Socinians

The Socinians appear in Candide’s explanatory notes as a religious movement defined by the doctrines its followers rejected, rather than as participants in the narrated events. The note traces their teaching to Lalius and Faustus Socinus, places it in the sixteenth century, and identifies Unitarians as their later representatives.

Identity and Doctrinal Profile

The note describes Socinians as followers of the teachings of Lalius and Faustus Socinus. It distinguishes their position by listing six rejected doctrines: the Trinity, Christ’s deity, the devil’s personality, humanity’s native and total depravity, vicarious atonement, and eternal punishment. This compact catalogue presents the movement through theological negation: its identity is conveyed by the boundaries it draws against established Christian claims.

Appearance in Candide

The Socinians are mentioned in an explanatory note, not in the novel’s action. Their entry occurs in a note concerning the terminology used on page 99, where the annotation also explains Manicheans. The pairing situates the term among religious and philosophical labels that may need clarification for readers; the supplied evidence does not connect the Socinians to any character, incident, or institution in the plot.

Later Representation

The note adds that Socinians are represented in its own present by Unitarians. This is the annotation’s account of the movement’s later religious lineage, not a further episode in the narrative. The brief reference thus gives the name both a historical point of origin in the sixteenth century and a stated continuation beyond the period of its founders.