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Five Principles of the Unity Christian Church

by Ron Kurtus (revised 8 November 2007)

Unity is a religion based on holistic Christian concepts. The church is based on five principles concerning God, goodness, thoughts, prayer and action. These basic ideas make up the Unity belief system. Unity is not considered a "mainstream" Christian religion. Rather it is classified under the "New Thought" genre of religions.

A question you may have are:

• What are these principles?
• How do they combine as a belief system?
• How do they compare with my beliefs?

This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.

Note: This is an educational website. We are not promoting any one religion.

Five principles

The five principles upon which followers of the Unity Christian religion base their faith are:

1. God is good

God is absolute good and everywhere present.

There is only One Power and One Presence active in the universe and in my life, God, the Good, Omnipotent.

God is the source and creator of all. There is no other enduring power. God is good and present everywhere.

Deut. 6:4-5

2. People are good

Since humans are made in the image of God, they have a spark of divinity within them and therefore are inherently good also.

Our essence is of God; therefore, we are inherently good. This God essence was fully expressed in Jesus, the Christ.

We are spiritual beings, created in God’s image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good.

John 14:20

3. Thoughts create experiences

Human beings create their experiences by the activity of their thinking. Everything in the manifest realm has its beginning in thoughts.

We are co-creators with God, creating reality through thoughts held in mind.

We create our life experiences through our way of thinking.

Galatians 6:7

4. Prayer is connection

Prayer is creative thinking that heightens the connection with God and therefore brings forth wisdom, healing, prosperity and everything good.

Through affirmative prayer and meditation, I connect with God and bring out the good in my life.

There is power in affirmative prayer, which we believe increases our connection to God.

Matthew 5:37 and 6:6

5. Action is needed

Knowing and understanding the laws of life—also called truth—is not enough. A person must live the truth that he or she knows.

Through thoughts, words and actions, we live in the truth we know.

Knowledge of these spiritual principles is not enough. We must live them.

James 2:14-18

Analysis

The first two principles state the belief that since God is good, so are people inherently good. This is contrary to many other Christian religions that state that people are born into sin. Unity has a more positive viewpoint toward humanity, which is refreshing to many.

The third principle implies that a positive attitude will lead to positive things in your life. The fourth principle emphasizes that prayer is important in improving your life. Since humans are considered good, there is no mention of praying for forgiveness of sins.

The final principle moves people to action in leading a good life.

These concepts combine to form a belief system that is the basis for the Unity religion.

Comparison

Since Unity considers itself a Christian church, it is unusual that its five principles make no mention of the role of Jesus Christ, such as in the Apostles' Creed. Although most Unity church services include the Lord's Prayer, have baptism and Holy Communion. Jesus Christ is mentioned in other Unity areas.

Compare these tenets with your own religion to see the similarities and differences.

Summary

Members of the Unity Christian Church base their religion on five principles or beliefs, concerning God, goodness, thoughts, prayer and taking action.

Answers to Readers' Questions

Follow your beliefs

Resources

The following are some resources on this topic.

Websites

Unity World Headquarters - Explanations of the religion and services provided

Religion Resources

Books

Top-rated books on Religion

Miscellaneous

Mini-quiz to check your understanding

1. What does the Unity religion believe that can prayer bring forth?

2. What rationale does Unity make that people are inherently good?

3. What do some people feel is unusual about Unity's principles?

If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a champion in understanding Religion. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.

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Five Principles of the Unity Christian Church