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Unitarianism: Christian or not?

J

JCHSALEM

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If Unitarianism rejects the divinity of Christ, should it be considered a denomination of Christianity? Explain.
 
Christianity is derived from the Greek word Χριστός (Christos)—meaning "anointed one"—which was a translation of the Hebrew word mashah or Messiah. Meaning, that it's not Jesus Christ. It's Jesus the Christ. Or Christ Jesus, as said sometimes ... Essentially what I'm saying is that your question is wrong. If such said Unitarian believed that there could be a Christ and yet did not believe in the divinity of Jesus, they would only be rejecting the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, who is considered to be the Christ by Christians. So at that point they would be falling into another Abrahamic religion and not Christianity.
 
I don't think Unitarians think of themselves as Christian, so I suppose no.
 
JCHSALEM said:
If Unitarianism rejects the divinity of Christ, should it be considered a denomination of Christianity? Explain.
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Do you think Jesus himself would reject Unitarianism?
 
What do Unitarians rely upon for salvation?
 
Dooble said:
Science?
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Just because they reject the divinity of Jesus and original sin does not mean they reject Christ as the means of salvation.
 
Unitarianism is not a Christian sect. It is more equivalent to Islam, being people of "the book." As with Islam, they recognize Jesus as a prophet, and interpret other areas of the Bible differently than Jews and Christians.

They certainly don't consider themselves "Christian" in the respect of thinking he is an aspect of God as part of a "Trinity." They do adhere to many of his preachings, but only in the same respect they hold for prior prophets of God.
 
ecofarm said:
Just because they reject the divinity of Jesus and original sin does not mean they reject Christ as the means of salvation.
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Raises hand. Salvation is absolutely irrelevant if there exists neither original sin nor a divine, saving figure.

The closest a typical Unitarian could get to such an idea would be the need to develop one's spirituality or wholeness. Perhaps you could gain the spiritual maturing by listening and acting like Jesus? Even so, there would be no reason to value Jesus' teachings over the philosophies and teachings of other prophets and holy figures.
 
They are Christians - in the sense that they ascribe the ultimate spiritual authority to Jesus Christ.

One could argue that they are no more "Christian" than, say, Muslims (who accept Jesus as a great prophet and the Messiah - entirely human, though), but that is not quite accurate, is it? For the Unitarians, the word of Jesus is the last and final Word, whatever the "physics" of his being might have been. In Islam, he is merely a revered figure - nowhere as important as Mohammed, with his "last and final Word" embodied in the Koran.
 
JCHSALEM said:
If Unitarianism rejects the divinity of Christ, should it be considered a denomination of Christianity? Explain.
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My understanding is that Unitarianism declines to profess any given single religion as "the" religion, or any single "version" of God as THE God, and does not recognize the Christian concepts of Jesus as a necessary savior for a sinful humanity. IMO any religion that does not recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah/Savior is not a Christian religion.
 

Even without original sin (let's face it, we've all managed sin after birth anyway) and a belief in the divinity of Jesus, one might find him to be a personal savior and means to eternal life.
 
ecofarm said:
Even without original sin (let's face it, we've all managed sin after birth anyway) and a belief in the divinity of Jesus, one might find him to be a personal savior and means to eternal life.
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Nope. Jesus can't save you if He isn't divine.
 
JCHSALEM said:
If Unitarianism rejects the divinity of Christ, should it be considered a denomination of Christianity? Explain.
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... characterizations of Christianity can be defined down to a very fine level of detail. In some narratives they are, in some they aren't.

Nope. Jesus can't save you if He isn't divine.
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Divinity is an obscure metaphysical concept. Anyone can "save you" if God endows them with the authority/power to do so.
 
davidtaylorjr said:
Nope. Jesus can't save you if He isn't divine.
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Morality Games said:
Divinity is an obscure metaphysical concept. Anyone can "save you" if God endows them with the authority/power to do so.
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What do you mean by "divinity is an obscure metaphysical concept"? Divinity is certainly not obscure. Most every early civilization was able to come up with divinity as a concept: the Norse created Odin, the West Africans created the Juju up the mountain and the Hebrews created the war-god Yahweh, now evolved into the Christian god. All early humans had to do is pick qualities that are the opposite of a human (omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent), and use that as the basis for deities that had the ability to provide comforting thoughts like life after death or the hope that justice would be served.

ttwtt78640 said:
Because that is the Unitarian Christian link. The Unitarian base organization is the Unitarian Universalist - here is their web site: Beliefs and Principles in Unitarian Universalism | UUA
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Yup. UUs are almost proud NOT to share a creed. I have been explained to that all that binds them together is their "7 Principles" : Our Unitarian Universalist Principles | UUA
 
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