Journal index

Even though the ancient solar cult goes back to the early days of the Roman Republic, it had to wait for a long time to gain far-reaching acceptance. Emperors were fond of increasing the influence of Deus Sol in society on both political and religious grounds. Initially, they took great care to ensure that their personal prestige remained more important than that particular influence. However, during the late Principate-period, with the continuous growth of syncretistic and monotheistic tendencies, the cult of the Sol Invictus increased the people’s reverence towards the ‘creators’ of the cult. The purpose of this study is to examine this process in the light of religious policy and philosophical research.

The relocation of the Reformed Theological Faculty from Aiud to Cluj in 1895 was preceded by a heavy dispute lasting several decades, and settled ultimately by the clash between Bishop Domokos Szász, promoting the relocation to Cluj, and Professor Ödön Kovács, militating for the stay of the institution at Aiud. The debate on the closure of the theological institution of Aiud was clearly one of the topics of everyday discussion during the final quarter of the 19th century, as reflected in contemporary newspaper articles. This study scrutinizes the related articles of one of these local newspapers, Közérdek (Public interest) during the year 1896, when the theological institution of Aiud was finally closed.