Page 492

Page 492

Socinue THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG Socrates 492 tality. °' The Word was made flesh " (i. 14) should be " was flesh," meaning that he through whom God revealed his will was subject to all human mis ery and death. The kenosis (Phil. ii. 6) can not possibly refer to divine nature. From John iii. 13, 31 and vi. 38, 62, it is concluded that Christ was caught up into heaven for a season like Paul. Con trary arguments of mMn am nddecj: (1) Two all-. solut$h! 'unNite iii, one person, because mortality and immortality, variar bility and invariability are irreconcilable; (2) if.the union of the two-naJVM Jb_inseparable,.then,C~lrist could not died; (3) the height of absurdity was the communicatio idiomatum of Lutheran doc trine. On the other hand, Socinians expressly as serted that Christ was " more "than all other hu man beings, superior in endowments but not.. in nature. He was conceived of a virgin, is perfetly holy, and has power to reign over all things. Just as dominion over the earth constitutes in man the inherent image of God, so the absolute power con ferred by God upon Christ constitutes his divinity. In this sense he is truly God (I John v. 20) and is to be worshiped, next to the Father. Socinus calls the non-adorantes non-Christians, because they have not Christ. The work of Christ in redemption is concentrated this rophetc and kindly offices. For the.p_rQpbs~lie o~e~e a 'al'fi W _.~,x the t~ix.~d

unpg,

g. Work The content of revelation is essen- of Christ. tially composed of __ "~receptg ,d Qpomises." The Lord's Supper is a ceremonial precept, supplementing the law of the Old Testament. Great emphasis is laid upon the symbolic idea of immersion and the breaking of bread. The Lord's Supper is taught as a memorial of Christ's death after the view of Zwingli, and the term sacrament is spurned. Baptism was depre cated as not of permanent validity, but only as a primitive rite of confession for Jewish and pagan converts. For those born of Christian parents it is unessential. It is not commanded and not designed for infants, who are incapable of confession, and those of Christian parentage are holy by virtue of descent (I Cor. vii. 14). Among promises, on the other hand, are (1) eternal life, characteristic of the New, absent from the Old Testament; (2) the Holy SpiriLRQt as a nerson.kut_&_power or e a tlv d3.~w_.e. iAy, manifest visibly in the early Church and in visibly later as the spirit of revelation and faith. The essential elemgut in the, prophetic office is the death oh_ri,~t,. The new revelation was attested (1) by the sinlessness of Jesus, (2) by his holy life, and (3) by his miracles and death. The doctrine of satisfaction is disputed in the manner of Scotist scholasticism. Christ's death was necessary to attest, first, the great love of God for human redemption; and, secondly, the resurrection to eternal life on the condition of obedience. The kingly _oflice of Christ consists in the -exaltation to the ,right hand of God to reign, in his stead, power over his enemies, and the eternal reign and protection of the just, and begins with the ascension. The high-priestly office is an adjunct of the kingly, and means that he will, and actually does, come to the succqr_Q_f_man, which is led a tacriftce. Its seat is in he axe., since on earth Christ is not high priest and has no taber nacle fit for the high-priesthood.

The soteriologi9Ldoctrine..§h9,-Jessentiailly ~!e.f_tGrxn. Presupposing_ hums 4UttQngMy, it

conceives the divine will as manifest 6. Soteriol- in revelations, to which the human ogy; the obedience with divWa_.rforcement Church; reapqnds. On.'lustifica~It is taught Eschatology. that that article of faith iux1?lx elements:_ asst to the teaching of Jesus as true, t in God through Christ, and obe dl_ Jeuee to the divine commandments. In effecting this, faith is justifying and saving. All imputation is repudiated. The true Church is " the company of those who hold and profess sound doctrine." The Church is one with a school of the true knowl edge of God. In government it is an ecclesiastical democracy, subject only to Christ the head. The offices are those of pastor, elders, and deacons, of whom the first is elected by the synod. Church dis cipline is strictly insisted upon. Interference by the state is refused, even in case of heresy. The Christian is obligated to endure passively all that the civil power imposes, but active obedience is due only where there is no conflict with God's Word. " Rather to suffer than to commit injustice " is prac tised in private life; fellow church-members are to be prosecuted in civil courts only in urgent cases; and on the same principle military service is re nounced, except that with weapons one is permitted to make a feint upon an enemy. Socinus and a majority of theologians approved of holding civic office as not in conflict with the law of Christ; but, in practise, this was impossible in view of the fore going. In eschatology, the resurrection of. the, flesh is_lepudiated., The real substance of man or spirit will be retained, and identity of person clothed in a spiritual body (I Cor. xv.). T un o lv mdth the devil and his angels, shall be~ted,_ Thus the end like the beginning of the Socinian doctrine is immortality. (O. ZScsl,Ext.)

BIBLzooRAm7: On the life and teaching of Socinus consult: J. Crell, BesehrOvinphe van Godt en aijne eypenachappen . Hier is by Ghevoepht F. Socini leven en daden, Rakow, 1850 (?); S. Prnykowski, Vita Fausti Socino, Cracow, 1838, Eng. trawl., The Life of that Incomparable Man Faustua Socinus, London, 1853; G. Ashwell, De Socino et Socinianismo, Oxford, 1880; A. Caloviw, Scripta Antisoeiniana, 3 vols., Ulm, 1884; J. Toulmin, Memoirs of the Life, Character, Sentiments and Writings of F. Socinus, London, 1777; C. F. I11gen, Symbols ad vitam et doctrina Fausti Socini, 3 parts, Leipsic, 1828-40; E. Tagart, Sketches of the Lives and Characters of the Leading Reformers of the 16th Century, London, 1843; P. Lecler, Fauste Socin. Biographique et crittique, Geneva, 1885; Bayle, Dictionary, v. 168-180.

For the history of Socinianism consult: Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum, 6 vols., Amsterdam, 1828; B. Lamy, Hist. du Socinianiame, Paris, 1723· S. F. Lauterbach, Ariano-Socinianismus olim in Polonia, Leipsic, 1725; M. Maimbourg, The Mist. of Arianism, . . with Account of the . . . Socinian and Arian Controversies, 2 vols., Lon don, 1728-29; F. S. Bock, Hist. Antitrinitariorum, maaime Socinianorum. 2 vols., K3nigaberg, 1774-84; T. Lindsey Historical View of the State of the Unitarian Doctrine and Worship from the Reformation, London, 1783; A. Fuller, The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Bxamined and Com pared, Edinburgh, 1815; F. Trechsel, Die protestantischen Antitrinitarier vor Paustus Socinus, 2 parts, Heidelberg, 1839-44; O. Foek, Der Socinianismus each seiner Stellunp in der Gvaamrntentwickelung des chriatlichen Geistes, i. 121-