Református Szemle 115.2 (2022)

Many of the parallels between rabbinic and early Christian writings can be explained by their common heritage and their shared opposition to pagan society. Their attitude towards spectacles may be an exception because the Hebrew Bible does not provide any guidance in this regard, yet their arguments against pagan entertainments are often based on the same proof text (Ps 1:1). This may be the result of intensive academic communication, but it could also be traced back to a common oral tradition.

The study focuses on the human side of apostle Paul: his mentality and his characteristics manifested in social interactions. Analysing the changes related to his conversion we realise that he did not become a different person, rather his real God-given personality came to be revealed in his ministry for God. We may consider Paul’s way of life a practical lesson, exposing an example to follow. Tracing the chronology of his mission trips we observe the dynamics of his social network, referring to companions joining and leaving the team and contacts of various intensity. Considering the findings of social psychology, we examine the features of mission teams formed around him which cohere with recent recommendations on how to be effective in teamwork.

This paper aims to discover the various problems of the term syncretism, and its definition in anthropology, religious studies and theology in relation to the Korean Protestant inter-denominational discourse. Before being able to evaluate any case or accusation of syncretism within the Korean context, we need to realise, that even the term itself is a widely disputed concept. The first half of this paper examines the various standpoints related to the relevance or irrelevance of the scientific use of syncretism. The second half of the paper aims to shed light on the specific areas of the traditional Korean religiosity found to be in a direct or indirect relation to the Protestant Korean Christianity. The study chose to work through the traditional shamanism of Korea, since it is the tradition, that is most frequently correlated with Korean Christianity. In the last part of the study, the author brings several pro and contra examples regarding the question of the syncretic relation between Korean Protestant Christianity and the local shamanistic traditions. A Korean source-based research is still to be conducted for a more conclusive standpoint on the matter and further research on the question of the terms syncretism, inculturation and indigenization could also yield interesting results.

During the inspection visits in local congregations, the committee used a series of questions addressing both the local pastor and the congregation. Such sets of enquiring questions survived only from the end of the 17. century in the Hungarian Reformed Church. Nevertheless, we cannot exclude that the church inspection committee used such questions even during earlier periods, as the Western-European church model had been implemented in the Hungarian Reformed church since the beginning of the Reformation. According to Zepper, when the day for inspection arrived, the entire congregation was supposed to have been gathered in the church building before the inspection committee. This was the place where the local minister had to be enquired not only about his preaching, but about his entire pastoral activity. Furthermore, the congregation was enquired about the local minister’s services and behaviour, whether the church members were able to follow the sermons delivered by the minister, whether the sermons adhere to the Bible and the confessions, whether catechetical work was regularly carried out among the youth, etc. Such enquiries aimed to smoothen communication between the minister and his congregation.