Chapter 2 - Beginnings

Summary

Unitarianism and Universalism are both ways of thinking about God and the meaning of life that have always had a presence in the history of Christianity, and which were both condemned as heresies. They date to the years closely following the birth of the Christian Church, but it was a millennium and a half before they took organized institutional form. There were always those Christians who preferred a more human Jesus because having a relationship with him was more important than worshipping him. They were engaged with this world, and wanted to play a key role in their own salvation rather than focusing primarily on the next world and the afterlife. This became especially true after the Reformation when Unitarianism became institutionalized and belief in the invisible world became more and more suspect.