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Arian (Polish Brethren) Explanation of Jesus Christ's Teaching

Stanisław Wiśniowski1572

Ossoliński National Institute

Ossoliński National Institute
Wrocław, Poland

"Okazanie sfałszowania i wyznanie prawdziwej nauki Pana Krista" (eng. Demonstration of the Falsification of Lord Christ’s Teaching and Explanation of its True Nature) ia a unique work on the Holy Trinity by the theologian Stanislaus Wiśniowski, a member of the community of Polish Brethren, commonly known as Arians.
The Polish Brethren belonged to the Unitarian Churches, i.e. they rejected the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity. They were regarded as the most radical fraction of Reformation in Poland, a view enhanced by their social views, such as the abolition of serfdom and the partnership of a man and a woman in marriage. They started to operate as a religious community around 1562–1565, having separated from the Polish Calvinist Church.
Around 1570 they established an Arian congregation, to which Wiśniowski also belonged, in a small village of Lusławice near Cracow. The printing press used to produce this book operated in the printing house opened there. Wiśniowski’s work, which contains a lecture on the Holy Trinity, is also a beautiful testimony to religious tolerance. “To kill for the sake of faith is not only against the doctrine and decree of the Holy Spirit, but it is also against common reason”, claimed the author. Of all typographic production of the publishing house in Lusławice, only three unique copies have survived, among which is the "Okazanie sfałszowania i wyznanie prawdziwej nauki Pana Krista" [Demonstration of the falsification of Lord Crist’s teaching and explanation of its true nature]. The book lacks some initial pages, including title page – the title was stamped on the binding: OKAZANIE SFALSZOWANIA NAVKI PANA KRISTA (Demonstration of the falsification of Crist’s teaching). The binding was commissioned by an anonymous owner whose initials “F. V.” were pressed on the top cover. The uniqueness of the binding lies in its unusual decoration: below the symbols of the Holy Trinity, the bookbinder put a cartouche-rolled ornament tooled in gold, with a quotation from Nugae by Nicolas Bourbon (1533): Illustrat radijs totum Sol igneus orbem // ille tamen tempus quo tenebrescet erit. // At Christus, qui vera Dei stat patris imago, // solus hic aeterni lumina Solis habet.
Text in Polish.

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  • Title: Arian (Polish Brethren) Explanation of Jesus Christ's Teaching
  • Creator: Stanisław Wiśniowski
  • Date Created: 1572
  • Location Created: Cracow [i.e. Lusławice], Poland
  • Physical Dimensions: [16], 616 leaves, collation: A-Oooooo5 ; 4°
  • Provenance: 1. F.V. [supralibros]; 2. Joseph Maximilian Ossoliński (1748-1826); 3. Former collection of the Ossolineum Library in Lviv, shelfmark 18.666
  • Type: Book
  • Publisher: Unknown
  • External Link: https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/publication/42029
  • Medium: Paper, handpress printing
Ossoliński National Institute

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