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The document presented here is the Ethical Codex formulated in 1786 by the governing body of the College of Kolozsvár (Cluj). The 1780s marked an era defined by the formulation of educational guidelines. It was during this epoch that the ruler of the Habsburg Empire mandated the centralisation of educational institutions. Consequently, the Reformed Church of Transylvania undertook extensive preparations for the reorganization of the college and the advancement of public education. This regulatory framework stands as a distinctive artifact, akin to the spiritual bequest of the noble aristocracy and sovereigns. Noteworthy is its exclusive focus on individuals of noble lineage, rendering it likely that its implementation was never realised.

John Calvin was devoted to restore the sanctity of the Genevan townsfolk, by which he understood the practical fulfilment of God’s Law, the Ten Commandments. To be sure, his primary intention was to exert an influence on the texture of daily life of the Genevan population. He delivered sermons and published-edited commentaries in order to establish his new theological ethics, and marital reforms concerning the adequate moral life of a Christian family. He fought against every kind of sexual crime, including fornication and adultery. However, while Calvin accepted in theory that adultery ought to be punished with death penalty, the Genevan reality was very different, because Calvin was preaching from the mercy of God day by day.

Calvin’s thoughts on Christian marriage and family life raised several historical, judiciary and social questions. An examination of Juhász Péter Méliusz’s Debrecen-Egervölgyi Confession and Major Articles shows that Calvin’s heritage deeply influenced the Hungarian Reformed teaching on engagement, marriage and divorce. Nonetheless, the readers will find that the reformers of the “Hungarian Reformed Church” did not cite directly the theological and ethical works of Calvin or Luther concerning the questions of fornication and adultery. An examination of the operation of the Magistracy of Debrecen reveals that, in case of adultery, sinners were allowed to receive the clemency of their spouses, extricating them from the legal procedure with this merciful statement: “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezech 33,11). Between 1547 and 1625 only 26 people (female: 17, male: 9) out of a total of 241 persons (female: 136, male: 105) accused of fornication and adultery were actually executed. Nevertheless, death sentence was promulgated in cases of serious fornication mixed with sexual violence or murder of infants.

The reception of John Calvin’s theology and social thoughts in Hungary raises several historical, judicial and theological questions. The multi-faceted legacy of Péter Melius Juhász makes it clear that Calvin’s theological and ethical considerations had a profound impact on the sixteenth century moral life of the local townsfolk of Debrecen. But the exploration of the practical aspects of this influence has been neglected in current Calvin-studies. For this reason, the primary intention of the present study is to show what practical implications in the field of public morals the ecclesiastical and literary ministry of the early modern preachers of Geneva and Debrecen had. Readers will find that the Hungarian reformers did not directly refer to the written legacy of Luther or Calvin, but the sifting examination of the Registers of the Magistrates of Debrecen contributes significantly to demonstrating the effectiveness of the doctrines preached by the reformers in Eastern Hungary. Moreover, the elaboration on the public morals of Debrecen also allows a comparison of the moral life of the inhabitants of the two Reformed cities of Geneva and Debrecen.

John Calvin transformed the theology and law of sex, marriage and family life. Building on a generation of Protestant reformers, Calvin constructed a comprehensive new theology and law that made the conclusion and dissolution of marriage, the nurturing and welfare of children, family cohesion and support, sexual sin and crime essential concerns for both church and state. He drew the Consistory and Council of Geneva into a creative new alliance to guide and govern the reformation of the intimate domestic sphere. Calvin and his colleagues applied and adapted this new theology in hundreds of marriage and family-related lawsuits that were passed before the Consistory each year. „He set out his theological and ethical reforms in rich number of sermons, commentaries, and systematic writings” (John Witte). Despite the efforts of the Consistory and Council of Geneva, there were numerous cases of homosexuality, paedophilia, sexual assault, and bestiality, which made Calvin constantly anxious. He believed, if magistrates do not punish sexual crimes (e.g. adultery, fornication, sodomy), “a door will be thrown open for any kind of treachery, for poisoning, and murder, and robbery” and “Paul therefore denounces punishment not only on adulterers, but also on fornicators, for both depart from the holy institution of God”. For this reason, Calvin admitted, it would be good to drive out such public fornicators from the city in order to avoid scandals and to keep them from abusing themselves by fornication. Calvin’s legal and theological standpoint was: there is a greater danger in not punishing the crime or hiding the punishment, than in exerting a public and exemplary punishment with the aim of prevention. This is why the Genevan Council applied death penalty so often. But Calvin continued to preach about the Grace of God day after day.

This text edition presents the opinion of the Reformed bishop, Zsigmond Eperjesi, and the eparchial notary, Máté Keresztes, in the case of Samuel Endemann. As their documents make clear, the bishop and the eparchial notary were representatives of the orthodox Reformed church, and determined supporters of the creeds of the traditional Reformed church. The letter reveals that the investigation of Endemann was initiated by the leaders of the Reformed church. In his letter, the bishop briefly stated his view that Endemann’s manual contradicted the creeds of the Reformed Church in Transylvania, even if in these ideas had long been canonized in Western theological thought. Following the Endemann investigations, János Bodola and János Zilahi Sebes received instructions from the Consistory and the Reformed Church leadership that Endemann’s manuals should not be used in educating systematic theology.

This paper presents the apology of János Bodola, professor of Nagyenyed, accused of heresy in 1791. Like his accused associate, Bodola also dismissed the charge of heresy, but did not deny that theological thinking should be renewed. In his letter, he also rejected Arminian, Pelagian, and Universalist accusations, stood up to Samuel Endemann’s orthodoxy, and condemned the lack of consensus among the confessions. According to his letter, Bodola was a supporter of the Reformed liberal orthodoxy who in matters of principles of faith remained devoted to the creeds of reformed confessions, without secluding himself from the innovations within theology.

The attack against the ideas of illumination was at the same time the last desperate attempt of the Transylvanian reformed orthodox theology at the Synod of Küküllővár in 1791, when János Zilahi Sebes and János Bodola were indicted for spreading the teachings of arminian, socionian and pelagian theology. He defended himself in an exhaustive testimony and also defended the book of the German reformed professor, Samuel Endemann, used in Transylvanian schools as manual of dogmatic theology.

The consolidation of the entire law system of Hungary during the 19th century (e. g. laws of 38/1868, 34/1874, 43/1895, and 33/1896) created a brand-new alliance between Austria (ruled by the Habsburg-house) and Hungary, which paved the way for the practical fulfillment of the Kiegyezés (Compromise / Ausgleich) in 1867. This special legal situation influenced not only the everyday life but also the higher educated levels of the so-called “Reformed Church of Hungary”. In this sparkling intellectual sphere, several essays, books, and cyclopedia were published related to the history of the Reformation and the life of John Calvin. Among the pieces of this irretrievable literary heritage, the collection of Calvin-biographies (1864−1906) written in Hungarian bears a distinctive role. In spite of the rich history of Hungarian Calvin-research, the several portraits of Calvin illuminated by these biographies have not been examined until now. Among the prominent representatives of the Hungarian Calvin researchers, Imre Révész did the first substantial contribution to the opening of the closed world of Calvin’s collective memories in Hungary. One of his best-known books was the Life of Calvin (1864). It was the first biography of Calvin published in Hungarian. However, Révész’s evaluation of Calvin’s personality and his role for example in Servetus’ death caused a long-standing debate in the published and the unpublished works of Calvin-researchers as well. Namely, Révész and his famous follower, Ferenc Balogh (1864), believed the reformer was “quite innocent” in the death penalty of Servetus, but their literary “opponents”, for instance Ferenc Szilágyi (1864), Pál Schneider (1877), Károly Szász (1878), Lajos Warga (1887), Ferenc Kanyaró (1891), and Jenő Zoványi (1908), depicted Calvin as a bloodthirsty tyrant, dictator of Geneva who persecuted intellectual freedom entirely.

The attack against the ideas of illumination was the last desperate attempt of the Transylvanian reformed orthodox theology at the Synod of Küküllővár in 1791, when János Zilahi Sebes and János Bodola were indicted for spreading the teachings of arminian, socionian and pelagian theology. He defended himself in an exhaustive testimony and also defended the book of the German reformed professor, Samuel Endemann, used in Transylvanian schools as a manual of dogmatic theology.

The scholarly literature on Protestant education agrees that the delimitation of the main principles of the public educational system of the reformed congregations is strongly related to the name of Philipp Melanchton. The “preceptor of Germany”, as he came to be known, considered that the aim of education is to assume personal responsibility. Defining the purpose of reformed education in Transylvania was postponed to the 17th and 18th centuries, when the public educational system searched for its own rationales. The current study presents a short historical overview of this period.

The Arminianist doctrine concerning predestination as well as Cocceius' theology of the covenant, which intended to dilute the inflexibility of the Dordrecht decisions, kept the Dutch theology of the seventeenth century in fever, causing serious problems even during the first half of the eighteenth. The Hungarian adepts of these doctrines were Sámuel Nádudvari, József Makfalvi, András Huszti, Ferenc Csepregi Turkovics and György Verestói, who, after their return home, began to disseminate the teaching, which differred from the confessions of the Transylvanian Reformed Church. The lawsuit and legal process concerning doctrinal errors, however, was initiated and carried out only in the case of Huszti, Nádudvari and Makfalvi. Whilst Csepregi and Verestói could easily clear their names of any suspicion of heterodoxy, the other three theologians (Huszti, Nádudvari and Makfalvi) did not take this opportunity, which ultimately caused an irreparable break in their careers.

Contemporaries of Calvin were less preoccupied with the Servetus-affair than modern researchers. Calvin is known to have taken care of the formal complaint and legal proceeding against Servetus. The evaluation of his person and role in Servetus’ death caused long-standing debates among the prominent representatives of the Hungarian Calvin researchers. For instance, Imre Révész, Sr., in his famous Calvin biography (Life of Calvin, 1864) and his follower, Ferenc Balogh (1864) believed the reformer was „quite innocent” in the death penalty of Servetus, but their literary opponents, namely Ferenc Szilágyi (1864), Károly Szász (1878), Lajos Warga (1887), Ferenc Kanyaró (1891), and Jenő Zoványi (1908) depicted Calvin as a bloodthirsty tyrant, dictator of Geneva who persecuted intellectual freedom.

I am aware that József Benkő’s manifold and diversified work cannot be summarised in a few pages without omissions. I have presented only the events through which this son of Erdővidék, who had never studied at a foreign academy, became internationally famous as a domidoctus. He has proven that, if endowed with the necessary perseverance, respect for work and humility as a scientist, one can become a well-known scholar living even in areas as remote as Erdővidék.

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.

In the early period of the Reformation, this multifaceted radical movement divided the Protestantism into two theological camps. To magisterial reformers (Zwingly, Luther, Calvin), the task of the reformation was not only to remove impurities but to maintain continuity. Anabaptist reformers, on the other hand, saw the task of the reformation as a necessity for a new church modelled not on Catholicism before Boniface (as Luther considered) but on the church before Constantine, or even on the New Testament.