Studium

In this paper I summarise the ecclesiastical and social effects of the works on the life of the church and society of the Lutheran theologian (minister and dean in Kolozsvár-Cluj) Andor Járosi, who was born 125 years ago. It is the result of his efforts that the liturgical reform of the Lutheran church from Transylvania took place, even if it lasted longer than twenty years until a general decision was made regarding of its implementation to the whole church.

The central question of the book by Rolf Theobold is: how can we engage in pastoral conversations that aim to solve problems, despite the short time available? Another truth regarding the practice of short-term pastoral care is that every journey begins with taking the first step. Neither the counsellor, nor the counselee can expect an instant solution for all problems in one go. An initial impulse is needed on the way to a solution, so the main focus will not be on an immediate cure, but on an immediate word of encouragement and support.

Gallus Huszár’s Debrecen church hymnal (1560/61) is a rich source for 16th century Hungarian Reformed service singing, uniquely distinguished by its musically notated melodies. The current study investigates its so-called rubrics, short (or sometimes longer) liturgical annotations, which, on the one hand, outline the course of the church services of his era, and, on the other hand, provide a glimpse into the contents of the individual liturgical moments, both on a theological and an emotional (or poetical) level.

The Book of Qohelet awakes curiosity in the reader already because of its title. In assigning a title to this book, modern translations of Qohelet follow the trace of the Old Greek of the LXX (Ecclesiastes, Der Prediger). It is striking, however, that the title Qohelet appears mostly in the framing chapters of the book, where it is enhanced with a few (fictitious) biographical notes. Beyond the framing sections, Qohelet appears only once more, where the commentators suggest to be considered a descriptive note (comment), probably a gloss.

The study reviews the writings and reports of Sándor Tavaszy about the Unitarians. His writings were published in the Református Szemle, Az Út Reformed periodicals and in the Transylvanian press of the time. I examined three areas of Tavaszy’s writings: 1. his reports on Unitarian church events (bishop’ inauguration, Church anniversary); 2. his evaluation of Unitarian personalities (Sámuel Brassai, Balázs Orbán); 3. mutual book reviews (Tavaszy’s books’ reviews by Unitarians and reviews of Unitarian books by Tavaszy).

The main theme of my writing is Jonathan Edwards’ reflection on the beauty of God. In his writings and sermons, God’s beauty is not coherently defined, but fragments of his thinking on beauty can be found throughout in his works. My research does not aim at providing a coherent picture of Edwards’ views on God’s beauty. Edwards did not provide any consistent criteria of beauty and the qualities that are true of God, so that we have no easy task when we want to capture and summarise his views.

This short study, drawing on a small part of Calvin’s vast written corpus, seeks to show how the reformer used the concepts of eternal life and death. Tackling with uncertainties on the fringes of eschatology, Calvin shows how difficult it is to grasp the meaning of these two concepts, even when the theologian stands on firm biblical theological grounds.

“People are not a machines, because if they were, in an emergency situation they would know which button to press or which screw to tighten in order to get their machine working again” – maintains Rolf Theolbold, minister and practical theologian, author of the book. Rolf Theolbold presents the basics and possibilities of short-term pastoral care in a plain language. How “short” is short-term pastoral care? How can it help those longing for a solution to their spiritual problems? This book was written for people who want to help others but often have little time to do so.

Authenticity as a way of being has been considered one of the defining concepts of a minister’s life. The current lecture aims to pinpoint three major issues related to this subject, namely authenticity in a minister’s relation to the Word, to the organization and to himself/herself. This presentation can more appropriately be regarded as a summary of a professional life rather than a full-fledged scientific enquiry. It aims to provide an opportunity to reflect on one’s human and professional credibility.