Unitarian Universalism

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
11/12/00 - Sunday Evening

Unitarian

Universalism

“Anyone who has been told that truth is relative; that ‘tolerance’ or ‘alternative lifestyles’ and beliefs including homosexuality, radical feminism, and abortion on demand is the highest virtue; that reason, conscience, and experience, are the ultimate guides to truth; and that the Bible is a myth and Jesus Christ but one of many inspirational (but fallible) teachers, has encountered cherished Unitarian Universalist dogmas” (Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Ankerberg and Weldon, pp. 503-504).

The Slippery Slope

“But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13)

Early Unitarians utilized both the Bible and human reason in formulating their views, but such forerunners of this movement held an entirely different worldview from that of the average, modern Unitarian member. Over a period of several centuries one can trace their increasing rejection of the Bible as an authority. Starting with the claim to accept the full authority of Scripture (although often denying this in practice) one biblical doctrine after another was placed under the microscope of human ‘reason’ and then discarded. The early Universalists, did believe that Jesus died for our sins and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But they rejected the concept of eternal punishment. “They did not allow divine Scripture to access the validity of the various theories, cultural fashions, and theological trends then in play. Thus, once eternal punishment was deemed ‘unreasonable’, it was only a matter of time before miracles, the Fall, the atonement, the deity of Christ, the Trinity and so on, were also found to be deficient according to human ‘reason’” (p. 505). Today the UCC website gives the following statement, “We believe that personal experience, conscience, and reason should be the final authorities in religion. In the end religious authority lies not in a book or person..but in ourselves”. Jesus certainly had a different viewpoint (Matthew 28:18 “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and one earth”; “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day” (John 12:48). Speaking through Paul, the Holy Spirit said bluntly, “If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing” (1 Timothy 6:3-4).

· The Unitarians made the mistake of submitting the Bible to human reason and research, instead of submitting reason and research to what the Bible says. Be impressed that eventually everyone claims that something is the truth, or that there is an infallible guide. It is so ironic that people who reject the infallible nature of the Bible, turn around and claim infallibility for human reason.

Theology

God

As far as belief in God is concerned, UU adherents believe anything or nothing: one is free to be atheist, pantheist, polytheist, agnostic, deist, theist, or even Satanist. Indeed, most members are willing to believe in almost any concept of God as long as it not the biblical God (Hebrews 11:6). The following speech given by William Ellery Channing, gives us an example of early Unitarian reasoning: “We protest against the irrational and unscriptural doctrine of the Trinity. We are astonished that any man can read the New Testament, and avoid the conviction that the Father alone is God”. Others are astonished that someone as bright as Channing could fail to miss the doctrine of the Godhead in the New Testament (John 1:1; 14:9; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3,8).

Jesus Christ

Many views abound concerning Jesus, but most of them see Him as a good man with good teachings, not so different from the good and wise men in all ages. There is one consensus about Christ, however, which seems to find universal UU agreement: He is not a divine, atoning Savior. The problem in believing that Jesus was just a good man, is that Jesus didn’t claim to be merely a good man. He claimed to be the Son of God, the Savior of the Word (John 3:16; Luke 19:10; John 14:6; 5:18ff). Many members of the UU claim to respect and revere Jesus, but it is mainly a Jesus of their own making. They discard any of His teachings or deeds that they personally dislike, particularly all of His miracles. Yet, Jesus claimed that the miracles proved He was the Son of God (John 5:36). Members prefer to embrace a non-divine Jesus of history, who had faith in humanity, but He is never the object of faith for humanity (John 3:16), or a revealer of the one true God (John 17:3).

The Bible

This group has embraced the findings of the ultra-liberal “Jesus Seminar”, which has proclaimed that 82 percent of the words attributed to Jesus were not spoken by Him. From the UU view, the Bible is an entirely human product, a result of the thinking of fallible and sometimes ignorant men. The Bible says the complete opposite about itself (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). At this point we only have two choices, either the apostles were fakes and liars, for they claimed to be speaking for God (1 Corinthians 14:37; Ephesians 3:3-5; 1 Thessalonians 2:13), or, the liar is the person who says their writings are not inspired.

Consistency and Tolerance

“A sampling of descriptive phrases which UU writers have applied to the Bible and Christianity leaves little room for acceptance of the UU claim to universal ‘religious tolerance’. It also tends to undermine validity to the stated fundamental UU principle of having ‘a generous and tolerant understanding of differing views and practices’. Although they decry religious bigotry, their attitude toward (true) Christianity is hardly so open and tolerant. They label biblical teachings as: ‘primitive’, ‘celestial nonsense’. ‘myth’, ‘rubbish’, ‘legends’, ‘impossible history’, ‘excess baggage’, ‘a sham’, and ‘a ghost of superstition in its faded features’” (p. 508).

· The same inconsistency is found in all religions that try to embrace all belief systems. The more they try to be tolerant of what is error, the less tolerance they have for anything that is true. The same trend is found in liberalism. The more a congregation or members embrace liberal ideas, the less tolerance they have for sound doctrine. Jesus stated the same principle, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (12:30). Carefully listen to the language used by the person who is trying to lead people away from the idea of absolute truth and Bible authority. Listen as they talk about Christians who are trying to contend for the faith (Jude 3). Their language will neither be kind nor tolerant.

· Often members of the Church are chastised for being part of a group that is “exclusive”, that is, condemned for believing that we have found the truth. But one writer aptly noted that every religion claims to be the truth, in fact, even the UU claims to have the truth, therefore every religion is exclusive. Faithful Christians are often attacked as being hateful, divisive, and narrow because we believe in absolute truth. Yet, James Luther Adams notes that the UU is hateful, divisive, and narrow for: It attacks the concept of absolute truth without mercy. Describes believers of absolute truth with such negative terms and then excludes them from the community of the tolerant.

The Afterlife

For UU followers, human reason and logic provide the tools for judging what may or may not occur after the death. Many have attacked the ideas of heaven and hell as immoral. Using spiritual rewards and punishments to motivate people to love God and change is viewed as evil, and yet this is actually what Jesus did (Luke 12:4-5). The only thing certain among UU members is that there isn’t any heaven or hell. The basic argument against hell is that according to human sentiment it is unthinkable for God, as a loving Father, to condemn any of His children everlastingly in hell. Yet, Jesus knew that God was a loving Father, and yet still taught the doctrine of an eternal place of torment (Luke 12:4-5; Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:43-48). In addition, the UU talks about “reason and logic”, but I find that they more operate upon feelings that are self-centered and self-serving. If one is looking for the “reason” or “logic” as to why hell is eternal, then consider the following:

· Hell must be conscious suffering, because the extinction of consciousness is not the nature of punishment. The essence of punishment is suffering, and suffering demands consciousness.

· If hell is extinction, then all animals go to hell, as well as those who were never born. Yet Jesus made it clear that never having been born is a far better condition then ending up lost (Mark 14:21).

· The punishment in hell must be endless, because the guilt and condemnation never end. The punishment must continue as long as the reason for the guilt remains. To be righteous, rebellion must be punished today as well as tomorrow. The continuous nature of unforgiven sin and its guilt necessitates the endlessness of retribution.

· Any parallel between what a human father might do and a heavenly Father, must realize that human punishments are only approximate and imperfect. Man can never punish someone for the entire guilt of the crime. Hell is where people are fully recompensed. Earthly courts and judges look at a transgression of the law with reference only to man’s temporal relations, not his eternal. They punish an offence as a crime against the State or humanity, but not as a sin against God.

· Unlike human punishments, hell is not reformatory. This punishment is not designed to change people, bring them to repentance, make them better, or protect society.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017