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Work #1505 · Early

De Trinitatis Erroribus

Michael Servetus
1531 · Latin
Theological treatise · Radical Reformation / anti-Trinitarianism / proto-Unitarianism

Servetus's 1531 founding anti-Trinitarian treatise — written aged 20 in Hagenau

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute De Trinitatis Erroribus (Early)
Time · Extent Finite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom NDet
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Revelation
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

De Trinitatis Erroribus

July 1531. Servetus was 20 — the book is the work of a young theologian formed by the Reformation moment.

Space

De Trinitatis Erroribus

Hagenau, Alsace (Holy Roman Empire). Servetus had moved from Strasbourg to Hagenau specifically to find a printer willing to publish a heterodox theological work.

Matter

De Trinitatis Erroribus

Seven-book Latin theological treatise (~300 pages in original). Form is sustained scholarly-theological argument with substantial citation of Scripture and Patristic sources.

Observer

De Trinitatis Erroribus

Young Servetus. The observer is the precocious Reformation-era theologian engaging the most fundamental Christian doctrine independently of any established theological tradition.

Energy

De Trinitatis Erroribus

Reformation-radical theological energies. The book combines philological-historical scholarship (Servetus had read widely in Patristic and biblical sources) with bold doctrinal innovation.

Information

De Trinitatis Erroribus

Single seven-book Latin volume. The historical-philological argument (Book I) is the most original and influential material.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

De Trinitatis Erroribus

Founding modern anti-Trinitarian treatise — set Servetus on the path to Geneva and the stake. The book shaped the subsequent Unitarian-Socinian tradition (Fausto Sozzini, who would die in 1604, the principal Socinian founder, read Servetus); the book's destruction by both Catholic and Protestant authorities is itself a major document of early-Reformation religious-political dynamics.