Journal index

In this study we analyse some aspects of Sándor Makkai’s approach to religion. According to Makkai, the most important and most fundamental question of religious psychology is the mysterious origin of religion. When this question is answered, the essence of the essence of the psychology of religion will also be identified. Philosophy, social studies, science, sociopsychology and empirical psychology all intend to address issues familiar within the realms of the psychology of religion, including the aforementioned focal question. Makkai points out why the disciplines mentioned cannot, in his view, correctly approach psychology of religion and define religion itself. Makkai argues that the epistemological psychology of Károly Böhm provides the most fitting psychological description of the origins of religion. With this starting point, he delineates his interpretation of the concept of religion and of the religious experience.

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.