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Unitarianism

Unitarianism

1 8.4
A religious movement that rejects the Trinity and supports freedom of belief, reason, and tolerance
  • noun
  • /ˌjuːnɪˈtɛəriənɪzəm/
: unitarismo
  • We have held fast against atheism, romanism, unitarianism, and a score of lesser evils.
  • American Unitarianism

Some people have likened it to the, you know, very early Unitarianism, but I mean, it's very different than what we think of as Unitarianism today.

Examples

  • Since then, of course, Unitarianism has changed so that most are not Christian.

    Blog text (34)
  • The Establishment has always been a breakwater against Unitarianism, fanaticism, and infidelity.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Some people have likened it to the, you know, very early Unitarianism, but I mean, it's very different than what we think of as Unitarianism today.

  • Pantheism and Catholicism: Two Forms of American Unitarianism

    Academic text (2001)
  • Tocqueville's observation seems to have been that American Unitarianism is not yet, but will surely become pantheism.

    Academic text (2001)
  • But Unitarianism, Tocqueville correctly predicted, will fade away.

    Academic text (2001)
  • During the early part of the century, Transcendentalism emerged as a radical liberal reaction to the conservatism of orthodox Unitarianism.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Peirce here alludes to a schism within nineteenth-century Unitarianism.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Tocqueville's prediction is that Unitarianism, in the precise or, say, Jeffersonian or Washingtonian sense of devotion to the laws of nature, will not be able to sustain itself in a democracy.

    Academic text (2001)

Synonyms

Unitarian Church
vsUnitarianism
2 5.7

A Protestant Christian group that believes God is one, not three

is a broader liberal movement stressing individual belief freedom and tolerance

Surface Forms

Unitarianism singular
Unitarianisms plural

Morphology

Unitarianism = Unitarian (semi-transparent) = unit + arian + ism

Formed by regular suffixation of '-ism' to 'Unitarian'; the morphological process is clear but the precise theological content (rejection of the Trinity) is specialized and not obvious from the base to a general learner.

Etymology

Unitarianism comes from the root unit (from Latin unitas) meaning 'one' and the ending -ism meaning 'belief'. So Unitarianism began as the belief in the 'oneness' of God and today describes a faith that stresses that 'one' God and supports personal freedom of belief, reason, and tolerance.