathetic, helpful, pleasant, and tolerant when possible.
Kindness gets a bad rap. Note all the things that kindness is not: it is not permissiveness, meekness, or sentimentality. It’s not allowing others to take advantage of you, control you, or run rough-shod over your boundaries. It’s not even pacifism.
Kindness is remembering that that our actions have consequences for ourselves and the world and choosing where it is appropriate to use our influence to reduce pain, fear, and unmet need. It’s remembering that we usually overestimate our own ability to understand the motives of others, and that we have a tendency to ascribe ourselves more noble motives and the rest of the world more malevolent ones when disagreements arise. It’s remembering that while righteous anger can be a powerful motivator for change, petty disagreements do nothing more than waste time and sap energy. Even if none of the above are convincing, kindness is still a good default response simply because it just might work, but it’s much harder to switch to kindness after other, more aggressive strategies fail. In an interdependent world, kindness is just good sense.
Is this brilliant advice? No. Is kindness always the right answer? No. But as a go-to response when you’re not sure what to do, you could do a lot worse.
b. Pay attention
We’ve already mentioned that UUism is a religion about the life we’re living right now, not a religion centered on a possible afterlife. Yet often we spend days never really noticing the present, always planning for the future, dwelling on what might have been from the past, or following a routine or a plan without ever thinking about what we’re doing. This is a great loss, both for us and for the world. We miss out on the only part of our lives we actually have any influence over – what we’re doing right now – and the world misses out on what we have to offer, because we’re much more likely to fall short of our best selves when we’re not paying attention.
This isn’t to say that memories have no value, or that there’s no reason to plan for the future, or to pretend that routines are worthless and we should make up our lives from scratch every day. It is simply to say that you only ever have one decision to make: what you’re doing right now. If we’re not depending on an afterlife, it would be a shame to miss this life. There’s really only one way to avoid doing that – pay attention.
Still have questions? Want to understand something in more detail? Ask a Unitarian Universalist!
As a non-creedal faith, UUs don’t itemize morality. Shopping lists of prohibited and encouraged behaviors rarely capture the nuances and grey areas that are the fabric of daily life, and if someone really wanted to trespass on some of the simple cases a list isn’t going to stop them. Pretty much everyone already knows how to treat people, anyway; it’s just that not everyone gets included in the list of “people.” We’ve already discussed that above, but let’s say it again – there is no “them,” there’s only “us.”
Besides that, a few additional guidelines may be useful.
a. When in doubt, be kind
That is: be sympathetic, helpful, pleasant, and tolerant when possible.
Kindness gets a bad rap. Note all the things that kindness is not: it is not permissiveness, meekness, or sentimentality. It’s not allowing others to take advantage of you, control you, or run rough-shod over your boundaries. It’s not even pacifism.
Kindness is remembering that that our actions have consequences for ourselves and the world and choosing where it is appropriate to use our influence to reduce pain, fear, and unmet need. It’s remembering that we usually overestimate our own ability to understand the motives of others, and that we have a tendency to ascribe ourselves more noble motives and the rest of the world more malevolent ones when disagreements arise. It’s remembering that while righteous anger can be a powerful motivator for change, petty disagreements do nothing more than waste time and sap energy. Even if none of the above are convincing, kindness is still a good default response simply because it just might work, but it’s much harder to switch to kindness after other, more aggressive strategies fail. In an interdependent world, kindness is just good sense.
Is this brilliant advice? No. Is kindness always the right answer? No. But as a go-to response when you’re not sure what to do, you could do a lot worse.
b. Pay attention
We’ve already mentioned that UUism is a religion about the life we’re living right now, not a religion centered on a possible afterlife. Yet often we spend days never really noticing the present, always planning for the future, dwelling on what might have been from the past, or following a routine or a plan without ever thinking about what we’re doing. This is a great loss, both for us and for the world. We miss out on the only part of our lives we actually have any influence over – what we’re doing right now – and the world misses out on what we have to offer, because we’re much more likely to fall short of our best selves when we’re not paying attention.
This isn’t to say that memories have no value, or that there’s no reason to plan for the future, or to pretend that routines are worthless and we should make up our lives from scratch every day. It is simply to say that you only ever have one decision to make: what you’re doing right now. If we’re not depending on an afterlife, it would be a shame to miss this life. There’s really only one way to avoid doing that – pay attention.
Still have questions? Want to understand something in more detail? Ask a Unitarian Universalist!