Anglicans believe that since people were created in the image and likeness of God and since people have the ability to reason and have intellect, reason and intellect must be qualities of God. If something just doesn't make sense or is contrary to reason, a person of faith is not bound to accept it as true just because some authority claims it is true. Quite simply, the heart will never accept what the mind rejects.

Job 9:6 tells us that, "[God] shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble." We know that the earth does not rest on pillars, and that our understanding of the universe is very different from the understanding of the universe that existed in biblical times. To insist that a person pretend to believe that all of the biblical stories are literally true -- even those that we know cannot possibly be true -- is to insist that people deny their God given intelligence and believe in a God who wants them to lie to themselves rather than come to the fullness of who they were created to be. We reject that notion.

What do you believe about God?

We acknowledge God as the Ground of Being, the Source of Life and Love. We exercise caution when we use parental titles for God, because they can easily mislead people into thinking that God is a super-human being. In fact, God is Spirit (John 4:24), present at all places at all times. There is nothing, there is no one, outside the reach of God's loving embrace.

God, having been present before creation (whether one holds to the biblical account of creation or the scientific view of creation) has neither a preferred nor a chosen people. All people belong to God. We acknowledge that groups of people have, at various times throughout history, identified themselves to be God's chosen people. While we appreciate the love of God and thankfulness of those people for the blessings of God that motivated such a claim, the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (MT 8:11) clearly shows that all people are God's people.

As Universal Anglicans, we believe that there is one God, known by many different names in many different cultures and belief systems. We affirm that all religions are valid paths to the holy. To claim that we have the only valid belief system is to presume to know the mind of God and amounts to nothing less than idolatry.

Of late, much attention has been paid to the Passion of Christ. We believe that to focus exclusively on the death of Christ is an error, and denies Jesus' most important function for us in our lives on this earth. Jesus' life and teachings show us how to live the life God created us to live. We hasten to point out that Jesus' Great Commandment makes no mention of his passion:

"'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (MT 22:37-40)

The life and teachings of Jesus clearly demonstrate his passion for social justice. He consistenly stood with the marginalized of his society: the poor, women, tax collectors, lepers, prostitutes, those perceived to be demon-possessed, among others. We learn from this that walking the Christian life means that we are called to follow that example. The UAC is absolutly dedicated to social justice.

In the same way that we acknowledge there are many paths to God, we acknowledge that there are many paths to the Christ. Some find the historical Jesus to be their entry point to belief; others find the Christ of faith, or the Christ Consciousness, or the Cosmic Christ to be their entry point. All are welcome in the Universal Anglican Church, for in our diversity we move closer to the fullness of Christ.

We believe that the Holy Spirit was present with God at Creation (PR 8:1-4, 22-31) and was experienced throughout the Hebrew Scriptures as the Wisdom of God. The experience of the disciples at Pentecost was a radical opening to the presence of the Holy Spirit, not the first appearance of the Spirit in history.

The Holy Spirit leads us and calls us to live the life that Jesus led.

We acknowledge that some traditions believe that certain experiences of the Spirit are a requirement to be "Christian," While we respect their belief system, we do not agree with it, nor do we find it to be scripturally based.

What about the Trinity?

The Trinity is a doctrine that was developed three to four centuries after the death and resurrection of Christ. Like all doctrines, it is an attempt to say something about the nature of God.

Within the UAC there are some who hold to the traditional doctrine of the Trinity, others hold to a more contemporary understanding of the Trinity, and others hold a Christian Unitarian view and reject the doctrine of the Trinity. All views are welcome in the Universal Anglican Church.

What about the Bible?

We hold that the bible represents the contextual inspirations of people of faith and to the extent the scriptures reflect human interpretation they are subject to human limitations.