Reformátusok Lapja, 1957 (57. évfolyam, 1-22. szám)
1957-06-01 / 11. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA Official Organ of the Evangelical and Reformed Church . . . Member of ihe Associated Church Press Published semi-monthly (monthly in July and Aug.) for the Evangelical and Reformed Church by the Board of Business Management, the following members constituting the Church Papers Committee: William C. Mingle, Chairman; Carl J. Bender, Edward Dirks, Henry I. Stahr, Norman C. Zulauf and Robert C. Kienle, President of the Board, ex officio. Send all correspondence and subscriptions to: Alexander Tóth, Editor and Manager 55 N. West End Ave. Lancaster, Pa. Subscription rates: $2.50 per year everywhere; single copies, 15 cents. Remittances should be by check, draft or money order, made payable to the REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA. — Changes of address can be effected three weeks after receipt of both old and new addresses. Entered as second class mail matter January 11, 1944, at the Post Office in Lancaster, Pa., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Additional entry at the Post Office in Pittsburgh, Pa. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, authorized June 4, 1938. RELIGIOUS TOLERATION IN TRANSYLVANIA Prof. WILLIAM TÓTH, Ph. D., Franklin and Marshall College In the early days of June 1557, the Diet of Torda in Transylvania, Hungary, enacted a law on religion which will be the object of remembrance among Protestant Hungarians everywhere on its 400th anniversary. Perhaps, many other Christians will also take respectful note of the event as one that marks the first milestone in a long struggle for the achievement of religious toleration in the world. The Transylvanian legislative body of Hungarians, acting as the legal successor of the ancient kingdom of St. Stephen that was rent asunder by the tragic misfortune of the battle of Mohács (1526), in an amazingly simple language stated: “Each person may hold whatever religious faith he wishes, with old or new rituals, while we at the same time leave it to their judgment to do as they please in the matter of faith, just so long, however, as they bring no harm to bear on anyone at all, lest the followers of a new religion be a source of irritation to the old profession of faith or become in some way injurious to its followers.” The phrase, “whatever religious faith he wishes”, was calculated to include the Roman Catholic faith, which now had been reduced to a minority position; the Lutheran faith, which was strong among the Saxon peoples, and still the dominant “new faith” among the Hungarians, and, without a doubt, the Calvinistic faith, which recently had multiplied its adherents throughout the realm. This famous law is preceded by significant legislative activity designed to bring about 'a peaceful co-existence of the old and new religions. Five years before the Augsburg religious settlement on the principle of Cuius regio, eius religio (whose region, his religion), recognizing the right of the Lutheran faith, the Diet of Torda in 1550 decreed that everyone should be permitted to retain and must not be disturbed in the exercise of his faith. This was the legal recognition of the religion of Luther and it was based on the principle that faith is a gift of grace. The intention of this law, namely, to create a legal situation in which two differing interpretations of the Christian faith might exist side by side, was subsequently reaffirmed by the Diet of May 2, 1552, at Torda, and by the session of the Diet held at Maros- vásárhely on April 24, 1555. This latter Diet went further than any previous assembly in stipulating that the use of a church building and a parsonage must be assured the Protestant minority in this city, without, of course, trespassing on the legal rights of the majority Roman Catholics; nor were Protestants to be excluded from burying their dead in the cemetery; nor were they to be forced to surrender their political offices on account of religious convictions; nor was anyone to be coerced to participate in religious ceremonies that violated his conscience. Fundamentally, this legislation embraces two ideas. First, that the majority (maior pars) rules in matters of religion but not at the expense of the denominational minority, which is to enjoy the right to exist; and secondly, that civil and political rights are not dependent upon religious affiliation. In other words, coercion in religious matters ceases to have standing before the law. Then follows the legislative act of 1557 that is quoted above as the object of celebration. Neither the Roman Catholic, nor the Lutheran, nor the Reformed denominations are specifically mentioned in the law. But, in the light of the historical circumstances, all three are to be understood as being covered. What are these historical circumstances? In 1556 Peter Petrovics, stalwart champion of Hungarian independence and a convinced Calvinist, had succeeded in driving the forces of
