Unitarianism | Page 7

interceded with Oliver Cromwell, though himself but a youth
at the time. Firmin, a prosperous citizen of London, counted among his
friends men of the highest offices in the Church, some of whom are
said to have been affected with his type of thought. Apart from his
Unitarianism he is remarkable as an enlightened philanthropist of great
breadth of sympathy. Men of very different theological bent who were
fain to seek refuge in London from persecutions abroad were aided by
funds raised by him. We should notice also that, ardent as he was in
diffusing Unitarian teachings, he had no wish at first to set up separate
Unitarian chapels; his desire was that the national Church should
include thinkers like himself. We are thus pointed into a path which for
a time at least promised more for Unitarian developments than anything
very evident in the Dissenting community.
The situation is aptly illustrated by a little book of 184 pages which is
included in the first volume of the Tracts. This work is specially
noteworthy as one of the first English books to use the name
'Unitarian,' though the use is here so free and without apology or
explanation that we must suppose it had already attained a certain
vogue before 1687, the date of the book. The title is A Brief History of
the Unitarians, called also Socinians. Neither author nor publisher is
named, but the former is known to have been the Rev. Stephen Nye, a
clergyman, whose grandfather, Philip Nye, was noted in his day as one
of the few Independents in the Westminster Assembly. Stephen Nye's
book takes the form of four Letters, ostensibly written to an unnamed
correspondent who has asked for an account of the Unitarians, 'vulgarly
called Socinians.' The opening letter states their doctrine, after the

model of Socinus--God is One Person, not Three; the Lord Christ is the
'Messenger, Servant, and Creature of God,' also the 'Son of God,
because he was begotten on the blessed Mary by the Spirit or Power of
God'; 'the Holy Ghost or Spirit, according to them, is the Power and
Inspiration of God.' (We may notice here that Bidle, otherwise agreeing
with Socinus, regarded the Holy Spirit as a living being, chief among
angels.) Nye, writing as if an impartial observer, presents the Scripture
argument in support of the doctrine of the Unitarians, 'which,' says he,
'I have so related as not to judge or rail of their persons, because
however learned and reasonable men (which is their character among
their worst adversaries) may be argued out of their errors, yet few will
be swaggered or chode out of them.' He traces the doctrine to the
earliest Christian times, and shows the stages of Trinitarian growth.
Incidentally he says that Arian doctrines are openly professed in
Transylvania and in some churches of the Netherlands, and adds that
'Nazarene and Arian Churches are very numerous' in Turkish,
Mahometan, and pagan dominions where liberty of conscience is
allowed. He mentions celebrated scholars who have 'certainly been
either Arians or Socinians, or great favourers of them,' such as Erasmus,
Grotius, Petavius, Episcopius, and Sandius--the last-named a learned
historian who had made a special point of collecting admissions by
orthodox writers of the invalidity of all the texts in turn usually quoted
in support of the Trinity. In the subsequent chapters Nye deals seriatim
with such texts, and the book ends with a commendation from 'A
Gentleman, a Person of Excellent Learning and Worth,' to whom the
publisher had sent it for remark.
Upon such levels the discussion proceeded, the skill and adroitness of
the heretics contrasting with the obvious perplexity of the orthodox,
who soon fell to accusing one another of stumbling into erroneous
statements. Dons, deans, and even bishops joined in the fray, and some
of them, notably Dr. Sherlock, Master of the Temple, got into sad
trouble with their brethren. Finally, the clergy were forbidden to
prolong the discussion, which indeed promised little satisfaction to any
but the heretics who enjoyed the difficulties of the orthodox champions.
The traditional formularies were there, and these must suffice. In the
presence of the restrictions imposed by the Toleration Act speculation

outside the Church turned towards 'Deism'--perhaps the best modern
equivalent would be 'Natural Religion.' Speculation inside the Church
had to accommodate itself to the creeds and articles, and thus there
grew up an Arianism among the clergy which was really largely
diffused and produced some important books. One of these was Dr.
Samuel Clarke's Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity (1712), a work which
appears to have helped many a clergyman to ease his conscience while
reciting the authorized Trinitarian expressions, though in substance his
opinions were no less heretical than those for which men had suffered
under the law.
A contemporary case