In the words of Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity:
“Unity is a link in the great educational movement inaugurated by Jesus Christ; our objective
is to discern the truth in Christianity and prove it. The truth that we teach is not new, neither do we claim special revelations
or discovery of new religious principles. Our purpose is to help and teach mankind to use and prove the eternal Truth taught
by the Master.”
At the turn of the 20th century, Charles Fillmore had three intentions for the Unity movement. First, he
wanted to make clear that Unity is a movement based on the universal Truths as they were revealed by Jesus Christ. Second,
he did not want to teach that the Unity way, or the Christian way, is the only pathway to God, for he found that the universal
thread of Truth could be found in all religions. Third, he wanted to ensure that Unity teachings were congruent with
newly emerging scientific knowledge which was revealing not only greater understanding of the nature of the material universe
but also the vast creative powers of the human mind.
Unity has always taught that there is a spiritual science, a science of mind, with its own metaphysical
laws, as limiting and as liberating as the law of the physical sciences. Unity teaches that our minds are intrinsically connected
to the infinitely creative Mind and power of God, and thus we have the power to create our life experiences – for ill
or for good - through the activity of our thoughts. Unity’s purpose is to teach what the metaphysical laws of
thought are and how to consciously and positively apply them, in our thinking and in our prayers, in order to cast off the
bonds that false habits of thinking have imposed—bonds of sickness, poverty, frustration, loneliness, and pain.
Thus Unity is a positive, practical approach to Christianity. We believe that human consciousness is intrinsically
inseparable from the Spirit of God within, and that the effective, daily application of these metaphysical laws of thought
and principles of Truth, as taught and exemplified by Jesus Christ, will promote a way of life that leads to health, prosperity,
happiness, and peace of mind.
Unity does not have a fixed creed or official rites or practices. Unity is an open-ended religion,
and Unity’s teachings are more a set of directions than they are a doctrine; they are signposts which show you the way
to Truth that you must ultimately find in yourself and for yourself. Likewise, although Unity looks to Jesus Christ
as our Way-Shower and utilizes the Bible as a basic text, Unity often does not present Bible passages and stories as literal
truth, but rather you are encouraged to interpret them metaphysically, looking for the underlying allegorical meanings and
spiritual principles and how they apply to every day issues in our modern lives.
Unity welcomes all people and honors all the many different spiritual paths that can lead to an awareness
of the Creative Power of the universe. This Power is known by many names in many different religions and philosophies.
Yet even as we honor all paths, we also emphasize a particular expression of universal spiritual principle that is uniquely
Unity.
We believe that there is one Presence and Power in the universe, a spiritual energy that we call God. That
which we call "evil" is not a separate power, rather it arises from our ignorance of God's Presence and how that Presence
is meant to express in our lives.
We believe that as God is Spirit, so are we spiritual beings caught up in a shared adventure of human experience.
Through ignorance of our spiritual essence we create a sense of lack, limitation and separation from each other-and from God.
In truth, however, we are one---one with each other and with all of life, because all of life is an integral part of the energy
that is God.
We believe that God is intrinsically present within us, ever seeking to express through us. We call this
indwelling Presence of God our Christ Spirit, and we recognize Jesus Christ as our Way-Shower. His life was a perfect demonstration
of our own potential. Jesus used his life to show what we can achieve in terms of healing, abundance, love and peace. We believe
that Jesus was the son of God just as each of us is the child of God. Jesus perfectly expressed his oneness with God, but
he did not present himself as a unique being. Rather he called us to follow his example, to recognize and apply the same spiritual
power within ourselves that he was able to express in his life.
Achieving our full spiritual expression, the state of being that Jesus called "the kingdom
of heaven," is the entire purpose of life. We believe that we will achieve this state of being through the daily practice
of applying metaphysical laws of thought and affirmative prayer (in which we recognize and affirm our infinite spiritual potential),
and by making consistent choices in our daily lives that allow the creative power of God to flow through us, thus creating
a life experience based entirely on our oneness and cooperation with God.
