Church Authority

Biblical Unitarianism is a loosely organized movement without a central denominational structure, synod, or binding authority beyond Scripture. There is no Biblical Unitarian equivalent of a general conference or central office that establishes doctrinal norms or disciplines member congregations. Local congregations and house churches are autonomous and self-governing.

Scripture is the supreme and sole authority for Biblical Unitarians. All doctrinal claims — including the non-Trinitarian theology that defines the movement — are defended on strictly exegetical grounds. No tradition, creed, council, or patristic consensus is accorded authority alongside Scripture. The rejection of Nicene Trinitarianism is itself grounded in this commitment to Scripture alone: the councils are rejected because, in the Biblical Unitarian reading, they imposed Greek philosophical categories on biblical monotheism.

The movement is held together primarily by shared theological convictions and by online communities, publishing houses (such as the work of Anthony Buzzard's 21st Century Reformation initiative), and conferences rather than by institutional structures. This decentralization makes it difficult to speak of official Biblical Unitarian positions on secondary matters — individual congregations and communities vary significantly in practice and emphasis.