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 1500s 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 couldnt 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 1500s 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 Johns 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 signa 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 mothers, 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 Gods choosing, and 2. that Gods 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. Thats 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 Priestleys 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 Priestleys 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!
Islam is the name of the religion Muslims follow. Maybe you have a good friend who is Muslim, or a neighbor or family member and you know a lot about it. Maybe you’ve never thought about these words. Our thoughts are made up of the facts we know about something combined with our feelings about it. One feeling we often get when we don’t know very much about something is fear. I bet you can think of lots of examples of this-like little kids who are afraid of friendly clowns until they learn that a clown is a person dressed in a costume. The more we know about something the less afraid we are. Another thing that can happen when we don’t know very much about something is that we make assumptions, which is a big word for guessing and believing without really knowing.
This is a hard time to be a Muslim in America because many people don’t know very much about Islam. Read the FAQs (frequently asked questions) below. The more we learn about people who are different from us, the more respect we will have for them and the less afraid we will be of them. Respect and care for people who are different from us are important to Unitarian Universalist people.
Q. What do Muslims believe?
A. Muslims believe in one God, whom they call Allah. They believe that one man, Muhammad, was chosen by Allah in A.D. 610 to be the last prophet, the last person to bring God’s message to the people of earth. They believe that other prophets came before Muhammad, including the Jewish prophets (like Moses) and the Christian prophets (like Jesus). They believe that all the prophets were human beings put on earth to teach people how to live peacefully and how to worship one God. Muslim people believe that Muhammad was the last prophet and so his words are the final and most important words to live by today. Like Judaism and Christianity that came before it, Islam is a religion of peace, kindness, and forgiveness.
Q. What is the Koran?
A. The Koran, or Qur’an, is the Muslim holy book. Muslims believe it is the record of exact words God said to the Prophet Muhammad. It is written in Arabic, so all Muslims learn Arabic.
Q. What are the ‘Five Pillars’ of Islam?
A. Muslims believe that after death people will go to Paradise or to Hell depending on how well they have lived their lives as Muslims, how well they have followed Islamic laws and fulfilled their duties to God. Every Muslim has 5 duties, called the Five Pillars of Islam. They are:
First Pillar: Make a statement of belief that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.
Second Pillar: Pray five times a day: at dawn, noon, afternoon, evening and nightfall. The prayer, called Salat, takes about 15 minutes and is done facing toward Mecca (the holiest place in Islam, in Saudi Arabia).
Third Pillar: Muslims must give part of their money or possessions to charity.
Fourth Pillar: Muslims must fast (not eat or drink) in the daytime during the month of Ramadan (The exact dates of Ramadan vary from year to year because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. See pages 5 and 6 of the booklet, Cycle of Seasons* for more information about lunar calendars.)
Fifth Pillar: Muslims must try to make a pilgrimage (travel) to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes.
Q. Where do Muslims live today?
A. Muslims live all over the world. Many live in countries where people speak Arabic, like Saudi Arabia where Islam started. But millions of others, in fact most Muslims live in non-Arabic speaking countries. About 7 million Muslims live in the United States. Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world.
Q. Why do some Muslim women wear scarves on their heads and veils over their faces?
A.Islam teaches both men and women to be modest, to wear clothes that cover their bodies loosely. In some Islamic countries, women are required to cover their bodies so only their faces and hands show. Muslims believe this protects women from being stared at and that helps people to give them respect. The scarf many Muslim women wear is called a "hijab." In only a few, very strict Islamic countries are Muslim women required to cover their faces.
Q.What is jihad? What does Islam say about terrorism?
A.In the Arabic language the word "jihad" means "struggle," to try your best and put out a great effort. In Islam, it means to struggle to be a good Muslim-sometimes to struggle within yourself to live by Islamic rules and to be the best Muslim you can be. Islam does not support terrorism! Muslims who commit terrorist acts are not following Islam. They are wrongly using the name of Islam to get more power.
Q.Can Jews or Christians live in Islamic countries?
A.Yes. Islamic law allows people to practice any religion they want. In general, Muslims are very tolerant of religious differences.
*If you are a member of CLF, your family got a copy of The Cycle of Seasons booklet when you joined. If you can’t find it, look lunar calendar up in the encyclopedia.
15 minutes
Introduce the meditative nature walk by saying something like, "We will be going to__________. It is a silent walk, so there is no talking. Each of us will walk alone."
As you walk, try to put your thoughts about the past and thefuture aside. Try to keep all of your attention right here and now on whatever you are seeing, hearing, feeling, and so on."
As you walk, look for a natural object that somehow catches your attention in a special way: a rock, a branch, a leaf, a pine cone, or whatever. Don’t pick anything that’s still alive, however, because a Hindu would not choose to act in that way.
"Once you have found a special object, sit down with that object before you or in your hands. Take the rest of the time to focus all of your attention just on that one object.
"That silent walk will last for ten minutes. After ten minutes I’ll ring the bell to let you know the time has gone by. Please come back to the gathering point when you hear the bell. Also, please be sure that you stay close enough to me so you can hear the bell."
Lead the group on an outdoor meditative walk.
UNITED STATES
2146 Abigail Adams
806 John Adams
811 John Quincy Adams
862 Louisa May Alcott
2010 Horatio Alger
784 Susan B. Anthony
967 Clara Barton
1683 Telephone (Alexander Graham Bell)
1399 Elizabeth Blackwell
1781 Boston State House (Thomas Bulfinch)
876 Luther Burbank
1551 Christmas (Nathaniel Currier)
1844 Dorothea Dix
871 Charles W Eliot
861 Ralph Waldo Emerson
818 Millard Fillmore
1030 Benjamin Franklin
887 Daniel Chester French
1177 Horace Greeley
2047 Nathaniel Hawthorne
1288 Oliver Wendell Holmes
870 Mark Hopkins
2177 Julia Ward Howe
1278 Thomas Jefferson
864 Henry W Longfellow
866 James Russell Lowell
869 Horace Mann
1050 John Marshall
2094 Herman Melville
890 Samuel FB. Morse
1281 Francis Parkman
2038 Joseph Priestley
1048 Paul Revere
2055 Charles Steinmetz
1275 Adlai Stevenson
1293 Lucy Stone
884 Gilbert Stuart
685 William H. Taft
1327 Henry D. Thoreau
1380 Daniel Webster
2170 Paul Dudley White
1280 Frank Lloyd Wright
1875 Whitney Young
CANADIAN
274 Alexander Graham Bell
518 Arthur Lismer (painting)
879 Emily Stowe
858 Robert S. Weir (Three composers)
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Quest for Meaning is a program of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF).
As a Unitarian Universalist congregation with no geographical boundary, the CLF creates global spiritual community, rooted in profound love, which cultivates wonder, imagination, and the courage to act.