Two Older Arguments, One Modern Movement

Unitarian Torah Observance, as it is practiced today, is best understood as the modern convergence of two independent theological arguments — both ancient, but rarely combined until recent decades:

1. The unitarian objection to the Trinity — the insistence that God is numerically one person, not three
2. The Torah-observant objection to abrogation — the refusal to accept that the commandments of the Torah have been abolished or superseded

Neither argument is new. Their deliberate combination into a single, integrated religious practice is largely a late-twentieth and early-twenty-first century development, with no single founding figure or organization.

The Unitarian Historical Thread

Opposition to the doctrine of the Trinity has existed since the doctrine's earliest formulation. Even at Nicaea (325 CE), the outcome was contested — the bishop Arius and his followers held that the Son was a created being, subordinate to the Father, and not co-equal God. Arianism spread widely across the Eastern and Western Roman Empire before being formally condemned.

During the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, unitarian theology re-emerged more vigorously. Michael Servetus, a Spanish physician and theologian, published detailed critiques of the Trinity beginning in 1531 and was burned at the stake in Calvinist Geneva in 1553 for his position. Shortly thereafter, organized unitarian communities formed in:

• Poland — the Polish Brethren (Socinians), active 1565–1658, produced some of the period's most systematic unitarian theology before being expelled
• Transylvania — the Transylvanian Unitarian Church, founded 1568 under the Edict of Torda (one of Europe's earliest legal grants of religious toleration), which continues to exist today
• England — unitarian thought influenced nonconformist circles from the seventeenth century onward, eventually producing the English Unitarian movement

These movements were notable for engaging more openly with Jewish scholarship than most of their contemporaries, sharing as they did a core insistence on God's strict oneness.

The Torah-Observance Historical Thread

Belief that Torah commandments remain binding has never fully disappeared from the historical record. The earliest followers of Yeshua in the first century were Jews who kept Torah as a matter of course. A number of early Jewish-Christian groups — most notably the Ebionites, documented from roughly the second to the fifth century — maintained Torah observance alongside their understanding of Yeshua, and were sharply critical of Paul's letters for what they saw as an abandonment of the law.

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Torah observance among non-Jewish believers was revived through the Hebrew Roots movement (emerged widely from the 1970s–1990s) and Messianic Judaism. These movements encouraged observance of the Sabbath, the feast calendar of Leviticus 23, and dietary law. Most retained a Trinitarian or high-Christology theology, but they normalized the practice of Torah-keeping outside of traditional Jewish communities in a way that created the conditions for the present movement.

The Convergence

Unitarian Torah Observance represents the smaller subset of individuals and households who combined renewed Torah practice with a strict, pre-Nicene-style monotheism — rejecting both the Trinity and the idea that the Torah's commandments ended. This convergence appears to have occurred independently in multiple locations, connected loosely by shared study materials and, from the early 2000s onward, by internet-based communities and resources.

The movement has no central organization, no ordained hierarchy, no official founding date, and no single authoritative text beyond the Torah itself. Communities range from individual households to small gatherings, and theological positions within those communities vary considerably (see: Differences of Opinion).

Contemporary teachers articulate this combined position through public ministries. One documented example is Matthew Janzen of Ministers of the New Covenant, who teaches a biblical-unitarian theology — Yahweh the Father as the one God, and Yeshua as His human Messiah rather than God — alongside continued Torah observance (see: Sources & Further Reading, below).

Because the movement is decentralized, accounts of its history and lineage vary between communities. This page reflects the historical background most commonly cited by adherents.

Sources & Further Reading

This resource draws on the writing and teaching of contemporary voices within the biblical-unitarian and Torah-observant space. For readers who wish to study further:

• Matthew Janzen — Ministers of the New Covenant. A biblical-unitarian, Torah-keeping ministry offering sermons, articles, a Torah Q&A, and books on subjects such as Sabbath timing and the Torah's continuing role. ministersnewcovenant.org →

External sources are provided for study. Their positions are their own and do not necessarily reflect every view represented on this site.