Socinianism Podcast

Marcin Poholski
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Daily

A podcast exploring Socinianism – a 16th-century theological and philosophical movement founded by Fausto Sozzini that critically examines core doctrines such as the Trinity, original sin, and predestination.

  1. May 4

    #43 - "When the Holy Spirit 'Said': Acts 13:2 and the Voice That Guides

    Acts 13:2 — "The Holy Spirit said..." — has been a touchstone in debates about the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the nature of divine speech. This episode begins a close reading of that verse and its history: how early Christians, medieval scholastics, and Reformers heard a voice directing mission, and how that voice later became the battleground between Trinitarians and the Polish Brethren. Expect textual detail, patristic and Reformation witnesses, and the precise lines of argument that made Acts 13:2 so central to questions about agency, personhood, and how God speaks.

    28 min

  2. May 3

    #42 - Luke 2:52 — Why Socini Emphasised Jesus' Human Growth, Not Divine Pre‑existence

    Luke 2:52 says simply that Jesus "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." For orthodox theology that phrase sits easily beside the doctrine of the Son's eternal pre‑existence; for the Socinians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it became a hinge. This episode begins by reading that verse and tracing how both classical orthodoxy and the Socinian school understood its force—showing the historical debate, the theological stakes, and why the Racovian circle put human growth at the centre of its Christology.

    28 min

  3. May 2

    #41 - "Call No Man Father": Socinus, Clerical Titles, and the Fight Over Religious Authority

    A close reading of Matthew 23:9 that changed how one early modern movement thought about clergy, titles, and power. We trace the Jewish and patristic background of the phrase, the rise of clerical honorifics in medieval Europe, and the particular concerns of the Polish Brethren and Fausto Socinus. This episode sets the historical stage for Socinian exegesis of "Call no man father" and explains why a single line from Jesus came to threaten centuries of ecclesiastical practice.

    29 min

  4. May 1

    #40 - "Born of a Woman": How Galatians 4:4 Became a Test Case for Christ's Origin

    Paul's terse line—"born of a woman"—has carried enormous theological freight. Traditionally read as proof that the eternal Son entered history, it shaped doctrines from Nicaea to Calvin. Yet Socinians read it in a radically different key: a claim about human birth and legal status, not eternal pre-existence. This episode opens the debate, tracing the orthodox case for pre-existence, divine Sonship, and the legal implications of "born under the law," setting the stage for Socinian reinterpretation.

    29 min

  5. Apr 28

    #39 - The Sympathetic Priest: Hebrews 4:15 and the Orthodox Tradition

    Hebrews 4:15 — "we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize..." — became a touchstone for how Christians understand who Jesus is and what his suffering accomplishes. This episode examines how the historic Trinitarian tradition read that verse: as proof that the divine Son truly became human, felt our temptations, and intercedes for us as eternal high priest. We trace the verse through the Fathers, medieval theologians, and the Reformers, showing the theological logic that tied sympathy, priesthood, and atonement together — and why that logic set the stage for later Socinian critique.

    28 min

  6. Apr 27

    #38 - "I Came to Fulfil": How Matthew 5:17 Became Proof of Divine Authority

    Matthew 5:17 contains one of the most contested phrases in Christian history: "I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it." Traditionally read as proof that Jesus is divine lawgiver and the consummation of prophecy, this verse was read very differently by Fausto Socinus and the Polish Brethren. This episode begins by laying out the orthodox case — the scriptural web, the patristic and Reformation readings, and the doctrinal stakes — so you can see precisely what Socinians were arguing against.

    27 min

  7. Apr 25

    #37 - Becoming All Things: 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 and the Art of Persuasion

    Paul’s famous claim “I have become all things to all people” has been read for centuries as a pattern for mission, moral flexibility, or even theological compromise. This episode reconstructs how the verse was received from the Fathers through the Reformers and into the early modern missionary age — the background against which Fausto Socini would later stake a radical claim for persuasion over coercion. Expect close attention to Paul’s immediate context in Corinth, how key interpreters understood the language of “slave” and “becoming all things,” and why this passage mattered for debates about conscience, conversion, and the use of cultural accommodation.

    28 min

  8. Apr 23

    #36 - The Berean Test: How Socini Read Acts 17:11

    Acts 17:11 describes the Bereans as "noble" because they examined Paul's teaching against the Scriptures. Socinian writers seized that single sentence as a hermeneutical key: scripture must be examined by reason, not accepted on ecclesiastical authority. This episode begins a close reading of Acts 17:11 as Socinians read it—its biblical context, its reception in early and Reformation traditions, and why the Polish Brethren and the Racovian Academy made the Berean model central to their method of scriptural inquiry.

    28 min
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About

A podcast exploring Socinianism – a 16th-century theological and philosophical movement founded by Fausto Sozzini that critically examines core doctrines such as the Trinity, original sin, and predestination.

Information

  • Creator
    Marcin Poholski
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Marcin Poholski
  • Show Website
    Socinianism Podcast