Polish Brethren

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The Polish Brethren (Polish: Bracia Polscy) were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a

Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called "Arians" or "Socinians" (Polish: arianie, socynianie), but themselves preferred simply to be called "Brethren" or "Christians", and, after their expulsion from Poland, "Unitarians
".

History

The Ecclesia Minor or Minor Reformed Church of Poland, better known today as the Polish Brethren, was started on January 22, 1556, when

Calvinist) churches of Poland held in the village of Secemin.[1]

1565: Split with the Calvinists

Religions in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1573 (Catholics in yellow, Calvinists in purple, Lutherans in gray, Orthodox in green)

A theological debate called by the Polish king

Brzeziny on June 10, 1565.[2]

In the 1570s a split was developing between the pacifist and

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.

1602–1638: Racovian Academy

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.

1658: Expulsion

The Brethren never participated in the

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 the following regions:

Beliefs

Theology

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.

Church and state

They advocated the separation of church and state and taught 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.

Influence

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 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

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 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

]

Influence in Britain

Samuel Crell, son of Johannes Crellius, of the Spinowski family. Newton was well informed about the developments in Poland and collected many books from the Racovian Academy.[3]

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).

Influence in the United States

Subsequently, the

Szymon Budny
(translator of Bible, author of many pamphlets against the Trinity).

In the modern era

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

Church of God General Conference. Although Christadelphians had since their origins in 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.[4][5] 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 a Journal continuing research into the Polish Brethren and related groups.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Hewett, Racovia, pp. 20–21.
  2. ^ Hewett, p. 24.
  3. .
  4. ^ Eyre, Alan, The Protestors, Birmingham 1975
  5. ^ Eyre, Alan, Brethren in Christ, Adelaide, 1983
  6. ^ Journal for The Radical Reformation, archived from the original on 2010-07-02

References

  • Phillip Hewett, Racovia: An Early Liberal Religious Community, Providence, Blackstone Editions, 2004.

Further reading

  • Joseph Kasparek, The Constitutions of Poland and of the United States: Kinships and Genealogy, Miami, FL, American Institute of Polish Culture, 1980.
  • Earl Morse Wilbur, A History of Unitarianism: Socinianism and Its Antecedents, Harvard University Press, 1945.

External links