In England, Unitarian opinions were somewhat later in making their appearance than on the continent. As early, indeed, as 1548, a priest named John Ashton was accused of Arianism, and escaped with his life only by recantation; and during the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, Elizabeth, and James I., a few suffered martyrdom on similar charges. But during the reign of James I., continental Socinianism began to exercise considerable influence in England, and continued to do so to the end of the century, so inuch so that, in 1665, Dr. Owen wrote that "the evil is at the door, that there is not a city, a town, scarce a village, in England wherein some of this poison is not poured forth;" and how deeply' the church of England was infected with it nay be interred front the no doubt exaggerated statement of Palmer, who, in 1705, spoke of " troops of Unitarian and Sociniau writers, and not one dissenter is found among them." Many eminent men of the time, including Milton, Locke, and Newton, and in the next century, the famous apologist, Lardner, must be numbered among the Unitarians; but it was in the last. decade of the 17th c. that the controversy on this subject was most active, and at this time were published the old Unitarian t•acts—a series of anonymous writings marked by eminent learning and talent. Hitherto, however, the Unitarians, with the exception of the society formed in London by John Biddle (q.v.), which did not survive its founder, had no organized existence. But after the passing of the toleration net in 1689, whereby non-cemformity was made legal, the way was prepared for that gradual change by which the • .rthodoxy of the English Presbyterians passed into Unitarianism. It was at this time that most of the old Presbyterian chapels were founded, and the trusts being open—i.e., not committed to any doctrinal system—ministers and people were left free to adopt and promulgate whatever new opinions should approve them selves to their conscience. Thus the Unitarians are the legitimate successors and repre sentatives of the 2.000 Presbyterian divines who in 1062 left the church of England in consequence of their inability to comply conscientiously with the terms of the net of uniformity. The ground of this separation, it should be understood, was no difficulty about the doctrinal articles of the establishment. The English Presbyterians (so called from their preference for that form of church government, for they were never able to adopt it) were originally as orthodox as their Episcopal brethren; but having refused to commit themselves to any authoritative creed, they underwent a gradual change to Arian, and at length to Unitarian views. Many preached such views without exciting attention cr controversy, and indeed, until 1813. the law which made it blasphemy to speak against the Trinity, though not strictly enforced, was still in existence. During the latter half of the 18th c., Dr. Priestley (q.v.) appeared as the champion of the humani tarian view of Christ's nature, and, by the influence of his writing, secured the mote open advocacy of that doctrine. In 1773 Dr. Lindsey resigned his charge in the church of England, and became pastor of the Unitarian congregation of Essex street, London— an event which may be regarded as an epoch in the history of In 1813 the Unitarians were placed by law fully on a par with other dissenters. and trines that time there has been no attempt at persecution, with the exception of the claim made to some of their properties by certain orthodox dissenters. This claim was met by the dissenters' chapels act in 1844. The Unitarians of England and Wales are purely con gregational in their church government, their only organ for combined action being the British and foreign Unitarian association, which holds its meetings annually in London. Their principal place of education is Manchester new college, London, which is, how ever, an unseetarian institution. They have also a missionary college in Manchester, and the Presbyterian college, Caermarthen, educates Independent and Unitarian ministers. They have at present about 350 chapels and 80 mission stations.
In Scotland the religious atmosphere has never been very favorable to Unitarianism. It was in that country that the last execution for blasphemy against the Trinity took place in the person of the unfortunate Aikenhcad. Nevertheless. toward the close of the 18th c., there was a certain amount of Arianism among the moderates in the church of Scotland. Unitarianism, as a distinct system, was preached at _Montrose as early as 1783; and, at the beginning of the present century, some attempts were made to diffuse it by means of missionary efforts. There are now seven congregations in the country. That at Edinburgh was originally a branch from the Cameronians, the strictest of Calvin ists, but having adopted the principle of free inquiry, they gradually embraced Arian, and eventually humanitarian views. This last change took place during the ministry of the late Dr. Southwood Smith. about the year 1812.
In Ireland the history of Unitarianism is intimately connected with that of Presby terianism. It flourishes principally in the u. of the island, where there is a strong infu sion of Scotch blood, and where Homan Catholicism has the least influence. In 1871 there were 9,373 Unitarians in Ireland. The Unitarians of Ireland are Presbyterians in fact as well as in name.
Unitarianism in the United States has passed through much the same phases as in Great Britain. After 1740 Arian views of the person of Christ were widely dif fused among the New England clergy; and in 1787 took place the first secession from the Episcopal church, on the ground that those parts of the liturgy which imply a belief in the Trinity could not be any longer employed. From the first, the New England
churches were remarkably free from the restraints of tests and creeds, and were thus prepared for the adoption of a liberal theology. By imperceptible degrees, many of them glided into Unitarianism; but it was not until about 1815 that the name began to be much used. At that time, the influence of Dr. Chinning (q.v.) was thrown into the scale, and since then, Massachusetts, and particularly Boston. has been the stronghold of Unitarianism in America. The Unitarians have 362 societies in the states. and upward of 25 in Boston alone. Harvard university, Cambridge, is not a denomina tional institution; but it is at present in the hands of the Unitarians, and most of their ministers are educated either there or at the Meadville theological school, Penn. Besides the Unitarians, properly so called, the Universalists, the Christians" of America, and the Hicksite Quakers. are understood to hold anti-Trinitarian sentiments, though they g;ve no special prominence to the doctrine of the divine unity. When we have men tioned, further, that there are a few Uuilarian churches iu the principal colonies of Great Britain, we shall have made a sufficiently complete enumeration for the purposes of this sketch. We have. however, to add, that Unitarian senthnents, under the names of liberal Christianity and rationalism, are more or less widely diffused in France, Switz erland, Germany, and Ho!land.
We now proceed to give a brief sketch of the theological opinions by which Unita rians are disiineatished other Christian sects. It is, of course, impossible that we shun] I notice all the phases of belief they have passed through since the reformation. We confine ourselves to stating the more important doctrines of the early Socinians, as they are set forth in the llacovian Catechism, and sketching rapidly the opinions of the modem Unitarians of England and America.
The Soeinians assumed. as the fundamental principle of their theology, the suf ficiency of Scripture, or rather of the New Testament.. which they held, had, for all matters of faith, superseded the Old. According to their system. Christ was a true man, lint conceived of the Holy Spirit; and on account of the divine power which lie has received from the Father. and his exaltation as head over all Ildngs, he is to have wor sllip offered to him. The Holy Spirit is not a person, but a divine influence. The Socin inns rejected also the doctrine of original sin. Man, they taught, was created with a mortal nature, but by the special gift of God• was endowed with it conditional immor tality. He was created innocent, bat not positively righteous. The gift of immortality lie forfeited by disobedience. The fall of Ad tin, however, being it single act. could not deprave his own nature, lunch less that of his posterity; and in the latter, death was not consequence of the fall, but wits simply the condition of birth and life. Thus, the netted consequence of Adam's fall was not any radical corruption of nature, wher.2by it was impossible for man to .do any good thing, but rather a moral deteriora tion, producing, with repeated acts of disobeifience, an increasing tendency to sin. Mau, after the tall, retained his free will, and the power of abstaining from sin if lie so ple ised. On the question of the merits of Christ, the Socinian doctrine was essentially different from that of all the other Protestant sects. Ch•ist's merits did not consist priu eiNlly i• his death. but in his life, his teachings, and his example. Nor was his death regir led as an ahininz sacrifice, or as having any vicarious efficacy whatever, but simply as a. confirmation of God's will, and the seal of the new covenant. Christ died for our sins—first, that all sinners might in this way have the assurance of forgiveness and of eternal Ilt'o; secondly, that they might. be drawn to Christ. and led to seek throngh hint alone remission of their sins; and thirdly, that God inlaid thus testify his boundless love to the httimin race, and might reconcile it to himself. But the crucifixion iv :Is important chiefly as preparing the way for the great crowning miracle of Ole resurrec tio 1. I lere, in fact, not Christ's death, but his resurrection, is the central point. of the scheme By this lie confirmed his doc:ri no of immortality, and prepared for his ascension into heaven, where lie now fills the office of our great high priest. Jesus " frees us front the punishment clue to our sins, in that he continually protects us by the virtue and power which he has received from the Father, aml by fits intervention, defends us, as it were, from the wrath of God; and he frees its from servitude to our sins, by drawing us away from every kind of vice, and showing us in his own person the rewa•d of him who abstains from sin." Predestination in (Ids system means the da.,..e of God, made before the foundation of the world, that they who and were obedient should be saved, and that they who believed not and were disobedient slionlil he damned. Justification takes place when God pardons our sins mind gives us eternal life. The Socinians regarded the sacraments as simply external signs testifying to Christ hot faith. II sue they held infant baptism to lie irrational as well as unserip tural, but thought that it custom so old and established should lie tolerated.