Christopher Sandius Jr. (
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...
, October 12, 1644 –
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, November 30, 1680) was an
Arian
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
writer and publisher of
Socinian
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
works without himself being a Socinian.
His name was Latinized as Christophorus Sandius, though his German name appears to have been Christoph Sand, and he was known as Christof Van den Sand during his later years in the Netherlands.
Following research by
Lech Szczucki
Prof. Lech Szczucki (1933 – 19 November 2019) was a Polish historian of philosophy and culture, particularly noted since the 1960s for his work on the Polish Brethren. He was a professor emeritus of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), Institut ...
it appears that Sandius Jr. was well educated by his rigorous father, Christopher Sandius Sr., (d.1686) a government official in Königsberg, who himself was later removed from his office for anti-Trinitarian sympathies. Sandius Jr. moved to Amsterdam and earned his living as an editor, translator and publisher, he became well-recognized among European intellectuals. Sandius Jr. promoted the view that
Arianism
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...
was the high point of the theology of the Early Church. He remained on good terms with exiled Polish Socinians
Andrzej Wiszowaty Andrzej Wiszowaty Sr. (Latin ''Andreas Wissowatius'') ( Filipów 1608 - Amsterdam, 1678) was a Socinian theologian who worked with Joachim Stegmann (1595–1633) on the Racovian Catechism of 1605, and taught at the Racovian Academy of the Polish Bre ...
and
Stanislaw Lubieniecki, while engaging in friendly polemics with them on the problem of the
pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ before his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis (substantive ...
which they denied, but Sandius, as an
Arian
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
, accepted.
Sandius Jr. also enjoyed close relationship with
Benedictus Spinoza
Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch Republic, Dutch philosopher of Spanish and ...
especially at the end of his life, when he became known as one of philosopher's most faithful followers. Between 1676-1680 he defended the anonymous author of the ''Tractatus theologico-politicus'' in correspondence with the Catholic theologian
Pierre Daniel Huet
image:Portret van Pierre-Daniel Huet Petrus Daniel Huetius (titel op object), RP-P-BI-7523.jpg, P. D. Huetius
Pierre Daniel Huet (; la, Huetius; 8 February 1630 – 26 January 1721) was a French churchman and scholar, Editing, editor of the Delph ...
.
Works
Possible involvement with
Frans Kuyper's ''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum quos Unitarios vocant.'' 1668 ("post A.D. 1656" incorrect)
* 1669 ''Nucleus Historiae Ecclesiasticae,'' in 2 vols. 8vo, reprinted at Cologne, in 1676: and in London in 1681.
* 1669
Interpretationes paradoxae IV. Evangeliorum'
1670 ed..
* 1669 ''Centuria Epigrammatum''.
* 1671 ''Tractatus de Origine Animae.''
* 1677 ''Notae et Observationes in G. J. Vossium de Historicis Latinis''.
* 1678 ''Confessio Fidei de Deo Patre, Filio, et Spiritu Sancto, secundum Scripturam'',
* Hermann Cingallus (pseud.) ''Scriptura sacrae trinitatis revelatrix''
[Philip Knijff, Sibbe Jan Visser, Piet Visser ''Bibliographia Sociniana. A Bibliographical Reference Tool for the Study of Dutch Socinianims and Antitrinitarianism'', Amsterdam, 2004, p. 133]
Posthumous. edited by
Benedykt Wiszowaty
Benedykt Wiszowaty (c.1650 – after 1704 Kosinowo) was a Polish Socinian, nobleman, author and publisher.
After the Sejm expelled the Socinians from Poland, he left the country with his father. From 1666, they lived in Amsterdam, where he cond ...
, grandson of
Fausto Sozzini
Fausto Paolo Sozzini, also known as Faustus Socinus ( pl, Faust Socyn; 5 December 1539 – 4 March 1604), was an Italian theologian and, alongside his uncle Lelio Sozzini, founder of the Non-trinitarian Christian belief system known as Socinian ...
:
* “
Bibliotheca Anti-trinitariorum: sive catalogus scriptorum et succinta narratio” posthumously
Freistadt
Freistadt (, literally "Freetown") is a small Austrian town in the state of Upper Austria in the region Mühlviertel. With a population of approximately 7,500 residents, it is a trade centre for local villages. Freistadt is the economic centre of ...
, Austria 1684, 12mo, containing an account of the lives and writings of Socinian authors such as
Georg Schomann, and some tracts giving many particulars of the history of the Polish Socinians.
References
External links
Sandius Christopheron the site of the Unitariens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandius, Christopher
1644 births
1680 deaths
17th-century German writers
17th-century German male writers
Post-Reformation Arian Christians
Writers from Königsberg