Category: Unitarian

Why this site is necessary!

14/9/2010

http://reigniteuk.blogspot.com/2009/03/drop-free-christian.html
With 'friends' like this, who needs enemies?

The argument appears to be that Unitarian and Free Christian are synonymous terms; "two different names for the same tradition".

In the later nineteenth century and earlier twentieth century, that could perhaps be argued. It's hardly true today. Times have changed and there certainly are "Unitarians (who are not Christians)".

It seems another example of the creeping tendency to want to brand the Unitarian and Free Christian movement with a single corporate identity and excise the bits that don't fit neatly.

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What is a Free Christian?

20/8/2010

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I have been giving further thought to what distinguishes the Free Christian from other liberal Christians. I think the key difference is from where you start. The Free Christian starts with an assumption of ‘creed-less-ness’ and freedom of belief. This is why he or she is likely to be associated with the Unitarian and Free Christian Church. This is a different organisational and theological context to that of the liberal Christian within a mainstream Church. However, the Free Christian accepts that the creeds have shaped the thinking of mainstream Christianity for many centuries and the doctrines set out by them are not to be dismissed lightly. He or she is therefore interested in exploring and seeking to understand them, even if he or she cannot subscribe to them. This again is likely to be a different situation to that of the liberal within the mainstream who might well be finding the obligatory nature of the creeds constricting and seeking looser doctrinal interpretations than are accepted by their Church.

This means, I think that the Free Christian is distinguished from the Unitarian Christian in that he or she finds more value in engaging with the doctrines of the mainstream churches and is likely to be more at home with issues concerning liberal Christians in those churches than with matters of the Unitarian denomination.

These are, of course, theoretical distinctions. I see no reason why one cannot be a Unitarian, a Unitarian Christian, a Free Christian and a liberal Christian; or an Anglican, a Free Christian and a liberal Christian.

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Why not Unitarian?

3/8/2010

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One might have thought that Free Christianity would be entirely at home under the umbrella that bears the name of the 'General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches'. But it is a fact that many Unitarians today are not only in no sense Christian but they regard themselves as members of a non-Christian religion. Indeed a significant minority are hostile to Christian witness within the movement. This, together with the seemingly relentless tide in favour of establishing a single corporate identity for the movement (to portray it less as a general assembly and more as a single entity), means that the Free Christian aspect is under continual threat. Every other year there is a new initiative to rid the movement of what many see as an awkward and (even worse) out-of-date appendage to its title.

The Unitarian Christian Association is doing good work to restore the fortunes of Christian witness within the movement and the concerns of Free Christianity very largely overlap with Unitarian Christianity. It is also true that Unitarian Christianity is far less 'sectarian' and more Free Christian in its outlook than it was once (the two earliest Unitarian organisations in England both had constitutions that excluded Arians for example, and in later times strict Unitarians would denounce Free Christians' 'sickly' non-sectarianism).

While Free Christianity is not quite identical with Unitarian Christianity and there is a need for the Free Christian aspect of the movement to have active and explicit witness, the 'Free Christian' part of the name General Unitarian of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches also bears witness to the general commitment in the General Assembly's Object to uphold the liberal Christian tradition.

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What's here

A quick look at the 'blogosphere' shows that the nature of the medium means it is all too easy for a 'blog' to convey the impression that its compiler is, at best, self-indulgent and verbose, and at worst, a narcissistic bore. Religious blogs are by no means immune from this.

However, while I shall try to avoid sharing my each and every passing thought with you, there is a use for a space for shorter, more ephemeral pieces of writing, and on this website, that's here. These pieces are likely to be frequently revised, sometimes rewritten and occasionally removed.

ewayfarers@gmail.com

Why this site is necessary!

What is a Free Christian?

Why not Unitarian?

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