ARTICLE IV.
CREEDS

§ 15. The union that exists among Unitarians is one of sympathy and cooperation, not of formulas. No one among them has the right to decide what the others should believe.

§ 16. A creed is simply a statement of belief or a list of points on which people can agree. In this sense creeds are good, useful, and desirable for individuals. If a number of persons who hold the same belief unite to convince others of its truth, this also is natural and right. If they state their beliefs in propositions and articles, this also may be useful. To such creeds Unitarians do not object. Many of their churches and organizations have adopted such statements of opinion.

§ 17. But Unitarians object to religious creeds under the following circumstances: (a) When they are made a test of character; (b) When they are made a condition of fellowship; (c) When they become an obstacle to the spiritual progress of the Church or of an individual. Most of the creeds of the Christian Church have been liable to these objections. They have been made a test of Christian character, contrary to the distinct statement of Jesus that obedience, not belief or profession, is the true test of character (Matt. 7:15-27; 19:16-21; see also Eccl. 12:13), and that true religion consists in love to God and fellow humans (Mark 12:28-34). They have been made a condition of Christian fellowship, contrary to the declaration of Jesus that whosoever shall do the will of God is like a mother and sister and brother to him (Mark 3:35). They have been obstacles to progress, imposing the opinions of past centuries upon present belief. Though Unitarians reject such creeds as these, their religious convictions are no less distinct and earnest. But since perfect knowledge is of the future, it is wise not to be dogmatic at this time (1 Cor. 4:5).

§ 18. Some object that Unitarians’ aversion to creeds results in too great a divergence of opinion in their religious views. But Unitarian Christians agree on the fundamental aspects of their religion, which include the indispensable tenets of Christianity (in their most basic, unrefined form), and which emphasize that which Jesus himself emphasized, namely, godly attitude and behavior. One of Christ’s apostles, in a letter to Timothy, urges his reader not to teach doctrine beyond the healthful words of Jesus and the teaching that accords with godly devotion, warning that questionings and debates about words can lead to envy, strife, abusive speech, wicked suspicions, and violent disputes about trifles (1 Tim. 6:3-5). Indeed, history has shown that whenever Christian leaders required all worshippers to accept doctrine beyond the necessary exhortations for good living, these were the sad results. God has so made the human mind that, as soon as people really begin to think, they begin to differ. If, therefore, there is no difference of opinion in a church, it shows that there is no individual thought in that church. Men think alike only by not thinking at all. This is assent, not conviction. Such belief is, in reality, no belief and has no value. The only agreement in opinion that is worth anything is that harmony which comes after full and free inquiry about subjects on which men differ. Only thus can questions really be settled; without such free discussion, differences are only covered up. The variety of opinions among Unitarians is therefore the evidence of free thought.