What Is Biblical Unitarianism?

Biblical Unitarianism, as the groups on this shelf print it, is the confession that the Father alone is the one God and that Jesus is the human Son, who began when he was conceived. It is not Unitarian Universalism.

Key Points

• The Christadelphian Statement of Faith calls the only true God the one Father, and says Jesus was begotten of Mary by the Holy Spirit. (1)
• The same community’s Doctrines to Be Rejected refuse three persons in God, a Son co-eternal with the Father, and a Holy Spirit who is a person distinct from the Father. (2)
• The Church of God General Conference says there is only one God, the Father alone, and that Jesus came into existence at his conception. (3)
• Restoration Fellowship says sound theology begins with the creed Jesus names in Mark 12:28–29Mark 12:28–29 · King James Version^12:28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? ^12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:Mark 12:28–29 · King James VersionOpen source, the creed of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source. (4)
• The 1609 Racovian Catechism, in the Latin extract printed by Bone, answers that there is one person in God’s essence, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (5)
• Unitarian Universalism is a different shelf. Its covenant does not require this confession.
• Christians confess the creed of 381: one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ, true God from true God. (6)

What the Name Means

The name on this shelf is the groups’ own. They mean a reading of the Bible in which the one God is the Father, and the Son is a man. They are not one denomination. Christadelphians, the Church of God General Conference, and Restoration Fellowship publish their own statements. Those statements agree that the Father is the one God. They do not agree about everything else.

Unitarian Universalism uses the older word Unitarian for a different body. The Association says that although Unitarianism and Universalism began as liberal Christian traditions, today it embraces diverse teachings from many religions, and its bylaws forbid a required creed. What Do Unitarians Believe? quotes that covenant. A reader who came for that association is on the wrong shelf here.

Christadelphians

The Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith, clause 1, says the only true God is the one Father. The clause calls him:

the supreme self-existent Deity, the ONE FATHER, dwelling in unapproachable light, yet everywhere present by His Spirit, which is a unity with His person in heaven.

Clause 2 says Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, begotten of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, without the intervention of man. Clause 10 says that, so begotten, he was Emmanuel, God with us, God manifested in the flesh, and that during his natural life he was of like nature with mortal man. (1)

The list of doctrines to be rejected names the Trinity in the community’s own words. Item 2 rejects the doctrine that God is three persons. Item 3 rejects the doctrine that the Son of God was co-eternal with the Father. Item 6 rejects the doctrine that the Holy Spirit is a person distinct from the Father. Item 11 rejects the doctrine that the devil is a supernatural being. (2)

The Church of God General Conference

The Church of God General Conference prints a statement of faith on its own site. On God it says:

We believe that there is only one God, the Father alone, who is almighty, eternal, immortal, and the creator of all things.

On Jesus Christ the same page says he is the sinless and only begotten Son of God, who came into existence at his conception by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. On the Holy Spirit it says God’s divine power and influence are manifest in God’s works and in the lives of his people, and that the Spirit is not a person. (3)

That is the same confession of God as the Christadelphian clauses, in another church’s sentences. The page does not copy the Christadelphian rejection of a supernatural devil, and this article does not assign that rejection to the General Conference.

Restoration Fellowship

Restoration Fellowship’s own page says it was founded in 1981 by Sir Anthony Buzzard, and that it is dedicated to recovering the beliefs of the first-century disciples of Jesus. It says sound theology begins with the creed to which Jesus subscribed in Mark 12:28–29, the creed of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:4. (4) Mark 12:29Mark 12:29 · King James VersionAnd Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:Mark 12:29 · King James VersionOpen source is Jesus answering that the first commandment is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.

The same page’s questions distinguish that confession from two neighbors. It says Jesus was never an angel or an archangel, and it points to Hebrews 1:4–13Hebrews 1:4–13 · King James Version^1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. ^1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? ^1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. ^1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. ^1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. ^1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. ^1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: ^1:11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; ^1:12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. ^1:13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?Hebrews 1:4–13 · King James VersionOpen source. It also says that “Satan,” with the article, always refers to a supernatural being, and marks as false the claim that Satan is only a word for human evil. (4) Christadelphians reject a supernatural devil. Restoration Fellowship’s page does not.

The Racovian Catechism

The Socinian churches of Poland and Lithuania published the Racovian Catechism at Raków in 1609. Bone’s 1922 collection prints an extract from book 2. The catechism’s answer, in that Latin, is that what is useful to know about God’s essence is that there is only one person in it. Asked who that one divine person is, the printed answer is:

Est ille Deus unus, Domini nostri Jesu Christi Pater.

That is the one God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The proofs the extract names are John 17:3John 17:3 · King James VersionAnd this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.John 17:3 · King James VersionOpen source, 1 Corinthians 8:61 Corinthians 8:6 · King James VersionBut to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.1 Corinthians 8:6 · King James VersionOpen source, and Ephesians 4:6Ephesians 4:6 · King James VersionOne God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.Ephesians 4:6 · King James VersionOpen source. (5)

The groups on this shelf are not a continuation of that Polish church, and this page does not say they are. The catechism is the early modern book that already put the Father-alone reading into a numbered confession, with 1 Corinthians 8:6 as a proof text. Does 1 Corinthians 8:6 Mean Only the Father Is God? is that verse.

How This Differs From Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah’s Witnesses also say the Father alone is Almighty God, and that the holy spirit is not a person. They do not say the Son began at his conception. Is Jesus Michael the Archangel? quotes the Watch Tower entry that identifies Michael with Jesus, a spirit Son who existed before he was born. The Church of God General Conference says Jesus came into existence at his conception. Christadelphians reject a Son co-eternal with the Father. Restoration Fellowship’s page says Jesus was never an angel. (3) (4)

Is Jesus the Creator or a Creature? is the Jehovah’s Witness reading of creation through the Son. 1 Corinthians 8:61 Corinthians 8:6 · King James VersionBut to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.1 Corinthians 8:6 · King James VersionOpen source is on both shelves. The sentence is the same. The two communities do not give the Son the same history before Bethlehem.

How This Differs From Oneness Pentecostalism

Oneness Pentecostals also quote Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source. They do not say the Son is a man who is not God. The United Pentecostal Church International says there is one God who has revealed himself as Father, through his Son, and as the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus Christ is God manifested in flesh. What Is Oneness Pentecostalism? quotes that page. Biblical Unitarianism says the Father alone is God. Oneness says Jesus is that one God incarnate. Those are opposite answers to who the Son is.

The Christian Claim

Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source says the LORD our God is one LORD. Christians confess that sentence. The creed of 381 does not add a second god. It says one God, the Father Almighty, and one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. (6)

John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source records Thomas calling Jesus “My Lord and my God.” Hebrews 1:8Hebrews 1:8 · King James VersionBut unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.Hebrews 1:8 · King James VersionOpen source has the Father address the Son as God. The pages that open those lines are The Trinity, What vs. Who: One Being, Three Persons, What Is the Deity of Christ?, and Does Jesus Have a God?.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Biblical Unitarianism the Same as Unitarian Universalism?

No. Biblical Unitarianism on this shelf is the Father-alone confession in the statements quoted above. Unitarian Universalism is the Association’s covenant of Love and six values, with no required creed. The two hubs say so in both directions.

Do These Groups Believe Jesus Is the Messiah?

Yes. The statements call him the Son of God, the Messiah, and the one through whom God will restore the kingdom. The disagreement is whether that Son is God. Psalm 110: Who Is David’s Lord? is the psalm Jesus uses for that title.

Did Jesus Exist Before He Was Born?

The Church of God General Conference says he came into existence at his conception. Christadelphians reject a Son co-eternal with the Father. Did Jesus Exist Before He Was Born? is the New Testament lines those statements are answering.

Keep Reading

• Does 1 Corinthians 8:6 Mean Only the Father Is God?
• The Trinity
• What vs. Who: One Being, Three Persons
• What Is the Deity of Christ?
• Does Jesus Have a God?
• Is Eternal Generation in the Bible?
• What Do Unitarians Believe?
• What Is Oneness Pentecostalism?
• Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?