Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This dissertation reports on a content analysis of the written communications of one hundred Unitarian ministers on their current concepts of the liberal ministry and the role of the liberal church in today's society written for the use of churches seeking ministers. The primary task was to identify the range and priority of vocational values, i.e. whatever these ministers considered significant in connection with the liberal ministry and church. A further task was to measure the effects that years of professional experience, age and Unitarian as contrasted with non-Unitarian seminary training might have on vocational values. The classification system consisted of two dimensions and three levels. The horizontal dimension included six of Abraham Maslovr's seven major need categories and represented the first classification level. The vertical dimension consisted of the second and third levels representing themes and sub-themes under each of the major categories. The second level themes, representing various areas of concern relative to each major category, were defined by indices offered by Maslow. The third level sub-themes were variations on the second level themes derived from the communications data. The three classification levels were composed of six, twenty-five, and one hundred and seven theme categories respectively. Each of the nearly four thousand assertions constituting the one hundred essays was classified according to all these levels and the classification was cmded and recorded on an IBM data processing card [TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01

Unitarian Universalism is a modern religion with a long history of reformation rooted in Christianity. My ethnography examines one of the Unitarian Universalist fellowships located in South Florida. The research examines the role of the church in American lives and the significance of the religious experience among liberals and humanists. American religions have been the focus of social scientists for the past forty years. This study shed light on how modernity affects the trajectory of religion in the United States. This is a holistic approach viewed of one of the American religions through a socio economic and political lens. Unitarian Universalism is comprehended through themes of individual narratives. Unitarian Universalist narratives present the religious experience a heterogeneous group might share. The story of Unitarian Universalists explains how religion is attached socially and culturally to believers. My research offers an alternative narrative for people who represent a minority among traditional and world religions. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis is a study in the history of ideas which discusses the work and thought of the Unitarian biblical critic, classical historian and philologist John Kenrick (1788-1877). It examines evidence to suggest that during his productive life Kenrick made an intellectual transition from the ideas of the radical English Enlightenment to the more Romantic perspectives of the nineteenth century. The first part of the discussion as a whole is concerned largely with the nature of the context from which Kenrick emerged as a thinker while the second is related to Kenrick’s own changing ideas. Chapter two reveals the monist philosophical and theological tendencies which supported the Socinian beliefs of the polymath Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), who was the dominant influence on Unitarians in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This discussion of Priestley’s thought, which is brought into relief by means of a comparison with that of the moral and political philosopher Richard Price (1723-1791), has two objectives, the first to reveal something of the context of Unitarianism of the time and the second to establish a foundation from which the nature and extent of later intellectual change may be measured. Chapter three concentrates on another aspect of the Unitarian context closely connected to Socinian beliefs, and that is the tradition of historical biblical criticism which contained the seeds of a new historical consciousness. The fourth chapter is an analysis of the relationship between these radical Unitarian biblical critics and scholars in Germany and discusses some similarities and differences between the two sets of thinkers. Chapter five focuses upon John Kenrick himself and the integration of his Unitarian historical biblical ideas with elements of German thought on the interpretation of classical myth. It points out the implications for his own ideas in terms of the development of Romanticism and cultural relativism. Chapter six is concerned with Kenrick’s historical approach to language and shows how it may be compared with the ideas of the German philologists of the time. The seventh chapter is an account of Kenrick’s opinions on the truth of Genesis and the origins of man. It considers in what ways the uneasy relationship between theology and the science of the mid-nineteenth century helped to bring about changes in his thought which linked it to a transformed Unitarianism and also to the intellectual milieu of the later nineteenth century. Chapter eight concludes the thesis with an assessment of the nature and extent of the changes which had taken place since the domination of the ideas of Joseph Priestley. The thesis offers a study of the transition in thought of an eminent scholar whose work has never been examined before. It opens up some new perspectives with regard to the linkages between the radical English Enlightenment and the historical consciousness and Romanticism of the nineteenth century.

In 1960 Louis Kahn’s theoretical concerns began to focus on a concept which he called “form”, not meaning a building’s three dimensional shape, but the essence of its underlying type. The current study considers Kahn’s post-1960 concept of “form”, as espoused in his 1961 article, “Form and Design”, in relation to Plato’s theory of Forms, as that theory is presented in The Republic. A deeper appreciation of Kahn’s text is achieved through an examination of the hypothesis that the word “form”, as it is defined in Kahn’s article, is congruous with Plato’s famous concept, whereby Forms are said to be independent of humans and particulars. This leads to a related hypothesis, that Kahn’s shift in emphasis towards transcendent types is reflected in his development of what could be called Platonising architectural strategies, because they reflect parallel aims between Plato and Kahn. While Kahn and Plato are quite different figures, separated by time, profession and intentions, consideration of Plato’s treatment of the Forms in The Republic illuminates a new interpretation of “Form and Design” and the building which is most closely associated with that text, Kahn’s First Unitarian Church and School in Rochester. The thesis identifies ideas within Kahn’s text which resonate with Plato’s philosophy, suggesting that Kahn’s theory can be interpreted through notions stemming from the early moments of the Western philosophical tradition. It also identifies inconsistencies between Kahn’s text and Plato’s and between various statements made by Kahn, highlighting the fact that Kahn’s philosophical musings are not those of a trained philosopher. / PhD Doctorate

This goal of this project is to assist liberals and progressives who are reluctant to speak out publicly on religious questions so that they can advance their moral values and protect their religious liberties by encouraging and educating them to use legal protections under the First Amendment. Rights to religious freedom in the American legal system are reviewed on the federal, state, and local levels. The denominational history of and theological evolution within Unitarian Universalism, the target group being studied, are examined. This examination has a particular focus on shifting historically strict intradenominational attitudes on the separation between church and state and using legal protections to advance progressive moral values and social justice objectives. Through a nonprofit legal foundation, the author seeks to educate and to support religious groups seeking to pursue religious projects and ministries that may face legal challenges and government opposition. The project also reviews metrics for assessing attitude change in response to educational workshops presented to Unitarian Universalist audiences.

Unitarian Universalism has arrived at an historic inflection point that calls it to an overarching purpose of helping to bring about the Beloved Community in the wider world while dismantling racism and other systemic oppressions in its members and institutions. For most UU congregations the former is a familiar goal that compels social justice work, but transforming themselves seems a bewildering and daunting goal. This mixed method study of six UU congregations and 50 of their leaders proposes a support structure for congregations on this journey to help them change their institutional leadership practices and foster spiritual vitality in all their members.

The British Unitarians, a "sect everywhere spoken against" said Joseph Priestley, were a small, highly educated, financially respectable, politically aggressive and articulate denomination, which exerted an influence far beyond what their numbers ordinarily would command. They possessed an unbounded enthusiasm for reform and took part in almost every movement for social justice, one of which was particularly attractive to them the antislavery movement. Sadly, much of what they wrote and tried to accomplish has been ignored by scholars. This study is the story of their involvement in the thirty years war against the "master sin of the world" andndash; American slavery. In eight chapters, the thesis focuses on the antislavery writings opinions, and contributions of the British Unitarians, particularly a group of abolitionist stalwarts called Garrisonians. It also describes their racial views as revealed in their writings and in their conduct towards black people; and it describes their attitudes towards the American Civil War. The thesis is based on extensive manuscript, pamphlet, and periodical material, much of which has not been previously utilized in historical and religious monographs. The thesis makes several observations. The British Unitarians in their antislavery activity were devoted to the common welfare of the human race, to racial tolerance, and to participation in reform as an ecumenical endeavor. Their motivations for antislavery reform in particular, and reform in general, arose out of a liberal theology which sought to prove its moral superiority; a minority status and consciousness which sought acceptance; a strange and surprising evangelical warmth (typical of only some Unitarians and alien to the denomination as a body) that fired an emotive drive against social evils; a capitalist ideology that believed in a liberating progress; a political philosophy that favored freedom, honesty, and benevolence in government; a nationalism within an internationalism that proclaimed England's manifest destiny to be the protection and encouragement of human liberty at home and abroad; and a familial attachment to the members of their faith and reformers of their persuasion that was mutually supportive and rewarding. This study seeks to prove that the nineteenth century Unitarians are worthy of scholarly investigation and analysis, and suggests that the study of their motivation, commitment, vitality, and perseverance in the fight against American slavery can enhance our understanding of the role of religion in reform.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1993. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2964. Abstract precedes thesis as [1] preliminary leaf. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [184]-199).

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At the outset of the Phaedrus, Plato tells us that Socrates’ knows himself (228a). This statement is then followed up by Socrates’ claim that he is not able to obey the Delphic imperative and know himself (229e-230b). This apparent contradiction has given rise to an interesting debate concerning what kind of knowledge we are dealing with here. While the debate is complex a few main positions can be identified. One group of scholars, hereafter referred to as the practitioners, argue that the self-knowledge Socrates here talks about is a life-guiding term. The practitioners argue that when striving toward what is true about oneself and acknowledging one’s limits, one turns away from chaos towards a well structured life. Another group of scholars, referred to as the mystics, argue that self-knowledge is something Socrates’ possesses when contemplating over his own epistemic limits as well as his soul and its connection to the Forms. Finally, the unitarian view explains the content of self-knowledge, namely that it includes dispositional and cognitive knowledge of oneself. Even if these views are helpful to explain the different parts of self-knowledge, they fail to explain Socrates’ apparently contradictory answers regarding self-knowledge. What is lacking, and what this thesis will try to provide, is an account of how Socrates both can say that he knows and does not know himself. The thesis will help explain how Socrates can be said to have self-knowledge. However, Socrates does not yet have absolute self-knowledge and acknowledges, with his denial of self-knowledge, that a deepened self-knowledge can be gained gradually. On the view that this thesis will test and defend, Socratic self-knowledge is a continuum, that is to say, a coherent yet dynamic knowledge. This can help to explain how Socrates can claim to both know and not yet know himself.