The Polish Brethren, usually known as Socinians, were perhaps the most infamous Christian sect belonging to the so-called ‘Radical Reformation’. Renowned for their anti-Trinitarian beliefs and their rationalistic approach towards religion, the Brethren also discussed theological-political concepts such as the legitimacy of magistracy and warfare. Relevant literature on the Brethren's socio-political views underestimates their participation in contemporary debates on the ius belli, describing them as pacifists who generally opposed politics and violence until the 1650s, when some of them began defending a more conventional approach towards magistracy and warfare. This article proves that this shift toward a more standard Protestant position occurred as early as the 1620s, when Johannes Crell and Jonas Szlichtyng, two of the most prominent spokespersons among the Brethren, reconciled politics and the Brethren's faith in their writings. The article highlights how the historical situation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth urged them to revise their views on magistracy and warfare, and it argues that they were assisted in this by their education in European universities, especially the Lutheran Academy of Altdorf near Nuremberg, which provided them with different perspectives on the legitimacy of defensive warfare.
This Special Issue arises from a symposium held at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in July 2019. That symposium was part of the “Amsterdamnified” research program funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2015–2022). In this essay, the editors introduce the scope and themes of the Special Issue, provide a brief historical overview of some key aspects of sixteenth-century Protestant spiritualism, outline a series of historiographical questions that are important for this subject’s past and ongoing study, and highlight how the essays that follow relate to these questions and to one another.
This article examines the manuscript, entitled Jesus Nazarenus Legislator, written by Adam Boreel against the De Tribus Impostoribus. The analysis focuses on three main aspects of the manuscript. First, I give some information about De Tribus Impostoribus. Second, I trace the history of the writing of Boreel’s book. To this end, I will mainly take into consideration the correspondences of Henry Oldenburg and John Worthington. Last, I show that Boreel postulates a rational Christian religion and that he places emphasis on the practical aspects of this religion. For this reason, all humankind can accept it. In conclusion, I will sum up the results obtained from my analysis of the Jesus Nazarenus Legislator; I will also suggest that Boreel’s ideas could be read in light of the discussion on adiaphora in the Christian religion.
The Polish Brethren were fervent advocates of religious tolerance. Johann Crell's “Vindiciae pro Religionis Libertate” (1637) is prominent among their works, because of its far-reaching and progressive arguments for freedom of religion. This article outlines the historical and intellectual context of this pamphlet, and its reception in seventeenth-century Europe. Despite being familiar with a historical situation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth where toleration was practiced on a societal level, Crell strongly argued that freedom of religion had to be enacted through a public law. Only in this way could freedom of religion be truly effective and guarantee safety for all citizens.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.