Journal index

The study was prepared for the 360th anniversary of the publication of the so-called Várad-Bible. In the context of the Hungarian New Testament translations of the 20th century, it examines the unique interpretations of László Ravasz’s translation published in 1971, as well as the in his commentaries to the New Testament given in Bible study groups within the church. The present research focuses mainly on chapters 17–18 of the Book of Revelation.

During the inspection visits in local congregations, the committee used a series of questions addressing both the local pastor and the congregation. Such sets of enquiring questions survived only from the end of the 17. century in the Hungarian Reformed Church. Nevertheless, we cannot exclude that the church inspection committee used such questions even during earlier periods, as the Western-European church model had been implemented in the Hungarian Reformed church since the beginning of the Reformation. According to Zepper, when the day for inspection arrived, the entire congregation was supposed to have been gathered in the church building before the inspection committee. This was the place where the local minister had to be enquired not only about his preaching, but about his entire pastoral activity. Furthermore, the congregation was enquired about the local minister’s services and behaviour, whether the church members were able to follow the sermons delivered by the minister, whether the sermons adhere to the Bible and the confessions, whether catechetical work was regularly carried out among the youth, etc. Such enquiries aimed to smoothen communication between the minister and his congregation.

In this paper I examine the first collection of sermons of László Ravasz, published by him between 1903–1910 in several journals, such as the Református Szemle, the Protestáns Prédikátori Tár, the Protestáns Szemle, and later in his book entitled Ez ama Jézus. These sermons stage the first steps of Ravasz in the field of homiletics and preaching, being influenced and inspired by well-known Western European preachers, as well as his Transylvanian mentors. His preaching from this period testifies to the influence of liberal theology, but he also brings in new and original perspectives into the content, structure and style, furnishing some long-term perspectives for the Hungarian Reformed preaching.

According to Wilhelm Zepper, church government has two distinctive responsibilities: the
meeting (synodus) and the inspection or control (visitatio). The visitation of the members of a
congregation (visitatio domestica) is the most useful and most important of all kinds of visitations
in the Church. The duty of the local minister is not only to preach from the pulpit once or twice
a week. He needs to know the members of his congregation personally. These personal meetings
also belong to the area of pastoral care. Some congregation members could be prohibited to
participate in the regular church service due to some kind of illness or weakness. They would,
nonetheless, need to be strengthened by the word of God considering their special condition.
The official visitation (visitatio specialis) of the inspector (dean) of the classis should take place at
least once a year. The dean inspecting the life of the church is accompanied during these
visitations by a few colleagues and the local state authority.

Educating the children in Christian faith has always been a high priority and necessity in the church. Teaching them the confession was the core of the educational process. The religious education was started by parents at home. They must have had sufficient religious knowledge to teach the basics to their children. This was called private catechetical education. In addition to this, the church also provided a deeper, so-called public confessional education to the children. This was taken care of by ministers, primarily in the church building during the afternoon regular church service for both children and adults. During wintertime, when it was too cold for teaching in the church building, ministers gathered the children in their own houses. When children were grown to the school age, the regular denominational school took over the educational tasks and started to teach, beside the regular disciplines, religious subjects too in greater details. The examination of the children took place in the church building publicly, in the presence of the congregation, under the leading of the local minister, or by the dean of the classis during the regular annual inspection in the congregation. During the examination with the attendance of the local congregation, the leader of the inspection often also sized-up the congregation’s confessional knowledge, posing questions from the catechism even to some adult members of the congregation. This mode of examination of the children is more effective – according to the church regulation. The educational system was based entirely on the Christian teaching that by these means penetrated deeply into various levels of the society.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Reformed Church District of Király- hágómellék, this paper examines the work of alliances within the church (Women’s Alliance, Men’s Alliance, Youths’ Alliance, etc.), with special focus on the social and diaconal work. The paper builds on articles, reportages, footages, and shorter studies of the Reformátusok Lapja (Reformed Magazine), published by the celebrating church district. A synthesis of the available data reveals the difficulties involving the organisation of these alliances and the limited results achieved. 

The synod of the Classis or deanery was the assembly of the church supervisors which gathered once a year. But if unavoidable affairs of local churches required, the synod could be convoked any time it was necessary. In this case they had to notify the public authority to convene an extraordinary meeting even before the regular date of the synod. The proper place for the synod was the main Church Town hall or the palatine’s assembly hall. Thus, the authority may be present at the synod as the one ordained by God to be the upholder and guardian of the church. The task of the chairman was to say a prayer, to collect the votes, to build a bridge between the public authority and supervisors, to see that the decisions of the synod are duly recorded and put in writing, to have them signed by all, and to give them to each participant to take to their congregations. During discussions the public authority has no decisive word like in public administration or society affairs, it has only the right to deliberate. For in ecclesiastical matters, it is not the approval and will of the authority that is decisive, but the word of God, and in the synod this word alone can have the authority of command. To this the authority also owes obedience, for the authority is not lord, but lamb and member of the church. God has not placed the authorities above the church, but in the church.

The structure of the Transylvanian Reformed Church in the 16–17th centuries showed many similarities to the West-European Reformed church models. Except for the institution of elders (Presbiterium), all other church institutions were established as early as the middle of the 16th century. The main cause of the lack of the institution of elders was the dissimilarity in the struc- ture of the society. While the society in the West was founded on civil democracy, the social system of Transylvania was rather feudalistic, consequently the lower part of the society had little influence on governing, both on a local and on a regional level. This is why the Presbiterium, as one of the democratic institutions of the church in the West, failed to be implemented within the structure of the church government in Transylvania. Thus the lowest level of church gov- ernment was the synod of the classis or deanery (synodus particularis), lead by the dean (in the west: the inspector). As the entire church structure reflected somehow the structure of the secular society, the church as an organization could have been incorporated into the feudal secular society.

The election, education and ordination of future ministers has always been a responsibility of church officials, such as teachers, ministers, deans, respectively the assembly of the deanery. Teachers and ministers have also had the responsibility of identifying bright and talented students and church youth who can be directed to higher education to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for pastoral ministry. In addition to the usual biblical and theological subjects, they had to learn Latin grammar, dialectics and rhetoric, and after completing their secondary education, they had to consolidate what they had learned at university level. Young people applying for the ministry first had to acquire the necessary practical skills as assistant ministers under the guidance of ordinary ministers, and only then were they ordained as ordinary ministers in a congregation.

In this paper I present a thorough examination of Laszló Ravasz’s publications from the period 1901–1903, when he was a student of the Protestant Theological Seminary and the State University of Cluj/Kolozsvár. In this period, he shows signs of uncertainty whether to become a Reformed minister or a journalist, novelist, or critic. This period of life of a student is typically characterised by an interest in almost everything. He writes more than forty poems, short novels, theatrical critics, but most often he relates about the student life in the magazine Kolozsvári Egyetemi Lapok. He attempts to follow well-known journalist of his time. His descriptive writings demonstrate how good a writer he was already in the early years of his career.

When speaking of Reformation and Humanism, we tend to connect them to each other. But as we come closer to the essence of each, we discover their substantially different nature. The gist of Humanism is the human nature. On statues and paintings of the Renaissance the man is portrayed as a great, powerful, almost almighty person. On the other hand, Reformation places God, Christ, salvation, reconciliation etc. at the centre of its teaching. Humans are included too, but only as sideliners, as weak, infirm, needy, helpless figures. Nevertheless, Reformation has benefited to a significant extent from Humanism via its emphasis on the grammar for mastering the languages of the Scripture (Hebrew and Greek), dialectics striving to a better understanding of the scriptural message, and rhetorics as a substantial technical help spreading the Gospel. Therefore, teaching these disciplines at the universities of the Reformation has become of major importance during the 16th century.

In this paper I examined one of the effects of László Ravasz’s theological thinking, namely the development of his spiritual life and its impact on his position as a scholar of theology. Due to the limitations of the scope of this paper, I present the lesser known views of Ravasz’s work on mission. Among others, John R. Mott’s lecture in Cluj-Napoca provides clues that the young Ravasz approached the tasks of pastoral ministry, preaching, dissemination of the gospel, theological education in a modern and relevant manner. This approach was not perfect, but it helped to bring about a new impetus for the Hungarian Protestant worldview that was stuck in rationalism and liberalism and for Protestant theology in general to start off towards the dialectical theology. Ravasz was an authentic representative of this transition

This overview of Melanchthon’s dialectic is far from being complete. He continues to present the rules of scientific thinking and the theoretical and practical methods. But the short survey, which covers the essence of his scholarly view, shows a clear intention and effort on his behalf to “domesticate” the classical (pagan) science of thinking in view of their adoption by the Protestant churches.  He believed that by doing so, he was advancing the science of the Word, as far as the preparation to the church service is concerned. He was aware that the classical scholarship of humanism could improve Protestant theology, which was to become more erudite, while enriching church sermons with more depth and substance. The overview also shows Melanchthon’s deep commitment to pedagogy, and his concern to be useful to both his students and pastors by elaborating on and strengthening the specific Christian theology of the century. By this he inscribed his name forever into the memory book of the Protestant science and pedagogy.

In this paper I present an in-depth analysis of the writings of László Ravasz from the period 1903–1906. During this period, he graduated from the Protestant Theological Institute, the State University at Kolozsvár/Cluj, and spent a year of PhD research in Berlin. He started publishing in the journal Erdélyi Protestáns Lap mostly in the domain of religious studies. He still adheres to the liberal wing of theology, but in this period, he slowly starts to shift towards the so-called value theology, a much modern way of the long-standing liberalism.

A syllogism (Greek: συλλογισμός – “conclusion, inference”) is a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two or more propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true. Aristotle defines the syllogism as “a discourse in which certain (specific) things having been supposed, something different from the things supposed results of necessity because these things are so”. The Aristotelian syllogism dominated Western philosophical thought for many centuries in the Middle Ages. But the history of syllogistic thinking does not end with the Middle Ages. It continued to be used even by the church reformers of the 16th century. Thus, alongside a dialectic way of thinking, it contributed to the development of the new dogmatics coined by the church reformers in the 16th century

First and foremost, the Protestantism sought to incorporate the first three disciplines of the seven liberal arts into the methodologies of scholarly theology and the curricula of school education. It also served the purpose of preparing seminary students for preaching the Word in their mother-tongue. Once they mastered the languages of the Two Testaments, dialectics (or logic) aided them in decoding the meaning (or the message) of the passage, while rhetorics guided them in composing a structurally sound sermon. (This threefold unity is still applied today in Hungarian theological education, albeit under a different name.) Dialectics is the foundation for the study of all sciences. Indeed, the potential benefits of certain scientific disciplines cannot be fully achieved without a thorough understanding of its principles. Therefore, as religious sermons are modelled after secular rhetoric, their structural features cannot be correctly assembled without resorting to the laws of philosophical dialectics

Translated by Fazakas Enikő, Kovács Zoltán, Kun Lajos, Némedi Gusztáv, Oláh Attila. A Debreceni Református Hittudományi Egyetem Gyakorlati Teológiai Tanszéke, Debrecen 2001, 132. old.

The Reformation highly esteemed the classical scientific disciplines as far as they contributed to a better understanding of the gospel. The method was delivered by the Humanism and Renaissance. Consequently, the reformers, whose primary concern was studying the word of God in original (Hebrew and Greek), started to master both languages right from the beginning. Hebrew helped them to learn and understand God’s will in the Old Testament in its original setting, while Greek improved their grip on the message of the New Testament. When preparations for ministry had started in the Protestant universities, both languages were self-evidently taken over in the educational process. The present paper deals with Melanchthon’s appreciation of the Greek language.

This paper discusses the necessity of dialogue about the topic of creation among theology, philosophy and natural sciences. I argue that philosophy has a bridge-building role between theology and natural sciences. I aim to show why the mediation of philosophy cannot be neglected, and why a holistic approach in such an important theme as creation is necessary. I shall also invoke the ideas of László Ravasz (1882–1975) and point out that the synthesis which he argued for in his scientific papers is still useful today.

László Musnai, pastor and theology professor. His work and activity can not be listed into one specific theological area. Considering his basic qualification, he is a New Testament scholar, on which field he has written his phd thesis. But if we look at his other books and publications we can say, that he is as good in Bible-translating or in church history, as in biblical studies. As far as his social and educational activity is concerned, he was a prominent church leader and appreciated teacher as well. So, he did not isolate himself into the ivory tower of science, but took an active part of the everyday life wherever his calling brought him to. With a vast life and scientific experience he was wholeheartedly committed to the Hungarian Reformed Church in Transylvania in general, and to the Gábor Bethlen middle school in particular. His example should be a guiding star for each of us.

Before the Barthian theology questioning the significance of rhetorics for homiletics has come to influence Hungarian Reformed theological thinking, László Ravasz (1882—1975) had emphasised the importance of aesthetical experience in preaching. Decades long the influence of Karl Barth remained one of the most determining factors in the Hungarian Reformed preaching tradition. Nowadays when the theory of Gerhard Schulze about social experience is increasingly gaining acceptance in several domains of social sciences, the Hungarian reformed theological thinking is again interested in using rhetorics as a helpful tool for homiletics. In this study I search for the significance o f rhetorics for homiletics.

At the dawn of the 20th century, the young László Ravasz began to rethink the main principles of Hungarian Reformed homiletics. His program was basically stimulated by the so- called “value-theology”, inspired by the Neo-Kantian philosophy. In this paper I examine his homilethical method by analysing his Christmas sermons. I scrutinize the rhetorical situation, the chosen biblical texts, the structure, the content, and the illustrations of the sermons. I conclude that half century later, we can still learn from Ravasz’ views.

In 1907 László Ravasz (1882—1975) came to lecture in practical theology at the Hungarian Reformed Theological University in Kolozsvár. Being only 25 years old, he felt the need for fresh theological thinking in this domain. As a student of both philosophy and theology, he developed his skills in both directions. His mentor in philosophy was Károly Höhnt, who enormously influenced his thinking from the mo-Kantian philosophical perspective. In 1906 Ravasz wrote a PhD thesis about Schopenhauer’s aesthetics. A year later he drafted his Introduction topractical theology, Fis habilitation thesis. This work exposes the influence of neo-Kantianism, transforming the philosophical thesis into a so called value-theology.
In 1915 he published his main work, the Homiletics, which appears to be a useful handbook even according to today’s standards. In this study I analyse both the philosophical and aesthetical thinking of Ravasz, searching for answers to the following questions: To what extent did neo­ Kantianism influence his practical theological theory? Why did he consider aesthetical values so important for practical theology? I attempt to demonstrate that his practical theology is rooted in neo-Kantian philosophy and aesthetics. This study aims to commemorate the centenary of Homiletics, as well as the 40th anniversary of Ravasz’ death.

The Communist Party has always been antagonistic to the Churches, having different ideology. The main purpose of the Communist regime after the Second World War was the complete annihilation of all kinds of Churches. This plan was to be carried out by the Secret Police, called the Securitate. In 1960, the two bishops of the two Hungarian Reformed Church Districts in Romania passed away. This was a major opportunity for the Securitate to unify the two Church Districts as a first step, and to waste away the Church, as the second step. They intended to carry out this plan by in-stalling their loyal informers in the highest church position of the unified church. The plan was abandoned after two new bishops were elected. In the Transylvanian Reformed Church District, Nagy Gyula became the bishop. He had had no contact at all with the Securitate before his nominalization; he considered himself a second rank person and not good enough in fulfilling the highest position.

In our Church ecclesiastical elections are organised once every six year. At the level of church district the bishop, at the level of the dioceses the person and functionality of the dean are crucial. Therefore, not only the pastors and deacons should be given special training but also the ecclesiastical superiors. The leaders are often unsuitable for the position, which can have very damaging consequences. The temptation of power and money can be dangerous. We must seek to ensure that the Spirit of God guides the church elections.