Figure 1.-- This is a Universalist Church congregation located Kinston, North Carolina during 1914. An Italian reader writes, "Although I know that in the States bare feet are not necesarily associated with poverty and that children could go be barefoot even with formal clothing, esoecially in the south. Nevertheless it looks strange to me to see photos of children attending church without any footwear. As a child I was often barefoot during playtime, but I never would have gone to the church in the same way."

Unitarianism is a non-Trinitarian Christian theology. The Church believes that God is only one person, in contrast to the wideky accepted Catholic and Protestant doctrine of the Trinity--God in three persons. This of course is why they are referred tobas Unitarians. It is an important American denomination and also exists to a lesser extent in Britain. The Church is associated with many liberal Christian beliefs, generally down playing miracles and other super-human aspects of Christian theology. A small part of the Unitarian Church in America is the Universalists. The Church was known as the Universalist General Convention (1866). The CChurch cjanged irs name to the Universalist Church of America (1942). They merged with the American Unitarian Association (1961) to form the Unitarian Universalist Association. The core theology of Universalism is the doctrine of universal salvation. Universalists conceptualize the diety as the God of love and that it is inconceivanle that He would create an individual that would be inevitably destined for eternal damnation. Thus they berlieve that all people are destined at birth for salvation and only their free will life choices determine their future. There is a rabnge of beliefs within the Church. One branch of Universalistswho cakll themselves Restorationists and as articulated by Paul Dean believe there is a period of reprobation in Hell following death that occurred prior to salvation. Another branch of the Church as articulasted by Hosea Ballou, entirely rejected the very existence of Hell.

Created: 10:54 AM 2/15/2011
Last updated: 10:54 AM 2/15/2011