Socinianism

Socinianism(/səˈsɪniənɪzəm/) is aNontrinitarian Christian belief systemdeveloped and co-founded during theProtestant Reformationby theItalian Renaissance humanistsandtheologians Lelio Sozzini(Latin:Laelius Socinus) andFausto Sozzini(Latin:Faustus Socinus), uncle and nephew, respectively.^[1]^[2]

It was developed among thePolish Brethrenin thePolish Reformed Churchbetween the 16th and 17th centuries,^[1]^[3]^[4]and embraced by theUnitarian Church of Transylvaniaduring the same period.^[1]^[3]^[5]Socinianism is most famous for itsNontrinitarian Christian beliefsabout theunitary nature of Godand thehuman nature of Jesusbut contains a number of other distinctive theological doctrines, such as thedenial of divine foreknowledge regarding the actions of free agentsandrejection of the pre-existence of Christ.^[1]^[2]

Origins

The beliefs of Socinianism date from the wing of theProtestant Reformationknown as theRadical Reformationand have their root in the ItalianAnabaptist movementof the 1540s, such as the anti-trinitarianCouncil of Venicein 1550.Lelio Sozziniwas the first of the Italian anti-trinitarians to go beyondArian beliefsin print and deny thepre-existence of Christin hisBrevis explicatio in primum Johannis caput– a commentary on the meaning of theLogosinJohn 1:1–15(1562).^[6]Lelio Sozzini considered that the "beginning" ofJohn 1:1was the same as1 John 1:1and referred to thenew creation,^{[citation needed]}not the Genesis creation. His nephewFausto Sozzinipublished his own longerBrevis explicatiolater, developing his uncle's arguments. Many years after the death of his uncle in Switzerland, Fausto Sozzini consulted with theUnitarian Church in Transylvania,attempting to mediate in the dispute betweenGiorgio BiandrataandFerenc Dávid.

He moved to Poland, where he married the daughter of a leading member of thePolish Brethren,the anti-trinitarian minority, orecclesia minor.In 1565, it had split from theCalvinistReformed Church in Poland. Sozzini never joined theecclesia minor,but he was influential in reconciling several controversies among the Brethren: onconscientious objection,on prayer to Christ, and on thevirgin birth.Fausto persuaded many in the Polish Brethren who were formerlyArian,such asMarcin Czechowic,to adopt his uncle Lelio's views.

Fausto Sozzini furthered his influence through hisRacovian Catechism,published posthumously, which set out his uncle Lelio's views onChristologyand replaced earlier catechisms of theEcclesia Minor.His influence continued after his death through the writings of his students published in Polish and Latin from the press of theRacovian AcademyatRaków, Kielce County.

The termSocinianstarted to be used in theDutch Republicand theKingdom of Englandfrom the 1610s onward, as the Latin publications were circulated among earlyArminians,Remonstrants,Dissenters,and early EnglishUnitarians.In the late 1660s, Fausto Sozzini's grandsonAndreas Wiszowatyand great-grandsonBenedykt Wiszowatypublished the nine-volumeBiblioteca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant(1668) in Amsterdam, along with the works of F. Sozzini, the AustrianJohann Ludwig von Wolzogen,and the PolesJohannes Crellius,Jonasz Szlichtyng,andSamuel Przypkowski.These books circulated among English and French thinkers, includingIsaac Newton,John Locke,Voltaire,andPierre Bayle.

InGreat BritainandNorth America,Socinianism later became a catch-all term for any kind ofdissentingbelief. Sources in the 18th and 19th centuries frequently attributed the termSociniananachronistically, using it to refer to ideas that embraced a much wider range than the narrowly defined position of the Racovian catechisms and library.

Beliefs

Socinian theology, as summarised in theRacovian Catechism,rejected the views oforthodox Christian theologyon God's knowledge, on thedoctrine of the Trinityand the divinity ofChrist,and onsoteriology.

Christology

The Racovian publications, like the Sozzinis, rejected thepre-existence of Christand held thatJesusdid not exist until he wasconceivedas a human being. This view had been put forward before by the 4th-century bishopPhotinus,but it conflicts with the mainlineProtestant,Eastern Orthodox,andCatholicviews, which hold that theLogosreferred to in theGospel of Johnwas Jesus.

Human nature

The Socinians held that humans were created mortal in the beginning and would have died naturally whetherAdam and Evehadeaten from the treeor not.^[7]They also rejected the doctrine oforiginal sin.^[8]

Atonement

Socinianism also rejected thepropitiatory view of atonement.^[9]

Predestination and omniscience

The Socinians believed that God'somnisciencewas limited to what was anecessary truthin the future (what woulddefinitelyhappen) and did not apply to what was acontingent truth(whatmighthappen). They believed that, if God knew every possible future, humanfree willwas impossible and as such rejected the "hard" view of omniscience.^[10]Modernprocess theologyandopen theismadvance a similar viewpoint.

Skepticism

Later writers such asArchibald Alexander Hodge(1823–86) asserted that Socinian theology was rooted inskepticism.^{[citation needed]}However, the original Polish Socinians were believers in miracles and the virgin birth,^[11]^[12]^[13]although there were a few radicals, such asSymon BudnyandJacobus Palaeologus,who denied these.^[14]

Conscientious objection

Although not directly a doctrinal belief, the principle ofconscientious objectionand 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 otherworldliness, common property, and withdrawal from the state ofMarcin CzechowicofLublinthrough to the advocacy of military service bySymon Budny.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 asHieronim Moskorzowskito vote in theSejm.^[15]

Offshoots

The direct doctrinal descendants of the original Socinians are theUnitarian Christiansof 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 preferred not to be called Socinians.^[16]The term had been used by theUnitarian Church of Transylvaniaas early as 1600. Socinian theology continued in Transylvania, where Polish exiles such asAndrzej Wiszowaty Jr.,taught in the Unitarian College (1726–1740), as evidenced in theSumma Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum UnitariosofMihály Lombard de Szentábrahám,recognized as the statement of faith of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania by EmperorJoseph IIin 1782. Early English Unitarians such asHenry HedworthandJohn Biddleretroactively 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 theChristadelphians,theChurch of God General Conferenceand theChurch of the Blessed Hope,^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]though these churches are not direct descendants of the Polish Brethren.

Related beliefs

At the time of Fausto Sozzini,Symon Budnyheld a variant of unitarianism includingdenial of the virgin birth of Jesusand arguing that Jesus was the son of Joseph, for which he was excluded from the Racovian community.^{[citation needed]}

References

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eBiagioni, Mario (2018)."SOZZINI (Socini), Fausto".Enciclopedia Treccani.Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 93.Rome:Treccani.Retrieved18 January2023.
^^a ^b ^cMortimer, Sarah (2010)."The Socinian Challenge to Protestant Christianity".Reason and Religion in the English Revolution: The Challenge of Socinianism.Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.pp. 13–38.ISBN 978-0-521-51704-1.LCCN 2010000384.
^^a ^bWilliams, George Huntston(1995)."Chapter 28: The Rise of Unitarianism in the Magyar Reformed Synod in Transylvania".The Radical Reformation(3rd ed.).University Park, Pennsylvania:Penn State University Press.pp. 1099–1133.ISBN 978-0-943549-83-5.
^M. Hillar: "Poland's Contribution to the Reformation: Socinians/Polish Brethren and Their Ideas on the Religious Freedom," The Polish Review, Vol. XXXVIII, No.4, pp. 447–468, 1993. M. Hillar, "From the Polish Socinians to the American Constitution," in A Journal from the Radical Reformation. A Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 22–57, 1994. M. Hillar, "The Philosophical Legacy of the XVIth and XVIIth Century Socinians: Their Rationality." in the book "The Philosophy of Humanism and the Issues of Today," eds. M. Hillar and F. Prahl, pp. 117–126, American Humanist Association, Houston, 1995. Marian Hillar, “The Philosophical Legacy of the 16th and 17th Century Socinians: Their Rationality.” In The Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Alan M. Olson, Executive Editor, Vol 4. Philosophies of religion, Art, and Creativity, Kevin Stoehr (ed.), (Charlottesville, Virginia: Philosophy Documentation Center, 1999) Marian Hillar, “The XVIth and XVIIth Century Socinians: Precursors of Freedom of Conscience, of Separation of Church and State, and of the Enlightenment.” In Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism, Vol. 9, pp. 35–60, 2001, eds. Robert D. Finch, Marian Hillar, American Humanist Association, Houston, TX 2001. Marian Hillar, “Laelius and Faustus Socinus Founders of Socinianism: Their Lives and Theology.” Part 1. Journal from the Radical Reformation. Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 10, No. 2. Winter 2002. pp. 18–38. Marian Hillar, “Laelius and Faustus Socinus Founders of Socinianism: Their Lives and Theology.” Part 2. Journal from the Radical Reformation. Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 10, No. 3. Spring 2002. pp. 11–24.
^Wilbur, Earl Morse(1952) [1945]."The Unitarian Church under Calvinist Princes: 1604-1691".A History of Unitarianism: In Transylvania, England, and America.Vol. 2.Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard University Press.pp. 121–122.
^Wulfert De Greef,The writings of John Calvin: an introductory guide,2008. Quote: "Lelio Sozzini's Brevis explicatio in primum Johannis caput appeared in 1561, which marked the beginning of the Socinian phase among the Italian."
^"[Man] was originally created mortal; that is, was so constituted that he was not only by nature capable of dying, but also, if left to himself, could not but die."The Racovian Catechism(English trans. Thomas Rees, London 1818), p. 20.
^"The fall of Adam, as it was but one act, could not have power to deprave his own nature, much less that of his posterity."The Racovian Catechism(English trans. Thomas Rees, London 1818), p. 326.
^"Did not Christ die also, in order, properly speaking, to purchase our salvation, and literally to pay the debt of our sins? Although Christians at this time commonly so believe, yet this notion is false, erroneous, and exceedingly pernicious; since they conceive that Christ suffered an equivalent punishment for our sins, and by the price of his obedience exactly compensated our disobedience."The Racovian Catechism(English trans. Thomas Rees, London 1818), pp. 303–304.
^The Racovian Catechism(English trans. Thomas Rees, London 1818), pp. 332–346.
^G. C. Berkouwer – 1954 The Person of Christ – Page 22 "The full consequences of this criticism, it is true, were not accepted in all respects, for the Socinians still believed that Christ was supernaturally begotten by way of the virgin birth, but the results of their criticism would soon
^Coleridge, philosophy and religion: Aids to reflection and the... – Page 232 Douglas Hedley – 2000 "Socinian theology was severely critical of traditional dogmas. Faustus Socinus accepted the Virgin Birth, physical resurrection of Christ, and the exaltation to the right hand of God, but the orthodox Christological doctrine of two natures is rejected as contrary to sound reason (ratio sana)."
^Religion, secularization, and political thought: Thomas Hobbes to... – Page 45 James E. Crimmins, Huron College – 1989 "Socinianism denied the Trinity (nowhere mentioned in the Bible), and with it the pre-existence of Christ before the virgin birth. It denied original sin and predestination, for those doctrines seemed to deny moral responsibility and..."
^better source needed: The faiths of the world James Gardner – 1858 "Budny – He and his followers were not contented, like other Socinians, with denying the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and affirming him to be a mere man, but they denied the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures."
^Brook P. "Conscientious objection"
^Earl Morse Wilbur,A History of Unitarianism,vol. 2, pp. 47–48.
^WilsonSects and SocietyPage 223 "7 The distinction of Christadelphian teaching from a unitarian position is apparent, although it shares much common ground with a Socinian or Arian position, yet with some differences. Christadelphians do not deny the divinity of Jesus,..."
^Harry A. LewisPeter Geach,philosophical encountersPeter Thomas Geach, 1991 "were and are widely believed in the Midlands; since in his time Socinians were liable to be burned,... but Socinianism lives on under the new label of Christadelphianism, which has its main ecclesia in Birmingham."
^The virtues – Page 62 Peter Thomas Geach – 1977 "The Socinians, or their modern successors like the Christadelphians, at least retain the traditional object of hope; the doctrine of going at death to another world in a spiritual body is an incoherent philosophical fantasy"
^Religious studies: Volume 17 Cambridge University Press. Online Journals – 1981 "Our Socinian contemporaries, the Christadelphians, are singularly lacking in what the eighteenth century censured as enthusiasm; to a serious enquirer they will argue about their beliefs with endless patience, courtesy, and ingenuity,..."

Bibliography

Bowers, J. D. (2007)."English Socinianism: Antecedent to American Unitarianism".Joseph Priestley and English Unitarianism in America.University Park, Pennsylvania:Pennsylvania State University Press.pp. 15–42.ISBN 978-0-271-02950-4.LCCN 2006100016.
Bowers, J. D. (2007)."The Socinian Migration and the Founding of American Unitarianism".Joseph Priestley and English Unitarianism in America.University Park, Pennsylvania:Pennsylvania State University Press.pp. 43–76.ISBN 978-0-271-02950-4.LCCN 2006100016.
Mortimer, Sarah (2010).Reason and Religion in the English Revolution: The Challenge of Socinianism.Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-51704-1.LCCN 2010000384.
Mulsow, Martin; Rohls, John, eds. (2005).Socinianism And Arminianism: Antitrinitarians, Calvinists, And Cultural Exchange in Seventeenth-Century Europe.Brill's Studies in Intellectual History. Vol. 134.Leiden:Brill Publishers.ISBN 978-90-04-14715-7.ISSN 0920-8607.

External links

Hugh, Pope (1912)."Socinianism".Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 14.New York City:Robert Appleton Company.Retrieved2008-10-06.
"Center for Socinian, Philosophical & Religious Studies".

[Treccani-1] Biagioni, Mario (2018)."SOZZINI (Socini), Fausto".Enciclopedia Treccani.Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 93.Rome:Treccani.Retrieved18 January2023.

[Mortimer_2010-2] Mortimer, Sarah (2010)."The Socinian Challenge to Protestant Christianity".Reason and Religion in the English Revolution: The Challenge of Socinianism.Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.pp. 13–38.ISBN 978-0-521-51704-1.LCCN 2010000384.

[Williams_1995-3] Williams, George Huntston(1995)."Chapter 28: The Rise of Unitarianism in the Magyar Reformed Synod in Transylvania".The Radical Reformation(3rd ed.).University Park, Pennsylvania:Penn State University Press.pp. 1099–1133.ISBN 978-0-943549-83-5.

[4] M. Hillar: "Poland's Contribution to the Reformation: Socinians/Polish Brethren and Their Ideas on the Religious Freedom," The Polish Review, Vol. XXXVIII, No.4, pp. 447–468, 1993. M. Hillar, "From the Polish Socinians to the American Constitution," in A Journal from the Radical Reformation. A Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 22–57, 1994. M. Hillar, "The Philosophical Legacy of the XVIth and XVIIth Century Socinians: Their Rationality." in the book "The Philosophy of Humanism and the Issues of Today," eds. M. Hillar and F. Prahl, pp. 117–126, American Humanist Association, Houston, 1995. Marian Hillar, “The Philosophical Legacy of the 16th and 17th Century Socinians: Their Rationality.” In The Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Alan M. Olson, Executive Editor, Vol 4. Philosophies of religion, Art, and Creativity, Kevin Stoehr (ed.), (Charlottesville, Virginia: Philosophy Documentation Center, 1999) Marian Hillar, “The XVIth and XVIIth Century Socinians: Precursors of Freedom of Conscience, of Separation of Church and State, and of the Enlightenment.” In Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism, Vol. 9, pp. 35–60, 2001, eds. Robert D. Finch, Marian Hillar, American Humanist Association, Houston, TX 2001. Marian Hillar, “Laelius and Faustus Socinus Founders of Socinianism: Their Lives and Theology.” Part 1. Journal from the Radical Reformation. Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 10, No. 2. Winter 2002. pp. 18–38. Marian Hillar, “Laelius and Faustus Socinus Founders of Socinianism: Their Lives and Theology.” Part 2. Journal from the Radical Reformation. Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 10, No. 3. Spring 2002. pp. 11–24.

[5] Wilbur, Earl Morse(1952) [1945]."The Unitarian Church under Calvinist Princes: 1604-1691".A History of Unitarianism: In Transylvania, England, and America.Vol. 2.Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard University Press.pp. 121–122.

[6] Wulfert De Greef,The writings of John Calvin: an introductory guide,2008. Quote: "Lelio Sozzini's Brevis explicatio in primum Johannis caput appeared in 1561, which marked the beginning of the Socinian phase among the Italian."

[7] "[Man] was originally created mortal; that is, was so constituted that he was not only by nature capable of dying, but also, if left to himself, could not but die."The Racovian Catechism(English trans. Thomas Rees, London 1818), p. 20.

[8] "The fall of Adam, as it was but one act, could not have power to deprave his own nature, much less that of his posterity."The Racovian Catechism(English trans. Thomas Rees, London 1818), p. 326.

[9] "Did not Christ die also, in order, properly speaking, to purchase our salvation, and literally to pay the debt of our sins? Although Christians at this time commonly so believe, yet this notion is false, erroneous, and exceedingly pernicious; since they conceive that Christ suffered an equivalent punishment for our sins, and by the price of his obedience exactly compensated our disobedience."The Racovian Catechism(English trans. Thomas Rees, London 1818), pp. 303–304.

[10] The Racovian Catechism(English trans. Thomas Rees, London 1818), pp. 332–346.

[11] G. C. Berkouwer – 1954 The Person of Christ – Page 22 "The full consequences of this criticism, it is true, were not accepted in all respects, for the Socinians still believed that Christ was supernaturally begotten by way of the virgin birth, but the results of their criticism would soon

[12] Coleridge, philosophy and religion: Aids to reflection and the... – Page 232 Douglas Hedley – 2000 "Socinian theology was severely critical of traditional dogmas. Faustus Socinus accepted the Virgin Birth, physical resurrection of Christ, and the exaltation to the right hand of God, but the orthodox Christological doctrine of two natures is rejected as contrary to sound reason (ratio sana)."

[13] Religion, secularization, and political thought: Thomas Hobbes to... – Page 45 James E. Crimmins, Huron College – 1989 "Socinianism denied the Trinity (nowhere mentioned in the Bible), and with it the pre-existence of Christ before the virgin birth. It denied original sin and predestination, for those doctrines seemed to deny moral responsibility and..."

[14] tter source needed: The faiths of the world James Gardner – 1858 "Budny – He and his followers were not contented, like other Socinians, with denying the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and affirming him to be a mere man, but they denied the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures."

[15] Brook P. "Conscientious objection"

[16] Earl Morse Wilbur,A History of Unitarianism,vol. 2, pp. 47–48.

[17] WilsonSects and SocietyPage 223 "7 The distinction of Christadelphian teaching from a unitarian position is apparent, although it shares much common ground with a Socinian or Arian position, yet with some differences. Christadelphians do not deny the divinity of Jesus,..."

[18] Harry A. LewisPeter Geach,philosophical encountersPeter Thomas Geach, 1991 "were and are widely believed in the Midlands; since in his time Socinians were liable to be burned,... but Socinianism lives on under the new label of Christadelphianism, which has its main ecclesia in Birmingham."

[19] The virtues – Page 62 Peter Thomas Geach – 1977 "The Socinians, or their modern successors like the Christadelphians, at least retain the traditional object of hope; the doctrine of going at death to another world in a spiritual body is an incoherent philosophical fantasy"

[20] Religious studies: Volume 17 Cambridge University Press. Online Journals – 1981 "Our Socinian contemporaries, the Christadelphians, are singularly lacking in what the eighteenth century censured as enthusiasm; to a serious enquirer they will argue about their beliefs with endless patience, courtesy, and ingenuity,..."

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