Fraternity-Testvériség, 1958 (36. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1958-10-01 / 10. szám
12 FRATERNITY HISTORY OF THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH By IMRE REVESZ, Th. D. Translated by GEORGE A. F. KNIGHT 1 THE CENTURY OF THE REFORMATION 1520—1608 (Continuation) Some of the Reformers In the earliest period of the Reformation, the new faith spread in two directions at once. Before the battle of Mohács it spread, as we have seen, to the German-speaking cities and trading centers. Yet, many of those Germans had by now become largely Magyarized, and so were instrumental in spreading the teaching of Luther in Magyar-speaking communities. The second direction taken by the Reformation was when strong- minded individual preachers set off to preacli and teach in what were still virgin territories. If it happened that the preacher entered the territory of a landowner who was predisposed to the new doctrines, then his way was made easy; but, naturally, such was not always the case. Then it was that the thirst of the people for the Word was sufficient protection for the preacher in the face of all opposition—and we can well imagine how much the people needed and thirsted for the comfort of the Gospel under the harsh rule of the Turk. Four names stand out from the minor host of preachers; each is a man big enough of stature to demand a separate treatment of his story. Matthias Biró Dévai Dévai comes to the fore in 1531 when we find him in prison in Kassa (Kosice). He had been a
