Michael Servetus
Frances David & King Sigismund
UUism Comes to America
George deBenneville
John Murray
Joseph Priestley
Growth & Change

Michael Servetus (1511 – 1553)
Servetus was one of the first people to write down his ideas about Unitarianism in a book. It was called On the Errors of the Trinity. The “Trinity” is the Christian belief that God is made up of three parts: God the father, God the son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. In the 1500’s the rulers of many countries were Christians who believed in this 3-part God and REQUIRED all people in those countries to believe the same thing. (QUESTION: Do you think a person can be required to believe something?) Michael Servetus believed that Christians should look to the Bible, not their rulers, for answers about God, and he could find no words in the Bible to support this idea of God in three parts. (“Uni” is a prefix meaning “one”, so the word “Unitarian” means belief in the “oneness” of God.) His book made many people angry and scared. Soon after it was published Servetus changed his name and went into hiding. He became a very good doctor and lived for quite awhile in peace and quiet. But he couldn’t hold back his strong religious feelings. He began writing again and when his real identity was revealed, he was arrested and eventually burned at the stake. Michael Servetus was a Unitarian martyr. His death led to increased interest in the debate about the nature of God and religious freedom.

Francis David (1510 – 1579) and King John Sigismund (1540 – 1571)
In the 1500’s Unitarian believers were scattered in many different countries. At one point they were a majority in Poland! In Transylvania (a country which no longer exists but included the area now known as Hungary and Romania), Francis David converted the Transylvanian King John Sigismund to Unitarianism. In 1568, King John declared total religious freedom in Transylvania. This meant that the government would not interfere with what people believed. Although this idea seems normal to us today, this was the only country at that time to allow religious freedom. Despite a lot of anger and abuse, even death threats, King John held fast to his ideas, and religious liberty remained the law of the land until his death in 1571. King John’s successors were Catholic, not Unitarian. Francis David was fired from his position as Court Preacher. This did not silence him, however, and he continued to preach around the country. Like Servetus, Francis David was eventually arrested for heresy (religious ideas that are different from those approved of by the official church or government) and died while in jail on that charge.

Unitarianism and Universalism Come to America
All three of the men most responsible for bringing Unitarianism and Universalism to America were raised in England during the time when the ideas of John Calvin were popular. Calvinism taught that God decided before you were even born whether, when you died, you would be “saved” and go to heaven, or go to hell to be tortured forever. According to the church, very few were chosen to go to heaven. People were told that if they go to church and if they work hard and make a good living that might be a sign that God had chosen them to go to heaven. This way of thinking made many people very nervous, especially in times of trouble. When bad things happened that might also be a sign—a sign that you were not chosen by God.

Calvinism was a very stern and harsh religion, and eventually people began to question it. They refused to believe that God would be so mean. They said, “God is loving and wants to save everyone in heaven.” They said, “God does not make people do good or bad things; people choose this themselves!” These people came to be called “Universalists” because they believed in universal (meaning everyone) salvation.

George deBenneville (1703-1793)
When George deBenneville was born, his mother died. Queen Anne of England, a good friend of his mother’s, took George into her home as an infant and raised him as a prince. As a young man George enjoyed the wealthy social life of London, and worried little about his own future. In fact, he felt superior to most people. Then, on a trip to Africa, he had an experience which would change him forever. He saw native peoples not acting as savages (a common view at the time) but with such kindness and brotherly love that they seemed more true to the teachings of Jesus than many so-called “Christians” back in England! He saw people putting faith in a loving God who wanted to save all creatures, great and small. George returned home feeling very sad about his old life. He had a terrible dream that he was burning in hell and for many months his friends thought he would never be happy again. Then one day he decided two things which would stay with him all his life: 1. that good and evil are things that start deep inside each person, not by God’s choosing, and 2. that God’s love is for everyone, not just a chosen few.

With these new ideas George got well again, became a doctor, and began traveling; doctoring and preaching his new faith. In France he was arrested for heresy, and because of his noble upbringing, just narrowly escaped beheading! From France he traveled to Germany and Holland and then finally to America in search of a place where he could think and speak freely about his religion. In America deBenneville made friends with the Native American Indians. He made a dictionary of Indian, German and English words so the colonists and natives could talk to each other. The Native Americans taught him about healing through plants. During the Revolutionary War, deBenneville doctored both the British and American soldiers. He died at the age of 90 having truly lived his Universalist principles of the loving kindness of God and the preciousness of every human life.

John Murray (1741 -1815)
Like George deBenneville, John Murray grew up in a Calvinist family. He tried hard to please his father and mother, to study and pray and do well in everything, to prove that God had chosen him to be “saved” and to go to heaven. As a married man, John and his wife Eliza became interested in the Universalist ideas which a small group of people were preaching in London. Together they studied the new ideas of a loving God and soon decided to join the Universalists. Although this caused them to lose many old friends, they found hope instead of stern judgement in their new religion. It brought them new friends and great happiness. Murray even preached from time to time in their small church.

Then tragedy struck. The next year both Eliza and their one-year old son got sick and died. Devastated by this loss and hoping to leave his old life behind, Murray sailed to America in1770. The ship struck a sandbar off the coast of New Jersey and while they waited for the tide to rise, John went ashore to get supplies. Standing beside the first cabin he came to was a small church. The farmer who owned the church, Thomas Potter, invited John to stay the night. That evening Potter told him how he had built the little church and was waiting for someone to come who would preach about a loving God who saves all people, not just a chosen few. Potter told John that when he saw the ship on the sandbar a small voice inside him said, “There, in that ship may be the preacher you are expecting.” He was right! Though Murray had intended never to preach again, he agreed to preach the next Sunday. That was the beginning of the Universalist Church in America! Murray settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts where despite angry protests from some, he preached to a growing number of people as the “good news” of Universalism began to spread.

Joseph Priestley (1733 – 1804)
You are more likely to hear the name Joseph Priestley in a science class than in most Sunday Schools in America. That’s because he is best known as the scientist who discovered oxygen. But he also started the first Unitarain Church in America!

As a young man Priestley studied ministry in England. Because he did not agree with the idea of the Trinity, the only churches which would hire him were small and poor and generally not very successful. For a livelihood, he turned to teaching and developed a fascination with scientific experimentation. He continued his interest in religion too, writing books and preaching in a Unitarian church in England. Then at age 58 Priestley was accused of being a traitor to England because he supported the idea of equality of all people and thought the laws should be changed to allow religious freedom. One night an angry mob burned both the Unitarian Church where Priestley spoke and Priestley’s home and beloved laboratory in Birmingham. He and his wife fled to London (about 100 miles away), traveling only at night so as not to be caught. But life in London was still very hard for the Priestleys. Many people would not associate with them. They decided to go to America. When they arrived in Philadelphia, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams all sent letters of welcome, because of Priestley’s fame as a scientist. Free to speak about his Unitarian beliefs, Priestley established the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia in 1776. It was the first official Unitarian church in America.

Growth and Change
Unitarian Universalists today honor the courage of these three men and their families. Many others followed in their footsteps as Unitarianism and Universalism grew, first in the New England states and then across the country with the pioneering ministry of many Unitarian and Universalist women. In 1961 the Unitarians and Universalists joined together to become one organization. More and more people join our churches every year. As we grow in numbers, so too do we grow as a religion, always responding to new ideas and changes in the world. Ours is a living tradition with a long history and a bright future!