Unitarianism in America

Unitarianism in America

Project Gutenberg's Unitarianism in America, by George Willis Cooke
#2 in our series by George Willis Cooke
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: Unitarianism in America
Author: George Willis Cooke
Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8605] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on July 28,
2003]
Edition: 10

Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
UNITARIANISM IN AMERICA ***

Produced by David Starner, Christopher Lund, Charles Franks and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team

UNITARIANISM IN AMERICA A History of its Origin and
Development
BY
GEORGE WILLIS COOKE
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION,
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF
SCIENCE, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
SCIENCE, ETC.

PREFACE.
The aim I have had in view in writing this book has been to give a
history of the origin of Unitarianism in the United States, how it has
organized itself, and what it has accomplished. It seemed desirable to
deal more fully than has been done hitherto with the obscure
beginnings of the Unitarian movement in New England; but limits of
space have made it impossible to treat this phase of the subject in other
than a cursory manner. It deserves an exhaustive treatment, which will
amply repay the necessary labor to this end. The theological
controversies that led to the separation of the Unitarians from the older
Congregational body have been only briefly alluded to, the design of
my work not requiring an ampler treatment. It was not thought best to
cover the ground so ably traversed by Rev. George E. Ellis, in his
Half-century of the Unitarian Controversy; Rev. Joseph Henry Allen, in
his Our Liberal Movement in Theology; Rev. William Channing
Gannett, in his Memoir of Dr. Ezra Stiles Gannett; and by Rev. John
White Chadwick, in his Old and New Unitarian Beliefs. The attempt

here made has been to supplement these works, and to treat of the
practical side of Unitarianism,--its organizations, charities,
philanthropies, and reforms.
With the theological problems involved in the history of Unitarianism
this volume deals only so far as they have affected its general
development. I have endeavored to treat of them fairly and without
prejudice, to state the position of each side to the various controversies
in the words of those who have accepted its point of view, and to judge
of them as phases of a larger religious growth. I have not thought it
wise to attempt anything approaching an exhaustive treatment of the
controversies produced by the transcendental movement and by "the
Western issue." If they are to be dealt with in the true spirit of the
historical method, it must be at a period more remote from these
discussions than that of one who participated in them, however slightly.
I have endeavored to treat of all phases of Unitarianism without
reference to local interests and without sectional preferences. If my
book does not indicate such regard to what is national rather than to
what is provincial, as some of my readers may desire, it is due to
inability to secure information that would have given a broader
character to my treatment of the subject.
The present work may appear to some of its readers to have been
written in a sectarian spirit, with a purpose to magnify the excellences
of Unitarianism, and to ignore its limitations. Such has not been the
purpose I have kept before me; but, rather, my aim has been to present
the facts candidly and justly, and to treat of them from the standpoint of
a student of the religious evolution of mankind. Unitarianism in this
country presents an attempt to bring religion into harmony with
philosophy and science, and to reconcile Christianity with the modern
spirit. Its effort in this direction is one that deserves careful
consideration, especially in view of the unity and harmony it has
developed in the body of believers who accept