Socinian Networks and their Influence on the Early Enlightenment

The project was finished with the monograph “The Beginnings of Socinianism. The Emergence of the Historical-Ethical Model of Religion and its Entry into the University Discourse of Protestants in Europe”. In contrast with the established confessions, the Socinians assumed that the norms of religion and morality were subject to historical change in a process of perfectibility, and they viewed the subjective reasoning of the individual as the ultimate arbiter in religious questions. They espoused a new, historical-ethical model of religion which was supported by historicising philological bible exegesis and which fundamentally affirmed the plurality of Christianity. The monograph traces the emergence of this model of religion from its origins in the thought of Fausto Sozzini onward. Particular attention is paid to how it was shaped by leading exponents of early Socinianism and the accompanying debates at universities in the Holy Roman Empire and in the Netherlands.

Editor: Kęstutis Daugirdas