Biblical unitarianism

Biblical unitarianism^[1] (otherwise capitalized as biblical Unitarianism,^[2]^[3] sometimes abbreviated as BU)^[4] is a Unitarian Christian denomination whose adherents affirm the Bible as their sole authority, and from it base their beliefs that God the Father is one singular being,^[1] and that Jesus Christ is God's son but not divine.^[1] The term "biblical Unitarianism" is connected first with Robert Spears and Samuel Sharpe of the Christian Life magazine in the 1880s.^{[citation needed]} It is a neologism (or retronym) that gained increasing currency in nontrinitarian literature during the 20th century as the Unitarian churches moved away from mainstream church traditions and, in some instances in the United States, towards merger with Universalism.^{[citation needed]} It has been used since the late 19th century by conservative Christian Unitarians, and sometimes by historians, to refer to scripture-fundamentalist Unitarians of the 16th–18th centuries.^{[citation needed]}

A few denominations use this term to describe themselves, clarifying the distinction between them and those churches which, from the late 19th century, evolved into modern British Unitarianism and, primarily in the United States, Unitarian Universalism.^[1]

The history of Unitarianism was as a "scripturally oriented movement" which denied the Trinity^[5] and held various understandings of Jesus. Over time, however—specifically, in the mid-19th century—some proponents of Unitarianism moved away from a belief in the necessity of the Bible as the source of religious truth.^[5] The nomenclature "biblical" in "biblical Unitarianism" is to identify the groups which did not make such a move.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Tuggy, Dale (Winter 2020). "Trinity - Unitariansm". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University. ISSN 1095-5054. OCLC 643092515. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2021. There are presently a number of small Christian groups calling themselves "biblical unitarians" (or: Christian monotheists or one God believers) to distinguish themselves from late 19th to 21st century Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists. Their arguments draw on early modern unitarian sources, while eschewing some of the idiosyncrasies of Socinus's theology and most of the extra revisions of the Priestley-derived stream of unitarians. Like late 18th to early 19th century unitarians, they argue at length that trinitarianism has no biblical foundation, and is inconsistent with its clear teachings. They also reject trinitarianism as contradictory or unintelligible, as involving idolatry, and as having been, as it were, illegally imported from Platonic philosophy [...]. On some issues they draw support from recent biblical scholarship, for example, the point that talk of "generation" and "procession" in the Gospel of John doesn't support later claims about inter-trinitarian relations [...]. Although this literature points out real tensions within contemporary theology (between text-oriented commentators and systematic theologians) it is widely ignored in academic theology and philosophy, and its adherents are generally excluded from the institutions of mainstream Christianity.
^ Willsky-Ciollo 2015, p. xix.
^ L. Sue Baugh, Essentials of English Grammar: A Practical Guide to the Mastery of English, Second Edition, 1994, p. 59 "Religious Names and Terms: The names of all religions, denominations, and local groups are capitalized."
^ Randy Rheaume, God the Son: What John’s Portrait of Jesus Means and Why it Matters, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2018, "Abbreviations."
^ ^a ^b Unitarianism Archived 2012-04-11 at the Wayback Machine The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2007). Accessed 10-30-2010

[Tuggy_2020-1] Tuggy, Dale (Winter 2020). "Trinity - Unitariansm". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University. ISSN 1095-5054. OCLC 643092515. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2021. There are presently a number of small Christian groups calling themselves "biblical unitarians" (or: Christian monotheists or one God believers) to distinguish themselves from late 19th to 21st century Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists. Their arguments draw on early modern unitarian sources, while eschewing some of the idiosyncrasies of Socinus's theology and most of the extra revisions of the Priestley-derived stream of unitarians. Like late 18th to early 19th century unitarians, they argue at length that trinitarianism has no biblical foundation, and is inconsistent with its clear teachings. They also reject trinitarianism as contradictory or unintelligible, as involving idolatry, and as having been, as it were, illegally imported from Platonic philosophy [...]. On some issues they draw support from recent biblical scholarship, for example, the point that talk of "generation" and "procession" in the Gospel of John doesn't support later claims about inter-trinitarian relations [...]. Although this literature points out real tensions within contemporary theology (between text-oriented commentators and systematic theologians) it is widely ignored in academic theology and philosophy, and its adherents are generally excluded from the institutions of mainstream Christianity.

[FOOTNOTEWillsky-Ciollo2015xix-2] Willsky-Ciollo 2015, p. xix.

[3] L. Sue Baugh, Essentials of English Grammar: A Practical Guide to the Mastery of English, Second Edition, 1994, p. 59 "Religious Names and Terms: The names of all religions, denominations, and local groups are capitalized."

[4] Randy Rheaume, God the Son: What John’s Portrait of Jesus Means and Why it Matters, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2018, "Abbreviations."

[columbia-5] Unitarianism Archived 2012-04-11 at the Wayback Machine The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2007). Accessed 10-30-2010

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