Journal index

The Second Vienna Award brought a positive turn for the Hungarians living in Northern Transylvania, which was also reflected in the academic life. In our study, we examine the impact of the return to the motherland on the work of theological teachers. Református Szemle was one of the most important press organs of Transylvanian Reformed Church, and we will examine the writings, editorials and articles published there. The articles of the year 1940 are examined in more detail. During this year, four teachers (Tavaszy, Gönczy, Imre, Nagy) had their writings published in the Református Szemle. We analyse their writings exploring the eventual influence of the aftermath of the Second Vienna Award on the style, message and theme of their writings.

Job 19,25–27 are probably the most widely known verses from his book. This pericope is often evoked on funeral occasions, and many Christians undoubtedly ponder those while struggling with the issue of death. The current study does not aim to correct the Christian faith. From the perspective of systematic theology, the Redeemer of Job and that of the Christians is the very same Christ. This essay attempts to outline the meaning of the text through linguistic and poetical analysis. A text (including a spontaneous one) informs a reader even by the way it was created. That is emphatically true in case of a writing formed, handed down, redacted in a stabilized version. (Scribal mistakes, of course, cannot be excluded, but until proven let the principle of lectio difficilior be followed.) The present essay strives to understand the meaning of Job’s words about his Restorer, who is able to redeem even when the flesh and the heart are consumed.

As a consequence of the Second Vienna Award of 30 August 1940, the Transylvanian Reformed Church was split into two parts. Broadly 240 000 Reformed believers in Southern Transylvania came under the jurisdiction of the Romanian state. Bishop János Vásárhelyi and the Council of Church Directors of the Transylvanian Reformed Church entrusted Ferenc Nagy and Count Bálint Bethlen with the task of organising the administration of the congregations in Southern Transylvania. The church also had to decide on how to organise the training of pastors in the South Transylvanian Reformed Church District. In the spring of 1941, a training course was organised for theologians, after which they could complete the theological studies they had begun. In September 1941, the Bethlen Theological Academy in Nagyenyed was opened, with four departments and four full-time teachers.

Job 29,18 is one of the most disputed verses from this chapter, especially with regard to the meaning of the Hebrew term lwx. This word can be rendered either as ‘palm’ (so, e.g. in the Septuagint and the Vulgate), or ‘sand’ (e.g. Saadiah Gaon), or ‘phoenix’ (e.g. Genesis Rabbah, B.Talmud Sanhedrin). Several Hungarian versions support both ‘sand’ and ‘phoenix’. This article shows that the Massora parva suggest that lwx is an example of talHin /double entendre. This means that the massoretes who fixed the text of the Leningrad Codex probably took for granted that lwx referred to both ‘sand’ and ‘phoenix’ as a bird-name.

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).

This essay applies the method of semantic analysis for biblical metaphors. First it highlights the settled meanings of the lexemes of the metaphors under scrutiny. After establishing the sememes, the analysis focuses on the plain or hidden nominal predicative statement of the metaphor, namely only on the context of the tenor and vehicle, seeking for that conjunctive semes which can help us to understand the chosen metaphor. We can realise that the metaphor’s meaning is not definable, being imagined as a fuzzy set, where some semantic marks (or semes) are highlighted and others remain hidden. The larger context introduces other disjunctive semes too, not alluded to previously, thus enabling different connotations for metaphors.