Marcin Czechowic
Encyclopedia
Martin Czechowic (c. 1532, Zbąszyń
, Poland
– 1613) was a Polish Socinian (Unitarian) minister, theologian and writer.
and at the University of Leipzig
(1554).
He lived at a time when religious unrest was prevalent in Poland. Numerous religious sects arose, varying from the old Catholicism and the new Reformation to sects which rejected the Trinity and denied the divinity of Jesus. The members of the sect which professed disbelief in the Trinity were called Unitarians, and the most radical among them were called by their opponents "Half Jews" or "semi-judaizers". The religious dissension and constant disputes which arose in consequence led to a number of Jews taking part in these disputations.
until 1555, when he became a member of the Moravian Brethren in Vilna where he had gone to Lithuania to work for the Radziwiłł family. Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł sent him on a fruitless mission to Geneva
to convert Calvin
and the Reformers but it was Czechowic who adopted Lutheranism
and eventually, Calvinism
, himself. Later he would support anabaptist
and unitarian
views.
. In doing so he adopted what was later to be known as the "Socinian" position, between Arianism
, which taught the pre-existence of Christ
and full Unitarianism
which denied the virgin birth. Czechowic believed that Jesus was human, but because he was born without sin, it was right to worship him.
Czechowic was in his mid-forties, of the same generation as Fausto Sozzini, Georg Schomann
, Gregory Pauli
, Krzysztof Morsztyn Sr.
, Pierre Statorius
. He has been described as the "Pope" of the Polish brethren, though this is something of an exaggeration - it is perhaps more that as a native Pole among so many German, Italian and French exiles he had more traction within the local brotherhood.
He adopted unconditional pacifism and opposed infant baptism
and, because of the political obligations, the amassing of private property. His attitude to Eve's sin was relatively progressive for the period. Czechowic, like most of the Polish Brethren
, was not supportive of the personal idea of Fausto Sozzini that baptism is not necessary for individuals who believe and who have grown up in Christianity, but Sozzini did not push his idea, and was generally accepted in the movement that later became known by his name.
wings of the Reformed Church there had been cooperation on the six years 1557-1563 at the "Sarmatian Athens" at Pińczów, to produce the Biblia Brzeska. However now the Polish Brethren
felt that this Bible contained too many readings supportive of orthodox Calvinist teaching on infant baptism, heaven and hell, immortality of the soul and the doctrine of the Trinity.
Czechowic was at first involved with Symon Budny
in a Socinian translation of biblical scriptures, but later had to part ways with Budny over 2 issues: Budny's sceptical attitude to the Greek text as the basis of a translation - preferring Jewish and Hebrew readings, and Budny's support of support of Jacobus Palaeologus for the right of the Christian to use force, where Czechowic sided with the conscientious objection ideals of Gregory Pauli of Brzeziny
and Fausto Sozzini. Budny produced his Polish versions 1572, 1574, 1589, Czechowic a Polish version 1577.
Czechowic got caught up in a controversy over scriptural translation and interpretation with his contemporary Jakub Wujek
, a Jesuit and the translator of the first Catholic Polish version of the Bible. Wujek freely took from the Brzeska, Budny and Czechowic versions, providing notes of "teachings and warnings" where he considered them heretical. In reply Czechowic published Plaster for a publication of the New Testament by Father Jakub Wujek. Which took Wujek to task from the point of view of biblical scholarship, and then made a blow-by-blow analysis of the Jesuit's translation and his "teachings and warnings". Czechowic accused Wujek of uncredited plagiarism of whole sections. Wujek did not reply but the Jesuit Łaszcz (Martinus Lascius 1551-) published Prescription for a Plaster of Czechowic under the pen name "Szczesny Zebrowski."
with his descendants. The fact that his major writings were in Polish, not Latin, left him a minor place in publications such as the Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant
1668, and Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum
1684 of Sozzini's grandson Andrzej Wiszowaty
and Christopher Sandius
, which influenced Newton and Voltaire.
Stanisław Kot contributed a biography of Czechowic to the Polski słownik biograficzny (Cracow, 1937, 1957), though till Lech Szczucki
published his monograph Marcin Czechowic, 1532-1613 Warsaw 1964, Czechowic was all but forgotten, even in Poland. In the West his name was publicised a little in the works George Huntston Williams
in The Radical Reformation 1962, and these sources were picked up by the geographer Alan Eyre who ran articles on Czechowicz in The Christadelphian
magazine in the 1970s. His Rozmowy Chrystiańskie was reprinted by the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1979.
A denunciation of the baptism of infants entitled De paedobaptistarum errorum origine et de ea opinione, qua infantes baptizandos esse in prima nativitatis eorum exortu creditur (Lublin, 1575). He criticized what he saw as fourteen errors of the advocates of infant baptism.
Rozmowy Chrystiańskie: Ktorez greckiego názwiská, Diálogámi zowia 1575 Christian Conversations between Teacher and Student - a book endeavoring to show that the objections of the Jews to Jesus as Messiah were unfounded. It was published under the title Rozmowy Chrystiańskie o Tajemnicach Wiaru (Rakow, 1575). In reply to this, Rabbi Jacob Nachman of Bełżec wrote a defense entitled Odpis Jacoba Zyda z Belzyc na Dialogi Marcina Czechowiza (Lublin, 1581). The arguments of Jacob Nachman called forth a reply from Czechowic, entitled Vindiciæ Duorum Dialogorum Contra Jacobum Judæum de Belzyce.
Polish New Testament 1577. Raków, Kielce County
Epistomium na Wędzidło... księdza Hieronima Powodowskiego, Stopple for the Bit of Father Hieronim Powodowski where Czechowic express solidly a sola scriptura
and fundamentalist attitude to the text.
Zbaszyn
Zbąszyń is a town in Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, in Nowy Tomyśl County. It has 7,319 inhabitants .-History:The town was first mentioned in historical sources from 1231, and it received its city charter before 1311. As a result of the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 it became part of...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
– 1613) was a Polish Socinian (Unitarian) minister, theologian and writer.
Life
Born at Zbaszynie on the German border, Czechowic received a humanistic education in PoznanPoznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
and at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
(1554).
He lived at a time when religious unrest was prevalent in Poland. Numerous religious sects arose, varying from the old Catholicism and the new Reformation to sects which rejected the Trinity and denied the divinity of Jesus. The members of the sect which professed disbelief in the Trinity were called Unitarians, and the most radical among them were called by their opponents "Half Jews" or "semi-judaizers". The religious dissension and constant disputes which arose in consequence led to a number of Jews taking part in these disputations.
Conversion to Calvinism
Like many of his era Martin Czechowic's religious life was marked by gradual rather than sudden changes in his religious views. He was originally a Roman Catholic priest in KórnikKórnik
Kórnik is a town with about 6,800 inhabitants , located in western Poland, approximately south-east of the city of Poznań. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the Wielkopolska region....
until 1555, when he became a member of the Moravian Brethren in Vilna where he had gone to Lithuania to work for the Radziwiłł family. Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł sent him on a fruitless mission to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
to convert Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
and the Reformers but it was Czechowic who adopted Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
and eventually, Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, himself. Later he would support anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
and unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
views.
Conversion to the Polish Brethren
Twenty years later Czechowic had moved from the Calvinist Ecclesia Major to the Unitarian Ecclesia Minor, or Polish BrethrenPolish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
. In doing so he adopted what was later to be known as the "Socinian" position, between Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
, which taught the pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
and full Unitarianism
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
which denied the virgin birth. Czechowic believed that Jesus was human, but because he was born without sin, it was right to worship him.
Czechowic was in his mid-forties, of the same generation as Fausto Sozzini, Georg Schomann
Georg Schomann
Georg Schomann was a Socinian theologian.In his youth, was distinguished by a deep Catholic religiosity. In the years 1552-1554 he studied at the Krakow Academy and then at Wittenberg, where he was Lutheran...
, Gregory Pauli
Grzegorz Paweł z Brzezin
Grzegorz Paweł z Brzezin , Latin: Gregorius Paulus Brzezinensis) , was a Socinian writer and theologian, one of the principal creators and propagators of radical wing of the Polish Brethren, and author of several of the first theological works in Polish, which helped to the development of literary...
, Krzysztof Morsztyn Sr.
Krzysztof Morsztyn Sr.
Krzysztof Morsztyn Sr. was founder of the Polish Brethren community in Filipów in 1585.He was father of:* Krzysztof Morsztyn Jr. who taught at the Racovian Academy....
, Pierre Statorius
Pierre Statorius
Pierre Statorius was a French grammarian and theologian, who settled among the Polish Brethren, becoming rector of a the Calvinist Academy in Pińczów at the invitation of Francesco Lismanino....
. He has been described as the "Pope" of the Polish brethren, though this is something of an exaggeration - it is perhaps more that as a native Pole among so many German, Italian and French exiles he had more traction within the local brotherhood.
He adopted unconditional pacifism and opposed infant baptism
Infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
and, because of the political obligations, the amassing of private property. His attitude to Eve's sin was relatively progressive for the period. Czechowic, like most of the Polish Brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
, was not supportive of the personal idea of Fausto Sozzini that baptism is not necessary for individuals who believe and who have grown up in Christianity, but Sozzini did not push his idea, and was generally accepted in the movement that later became known by his name.
Polish Bible translation
Prior to the 1565 break between the Calvinist and Radical ArianArian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
wings of the Reformed Church there had been cooperation on the six years 1557-1563 at the "Sarmatian Athens" at Pińczów, to produce the Biblia Brzeska. However now the Polish Brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
felt that this Bible contained too many readings supportive of orthodox Calvinist teaching on infant baptism, heaven and hell, immortality of the soul and the doctrine of the Trinity.
Czechowic was at first involved with Symon Budny
Symon Budny
Symon Budny was a Belarusian and Polish humanist, educator, hebraist, Bible translator, Church reformator, philosopher, sociologist and historian.-Christology:...
in a Socinian translation of biblical scriptures, but later had to part ways with Budny over 2 issues: Budny's sceptical attitude to the Greek text as the basis of a translation - preferring Jewish and Hebrew readings, and Budny's support of support of Jacobus Palaeologus for the right of the Christian to use force, where Czechowic sided with the conscientious objection ideals of Gregory Pauli of Brzeziny
Grzegorz Paweł z Brzezin
Grzegorz Paweł z Brzezin , Latin: Gregorius Paulus Brzezinensis) , was a Socinian writer and theologian, one of the principal creators and propagators of radical wing of the Polish Brethren, and author of several of the first theological works in Polish, which helped to the development of literary...
and Fausto Sozzini. Budny produced his Polish versions 1572, 1574, 1589, Czechowic a Polish version 1577.
Czechowic got caught up in a controversy over scriptural translation and interpretation with his contemporary Jakub Wujek
Jakub Wujek
Jakub Wujek son of Maciej Wujek; a Polish Jesuit, religious writer, Doctor of Theology, Vice-Chancellor of the Vilnius Academy and translator of the Bible into Polish.-Life:...
, a Jesuit and the translator of the first Catholic Polish version of the Bible. Wujek freely took from the Brzeska, Budny and Czechowic versions, providing notes of "teachings and warnings" where he considered them heretical. In reply Czechowic published Plaster for a publication of the New Testament by Father Jakub Wujek. Which took Wujek to task from the point of view of biblical scholarship, and then made a blow-by-blow analysis of the Jesuit's translation and his "teachings and warnings". Czechowic accused Wujek of uncredited plagiarism of whole sections. Wujek did not reply but the Jesuit Łaszcz (Martinus Lascius 1551-) published Prescription for a Plaster of Czechowic under the pen name "Szczesny Zebrowski."
Legacy
Czechowic died in poverty and obscurity in 1613. Unlike Sozzini, Crellius, Statorius and other exiles, he did not mark the next four generations at the Racovian AcademyRacovian Academy
The Racovian Academy was a school of the Socinian Polish Brethren operating in Raków, Kielce County, Poland 1602-1638, and publisher of the Racovian Catechism in 1605....
with his descendants. The fact that his major writings were in Polish, not Latin, left him a minor place in publications such as the Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant
Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant
The Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant or Library of the Polish Brethren called Unitarians 1668 is a collection of writings of the Polish Brethren published by Frans Kuyper, Daniel Bakkamude, and Benedykt's father Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr...
1668, and Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum
Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum
The Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum, or Antitrinitarian Library, first published in 1684, is a posthumous work of Christopher Sandius , an exiled Prussian Antitrinitarian in Amsterdam, in which he chronologically lists all the Arian and Socinian or Antitrinitarian authors from the Reformation to...
1684 of Sozzini's grandson Andrzej Wiszowaty
Andrzej Wiszowaty
Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. was a Socinian theologian who worked with Joachim Stegmann on the Racovian Catechism of 1605, and taught at the Racovian Academy of the Polish Brethren....
and Christopher Sandius
Christopher Sandius
Christopher Sandius Jr. was an Arian writer and publisher of Socinian works without himself being a Socinian....
, which influenced Newton and Voltaire.
Stanisław Kot contributed a biography of Czechowic to the Polski słownik biograficzny (Cracow, 1937, 1957), though till Lech Szczucki
Lech Szczucki
Prof. Lech Szczucki , is a Polish historian of philosophy and culture, particularly noted since the 1960s for his work on the Polish Brethren. He is an professor emeritus of the Polish Academy of Sciences , Institute of Philosophy and Sociology. A regular member of the Warsaw Scientific Society, a...
published his monograph Marcin Czechowic, 1532-1613 Warsaw 1964, Czechowic was all but forgotten, even in Poland. In the West his name was publicised a little in the works George Huntston Williams
George Huntston Williams
George Huntston Williams American professor of Unitarian theology and historian of the Socinian movement. He was among the original Editorial Advisors of the scholarly journal Dionysius.-Works:...
in The Radical Reformation 1962, and these sources were picked up by the geographer Alan Eyre who ran articles on Czechowicz in The Christadelphian
The Christadelphian
The Christadelphian is a Bible magazine published monthly by The Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association . It states that it is 'A magazine dedicated wholly to the hope of Israel' and, according to the magazine website, it 'reflects the teachings, beliefs and activities of the...
magazine in the 1970s. His Rozmowy Chrystiańskie was reprinted by the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1979.
Works
Sumariusz 1570 A Polish verse New TestamentA denunciation of the baptism of infants entitled De paedobaptistarum errorum origine et de ea opinione, qua infantes baptizandos esse in prima nativitatis eorum exortu creditur (Lublin, 1575). He criticized what he saw as fourteen errors of the advocates of infant baptism.
Rozmowy Chrystiańskie: Ktorez greckiego názwiská, Diálogámi zowia 1575 Christian Conversations between Teacher and Student - a book endeavoring to show that the objections of the Jews to Jesus as Messiah were unfounded. It was published under the title Rozmowy Chrystiańskie o Tajemnicach Wiaru (Rakow, 1575). In reply to this, Rabbi Jacob Nachman of Bełżec wrote a defense entitled Odpis Jacoba Zyda z Belzyc na Dialogi Marcina Czechowiza (Lublin, 1581). The arguments of Jacob Nachman called forth a reply from Czechowic, entitled Vindiciæ Duorum Dialogorum Contra Jacobum Judæum de Belzyce.
Polish New Testament 1577. Raków, Kielce County
Epistomium na Wędzidło... księdza Hieronima Powodowskiego, Stopple for the Bit of Father Hieronim Powodowski where Czechowic express solidly a sola scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
and fundamentalist attitude to the text.