Fraternity-Testvériség, 1959 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1959-02-01 / 2. szám

8

FRATERNITY

HISTORY

OF THE

HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH

By

IMRE REVESZ, Th. D.

Translated by

GEORGE A. F. KNIGHT I

THE CENTURY OF THE REFORMATION 1520—1608

(Continuation)

Elsewhere secessions to the Unitarian cause took place piecemeal. Poor Meliusz in Hungary was continually faced with the threat by the citizens of Debrecen of deposition from his ministerial office. Transylvania was normally a tolerant land, and like Switzerland, was usually willing to give shelter to those who sought asylum within her borders. In 1568 the Transylvanian parliament enacted that the pulpits of the land were to be free for the proclamation of the Gospel in any of its forms. This freedom, however, did not amount to very much in reality in this case, because the landlords as a whole were behind the Unitarian party.

Then, just as the propaganda of David and his followers developed and spread, and looked like becoming the established religion of the Principality of Transylvania, all at once it became clear that the Unitarian camp was not a united one, but was very heterogeneous, indeed. The split in the ranks of Unitarianism began when David openly repudiated infant baptism; and then commenced to preach that Christ was a mere man and not to be worshipped as the Son of God. Blandrata, for his part, was unwilling to follow David along such a radical path; moreover, each