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The current study aims to investigate the procedure of metaphorical creativity in the Gospel of John, using the “living bread” linguistic metaphor as a case study. The article is structured into three main sections. Following a brief introduction, the first section deals with the conceptual metaphor theory which serves as the methodological framework of the analysis; the second section carves out the background and textual analysis of the “living water” and “living bread” metaphors; and the third section demonstrates the interaction of the two metaphorical networks and points to the main argument that “living bread” was created through and stimulated by the well-known conventional metaphor “living water” in the conceptual system of the Gospel.

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).