1823 – Thomas Wentworth Higginson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He served as a Unitarian minister in Newburyport, Massachusetts and the free church in Worcester, Massachusetts, but left ministry to devote himself full time to the abolition of slavery. He led a raid on the Boston Court House to free fugitive slave Anthony Burns and … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 22
1563 – The anti-Trinitarian Bernardino Ochino was expelled from Zurich, Switzerland, at age 76 and in the middle of winter, for publication of Dialogues (1531). He had become a Unitarian late in life, and had spent 1547 to 1553 in exile in England under Edward VI. A translation of his book A dialogue on the unjustly … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 21
1855 – Samuel Rogers, an English Unitarian, banker, and poet, died at age 92. Born in Newington Green, London, he came from a prominent family of Dissenters. He would have preferred the ministry but followed the wishes of his father and joined him in banking. After his father’s death in 1793, he became a noted … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 19
1523 – Ludwig Hetzer, a Protestant with Unitarian beliefs, published a treatise against the worship of images. He denounced the trinity, claiming that “the Father alone is the true God…” Hetzer was arrested, charged with impugning the doctrine of the Trinity by the Synod of Constance, and ordered beheaded and burned. The sentence was carried … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 18
Harris Manchester College today 1816 – Russell Lant Carpenter was born in Exeter, England. He was the son of Lant Carpenter, a prominent Unitarian minister. He studied for the ministry at Manchester New College in York, now in Oxford, and went on to serve many churches. His sermons were often on social topics, unusual in … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 17
The Great Marketplace in Warsaw, Poland 1611 – Iwan Tyskiewicz, a Socinian, was executed in the great marketplace of Warsaw, Poland, for heresy. His tongue was cut out and one hand and one foot cut off before he was beheaded. Tysziewicz’s life would have been spared had he renounced his faith. He is considered the … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 16
Coat of Arms of Brzesc, Poland 1588 – Peter Gonesius professed his Unitarianism at the Synod of Brzesc in Poland. Said to be Polish Unitarianism what Francis Dávid was to Transylvanian Unitarianism, Gonesius was the first of the Polish Anapabtist reformers to publicly declare the union of two theologies — the use of adult reason in … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 15
Sion College (Jamie Berras, flickr.com) 1647 – The Presbyterian ministers of London, England, met at Sion College to protest the errors, heresies, and blasphemies of the time and to denounce toleration of such ideas. They were objecting to the growing influence of Unitarian beliefs on English Presbyterians. The post December 14 first appeared on Harvard … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 14
1816 – The Second Society of Universalists was incorporated in Boston in order to attract Hosea Ballou as the minister. The congregation erected a large brick building at a cost of $22,000, which became known as the School Street Church, and dedicated the building on October 16, 1817. Ballou, known as the “father of American Universalism,” … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 13
1805 – Frederic Henry Hedge was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He served Unitarian churches in Arlington and Brookline, Massachusetts; Bangor, Maine; and Providence, Rhode Island. Hedge’s influence extended beyond the denomination. He was appointed nonresident professor at Harvard Divinity School and then as professor of German languages and literature at Harvard College. A friend of … Continue reading This Day in Unitarian Universalist History December 12
