By what authority? Religious language in perspective

Back in 1990 then UUA President William F. Schultz wrote an article entitled "Theology According To Newsweek" It seems that the magazine had "quoted" the UUA President as saying that UUs believe that "the individual is the ultimate source of authority." He said that statement was only a snippet of what he had said. It was accurate, but incomplete. He wished they could have found space for "an additional phrase or two."

According to Schultz, Unitarian Universalists do posit the individual conscience and decision maker with authority. Our faith tradition recognizes and encourages each of us to exercise our considerable freedom to choose that which we hold sacred, and of ultimate concern. But there are consequences. , Emerson once said that "we should be careful what we worship. for what we are worshipping we are becoming."

But he goes on to say that there are other complimentary sources for authority in our religious tradition. I think these are sources of authority for Unitarian Universalists, and thus I offer his list with some of my own thinking for general discussion. I have used his categories but the arguments not quoted are my own.

1. The tradition. We honor certain norms within our community which are grounded in what Unitarians and Universalists in previous generations held dear. Some examples: our association of congregations is guided by traditions of congregational polity; our association of ministers asks its members to abide by ministerial standards that arise from that polity; we call and ordain ministers by methods that have evolved over time; and many of our congregations have historic covenants that root them in a heritage of the free church and open them to the future witness.

2. The community. We are individuals, but we individuals who are enriched by creative interchange with others. Schulz writes "the love and nurturance, the feedback and critique, which we find in a healthy congregation are invaluable resources in the shaping of religious pilgrimage."

3. Reason. We use reason and verify the evidence so that our ideas are grounded in community experience. We apply the critical method to so that we do become infatuated with our own intellectual constructions.

4. Nature. Shultz writes "if we posit as we do, the value of the earth, then the natural rhythms of Creation provide authoritative echoes of their own. In an age of global warming, ozone deletion, rapid destruction of arable land, wetlands, and critical habitat, we should listen to Mother Nature.

5. The Holy. "The final and most idiosyncratic source of religious authority is whatevery we call Holy. Be it God or Good, Jesus or Jeremiah, the Bible or Bhavada Gita, that which commands our highest loyalty commands our hearts.

According to Shultz "this last source requires testing against the previous four. But then those must be judged also in reference to the fifth."

The Holy? As a source of authority for Unitarian Universalists. Schultz wasn't the first to assert this claim. Some folks think Bill Sinkford invented "the language of reverence" but long before Sinkford became President "boy Humanist" Bill Shultz was openly inviting us to renew our acquaintance with Unitarian Universalism and to use religious language.