Calvin Synod Herald, 1999 (99. évfolyam, 2-4. szám - 100. évfolyam, 9-12. szám)
1999-11-01 / 11-12. szám
6 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD A ShoRt llisroRy op rhe RepoRmcd ChuRch in l~)ung&Ry Introduction The Reformed Church is, in terms of numbers, the largest denomination in Hungary, after the Roman Catholic Church. The Calvinist trend of the Reformation in Hungary adopted two confessions at Debrecen in 1567: the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Second Helvetian Confession. The existence of the Reformed Church in Hungary dates from this Debrecen Synod of 1567. Among the Presbyterian churches it is the only one that has had, and still has, bishops in addition to general curators (lay presidents) at the head of Church Districts. At present the registered number of Reformed Hungarians world-wide is about three and a half million. Of these, some two million live in Hungary. In consequence of the dismemberment of Hungary after World War I, many congregations - even whole Church Districts in Transylvania - were separated from our Church and placed beyond the borders of this country. These believers continue to live in their old homes, but in alien linguistic and religious surroundings. In the United States there are some 70 Hungarian Reformed congregations in two separate church bodies. In addition to these, Hungarian Reformed believers live in considerable numbers in Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and Latin America. The Reformed Church in Hungary maintains close fraternal relations with our Hungarian co-religionists living abroad, whether in neighboring countries or dispersed throughout the world, partly through the World Federation of Hungarian Reformed Believers, and partly within the framework of the Consultative Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Reformed believers amount to about 21% of the Hungarian population of ten million. 1200 congregations live in four Church Districts and 27 seniorates. We have 1402 church buildings. The Spread of the Reformation in the 16th Century The most effective means of spreading the Reformation in Hungary was, from the very beginning, through the preaching of God’s word. Preachers travelled all over the country and explained the Scriptures in the language of the common people. Book printing, invented in the previous century, was also pressed into the service of spreading the cause of the Reformation. Thus preaching in the vernacular replaced the reading of the mass in Latin and became, in an unprecedented fashion, a constituent part of everyday life. By the last decade of that century, about 80-90% of the population were Protestants - some three and a half or four million people. After 1526 (the year of the catastrophic defeat at Mohács) the spread of the Reformation in Hungary was linked, in consequence of the preaching in the vernacular and the printing of Hungarian books, to certain persons who, as learned theologians trained in universities abroad, were much more significant educators of the nation than the travelling preachers. The influence they had on their readers or listeners was inestimable. It is not generally realized that, in the 15th century, Hungary was one of the richest nations in Europe. But the owners of the great ecclesiastical and secular latifundia became self-serving under a succession of weak kings; they cruelly oppressed their serfs, and, by brutal suppression of the revolts of peasants striving to better themselves, beat them down once again into serfdom. The defeat at the hands of the Turks at Mohács in 1526, and the occupation of more than half of the country by the invaders, was interpreted by the majority of the nation as God’s punishment for the corruption of the mediaeval church. Thus the religious and ethical condition of the nation was fertile soil in which the seeds of the Gospel could be sown through the comforting message of the Reformers’ preaching. The great Hungarian Reformers, Mátyás Dévai Bíró, István Szegedi Kis, Mihály Sztárai, and Imre Ozorai were worthy representatives in this country of the grand teachers of the Western Reformation. But the most eminent of them was Péter Méliusz Juhász, Bishop of Debrecen. The achievement of the successful preachers and learned Reformers was greatly enhanced by the patronage of zealous magnates ready to serve this cause. In the towns, the magistrates took a stand for Protestantism, whilst the aristocratic patrons protected their chaplains on their lands, and the travelling preachers, often released from prison, found shelter and peace on a Protestant estate. The Helvetian trend of the Reformation spread rapidly, especially in Debrecen and its environs. It was in 1561 that Gál Huszár, the Reformer of the Hungarian Highland, brought his printing-press to Debrecen. Many a confession, church regulation, and several other works written by Bishop Méliusz Juhász, were printed there. One of the boldest enterprises of the Reformation was that lay people were also entrusted with bearing witness to, and explaining, the Bible. Church life in Debrecen clearly followed the model set at Zurich. The most important feature of the divine service was the preaching of God’s word in the language of the people. Bishop Méliusz Juhász also imitated the lively interest of the Helvetian Reformation in public order, social life, education, law and order, and even in the physical and spiritual welfare of the inhabitants. And he gave a helping hand wherever he could.
