Socinianism (/soʊˈsɪniənɪzəm,səˈ-/soh-SIN-ee-ə-niz-əm, sə-) is aNontrinitarian Christianbelief system developed and co-founded during theProtestant Reformation by theItalianRenaissance humanists andtheologiansLelio Sozzini (Laelius Socinus) andFausto Sozzini (Faustus Socinus), uncle and nephew, respectively.[1][2]
It was developed among thePolish Brethren in thePolish Reformed Church between the 16th and 17th centuries,[1][3][4] and embraced by theUnitarian Church of Transylvania during the same period.[1][3][5] Socinianism is most famous for itsNontrinitarian Christian beliefs about theunitarynature of God and thehuman nature of Jesus but contains a number of other distinctive theological doctrines, such as thedenial of divine foreknowledge regarding the actions of free agents andrejection of the pre-existence of Christ.[1][2]
The beliefs of Socinianism date from the wing of theProtestant Reformation known as theRadical Reformation and have their root in the ItalianAnabaptist movement of the 1540s, such as the anti-trinitarianCouncil of Venice in 1550.Lelio Sozzini was the first of the Italian anti-trinitarians to go beyondArian beliefs in print and deny thepre-existence of Christ in hisBrevis explicatio in primum Johannis caput – a commentary on the meaning of theLogos inJohn 1:1–15 (1562).[6] Lelio Sozzini considered that the "beginning" ofJohn 1:1 was the same as1 John 1:1 and referred to thenew creation,[citation needed] not the Genesis creation. His nephewFausto Sozzini published his own longerBrevis explicatio later, developing his uncle's arguments. Many years after the death of his uncle in Switzerland, Fausto Sozzini was consulted by theUnitarian Church in Transylvania, attempting to mediate in the dispute betweenGiorgio Biandrata andFerenc 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 theCalvinist Reformed 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 onChristology and 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 Academy atRaków, Kielce County.
The termSocinian started to be used in theDutch Republic and theKingdom of England from the 1610s onward, as the Latin publications were circulated among earlyArminians,Remonstrants,Dissenters, and early EnglishUnitarians. In the late 1660s, Fausto Sozzini's grandsonAndreas Wiszowaty and great-grandsonBenedykt Wiszowaty published 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 Britain andNorth America, Socinianism later became a catch-all term for any kind ofdissenting belief. Sources in the 18th and 19th centuries frequently attributed the termSocinian anachronistically, using it to refer to ideas that embraced a much wider range than the narrowly defined position of the Racovian catechisms and library.
Socinian theology, as summarised in theRacovian Catechism, rejected the views oforthodoxChristian theology on God's knowledge, on thedoctrine of the Trinity and the divinity ofChrist, and onsoteriology.
The Racovian publications, like the Sozzinis, rejected thepre-existence of Christ and held thatJesus did not exist until he wasconceived as a human being. This view had been put forward before by the 4th-century bishopPhotinus, but it conflicts with the mainlineProtestant,Eastern Orthodox, andCatholic views, which hold that theLogos referred to in theGospel of John was Jesus.
The Socinians held that humans were created mortal in the beginning and would have died naturally whetherAdam and Eve hadeaten from the tree or not.[7] They also rejected the doctrine oforiginal sin.[8]
Socinianism also rejected thepropitiatory view of atonement.[9]
The Socinians believed that God'somniscience was limited to what was anecessary truth in the future (what woulddefinitely happen) and did not apply to what was acontingent truth (whatmight happen). They believed that, if God knew every possible future, humanfree will was impossible and as such rejected the "hard" view of omniscience.[10] Modernprocess theology andopen theism advance a similar viewpoint.
Later writers such asArchibald Alexander Hodge (1823–1886) 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 Budny andJacobus Palaeologus, who denied these.[14]
Although not directly a doctrinal belief, the principle ofconscientious 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 otherworldliness, common property, and withdrawal from the state ofMarcin Czechowic ofLublin through 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 Moskorzowski to vote in theSejm.[15]
The direct doctrinal descendants of the original Socinians are theUnitarian Christians 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 preferred not to be called Socinians.[16] The term had been used by theUnitarian Church of Transylvania as 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 Unitarios ofMihály Lombard de Szentábrahám, recognized as the statement of faith of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania by EmperorJoseph II in 1782. Early English Unitarians such asHenry Hedworth andJohn Biddle retroactively applied the term "Unitarian" to the Polish Brethren. By 1676 there were at least three Socinian meeting houses in London, even if theAct 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 Conference and theChurch of the Blessed Hope,[17][18][19][20] though these churches are not direct descendants of the Polish Brethren.
At the time of Fausto Sozzini,Symon Budny held a variant of unitarianism includingdenial of the virgin birth of Jesus and arguing that Jesus was the son of Joseph, for which he was excluded from the Racovian community.[citation needed]
