Suggested Reading

Members and friends often ask us for a 'recommended reading list'. The following list is by no means exhaustive. Among items excluded are many texts which, while of great interest to the student of Unitarian history or theology, are more specialised in nature, or ones which are rare and difficult to obtain. An example of the first category is William Ellery Channing's Baltimore Sermon. As for the second category, although some of the texts mentioned here are out of print, many can now be obtained easily from online booksellers.

As this compilation is intended primarily for people interested in Unitarian Christian faith and practice, many otherwise worthy books on Unitarianism written from a non- Christian perspective have not been listed.

The categories are intended as a general guide only, as there is an inevitable overlap between many of them. Subjects such as 'Jesus' and 'theology' are obvious examples. Some works mentioned are suitable for the general reader. Some are pamphlets or booklets. Others repay in-depth study, although they may still be suitable for people without a background in academic theology.

Most, but not all, of the authors listed here are either Unitarian, or Unitarian-Universalist, in their allegiance, with a few exceptions where the author might be expected to shed light on Unitarian Christian views, one example being Bart Ehrman, an erstwhile Evangelical, now agnostic scholar.

Jesus
D.G. Wigmore Beddoes (ed.) Concerning Jesus
David C. Doel: The Man They Called the Christ (Unitarian Christian Association, 2009)
Prescott Browning Wintersteen: Christology in American
Unitarianism: An Anthology of Outstanding Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Unitarian Theologians With Commentary and Historical Background (Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship, 1977)

Christian Origins
Bart D. Ehrman Lost Christianities: the Battles for Scripture and the Faiths we Never Knew (Oxford University Press 2005) Robin Lane Fox: Pagans and Christians (Penguin, 1988) Maurice Wiles: Archetypal Heresy: Arianism Through the Centuries (Clarendon Press Oxford, 1996)

Contemporary Christian
Marcus J Borg: Speaking Christian - Recovering the Lost Meaning of Christian Words (2011), The Heart of Christianity- Rediscovering a Life of Faith (2011) John Dominic Crossan: The Power of Parable- How fiction by Jesus became fiction about Jesus (2012), The Greatest Prayer - Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord's Prayer (2011) Marcus J Borg and John Dominic Crossan: The Last Week- What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem (2008)

Unitarianism and Liberal Christianity
Faith with Freedom: The Non- Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Non- Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, n.d.) L.A. Garrard: Athens or Jerusalem? A Study in Christian Comprehension (George Allen and Unwin, 1965) Jeremy and Rosemary Goring: The Unitarians (Christian Denominations Series- Religious and Moral Education Press 1984)
Arthur Long: Fifty Years of Theology 1928-1978: The Vindication of Liberalism (The Essex Hall Lecture for 1978) (Lindsey Press, 1978) Arthur Long: Unitarianism: Its Past, Present and Future (Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, n.d). Reprinted from the Expository Times (published by T&T Clark Ltd) John McLachlan: The Divine Image (Lindsey Press, 1972) H. L. Short: Dissent and the Community (The Essex Hall Lecture for 1962) (Lindsey Press, 1962) Kathleen Rolenz (ed.) Christian Voices in Unitarian Universalism: Contemporary Essays (Skinner House Books, 2006) Thomas D. Wintle (ed.): A Unitarian Universalist Christian Reader C Christian Vols 51 and 52: 1996-1997)

Unitarian Life and Practice
Hungarian Unitarian Catechism: in The Unitarian Universalist Christian Vol 49, nos 3-4 Fall/Winter 1994 (Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship)
Cliff Reed: "Unitarian? What's That?" Questions and answers about a liberal religious alternative (Lindsey Press, 1999)

Unitarian History - General
C.G. Bolam, J. Goring, H.L. Short and R. Thomas: The English Presbyterians (George Allen and Unwin 1968) Phillip Hewett: Racovia: An Early Liberal Religious Community (Blackstone Editions, 2004) David B. Parke (ed.): The Epic of Unitarianism: Original Writings from the History of Liberal Religion (Beacon Press, 1957) Leonard Smith: The Unitarians: A Short History (Lensden Publishing, Arnside, Cumbria, March 2006) Earl Morse Wilbur: Our Unitarian Heritage: An Introduction to the History of the Unitarian Movement (Beacon Press 1952) - also now available online.

Unitarian History - North America
Sydney E. Ahlstrom & Jonathan Sinclair Carey (eds) An American Reformation: A Documentary History of Unitarian Christianity (International Scholars Publications 1998) David Robinson: The Unitarians and the Universalists (Greenwood Press, 1985) Conrad Wright (ed.): A Stream of Light: A Sesquicentennial History of American Unitarianism (Unitarian Universalist Association, 1975) Conrad Wright: The Beginnings of Unitarianism in America (Starr King Press, 1954)

Unitarian Theology
James Luther Adams: An Examined Faith: Social Context and Religious Commitment (ed. and with an introduction by George K. Beach) (Beacon Press, 1991) Alfred Hall Beliefs of a Unitarian (Lindsey Press, 2nd edition, 1947) John Hostler: Unitarianism (Hibbert Trust 1982) A Richard Kingston God in one Person: the case for non-incarnational Christianity (MacMillan 1993) Arthur Long: Current Trends in British Unitarianism (Ulster Unitarian Christian Association, 1997) Arthur Long: Faith and Understanding: Critical Essays in Christian Doctrine (Lindsey Press 1963) Alice Blair Wesley: Myths of Time and History: A Unitarian Universalist Theology (Sept 1987)

Unitarian Worship and Liturgy
Book of Common Prayer According to the Use in King's Chapel (Boston, 1986) Duncan McGuffie: The Hymn Sandwich: A brief history of Unitarian worship ([Unitarian] Worship sub Committee: n.d. - 1982(?))

Unitarians and Sacraments
Tom Banham (ed.): European Perspectives on Baptism (published by the Ulster Unitarian Christian Association, for the European Liberal Protestant Network: n.d.) Carl Scovel: Baptism: the what, when, where and why of Christian initiation together with a brief history (The Society of King's Chapel, Boston, Mass, 1994) David Steers (ed.): European Perspectives on Communion (published by the Ulster Unitarian Christian Association, for the European Liberal Protestant Network, 2001)

History of Unitarian Ministerial Education
Barbara Smith (ed.): Truth, Liberty, Religion: Essays celebrating Two Hundred Years of Manchester College (Manchester College Oxford, 1986) Leonard Smith (ed.): Unitarian to the Core: Unitarian College Manchester 1854-2004 (Carnegie Publishing, on behalf of Unitarian College, Manchester, 2004)

Universalist History - North America
Ann Lee Bressler: The Universalist Movement in America, 1770-1880 (Oxford University Press, 2001) Ernest Cassara (ed.): Universalism in America: A Documentary History (Beacon Press, 1971) George Hunston Williams: American Universalism: A Bicentennial Historical Essay (in The Journal of the Universalist Historical Society, Vol IX, 1971)

Unitarian Biblical Perspectives
John A. Buehrens: Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals (Beacon Press, 2003)

Unitarians and Social Responsibility
Reg Ash: Christianity, Community & Social Concern: a History of the Liverpool Domestic Mission Society from 1836 (Wordscapes, 2010) Geoffrey Head: Far-Off Magic: The story of Unitarian commitment to providing holiday and convalescent homes (The Nightingale Centre, Great Hucklow, Derbyshire, 2006) R.V. Holt: The Unitarian Contribution to Social Progress in England (Lindsey Press, 1952)

Ecumenical Relations
'As Others See Us: Ecumenical Perspectives on Unitarian Universalism' (The Unitarian Universalist Christian Vol 42 no 4: Winter 1987)

Christianity and Other Faiths
Harry H. Hoehler: Christian Responses to the World's Faiths (in The Unitarian Universalist Christian Vol 45 nos2-4: Summer/Winter 1990)

Animal Welfare
Gary Kowalski: The Bible According to Noah: Theology as if Animals Mattered (Lantern Books, 2001)

Unitarian Architecture and Sites of Special Interest
Graham and Judy Hague: The Unitarian Heritage: An Architectural Survey of Chapels and Churches in the Unitarian Tradition in the British Isles (1986) J. Eric Jones: Gardens of Faith: Unitarian Heritage Sites in Wales (Unitarian Welsh Department, March 2006)

Devotional Material
Andrew J. Brown and John C. Morgan: Daybreak and Eventide (published by Lighthouse Editions for the Unitarian Christian Association, 2007) John Nichols: A Wind Swept Over The Waters: Reflections on 60 Favorite Bible Passages (Skinner House Books, 2007) Cliff Reed: Sacred Earth: Words for Prayer and Reflection (Lindsey Press, 2010)