A study on unitarians (İn the case of the church of Transylvania)

Religion is a phenomenon that has been the center of attention of all people throughout history. In-depth studies are required to understand religions and to go down to the origins of religious phenomena. History of Religions is a science that examines religions that have lived or continue to live throughout history with all their theological dimensions. Unitarianism, which we have chosen as the subject of study, comes to the fore with its theology that rejects the trinity belief, which was the subject of discussion with the birth of Christianity. Unitarianism is a sect that has about one million followers today. The first origin of the anti-trinitarian views of Unitarianism started with Arius in the Council of Nicaea in 325 and this belief was given the name Aryanism. Later on, different names have been given to anti-trinitarian views throughout history. Those who defended George Blandrata's views were called Blandratists, while those who defended Michael Servetus were called Servetians. In the 16th century, the anti-trinity views of the Italian theologian Socinus were called Socianism. Unitarianism, which is the subject of our study, is the last link of this tradition and it rejects the belief in the trinity and emphasizes the belief in one God. Unitarianism emerged in Poland and Transylvania in the 16th century and later became an institutionalized sect throughout Europe, especially in England. It has passed from England to the United States and has developed especially in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a sect that tends to become popular day by day with its libertarian attitude towards women's rights and LGBT rights and its non-impositional attitude towards religious belief. Unitarians, who rejected the belief in the Trinity and emphasized the belief in one God, have been subjected to many oppression and violence throughout history, and even it has been seen that death sentences have been applied against some believers. Despite all these pressures, Unitarianism continues to attract attention in Europe and the USA today. Such an interesting sect has been studied in terms of master's and doctoral theses in the History of Religions in Turkey. There are studies discussed under the titles of Arianism, Socianism and Unitarianism. The study on the Unitarian Transylvanian Church, which we are working on, has not been studied in Turkey. In this sense, the Transylvanian Church, which has a very important place for Unitarian history, has been studied. By visiting the Transylvanian Unitarian Church and interviewing the Bishop and religious officials, the Transylvanian Church was discussed in our thesis both historically and in terms of today's beliefs. Unitarianism has also been the subject of publications dealing with the histories of religions in general and the History of Religions researches written specifically for Christianity. However, since the subject is very broad in such studies and the number of people believed in Unitarianism is less than other sects, Unitarianism has been discussed under sub-headings by giving mostly superficial and general information. For this reason, when compared to other sects with more adherents, the data we can access from Turkish sources is limited. Therefore, Western literature constituted the main sources of our study. In this sense, important resources were accessed from the library of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church. In addition, the website of the organization called UUA, where US Unitarians are organized, was also examined and information about today's US Unitarians was accessed. Our aim in our thesis is to examine Unitarians and Unitarianism in depth and to deal with their historical process. In order to make an in-depth study, the first emergence of Unitarianism, its later stages of development and important opinion leaders are discussed in our study. Particular attention was paid to the regions of Poland, USA, England and Transylvania, where it developed. The fact that the Unitarians emerged in the Transylvania region at a time when the Ottoman Empire was dominant, and the Unitarians who were oppressed in Europe contacted the Islamic World, caused Unitarianism to establish relations with the Islamic World. These relationships are discussed in our thesis. In this sense, first of all, the view of the Classical Period Islamic World towards Arianism was examined, and then the Ottoman Period, in which relations increased. The increasing relations in the Ottoman period paved the way for some Unitarians to come to the fore at that time. One of the prominent personalities is Ibrahim Muteferrika, who is an important figure especially because he opened the first printing house. Ibrahim Muteferrika's Unitarian past and Ottoman period studies are discussed in this section. Anti-trinity beliefs, which are the main starting points of Arianism, Socinianism and Unitarianism, and the criticisms they bring to this belief are discussed under the titles of Father, Son, Holy Spirit and Bible. Baptism and communion rites, which are accepted as sacraments by Unitarians, were examined. Unitarianism's view of the world and the hereafter is discussed under the titles of creation and afterlife teachings. Finally, in this section, it is emphasized how marriage, funeral and burial rituals and religious holidays, which are important rituals in all religions, are applied in the general Christian world and in Unitarianism. Examining the subject from written works is, of course, essential for understanding the historical process and intellectual development of Unitarianism. In addition, for the examination of Unitarianism, which is a living belief, a Unitarian church in Transylvania, where this belief emerged and is currently lived, was examined on site and its real reflections in people's lives were observed. For this purpose, the Unitarian congregation in the Romanian city of Cluj (Kalošvar) was visited. The "First Unitarian Church", the largest and oldest Unitarian church in the region, was visited and its rituals were observed (Image: 1). "Torocko Village Unitarian Church" was visited in order to obtain information about how Unitarianism was lived in the rural area in terms of religious life and traditions (Image: 2). One-on-one interviews were conducted with the bishop of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church, the deputy bishop, ministers, Unitarian History scholars, archivists, architects, and Unitarian school teachers and administrators. These interviews were recorded. Thanks to the interviews and rituals observed for a week, information about Unitarianism living in this region was obtained. As a result of the interviews with the bishop, the assistant bishop and the ministers, it was seen that the Unitarians had a clear belief in one God and showed a very respectful attitude towards other religions. These attitudes have greatly contributed to our work in collecting and interpreting data about Transylvanian Unitarians. Key Words: History of Religions, Christianity, Unitarianism, Trinity, Baptism, Transylvania.