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The Barth-Brunner debate is one of the significant moments of the Protestant theological history in the 20 th century. The replica-exchange of the two outstanding figures of dialectical theology in 1934 not only includes the theological centres of gravity of Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, but also gives insight into the sparkling theological and spiritual atmosphere of the 1930s. Brunner’s interpretation reveals a specific version of natural theology, while Barth, in the spirit of New Reformation Theology, expresses his position in terms of the authority of the Word. In this essay until we explore the content of some points of the debate, we also briefly reconstruct the circumstances of its origin, as well as we mention its history and evaluation in Transylvania.

This paper deals with two letters, dedicated by the Hungarian Protestant noblemen to Paul Eber, professor of the University of Wittenberg. The first letter was dated to the 3rd of April, 1561, its author being baron John Balassi, father of the great Hungarian renaissance poet, Bálint (Valentine) Balassi. John Balassi expresses his gratitude for Eber’s letter, dedicated to him and informed him about the earthquake which took place in the Danubian district, at the beginning of March. The second letter was dated to the 25th of June, 1563, its author was George Sulyok, uncle of Anne Sulyok, the spouse of John Balassi. Sulyok calls Eber’s attention to a student, recently sent to Wittenberg, named Peter Károlyi, the later professor, pastor and bishop of the Transtisza Diocese. He also asked Eber to pray for the Christian soldiers fighting against the Turks day by day.

Die persönlichen und kollektiven tragischen Erfahrungen des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts haben den französischen Philosophen Emmanuel Lévinas dazu geleitet, das bekannte biblische Gebot wieder ins Licht zu bringen. Der Imperativ, du sollst nicht töten hat in der Philosophie von Lévinas eine paradigmatische Funktion. Auf einer Seite unterstreicht Lévinas die göttliche Originalität des Verbotes, auf der anderen Seite betont er, dass diese Aufforderung fürs jeweilige Ich gültig ist, denn auf dem Gesicht des anderen steht immer zu lesen: Du sollst nicht töten!