On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
and sufferings and of his persecutors is so largely related in our Fifth yolume , it is unnecessary to enter into it here . Poland , under Sigismund II ., offered an asylum to the Anti-trinitarian Reformers . Hither they fled from
Holland , Germany , Switzerland and Italy . In this last country there had been a theological society , whose meetings were broken up by the Inquisition . * Amongst the members was Laelius Socinus , a man of family , parts and learning , whose name has been emblazoned all ov 6 r Europe by the writings of his nephew Faustus , the Socinus of
controversy . " The first person who appears to have stood forward in a public assembly to impugn the doctrine of the Trinity was Peter Gonezius , or Conyza , who , at a svnod of the reformed clergy held at
Seceminia in 1556 , asserted the supremacy of the Father over the Son and Holy Spirit , and contended that the Apostles ' Creed ought to be received as the sole rule of faith , denouncing the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds as mere human
compositions of no authority . The sensation produced by this discourse on the minds and feelings of the Trinitarian clergy is described to have been very great ; and the immediate effect 6 f it was an agreement to reconsider the subject at a future meeting , and in the mean time to obtain the opinion of Melancthon on the disputed points . "—P . xxv .
Until the year 1565 , the synods held in Poland were composed indiscrimi natel y of the members and ministers of all the Reformed Churches , but at a conference which took place in that
year at Petricow , the Trinitarians resolved to commune no longer with their Unitarian brethren , and consequently these formed henceforward a separate religious body . They were distinguished by various names .
" Though these Anti-trinitarian reformers have been occasionally styled Unitarians in the preceding narrative , in conformity with modern usage , it must t > e observed that they were not known by this designation in Poland . At the period now under review , they were called by various denominations , arising chiefly from local or temporary
circum-* It should be added , that concerning this secret Society little is known , and that some writers have doubted its existence . Dr . T . Rees replies in a note ( pp . 3 Od . —xxiv . ) to the objections of Moshdim .
Untitled Article
stances . They were first distinguisliaj by the name of Pinczovians , from the town of Pinczow , where they had their earliest settlement . Some of the body were afterwards called FARNoviANSy froai Stanislaus Farnovius , who held the Ariaa doctrine concerning the person of Christ . Others were styled Budnjeans , from
Simon Budnaeus , who maintained the opinion of the simple humanity of Christ and denied his being a proper object of religious worship . But the designation by which they were afterwards most generally known was that of Racovianc , from the town of Racow , which for seve ^
ral years formed their metropolis . "— . p p . xxviiL xxix . Under the fostering care of the younger Socinus , the Unitarians of Poland attained to a high degree of prosperity . Their college at Racow is said to have consisted , at one period , of upwards of a thousand students , of whom more than three hundred were
of noble families . But their printing establishment in this city was their most t powerful engine ; the effects of it were felt throughout Europe , and are still felt throughout the civilized world .
Their liberties were for a time secured by the constitution of their adopted country ; but their enemies watched for an opportunity of annoying them , and could not long want the occasion which they sought .
€€ The first event that operated to the serious disadvantage of the Unitarian interest was a malicious prosecution instituted against an opulent merchant of their body , named John Tyscovicius , who had served the office of Questor , or Syndick , of the town of Biesk , in Podolia , where he resided . It was-insinuated by
his enemies , that his accounts , had not been fairly kept , and he was required to verify thcin on oath . To this he readily assented on condition of being permitted to swear by Almighty God : —but it was insisted that he should swear by the triune God , or by the image of Christ on the cross ; and for this purpose » crucuw *
with the figure of the Saviour affixed to it , was placed in his hand . Indignant tjiat his veracity should be questioned , and his religion insulted , ** ttocw t » e crucifix to the ground , exdabpiog tn » he knew of ixo such 09 < t as they proposed
td him . For this act * which was construed into a heavy offence against tnc Trinity , he was immediately arrested ana thrown into prison . Proceedings were forthwith instituted against him , whicn after repeated app&ife from one toNJr " to another , ended in his condemnation
Untitled Article
236 Retfiew . —Dr . T . Rees ' s Racovian Catechism .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1820, page 236, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2487/page/44/
-