[SOCINIANISM]

£7,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

Excellent, clean copies of these important Latin and German works on Socinianism, printed by Sebastian Sternacki in Raków, Poland. A major theological centre, Raków hosted a community of Polish Brethren, the Arian (anti-trinitarian) minority of the Reformed Churches in Poland, who, in 1562-5, had abandoned Calvinistic doctrines to follow those of Lelio (1525-62) and Fausto (1539-1604) Sozzini. Fausto spent 30 years in Poland; his preaching led to the Brethren embracing Socinian unitarianism. The son-in-law of the Krakow printer Rodecki, Sternacki moved the press to Raków c.1600; there he continued to focus on the printing of theological works, read and sponsored by the Polish Brethren’s renowned Racovian Academy. ‘The Raków press published works of the leading Arian theologians […]. They found their way in large numbers to western Europe. Textbooks for the Raków school were also printed and used so well that little remains’ (Swiderska, p.208). Vernacular editions are similarly scarce. Sozzini’s influential and posthumous ‘Racovian Catechism’ is here found in its first Latin edition. First published in Polish (1608) and German (1609), ‘Catechesis Ecclesiarum’ became ‘the flag-bearer of Socinian doctrines’ (Kawecka-Gryczowa, p.102). It focused, in the form of questions and answers, on major controversial points such as Christ’s divine nature and the interpretation of John 1. The scandalous dedication to James I of England led Lord Cecil to order his agents in Poland to seize co

• Binding: Hardcover

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