In every place the preachers shall preach and explain the Gospel, each according to his understanding of it, and if the congregation like it, well; if not, no one shall compel them, for their souls would not be satisfied, but they shall be permitted to keep a preacher whose teaching they approve. Therefore none of the Bishops or others shall annoy or abuse the preachers on account of their religion... or allow any to be imprisoned or punished by removal from his post on account of his teachings, for faith is the gift of God. This comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God.—King John Sigismund of Transylvania, 1557
Today I take a historical look at Unitarianism, the religion that developed because some disagreed with the concept of Trinity and thought that God is one, rather than three persons in one God. Our religious faith is constantly evolving—there have been many changes even in the 20 years I've been a member of UUFHC—and though some ideas may seem irrelevant today, it's still informative to look at our roots and see where we've been.
Many UUs like to trace back our faith to early church fathers, mainly Arius, from the 4th Century CE who disagreed with the present doctrine of the Trinity. In fact, Unitarians throughout history have often been called Arians. But did Arius really believe in the Unity of God? Arius believed in an eternal God the father, who created Jesus, his son, who in turn created the Holy Spirit. Jesus was still divine, but not the same or part of God. There was a time when Jesus did not exist, so he must be of similar but not identical substance and just one notch below God. Although not really like later Unitarian beliefs regarding Jesus' nature, Arius' concept did in fact deny the Trinity, as we know it today. Arius' beliefs did get him in trouble with other church fathers who did believe in the Trinity, a doctrine not really mentioned in the Bible, though references were added later. Athanasius led the Trinitarian faction, and Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicea in 325 CE to resolve the issue. Cultural and political issues were almost as important as theological issues at the Council. Arius' theology had an ancient Greek influence, suspect to those in Athanasius' camp. Although Arius had powerful friends and was a powerful advocate of his own ideas, the doctrine of Trinity just squeaked through the Council and became Church dogma. Arianism (that is, not believing in the Trinity) didn't quite die until a subsequent Council deemed it a heresy. And though dormant in the Middle Ages, Arianism never completely died away, and this belief remained in pockets throughout Europe, especially Eastern Europe and including Transylvania.
During the Renaissance, spurred by the Reformation, even some in Western Europe began to question the concept of Trinity again. Another man often considered a forerunner of Unitarianism, Michael Servetus was born in Spain around the time of the Inquisition. He wondered why people would rather die and undergo torture than give up their religious beliefs contrary to those of the Catholic Church. If the Catholic doctrine is true, how come these heretics don't see the light? He decided the sticking point was the concept of Trinity, especially for Spain's Moslems and Jews, since the doctrine ran contrary to their belief in one God. After much thought, he published On the Errors of Trinity, a book that caused a firestorm. He wrote a more conciliatory book a year later, Dialogues on the Trinity, but really didn't back away from his earlier arguments. As a result, he had to flee to Paris and assume a new name, Michel de Villeneuve. He became a doctor so as to forget about his problems with religion, but could never escape his vital interest in matters of the soul.
Servetus really had an unorthodox idea of the Trinity, one most commentators can't put into a few words. He believed Jesus was both fully human and divine. God created a son as a manifestation of himself on earth. The idea is complicated and not really Unitarian, but heretical enough to bring on the wrath of Calvin who had Servetus arrested when he entered Geneva to meet with Calvin and burned at the stake in 1553. Although the Calvinists killed Servetus, the Catholics, who didn't want to be outdone in condemning his heresy, burnt him in effigy later.
Some of Servetus' beliefs are adopted by later religious liberals. He believed that people are not totally depraved as did Calvin, or that only an elect few are predestined to enter heaven. Servetus assumed that grace abounds in the world, and human beings need only the intelligence and free will to grasp it. He didn't believe heaven and earth were totally separate but part of a continuum, and that God was present in all his creation. Other parts of his doctrine don't make it to UUism today, including his belief in a cosmic battle between God and the devil. He believed the world would end in 1585.
Servetus' varied beliefs and early death almost guaranteed that he'd have no followers or begin a religious movement. However, his spirit of inquiry and his willingness to question every aspect of traditional religion and put forward a new theology, albeit an esoteric one, provided a model for later religious liberals. He was well remembered by the next generation of religious pioneers.
Back in the early 90's just after the fall of communism, many of the larger UU churches adopted sister congregations in Transylvania. Religious professionals and even some lay people made visits to Unitarian churches in cities in what is now Romania and Hungary and helped raise money to help these neglected congregations thrive. These churches have survived for centuries despite pressures by unfriendly rulers, competing faiths, and communism. How did Unitarianism flower in such a remote place as Transylvania?
Transylvania's remoteness actually did help. The region was multi-ethnic and used to heterodoxy. As I mentioned earlier, Arianism never completely disappeared here. In the mountains between Western Europe and areas controlled by the Turks, Transylvania acted as a buffer. If the Holy Roman emperor, Charles V pushed too far east, the Turks were sure to push the European forces back. Transylvania's independent monarchs ruled as a power balancing compromise.
King John Sigismund really was the first and probably only Unitarian king. His father died just after he was born, and his mother, Queen Isabella from Poland, and some advisors, acted as regents until the King was of age. Queen Isabella's main influence was her personal physician, an early Unitarian, Giorgio Biandrata, originally from Italy, who came east to find a more congenial religious environment. He preached religious tolerance, and Isabella was very receptive. The Reformation was well under way, and there were Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and even many with Arian beliefs. So in 1557 she issued a unique Decree of Religious Tolerance, that allowed "each person to maintain whatever religious faith he wishes, with old or new rituals, while We at the same time leave it to their judgment to do as they please in the matter of faith, just so long as they bring no harm to bear on anyone at all."
This was really a very remarkable document in a time of inquisitions and burnings for heresy. Remember, this was only a few years after Servetus was burned at the stake. When Queen Isabella died in 1559, John Sigismund became King, and Biandrata remained as his physician/advisor.
In John Sigismund's kingdom lived a Unitarian preacher of extraordinary talents: Ferenz David, or as we call him in English, Francis David. This preacher had a remarkable spiritual journey. He was born a Roman Catholic and became a Catholic priest and director of a religious school. However, his doubts led him to become a Lutheran, and he eventually worked his way up to become the bishop of Transylvania. In his role as bishop, he sometimes debated rival Calvinists. He usually won the debates, but doubts crept into his mind, and he then converted to Calvinism. Debates between the Calvinists and Lutherans continued, and King John Sigismund wanted to work out some kind of common ground, so that the two faiths could live peacefully in Transylvania under the Edict of Tolerance. David worked with Giorgio Biandrata on this project, and the latter influenced David, who subsequently studied the doctrine of Trinity and finally embraced the Unitarian position, or, as we like to say, he finally found his religious home. He became the leader of the Unitarian faction in Transylvania.
Tensions arose among the Lutherans, Calvinists, and even Catholics now as this strong Unitarian faction arose in Transylvania. King John Sigismund wondered why religious issues couldn't be discussed without wars or inquisitions. He called for a great debate with representatives of each of these faiths, since he felt reasoned argument was the best way to arrive at the truth.
The debate began on March 3, 1568, lasted for 10 days and began each morning at 5:00 am. Believe it or not, this was the equivalent of today's Super Bowl, and interest ran high. Such a debate could not take place throughout most of the world at the time, and even in Transylvania, this was a novelty.
In a debate based on reason, the Unitarian, Francis David carried the day, not only on the weight of argument but because he was also a talented, entertaining speaker. Plus, not only had he studied each of the religion's beliefs and principles, but he had been a clergyman of each of the religions during his life. The king and most of the audience declared the Unitarian David the winner. King John Sigismund converted to Unitarianism, and David became the court preacher for the remainder of the King's reign. When Francis David visited his home in Koloszvar, he received a hero's welcome and became quite a celebrity.
King John Sigismund didn't decree that everyone become Unitarian, though many citizens did, but renewed the edict of religious tolerance, the words which opened our service today. His reign didn't last long: he died in a carriage accident without an heir. His successor, a Roman Catholic, didn't dare clamp down on the Unitarians because of David's enormous popularity. But things didn't continue quite so smoothly.
Giorgio Biandrata, while remaining a Unitarian, wanted to retain influence with this new monarch so soft-pedaled his beliefs. He and David disagreed on the doctrines such as infant baptism, praying to Jesus, and whether communion should actually be a sacrament, with David taking the more liberal positions. Biandrata and David had a complete falling out, and when David was ill, the king had him arrested and tried, and ironically, Biandrata was the prosecutor who charged David with "innovation." He was sentenced to life imprisonment; David was spared the death sentence probably because of his great popularity.
Biandrata wanted to save Unitarianism from political peril, and thought reform should only go so far, for the present. He became less influential in the Unitarian church, however, which thrived or suffered hard times, depending on who was king, but never completely died out through the ages, even during the Communist era. And as our UU representatives did in the 90's, you can still visit the churches set up during John Sigismund's reign today. You can tell they are Unitarian because they have a sign near the pulpit, in Hungarian, which says God is One.
At the same time that Michael Servetus developed his unorthodox ideas on religion, anti-Trinitarian ideas took hold in Poland—another country offering a unique religious environment. The nobility there had much independence, and their estates were not under the king's jurisdiction, so sympathetic nobility often allowed religious dissidents to settle in their domains. Italians with anti-Trinitarian beliefs especially made the trek to Poland, settled there, and participated in deciding the direction of the Protestant Polish Reformed Church. Among these was Giorgio Biandrata, who became physician to the royal family and eventually moved with the princess Isabella to Transylvania when she became queen. Although the religious liberals didn't set the entire agenda for the Reformed Church, they set up a "Minor Reformed Church" with a center in Racow. The settlement began in 1569, just one year after the great debate in Transylvania, became the capital of Unitarianism in Poland, and didn't just consist of the immigrants, but of native Poles, too. The group must have been especially learned because they published extensively, including The Racovian Catechism, an important work that subsequently influenced Unitarians throughout Europe.
Into this environment came Faustus Socinus, born in Siena to a famed family of jurists. His uncle Laelius, part of the original migration to Poland, left him his writings and notes, and the Unitarian beliefs contained there were a revelation to the young Faustus. He left Italy, stayed briefly in Transylvania to help Francis David set up churches and returned at one point to mediate the dispute between David and Biandrata. But he finally settled in Poland and attempted to become a member of the Polish Brethren.
Socinus never actually became a member of the Polish Brethren. He didn't believe in Baptism, and the Polish Unitarians did. But his influence became paramount, his descendents did become members, and the Polish Unitarians became known as Socinians for the rest of their time in Poland. The movement lasted from 1565 through 1658—almost 100 years.
Socinus (and the Polish Unitarians) believed Jesus was born a human being but raised to divinity by his exemplary life, so he was unique. He was God's mouthpiece on earth, not as a manifestation of God as Servetus believed, but as a chosen human. As with other Protestants, and as a product of his times, Socinus believed in the word of the Bible and considered this word accessible to all who would read it. No church fathers needed to interpret it. The Polish Brethren didn't see the doctrine of Trinity in the Bible and did not believe in the concept of atonement. God forgives men freely, and Christ didn't die in our place but on account of our sins. In other words, Jesus was a victim of the rage and fury of sin. While this is not quite the theology of Channing and 19th century Unitarians, it's moving in that direction. Like those 19th century Unitarians, though, the Socinians considered Jesus' life as an example of correct living. The Socinians were pacifists and did not believe in the death penalty.
Socinus wrote extensively; he was part of the reason for the Polish Brethren's large output. At the time of his death, he wrote more than 500 titles and contributed to the catechism. He helped start more than 300 congregations, and his descendents became leaders of the movement. The church flourished because the kings followed an edict of religious tolerance. Finally, the Catholic Church convinced a king that promises made to heretics weren't binding. The Polish Brethren along with other Protestant churches were suppressed. Finally, the Brethren lost their important printing press, and members had to renounce Arianism on pain of death. Although members met in secret and successfully for awhile, eventually members migrated to more friendly countries, specifically Hungary, Transylvania, Germany, England and the Netherlands. Many who stayed in Poland became nominal Catholics in order to survive.
Copies of Socinus' writings and the catechism were destroyed, but despite efforts not only in Poland and elsewhere, copies remained available to influence later generations.
The story of the spread of Unitarianism through Holland and England provides interesting material for a separate study and talk. Briefly, Calvinist Holland did have religious liberals who interacted with members of the Polish Brethren and provided them refuge after they were expelled from Poland. Although the Calvinist church tried to clamp down on liberal religions and even tried to burn the Racovian catechism, a general spirit of Tolerance pervaded Holland and counteracted any fundamentalist tendencies. There was not an organized Unitarian church in Holland per se, but the liberal religious groups were open to Unitarian ideas and continued to publish and translate the Racovian catechism.
An English translation of the Racovian catechism, dedicated to James I arrived in 1614. Although it was promptly burnt, copies continued to filter into England. While the Church of England concentrated on a dispute between those favoring an Episcopalian form of government and those advocating a Presbyterian form, religious dissenting groups formed, among them a group of Socinians who later adopted the name of Unitarians. However, the sole influence was not just the teachings from the Racovian catechism but a general spirit of inquiry present in Britain at the time. Other dissenting groups formed in the 17th century, among them the Quakers, and finally James II signed an Act of Toleration in 1689. Although this did not include Catholics and non-believers in the Trinity, by the 18th century religious persecution diminished though never completely disappeared. For example, in 1791, an anti-Unitarian mob attacked and burned Joseph Priestley's home, library and laboratory sending him into exile.
Priestley, a great Unitarian minister and chemist, founded two churches when he settled in central Pennsylvania and had contacts with the great American minds of the day. American Unitarianism, however, didn't really descend from Servetus, David and Socinus but arose independently. But the same spirit of inquiry that we saw in England during Newton's time of the 17th Century and throughout the 18th Century Age of Enlightenment, and the same reliance on reason rather than religious dogma, led many of our founding fathers to embrace Unitarian beliefs, but this again is a subject for yet another talk.
Hungarian composer Bela Bartok was born Catholic, but rejected that religion early and considered himself an atheist. As a composer, he toured Hungary and surrounding countries studying folk music, and while he was in Transylvania, during one of his evenings with the Szekely (Transylvanian Hungarians), he learned about the Unitarian religion and embraced it. He became an active member of the Unitarian Church in Budapest, and was briefly chair of the music committee with mixed success. As you can hear from the selections, Bartok was an avant-gard composer, but he had overly conservative ideas about church music. Bartok's son eventually became president of the Unitarian denomination in Hungary.
Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg and his wife Nina learned about Unitarianism when they lived in England for two years and attended the church in Copenhagen whenever they were in Denmark. However, they did not search out a Unitarian congregation in Norway, though a few groups were just beginning to form at the end of the 19th Century. Grieg did tell a friend about his experience in England: "I was very impressed with the Unitarian beliefs, and in the 19 years that have passed since then, I have remained so."