Journal index

After the Treaty of Trianon, the Transylvanian Reformed Church found itself in a completely new and unprecedented situation. In the years following the change of empires, there was an ideological search not only in literature and public life but also within the church. The intellectual elites of Hungarian Transylvania, including the leaders, theological professors, and ministers of the Reformed Church, significantly contributed to this quest, with their reflections and thoughts still holding significant content and influence today. The aim of this study was to explore the publications that appeared between 1920 and 1944, placing them within a framework of intellectual and church history, and presenting them chronologically to depict the national worldview of the contemporary Reformed intellectuals. At the beginning of the study, we examined the concepts of Transylvanism and public service. Subsequently, we delved into the intellectual search of the 1920s and discussed the national existential issues and ideas based on the writings of the 1930s. Finally, we explored the emerging novel national worldview after 1940.

In our study, we examined a significant change of administration and power: what was the impact of the Second Vienna Award of 30 August 1940 on the Faculty of Theology of the Transylvanian Reformed Church in Cluj/Kolozsvár? This historical turn of events was not only a cause for joy, but also a major change and challenge for theological education.

We were able to gain insight into the challenges the faculty and its leadership faced in the new situation and the solutions they sought to address them. After the second Vienna Award, the integration of the faculty into the ecclesiastical higher education of the Hungarian state was one of the primary tasks. The academic situation of the students also had to be sorted out, and the Faculty had to face a significant reduction in its staff and the financial crisis. These influences changed the internal and external life of the faculty; consequently, we see that social, administrative and political changes had a particular impact on the functioning of the institute and on the training of ministers.

The writings of the theological teachers in ecclesiastical publications have provided a basis for understanding the processes of power change in Transylvania in their ecclesiastical context. They helped to develop a correct vision and to identify the perceived and expected consequences of the decision. Our study also shows that during this period, ecclesiastical and public activities were deeply intertwined.

In this study we present papers and theses of students submitted in church history, in response to teachers’ assignments at the Faculty of Theology in Kolozsvár/Cluj between 1898 and 1944. These works were closely related to the history teaching church history at the Faculty, being intended to promote independent scientific research and talent management. During the period analysed here, a total of twenty-six works in church history were completed as fulfilments of the thirty-four assigned topics. The number of works submitted and the number of topics assigned varied from period to period, but they are relevantly embedded in the framework of the institutional curriculum.

This poem was composed by an unknown author to be sung according to the Geneva tune of the 45th Psalm (first published in 1545). The poem has never been published previously, having survived in an 18th century collection of biblical histories, in versified form, together with other prayers and Reformed church hymns. The main ideas of this poem clearly differ from the earlier version of the Song of songs composed in 1584 by an unitarian poet, Miklós Bogáti Fazakas. The 18th century poet was possibly a young minister or a college teacher. It is uncertain, but not impossible, that the author was a former student of the Debrecen Reformed College, since more than twenty members of the family, which preserved this manuscript, had studied in Debrecen bet-ween the middle 17th and the 19th centuries. This poem is the closest possible versification of the Hungarian version of the biblical text according to the Bible of Vizsoly from 1590, available in later editions. The poem does not emphasise that this biblical book would refer to the relationship between Christ and his Church. However, the Latin titles added all over the sections, identified as belonging to Bride and Bridegroom, or Sponsus and Sponsa, reflect the same allegorical view, following father Origen, and usually adopted by Protestant commenta-tors, including Calvin.

Since 1948 the Reformed Hymnal contains a versified paraphrase o f Lamentations chapter 5, interwoven with allusions to the fate of the Reformation in Hungary. This appears to have been taken over from the Hoffgreff Cantionale of 1556 (printed in Kolozsvár, Klausenburg, Cluj- Napoca), but in fact the text of this poem is based on the 1877 edition of an old Hungarian poem. After having critically analysed alterations and deletions, and also having compared the text with the ones published in the Service book of 1574 and in the Cancionale of 1574, some textual corrections are proposed for future editions o f the Hymnal, and also endorsing to retain three of the presently deleted strophes. There is another short paraphrase of the original published by the Rev. Sándor Farkas (1851—1911) in 1883 in his edition of a Song book for Sunday Schools, the earliest o f its kind in Hungary. The melody, which is also important, was published on several occasions since 1859. Another new poem known with one of these melodies is the poem by Farkas. He also paraphrased some parts o f the above mentioned 16th century text. Nonetheless, in spite o f this established fact, his name is still missing from today’s Hymnal. His pioneer edition has still not yet received the attention it deserves in Church History and Hymnology. Now the four part harmonisation o f these melodies edited by him are compared to later editions, measured musically, thus taking a first step towards restoring the data and commemorating the editor’s name.