Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1991. British and American Philologycal Studies (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 20)

Lehel Vadon: Roger Williams' Principle of "A Free Church in a Free State" in Hungary

12 Rhode Island and Providence, his friendly relations with the Indians, his role as a peacemaker between the settlers and the original population, his fight against negro slavery and Iiis political and diplomatic missions. During the period of the development of the Hungarian middle classes, Mihály Horváth, the representative of liberal progress and anti-reformation was interested above all in the principle of a "free church in a free state", in which Williams formulated the theory of total religious freedom and which according to him was the "main guarantee of public peace and tranquillity, the Magna Charta of all freedoms". Horváth summed up the role of Williams in reforming religion and his historical role and significance in the following manner: "he was the first to express the great doctrine of intellectual freedom, and based upon this principle, he founded a new state, in practice proving its unique correctness ... offering limitless freedom to every religion, freedom for believers and non-believers alike, total freedom of thought and in order to safeguard the great principle, the complete separation of church and state. ...during his whole life he taught revolutionary principles^ ... with great courage and strength, he started to fight for the principles, which have come to be totally accepted in the United States, but remain far from victory in Europe."

4 He praised the law-maker and state founder for his views on society, based on social justice as well as the logical consistency of his philosophical approach to religion, which had brought to life and explained his "great principle" : "he concentrated on fundamentals, and recognizing their nature comes to conclusions which remain valid and correct, regardless of time, place or circumstances." Mihály Horváth was the first in Hungary to write with scholarly care on the Puritanism that had come into existence in the young American colonies, and the church organizations of the Puritans. Williams while employing Puritan phraseology opposed Iiis modern, liberal thinking to the Puritan theocracy and heavily criticized Puritan moral and religion. Horváth placed particularly great importance on his treatises, which

1 demonstrated Williams' literary ambitions, in which he expounded his religious doctrines, and in which the "basic principles of Christian free thought were so thoroughly discussed, that it would be hard right up to the present day to discover writings in which the rights of society and the individual, and the mutual relationship between church and state had been so clearly expressed as had been the case with these pamphlets. This little-known Puritan philosopher, with his consistency passes beyond the most liberal of the publicists of the present centuryAs an example of this, he cites the duel of treatises fought between Roger Williams and John Cotton during the