The state and Protestant Churches in Hungary in 1948 – 1989

The purpose of the article is to characterize the activities of the largest and most influential Protestant churches in Hungary: Reformed (Calvinist) and Lutheran (Evangelical). These religious denominations along with the Catholic denomination belong to the so-called historical churches of Hungary. The chronological framework is the following: 1948 – the year of the communist regime’s rapid attack on the political, economic, educational activities of the Reformed and Lutheran churches and the signing of a compromise cooperation agreement with them, which lasted until 1990. 1989 – the liquidation of the State Administration for Churches, socio-political transformation in Hungary, which resulted in gaining absolute freedom. Based on Hungarian historiography, the relations between the Protestant churches and the state during the reign of Janos Kadar (1956 – 1988), called by Hungarian researchers the Kadar era, and are analyzed. It was Janos Kadar, the leader of the “soft dictatorship”, who managed to turn the Hungarian People’s Republic into “the funniest barracks in the socialist camp”. The background for the successful policy of the Hungarian government after the revolutionary events of 1956 was the achievement of social harmony, including through great tolerance and flexibility in the religious sphere. The article notes that representatives of the Reformed and Lutheran churches did not take an active part in the preparations for the events of 1956, but pastors and congregations supported the revolution. It is stressed that the relations with the Protestant denominations were settled specifically during the 50s of the twentieth century; the authorities managed to turn part of the clergy into their allies. Based on the analysis of the scientific literature, it is identified that relations were compromise in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century, as the leadership of the Reformed and Lutheran churches helped the government to pursue the policy of the Popular Front in the struggle for socialism. Owing to it, no one was persecuted for their religious beliefs. In the 1980s, the state’s influence on historical churches gradually weakened, and processes leading to socio-political transformation in the late 1980s started, and as a result, churches in Hungary gained absolute freedom.

Culture, Religion, and Corruption/Prosperity (A), (B), (C), (1), (2)

This chapter characterises the relations between culture, religion, and corruption/prosperity. It advances the explanations of the prosperity–religion nexus from the perspective of cultural attributes (e.g. trust, individualism, familialism) by comparing Roman Catholic and Protestant theologies.Protestant denominations have mostly relinquished their founding principles, while “Rome never changes” as per the Italian saying. Despite the progress after Vatican II, Roman Catholicism has not markedly altered its beliefs and practices or its institutional founding principles (i.e. Canon Law) since medieval times. The political repercussions of an ecumenism in “Rome terms” are beyond its theological or religious implications.Liberation theology urged the Latin American Roman Church to break away from its imperialist origins and favouritism for landlords, industrialists, and power elites. However, liberation theology never became the mainstream or hegemonic Catholic theology in Latin America.Distinct Protestant theologies and organisational forms have led to distinct outcomes. New forms of Protestantism (i.e. Pentecostalism) placing less emphasis on education are less likely to have a positive social impact than previous (historical) Protestant versions. Some Protestant denominations still adhere to intertextual historicist biblical interpretation and hold the belief that the papacy continues to be “Satan’s synagogue” today.The heavily criticised Prosperity Gospel (PG) movement has syncretic roots in Pentecostalism, New Thought, and African American religion, and is composed mainly of the middle classes and blacks.While syncretism has been a natural process in all religions, Jews and historical Protestants have tended to be more anti-syncretic given their Scriptural base of beliefs. In turn, the importance of traditions, in Roman Catholicism for instance, has led to include more non-orthodox rituals in its practice.

God is Doing a New Thing in the ELCA: Trends from the FACT Data

For decades, mainline Protestant denominations in the United States have experienced steady membership declines. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is no different, and our research team has been exploring this topic for years. Faith Communities Today (FACT) is an interfaith project consisting of a series of surveys conducted by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership, of which the ELCA is a long-standing member. In this article, we examine data collected from the three decennial FACT surveys to discern where, despite declining membership, God is, to quote the prophet Isaiah, “doing a new thing.” We find that over the past twenty years, the typical ELCA congregation has had a gradually increasing: sense of vitality, belief that it is financially healthy, desire to become more diverse, willingness to call women to serve as pastors, openness to change, and clarity of mission and purpose. Because there are multiple possible explanations for these positive trends, we recommend approaching such trend lines cautiously, viewing them through a critical-thinking lens. Even though there is an increased perception of congregational well-being, overall finances and the number of people involved in the church continue to decline. There is still much work to be done.

A Righteous Consensus, Whig Style

Various Protestant denominations founded hundreds of colleges during the first half of the nineteenth century. Even two-thirds of presidents of state universities were clergymen. Though those in the Reformed tradition tended to be the leading educators, denominational diversity and necessities of attracting varieties of students weakened doctrinal distinctives. The prevailing “Whig” ideal emphasized combining building a modern civilization with Christian morality. Educators, such as Francis Wayland or Mark Hopkins, confidently assumed that the best of objective common sense and modern science would support traditional Christianity. Colleges still promoted the evangelical tradition, as in campus revivals. They taught the classics as a way of developing moral faculties, as the Yale Report of 1828 advocated. Specifically Christian perspectives were found in capstone moral philosophy courses.

The Obstacles to a Christian Presence

By the 1920s and 1930s those concerned with keeping a Christian presence faced many challenges. One solution was for mainline Protestant denominations to strengthen their student ministries, especially on state university campuses. One approach was to sponsor “Bible chairs” in which qualified professors taught courses on the Bible or Christian religious themes for credit. By 1940 virtually all church-related schools and most state universities had departments of religion. These were liberal Protestant institutions and emphasized scientific and literary study of religion. Despite these efforts higher education was rapidly growing in many other areas, so religion remained peripheral to most of their activities. As compensation this was an era of building huge chapels. Student religious life declined; the YMCA and YWCA in particular declined as did evangelical religious interests. Chapel requirements largely disappeared. The dominant liberal Protestants emphasized teaching character and becoming good citizens grounded in the broadly Christian tradition.

Egyedi jellemvonások a modern dél-koreai kereszténységben = Unique features of Christianity in modern South Korea

A „Han folyó csodája” kifejezésről sokan hallottak Dél-Korea rendkívül gyors és drámai fejlődésének eredményeként, ám az talán kevesek számára ismert, hogy a Japántól való felszabadulást (1945), illetve a koreai háborút (1953) követően a kereszténység is komoly áttörést ért el az országban. Jelenleg a lakosság több mint negyede, 13.5 millió személy vallja magát kereszténynek, a domináns protestáns felekezetek mellett pedig számottevő a hozzávetőlegesen 5 millió katolikus száma is. Mindez nemcsak a régióban található többi államhoz viszonyítva különleges, hanem azt is jelenti, hogy a Dél-Koreában élő keresztények aránya meghaladja az országban létező többi vallás követőinek számát együttvéve. A folyamat különösen érdekesnek tekinthető azon szempontból, hogy a távol-keleti állam teljesen más kulturális, vallási és történelmi szempontok alapján fejlődött a kereszténység megjelenése előtt, napjainkra azonban mégsem a sámánizmus vagy a buddhizmus, hanem a kereszténység bír központi szereppel vallási életében. Jelen tanulmány célja épp arra választ adni, hogy milyen okoknak köszönhetően volt képes a kereszténység hívek sokaságának bevonzására, illetve milyen egyedi, Dél-Koreára jellemző sajátosságok alakultak ki a fejlődés eredményeként. Jelen kutatás során egy rövid összefoglaló keretén belül szó esik a kereszténység Korea területét érintő kezdeti megjelenéséről, majd külön fejezetekben olvasható a katolicizmus, ortodoxia, anglikanizmus és protestantizmus helyzete. A munka autenticitásához és részletességéhez hozzájárul, hogy a szerző kilenc kvalitatív interjút készített a különböző felekezetek képviselőivel, illetve délkoreai tanulmányútja során személyesen is meglátogatta több felekezet lényeges helyszíneit. = The term "Miracle on the Han River" has been heard by many as a result of South Korea's fast and dramatic development, but it is probably known to few that in parallel Christianity managed to gain as well a significant popularity in the country after the liberation from Japanese occupation (1945) and the end of the Korean War (1953). Currently, more than a quarter of people living in South Korea consider themselves as Christians, and in addition to the dominant Protestant denominations, the number of Catholics is also significant with a number of around 5 million followers. The high share of Christians may seem peculiar not only compared to other states in the region, but also by acknowledging that before the emergence of Christianity Korea evolved based on different, cultural and religious principles. Still, instead of Buddhism or Shamanism nowadays Christianity has a central role in the religious life of South Korean people. This study attempts to find the main reasons behind the remarkable popularity of Christianity, as well as to show the unique features of South Korean Christianity resulted by the distinctive development. After a short introduction presenting the first stage of Christianity on the territory of Korea, the main features and situation of different Christian branches are discussed, namely Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Anglicanism and Protestantism. Contributing to the authenticity and detail of the work, nine qualitative interviews with representatives of different denominations are included, all conducted by the author during his study trip to South Korea. Also, as the author had the opportunity to visit important religious sites during his field trip in Seoul, his experiences are briefly reported too in the study.

MONITORING THE ATTITUDE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH TO SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS IN UKRAINE

Orthodox believers have been found to be prejudiced against Protestants, including Adventists. On the one hand, adherents of Orthodoxy see Adventism as a foreign (foreign) religious element, whose members level the millennial traditions of the dominant Church in Ukraine. On the other hand, it is believed that this denomination, combining in its doctrinal system certain elements of the teachings of the Baptist and Jewish religions, has become a religious platform for the spread of heretical ideas among Orthodox Christians. Moreover, religious antagonism on the part of Orthodoxy is also manifested in the terminology still used by Orthodox believers when referring to Protestants, including and Adventists by “sects” or “sectarians”. It is stated that mutual intolerance and religious antagonism can be explained by differences in worldviews and religious competition. Although in the context of world religious tolerance among scholars of the world's leading countries, such terminology to recognized Protestant denominations is unacceptable and discriminatory. However, the authors also cite positive references and responses in the media about Adventists from Orthodoxy. A positive aspect of Adventists is a thorough doctrinal system that is stable, systematic, and publicized. But the most positive response from Orthodoxy was given by Adventist teachings on the principles of a healthy lifestyle.

Clergy Who Leave Congregational Ministry: A Review of the Literature

Since its inception in the 1960s, research on premature (i.e., pre-retirement) clergy attrition from congregational ministry has focused on identifying the factors that precipitate and mitigate ministry exits, while the rates at which clergy leave the ministry have been inconsistently tracked. The literature on clergy attrition is peppered with claims of alarmingly high rates of departure; however, these studies lack strong empirical support. The evidence, while fragmentary, consistently shows that pastors do not leave congregational ministry in large numbers. Incidence of attrition of about 1%–2% per year is typical across Protestant denominations and among Roman Catholic priests. In addition, contrary to popular conceptions, there is little evidence attrition is particularly high in the first 5 years of congregational ministry. In terms of the reasons for leaving, among Protestants, the most common factor named is conflict with the congregation or denominational system; a smaller number leave to pursue personal goals or to care for family. Among Catholics, loneliness and isolation, tied in major part to the celibacy requirement, are the most significant reasons cited for leaving. Finances or a loss of faith are rarely cited as reasons for leaving among either Catholics or Protestants.

Clergy Who Leave Congregational Ministry: A Review of the Literature

Since its inception in the 1960s, research on premature (pre-retirement) clergy attrition from congregational ministry has focused on identifying the factors that precipitate and mitigate ministry exits, while the rates at which clergy leave the ministry have been inconsistently tracked. The literature on clergy attrition is peppered with claims of alarmingly high rates of departure, however, these studies lack strong empirical support. The evidence, while fragmentary, consistently shows that pastors do not leave congregational ministry in large numbers. Incidence of attrition of about 1–2 percent per year is typical across Protestant denominations and among Roman Catholic priests. In addition, contrary to popular conceptions, there is little evidence attrition is particularly high in the first 5 years of congregational ministry. In terms of the reasons for leaving, among Protestants, the most common factor named is conflict with the congregation or denominational system; a smaller number leave to pursue personal goals or to care for family. Among Catholics, loneliness and isolation, tied in major part to the celibacy requirement, are the most significant reasons cited for leaving. Finances or a loss of faith are rarely cited as reasons for leaving among either Catholics or Protestants.

The Making of a Midwestern Catholicism

This chapter uses Iowa City’s history of transnational, multiethnic Catholic cultures to trace the complex and varied origins of a regional Midwestern Catholic culture. Iowa can in a sense be seen as indicative of the Catholic experience in the Lower Midwest, where diverse ethnic Catholic enclaves scattered across a largely rural landscape that also attracted large numbers of worshippers from various Protestant denominations, especially Methodists and Congregationalists. Iowa City provides an excellent setting to trace the formation of a regional Catholic Midwestern culture rooted in plural ethnic diasporas and transnational connections. In the antebellum and early postbellum periods, the town encompassed the diverse, heterogenous character of nineteenth-century Midwestern Catholicism, including significant numbers of Irish, German, and Bohemian (Czech) Catholics. Amid the centrifugal pressures initially exerted by their diversity, this chapter argues, Iowa City’s Catholics experienced in miniature larger processes that would play out across the Midwest and among American Catholics more generally. Uneasily integrated for several decades in a single parish housing the town’s three significant ethnic Catholic communities, St. Mary’s Parish would fracture in favor of ethnic separatism, the formation of distinct ethnic parishes, in the latter decades of the nineteenth century.