A Common Thread in Unity and Adventism

CHERYL GRANGER

It all started with a little blue cookbook illustrated with drawings of happy little vegetable people.1

I acquired it when I was a devout Seventh-day Adventist; it was full of recipes without any of the dreaded “flesh foods” that I wouldn’t have touched with a ten foot pole.

I really believed that Ellen White got her information directly from God, who was apparently reluctant to give this special knowledge to “Sunday church” leaders because, of course, they were part of “Babylon”. I, however, was part of God’s “remnant” and not part of Babylon, and I tried my best to follow Ellen’s dietary rules. This whimsical cookbook seemed made to order for me.                                                                                                                                  

Recently I looked through this little volume again, and I became curious about its origin. What could be wrong with a Unity Vegetarian Cookbook full of whimsical drawings of smiling mushrooms, potatoes, and cabbages being served platters of food by a happy spoon and fork who were both wearing little chef hats? 

Furthermore, why did the Unity “church” have a vegetarian cookbook? 

Come along to see what I found.

What Is Unity?

Unity was started in 1889 in Kansas City, Missouri, by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore after she was cured of tuberculosis. They were heavily influenced by transcendentalism and New Thought philosophy. 

Phineas P. Quimby (1802-1866) is considered to be the father of New Thought. He was into mesmerism, the  occult and spiritual healing, and in turn he influenced people like Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science.2 

New Thought philosophy teaches that what we think and what we speak causes those things to come into being. It’s an old heresy that is with us today in the prosperity gospel, and this belief has greatly influenced our current culture by such things as the movie and the book The Secret. It teaches the use of creative visualization and vision boards to help bring health, wealth, and even romance into our lives. Vision boards are basically collages that are supposed to bring into being the things we want. 3

Unity believes that all religions have truth in them and lead to God, that heaven and hell are in the mind, and that the Bible is metaphysical and allegorical.4 It further teaches that humans are divine at their core, and human thoughts have creative power. 5, 6 It also teaches reincarnation. Even more foundational, Unity’s concept of God is in no way Biblical. The religion is so “inclusive” that one can be any religion at all and be a member. They have a 1200 acre campus at their headquarters in Unity Village, Missouri, with beautiful grounds, houses, hotels, restaurants, shops, conference facilities, and so forth. They encourage the public to make use of these for family reunions and wedding receptions.7 They have an active print and prayer ministry; if you’ve ever seen a little booklet called The Daily Word, you’ve seen a Unity publication.

Also, if you hurry, you can go to the “Abundant Life” retreat this April—it’s only $399, and you’ll get your own workbook and vision board instructions! According to the website,

“During this weekend immersive experience, Rev. Ken Daigle will guide you in discovering your divine power, visualizing your highest good, and releasing your roadblocks.”8 

It’s interesting that Unity practices a “burning bowl” ceremony that is reminiscent of something we were encouraged to do in academy at the conclusion of one week of prayer, where we were told to write our sins or problems on scraps of paper, and then we all burned them in a metal container. 9

All these details are interesting, but there is still a burning question: Why did they embrace vegetarianism? 

Back to the Beginning

As the Fillmores got their new religion off the ground, they needed help producing their materials. They finally advertised for a type-setter to print their writings. Here is the want-ad that they ran:

“WANTED — We want the services on this paper of a young man or woman who can set type and who is interested in the reforms we advocate. To such a one we will give a home and small wages. Address Chas. Fillmore, Kansas City, Mo., care of Modern Thought.” 10

They employed as their first printer a man named Harry Church, who greatly influenced them. Anyone care to guess what religion Harry was? 

“Here Unity rented three rooms, in one of which type cases were later set up. In this room Harry Church, Unity’s first hired printer, set the type for the magazine. He had a long brown beard, was a Seventh Day (SIC) Adventist and a vegetarian”. 11 

“Unity stated its official dual-disciplined stance on eating meat in an April 12, 1930, article in Weekly Unity called ‘The Vegetarian’ by C.O. Southard. He wrote, ‘Unity School advocates vegetarianism as a factor of physical health, and as a means of promoting SPIRITUAL development in the individual and in the race’” (emphasis mine).12

 Doesn’t that sound familiar?

And this could have been written by Ellen herself: “He who eats the flesh of animals is by and through that process taking into his consciousness all the passions, desires and emotions of that animal.”13

And this: ”Thus in eating the flesh of the animal we are feeding and stimulating the animal mentality that prevades (SIC) our bodies. Instead of transforming it into the higher vibrations of the Spirit we are adding to its power to bind us to the plane of sensation”.14  

Not surprisingly, Charles Fillmore had friends who thought he was deluded, so he, in the beginning stages of Unity, used the pen name “Leo Virgo” in his writings.

I had NO idea that Unity’s stance on vegetarianism had a connection to Seventh-day Adventism! 

Stew of Heresies

The more we study Unity, the more we see that it is a stew of heresies. In their Unity Magazine they have writers like Millak Chopra (Depak’s daughter) in the January/February, 2023,15 which also includes an article by Rev. Sarah Bowen, an “animal chaplain and interspecies minister” (what?!?). 

In the July/August, 2022, issue, MiribaI Starr (who is on the cover) holds forth on “The Sacred Feminine”. 16

 In Unity, Eastern mysticism is mixed in with “metaphysical” Bible verses and New Age beliefs. They talk about Jesus, but they also talk about Mohammed, Buddha, swamis and shamans. They “Co-Exist” with all religions because they believe there is one truth which runs through all of them. They offer “peace” and “serenity” to their members.

New Age/eastern mysticism philosophies, however, are not limited to syncretistic religions such as Unity. They have so permeated our culture that they are often in secular magazine ads and articles. “Mindfulness” is part of this belief system, as is yoga, vegetarianism, and veganism. In fact, New Age mysticism is pretty much everywhere—even in the Costco magazine and  in “meditative” coloring books.

“Many of the environmental and ecology movements are enthusiastically adopting the New Age movement, for in the New Age the earth is our mother. In order to save ourselves, we need to save Mother Earth because we all have evolved out of the earth. …We are one with it”.17  

Unity very much embraces New Age thinking which offers “our disturbed world a tasty kind of peace that soothes the jangled nerves of society without society having to deal with its Creator.”18 

What is scary is that this New Age thinking has crept into some Christian churches. What Unity embraces “is the very vehicle by which the world is spiraling downward in its final race toward judgement”.19 

I don’t think that is too strong a statement.

We as Christians need to be aware and continue to build our foundation on the Scriptures, the biblical gospel, and the biblical Jesus. We need to be in churches which uphold the authority of Scripture. This is our security. This is our peace. We need to remember “the frog in the boiling water” illustration and reject what is now popular in our society.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3,4 NASB).

Unity looks very positive to many people because it is “inclusive” and doesn’t bother with uncomfortable subjects like sin, repentance, and judgement (think Joel Osteen). They use Bible verses, but then, so did Satan when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. 

Unity, like Adventism, looks “pretty on the outside”, but as Jesus said, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also” (Luke 11:39, 40, NASB)?

Footnotes

1. 1. Unity School of Christianity, Unity School of Christianity, Lee’s Summit, MO, 1955.
2. https://www.newthoughtwisdom.com/phineas-p-quimby.html
3. https://www.unitylakeorion.org/vision-board.html
4. https://www.unity.org/search/bible-interpretations
5. https://www.learnreligions.com/unity-beliefs-and-practices-700122;
6. https://world-religions.info/unity-church-beliefs/
7. https://www.unityvillage.org/
8. https://www.unityvillage.org/events/calendar#2023-CHU-AL
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z6Ky1G0Fx8)
10. Household of Faith: The Story of Unity by James Dillet Freeman, 1951,Chapter 5, pg 65)
11. Ibid, pg. 66.
12. https://www.unity.org/article/beginning-unity-and-vegetarianism
13. “Flesh-eating Metaphysically Considered” Unity magazine, by Leo Virgo, Vol. XVII, Kansas City, MO, September 1902, No. 3, pg.137.
14. Ibid, pg 38.
15. https://www.unity.org/unity-magazine/unity-magazine-januaryfebruary-2023
16. https://www.unitymagazine-digital.org/unitymagazine/july_august_2022/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=1&folio=Cover#pg1
17. Fast Facts on False Teachings, Ron Carlson & Ed Dekker, Harvest House publishers, 1994, Eugene, Oregon, pg 193.
18. Ibid, pg 193.
19. Ibid, pg 190.

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Chery Granger spent all of her school years in Adventist schools and graduated from Loma Linda University with a B.S. in occupational therapy. A life-long, sincere believer in Ellen White (EGW), Cheryl eventually read and studied the book of Hebrews and found it contradicted the investigative judgment (IJ). She had been taught to “stand alone on the Word of God”, so she ran with her IJ anxiety to the good news of the biblical gospel, wondering how a prophetess of God did not know what Hebrews said. Cheryl and her husband Woody have five children and nine grandchildren between them, and they have found great joy in working with Life Assurance Ministries and Former Adventist Fellowship, getting the good news of the gospel to all who are hungry for it.