Socinian

[ soh-sin-ee-uhn ]

noun

1. a follower of Faustus and Laelius Socinus who rejected a number of traditional Christian doctrines, as the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, and original sin, and who held that Christ was miraculously begotten and that salvation will be granted to those who adopt Christ's virtues.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Socinians or their doctrines.

Socinian

/ səʊˈsɪnɪən /

noun

1. a supporter of the beliefs of Faustus and Laelius Socinus, who rejected such traditional Christian doctrines as the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, and original sin, and held that those who follow Christ's virtues will be granted salvation

adjective

1. of or relating to the Socinians or their beliefs

Derived Forms

• Soˈcinianˌism, noun

Other Words From

• So·cini·an·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Socinian¹

1635–45; < New Latin Sociniānus of, pertaining to Socinus; -ian

Example Sentences

While an apprentice, a controversy with a Socinian led him to study Greek, that he might read the New Testament in the original.

From Project Gutenberg

The English Socinians, followed by Voltaire, uprooted the Christian idea, and Rousseau after denying the true nature of God, set up the worship of man in His place.

From Project Gutenberg

He is a Socinian, and must be answered in another place.

From Project Gutenberg

Just the same is the Calvinist opinion of the Lutheran proofs for the real presence, and the Socinian view of the texts alleged by Calvinists in behalf of Christ's divinity.

From Project Gutenberg

This acrimonious repudiation added groans to Paine's sick and sinking heart, some of which were returned upon his Socinian assailant, and in kind.

From Project Gutenberg