Unity?

[Lighthouse]

I think this is the same as the Unity Church, it is also the church I attend.  The message Unity teaches is that we all are divine beings... period.  It teaches messages that are designed to awaken the Christ Consciousness within each of us.  It is a church but It is not really a religion as we understand religions... it is more like a spiritual movement.  it encourages people to find their own path to Christ Consciousness within its teachings.  Here's the one I attend. www.unitylife.org there is also an association of Unity Churches which I think is at www.unity.org.

Kerri

[exothen]

You can also check out this link: http://www.carm.org/list/unity.htm

[Palehorse]

quote:I think this is the same as the Unity Church, it is also the church I attend.

Yep, this is indeed the org I'm talking about.  So, I hope you don't mind if I interrogate you for a minute.  []

What is a typical service at a Unity church like?  I know from this book o' mine that they believe in allegorical and metaphysical interpretations of scripture... but what's their take on the historicity of the Bible?  Have you ever seen or known someone firsthand who was healed, or had some other "miraculous" experience using the methods employed by Unity?  

Anyway, I'll probably be bugging you with more questions, but that's all that comes to mind for now.  But basically, my interest in Unity stems mainly from the facts that 1. I strongly believe Jesus wasn't kidding when he said his followers would be empowered to do the things he did and greater, and 2. the Church, not to mention the world as a whole, seems to be sorely lacking in genuinely spiritual people who aren't all talk, and actually have the ability to make a difference within their sphere of influence.  I can't say my motives are completely selfless though either, as I'm currently looking into ways to obtain my own personal healing of various things.

quote:You can also check out this link: http://www.carm.org/list/unity.htm

Eh, I don't think you want to get me started on Carm.  The false representations of various belief systems (my own included) are bad enough, but I've also personally observed quite a lot of intellectual dishonesty, ad hominem and blatant censorship from the webmaster, Matt Slick.  Not to mention, he's a devout Calvinist, which makes me shudder in and of itself.

[Lighthouse]

Palehorse,

Many of the people who attend my church are Reiki practitioners, myself included.  Go look under the Healing forum for a testimonial of Majour Ka to some Reiki healing that myself and a friend from my church sent his way.  I think it is under the heading, "Has anyone ever been healed?"

They have talked about the teachings of Ghandi, they have talked about Intention and the power of the mind, they have talked about Chaos and Community, about Homosexuality, and different interpretations of how it is viewed and they talk about the Christ Consciousness that we all have access to.

Basically, the message they all teach is that we are all God, expressed individually and the only difference between us and Christ is that He KNEW WHO HE WAS, that his TEACHINGS are the WAY... not he himself as an idol or someone to be worshoped but His way is life as being a path to God... Oh.. they also teach that there are many paths and they honor the development process of each individual person because even though we may be walking along the same path, we will not walk at the same time or follow the same path step for step as anyone else, we are all unique and all paths lead to God.

I hope this helps,
Kerri

[Rastus]

My wife and I attended a unity service last weekend (our first).

They believe that Jesus Christ was real, and that he showed the maximum potential of a human being could achieve.  The service had some nice music (live), some directed meditations (more in a minute), some hugging and meeting the congregation, and some affirmations.  Also had a great sermon from a guest minister that could have been posted on this website and no one would have questioned it.  Very non-judgemental, they call themselves metaphysical christians, and the bookstore has candles in all the chakra/meditation colors as well as books on the subject.

Now I was very 'up' walking into the building, not knowing what to expect.  It was a calm and seren place.  As soon as the service strted, I could feel someone (the minister I'm assuming) take 'control' of the service and direct it.  Ask some Witches about it [] (the priest/priestess mode)  I'm inexperienced in 'group work'.  It was more of controlling influence, I couldn't ....it's hard to explain.  Like being in sticky honey.  It went away the second we walked outside the front doors, a palpable feeling.  I had it explained to me as the reason people go to church []  For most people they feel 'up' in the group, while a few of us are held 'down'.  Sort of a group average.  They bust there buts to try and hit the 'up' feeling on there own.  So I did the right thing and shared my energy freely to those that needed it.


I 'saw' some very interesting things.  Some of the people there were very 'bright'.  One women arrived late, and I thought the sun came out through the stained glass, there was such a bright purple/white about her.  There was directed meditation several times, and you could see many different hand positions from different meditation techniques.  And of course the minister was meditating as well on the dais.  The only time I felt unbound was a directed meditation of healing for someone critically ill, that felt 'boosted' and very sharp as oppsed to the overall feeling.

This is a group I can work with, and I don't think you can go wrong checking them out.  'Christian' only comes in in relation to the teachings of Jesus Christ the man (which aren't even remotely related to most major organised christiananities)

[Palehorse]

While I was on vacation this past week, I happened to find and bought a 1931 Metaphysical Bible Dictionary written by one Charles Fillmore, who founded the Unity School of Christianity.  The book itself is very interesting; much of it checks out with things I already know, and I've learned much in the past few days I've been reading through it.  However, this is the first I've heard about said school, and I'm intrigued enough to want to learn more.

So, does anyone have any experience with and/or info on them?  I've done a lot of reading pro and con, and unsurprisingly found stuff labeling them everything from a dangerous cult to just another denomination.  I'm asking here rather than in some of my more overtly Christian forums, because I figure I can get a much more unbiased viewpoint, rather than reactionary condemnation.  What I'm really looking for are Christians who have a good understanding of the more esoteric side of religion, while still remaining true to Christianity, and not jumping off the deep end into relativism or mass-marketed new age fluff.

Sooo... any thoughts?