Direct Experience, Intuition, and a Creedless Faith.

2012-10-12

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote the seven principles of our Association, as the basis for our being together as a religious community. After this section of our covenant, there is this line: the Living Tradition which we share draws from many sources. Then, our six sources are listed. We call this, The Living Tradition, but what does this phrase mean or why is it modified by the term, Living? The sacred tradition is a theological term used in some Christian traditions, such as Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox traditions. They also use the term, living tradition, but in their case, it is the transmission of the approved tradition from one generation to the next. Because the Christian tradition is based on a special revelation, it does not change. In our Unitarian Universalist case, we understand that the tradition itself is living, because it is growing and adapting to our increasing awareness of the Universe in which we live. This awareness allows us to discover, and thereby share with each other, more and more wisdom with each generation. For example, it was not that long ago that we added to our Sources, the sixth source of earth centered spirituality, because of its celebration of the entire circle of life that encourages us to respond to the rhythms of nature. Let me mention more about our Living Tradition and how it has changed over time. It helps answer the question, how did Unitarian Universalists get where we are today? If you can say one thing about our Unitarian and Universalist forebears is that they were students of history, particularly the religious history of the church, and that they learned from the mistakes that were made by the church AND by their own mistakes. Whether it was our namesake, Michael Servetus, discovering reforms needed or our associations leadership deciding to allow ordination of, first women, then people of color, then those of another sexual orientation, we have collectively learned that revelation is not sealed. Discovering new wisdom is always possible. In contrast, other Western religions, especially Christianity, revelation is sealed and cannot be altered. Disputes about church teaching were supposedly settled by the last ecumenical council in 787 C.E. Almost all of the actions of those church councils were decisions to determine the right opinion and to condemn wrong opinions. Of course, right opinion is the literal meaning of the Greek word, orthodoxia, which is our English word, orthodox. To have the right opinion means you have to have the right thinking. From an early era in the church up to the present day, official Christian truth, has been based on right thinking. Of course, discovering what is true is also what characterizes the method of other disciplines, such as medicine, law, engineering, and so on. Right thinking as the only means of knowing about religion began to be challenged in the early nineteenth century. Indeed, thinking itself as the only means of knowing, which originated from the Enlightenment philosophies of Kant, Descartes, and others, also was challenged by the later post-Kantian philosophers. A group of Germans, Prussians, and others, known as the German Romantic movement, began to emphasize the intuitive, feeling sense of knowing and appreciating the world. German Romanticism encompassed the philosophy, art, and culture of German-speaking people in the 18th & 19th centuries, but had influence across Europe and in America. The most well-known representative of this movement was probably the writer and poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 1

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2012-10-12

German Romanticism also had an influence religion as well. Chief among those was a Reformed clergyman and professor, Friedrich Schleiermacher. Schleiermacher said, religion stops with the immediate experiences of the existence and action of the universe, with the individual intuitions and feelings.1 His contribution was a significant departure in the orientation toward the religion of his time, a religion based on dogma and creeds, which are developed from thinking. Some of us may recognize this departure in our previous religious communities. I know in my case, I never heard of religion related to intuition and feeling anywhere in my religious past. It had always been about thinking and believing the right things. Unitarians were influenced by German Romanticism, albeit gradually, throughout the 19th century. The primary means of this influence was through the Transcendentalists, a group of individuals casually associated with American Unitarianism, the most notable persons were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller. Originally, it was a group of Unitarian ministers or former ministers, as in Emersons case, and Branson Alcott. Margaret Fuller and Elizabeth Peabody would join later. And to what they were joining was not exactly clear. Emerson wrote in his journal that he had no idea who first applied the term, Transcendentalist, to the group. They met together because they all shared, as they told each other, a dissatisfaction with the intellectual and religious climate of New England. The meetings of the group occurred irregularly, usually meeting in someones home and usually when one of their number, Rev Frederick Henry Hedge, came to town from Bangor Maine. The Unitarians in mid-19th century flirted with creating a creed, a trend at odds with the sympathies of the Transcendentalists. For example, the organization of the National Conference of Unitarian Churches included The preamble to it[s] earliest bylaws described member congregations as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, but omitted everywhere else in the document implications for any creedal test for membership in the Conference or in member churches.2 The Transcendentalists were uncomfortable with the Christian language, as would be some of us too. Eventually, the Transcendentalists started their own publication, called The Dial, to publish their own views, writings of essays, commentary, and poetry. Margaret Fuller was the publications first editor. The Club, as they were sometimes called, met over a period of three to four years before they disbanded altogether, but still pursued their own writing. Eventually, even The Dial went out of publication. Nevertheless, Dean Grodzins, author of American Heretic Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism, says that Transcendentalism [was] the most important American intellectual movement of the 19th century.3

On Religions: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers, by Friedrich Schleiermacher, Richard Crouter, ed., pg. 26.

http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/henrywhitneybellows.html Dean Grodzins, American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism, pg 2

xi.

Direct Experience, Intuition, and a Creedless Faith.

2012-10-12

The Transcendentalist Movement is primarily known as an American literary phenomenon or trend. Friedrich Schleiermacher had a significant influence on this group and their understanding of religion. This influence, as I mentioned, took a while to influence Unitarians more broadly. As Holly Reed says, Schleiermacher is arguing against religion as mere knowing, which would characterize the rational approach of doctrinal orthodoxy. Unitarian Universalists have succeeded in creating a creed-less religion. We do not require a belief statement for membership in any of our churches. A danger sign amongst us, however, is the tendency, infrequent though it is, to rule out some beliefs as invalid and to communicate that to the people who hold those beliefs. It is contrary to our principles of inclusion and is flirting with a test of belief, or unbelief, in another form. We have also succeeded in including and giving voice to direct experience in our first source. Perhaps this is a shout out to our transcendentalist history, those pioneers who first attempted to apply Schleiermachers teachings. For clearly, our direct experience language comes from that part of our history. Yet, we havent emphasized this direct experience nearly enough, in my opinion, nor have we explored fully its implications. I suggest that our first source that says, direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, is equivalent to what Schleiermacher means when he says religion is an intuition of the universe, or to say it another way, he also wrote that the basic intuition of a religion can be nothing other than some intuition of the infinite in the finite. I am aware that there are sensitivities to language and that certain words can be troubling. The phrase, transcending mystery and wonder, might have negative connotations for some. Mystery means something that is hidden. Transcending means to literally climb beyond. I dont think the phrase direct experience would be a problem for too many, so lets take a moment to substitute or to rewrite that first source. One could say direct experience of the universe or perhaps of infinity. If you wanted to fill in the blank after direct experience of, . . . What would it be? What word or phrase would you use to include all that there is? I suppose you could use that phrase, all that there is, but what else might you use? Does anyone want to give me a word or short phrase that is consistent with your experience? [Pause to let people respond to this phrase]. Ground of Being could be another variation, which comes from both the theologian Paul Tillich, and Tibetan Buddhism. Religions essence, as Schleiermacher wrote, is neither thinking nor acting, but intuition and feeling. [Religion] wishes to intuit the universe, wishes devoutly to overhear the universes own manifestations and actions. For me, this is equivalent to direct experience, no matter how we complete that phrase in our first source. The implications of this primacy of intuition and feeling in religion are these: Everyones religious or spiritual experience is valid for them. This includes everyone in sure, clear Universalist fashion. It even includes those individuals who interpret their religious experience in ways we do not like, even manifested in hurtful ways or in unethical actions. Those with less than normal mental capacities are able to have the same direct experience 3

Direct Experience, Intuition, and a Creedless Faith.

2012-10-12

as you and me, because these individuals, even those with significant brain damage, can still have intuition and feeling for that which is infinite. This could make interfaith dialogue easier to conduct. We can ask others of different faith traditions about their experiences and hear about their stories. As Unitarian Universalists, we do not have a belief system, we have a value system. It is a value system that is universal in its application and that says everyones religious or spiritual experience is valid. It is a system that is based on the heart and not on the head. Schleiermacher got to this very point when he wrote, everything is present[ly] in vain for him who stands aloof; for in order to intuit the world and to have religion, [one] must first have found humanity, and one finds it only in love and through love. Each person embraces most ardently the one in whom the world is reflected most clearly and surely; each loves most tenderly the one in whom [she or] he finds everything brought together that [she or] he lacks for the completion of humanity. Therefore, let us repair (return) to humanity, that we may find the material for religion.4 Religion means to tie together again, despite what it has become. It is reconnecting us horizontally and vertically in the universe. Horizontally, it is that re-connection to each other and the other people in our lives. Vertically is that re-connection to that Ground of Being. It is a heart matter and the experience is open to everyone. This is our Unitarian Universalist legacy and it is our Living Tradition.

Schleiermacher, pg. 38.