Rakau Catechism

Title page of the Rakau Catechism

The racovian catechism (well Rakower Catechism ) is the summary of from Lelius and Faustus Sozzini initiated radical Reformation theology of Socinianism , for the first time in 1605 in Polish language in Rakau (Raków) appeared. To this day it is an important confession of Polish Unitarianism and the Polish Brothers . Its place of origin, Rakau, was one of the centers of Polish Unitarianism in the early modern period; the Rakau School (also called the Rakau Academy ) was located here until it was expelled by the Counter Reformation .

history

As early as 1574, the Krakow preacher Georg Schomann wrote a Unitarian catechism, which reflected the theological standpoints of the Polish Unitarians. In the following decades the desire for a confessional document in a more theologically closed form increased. That is why Fausto Sozzini was entrusted with the preparation of a new Unitarian catechism. He then worked on the catechism together with Peter Statorius the Elder. J. from. However, he could not finish his work before his death in 1604; therefore Valentin Schmalz , Johann Völkel and Hieronymus Moskorzowski continued his work together. The catechism was finally published in Polish for the first time in 1605. In 1608 Schmalz translated it into German, and a year later a Latin edition appeared. In 1652 an English and a Dutch translation followed. New editions of the catechism were subsequently published again and again. The confessional document became known in Western Europe and met with a sharp rejection of Lutheran and Reformed orthodoxy on the one hand, and positive reception in enlightened circles , especially in the Netherlands and England , on the other .

content

The Rakau Catechism claimed to base its theological positions solely on the Bible; At the same time, however, it was emphasized that this could only be recognized through the medium of reason. It was characterized by anti-speculative and biblical - positivistic thinking and a hermeneutic approach to scripture. The catechism argues for Jesus as a man and God's Son, against the pre-existence of Christ , for free will and against original sin . The catechism also criticizes the baptism of children as unbiblical, but without directly rejecting child baptism ; for "the kingdom of God does not consist in baptism, but in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit". With regard to the Lord's Supper , the Catechism outlines a Unitarian understanding of the Lord's Supper that rejects the transformation ( transubstantiation ) of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ as taught in the Catholic Church and instead understands bread and wine as images; the celebration of the Lord's Supper itself is understood as communion with Christ. In the sense of Christian pacifism, the catechism also contains the outlawing of all forms of war, including so-called “holy wars”. Furthermore, it is stated for the first time that religious beliefs must change from generation to generation, since "every generation is directly to God"; Since the ideas of the generations have changed, this also applies to religious convictions.

Reactions to the publication of the Rakau Catechism

The doctrines of faith represented in the Rakau Catechism were sharply rejected by the Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican churches. The Latin translation of the Rakau Catechism of 1609 was dedicated to King James I of Great Britain in a special letter from Moskorzowski, but by resolution of the English Parliament it was publicly burned in 1614 (or 1613). Since the Polish town of Raków was founded out of the socinian spirit of religious tolerance and thus its population was socinian, the approx.15,000 inhabitants of Raków were expelled in the course of the Counter Reformation or their houses were destroyed and their belongings stolen or destroyed.

The beliefs of the Rakau Catechism can still be found today among Christian Unitarians and, in part, among groups influenced by them such as the Christadelphians . The conception of the fundamental historicity of religious views presented in the Rakau Catechism has also found a late continuation among the (non-anti-Trinitarian-Christian) German Unitarians in the constant reformulation of the basic ideas to be formulated and coordinated in a radical democratic way .

Edition

Martin Schmeisser (ed.): Socinian confessional writings - the Rakow catechism of Valentin Schmalz (1608) and the so-called Soner catechism. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005200-7 .

literature

Benedict Winer: Comparative presentation of the doctrinal concept of the various Christian church parties, together with complete evidence from the symbolic writings of the same in the original language. Carl Heinrich Reclam, Leipzig 1824.
Theological universal = lexicon for manual use for clergy and non-theologians. Published by RL Friderichs, Elberfeld 1874.
Karol Bal, Siegfried Wollgast (ed.): Enlightenment in Poland and Germany. Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis, No. 1106, Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa 1989.
Paul Wrzecionko (Ed.): Reformation and Early Enlightenment in Poland - Studies on Socinianism and its influence on Western European thought in the 17th century. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1977.

Web links

Digitized version of the German edition from 1608, provided by the Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa

Individual evidence

↑ Robert Stupperich (Ed.): Church in the East. Studies on Eastern European church history and church studies . tape 6 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1963, p. 81 .
^ ^A ^b Hubert Filser: Dogma, Dogmen, Dogmatik. An investigation into the foundation and the history of the development of a theological discipline from the Reformation to the Late Enlightenment . LIT, 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5221-0 , pp. 212 .
↑ Martin Schmeisser (ed.): Socinian confessional writings: The Rakow catechism of Valentin Schmalz (1608) and the so-called Soner catechism . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005200-7 , p. 127/128 .
↑ Stefan Fleischmann: Szymon Budny - A theological portrait of the Polish-Belarusian humanist and Unitarian (approx. 1530–1593) . Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2006, ISBN 978-3-412-04306-3 , p. 17 .
↑ Martin Schmeisser (ed.): Socinian confessional writings: The Rakow catechism of Valentin Schmalz (1608) and the so-called Soner catechism . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005200-7 , p. 173 .
↑ Martin Schmeisser (ed.): Socinian confessional writings: The Rakow catechism of Valentin Schmalz (1608) and the so-called Soner catechism . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005200-7 , p. 170-173 .
↑ Cf. Benedict Winer: Comparative presentation of the doctrinal concept of the various Christian church parties, together with complete evidence from the symbolic writings of the same in the original language. Carl Heinrich Reclam, Leipzig 1824, p. XXII.

[1] Robert Stupperich (Ed.): Church in the East. Studies on Eastern European church history and church studies . tape 6 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1963, p. 81 .

[Filser-212-2] A ^b Hubert Filser: Dogma, Dogmen, Dogmatik. An investigation into the foundation and the history of the development of a theological discipline from the Reformation to the Late Enlightenment . LIT, 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5221-0 , pp. 212 .

[3] Martin Schmeisser (ed.): Socinian confessional writings: The Rakow catechism of Valentin Schmalz (1608) and the so-called Soner catechism . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005200-7 , p. 127/128 .

[4] Stefan Fleischmann: Szymon Budny - A theological portrait of the Polish-Belarusian humanist and Unitarian (approx. 1530–1593) . Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2006, ISBN 978-3-412-04306-3 , p. 17 .

[5] Martin Schmeisser (ed.): Socinian confessional writings: The Rakow catechism of Valentin Schmalz (1608) and the so-called Soner catechism . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005200-7 , p. 173 .

[6] Martin Schmeisser (ed.): Socinian confessional writings: The Rakow catechism of Valentin Schmalz (1608) and the so-called Soner catechism . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005200-7 , p. 170-173 .

[7] Cf. Benedict Winer: Comparative presentation of the doctrinal concept of the various Christian church parties, together with complete evidence from the symbolic writings of the same in the original language. Carl Heinrich Reclam, Leipzig 1824, p. XXII.