Comments Regarding the History of the Hungarian Reformed Church (in brief)
by János Nagy
(translated by Bob Ause)
After a brief introduction I would like to discuss the following areas from the perspective of my ministry and mission experiences here:
The Highlands (in the Slovak Republic)
The Southlands (in Serbia)
Subcarpathian Basin (in Ukraine)
Transylvania (in Romania)
Introduction:
Fifteenth and sixteenth-century Hungary maintained constant and multi-layered relationships with Europe’s western half. Those students who studied in the western European universities brought news of the latest spiritual and political currents to their homeland. In this way the ideas of the Reformation made their influence felt even before the Battle of Mohacs (1526) divided Hungary into three sections. Monks preaching in the vernacular and the followers of Husitism made the Bible to be heard in the Hungarian language. The Synod of 1567 adopted the 2nd Helvetic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. The work of this Synod of Debrecen became definitive and very significant for the entire church. Toward the end of the 16th century, 80-90% of the Hungarian population became Protestant, primarily Reformed. The publishing of the Vizsony Bible in 1590 and the printing of sermons and hymnals brought about the spiritual and moral enrichment.
In the 18th century in the regions of Protestant majority, the Hapsburg power again exercised its authority and will with the expulsion of the Turks and the decline of Transylvania. The entire state machinery turned against the Protestants, whom the Hapsburg Empire attempted to cripple by means of a drastic political counter-reformation as they sought to restore Catholicism. In 1734 the operations of Protestant institutions was significantly curtailed in order to promote the Catholic Church institutions. Roman Catholic bishops had the actual authority and rights of visitation over the Protestant pastors. Faithful Reformed pastors could not take the oath of functionary service, (which the bishops administered).
The persecution of Reformed believers reached its peak in the decade of mourning, 1671-1681, during which time, thanks to the “re-catholicizing” policies, the violence achieved the re-conversion to Catholicism of the majority of the country’s population. Nevertheless, the bravery of the remaining Protestants, even in this situation, remained as an inspiring example even for the perseverance of the “Galley Slaves.”
The “Edict of Tolerance” brought an end to the long period of violence of the counter-reformation. The national assembly of 1790-91 ensured and guaranteed by law the legal parameters of the Protestants’ freedom of religion and self-governance. Protestant schools and churches were the signs of this new beginning. Gyorgy Szikszai’s prayer book of 1786 is an excellent example of this spiritual and Christian teaching. The Enlightenment in the 18th and 19th centuries, the reasoning of the mind, became dominant in the church as well.
The 19th century’s striving for national unity directed all Hungarians toward a spirit of unity, and away from their identity based on their religion. The global ideas of reform and liberalism in large ways made their way through the Hungarian Reformed Christians as well. The church’s spiritual role shifted in the direction of national ideals. The expectation was of pure morality, which was the foundation of every country and nation. All of these things were a barrier to the original task of the Reformed Church, and as these ideas came to the fore, they demanded accommodation to the spirit of the times.
The national assembly for reform in 1847-48 declared the equality of the four established denominations and ensured the coverage of their schools by state support (Roman Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran and Unitarian). In 1859 the imperial “Letters Patent”, which would have revoked the churches’ rights, evoked great opposition. The great political significance of this historical struggle against these Letters Patent was to bring about the end of the rule of absolutist state power.
The Compromise of 1867 reestablished the churches’ constitutional freedom. With this Compromise reformed Christianity gained the opportunity to demonstrate its international and cross- border overarching style and strength. So the Hungarians looked beyond their borders to America and they emigrated en-masse. They established Reformed diaspora congregations wherever they planted their new lives. Even with this emigration, by 1910 the number of Reformed Christians in Hungary had grown by half a million compared with 1870. In the five church districts there were 2.6 million Reformed believers and 2,000 pastors. 450 secondary school and university instructors and 3000 teachers ran the church’s institutions. There were also teacher training schools and seminaries in the central city of each of the districts, Budapest, Papa, Kolozsvar, Sarospatak and Debrecen.
In the wake of the peace treaty following World War I, the country’s territory was reduced to one third of its pre-war size. The peace of Trianon was Europe’s sin. The way that the Europeans treated the Hungarians can be compared only to the Kalvariu of the Jewish people. Here was a 1000 year old country in which many nationalities all found their place, but the great powers saw a conflict in Hungary and they were envious of her and out of their hatred they broke the country up into many pieces.
Three and a half million Hungarians found themselves outside the new nation’s borders, becoming “homeless Hungarians.” The Hungarian Reformed Church lost 1000 congregations and one million members. The victorious great powers fomented propaganda nurturing distrust among the sympathetic international Reformed Christians calling their concern liberalism. They placed those voicing complaints together with the leftist elements as those inciting revolution for the soviet power’s intervention. As it separated from the collapsed state machinery, the church had to start anew under the indictment that it had interwoven itself too intimately with a reactionary system.
On October 7th, 1948 the Republic of Hungary and the Reformed Church signed an agreement with each other. This same agreement was dissolved by the head of the Synod on March 19th, 1990. These two dates defined our church’s situation and its societal role in the most recent history. Between these two events spans a period of our church’s history which to this day has not been illuminated; this period contains the path of our church since the Second World War.