Journal index

In this short paper we propose to present the teaching of the Bible concerning the love of our neighbours. Starting with Romans 13:10, where apostle Paul asserts that love is the fulfilling of the law, we analyse those biblical passages in which the traces of this topic can be found. We aim to show that both the Old and the New Testament highlights the importance of the love towards God and our neighbours. At the end of our survey we discuss this topic in the light of the threefold use of God’s Law.

In this study I intend to describe and introduce critically three basis approaches of Christianity, exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism to other world religions and at the same time throw light on issues of interreligious dialogue and the problem of comparative theology. Having completed this task the paper deals with the novelty and fresh approach introduced by George Lindbeck a post liberal theologian and his approach will also be critically evaluated. It will be argued although Lindbeck’s cultural-linguistic model is useful for interreligious dialogue but it is a kind of repetition of the old liberal argument which also maintained the uniqueness of Christianity albeit in different mode than orthodox or traditional theology.

Proclaiming equality before the law for denominations by the Statute nr. XX. in 1848, challenged both the churches and the civil rights. In many cases religious freedom goes hand in hand with national identity. This essay aims to review the attitude of the First Hungarian Government (lead by count Lajos Batthyány from March to September 1848) towards the churches of the Hungarian Kingdom at that time. We will follow the historical events, the debates of the Parliament, the interpellations of emblematic characters of the Revolution and Freedom Fighting in 1848–49, using mainly the reports of the newspaper Pesti Hírlap, which became the Official Gazette of the Batthyány-Government in 1848 and the primary source to study and understand the political thinking and liberal attitude concerning equality and freedom of religious faith. Beside the Reformed Church’s perspective, this analysis reviews the implications of these debates for the Roman and Greek Catholic Churches, Greek Orthodox (Eastern) Church and Israelites.

How did the early Christians understand the New Testament? Here is a brief discussion about how one passage from 1 Corinthians was understood and debated from the 2nd to the 4th centuries. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul addresses the theme of the resurrection of Christ and of the Christians at the end of times. This presentation concentrates on the second half of this chapter, which deals with the resurrection of the Christians.
First, Paul's view of a spiritual resurrection body was hijacked by the Valentinians, to whom the Marcionites may be added, which caused a great difficulty to the Church. It is presented how several Fathers wrestled with it.
Second, our passage is ambiguous with regard to the question whether Paul had also intended non-Christians. In our passage their destination seemed forgotten. For this difficulty the Church Fathers offered several solutions. Tertullian, Origen, Didymus, John Chrysostom and Jerome gave allegorical interpretations of the different kinds of flesh and bodies mentioned in verses 39-41, in which they saw different kinds of people, including non-Christians. Tertullian held that people who are submitted to the carnal lusts of “flesh and blood” will have part in the general resurrection, but not in God’s subsequent kingdom which is destined for Christians.
Furthermore, in variant readings verse 51 was used with regard to Christians and non­ Christians. The text preferred in Nestle-Aland’s 28th edition o f the New Testament is used by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom: “we will not all die, but we will all be transformed”. To Gregory o f Nyssa this means that in the resurrection people, whether dead or alive, will receive angelic bodies. Likewise, Chrysostom says that those who will be alive at the moment o f the resurrection, will then be transformed with those who have died already; this applies to all people. In Didymus’ reading the negation in verse 51 has shifted to the second part o f the sentence: “we will all die, but we will not all be transformed”. This implies that after the resurrection non-Christians will first have to be purified before their bodies will be transformed.
A third reading of 1 Cor 15:51 is found with Tertullian (and in the Vulgate): “we will all rise, but we will not all be transformed”. This means that all people, Christians and non­ Christians, will be raised up, whereas only the Christians will be transformed to imperishability. This reading is an adaptation to the Church’s doctrine as formulated in the Rule of Faith, which says that all human beings will be raised, either unto salvation or unto punishment.

This article aims to explore some interesting developments in the quest for the Historical Jesus during the late 20th century. After presenting the different theological viewpoints about who Jesus was, this study summarises the results and challenges of the liberal theological scholarship about Jesus’ personality. It draws attention to some significant portrayals of Jesus according to Marcus J. Borg, Dominic Crossan and Géza Vermes, and invites to accept the differences.

Es gibt ein verbreitetes Bild von Calvin, wonach er ein harter, schroffer Typ gewesen ist. Es ist namentlich in Deutschland verbreitet. Aber stimmt dieses Bild? Jedenfalls kennen wir ihn noch nicht recht, wenn wir nicht seine Liebe des Gesangs kennen. Bei ihm war die Beziehung zur Musik höchst lebendig. Er kannte und schätzte die Musik seiner Zeit, die der Renaissance, und er schätzte sie so, dass ihm unter dem Hören die Tränen kamen.
Ihm war es ein erbaulicher Gedanke, dass nicht zuerst der Mensch, sondern dass vor ihm die ihn umgebende Kreatur singt und musiziert. Ob wir es wohl hören? Denn das zeigt uns: „Es will unser Herr in allen Sinnen uns erfreuen und erquicken.“ Und besonders durch das Ohr! Die Kreatur lässt sich hören, selbst wenn der Mensch stumm ist. Ja, sie ist für den Genfer Lehrer ein Vorbild, um mit einzustimmen.

For many people the church is a place of refuge and solace, a place where they may feel comfortable and closer to God. But for some the church represents a mirror of their personal failures, and a reminder of the fact that they are „not good enaught.” While for many, belief in God is a way of overcoming anxiety and turning to God is a valuable tool for gaining strength against anxiety disorders, for some people church could be a place that creates fear or gives way to thoughts that end up in anxiety or panic attack. While panic attacks may occur during church service or other church activities, this article offers a presentation of crisis intervention with a special focus to panic attacks. After that we continue with discussions on the issue of panic at pastoral visitations.

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).

This article presents the Hungarian translation of one of Walter Brueggemann’s sermons with a short analysis. The effectiveness of Brueggemann’s preaching is strongly related with the role that he assigns to preaching: he does not merely explain the word and apply its message to the contemporary world by means of metaphors, but Brueggemann also uses a problematizing type of exposition.

25. Szegedi Nemzetközi Biblikus Konferencia, Coetus Theologorum, A Kolozsvári Protestáns Teológia konferenciája a Heidelbergi Káté 450 éves jubileuma alkalmából Díszdoktorkat avattak a Debreceni Református Hittudományi Egyetemen, A Kolozsvári Protestáns Teológia és a Gyulafehérvári Római Katolikus Kar és Papnevelő Intézet tanárainak szimpóziuma

In the year 1859 the French Alphonse Esquiros made this remark in his itinerary: “Holland is one of the most religious countries of the earth; the Bible is really popular there.” In my lecture I outline the history of the personal and family reading of the Bible in the Netherlands during the last 5 centuries, including the current situation.Notable new research showed that in the Late Middle Ages in urban regions, in Holland as well, the Bible was spread in the national languages in wide circles of the society and was read among literate laymen. The Reformation built on this broadly recognisable interest or even hunger for the knowledge of the Bible. With the help of the newly discovered technique of printing and school teaching, and due to the fundamental reorientation of religious life through the Reformation – the Christian faith having only one source: the Bible – an intensive personal and family reading of the Bible began.

Amióta bekövetkezett az 1989-es fordulat és ezzel kétségtelenül elkezdődött erdélyi és királyhágómelléki egyházkerületünk történelmének újabb szakasza, azóta egyre többet beszélünk egyházi jövőképünk szükségességéről a jócskán megváltozott és gyors ütemben folyton változó politikai, gazdasági és szociológiai viszonyok láttán. De vajon mi ösztönöz egyházi jövőképünk megrajzolására? Ezt a kérdést azért kell feltennünk, mert egyházi jövőképünk aszerint rajzolódik meg, hogy mi az ösztönzés forrása.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the use of catechisms in the history of the Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia. On the occasion of the 450th jubilee of the Heidelberg Catechism, this paper describes – without aiming to completeness – how these writings have been used in teaching from 1920 to the present day.

Reinhold Niebuhr’s view about the ethics of Jesus is a classic presentation of the tension between the love ethic and the hard requirements of relative justice in the power conflicts of a sinful world. His theory could be a guide for Christians in our society today, tomorrow and for many years to come.

In der Psalmenforschung stößt man auf die Bezeichnung der Rachepsalmen. Jedoch muss klargestellt werden, dass diese Bezeichnung keine gattungskritische Einordnung darstellt. Sie steht für eine thematische Gruppierung derjenigen Psalmen, in denen das Thema der Rache und Vergeltung vorkommt und die die Vorstellung mit gewaltigen Bildern assoziieren. Auf die-se Weise werden auch solche Stücke des Psalters als Rachepsalmen eingeordnet, die die Wurzel נקם gar nicht verwenden. In der vorliegenden Studie werde ich nach einer kurzen Skizzierung der Semantik der atl. Rache überprüfen, inwiefern die Rache als theologischer Hintergrund der sog. Rachepsalmen zu verstehen ist, insbesondere bei Psalmen, bei denen die Wurzel נקם nicht auftaucht. Unter den Belegen von נקם findet man solche Passagen, die eine gesteigerte emotionale Ladung der Rache nahelegen und zeigen, dass in dem Vorgang der Rache solche Gefühle wie Eifer, Zorn, Grimm mit hineinspielen. Dieser emotionale Überschuss des Verbes kann zusammen mit dem mythischen, altorientalischen Bild des Feindes der Schlüssel zum Verstehen dieser Psalmen sein, in dem die Rachepsalmen einen sicheren Ort für das Ausleben der Gefühle und den Ruf nach Gerechtigkeit darstellen: das Gespräch mit Gott. Die Einzelexegese der Rachepsalmen soll aufzeigen, dass diese bitteren Gebete für Gerechtigkeit in einem engen Zusammenhang mit dem Talio-Prinzip stehen und die gewaltigen Bilder dessen Durchsetzung darstellen, wobei die Bilder selbst als Elemente der Dichtung und der mythischen Rede über den Feind aufzufassen sind.

This sermon of the famous professor, based on the text of John 14:1, is hardly familiar for readers of Hungarian theological literature. However, it is known that a Hungarian summary was made at the time the sermon was held, and once published, an exact translation of the German text was made. Our aim is to review Barth’s visit to Oradea (Nagyvárad) on 7–8 October 1936, to revisit the above mentioned sermon, as well as the short interview with Barth that was published in one of the local newspapers at that time. This interview reflects Barth’s prophetic vision: Bolshevism and fascism must retreat at the sight of Christian faith. There is no trace of this conversation in the Barth-bibliographies, although this interview is still crucial,even after 78 years.

The astronomical part of the Ethiopian Book of Enoch refers to an interesting phenomenon, namely the length of the longest day of the year. This data is particularly significant in localising this astronomical observation on the world map. Since the length of the year’s longest day depends on geographical latitude, this data could hint at the latitude of the place, i.e. the approximate geographical location where the Book of Enoch may have been composed. A closer analysis of this reference surprisingly reveals that this place should be looked for somewhere near to latitude 50○, that is far to the north from Palestine.

Our chronological study reflects on how the Reformed typography of Nagyvárad, being affiliated with the Reformed Church, enriched our catechism bibliography. In this respect, there were four remarkable periods in the printing history of Nagyvárad city. This paper deals with (1) the Hoffhalter era in the mid-16th century, (2) the period of Ábrahám Szenczi Kertész, between 1640 and 1660, (3) the first half of the 20th century, the Károly Béres era, and (4) the period since 1990.

This study discusses the connections between Kálmán Sass (1904–1958) and the Welti family during the communism in Romania. Kálmán Sass served as a Reformed pastor in Mezőtelegd (1933–1936) and Érmihályfalva (1936–1957). The recently discovered autobiography of Sass reveals the new circumstances from 1942 onwards, and helps to rethink misinterpreted turns in the life and oeuvre of the martyr pastor. During the communist dictatorship in Romania his books and essays were withdrawn from libraries, his name was not even allowed to be mentioned. The bibliography in this study includes various articles of Sass, which disclose his theological and political thinking as a representative of a generation that had had the opportunity to study in Basel, Strasburg and Zürich. The show trial of Kálmán Sass and other anti-communists throughout Partium, following the 1956 Revolution of Hungary is elaborated upon. Sass was executed at Szamosújvár (Gherla, Romania) on December 2, 1958. He has never been rehabilitated. Historian Zoltán Tófalvi concludes: “Of the assassinations, atrocities and wholesale reprisals – ordered by the communist party after the Second World War – we have only piecemeal knowledge in which there are large gaps even now. Many do not even believe that the dictatorship’s executioners carried all this out with such brutality and sadistic pleasure”. The Welti family in Basel and the theological relations in Switzerland between the two world wars were of great importance. In the famous book of Vilmos Balaskó, Life under the ground, we find some information about the Welti family. The discovery of the notebook of Bertha Welti provides us with new and valuable information regarding the church’s history in Eastern Europe.

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.

This paper focuses on the early period of the reformer’s ministration, who was a very learned teacher, pastor and theologian at Geneva and Strasbourg. In these places he implemented his theological and ethical convictions against the destructive works of the Anabaptist radicals. Due to the persistently growing popularity of their heretical ideas concerning Christian baptism, church discipline, the Lord’s Supper, separation from the world, civil authority, and oaths, after the publication of his so called Psychopannychia (1534) and the Institutes (1536), Calvin had to continue his polemic fight against the left wing of the reformation. It is by no means surprising that Calvin’s works of 1537–1544 – for instance The Genevan Confession and Catechism,The Articles and the Brief Instruction for Arming all the Good Faithful against the Errors of the Common Sect of the Anabaptists – are full of religious and moral refutations opposing those whose beliefs were based on the “hated” articles of Confessio Schlattensis.

The Transylvanian Reformed ministers of the 17th century received their diplomas within the framework of the annual General Synod. In this paper we present a unique diploma for ministry – so-called formata – from 1702, emitted for János Berzétei K. by the General Synod of Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș), printed at Kolozsvár in the workshop of Miklós Misztótfalusi Kis. Currently this formata is kept in the archives of the library of the Protestant Theological Institute (MS 66).

Die Apostelgeschichte ist eine Missionsgeschichte, die sich von Jerusalem ausgehend bis zur Hauptstadt des Römischen Reiches erstreckt. Der Rede des Paulus am Aeropag kommt eine besondere Stellung sowohl in Buch als auch in der Missionstätigkeit des Paulus zu. Es ist bemerkenswert, wie der Apostel auf seine Zuhörer achtet und sich ihnen bis zu einem gewissen Grad anpasst. Er sucht voller Phantasie und findet die Nische in der Denkwelt und Religion der griechischen Philosophie,durch welche das Licht des Evangeliums einziehen kann.

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.