Hungarian Unitarianism and American UU - What's the Difference?

A simplistic answer to this question is either that the UU has its roots in Transylvanian (i.e., Hungarian) Unitarianism, or that the latter and the former are only névrokonok, or relatives in name.

Neither of these answers is quite true, but in a way they are both true. To summarize a complex history, we could say that both unitarianisms represent a breaking away from Calvinism, in 16th century Transylvania by the Hungarians, and in the 19th by Calvinist preachers in Boston. Both movements rejected the dogmas surrounding the Trinity (that God wears three masks: that of a heavenly father; of a man, Jesus; and of a spirit, called the Holy Ghost). They also rejected the dogma of double predestination, according to which some humans are preordained to be saved, while others are destined for perdition and punishment for no other reason than that it pleases God to ordain it so.

Anti-Trinitaianisnm is of course as old as Christianity itself. Neither the Hungarians nor the Americans were its inventors. What these groups did, however, was to establish organized movements, or churches, which have survived to the present.

A major difference between the two movements is that the Hungarian U, relatively isolated for centuries, have remained essentially Biblical, following the ethical teachings of Jesus, while the American UU have been open to the world, merging with the Universalist church (so called because it taught that all humans could be saved), and adopting all kinds of extra-Biblical ideas from non-Christian sources - e.g. from Buddhism and Hinduism, philosophy and the arts. In recent decades many UU congregations have abandoned the Bible altogether (the Association itself has only one dogma, that it has no dogma) and have substituted for it a set of ethical principles, the promulgation of which seems to define the purposes of the church. This has led, in turn, to political activism, often condemned by other churches. Believers in a right-wing world view have trouble with UU stands on abortion and women's rights, with an open tolerance of homosexuals, incl. gay marriage, and anti-war activities. But they should remember that it was also American Unitarians who were in the forefront of abolotionism, the movement that led to the end of slavery.

Are the U and the UU Christian? From a fundamentalist viewpoint, the UU is clearly not any longer. The Hungarian U is not so easily labeled, since it has remained faithful to the Bible, though not to fundamentalist - or Roman Catholic - interpretations of it. Other Hungarian churches, while they may have persecuted Unitarians in the past, nowdays accord the Unitarians - sometimes grudging - tolerance and respect.

Many UU congregations participate in the Partner Church Council, giving material and spiritual support to adopted U congregations. The movement was already very active during the Ceauşescu dictatorship, which Hungarian churches helped bring down. In turn many UUs have also adopted Transylvania as their spiritual ancestral homeland.

Louis Elteto