nced to
imprisonment for life. He died in prison, November 15, 1579, prophesying
the final downfall of all "false dogmas," meaning, of course, the
doctrines which he had combated.

In Poland, especially since 1548, the humanistic and liberal-minded
nobility opposed the Catholic clergy and protected Protestants and later
on also fugitive Antitrinitarians. Among these were the Italians Francis
Lismanio, Gregory Pauli, and Peter Statorius. These Unitarians, however,
lacked unity and harmony. They disagreed on infant baptism, the
preexistence and adoration of Christ, etc. These dissensions continued
until Faustus Socinus (born at Siena 1539, died 1604 in Poland) arrived.
He was the nephew of the skeptical and liberal-minded Laelius Socinus
(Lelio Sozzini) who left Italy in 1542, when the Inquisition was
established there, and died in Zurich, 1562.

Faustus Socinus claimed that he had received his ideas from his uncle
Laelius. In 1562 he published anonymously an explanation of the first
chapter of the Gospel of St. John, which, contained the entire program
of Unitarianism. In 1578 he followed an invitation of Blandrata to
oppose non-adorantism (the doctrine that Christ must not be adored) as
taught by Davidis. In the following year Faustus removed to Poland,
where he endeavored to unite the various Unitarian parties: the
Anabaptists, Non-adorantes, the believers in the preexistence of Christ,
etc., and their opponents. The growth of Unitarianism in Poland was
rapid. A school flourished in Rakow numbering in its palmy days about
1,000 scholars. However here, too, a Jesuitic reaction set in. In 1638
the school at Rakow was destroyed, the printery closed, and the teachers
and ministers expelled. In 1658 the Unitarians generally were banished
as traitors, and in 1661 the rigorous laws against Unitarianism were
confirmed.

The chief source of the Antitrinitarian and Socinian doctrine is the
Racovian Catechism, published 1605 in the Polish and 1609 in the Latin
language under the title: "_Catechism of the Churches in the Kingdom of
Poland_ which affirm that no one besides the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ is that One God of Israel." It teaches: There is but one divine
person; Christ is a mere man; the doctrine concerning the deity of
Christ is false; as a reward for His sinless life, God has given Christ
all power in heaven and on earth; as such, as God's representative
(_homo Deus factus_, the man made God), He may be adored