Article Outline
Socinus, originally Sozzini or Sozini, name of an Italian family that in the 16th century produced two theologians. They were noted as the founders of Socinianism, a system of Protestant religious doctrines.
(1525-62), original name Lelio Sozini, born in Siena and educated as a jurist. He studied Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic and engaged in extensive biblical research, which led him to a sympathetic interest in the work of the Protestant reformers. He visited Switzerland, France, England, Holland, Germany, and Poland, meeting such Protestant leaders as the German scholar Melanchthon and the French theologian John Calvin. He spent the last years of his life in Zürich. Socinus wrote theological dissertations on the sacraments and on the resurrection of the body and maintained an extensive correspondence with Protestant theologians. Although he questioned the doctrine of the Trinity, he did not profess anti-Trinitarian views; he insisted, however, on the right to free theological inquiry.
(1539-1604), original name Fausto Sozini, nephew of Laelius, born in Siena and educated privately. In 1559 he was denounced by the Inquisition for holding heretical opinions and took refuge for three years outside Italy, visiting Zürich, Lyon, and Geneva. He returned to Italy about 1563 and for 12 years lived in Florence, conforming during that period with the regulations of the Roman Catholic church. In 1575 he settled at Basel and engaged in theological speculation and debates with Protestant leaders. Under the influence of his uncle's writings, he developed a radical doctrinal system, named Socinianism after both theologians. This system substituted the Unitarian concept of Jesus Christ as a man and as a deputy of God for the doctrine of Christ as divine and as a manifestation of a Trinitarian Godhead. Socinianism denied also the dogmas of the inborn total depravity of humankind and the atonement of Christ for the sins of people, the potency of the sacraments, and the possibility of damnation for eternity.
About 1579 Socinus went to Poland, where he spent the remainder of his life extending the influence of Socinian tenets through writing and participation in public debates. He also directed the policy of the anti-Trinitarian movement in Transylvania (now part of Romania), largely through correspondence. Although he avoided identifying himself with any particular sect and denied that his beliefs were heretical, he suffered persecution and in 1598 was driven out of Kraków, Poland, by a hostile mob. Many of his theological views reflected the influence of humanism in their emphasis on human reason and their repudiation of the supernatural.
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