Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
FLOURISHING AND SCATTERING THE REFORMED COLLEGE IN THE 17TH CENTURY - The Puritan debate arena - breach and renewal in 1638 - 1649
36 was “a rebellion against Scholasticshe basically created an ultimately anti-Aristotelian philosophy. In his theology he aimed for easy comprehension; his expressions were simple and clear. In Puritanism, theology serves very practical purposes. It is an empirical activity which deals with the believer’s spiritual life. Amesius’ basic principle eloquently summarizes his system of perception: “theologia est doctrina Deo Vivendi", which means theology is the science of living for God .... and, furthermore, bene vivendi, the science of correct living, and not scientia rerum divinarum - that is, not purely theoretical knowledge about God. A number of Hungarian students in London signed a written statement in February 1638 declaring that they were committed to sanctity - to “seeking God's holiness in their life” - as they wrote, “because God has done great things for our abominable and sinful sou Is in England”. They also made a covenant by which they would support and help one another not to falter in their vow. Among them was János Tolnai Dáli who became a teacher in Sárospatak shortly after his return to Hungary. He had not even started to work when he found himself to already be in conflict with his superiors, the senior pastors of the Zemplén church county. It soon became clear that the young generation of Puritans had little regard for authority irrespective of that taking vested form in tradition, in individuals or in positions. The tension emanating from this situation persisted throughout Tolnai Dáli’s entire time in Patak as a teacher. With somewhat of a radical start, Tolnai Dáli soon began to implement changes according to his principles. One of his teacher colleagues wasjános Erdőbényei Deák, a fellow Puritan. Together they soon succeeded in arranging that the third teacher of the institution also be from this same group. Dániel Kolosi, who became a professor in 1639 was a close friend of Tolnai and had signed the same declaration in London in 1638. This body of like-minded teachers began to transform the curriculum according to their theological and devotional world view. One of the most significant changes was their decision to dispense with the textbook used for the teaching of logic, a system of logic whose origins harked back to the framework of the Aristotelian system. Barthalomäus Keckermann’s Logica suffered the same fate. In place of these they sought to use books which conformed to Ramus’ philosophical thinking. Ramus’ goal was to reform the science of logical thinking and in this vein developed his system as an alternative to the Aristotelian system. In Patak the first book (Elementa logicae (1635)) adopted for use, written according to Ramus’ concepts, was authored by János Bisterfeld, a teacher in Gyulafehérvár. This was followed directly by Ramus’ work, Dialecticae libri duo. They began to teach the students to sing Albert Szenei Molnár’s Hungarian translation of the Geneva psalms, something which had begun to spread within the congregations. Rhetoric and the main theological subjects (ethics and dogmatics) were taught on the basis of Amesius’ books. The work of these teachers was not without success, although István Tolnai (the THE REFORMED CHURCH COLLEGE IN THE 17TH CENTURY The intellectual influence of Petrus Ramus (1515-1572) did not leave Sárospatak untouched.
