The Early Christian Unitarian Reformers

The following excerpt is from Earl Morse Wilbur’s book, Our Unitarian Heritage: An Introduction to the History of the Unitarian Movement. In the excerpt, Wilbur reviews the “scattered beginnings of Unitarianism in Europe,” meaning by “Unitarianism” nontrinitarian Christianity. The excerpt provides a glimpse into the bloody history of the trinity doctrine and erects a monument to the numerous Christian unitarian reformers-become-marytrs who escape any real notice in almost all church history books. Continue reading

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Adams

Below is a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to John Adams toward the end of their lives (remarkably they died on the same day-Independence Day July 4, 1826-within five hours of each other). In the letter, Jefferson reveals his religious sentiments, pulling no punches about Calvinism and the doctrine of the trinity (he calls it “tritheism”). In the course of the letter, he also endorses the teleological argument, or argument from design, making an eloquent presentation of the argument. What strikes me most is the vehemence of Jefferson’s denunciation of Calvinism. A mere mention of John Calvin’s name by Adams (in his previous letter to Jefferson), and not even in a theological context,  sets Jefferson off. Continue reading