social sciences, philosophy of the See PHILOSOPHY. OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCE. Socinianism, an unorthodox Christian religious movement originating in the sixteenth century from the work of Italian reformer Laelius Socinus (‘Sozzini’ in Italian; 1525–62) and his nephew Faustus Socinus (1539–1603). Born in Siena of a patrician family, Laelius was widely read in theology. Influenced by the evangelical movement in Italy, he made contact with noted Protestant reformers, including Calvin and Melanchthon, some of whom questioned his orthodoxy. In response, he wrote a confession of faith (one of a small number of his writings to have survived). After Laelius’s death, his work was carried on by his nephew, Faustus, whose writings (including On the Authority of Scripture, 1570; On the Savior Jesus Christ, 1578; and On Predestination, 1578) expressed heterodox views. Faustus believed that Christ’s nature was entirely human, that souls did not possess immortality by nature (though there would be selective resurrection for believers), that invocation of Christ in prayer was permissible but not required, and he argued against predestination. After publication of his 1578 writings, Faustus was invited to Transylvania and Poland to engage in a dispute within the Reformed churches there. He decided to make his permanent residence in Poland, which, through his tireless efforts, became the center of the Socinian movement. The most important document of this movement was the Racovian Catechism, published in 1605 (shortly after Faustus’s death). The Minor church of Poland, centered at Racov, became the focal point of the movement. Its academy attracted hundreds of students and its publishing house produced books in many languages defending Socinian ideas. Socinianism, as represented by the Racovian Catechism and other writings collected by Faustus’s Polish disciples, involves the views of Laelius and especially Faustus Socinus, aligned with the anti-Trinitarian views of the Polish Minor church (founded in 1556). It accepts Christ’s message as the definitive revelation of God, but regards Christ as human, not divine; rejects the natural immortality of the soul, but argues for the selective resurrection of the faithful; rejects the doctrine of the Trinity; emphasizes human free will against predestinationism; defends pacifism and the separation of church and state; and argues that reason – not creeds, dogmatic tradition, or church authority – must be the final interpreter of Scripture. Its view of God is temporalistic: God’s eternity is existence at all times, not timelessness, and God knows future free actions only when they occur. (In these respects, the Socinian view of God anticipates aspects of modern process theology.) Socinianism was suppressed in Poland in 1658, but it had already spread to other European countries, including Holland (where it appealed to followers of Arminius) and England, where it influenced the Cambridge Platonists, Locke, and other philosophers, as well as scientists like Newton. In England, it also influenced and was closely associated with the development of Unitarianism.
See also TRINITARIANIS. R.H.K.