In the 1650s, historic Christianity in England was challenged by Socinianism. This heretical system was to a large extent based on Arianism, which had plagued the ancient church. Owen wrote his Vindiciæ Evangelicæ after being commissioned by the Council of State to refute Socinianism. In it he deals with the writings of John Biddle, ‘the father of English Socinianism,’ Hugo Grotius, the famous Dutch statesman and philosopher and the Racovian Catechism, which was associated with Socinus himself.
In the 1650s, historic Christianity in England was challenged by Socinianism. This heretical system was to a large extent based on Arianism, which had plagued the ancient church. Owen wrote his Vindiciæ Evangelicæ after being commissioned by the Council of State to refute Socinianism. In it he deals with the writings of John Biddle, ‘the father of English Socinianism,’ Hugo Grotius, the famous Dutch statesman and philosopher and the Racovian Catechism, which was associated with Socinus himself.