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38-746: The Ecclesia Minor or Minor Reformed Church of Poland , better known today as the Polish Brethren, was started on January 22, 1556, when Piotr of Goniądz (Peter Gonesius), a Polish student, spoke out against the doctrine of the Trinity during the general synod of the Reformed ( Calvinist ) churches of Poland held in the village of Secemin . A theological debate called by the Polish king Sigismund II Augustus himself in 1565 did not succeed in bringing both Protestant factions together again. Finally,

76-430: A peasant family some time between 1525 and 1530 in the town of Goniądz . According to Symon Budny his true name was Giezek , though throughout his life he used a variety of names and pseudonyms, including Gonesius, Gonedzius, Conyza and Koniński. He was sent by his parents to a monastery and became a Catholic priest. Supported by the bishop of Wilno Paweł Holszański , Piotr was sent to Italy, where he graduated from

114-470: A Journal continuing research into the Polish Brethren and related groups. Piotr of Goni%C4%85dz Piotr of Goniądz ( Polish : Piotr z Goniądza , pronounced [ˈpʲɔtr zɡɔˈɲɔndza] ; Latin : Gonesius ; c. 1525–1573) was a Polish political and religious writer, thinker and one of the spiritual leaders of the Polish Brethren . Little is known of his early life. He was born to

152-701: A member of the Moravian Brethren in Vilna where he had gone to Lithuania to work for the Radziwiłł family. Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł sent him on a fruitless mission to Geneva to convert Calvin and the Reformers but it was Czechowic who adopted Lutheranism and eventually, Calvinism , himself. Later he would support anabaptist and unitarian views. Twenty years later Czechowic had moved from

190-664: A minor place in publications such as the Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant 1668, and Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum 1684 of Sozzini's grandson Andrzej Wiszowaty and Christopher Sandius , which influenced Newton and Voltaire. Stanisław Kot contributed a biography of Czechowic to the Polski słownik biograficzny (Cracow, 1937, 1957), though till Lech Szczucki published his monograph Marcin Czechowic, 1532-1613 Warsaw 1964, Czechowic

228-551: A sect within the Calvinist church, were forbidden to hold any public office, serve in the army or even carry arms. Piotr also strongly opposed serfdom , which led to constant conflicts even with his patron. In 1565 the schism within the Polish Calvinist church became a fact and Gonesius became a leader along with Marcin Czechowic and others of the so-called Ecclesia Minor , while the majority of Polish Protestants,

266-792: The Ecclesia Major , remained faithful to the much less radical beliefs of John Calvin . He died in Węgrów on 15 October 1573, during an outbreak of plague . The most notable of his works, the De filio Dei homine Christo Iesu (translated as On the Son of God , though literal translation would be On the Son of God, a Human Jesus Christ ), did not survive to our times. Other of his notable works were published in 1570 in Kiszka's printing house in Węgrów. Among them

304-599: The Ecclesia Minor , which was refused because of his rather unusual personal objection to water baptism, but they saw in the Italian an able advocate and Sozzini's capable answering of Budny, followed by his marriage to the daughter of Krzysztof Morsztyn Sr. in 1586 cemented his place among the Polish Brethren. The calling of the group " Socinian " in England is more a result of the place given to Sozzini's writings in

342-482: The Netherlands , where their works were widely published and influenced much of the thinking of later philosophers such as John Locke and Pierre Bayle . Their main ideologues were Piotr z Goniadza ("Gonesius"), Grzegorz Paweł z Brzezin , Marcin Czechowic , although Johannes Crellius (from Germany), and Johann Ludwig von Wolzogen (who came to Poland from Austria) were far better known outside Poland. Among

380-642: The Protestant community formed around Mikołaj Radziwiłł . It was he who contacted the anabaptists exiled from the German states who settled in large numbers in Moravia and convinced many of them to settle in Poland. He was also heavily influenced by the views of Bohemian Hussites , who supported modesty, life in poverty and disregard for mundane life. For his support of unitarianism and anti-trinitarianism at

418-752: The Sandomierz Agreement of 1570 between different Polish Protestants . The Minor Church in Poland was dissolved on July 20, 1658, when the Sejm expelled the Socinians from Poland after a series of 17th-century wars known as the Deluge in which Protestant Sweden invaded Poland since the Brethren (like almost all other non-Catholic Christians) were commonly seen as Swedish collaborators. The Brethren were exiled in three directions and found asylum in

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456-466: The University of Padua . There he received a doctorate in philosophy and became one of the professors. However, following his lecture of the anonymous work by Miguel Serveto and similar works by an Italian professor Matteo Gribaldi , Piotr of Goniądz converted to Protestantism and returned to Poland. One of the pioneers of anabaptism in Poland, he was active as one of the notable members of

494-458: The conscientious objection ideals of Gregory Pauli of Brzeziny and Fausto Sozzini . Budny produced his Polish versions 1572, 1574, 1589, Czechowic a Polish version 1577. Czechowic got caught up in a controversy over scriptural translation and interpretation with his contemporary Jakub Wujek , a Jesuit and the translator of the first Catholic Polish version of the Bible. Wujek freely took from

532-612: The 1840s always looked for historical precedents, the group was unaware of closer precedents in Socinianism . That changed with a series of articles in the community magazine during the early 1970 that was subsequently published. The Polish arm of the Christadelphians use the name Bracia w Chrystusie in a conscious echo of Socinian precedents. The Atlanta Bible College of the Church of God General Conference also publishes

570-471: The 18th century. Most of Polish Brethren moved to the Netherlands , where they greatly influenced European opinion, becoming precursors to Enlightenment . John Locke was preceded by a few decades by Samuel Przypkowski on tolerance and by Andrzej Wiszowaty on 'rational religion'. Isaac Newton had met Samuel Crell , son of Johannes Crellius , of the Spinowski family. Newton was well informed about

608-659: The Brzeska, Budny and Czechowic versions, providing notes of "teachings and warnings" where he considered them heretical. In reply Czechowic published Plaster for a publication of the New Testament by Father Jakub Wujek . Which took Wujek to task from the point of view of biblical scholarship, and then made a blow-by-blow analysis of the Jesuit's translation and his "teachings and warnings". Czechowic accused Wujek of uncredited plagiarism of whole sections. Wujek did not reply but

646-565: The Calvinist Ecclesia Major to the Unitarian Ecclesia Minor , or Polish Brethren . In doing so he adopted what was later to be known as the " Socinian " position, between Arianism , which taught the pre-existence of Christ and full Unitarianism which denied the virgin birth . Czechowic believed that Jesus was human, but because he was born without sin, it was right to worship him. Czechowic

684-541: The German border, Czechowic received a humanistic education in Poznań and at the University of Leipzig (1554). He lived at a time when religious unrest was prevalent in Poland. Numerous religious sects arose, varying from the old Catholicism and the new Reformation to sects which rejected the Trinity and denied the divinity of Jesus. The members of the sect which professed disbelief in the Trinity were called Unitarians, and

722-467: The Jesuit Łaszcz (Martinus Lascius 1551-) published Prescription for a Plaster of Czechowic under the pen name "Szczesny Zebrowski." Czechowic died in poverty and obscurity in 1613. Unlike Sozzini, Crellius, Statorius and other exiles, he did not mark the next four generations at the Racovian Academy with his descendants. The fact that his major writings were in Polish, not Latin, left him

760-655: The Protestant council of Secemin (22 January 1556), he was officially excommunicated by the Calvinists at the Synod of Pińczów in April of that year. He was also banished from Lesser Poland . However, he found several supporters of his ideas, mostly from among the lesser szlachta of Podlaskie and the lands of Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Probably in 1558 he found a benefactor and patron in person of Jan Kiszka , one of

798-840: The Trinity). During the Second Polish Republic , the priest Karol Grycz-Śmiałowski recreated what he considered was a revival of the Church of Polish Brethren in Kraków in 1937. During the People's Republic of Poland , it was registered in 1967 as the Unity of Polish Brethren ( Jednota Braci Polskich ). Modern groups that look to the Polish Brethren include the Christadelphians and Church of God General Conference . Although Christadelphians had since their origins in

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836-422: The baptism of infants entitled De paedobaptistarum errorum origine et de ea opinione, qua infantes baptizandos esse in prima nativitatis eorum exortu creditur (Lublin, 1575). He criticized what he saw as fourteen errors of the advocates of infant baptism. Rozmowy Chrystiańskie: Ktorez greckiego názwiská, Diálogámi zowia 1575 Christian Conversations between Teacher and Student - a book endeavoring to show that

874-407: The best known adherents of this fellowship are Mikołaj Sienicki , Jan Niemojewski , and writers and poets Zbigniew Morsztyn , Olbrycht Karmanowski and Wacław Potocki . This expulsion is sometimes taken as the beginning of decline of famous Polish religious freedom , although the decline started earlier and ended later: the last non-Catholic deputy was removed from parliament in the beginning of

912-606: The developments in Poland and collected many books from the Racovian Academy . The Englishman John Biddle had translated two works by Przypkowski, as well as the Racovian Catechism and a work by Joachim Stegmann , a "Polish Brother" from Germany. Biddle's followers had very close relations with the Polish Socinian family of Crellius (aka Spinowski). Subsequently, the Unitarian strain of Christianity

950-465: The equality and brotherhood of all people. They opposed social privileges based on religious affiliation, and their adherents refused military service (they were known for carrying wooden swords, instead of the real almost obligatory szablas ), and they declined to serve in political office. Although never numerous, they had a significant impact on political thought in Poland. After being expelled from Poland, they emigrated to England , East Prussia and

988-548: The faction that had supported Piotr of Goniądz's arguments broke all ties with the Calvinists and organised its own synod in the town of Brzeziny on June 10, 1565. In the 1570s a split was developing between the pacifist and Arian group, led by Marcin Czechowic and Grzegorz Paweł z Brzezin , and the non-pacifist and Ebionite group, led by the Belarusian Symon Budny . In 1579, the Italian exile Fausto Sozzini arrived in Poland and applied for admission to

1026-559: The following regions: Originally, the Minor Church followed a non-trinitarian doctrine, inspired by the writings of Michael Servetus . Later on, Socinianism , named for the Italian theologian Fausto Sozzini , became its main theological approach. They were against capital punishment and did not believe in the traditional Christian doctrines of Hell or the Trinity . They advocated the separation of church and state and taught

1064-584: The most powerful magnates of his time. Invited to Węgrów , Piotr became the head of the local Protestant commune and one of the most notable leaders of the Calvinist community in Poland. The radical political, ethical and religious beliefs of Piotr of Goniądz gained him much popularity among the Protestant clergy and lesser gentry, though also created many conflicts, especially with the magnates. Piotr supported egalitarianism, pacifism and disregard for mundane life. The members of his community, often regarded as

1102-489: The most radical among them were called by their opponents "Half Jews" or "semi-judaizers". The religious dissension and constant disputes which arose in consequence led to a number of Jews taking part in these disputations. Like many of his era, Martin Czechowic's religious life was marked by gradual rather than sudden changes in his religious views. He was originally a Roman Catholic priest in Kórnik until 1555, when he became

1140-575: The movement that later became known by his name. Prior to the 1565 break between the Calvinist and Radical Arian wings of the Reformed Church there had been cooperation on the six years 1557-1563 at the "Sarmatian Athens" at Pińczów, to produce the Biblia Brzeska. However now the Polish Brethren felt that this Bible contained too many readings supportive of orthodox Calvinist teaching on infant baptism, heaven and hell, immortality of

1178-631: The objections of the Jews to Jesus as Messiah were unfounded. It was published under the title Rozmowy Chrystiańskie o Tajemnicach Wiaru (Rakow, 1575). In reply to this, Rabbi Jacob Nachman of Bełżyce wrote a defense entitled Odpis Jacoba Zyda z Belzyc na Dialogi Marcina Czechowiza (Lublin, 1581). The arguments of Jacob Nachman called forth a reply from Czechowic, entitled Vindiciæ Duorum Dialogorum Contra Jacobum Judæum de Belzyce . Polish New Testament 1577. Raków, Kielce County Epistomium na Wędzidło... księdza Hieronima Powodowskiego, Stopple for

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1216-462: The political obligations, the amassing of private property. His attitude to Eve's sin was relatively progressive for the period. Czechowic, like most of the Polish Brethren , was not supportive of the personal idea of Fausto Sozzini that baptism is not necessary for individuals who believe and who have grown up in Christianity, but Sozzini did not push his idea, and was generally accepted in

1254-707: The publishing of his grandson Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. in Amsterdam a century later than any role of active leadership in Sozzini's life, especially given that without submitting to baptism, he could never formally join the church that later bore his name abroad. Their biggest cultural centres were Pińczów and Raków , site of the main Arian printing press and the university Racovian Academy ( Gymnasium Bonarum Artium ) founded in 1602 and closed in 1638, which trained over 1000 students. The Brethren never participated in

1292-541: The soul and the doctrine of the Trinity. Czechowic was at first involved with Symon Budny in a Socinian translation of biblical scriptures, but later had to part ways with Budny over 2 issues: Budny's sceptical attitude to the Greek text as the basis of a translation - preferring Jewish and Hebrew readings, and Budny's support of Jacobus Palaeologus for the right of the Christian to use force, where Czechowic sided with

1330-710: Was Doktrina pura et clara de praecepuis Christianae religionis articulus , which survived in a single copy currently held in Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. O ponurzaniu chrystiańskim ( On Christian Baptism ). O trzech ( On Trinity ). Marcin Czechowic Martin Czechowic (or Marcin Czechowic ) (c.1532–1613) was a Polish Socinian (Unitarian) minister, Protestant reformer , theologian and writer. Born in Zbąszyń on

1368-714: Was all but forgotten, even in Poland. In the West his name was publicised a little in the works George Huntston Williams in The Radical Reformation 1962, and these sources were picked up by the geographer Alan Eyre who ran articles on Czechowicz in The Christadelphian magazine in the 1970s. His Rozmowy Chrystiańskie was reprinted by the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1979. Sumariusz 1570 A Polish verse New Testament A denunciation of

1406-566: Was continued by, most notably, Joseph Priestley , who had emigrated to the United States and was a friend of both James Madison and Thomas Jefferson , the latter of whom sometimes attended services at Priestley's congregation in Philadelphia. Notably, Priestley was very well informed on the earlier developments in Poland, especially by his mentions of Socinus and Szymon Budny (translator of Bible, author of many pamphlets against

1444-478: Was in his mid-forties, of the same generation as Fausto Sozzini , Georg Schomann , Gregory Pauli , Krzysztof Morsztyn Sr. , Pierre Statorius . He has been described as the "Pope" of the Polish brethren, though this is something of an exaggeration - it is perhaps more that as a native Pole among so many German, Italian and French exiles he had more traction within the local brotherhood. He adopted unconditional pacifism and opposed infant baptism and, because of

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