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Heresies & Errors
Heresy
Late 16th–17th centuries · The Trinity, Christ, and the atonement

Socinianism

A rationalist anti-Trinitarian movement of the Reformation era, centered in Poland, that denied the Trinity, the preexistence and deity of Christ, and the satisfaction of God's justice in Christ's death. Its teaching was set out in the Racovian Catechism of 1605.

The central claim

Jesus is a true man, uniquely exalted by God, but not eternally God, and His death did not satisfy God's justice.

ClassificationHeresy
PeriodReformation
DatesLate 16th–17th centuries
Doctrine affectedThe Trinity, Christ, and the atonement

A heresy denies the Gospel or the God it reveals (Galatians 1:8).

Historical origins

Where It Began

Italian humanists Lelio Sozzini and his nephew Faustus Socinus carried radical ideas north. In Poland an anti-Trinitarian body, the Minor Reformed Church or Polish Brethren, separated from the Reformed churches in 1565 and built a center with a school and press at Raków. Faustus became its leading theologian, and the Racovian Catechism summarized its faith.

Major figures

The People Involved

Faustus SocinusItalian anti-Trinitarian theologian · 1539–1604

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In a sentence

Why This Is Dangerous

It denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and the payment for sin on the cross, which leaves a Jesus who can teach but cannot save. If Christ did not satisfy God's justice, our sins are still unpaid.

Visit The Racovian Catechism · 1605