Református Szemle 115.4 (2022)

The Hebrew root הבל is one of the most frequent expressions of the book of Qohelet, so to say one of the keywords of his theology. Besides, within the entire Old Testament, this term appears most frequently in this book. Insofar as הבל carries a value judgment for the message of Qohelet, this term is hugely important. Within the history of research, scholars either concentrate on specific loci of the occurrences or focus on the Hebrew expression in general. In our article, we attempt to categorize all occurrences of הבל according to its contexts in the Book of Qohelet and detect the theological meaning and relevance in both his narrow and the wider literal context. Furthermore, we aim to detect the influence of Qohelet’s special vocabulary in its narrow context of the הבל-paraphrases.

For centuries, the position of the biblical text in the preaching of the church has been determined by the Reformed principle of Sola Scriptura. Preaching starts with the Bible and ends with it. The theories of Thomas G. Long and Wilfried Engemann point out that it is insufficient and inadequate to limit the biblical preaching of the church to this observation. What is needed are theories that give a contemporary and professional interpretation of biblicism as a homiletical category and that expose the paradigm shifts behind the pathos of Sola Scriptura. The synthesis has sought to present theologians who, with clarity and proper reflection, will help us interpret the paradigm shifts. The German Wilfried Engemann considers the homiletical triangle of text-preacher-congregation in the context of life lived by faith, and the American Thomas G. Long in the context of the encounter with Jesus. Engemann provides the preacher with a homiletic map, like an online Google map indicating the current road information: where to expect road repairs, traffic jams, direction extensions, etc. From Long, we get more of a “kerygmatic homiletics”, i.e. a compass instead of a map. Engemann’s concepts are more elegant, differentiated and original, Long’s are more prosaic, expansive and embedded. Both approaches are “lamps shining in a dark place” standing on the table of the contemporary preacher, who must be able to navigate both with compass and map until “the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts” (2 Pt 1:19).

An appropriate understanding of the praxis of Christian piety is an integral part of Christian life. In various periods of the Church, Christian piety was evaluated from different perspectives. The reason for this was not only the altering praxis of piety in the Church. After all, Christian piety has a narrative and interpretative function. It is narrative in providing context to Christian self-understanding. It is interpretative in two respects. On the one side, it never stands alone but functions as a reflexion on the Christian teaching. On the other side, it concretises the Christian teaching (dogma) itself. The reformed doctrine of sanctification is especially decisive in contextualising the practice of Christian piety. This article evaluates this concern through a concrete time of the Christian Church, having the doctrine of sanctification in its focus.

Folklorists remain indebted to this day for exploring the possible occurrences of Jesus-patterns in folktales: this is a gap that I aim to fill in this study. The storytellers of the Carpathian Basin were fond of creating parallels between the life and deeds of the fairy-tale hero and Jesus. The narration of the miraculous birth, the divine origin, the hidden childhood, the healing activity, the crucifixion, the underworld passage, and the resurrection as parabolic narratives are presented in plentiful variants. The similarities and differences show that in peasant communities Jesus was imagined as an ordinary man, a teacher, and a helper of the poor. The image of Jesus in the tale narratives sheds light on the mindset and vernacular language of local religious communities.