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A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism, by John A. Buehrens and Forrest Church, is hard to describe. The book is a history of the denomination, with lively passages depicting the lives and ministries of important Unitarian-Universalist leaders such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Ellery Channing. Yet it is also a collection of testimonies by contemporary laypeople and ministers, who describe their churches' responses to questions ranging from "How do I know when to get married?" to "How should the government treat single mothers?" The funny and wise introduction was written by
Robert Fulghum, who indulges the often invoked criticism that Unitarian Universalism's ideals are interchangeable with those of PBS. And, finally, it contains some straightforward explications of the denomination's core principles. The Church's aversion to creeds will be off-putting to some readers--at times, it seems Unitarian Universalists believe in nothing so much as not committing to any one belief. But there's something universally refreshing about this protean faith: most religious people, at one time or another, find that God leads them to reject some tenets of their religion. Unitarian Universalists have a true genius for accepting God's most surprising Words, which makes
A Chosen Faith a valuable resource for all of us.
--Michael Joseph Gross
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Buehrens, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and Church, senior minister of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City, present a summary of what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist today. In a new foreword and a new preface prepared for this edition, bestselling author Robert Fulghum, a Unitarian Universalist minister, and Denise Davidoff, a Jewish convert to Unitarian Universalism, add their personal observations. Buehrens and Church cover the history of Unitarian Universalism, whose origins they trace to the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. The authors also find precursors of Unitarian Universalism during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, and they find the first mention of "Unitarianism" in England in 1654. The book is an informative look at what they call a "choice in religious living," which they describe as affirming diversity, dialogue, personal choice, and work for social justice.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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