podcast 332 – Emlyn’s Humble Inquiry

Thomas Emlyn was a beloved minister in a Presbyterian church in Dublin, Ireland. But he and a friend decided to investigate some recent controversies about “the Trinity,” and eventually Emlyn found himself seeing the New Testament in a unitarian light. Not being a contentious person, he avoided such topics in the pulpit. But when his true convictions came to light, he was immediately forced out, and he even had to flee the country until the controversy died down.

Coming back, in 1702 he wrote this little book to explain his convictions: An Humble Inquiry into the Scripture-Account of Jesus Christ: A Short Argument concerning His Deity and Glory, according to the Gospel. The result? Jail and an unjustly large fine – the result of Ireland’s then-current “blasphemy” laws!

In this episode I present some excerpts of the just-published Updated Edition of this lost classic. Beloved by previous generations of unitarian Christians, this edition makes Emlyn’s sure-footed, biblical critique of the deity of Christ accessible to today’s readers.

There’s also an exciting announcement for UCA Partners at the beginning of this episode!