A Documentary History of Unitarian Universalism, Volume 1: From the Beginning to 1899

A panel of top scholars presents the first comprehensive collection of primary sources from Unitarian Universalist history. This, the first of the two-volume set, covers the early histories of Unitarianism and Universalism, from the third century up to 1899. From Arius and Origen to Theodore Parker and Olympia Brown, this rich anthology features leaders, thinkers, and ordinary participants in the ever-changing tradition of liberal religion. This volume contains more than a hundred distinct documents, with scholarly introductions by leading experts in Unitarian Universalist history. The selections include sermons, theologies, denominational statements, hymns, autobiographies, and manifestos, with special attention to class, cultural, gender, and sexual diversity. Primary sources are the building blocks of history, and A Documentary History of Unitarian Universalism presents the sources we need for understanding this denomination’s past and for shaping its future.

Dan McKanan is the Emerson Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School. He is the author of five books, most recently Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition (Beacon Press, 2011) and Eco-Alchemy: Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Environmental Movement (University of California Press, 2017). A member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford, he lives with his spouse and daughter in Somerville, Massachusetts.