Fœcler Isaac  was born at Baden, or in the Palatinate, in the year 1578. His name is sometimes written Focklerus, and sometimes Voglerus, in the Synodical Acts; but the more correct mode of writing it is Fceclerus, as appears from the anagram "Ius cole, fer casus," which he adopted as his motto, and formed by a transposition of his name, Isacus Fœclerus. The learned John Moller has written largely concerning him in his "Cimbria litterata," T. II. Fol. 197.

It was not till late in life that Fœcler became an avowed Socinian. Before the year 1627, he had filled various ecclesiastical offices; and in that year he was appointed Pastor of Falckenstein, and Superintendent of the surrounding district. In 1633, he was deprived of this office, after which he lived for three years in a state of exile. At the expiration of his term of banishment, he was made Superintendent of Baden, and Pastor of Durlach; and in the Gymnasium of the latter place he was appointed Hebrew Professor. But he was again deprived of his offices, for what reason we are not informed; and in 1640 went to Glückstadt, in the Duchy of Holstein, where he lived as a private individual, and was supported by the bounty of the King of Denmark, and some other kind friends, who were admirers of his preaching.

Fœcler's bias in favour of Socinianism now began to shew itself openly. He therefore left his wife and infant daughter at Glückstadt, and went into Holland, from which country he seems to have gone into Poland; for we learn, from the Synodical Acts, that the superintendence of the School at Uszomir was entrusted to him, by the Synod of Siedliski, in 1643. He wrote

1. Sophronismus, (a small tract occupying a single sheet,) which he dedicated to Christian IV., King of Denmark, and printed in 1642. Only fifty copies of this tract were struck off, and these were presented to men, who were well versed in controversies of this kind, for the purpose of collecting their opinions of its merits. The author is said to have made it the vehicle of his avowal of Socinianism, which he had before kept locked up in his own breast. He represents a belief in the articles contained in the Apostles' Creed as alone necessary to salvation. Whoever admits this rule is regarded by him as orthodox; but all who reject it, or add to it in any way, he charges with heresy. John Rotlceben, Court Preacher to the King of Denmark, published a reply to "Sophronismus," in which he denounced Fœcler as a degenerate son of Luther; said that "'Sophronismus' was published sine ; " and adopted as his motto the caution given by our Lord, Matt. vii. 15, " Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves."

2. Bescheidenheit, welche an Gottglaubige Christen nach einziger Richtschnur der H. Schrift gestellet und in Acht genommen hat Isaac Focler. 1642, 4to. This was directed against Rotloeben's "Examen Sophronismi," although Fœcler does not mention his adversary by name.

3. Sophronismi Recognitio: addressed to the Most Serene and Most Potent Christian IV., King of Denmark and Norway, &c., 4to. At the beginning of this little work the author has remarked, that he composed it at Amsterdam, April 1st, 1643.

4. Christlicher Bericht, wie die Versehung Gottes und der erwehlte Mensch zu betrachten sey; mit angehengter Recognitions Sophronismi, wider M. John. Rotlceben. Glückstadt, 1643, 4to.

5. Isaac Fœcler's "Disterminator Regiminis Ecclesiastici ac Politici, Spirae, 1636," 8vo, is mentioned in John Fred. Mayer's "Catal. Biblioth." p. 232, N. 106.

(Vidend. Bock, Hist. Ant. T. I. pp. 355—359.)

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Fieri Ludovica was a Bolognese, and member of the Protestant Church at Chiavenna. Having attacked the Divinity of Christ, he was summoned before the Synod of Coire, in 1561, together with Girolamo Turriano, of Plurs, and Michael Angelo Florio, Minister of Soglio, who had denied the doctrine of the Atonement, and asserted, that salvation originates in the Free Grace of God alone. Certain articles, condemnatory of their opinions, were drawn up, and presented to them for their signature. Florio and Turriano subscribed ; but Fieri, declining to do so, was excommunicated, and retired into Moravia. On being interrogated, (whether in his own name only, or in that of the party with which he acted, does not appear,) he answered openly and intrepidly, that he agreed in all things, except three, with the Church at Chiavenna ; and that these three things were, the eternal sonship of Jesus Christ, his equality with the Father, and the creation of heaven and earth by him. The Ministers present are said to have been struck with amazement, when they heard these declarations ; but Fieri remained unmoved, and proposed, in the name of himself and his friends, as a fit subject of deliberation for the Synod, "Whether any one ought to be deemed a heretic, on account of a simple error in the article of the Trinity, when, in other respects, he is a man of approved morals, and distinguished for his charity to the poor ?" After he had been some time in Moravia, he returned to Chiavenna ; and was more zealous than ever for the diffusion of Antitrinitarian opinions.

Scipio Lentulus, Pastor of Chiavenna, to whom we are indebted for a knowledge of this last fact, in the same letter, dated Nov. 7th, 1569, and inserted by De Porta, in his Hist. Ref. Eccles. Raet., (T. I. L. ii. p. 497,) mentions a heterodox blacksmith, of the name of Solomon, who resided at Plurs, and had been excommunicated about ten years before, for asserting, that Jesus Christ was God, only in as far as he was conceived of the Holy Ghost, and was not God equal with the Father, and joint Creator with him of heaven and earth. This man is described as still persisting in these opinions, and continuing to maintain them on all occa'sions, in public as well as in private. In the same letter, mention is also made of one Francesco Of Bagna-cavallo, a wealthy town of Romagna, who was once orthodox in his opinions ; but who, after a short absence from Chiavenna, returned to that place, and asserted that Christ was not God by nature, but by appointment.

(Vidend. De Porta, Hist. Ref. Eccles. Eat. T. I. L. ii. C. xiv. pp. 395, 396; C. xix. pp. 497, 498. M'Crie's Hist, of the Ref. in Italy, Chap, vi. p. 414.)

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Ferberinus, was appointed to the Rectorship of the School at Czerniechow, by the Synod of Racow, A. D. 1637. Sandius mentions John Forberius, or Forberinus, as one of those who were present at the Conferences, or Theological Exercises, held in the house of Smalcius between the years 1606 and 1609 ; and Bock suggests, that the name ought, perhaps, to be written Ferberinus, and that the individual mentioned by Sandius was probably the father, or some relation on the father's side, of the subject of this Article, whose Christian name is unknown.

(Vidend. Sandii B. A. p. 175. Bock, Hist . Ant . T. I. p. 355.)

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Felbinger Jérémie,  (Germ. Felwinger) était le fils d'un fourreur, et est né à Brieg, en Silésie, le 27 avril 1616. Il était destiné par ses amis à la loi, et de ce point de vue il fut placé sous les professeurs les plus éminents, mais préférant la vie militaire à la corvée de la loi, il entra dans l'armée suédoise, et après un service de trois ou quatre ans, il retourna dans son pays natal avec rien, sauf des cicatrices sur son corps et un porte-monnaie vide en poche. Quelque temps après, il a été nommé Recteur de l'école à Coslin, en Poméranie, et se maria, mais étant bientôt fatigué de tenir une école, il démissionna de sa situation, et se rendit à Helmstadt. Là, il prêta certains écrits aux étudiants, la teneur de ceux-ci n'étant pas approuvée par les autorités, on lui ordonna de quitter la ville avant le coucher du soleil. En l'an 1642, il passa secrètement aux unitariens. Les magistrats de Bernstadt, ignorants de ce changement dans ses sentiments religieux, le nomma au poste de Professeur de musique, mais n'étant pas capable de garder son propre conseil, il révéla ses opinions au Surintendant de l'école, qui, après de nombreux conflits avec lui, à la longue passèrent de la parole aux coups. Avant que toute enquête juridique de ces querelles puisse être instituée, Felbinger disparut. A la fin de l'année 1648, il résidait à Wrocław, où il est censé avoir repris son ancien métier d'Instituteur : mais, soit il jugea nécessaire de démissionner, ou a été libéré en raison de ses opinions religieuses. Sa femme, fatiguée de tant de changements, est revenue à ses propres relations à Coslin, et refusa d'accompagner son mari plus longtemps dans ses pérégrinations. Enfin, il la rejoignit là, et en l'an 1653 publia une version allemande de Jonas Schlichtingius «Confession». Il s'est ensuite rendu à Dantzig, d'où il envoya douze exemplaires de cette traduction à Christian Grossen, Surintendant de Colberg, pour la distribution dans ce quartier. À Dantzig, il était lié à la congrégation unitarienne pendant un certain temps, comme assistant de Martin Ruarus. En 1654, lors de l'Assemblée de Czarcow, Preussius et Wolzogenius ont été chargés de réviser les écrits de Felbinger, et de les emporter à la prochaine réunion. Lors de cette réunion Felbinger attira l'attention sur ce qu'il avait déjà fait pour l’Église, et indiqua ce qu'il était toujours disposé à faire : mais il a demandé qu'il puisse être nommé à une situation avec laquelle il pourrait se consacrer au service de l’Église, à titre public. Lors de l'Assemblée de Raszcow, donc, en 1655, il reçut des directives pour aller à Luclavice. Mais son esprit agité ne lui permit pas de rester un certain temps là, ou en tout autre lieu, car il partit rapidement de là pour Dantzig, d'où pour la Frise orientale et les Pays-bas, de là à Francfort-sur-l'Oder, et de là à nouveau à Berlin, dans la plupart des endroits où il semble avoir été impliqué dans des difficultés, que ce soit par sa propre faute, ou de par un zèle imprudent. Il se positionna, finalement, en 1687, lorsqu'il avait dépassé ses soixante-dix ans, à Amsterdam, où il gagna un maigre subsistance pendant le reste de sa vie, par les bénéfices découlant d'une école, et en corrigeant la presse.

Felbinger était loin d'être acceptable pour tous les sociniens, parmi lesquels il semblait désireux d'être considéré comme un éclectique. Il inclina vers le parti arien, ainsi qu'il ressort de ses "Lettres aux chrétiens qui reconnaissent un Dieu Très-Haut, le Père de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ," et de son "Manuel chrétien". Nous lisons nulle part sur lui, donc, en tant que Ministre payé d'une quelconque église socinienne. Il s'est violemment opposé au corps Evangelico-luthérien, auquel il attribue tous ses malheurs en Allemagne, se considérant comme un disciple du Christ persécuté. L'année de sa mort est inconnue. Il a été par erreur compté parmi les mennonites, car il était en accord avec eux que pour nier la légalité des serments. Il n'était pas véritablement socinien, mais il acceptait de Socin et ses partisans certaines choses, alors qu'il différait d'eux pour d'autres, et considéré celles de leurs opinions en les rejetant comme de pernicieuses erreurs. Parmi ses écrits, qui étaient nombreux, ce qui suit en est une liste.

1. Sur le mode syllogistique du raisonnement. 1646, 12 mo., et Rotterd. 1675, en 8 vo.

2. Nomenclature Latino-germanique sur le "Janua Linguarum" de Comenius.

3. Une incarnation de la Rhétorique et Oratoire de Bartholin. 1646, en 12 mo.

4. Recueil de politique chrétienne, compilé à partir des Saintes Écritures, mais principalement des livres du Nouveau Testament, par Jérémie Felbinger. Wrocław, 12 mo. Une édition en 8 vo, qui a également été imprimée à Wrocław, et qui parut en 1648. Sandius mentionne également une édition en quarto, qui a été imprimée en 1646, et nous informe qu'une traduction néerlandaise en 8 vo, Par Anthony Van Koppenol, a été publiée en 1660, et que la traduction allemande existait aussi en manuscrit. Ce recueil est destiné à servir de précurseur à un plus grand travail, qui n'a toutefois pas fait son apparition. Il a été divisé en deux parties, et composée principalement dans le langage biblique.

5. Preuves Chrétiennes, démontrant par les témoignages les plus invincibles, I. Que le Père de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ est seul Dieu Très-Haut, II. Que l'homme Jésus, qui était le fils de Marie, est seul le Fils unique et propre de Dieu; III. Que l'Esprit de Dieu est la puissance de Dieu; IV. Que ceux qui sont justifiés par la grâce divine, par la foi, sont tenus de régler leurs vies selon les Dix Commandements de Dieu, et les injonctions du Christ, tirées des écrits du Nouveau Testament, et disposés dans l'ordre des livres, chapitres et versets. 1653, en 4 to. Pour ce travail, on ajoute une lettre de l'auteur à George Calixte, écrit à Coslin, le 8 Juin, 1653 ; ainsi que des extraits de deux autres lettres, adressées, à la même époque, à Jean Micraelius.

6. Confession de la foi chrétienne des Frères polonais, traduit du latin en allemand. 1653, en 8 vo. Cette confession a été établie par Jonas Schlichtingius, et est celle mentionnée dans un ancien cadre du présent article. Felbinger a écrit une préface pour celle-ci, et l'a dédié à Jacques Fabricius, Christian Grossen, et Jean Micraelius. Une réponse en allemand a été publiée par Christian Grossen, en 1655, en 8 vo.

7. Prodromus de la preuve dans les livres de l'Ancien Testament, que le Père de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ seul est le seul Dieu et que l'homme Jésus est seul le Christ, le Fils de Dieu, et que le Saint-Esprit est la puissance de Dieu. 1654, 4 to. Germ.

8. Explication des passages habituellement allégués par les Écritures aux Ancien et Nouveau Testaments, pour prouver la doctrine de la Trinité. Il s'agit d'une version latine d'un document de J.L. Wolzogenius, déclarée par Bock pour avoir été insérée dans la Bibl. Fratr. Polon. Mais si Wolzogenius écrit un tel ouvrage en langue allemande, et Felbinger traduit en latin, ni l'original ni la traduction semble avoir trouvé une place dans les écrits recueillis de Wolzogenius.

9. Une lettre à Christian Grossen, en date du 26 mars 1654, sur des questions domestiques, et en particulier sur la menace de désertion de son épouse.

10. Copie d'une lettre de Jérémie Felbinger, adressée à John Biddle, et en date du 24 Août, (OS), 1654. Celle-ci a été jointe à la traduction de Nathaniel Stuckey du "Twofold Catechism" de Biddle. L'auteur de celui-ci exprime le plaisir, avec lequel il a entendu parler de l'adhésion de M. Biddle à la cause unitarienne, et l'exhorte à utiliser tous les moyens en son pouvoir pour diffuser ses idées, non seulement en Angleterre, mais sur le continent d'Amérique. Vers la fin de sa lettre, il laisse entendre que M. B. peut connaître l'état de l’Église dans les environs de Dantzig de André Sandoland, le porteur de celle-ci.

11. Réponse à Christian Grossen, Surintendant à Colberg. 1655, en 4 to. Germ. Il s'agissait d'une réponse à une lettre de Chr. Grossen, adressée à Felbinger, après sa fuite de Coslin.

12. Lettres à Christopher Pelargus. 1655, en4 to.

13. La doctrine sur Dieu, le Christ et le Saint-Esprit, composée en allemand dans les paroles mêmes de l’Écriture il y a quelques années, par un confesseur de la Vérité Divine, et maintenant publiée en latin, à l'usage des étrangers. 1657, en 8 vo. L'originale en allemand, qui a été publiée en 1654, est venue à une seconde édition en 1667, et est probablement le même que No. 7, dans le présent article. Joachim Stegmann, Junior, traduit en latin, et jointe à un court traité, intitulé "Disquisitio Brevis inter duas de S. Trinitate Disputantium Partes; utri tandem post longa Certamina Victoria tribuenda sit? per Magnum Amicum Honesti" (formed, by transposition, out of the words Joachimum Stegmannum). Une traduction française de cet ouvrage a été publiée par Gedeon Curcellseus, 1657, en 8 vo;. Et une version néerlandaise de celui-ci, en 8 vo, également sortie au cours de la même année. Une autre édition a été publiée en 1670, en 8 vo., à laquelle a été ajouté, "Articles de la foi chrétienne".

14. Un Lexique greco-allemand du Nouveau Testament. 1657, en 12 mo. Il ressort du catalogue de la bibliothèque de John Ernest Seiler, (Dantz. 1709, p. 436, n ° 344), que ce lexique a été publié à Leyde. Schleusner le mentionne dans "Notitia Literaria Lexicorum N.T. Graeci," préfixé à son propre lexique.

15. Un premier livre en langue grecque. Leyde, 1657, en 8 vo. Belg.

16. Le Nouveau Testament correctement traduit du grec en allemand, dans lequel, plus d'attention a été pris que pour n'importe quelle autre version précédente, et différentes lectures sont introduites à partir de manuscrits ainsi que des livres imprimés, et les passages parallèles sont marquées. Amst. Imprimé par Christopher Conrad, en 1660, et en 8 vo. Cette traduction, qui a été faite à partir de l'édition de Stephen Curcellaeus est très rare. Il semble y avoir un doute, si elle n'a pas été imprimée à Emden, même si elle est censée avoir été émise à partir d'une presse Amsterdam. Le nom du traducteur n'apparaît pas dans la page de titre, mais sort dans la préface, qui a été écrite à Emden, le 3 février 1660. des comptes rendus unitariens sont donnés sur John 1:1 ; Romains 9:5 ; 1 Jean verset 20, et Jude 4;. Et le Rédacteur en chef de la version polonaise, publiée par les sociniens en 1680, en 8 vo, n'est pas qu'un peu redevable à celle de Felbinger.

17. Un bref manuel Chrétien. 1661, en 12 mo. Germ. Une version néerlandaise de ce manuel parut en 1675, en 12 mo. Les sujets qu'elle traite sont, d'abord, la création, la chute et la restauration de l'homme, d'autre part, l'accueil des petits enfants dans l'église ; Troisièmement, baptême ; Quatrièmement, Discipline de l'Église ; Cinquièmement, le lavement des pieds considéré comme une ordonnance sacrée; Sixièmement, la Cène du Seigneur ; Septièmement, l'interdiction de l'assermentation.

18. Un Catéchisme : ou Instruction courte et simple de l'Alliance de Dieu avec les enfants des hommes. 1664, en 12 mo.

19. Une lettre de Jean Ad. Scherzer, écrite en 1671. Scherzer mentionne cette lettre dans son "Système. Theol." Loc. xx. § 4, p. 582, et dans son "Anti-Coll Socin.». p. 1191.

20. Une lettre de Jérémie Felbinger à ces chrétiens, qui reconnaissent à juste titre, un Dieu Très-Haut, le Père de notre Seigneur et Sauveur Jésus-Christ, selon les Saintes Écritures de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testaments. Amst. 1672, en 4 to. Une deuxième édition de cette lettre a été publiée à Rotterdam, en 1681, 4 to. Son objet était de souligner ces choses, dans lesquelles Felbinger a conçu que le système des sociniens est erroné, ou défectueux.

21. Une lettre adressée à la Faculté de Théologie d'Altorf, et écrite dans les noms communs de Daniel Zwicker et Jérémie Felbinger. Vide I. H. von Seelen "Philocal. Epist." N. 82, p. 344.

(Vidend. Sandii B. A. pp. 157—159. Bock, Hist. Ant . T. I. pp. 340 —355.)

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Farnovius Stanislaus or Pharnovius, (Polon. FarNowski,) sometimes called Farnesius or Fernesius, studied in the German Universities, and principally at Heidelberg ; and was very early in life distinguished as a disseminator of Arianism. Zachariah Ursinus relates, that certain Divines held conferences with him; and that he was afterwards ordered to quit Heidelberg.

He held the doctrine of Christ's preexistence ; and from his name, those who embraced the same doctrine were called Farnovians. Whether he believed in the personality of the Holy Spirit has been disputed. Sandius thinks that he did not: Bock is of opinion that he did. But in whatever way this question may be decided, it is certain, that Farnovius and his followers thought it wrong to invoke, or offer up prayers to the Holy Spirit.

He was an advocate of Adult Baptism: but, disagreeing with the other Unitarians respecting the person of Christ, he separated from them, and drew after him many followers. The lenity and indulgence of the more heterodox party, however, together with the skill with which they conducted the controversy, won back considerable numbers; so that, at length, the whole body, being deprived of its head, ceased to exist, and was in time reduced to nothing. "Tenues abierunt in auras." The few, who did not join the Unitarians, went over to the Calvinistic party. Farnovius's own secession from the Unitarians, who were then called Pinczovians, took place about the year 1568. After that time, he had the charge of a congregation at Sandecz, on the confines of Hungary, under the patronage of Stanislaus Mezeck, or Menzynski, Starost of that town. He also had the strenuous support of Taszycki, an influential noble, who became a convert to his opinions. His other principal followers were Stanislaus Wisnovius, John Cazanovius, Nicholas Zytno, and a lady of the name of Zabawska.

Farnovius was living in the year 1614. Smalcius states, in his "Diary," that he held a conference with him, on the 31st of January in that year, at Zarsyn, which ended, as so many conferences have done, both before and since, in each party being more confirmed in his own opinions. Lauterbach thinks that Farnovius died in 1615. But Bock regards it as more probable, that he survived Smalcius, who lived to a very great age; else Smalcius, as he thinks, would have recorded the time of his death. The following works have been attributed to Farnovius.

1. A Book of Prayers in the Polish language, which was published at the expense of Zabawski's widow, a matron belonging to the author's Church, of whom frequent mention is made in the Synodical Acts.

2. A Proof of the falsifying, and a Confession of the true Doctrine. Polon. Sandius is doubtful whether this work was written by Farnovius, or Gonesius, or Wisnovius ; or whether it was the joint production of all three.

3. Books against the Pacification of Luclavice, inscribed to Stanislaus Szafraniec, Castellan of Sandomir. In these books Farnovius combats the opinion of those, who deny that the Son of God existed before he was born of Mary. Martin Czechovicius, as we have already seen, published a reply to them, in the year 1584, which he had prepared about five years before.

4. Genuine Instruction concerning Christian Discipline in the true Church of the Son of God, arranged and harmonized from the Evidence of the New Testament alone, by Stan. Farnovius, Minister of a Christian Church. 1573, 4to. Polon. This work consists wholly of extracts from the New Testament. In the Preface, which is addressed "to all the Faithful," the author treats of the internal and external characters of the Apostolic Church; and the treatise itself contains admonitions to Pastors and Ministers, and the whole Church, with an account of such things as it is incumbent upon each order to do or to leave undone.

5. On the Knowledge and Confession of the Only God through all Time, Creator of all Things ; and of his Only Son, by whom all Things exist ; and of the Only Spirit of God, by whom the converted cry, "Abba, Father!" &c. 1573, 4to. Polon. This work is upon the same plan as the preceding, and consists chiefly of texts of Scripture, systematically arranged. No printer's name, or place of publication is mentioned. Prefixed to the body of the book is "An Address to the Poles." In this the author treats of the state of heathen unbelief, in which the Polish nation was once sunk, and the Antichristian superstition, by which it was still oppressed; and under the latter head he includes the doctrine of the Trinity, and Infant Baptism. He gives it as his opinion, that Jews and Turks are nearer the Kingdom of God than orthodox Christians; because those who take the Jewish Scriptures, or the Koran, as their sole guide, confess One God, and err only in not having access to him by a Mediator, not believing that he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, while Trinitarian Christians deny the Unity of God, by joining three in one. He compares them, therefore, to the worshipers of a multiplicity of Gods, as Jupiter, Pluto, Mars, &c. His treatise commences with an explanation of the words Elohim, Jehovah and Adonai ; and he thinks that the plural form, Elohim, is used for the sake of expressing honour. He grants that Christ is the Lord Jehovah, yet not of himself, but of the only Jehovah, whose Son he is. He strenuously opposes the doctrine of the Trinity, contending that its advocates, whom he calls Ousians, must either make the Father, Son and Holy Spirit three persons, of which each must be God by himself, thus constituting three Gods ; or three Gods in name only, which is Sabellianism ; or three parts of the same Deity, of which any one without the other is not God, but all three constitute the divine essence. Near the end of the book is a threefold Form of Confession, expressed in scriptural phraseology alone, concerning God the Father, his only Son, and the Holy Spirit ; to which are subjoined two Forms of Prayer,—one addressed to the only God, the other to the Son of God, the Saviour, our God and Lord ; and two Hymns, one to God the Father, and the other to the Son of God. Of the Holy Spirit he says, that, " although he is a living Spirit, Scripture nowhere declares that he is Jehovah, or God ; and does not command us to believe in him, or to invoke him." He observes, that, "on this subject, we have no revelation, and no example."

(Vidend. Sandii B. A. pp. 52, 53. Bock, Hist. Ant. T. I. pp. 334— 340. Lubieniecii Hist. Ref. Polon. L. iii. C. viii. p. 220. Smalcii Diar. p. 1201. Wissowatii Narratio Compend. p. 213. Anonymi Epist. de Vita Wissowatii, apud Sandii B. A. p. 226. Moshemii Inst. H. E. Saec. xvi. Sect. iii. P. ii. Cap. iv. § xxiv. p. 724. KrasinskVs Hist. Sketch of the Ref. in Poland, Vol. H. Chap. xiv. pp. 358—360.)

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Falconius John was a Pole or Lithuanian, of the noble and ancient family of the Falconii. The surname of this family, (in Polish, Sokolowicz, or Sokolowski, and Iastrzembski,) is derived from the Latin Falco, and denotes a Falcon. They have a falcon in the family arms.

John Falconius was Catechist, and Master of a School in Biala, a town of Podlachia, and in the Church of Bychawa ; and afterwards Minister of a Church at Mordy, in the same Palatinate. He was a different person from John Falconius, a Physician of Hameln, who died Nov. 26th, 1586. He held the same opinions as Gonesius, who converted him from Trinitarianism. Wengerscius says, that he retracted his opinions in the Synod of the Bohemian Brethren, held in 1588, but afterwards defended them again. The same author informs us, that he wrote an account of the Lithuanian Churches.

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Erasmus John  was born at Soltwedel, in the Old Mark of Brandenburg ; and was known among the CryptoSocinians of Altorf by the name of Desiderius Ulricus. He studied at Leipzic, and afterwards went to Geneva, where he had frequent opportunities of seeing and conversing with Theodore Beza. During his stay at Geneva, the exact time of which is not known, he imbibed Antitrinitarian opinions, either from Lelio Socin, or some of the Italian associates of that great man, who were then to be met with in almost every part of Switzerland. From Geneva he went into Holland, where he was the first person, who attempted to excite public attention to the cause of Antitrinitarianism. His eminence as a Hebrew scholar caused him to be appointed Rector of the Grammar School at Antwerp; and while he was in this situation, he published anonymously a little work, in defence of Arianism, entitled, "The Manual of a Christian Man, compiled from the more remarkable Passages of Scripture, and divided into fifty-two Sections." This was printed at Antwerp in 1583, 16mo., with the motto, "If ye know these things, happy will ye be if ye do them;" and was the precursor of a larger work, entitled, "A Discourse, in which it is shewn, that the Reign of Antichrist commenced immediately after the Times of the Apostles, and therefore that all the Councils, not excepting even that of Nice, were infected with that Pest." A French translation of this work was published, but few copies got into circulation, as it was suppressed by public authority. Brandt gives the following summary of its contents.

The design of this Discourse was to shew, as well from the Epistles of Paul, as from the history of the primitive Churches, that even the first five hundred years were not free from Antichristian errors; and ought therefore to be regarded as forming part of the Kingdom of Antichrist. He further inferred, that, unless we should pass by the whole series of fifteen hundred years, which have elapsed since the days of the Apostles, there could be no true, or lasting reformation: that, in order to procure such reformation, it would be necessary to conform to the true Apostolic Churches, both in doctrine and discipline; and that, in so doing, it would be better to abolish, and keep entirely out of view the new phraseology invented by the Fathers, and to confine ourselves to that simplicity of expression, in matters pertaining to religion, of which Christ and his Apostles have left us an example. He adds, that no one ought to conclude, from his exposing the errors of the Fathers, that he aimed at condemning them, or rejecting their books ; but that we should not confine ourselves or others, much less the Church of Christ, to any of the writings or expressions of the Councils and Fathers, as if any man were obliged to speak and believe just as they did ; and as if all were heretics, who did not use their language. He concludes with these words. "If then any one thinks himself indispensably obliged to make use of new and strange terms, in order to express his belief in matters of religion, so that the words of Prophets and Apostles cannot serve him; it is most certain, that not only the words, but the doctrine and religion, are new, else he could not fail to discover in the Scriptures expressions adapted to convey his meaning." Brandt adds, "This book was not well received, but construed as if the author aimed at calling everything in question, and setting himself at the head of a party, and disturbing the national Church. It was likewise resolved to seize upon the books, and the writer too. But such care and discretion were used in pursuing him, that he was sought for in one town after another, and even the very place where they knew he lodged the night before; in so much, that they only obliged him to go off privately, and leave the country."

Archdeacon Blackburne, alluding to the liberties which Erasmus John took with antiquity, says, "the times were not yet ripe for the toleration of these sentiments, and the poor man, who was hardy enough to venture them with the public, was obliged to fly his country."

From Holland he went into Poland, and passed thence into Transylvania, where the office of Pastor of a Church at Clausenburg was committed to him, on condition that, in his public discourses, he should not touch upon the subject of Christ's preexistence. He was known to entertain opinions on this point, at variance with the great body of Unitarians in Poland and Transylvania; and silence upon this topic was the only restriction laid upon him.

In 1584, the year in which he left Antwerp, and very soon after he had settled at Clausenburg, he went to Cracow, and requested permission to offer to the Unitarian Churches in Poland the reasons, which kept him from embracing the opinion, that there was no only-begotten Son of God before the man Jesus of Nazareth was born of the Virgin Mary. The permission sought was granted, and, by Erasmus's own consent, the Churches committed the province of answering his arguments to one of their brethren. The individual selected for this purpose was Faust Socin, who disputed with him two days, in a calm and friendly manner. Erasmus, during his stay at Cracow, drew up, and sent to Socin, the heads of this debate ; but Socin, on reading them, found that Erasmus had mistaken some things advanced by him, and had not given a perfectly correct representation of others. This induced him to draw up a refutation of the arguments and reasonings offered by Erasmus, to prove that Christ was the only-begotten Son of God before he was born of the Virgin Mary. It was printed at Racow in 1595, 8vo., and dedicated to Jerome Moscorovius. To this work was added a letter of Erasmus, with Socinus's reply. Erasmus's own account of the arguments brought forward in this disputation was printed by Alexius Rodecki at Cracow, in 1585, under the title, "Antitheses of the Doctrine of Christ and Antichrist concerning the true God." The name of the author was not prefixed to this book ; but we learn, from a letter of F. Socinus to Matthew Radecius, that it was the production of Erasmus John. It is mentioned by Bayle ; and Schelhorn erroneously supposed it to be the same as the volume printed at Antwerp.

The rest of the life of Erasmus John appears to have been spent in the discharge of his pastoral duties at Clausenburg, where he probably died about the close of the sixteenth century. That he was living in 1590 appears from a letter, which he addressed to Faustus Socinus in that year ; and in which he requests his correspondent's opinion concerning " A Treatise on the Causes of Eternal Life," which he had forwarded to Cracow, for his perusal.

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Erasmus has given occasion, both to friends and foes, to consider .j him an Antitrinitarian. He says that Phil. ii. 6, was the principal text urged by the orthodox fathers against the Arians; but that it really proves nothing against them. On Eph. v. 5, he observes that the word God, when used absolutely by the writers of the New Testament, always means the Father. In his Scholia on Jerome's Epistles, he denies that the Arians were heretics; and in a Letter to Bilibaldus, he says, with a frankness quite uncommon in that age, that he could have adopted the Arian opinions, if they had received the sanction of the Church.(1) Yet he vindicated himself against the charge of Arianism, in his Apology against certain Spanish Monkt.(2) That he is rightly classed, by the Ministers of Poland and Transylvania, among those of the early reformers, who were instrumental "in inculcating a knowledge of the true God and Christ," abundantly appears from the following remarks, which occur in the Preface Dedicatory to his edition of Hilary.(3) "Possibly some may wonder, that whilst men are labouring by so many books, with so much diligence and pains, with so many arguments and fine sentences, and with so many anathemas and curses, to induce us to believe the Son to be very God, of the same essence, or, as Hilary sometimes loves to speak, of the same kind and nature with the Father, (which the Greeks express by the word ,) and equal to him in power, wisdom, goodness, eternity, immortality, and in all other things; there should, in the mean time, be hardly any mention made of the Holy Ghost, notwithstanding that the whole dispute about the epithet of 'very God,' and that concerning the sameness of essence and the equality, relate as much to the Holy Ghost as to the Son: and even that Hilary nowhere writes, that the Holy Ghost is to be invoked, nor ever ascribes to him the name of God; only he says indeed in one or two places, that those who were so bold as to call the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three Gods, were declared by the Synods to be in the wrong: whether he thought the Son at that time ought to be more exalted, whose human nature was the occasion that it was not so readily allowed, that he who was a man was likewise God, and whom the Arians attempted to bereave of his Godhead, when as yet no dispute was started concerning the Holy Ghost; or whether it was, continues he, an effect of piety of those primitive Christians, that though they devoutly worshiped God, yet they durst not pronounce of him anything but what was plainly expressed in the sacred writings; in which indeed the name of 'God' is sometimes ascribed to the Son, but nowhere explicitly to the Holy Ghost; though the religious curiosity of the orthodox has since discovered by proper arguments, and deductions from Scripture, that whatever was ascribed to the Son belonged to the Holy Ghost, excepting the properties of the persons: but by reason of the unfathomable depths of divine matters, they scrupled to ascribe the name of 'God' to the latter. They maintained, that it was not lawful to speak of such things in other words than what the Scripture itself uses, and the public authority of the Church teaches. They had read of 'the Holy Ghost' or 'Spirit;' they had read of 'the Spirit of God:' they had likewise read of 'the Spirit of Christ.' They had learned out of the Gospel, that the Holy Ghost was not separated from the Father and the Son; for there they read that the Apostles baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The communion of the three persons is likewise still retained in the solemn prayers and collects, derived to us from the most ancient usage of the Church, which are drawn up briefly, and at the same time learnedly; in which the Father is addressed through the Son, and in the unity of the Holy Ghost. The Father is very often stiled 'God,' the Son sometimes, but the Holy Ghost never in express words. I do not mention these things to render dubious what the authority of the Fathers has taught us out of Scripture; but only to shew how great caution the ancients used in the mention of divine matters, even when they treated them with more reverence than we do, who are grown so bold as to prescribe to the Son how he ought to honour his mother. We presume to call the Holy Ghost 'very God, proceeding from the Father and the Son,' which it seems the ancients for a long time did not dare to do; and yet we do not scruple to drive him too often, by our impiety, from the temples of our souls; just as if we believed that 'the Holy Ghost' was nothing else but a vain name. Thus also most of the Fathers who honoured the Son with the most religious veneration, were yet afraid to stile him Homusion, or of the very same substance, because they never meet with that expression in the Scriptures. And thus was the Church more advanced, in the first age, in purity of life, than in the nice science of Divinity."' The above observations certainly had their effect in smoothing the way for Antitrinitarianism; and to many of the expressions contained in them the advocates of Erasmus's orthodoxy on the subject of the Trinity have felt themselves compelled to apply the epithet "very remarkable."

(1) A Brief History of the Unitarians, called also Socinians. 1687, Sm. 8vo. p. 31; 2nd Edition, 1691, 4to. p. 11.

(2) Erasmi Opera, Tom. IX. p. 831.

(3) Divi Hilarii Fictavorum Episcopi Lucubrationes per Erasmum Roterodamum non mediocribus Sudoribus emendate. In Officina Frobeniana apud inclytam Basileam. Anno M.D.XXJII. Mense Feb. Fol.— See also, Epistolarum D. Erasmi Koterodami. Libri xxxi. Loud. 1642, Fol., L. xxviii. Epist. 8, p. 1638.

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Episcopius Simon, (Belg. Bisschop,) was born January 8^th, 1583; and was the youngest of seven sons. He was sent to the public Latin school of his native city, where he made such progress in the study of the classics, that the Senate of Amsterdam adopted him as one of their alumni, or voesterlings, and afterwards shewed him the strongest marks of their estoem and regard. In 1600, he was removed to the University of Leyden, where he prosecuted his studies with great success. For the space of three years he applied himself, with unwearied industry, to the study of Philosophy; and then entered upon his theological course. At the expiration of six years, the time usually allotted for college residenoe, he took his master's degree with honours. His first sermon was preached in the New South Church at Amsterdam, from Rom. viii. 14, but he was not hasty to provide himself with a congregation. He went to Franeker, and disputed successfully with Dr. Sibrand; but the views which he advocated, on the subject of Justification, being unpalatable to the rigid Calvinistic party, he incurred the charge of Socinianism. His first settlement was at Bleiswick, where he became very popular as a Preacher; and, by his learning and talents, greatly aided the success of the Remonstrant cause. On the 13^th of Sept., 1611, the Magistrates and Consistory of Utrecht gave him a call to become one of their Ministers; but while the negotiation was pending, he was invited to the office of Theological Professor at Leyden, and accepted the invitation. Here he became an object of the most virulent hatred to the Calvinistic party; and the charge of Socinianism was revived against him by Festus Hommius, but not substantiated. He was ultimately deprived of his Professorship by the Synod of Dort, and sent into banishment; but, on the death of Prince Maurice, he returned into Holland, and was chosen Minister by the Remonstrants at Rotterdam. In 1634, he was made Professor of Theology in the new Remonstrant College at Amsterdam, and delivered a course of lectures to the students, which was published after his death, under the title of "Theological Institutes." In 1640, he was attacked by fever, but recovered. After this, however, his health gradually declined; and he died April 4^th, 1643, in the sixty-first year of his age.

Episcopius was one of the most eminent among the Arminian Divines; and though his heterodoxy was not of so decided a character as to justify us in assigning him a place in the body of this work, the following extracts will shew what opinion writers of different sentiments have formed of his creed.

"Simon Episcopius, vir maximis naturss ornamentis instructus, rationi tamen et perspicacise suae, ut videtur, nimium indulgens. Socinianis in Belgio se hoc tempore insinuantibus, quamvis ipse Socinianismi palam argui nequeat, non parum profuit."

"S. Episcopius, so much esteemed by our English Divines, seems to have been an Arian. He saith, The Father is so first, as to be first in Order, (i. e. Time,) in Dignity, and in Power. He saith, That Three equal Persons in God, or in the Godhead, make Three Gods. He denies, That the Lord Christ is the Son of God by substantial Generation, that is, by Generation from the Father's Substance or Essence. Speaking of the Creeds that express the Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity, and the Divinity of the Son and Spirit, he saith, That Bishops in General Councils being led by Fury, Faction and Madness, did not so much compose, as huddle up Creeds for the Church. See for these things, Episcop. TheoL Imlitut. L. iv. C. 32, 33, 34."