Journal index

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.

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.

In this study, we briefly outline the possible sources of a disputation written by the Transylvanian polyhistor Sámuel Kaposi and make reserved statements about the authorship and originality of this disputation. Our aim is to draw attention to this interesting text, which is perhaps the first Hungarian work dealing with spiritual desertion, a topic peculiar to English and Dutch Puritans.

Minucius’ excellent dialogue, “Octavius” details the accusations of paganism addressing Christianity, as well as the criticism of Christianity encountering paganism. He speaks quite openly about the attitude of Christians to Rome and the attitude of the Romans to Christianity. Our study is primarily concerned with the purpose and intent of the author in presenting in this quasi-dialogue how Gentiles saw Christians and respectively Christians saw Gentiles in the early third century. To what extent did the author achieve his goal(s)? And if not, or not at all, where did his dialogue fail? In this study we also examine whether there was any truths in pa-gan accusations against Christians, and if so, to what extent?

In this paper, which is a edited version of a short lecture, we discuss some existential questions of the Transylvanian Reformed Church. Our primary aim is to confute the upsetting statement made by Sándor Makkai, the former bishop of Transylvanian Reformed Church, in 1937, namely that it is morally impossible to live in minority, since the minority life is entirely opposite to human dignity.

In this paper we present the main theories concerning the interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19. The entire vocabulary of this problematic text is analysed in details, attempting to draft which of the previous theories best fit the current context. 1 Peter 4:6 is also examined in passing, aiming to determine the relation between 1 Peter 3:19 and 4:6. Besides we give a kerygmatic explanation of the text in order to formulate its message for the readers of our days.

In this paper we present almost twenty ancient greek funeral inscriptions from the period of 4th–3rd centuries BC and 3rd–4th centuries AD. Our aim is to set the eschatology of four Pauline letters (1Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians and Filippians) in the context of Hellenistic after-life concepts, and to establish the possible parallels and analogies. We hope that through this attempt we could understand better, firstly the „belief-package” of Hellenistic Christianity, secondly the situation of Christiam message in the context of Hellenism, and finally the shaping of Pauline eschatology.

Biblical dreams are obviously very important for those who deal with the history or psychology of dreams. The question is whether they are indeed relevant also for the catechesis? This study argues that biblical stories in which dreams play a great importance could and should be presented through the lenses of these dreams. By means of the dreams of Joseph and the vision of Peter we aim to sketch the catechetical potential of the biblical stories.

In Calvin’s eschatological reflection the intermediate state of the believer is of primary importance. After death the soul leaves body, the body (and only the body) falls into sleep, the soul, however, rests by God. The perfect happiness of the soul is not diminished by the fact that in this intermediate state one still has to wait for the resurrection. Although Calvin uses platonic terminology in order to clarify his ideas, the scriptural content usually overwrites this platonic terminology. The prudence, ingenuity, critical acumen, erudition, and biblical thinking of Calvin make his eschatological cogitations worthy of (re)considering for his 21st century readers, too.

On one occasion Jung asked the awkward question: how can a theologian, who really believes in God, affirm that God does not speak trough dreams? Indeed, may one seriously assert that God corrects, rebukes and encourages us through dreams in these days too? Can dreams help us in tomes of crisis, for instance, in the mourning process? In this paper, we attempt to answer those questions based on the experts of the subject, and taking into consideration the authority of the Bible.

In his epigrams, Gregory of Nazianzus time and again speaks about the dead ones as sleepers. In this paper we examine the Greco-Roman and biblical background of this well-known ‘sleeping of death’-theme, and we conclude that the sleeping of death in Gregory’s usage is nothing more than an eschatologically neutral literary platitude.

In 1519 Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote in a letter to Jacob Hoogstraeten: “If to be a Christian is to hate Jews, then we are all thoroughly Christian.” Our aim is to examine whether this sentence is in any way relevant – evidently under the changed circumstances – in the Transylvanian (Hungarian) Reformed Church. We show that the main cause of occasional anti-Semitism is the anti-Semitic heritage of Christian Church, particularly the anti-Semitic heritage of Protestantism. After facing this heritage, we shape the theological, moral and psychological risks of anti-Semitism / anti-Judaism. We conclude with Walter Brueggemann’s suggestion that the Christian-Jewish relationship needs to be rethought from time to time.