Journal index

Hermán M. János79 -- 89

Mrs. Csekefalvi Tamás Béláné recorded some valuable data concerning the pastoral care of hundreds of Reformed and Catholic people who became refugees in 1940, when they left their village Györgyfalva and fled to the nearby city of Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca. This Christian lady was also involved in cultural and social work which she pursued together with others, and so she organised the “Cultural Association for Refugees from Györgyfalva”. The Association took up the education and cultural entertainment of the younger refugees, and the high standards of these activities were also applied to the cultivation of the rich traditions of the people of village Györgyfalva. The committee members – a list of their names was preserved –, helped the refugees to find work, and assisted those sent to court-martial to gain back their freedom. During the communist era in Romania it was not possible to share these stories of personal or communal suffering.

Református Szemle 111.1 (2018)Research articleChurch history
Hermán M. János379 -- 438

Abraham Kuyper’s travels to Romania (1905) and Hungary (1916) is not widely known. In his travel book entitled Om de oude Wereld-zee (Around the Ancient World Sea), he describes his traveling around the Mediterranean Sea. The first chapter of his book outlines the threats coming from Asia and an analysis of Islam. The book also contains sixty pages about Romania in which Kuyper compares Romania to Belgium. Kuyper was also received by the Romanian royal family. He foresees a great future for the Romanian people, even though they do not excel in practicing their orthodox faith.

Református Szemle 110.4 (2017)Research articleChurch history
Hermán M. János171 -- 182

Iván Hadházy was born in Beszterce in 1947 and died painfully young in 1982. He studied Theology in Cluj/Kolozsvár. After graduation he served as a Unitarian minister for a short while, then taught in village schools and worked in the Archives of the Roman Catholic Church. He suffered years of unemployment as nobody dared to offer him a job due to his critical approach to the regime. In his own church, was his greatest support Professor János Erdő, who also preached at his funeral. Rumours told that his death was an “accident” arranged by the Securitate. Without the support of his mother and sister, Iván would have perished both physically and spiritually. These two wonderful women encouraged him in his writing when he called for religious tolerance and the freedom of churches. In his letters, he stood up for the national and cultural rights of the Saxon and Hungarian people and warned against the suppression of minority groups. He tried to air his views by sending his writings to Sándor Huszár and to forums where he thought people would listen.

Református Szemle 110.2 (2017)Research articleChurch history
Hermán M. János522 -- 533

Calvin wished to change the structure o f his first catechism (1537/1538), which explained the Ten Commandments before the Apostles’ Cred. Having recognised that his first catechism was too difficult for children, Calvin rewrote his text. He arranged the Geneva Catechism (1542) in questions and answers in an effort to simplify doctrinal complexities. His second Catechism displaced all other Reformed catechisms until 1563, the year when the Heidelberg Catechism appeared. In 1563 the bishop o f Debrecen, Péter Méliusz, translated the Confession o f Geneva into Hungarian. The text was also translated into Italian (1551 and 1556), Spanish (1550), English (1556), German, Dutch, Greek and Hebrew. The second Hungarian translation was made by István Zilahi in 1695 and was edited by Miklós Misztótfalusi Kis. Finally, in 1907 Sándor Czeglédy prepared a new translation o f its text. The La maniere d ’interroger les enfants qu’on veut recevoir a la Cene de notre Seigneur Jésus Christ and Das Genfer Konfirmationsformular von 1553 are very important catechetical instruments.

Református Szemle 108.5 (2015)Research articleChurch history, Systematic theology
Hermán M. János76 -- 85

The writings of Kálmán Sass (1904–1958) have never been systematically collected or studied. The Securitate (Romanian Secret Police) confiscated all of the writings of Kálmán Sass. For 30 years it was not even allowed to quote him, because the Romanian State censurate connected his works to the 1956 anti.Communist Revolution in Hungary. After his execution all properties of Sass were confiscated by the Romanian State. His family was deported and confined to house arrest (“domiciliu obligatoriu”) in Olaru. They were banished from the Romanian Partium far away to the Bărăgan. Kálmán Sass completed his theological studies at the universities of Kolozsvár (Cluj,Romania) and Basel (Switzerland). He left behind important writings on church history, Old Testament, pedagogy and cathechetics, confessions, as well as studies on political theology.The fate of Kálmán Sass and his writings illustrates well the typical history of (reverend)martyrs in Romania during the atheistic regime until 1989.

Református Szemle 108.1 (2015)Research articleChurch history
Hermán M. János678 -- 698

The martyr pastor Kálmán Sass was executed by the Romanian state authorities at the Gherla/Szamosújvár prison on the 2nd of December 1958. “His main misdeed” was sympathising with the ideals of the Hungarian revolution of 1956. His wife, nee Mária Tőkés (September 27th 1913 – May 19th 2004), was deported from the parish of Valea Lui Mihai (Érmihályfalva) with their children to a village called Olaru. All their belongings were confiscated; their two older sons were imprisoned for a few years. It was only after 7 years that the family was informed about the execution of the father and husband. It was forbidden to even mention his name in Romania until 1989. In this study we have made an attempt to collect the biographical data of the Sass family and to portray the heroic struggle of Mrs. Mária Sass-Tőkés to keep her faith and to sustain her family in these miserable and trying times.

Református Szemle 107.6 (2014)Research articleChurch history
Hermán M. János532 -- 569

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.

Református Szemle 107.5 (2014)Research articleChurch history
Hermán M. János303 -- 333

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.

Református Szemle 107.3 (2014)Research articleSystematic theology, Church history
Hermán M. János194 -- 236

Anläßlich des 450. Jubiläums des Heidelberger Katechismus schreiben wir über den Katechetischen Hausschatz. Das deutsche Original, dessen Verfasser Christoph Staehelin war,wurde 1724 in Basel herausgegeben. Der Übersetzer Ferenc Tatai Csirke, der spätere Bischof von Debrecen, hat das Werk wahrscheinlich während seines Auslandsstudiums in Bern kennen- und schätzen gelernt. Sein Name wird allerdings in keiner der zwei Ausgaben genannt (Erstausgabe: 1752, Kolozsvár – Klausenburg und 1805 in Pest undPozsony – Pressburg), weil es in der Zeit der Gegenreformation nicht ratsam war, die Autorenschaft preiszugeben. Die Zulassung stammt sogar von János Lukács Borosnyai,dem reformierten Superintendenten von Siebenbürgen. Er empfiehlt es als das beste Lehrbuch zur Ausübung der Pietät. Nach ihm hätten auch die Autoren des Heidelberger Katechismus keine bessere Auslegung bieten können. Seit der Generalsynode zu Klausenburg 1774 ist er fester Teil der Liturgie geworden: während der nachmittäglichen Katechismus gottesdienste wurden Ausschnitte aus ihm vorgelesen.

Református Szemle 107.2 (2014)Research articleChurch history