With respect to eschatology Socinianism denies the resurrection of the body, as a thing absurd and impossi- ble. It holds to what is called a resurrection, which is not a resurrection of the same body, but the forma- tion and the union to the soul of a different body. It repudiates the doctrine of eternal punishment ; but Socinians are divided between the two theories of the annihilation of the wicked (held by older Socinians) and the final restoration of all men (adopted by modern Socinians).
As regards the Church and its sacraments, Socinian- ism teaches that the Church is not, in any proper sense, a divine institution, but is a mere voluntary association of men, drawn together by similarity of views and a desire to promote one another's welfare. The object of the sacraments is to teach men, and to impress di- vine truth upon their minds ; and they are in no waj' ■whatever connected with any act on God's part in the communication of spiritual blessings.
II. The Sect. — Lselius Socinus (q. v.) is nsually re- garded as the true founder of the Socinian system, though his nephew, Faustus, was its chief defender and promulgator. The origin of the sect is usually traced by their own writers to the year 1546, when colleges or conferences of about forty individuals were in the habit of meeting, chiefly at Vicenza, in the Venetian territory, with a view of introducing a purer faith by discarding a number of opinions held by Protestants as well as Papists — although this account is discredited by Mosheim and others. The first catechism and confes- sion of the Socinians was printed at Cracow, Poland, in 1574, at which time the sect received the name of Anabaptists. See Catkchism, II, 8. George Schomann is believed to have been the author of this early So- cinian creed. This catechism was, however, supplanted in the 17th century by the Kacovian Catechism, com- posed by Schmalz, a learned German Socinian, who had settled in Poland. From Poland, Socinian doc- trines were carried, in 1563, into Transylvania, chiefly through the influence and exertions of George Blan- drata, a Polish physician. For upwards of a hundred years Poland was the stronghold of this sect; but in 1658, by a decree of the diet of Warsaw, they were ex- pelled from the kingdom ; and this severe edict being repeated in 1661, thej' were completely rooted out from the countr}'. The father of Socinianism in England was John Biddle, who, towards the middle of tlie 17th century, was the first who openly taught principles sub- versive of the received doctrine of the Trinity. The publication of Riddle's Twofold Catechism caused great excitement both in England and on the Continent. Various answers to this Socinian pamphlet appeared ; but the most able was that of the celebrated Dr. .John Owen, in his Vindiciie Evanyelicce. The Biddelians
were never numerous, and speedily disappeared. The modern Socinians, who took the name of Unitarians (q. v.), were not a conspicuous party in England till the close of the 18th century, when Priestley and others pub- licly avowed and propagated antitrinitarian sentiments, A considerable difference, however, exists between the opinions of the ancient and those of the modern So- cinians. Both the Socini, uncle and nephew, as well as their immediate followers, admitted tlie miraculous conception of Christ by the Virgin IMary, and that he ought to be worshipped, as having been advanced by God to the government of the whole created universe — doctrines usually rejected by the modern Socinians. These latter are now, at least in the United States, quite generally substituting, for Socinianism proper, the pantheistic infidelity of Germany, though under a sort of profession of Christianity.
See Cunningham, Historical Theology, ii ; Gardner, Faiths of the World, s. v. ; Cottle, Essays on Socinian- ism ; Best, Letters on Socinianism ; Fuller, Socinian and Calvinistic Systems (8vo) ; Groves, Lines to a Socinian Friend; Socinianism, Rise, Groivth, and Danger of, in the Christian Disciple, iii, 429 ; also the list in Malcom, Theological Index, s. v.
Sociiiiaiis. See Socinianism.
Socinus, Faustus (Fausto Sozzini), the real founder of the Socinian sect, was the nephew of Lselius Socinus (q. v.), and was related, through his mother, with the famous race of the Piccolomini. He was born in Sienna, Italj', in 1539, and was orphaned at a tender age. His early training was neglected, and his education irremediably defective. Theological questions engaged his mind while he was j-et emploj'ed in the study of ju- risprudence on which he had entered, and his conclu- sions were largely determined by the anti-Koman train- ing he received, his uncle Lailius acting as his principal instructor. In 1562 the papers of Lajlius, then recently deceased, came into the possession of Faustus, and their study confirmed the opinions held by him, so that they became convictions. He was wont to declare that, aside from the Bible, his only instructor had been his uncle Laslius.
I. Life and Labors. — The literary life of Socinus be- gan in 1562 with the publication of a work entitled Frplicatio Prima Partis Primi Capitis Evang. Joannis — in effect a declaration of antitrinitarian principles; but twelve years of courtier life in Florence interrupted his activity in this direction. A single minor work, De S. Sci'ipt. Aiitoritate, belongs to this period. He subsequently devoted four years (1574 to 1578) to the perfecting of his system and the propagating of his views, his residence being at Basle; and at this time he' wrote two of his most important works, the De Jesu Christo Serratore and the De Statu Primi Hominis ante Lapsum. From Basle he went to Transylvania, and thence, in 1579, to avoid the plague, to Poland, where he spent the remainder of his life.