List of Unitarian martyrs

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Unitarian martyrs are individuals who died for their adherence to

Liberal religion
. Following is a partial list ordered by date of some of these martyrs.

Renaissance

1529: Ludwig Haetzer - beheaded in Konstanz, Germany; believed Jesus was a leader and teacher, not a God due worship

1539: Katarzyna Weiglowa - burned at the stake at age 80 for "apostasy to Judaism", though her stance was anti-trinitarian, not specifically Jewish.

1553: Michael Servetus - burned at the stake after a prison term because of writing a book noting absence of biblical evidence for a Trinity.

1579:

Francis David
was placed in prison, where he ultimately died.

1611: Iwan Tyszkiewicz - Polish member of the Socinian church (also see: Polish Brethren) who was beheaded for the blasphemy of Unitarianism.

Modern times

1697:

the Tolbooth, before making the long walk, under guard, to the gallows. He was said to have died Bible in hand, "with all the Marks of a true Penitent".[1]

1942:

Hartheim Castle
. Founder of the Czech Unitarian Church, and author of many hymns in Czech. Mother Spirit, Father Spirit and View the Starry Realm are both in Singing the Living Tradition, published by the Unitarian Universalist Association.

1965: James Reeb clubbed in Selma, Alabama, after responding to a call by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for the second of the Selma to Montgomery marches. Selma's public hospital refused to treat the Rev. Reeb, who was taken to University Hospital in Birmingham, two hours away. Reeb died on Thursday, March 11, with his wife by his side. His death inspired thousands to join King and other activists in the successful third march to Montgomery.

1965: Viola Liuzzo was a 39-year-old white mother and a civil rights worker from Detroit who came to Alabama to join in the Selma to Montgomery marches and help with voter registration. She was murdered March 25, 1965 while driving a fellow activist back from the Alabama Capitol Building, the site of the large rally at the culmination of the third march.

1988: Toribio Quimada, founder of the UU Church of the

Negros Island by unknown assailants believed to have been responding to his social justice ministry.[2]
While Rev. Quimada is listed as a Unitarian martyr, his theology was clearly Universalist, rather than Unitarian. His church was founded with Universalist beliefs, but became Unitarian Universalist about the same time (1961) that the Unitarian and Universalist denominations in the United States merged. The church remains affiliated with the denomination in the United States.[3]

2008: Greg McKendry and Linda Kreager, killed as a result of the politically motivated Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church shooting.

References

  1. ^ Thomas Aikenhead Archived October 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Greer, Jane (August 30, 2010). "Morales visits Unitarian Universalists in the Philippines". UU World Magazine. Retrieved September 26, 2011. UUA President Peter Morales is visiting Unitarian Universalists in the Philippines from August 26 to September 2
  3. ^ Muir, Frederic John (June 1, 2001). Maglipay Universalist: A History of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines.

External links