Socinianism
Encyclopedia
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
doctrine named for Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), which was developed among the Polish Brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
in the Minor Reformed Church of Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries and embraced also by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania
Unitarian Church of Transylvania
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is a church of the Unitarian denomination, based in the city of Cluj in the Principality of Transylvania, present day in Romania...
during the same period. It is most famous for its Nontrinitarian
Nontrinitarianism
Nontrinitarianism includes all Christian belief systems that disagree with the doctrine of the Trinity, namely, the teaching that God is three distinct hypostases and yet co-eternal, co-equal, and indivisibly united in one essence or ousia...
Christology
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
but contains a number of other "unorthodox" beliefs as well.
Origins
The ideas of Socinianism date from the element of the Protestant ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
known as the Radical Reformation
Radical Reformation
The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland, the Radical Reformation birthed many radical...
, and have their root in the Italian Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
movement of the 1540s, such as the Antitrinitarian Council of Venice
Council of Venice
The concilio di Veneto or sinodo a Venezia 1550 was a meeting in Venice of the anabaptist radicals of Northern Italy.It had been preceded by the antitrinitarian Collegia Vicentina The concilio di Veneto or sinodo a Venezia 1550 was a meeting in Venice of the anabaptist radicals of Northern Italy.It...
in 1550. Lelio Sozzini was the first of the Italian Antitrinitarians to go beyond Arian
Arian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
beliefs in print and deny the pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
in his Brevis explicatio in primum Johannis caput - a commentary on the meaning of the Logos in John Chapter 1:1-15
John 1:1
' is the first verse in the Gospel of John. The King James Version of the verse reads, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". The phrase "the Word" is widely interpreted as referring to Jesus, as indicated in other verses later in the same chapter...
(1562). Lelio Sozzini considered that the "Beginning" of John 1:1 was the same as 1 John 1:1 and referred to the new creation
New creation (theology)
The new creation is a concept found in the New Testament, related to the new life and new man but with reference also to the Genesis "old creation".-In the letters of Paul:...
not the Genesis creation. His nephew Fausto Sozzini published his own longer Brevis explicatio later, developing his uncle's arguments. Many years after the death of his uncle in Switzerland Fausto Sozzini passed via the Unitarian Church in Transylvania, attempting to mediate in the dispute between Giorgio Biandrata
Giorgio Biandrata
Giorgio Biandrata or Blandrata , was an Italian physician and polemicist, who came of the De Biandrate family, powerful from the early part of the 13th century, was born at Saluzzo, the youngest son of Bernardino Biandrata.He graduated in arts and medicine at Montpellier in 1533, and specialized in...
and Ferenc Dávid
Ferenc Dávid
Ferenc Dávid was a Transylvanian Nontrinitarian and Unitarian preacher, the founder of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania.-Life:Born in Kolozsvár to a Hungarian family, he studied in Wittenberg and Frankfurt...
, then moved to Poland, where he married the daughter of a leading member of the Polish Brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
, the anti-trinitarian minority, or ecclesia minor, which had in 1565 split from the Calvinist Reformed Church in Poland. Sozzini never actually joined the ecclesia minor, but was influential in reconciling several controversies among the Brethren - on conscientious objection, on prayer to Christ, and on the virgin birth. Fausto persuaded many in the Polish Brethren who were formerly Arian
Arian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
, such as Marcin Czechowic
Marcin Czechowic
Martin Czechowic was a Polish Socinian minister, theologian and writer.-Life:...
to adopt his uncle Lelio's views.
Fausto Sozzini was further influential through the posthumous Racovian Catechism
Racovian Catechism
The Racovian Catechism is a nontrinitarian statement of faith from the 16th century. The title Racovian comes from the publishers, the Polish Brethren, who had founded a sizeable town in Raków, Kielce County, where the Racovian Academy and printing press was founded by Jakub Sienieński in...
which set out his uncle Lelio's views on Christology
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
and replaced earlier catechisms of the Ecclesia Minor, and also after his death through the writings of his students issued in Polish and Latin from the press of the Racovian Academy
Racovian Academy
The Racovian Academy was a school of the Socinian Polish Brethren operating in Raków, Kielce County, Poland 1602-1638, and publisher of the Racovian Catechism in 1605....
at Raków, Kielce County.
The name "Socinian" only started to be used in Holland and England as the Latin publications were circulated among early Arminians
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
, Remonstrants
Remonstrants
The Remonstrants are the Dutch Protestants who, after the death of Jacobus Arminius, maintained the views associated with his name. In 1610 they presented to the States of Holland and Friesland a remonstrance in five articles formulating their points of disagreement from Calvinism.-History:The five...
, Dissenters
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
, and early English Unitarians
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
from the 1610s onward. In the 1660s Fausto Sozzini's grandson Andreas Wiszowaty and great-grandson Benedykt Wiszowaty
Benedykt Wiszowaty
Benedykt Wiszowaty was a Polish Socinian author and publisher.He was the great-grandson of Fausto Sozzini, grandson of Stanisław Wiszowaty, and son of Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. and Aleksandra Rupniowska. Benedykt married Katarzyna Przypkowska and was father of Andrzej Wiszowaty Jr...
published the nine-volume Biblioteca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant 1668 in Amsterdam, with the works of F. Sozzini, the Austrian Johann Ludwig von Wolzogen
Johann Ludwig von Wolzogen
Johann Ludwig von Wolzogen was an Austrian nobleman and Socinian theologian.Wolzogen was born in Nové Zámky , known then as Neuhäusel in German and Érsekújvár in Hungarian. He inherited the titles of Baron of Tarenfeldt and Freiherr of Neuhäusel.Comenius became acquainted with Wolzogen in 1638....
, the Poles Johannes Crellius
Johannes Crellius
Johannes Crellius was a Polish and German theologian.-Life:...
, Jonasz Szlichtyng
Jonasz Szlichtyng
Jonasz Szlichtyng was a Polish nobleman, theologian of the Socinian Polish Brethren and father of Krzysztof Szlichtyng....
, and Samuel Przypkowski
Samuel Przypkowski
Samuel Przypkowski was a Polish Socinian theologian, a leading figure in the Polish Brethren and an advocate of religious toleration. In Dissertatio de pace et concordia ecclesiae, published in 1628 in Amsterdam, he called for mutual tolerance by Christians...
. These books circulated among thinkers like Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher and writer best known for his seminal work the Historical and Critical Dictionary, published beginning in 1695....
.
In Britain and America "Socinianism" later became a catch-all term for any kind of Dissenting
Dissenter
The term dissenter , labels one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church.Originally, the term...
belief. Sources in the 18th and 19th century frequently attributed the term "Socinian" anachronistically, using it to refer to ideas which covered a much wider range from the narrowly defined position of the Racovian catechisms and library.
Beliefs
Socinian theology, as summarised in the Racovian CatechismRacovian Catechism
The Racovian Catechism is a nontrinitarian statement of faith from the 16th century. The title Racovian comes from the publishers, the Polish Brethren, who had founded a sizeable town in Raków, Kielce County, where the Racovian Academy and printing press was founded by Jakub Sienieński in...
, rejected the views of orthodox
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
Christian theology
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
on God's knowledge, on the doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, and on soteriology
Soteriology
The branch of Christian theology that deals with salvation and redemption is called Soteriology. It is derived from the Greek sōtērion + English -logy....
.
Christology
The Racovian publications, like the Sozzinis, rejected the pre-existence of ChristPre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
and held that Jesus Christ did not exist until he was conceived of the virgin birth as a human being. This view had occurred before with the 4th century bishop Photinus
Photinus
Photinus was a Christian heresiarch and bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia, best known for denying the incarnation of Christ. His name became synonymous in later literature for someone asserting that Christ was not God.- Life :...
, but differed both from the mainline Protestant and Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
views, which hold that Logos in John is God and therefore uncreated and eternal.
Human Nature
The Socinians held that humans were created mortal in the beginning and would have died naturally whether Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree or not. They also rejected the doctrine of original sinOriginal sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
.
Atonement
Socinianism also rejected the propitiatory view of atonementAtonement (satisfaction view)
The satisfaction view of the atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and has been traditionally taught in Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed circles...
.
Predestination and Omniscience
The Socinians believed that God's omniscience was limited to what was a necessary truth in the future (what would definitely happen), and did not apply to what was a contingent truth (what might happen). They believed that, if God knew every possible future, human free willFree will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
was impossible; and as such rejected the "hard" view of omniscience.
Scepticism
Later writers such as Archibald Alexander HodgeArchibald Alexander Hodge
Archibald Alexander Hodge , an American Presbyterian leader, was the principal of Princeton Seminary between 1878 and 1886...
(1823–1886) asserted that Socinian theology was rooted in skepticism
Skepticism
Skepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere...
. However the original Polish Socinians were believers in miracles, and the virgin birth, though there were a few radicals, such as Symon Budny
Symon Budny
Symon Budny was a Belarusian and Polish humanist, educator, hebraist, Bible translator, Church reformator, philosopher, sociologist and historian.-Christology:...
and Jacobus Palaeologus, who denied these.
Conscientious objection
Although not directly a doctrinal belief, the principle of conscientious objection and the obedient relation of the believer to the state became a distinct position of "Socinianism" as it was formalized in the Racovian publications. Before F. Sozzini's arrival in Poland there had been a wide range of positions from the total otherworldiness, common property, and withdrawal from the state of Marcin CzechowicMarcin Czechowic
Martin Czechowic was a Polish Socinian minister, theologian and writer.-Life:...
of Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
through to the advocacy of military service by Symon Budny
Symon Budny
Symon Budny was a Belarusian and Polish humanist, educator, hebraist, Bible translator, Church reformator, philosopher, sociologist and historian.-Christology:...
. The next generation of Polish Brethren stabilized between these two positions, carrying wooden swords to follow the letter of the law, and allowing senior Socinians such as Hieronim Moskorzowski
Hieronim Moskorzowski
Hieronim Moskorzowski Moskorzów c.1560-1625), administrator of the Racovian Academy, and writer of the Polish Brethren.He came from a noble family, received a comprehensive education, and became involved with the movement of the Polish Brethren. He prepared the Polish and Latin text of the 1605...
to vote in the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
.
Offshoots of Socinians
The direct doctrinal descendants of the original Socinians are the Unitarian ChristiansUnitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
of Transylvania and England. Although the Polish Brethren never adopted the name "Unitarian" while in Poland, when they were disbanded in 1658, those who fled to Holland eventually embraced the term "Unitarian" (which they got from the Transylvanians), as they did not prefer to be called "Socinians." The term had been used by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania
Unitarian Church of Transylvania
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is a church of the Unitarian denomination, based in the city of Cluj in the Principality of Transylvania, present day in Romania...
as early as 1600. Socinian theology continued in Transylvania, where Polish exiles such as Andrzej Wiszowaty Jr.
Andrzej Wiszowaty Jr.
Andrzej Wiszowaty Jr. was a grandson of Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. He taught at the Unitarian Gymnasium in Cluj-Napoca from 1726 or before....
taught in the Unitarian College (1726-1740), as evidenced in the Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios
Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios
Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios is a statement of faith of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania officially recognised by Joseph II in 1782....
of Mihály Lombard de Szentábrahám
Mihály Lombard de Szentábrahám
Mihály Lombard de Szentábrahám was a Hungarian Unitarian bishop. He re-laid the foundations of the Unitarian Church in Transylvania during a period of harassment until the accession of Joseph II and the return of an era of tolerance.During the period 1718-1720 the settlements were struck by famine...
recognized as the statement of faith of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania
Unitarian Church of Transylvania
The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is a church of the Unitarian denomination, based in the city of Cluj in the Principality of Transylvania, present day in Romania...
by Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II
Joseph II may refer to:*Joseph II *Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Austria*Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople *Pope Joseph II of Alexandria...
in 1782. Early English Unitarians such as Henry Hedworth
Henry Hedworth
Henry Hedworth of Huntingdon was a Unitarian writer.Henry Hedworth is chiefly notable for being the first person in the English language to introduce Latin term Unitarian into print in England 1673, fourteen years before Stephen Nye of Hertfordshire became the first to use the word on a title...
and John Biddle
John Biddle (Unitarian)
John Biddle or Bidle was an influential English nontrinitarian, and Unitarian. He is often called "the Father of English Unitarianism".- Life :...
retroactively applied the term "Unitarian" to the Polish Brethren. By 1676 there were at least three Socinian meeting houses in London, even if the Act of Toleration of 1689 saw Socinians and Catholics excluded from official recognition. Socinian ideas continued to have significant influence on Unitarians in England throughout the entire period of their development.
Modern Socinians (in Christological terms) include the small number of "Biblical Unitarian" churches such as Christadelphians
Christadelphians
Christadelphians is a Christian group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century...
and the Church of the Blessed Hope
Church of the Blessed Hope
The Church of the Blessed Hope is a small first-day Adventist Christian body.-Background:...
, though these churches are not direct descendants of the Polish Brethren.
Related beliefs
A related idea to Socinianism is adoptionismAdoptionism
Adoptionism, sometimes called dynamic monarchianism, is a minority Christian belief that Jesus was adopted as God's son at his baptism...
, Ebionitism Psilanthropism
Psilanthropism
Psilanthropism is an approach to Christology which understands Jesus to be a "mere human", and the literal son of human parents. The term derives from the combination of the Greek ψίλος , "plain," "mere" or "bare," and ἄνθρωπος "human." Psilanthropists generally deny both the virgin birth of...
(from the Greek ψιλῶς psilōs; merely, only and ἄνθρωπος anthropos; man, human being) an idea held by Samuel Coleridge, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and others in the 18th Century. At the time of Fausto Sozzini Symon Budny
Symon Budny
Symon Budny was a Belarusian and Polish humanist, educator, hebraist, Bible translator, Church reformator, philosopher, sociologist and historian.-Christology:...
held this view - specifically that Jesus was the son of Joseph, but it, and Budny, were excluded from the Racovian community. Psilanthropism, under the name of Ebionitism, was rejected by the ecumenical councils, especially in the First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
, which was convened to deal directly with this.