Though we have no creed, we surely have made covenants--with each other, with previous generations, and some would even say with God--to live as a community united around certain precepts. The most recent form of those commitments we hold in common is to be found in our Principles and Purposes. But what about the fundamental religious questions? What does Unitarian Universalism have to teach us about God and meaning, the Good and suffering?

Obviously our answers may differ in detail depending upon our theological perspectives. Some of us would understand God in very personal ways, as the source of love of hopefulness; some would see God in nature or as Ultimate Reality; others would take the Goddess as a model; and still others would have no truck with the whole notion at all. Similarly, some of us would find life's greatest meaning through Christian prayer or Buddhist meditation; others through communion with the natural world or the pursuit of scientific understanding; and still others through the companionship of their loved ones. It is this diversity which makes Unitarian Universalism a congenial home for those who come from different religious backgrounds.

Regardless of the details or differences, however, there are a whole host of faith affirmations with which the vast majority of us would be comfortable:

• Whatever we think the holy be, Creation itself is holy.

We make no distinctions between the natural and the supernatural, the secular and the sacred. We simply cherish the earth and all its creatures.

• Life's gifts are available to everyone, not just the Chosen or the Saved.

Only human artifice or blind ill fortune can separate us from the source of blessings. Whatever that source be, it makes no artificial distinctions among its supplicants.

• That which is most precious, most profound, Divine, is made evident, not in the miraculous or otherworldly, but in the simple and the everyday.

We look not to the heavens or an afterlife for our meaning, but to the exuberance of life's unfolding. Whatever abundance there may be is lodged right here on earth.

• Human beings themselves are responsible for the planet and its future.

Social justice is a religious obligation. The future is never fated.

• Every one of us is held in Creation's hand--we share its burdens and its radiance--and hence strangers need not be enemies.

The "interdependent web o fall existence" offers an embrace to everything and everyone. Our only inherent enemies are violence, poverty, injustice, and oppression. The earth is our cherished home.

• Though death confronts us all, we love life all the more even though we lose it.

An honorable and impassioned life may not deny death its due, but it can surely rob it of its victory.

Read more: Beliefs, Creeds and Doctrines.

Introduction

Tradition and Community

Commitments and Covenants

Beliefs, Creeds and Doctrines

Life, Death, Salvation and Sin

Definitions and Differences

History

"High above us the sun shines

Below our feet the earth still simmers with its first fire.

Somewhere between the stars and earth's core

we live and weep

we ask and laugh, and answer.

We light our chalice in amazement at such wonders abounding."

Some Helpful Links:

100 Questions Non-Members Ask about Unitarian Universalism

Our Faith: Frequently Asked Questions