# Yes or No question about Unitarians. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084 "2002-04-23T01:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/1 "2002-04-23T01:23:07Z")
Simple query, I cannot figure it out, and I need to know. Do Unitarians accept the New Testament as canon? Yes or No? Thank you in advance, Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/2 "2002-04-23T01:33:52Z")
Well, I’m a Unitarian and I don’t. But I think it may depend on your particular minister/congregation. ---
**Author:** ![straykat23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@straykat23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straykat23)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/3 "2002-04-23T01:37:48Z")
No. From this site: [http://www.unitarian.org.uk/unitse1j.htm](http://www.unitarian.org.uk/unitse1j.htm) Quote: The Bible is valued by most Unitarians as: The human record of a people’s long struggle to understand their origins, their destiny and their God. A deep fund of wisdom and insight deserving both attention and respect. Unitarians do not regard it as an inerrant, unquestionable authority. They believe it should be read in the light of reason, informed by the insights of biblical criticism and scholarship. When they accept something in the Bible as true, they do so because it rings true in their own humble reflection upon it - not simply because it is in the Bible. Bible extracts may be incorporated in Unitarian worship, as may readings from any sacred or “secular” literature or poetry which is felt to be appropriate and relevant. Quote ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/4 "2002-04-23T01:39:23Z")
Unitarian-Universalism is a non-canon faith. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/5 "2002-04-23T02:04:36Z")
Short answer? Yes or no. Most Unitarians recognize that the New Testament has some merit, if only so far that Jesus said some stuff that’s pretty good advice. Some may believe that it is divinely inspired to some degree. However, as **Qadgop** said, we have no holy book; we often draw from the scriptures of other religions, as well as other sources. IME, Thoreau seems to be pretty popular. FYI, there are seven statements (the principles) that we’ve been able to (more or less) agree upon. [This page](http://www.uua.org/aboutuua/principles.html) contains those statements, as well as some of the sources that we draw our faith from. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/6 "2002-04-23T02:11:06Z")
Short answer? Yes or no. Most Unitarians recognize that the New Testament has some merit, if only so far that Jesus said some stuff that’s pretty good advice. Some may believe that it is divinely inspired to some degree. However, as **Qadgop** said, we have no holy book; we often draw from the scriptures of other religions, as well as other sources. IME, Thoreau seems to be pretty popular. FYI, there are seven statements (the principles) that we’ve been able to (more or less) agree upon. [This page](http://www.uua.org/aboutuua/principles.html) contains those statements, as well as some of the sources that we draw our faith from. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/7 "2002-04-23T11:41:35Z")
Thank you. **Ultrafilter** , that link is very illuminating. 😉 From first read , this sounds a LOT like Quakerism. Very interesting stuff. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/8 "2002-04-23T12:35:32Z")
Unitarian checking in. No. Want to grab a cup of coffee and talk about it? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/9 "2002-04-23T13:52:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cartooniverse \* > \*\*Thank you. **Ultrafilter** , that link is very illuminating. 😉 > > From first read , this sounds a LOT like Quakerism. Very interesting stuff. \*\* There certainly are a lot of similarities, but I believe that Quakerism (is that the real name of that church?) is a Christian religion, although a very liberal one. More often than that, people draw similarities between us and the Bahai faith. The difference is that they have a specific creed and we don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/10 "2002-04-23T14:18:52Z")
Ultrafilter, I thought the same thing, but I know a non-Christian Quaker, and she said not necessarily, but primarily Christian. So apparently I was mistaken. Or perhaps I just know a strange exception of a Quaker. I think Lib is a Quaker (and I know he is Christian). Cartooniverse - Hi - No. It is very interesting, but if you are thinking about it, try several different congregations if they are available to you. Its possible to visit two Unitarian congregations and wonder if they are practicing anything close to the same Faith. Mine is very non-preachy (our minister only does about half the services), non-Christian, non-God congregation (Jesus! Ha! most of us aren’t real sure on the God thing. And those that are tend to lean more Pagan or Buddhist than Christian - our previous minister was Pagan). Friends go to a different church where there is a lot of Bible, lots of sermon, and the whole thing is too preachy for my taste. They still don’t treat the Bible as canon, but other congregations do. (Unitarians tend to be pretty tech savvy, so a lot of them post sermons to their web site - a quick way to get a feel for the congregation). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/11 "2002-04-23T14:26:20Z")
One thing I learned is that you have to be careful making fun of Unitarians, or you’ll wake up one night to find them burning a question mark in your front yard. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/12 "2002-04-23T14:28:55Z")
Unitarianism is described as “the belief that there is, at most, one God”. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/13 "2002-04-23T16:01:07Z")
“Quakers” are formally members of the Society of Friends, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/14 "2002-04-23T16:19:43Z")
That would be “The Religious Society of Friends” (an ongoing experiment). My BIL is Quaker, and he describes some sects (groups?) of the Quakers as being _very_ similar to UUA. I’m not really up on the details, though. **epeepunk** , you out there? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/15 "2002-04-23T18:38:54Z")
**plnnr** , I was raised Quaker AND Jewish both. ( Go figure ). I use the nomenclature with the full knowledge that it was not the formal name of the religious group, but the commonly used name. Having said that, those who didn’t know, now know !!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/16 "2002-04-23T18:56:59Z")
Ultrafitter asked what adherents to “Quakerism” are called. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-or-no-question-about-unitarians/105084/17 "2002-04-23T21:15:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*Unitarianism is described as “the belief that there is, at most, one God”. > > \*\* Not sure if I agree with that. I recently started attending a Unitarian church, and while they do have some Biblical teachings, they also have a neo-Pagan (polytheistic) class. Unitarianism is difficult to quantify simply because it requires very few beliefs in common.