Editing Unitarianism (section)

==== "Socinian" Christology ====
{{Main|Socinianism}}
[[File:Portret van de theoloog Fausto Paolo Sozzini, RP-P-1908-3942.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Fausto Sozzini]] was an Italian theologian who helped define Unitarianism and also served the [[Polish Brethren]] church.]]
The Christology commonly called "[[Socinianism|Socinian]]" (after [[Fausto Sozzini]], one of the founders of Unitarian theology) refers to the belief that Jesus began his life when he was born as a human. In other words, the teaching that Jesus [[pre-existence of Christ|pre-existed]] his human body is rejected. There are various views ranging from the belief that Jesus was simply a human ([[psilanthropism]]) who, because of his greatness, was adopted by God as his Son ([[adoptionism]]) to the belief that Jesus literally became the [[Son of God (Christianity)|son of God]] when he was conceived by the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]].{{efn|The biblical narrative of Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit is primarily found in the Gospel of Luke (1:26-38) and Matthew (1:18-25). In Luke, the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will conceive through the Holy Spirit, and in Matthew, the angel explains to Joseph that the child conceived in Mary is of the Holy Spirit.}}{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

This Christology existed in some form or another before Sozzini. [[Theodotus of Byzantium]],<ref>{{citation |last=Hoben |first=Allan |title=The Virgin Birth |year=1903 |quote=Of the above-stated beliefs that of Theodotus of Byzantium is perhaps the most striking, in that, while it admits the virgin birth, it denies the deductions commonly made therefrom, attributing to Christ only pre-eminent righteousness.}}</ref> [[Artemon]]<ref>{{citation |last=Bright |first=William |title=Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life |page=127 |quote=His original view was put into more definite form by Artemon, who regarded Jesus Christ as distinguished from prophets by (1) virgin-birth, (a) superior virtue.}}</ref> and [[Paul of Samosata]]<ref>Charles, Tutorial Prayer Book, p. 599.</ref> denied the pre-existence of the [[Christ (title)|Christ]]. These ideas were continued by [[Marcellus of Ancyra]] and his pupil [[Photinus]] in the 4th century AD.<ref>{{citation |last=Houdt |first=Toon |title=Self-Presentation and Social Identification |page=238 |quote=Christian apologists traced the origin of Socinianism to the doctrine of Photinus (4th century), who according to St. Augustine denied the pre-existence of Christ.}}</ref><ref>[[R. P. C. Hanson]] (1916–1988), [[Lightfoot Professor of Divinity]] ''The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318–381'' (9780801031465): 1973 "Photinus' doctrine appears to have been a form of what might be called middle Marcellism, i.e., what Marcellus originally taught before his vicissitudes caused him to temper the edge of his doctrine and take account of the criticisms of his friends as well as of his enemies, a little more moderated."</ref> In the [[Radical Reformation]] and [[Anabaptist]] movements of the 16th century, this idea resurfaced with Sozzini's uncle, [[Lelio Sozzini]]. Having influenced the [[Polish Brethren]] to a formal declaration of this belief in the [[Racovian Catechism]], Fausto Sozzini involuntarily ended up giving his name to this Christological position,<ref>{{citation |last=Watson |first=R. |title=A Biblical and Theological Dictionary |page=999}}.</ref> which continued with English Unitarians such as [[John Biddle (Unitarian)|John Biddle]], [[Thomas Belsham]], [[Theophilus Lindsey]], and [[James Martineau]]. In America, most of the early Unitarians were [[Arianism|Arian]] in Christology (see below), but among those who held to a "Socinian" view was [[James Freeman (clergyman)|James Freeman]].{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

Regarding the [[virgin birth of Jesus]], among those who denied the preexistence of the [[Christ (title)|Christ]], some held to it, and others did not. Its denial is sometimes ascribed to the [[Ebionites]]; however, [[Origen]] (''Contra Celsum'' v.61) and [[Eusebius]] (''HE'' iii.27) both indicate that some Ebionites did accept the virgin birth.<ref>{{citation |last=Bromiley |first=Geoffrey W. |title=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |volume=E–J |page=9 |year=1982 |quote=Origen was the first to distinguish between two types of Ebionites theologically: those who believed in the Virgin Birth and those who rejected it.}}</ref> On the other hand, [[Theodotus of Byzantium]], [[Artemon]], and [[Paul of Samosata]] all accepted the virgin birth.<ref name="Stead">{{Citation |last=Stead |first=Christopher |title=Philosophy in Christian Antiquity |pages=189 |year=1996 |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-46955-5}}.</ref> In the early days of Unitarianism, the stories of the virgin birth were accepted by most. There were a number of Unitarians who questioned the historical accuracy of the Bible, including [[Symon Budny]], [[Jacob Palaeologus]], Thomas Belsham, and [[Richard Wright (Unitarian)|Richard Wright]], and this made them question the virgin birth story.<ref>{{citation |last=Webb |first=R. K. |title=Enlightenment, Passion, Modernity: Historical Essays in European Thought and Culture |page=120 |year=2007 |editor1-last=Micale |editor1-first=Mark S. |contribution=Miracles in English Unitarian Thought |editor2-last=Dietle |editor2-first=Robert L |editor3-last=Gay |editor3-first=Peter}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Belsham |title=Monthly Repository |issue=I |page=423 |year=1806 |contribution=Remarks on Mr. Proud's Pamphlet}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Wright |first=Richard |title=An Essay on the Miraculous Conception of Jesus Christ |year=1808 |place=London}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Wright |first=R |title=A Review of the Missionary Life and Labors of Richard Wright |page=68 |quote=After they were excited to think freely, some gave up the doctrine of the miraculous conception, from reading the scriptures only, and observing certain things there with which it could not be reconciled.}}</ref> Beginning in England and America in the 1830s and manifesting itself primarily in [[Transcendentalist Unitarianism]], which emerged from the German liberal theology associated primarily with [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]], the psilanthropist view increased in popularity.<ref>Gura, Philip F. ''American Transcendentalism: A History''. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007: 7–8. {{ISBN|0-8090-3477-8}}.</ref> Its proponents took an intellectual and humanistic approach to religion. They embraced evolutionary concepts, asserted the "inherent goodness of man", and abandoned the doctrine of [[biblical infallibility]], rejecting most of the miraculous events in the Bible (including the virgin birth). Notable examples are [[James Martineau]], [[Theodore Parker]], [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] and [[Frederic Henry Hedge]]. Famous American Unitarian [[William Ellery Channing]] was a believer in the virgin birth until later in his life, after he had begun his association with the Transcendentalists.<ref>{{citation |last=Placher |first=William Carl |title=A History of Christian Theology: An Introduction |page=265 |year=1983 |quote=Rationalist Unitarians like William Ellery Channing had argued from the Bible and the evidence of its miracles.}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Chadwick |first=John White |title=William Ellery Channing: Minister of Religion |page=440}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Mendelsohn |first=Jack |title=Channing, the Reluctant Radical: A Biography |year=1971 |quote=A Suffolk County grand jury indicted him on three charges of blasphemy and obscenity: (1) he had quoted a scurrilous passage by Voltaire disparaging the virgin birth of Jesus.}}</ref>