Universalism Emblem

1946
symbol

Earlier
symbol

As a whole (please excuse the pun!), Universalism rejects the concept of salvation through Christ's sacrifice. Yet their emblem includes the cross, which is the recognized symbol of Christ's sacrifice.

The prominence of the cross in their emblem is minimised, to emphasize that Christianity is not the only religion in the universe.

Universalism has a Christian (Protestant) origin but as their symbol (left) shows, there is room for additional points of view.

Universalism respects the religion of Jesus; but does not profess the religion about Jesus (mainstream Christianity), where 'Christ' is the Son of God who died for our sins (see meaning of the Cross). By contrast, the Jesus of Universalism is similar to the Jesus of Islam; a great prophet.

Universalists have a 'declaration of faith' yet they do not consider this a creed, since they are committed to individual freedom of belief and accept other religions inclusively.

"The circle, a traditional symbol of infinity because it has no beginning or end, represents the universe. The empty space at the center represents the mystery at the heart of the universe that people call 'God.' The cross represents Christianity, out of which Universalism grew, and which is the path toward God that most religious people in North America are brought up to follow; but it is placed off-center, to leave room for other points of view and to acknowledge the validity of other paths toward God." (New Massachusetts Universalists)