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Eduard Böhl (1836–1903), a scholar of the second half of the nineteenth century, was professor of dogmatics at the Protestant Theological Faculty in Vienna for 35 years. His lifework was his “Dogmatics”, which he wrote for 23 years. In this unfairly forgotten work, he formulates cardinal Reformed beliefs providing the reader with accurate guidance regarding theology, anthropology, soterology, and eschatology. This study analyses Böhl’s teaching based on the last major chapter of his book, concerned with the “End of Times”. In order to gain a better understanding of the theological issues discussed by Böhl, this work parallels Gábor Szeremlei’s chapter on “Eschatology” which can be found in his book of Dogmatics entitled “Christian Religious Science”. A study of this issue provides insights into what theologians of the nineteenth century formulated in relation to this question, and how biblical approaches and ideas emerged within the debates of orthodox and liberal theology.

The present study examines from the perspective of dogmatics Eduard Böhl’s book entitled Christologie des Alten Testamentes oder Auslegung der wichtigsten Messianischen Weissagungen published in 1882. The study deals mainly with the introductory chapter. E. Böhl, professor of Reformed Systematic Theology at the Protestant Theological Faculty in Vienna from 1864 to 1899, was strongly influenced by the theological vision of H. F. Kohlbrugge (1803–1875), a Reformed pastor from Elberfeld, Germany. As a systematic theologian he followed the orthodox Reformed position which emphasised the inseparable unity of Scripture. From this hermeneutic stance he defended the Christology of the Old Testament. Böhl testified that God in Christ, in fact, repeated, confirmed, and accomplished on a higher level what had happened in the lives of Old Testament confessors. Old Testament writings legitimize Jesus’ coming, incarnation, salvation, suffering, death, and resurrection. The essence of Böhl’s standpoint is that some of the messianic texts do not refer directly to Christ, but above all to “types”, figures who carry the promise of salvation. Other parts, however, such as the psalms discussed in detail in his book, are unequivocal pieces of evidence of the promises of the Messiah who is embodied in Jesus Christ. In support of his view, he cited “the exegesis of the New Testament,” the apostles and evangelists, and the Targums, the Book of Enoch, and the Talmud among the Jewish religious literature. With his theological vision and writings, through his Hungarian disciples, Böhl exerted a decisive influence on the Reformed theological thinking and the New Orthodoxy in Hungary. This theological trend took up the fight against the spread of theological liberalism with its centre in Debrecen during the second half of the nineteenth century. Böhl, as a defender of traditional Calvinism, was a sure point of reference with respect to important theological issues.

Das Reformierte Kollegium von Debrecen als Mutterschule versah bis ins 19. Jahrhundert hinein Hunderte von seinen Partikelschulen auf dem Lande mit Lehrkräften (Rektoren oder Präceptoren), Lehrplänen und Schulbüchern, weshalb es als die „Schule des Landes“ bezeichnet wurde. Die Studie liefert an Hand von Quellen im Archiv des Kollegiums wichtige Beiträge zur Geschichte der Partikelschule in Nagyharsány (Komitat Baranya). Die ersten Spuren der schulischen Beziehungen der beiden Orte stammen aus dem Jahre 1671. Sehr intensiv waren die Kontakte in den Jahren zwischen 1763–1813. In dieser Periode waren in den reichen Marktflecken insgesamt 18 Rektoren, deren kurzer Lebenslauf und auch ihr Belohnungsverzeichnis aus dem Jahre 1799 dargelegt werden.

Die Studie gibt einerseits die Rezension einer beachtlichen deutschen Literaturgeschichte der vergangenen Jahre (Schlaffer, Heinz: Die kurze Geschichte der deutschen Literatur. Carl Hauser Verlag, München-Wien 2002), andererseits zählt sie aber auch die wichtigsten Parallelen und Unterschiede in der ungarischen Literaturgeschichte auf. Schlaffer meint, dass die Wurzeln der deutschen Literatur in erster Linie zur protestantischen Traditionen, besonders zum Pietismus zurückzuführen sind. Der Rezensent begrüßt die neuartige Auffassung der Literatur von Heinz Schlaffer, die seiner Meinung nach auch der ungarischen Literaturgeschichtsschreibung erfrischende Impulse geben kann.

We are always seeking for the sense of the life, for ourselves and for the place in our family and community. Religion shows a new way to us, according to Jesus Christ’s principles. The son of God not only created a religion, but gave us an example how to live, and sacrifice himself for us. Sándor Karácsony reckons religion as a spiritual behavior, the base of our social contacts. We have to see into our lives and character according to the message of Jesus Christ. The right and appropriate personality can be evolved by individual training.

The views of Sándor Karácsony about religious education can be clearly discerned from his writings. The main task of reformed pedagogy is to activate continuously the divine notions in this continuously changing world. Protestant teachers must accomplish their daily work according to the Gospel of Christ. The Hungarian Reformed Church was a so-called “church of schools” for hundreds of years. This means that even between WWI and WWII it owned more schools than churches. The number of Reformed schools is significant even today. Sándor Karácsony claims that only Reformed people and communities are able to maintain Reformed schools by people who “are ready to serve and sacrifice themselves” for this cause (Karácsony, Sándor: A magyarok Istene. Széphalom Könyvműhely, Budapest 2004, 172).