Az első nagy református újjászületés-vita Magyarországon : A vita kibontakozása 1867–1877

Kovács, Kálmán Árpád (2026) Az első nagy református újjászületés-vita Magyarországon : A vita kibontakozása 1867–1877. HAGYOMÁNY IDENTITÁS TÖRTÉNELEM, 3 (1). pp. 145-160. ISSN 3004-2992

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Abstract

In 1874, Sámuel Szeremlei identified ten significant issues within Protestantism. The debates associated with these issues are difficult to present individually because, as soon as the author references one of the subjects, at least two or three related issues begin to emerge, generally resulting in at least eight other issues being raised by the time two or three commentators have spoken. Furthermore, the aforementioned ten issues are permeated by an eleventh issue: the question of spiritual rebirth. This subject was discussed in relation to at least three other topics in Protestant press debates: first, church discipline; second, home mission; and third, the ‚associated’ debate. From a Protestant perspective, the years between 1867 and 1877 were notable for four significant political events: the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867; the inauguration of Ágoston Trefort as Minister of Culture in 1872; the Great Depression of 1873; and the inauguration of Kálmán Tisza as Prime Minister in 1875. From an ecclesiastical historical perspective, the three key events of this period were the establishment of the Protestant Association in 1871, the sovereign’s mandate to consolidate the Protestant school system in 1873, and the publication of the Debrecen Confession of Faith in 1875. This study examines the place and role of spiritual rebirth in the Debrecen Confession of 1875, contextualising it within the framework of Protestant press statements and debates between 1867 and 1877. According to Ferenc Balogh’s diary entry for 23 March 1872, the declaration had been finalised by that time but was not published until the first issues of the Evangelical Protestant Newspaper (Evangyéliomi Pro testans Lap) in 1875. It was backdated (or more precisely re-dated) to 14 November 1874. The reasons for the delay in publishing the statement were as follows: the faith community of the Hungarian Calvinists; the denomination’s specific spatial structure; the failed liberal church reform; and the changes in the Dualist State’s religious policy. Notably, there was no Protestant minister in the government of the Kingdom of Hungary between the end of 1872 and the beginning of 1875; before and after that period, there were generally three to four of them. In this slowly evolving situation, arguments against publishing a confessional discussion document were no longer valid. It was no longer believed that a declaration of neo-Orthodox teachings could cause dangerous intra-denominational disunity.

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