Little Polish Church
The Church Unitarian is created by the activity of theologians from the Radical Reformation
Summary |
The laity were particularly active, according to the principle of Martin Luther : all theologians. A few exceptions aside, Ochono example, anti-Trinitarians of XVI century were cultivated laymen: philologists, writers, doctors, lawyers and gentlemen, all devout Christians decided to seek religious truth by studying the scriptures diligently but also with critical thinking. In searching themselves the meaning and significance of biblical texts, these lay deprived the Catholic theologians as reformers Protestant monopoly on the study and interpretation of the Bible. By the results of this research, they dealt a serious blow to the authority and prestige of these "religious professionals".
Three reasons explain the tolerance could enjoy the anti-Trinitarians in Poland and Lithuania.
- Autonomy, even in matters of religion, known to the nobles, that is to say to landowners.
- The tolerance shown by the kings Sigismund and Sigismund II Augustus.
- The welcome Queen Bona Sforza , wife of Sigismund I, willingly gave the Italian humanists (eg Lelio Socinus George Blandrata), then the Italians condemned by the Inquisition or John Calvin (eg Alciati and Gentile). And lived side by side, in Poland , the Catholics , the Lutherans , the Anabaptists and Calvinists, and even Jews.
It goes without saying that anti-Trinitarians were apostles of tolerance of religion. Being persecuted, their methods were those of any clandestine movement: and do not pretend to trust only reliable friends, refrain from speaking in public circulation of manuscripts and printed texts anonymous or pseudonymous; maintain correspondence and travel. Here include the letters of Lelio Socinus Calvin where he candidly expresses his doubts, asking embarrassing questions with charm, with nothing said. We should also mention the trick devised by Ochino in one of his published in Zurich in 1563 , where he pretends to defend the Trinitarian dogma against an opponent - but the arguments he puts into the mouth of this anti-Trinitarian are much stronger than hers! Despite these methods, the opponents of the Trinity were condemned to disappear for a time to Western Europe. The movement migrated east.
During their studies in Western Europe, many young noblemen or son of Reformed pastors discovered two little books of Servetus on the Trinity and made known in their country. Thus, this stone Goniatz (or Gonesius), who left to become a priest, returned Calvinist pastor and at the same time seeking to bring the Reformed Church of Poland to the acceptance of theories of Servetus. Speaking confidently to his colleagues, he convinced a growing number, so that a synod at the end of 1558 , condemned and forced to leave Poland. He went to Lithuania, where the tycoon Ziska offered him the opportunity to organize, Wengrow , the first local anti-Trinitarian Church.
That same year 1558 ; Blandrata arrived from Geneva. It quickly became the leader of the anti-Trinitarian Pinezow , near Krakow , a city which soon had his pastor anti-Trinitarian. Alciati and Gentile came to join the movement, who also fled Geneva.
Calvin became angry upon learning of the success he had condemned the heresy. He wrote letters to show the danger posed by such men, but in vain. Instead, Prince Nicolas Radziwill in Lithuania , resented this interference Calvinist, granted in 1562 to support and Gonesius Blandrata and himself became anti-Trinitarian. 1564 saw the entry into Poland of Jesuits. They did not obtain much, if not the expulsion of some foreigners, including Gentile. This unfortunate, already battered in Geneva , had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the Bern police. He was beheaded at Berne in 1566. Other expelled Ochino Bernardino , who went to Moravia and died there.
With the hope of resolving the crisis which tore the Reformed Church of Poland, a Diet - assembly of the nobles - meet at Prothow in 1565. The anti-Trinitarians had become even more heretical in the eyes of orthodox Calvinists they had adopted various options Anabaptists such as the refusal of infant baptism, the non-recourse to arms, voluntary poverty, etc.. Diet realized that the schism was inevitable and accepted the establishment of a Reformed Church "minor", which gave a significant name: "Church of the Brethren of Poland and Lithuania who rejected the Trinity." In practice, it was called "Little Polish Church" or "Polish Brethren."
Development
Although private Blandrata tips, party in 1563 for the post of court physician to Transylvania, but can also count on Gonesius, the young anti-Trinitarian Church was organized. Its members were predominantly nobles, as pious qu'instruits, determined to live the Gospel.
Some sold their land and free their slaves, while others put their property to serve the community. The Church combined with happiness practices inherited from Anabaptism to the Christological doctrine received from Michel Servet. She received in 1569 a center, Rakow , who became, through his press and his college reputation, a very important focus of radiation.
While it is true that the Church of the Brethren flourished under the watchful eye of Sigismund II Augustus , the fact remains that the crisis reached the community. Some nobles opposed to absolute pacifism legacy of Anabaptism ; pastors disputed some points of doctrine (pre-existence of Jesus, worship of Christ). Especially in Lithuania that sprang up in dissident communities.
Little Polish Church needed a theologian with the authority of a Luther or Calvin. She gets in the person of Fausto Sozzini.
In the early seventeenth century, the writings of Socinus and Rakow Catechism - often made by students who attended college in Rakow excellent - were spreading in Germany , in France itself (through Wissowaty , grand-son of Socinus , who lived some time in Paris ) in England and especially in Holland , where they began to edit all books Socinians to 1660.
Prohibition
By cons, Poland, the situation of the Brothers became increasingly difficult. Without realizing they were sawing the branch of religious tolerance on which they sat, the Calvinists joined with Catholics for the removal of Socinians. The main focus of the Brethren, Rakow, was destroyed in 1638 and the church restored ... to Catholics. Twenty years later, in 1658 , a Diet outlawed the Church of the Brethren, giving members two years to embrace Catholicism (which many did, for the shape) or to leave the country.
The year 1660 saw actually voluntary exile groups loyal, going in search of a venue. Those Brothers who lived in the South began en route to Transylvania , suffering losses at the hands of robbers, in the Carpathians. But reached Kolosvar , they received a warm fraternal brothers Unitarians. Other groups sought asylum with the voters in Germany , but received asylum was usually temporary and precarious, especially because of the hostility of the clergy Lutheran. It was in Holland that was the most fraternal welcome, thanks to Remonstrants. In Poland , some brothers were heroically remained clinging to their faith and their homeland, but over time, all traces of Socinianism disappeared. Recreation The Lutheran pastor-miowski Grycz Karol (1885-1959) founded in Krakow, the Polish brothers' association in 1937, inspired by the Little Polish Church and the Catechism of Rakow, renamed the Union of Polish brothers in 1945. It was registered by the communist government in 1967. Karol Grycz-miowski was in contact with the American Unitarian Association. After the death of Grycz-miowskiego Union has evolved and ideologically split into two distinct groups: the Unitarians and Pentecostals . At the same time a group of Polish groups based Unitarian Universalists in Warsaw and Katowice. In 1997, a national association of Polish Unitarians joined the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists. groups and the national association are no longer active since 2009. The Polish brothers have found a receptive audience in Holland and England, as, for example, Paul Best and John Biddle "the father of Unitarianism". All the two were among the early converts to the Little Polish Church in England (and both imprisoned in 1647). The works of the Little Church in Poland have been released in England in the Latin editions as Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant. (1668). Crell Christopher , son of Jan. Crell , visited England in 1668 and left his two children, Christopher Crell son (age 10 years) and his sister in the care of an elderly spinster, Miss Alice Stuckey. Crell Samuel , a son of second marriage Crell, also visited England in 1727, where he met Isaac Newton. In England, the designations "Socinian" and "Unitarian" was long synonymous. Hedworth Henry (1626-1705) Huntingdon introduced the term "Unitarian" in English in 1673. Fourteen years later Stephen Nye Hertfordshire becomes the first to use the word "Unitarian" on a page title when he published his Short History of the Unitarians also called Socinians (1687, enlarged 1691). The thoughts of the Polish brothers have become a stream of influence on all the dissenting churches in England. This article includes material from copyleft Unitarian Correspondence , Oct-2002 Influence on Socinianism Unitarianism
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