The opening presentation of the conference was held by Ministerial Commissioner Károly Hafenscher  in the name of the Reformation Memorial Committee of Hungary, under the title of "Building of the future instead of nostalgy.  500 years ago -  500 years after”.  In his presentation,  this  Hungarian Lutheran theologian underlined that it is very important for us, even  in the 21st century, not only to know the teachings of the Reformers and the history of the church  over the last 500 years,, but – at the same time – a life focusing on the Word of God must be lived.

National Supervisor of the Lutheran Church of Hungary, Deputy  Secretary of State, Gergely Prőhle emphasized  -  referring  to the observations of Max Weber (1864 - 1920), an outstanding German sociologist of the 20th century  -  that  those  countries were able to achieve siginificant economic  development in Europe for centuries where  people  followed the views of the reformers that discontinued the medieval prohibitions relating to lending and interest picking. 

György Fábri, the Superintendent of the Northern Diocese of the Lutheran  Church, docent of the  Loránd Eötvös University of Sciences of Budapest , analysed   the communication methods and opportunities in the past five centuries of the  Protestant churches in his presentation which  evoked a lot of interest.  He demonstrated  the network connections of the Reformation  and he underlined that the messages of the reformers were able to flow in a few weeks to every part of  Europe  with a speed which was very fast in those times -  from the places of printing to  towns of  several thousand kilometers distance.  This could take place not only in consequence of   the development of printing technology  but of the  „Reformation sprit”  as well. 

The Superintendent of the Northern Diocese of the Lutheran Church drew the audience's attention to the conclusions   of some  studies carried out in the early 21st century  indicating that  nowadays messages sent by the Protestant Churches of this country  addressed to the country as a  whole,  are able  to reach broader  masses of people with limited  success only.

The main messages of the Protestantism were discussed by  Joseph  Steinbach, Bishop of the Danubian Reformed Church District in his presentation titled "Reformation and the Word of God”. He  pointed out that everyday reading of the Holy Script which was introduced in the doctrine of the reformers,  donated  as a new  kind  of gratitude to Christianity. The first presentation in the  second half of the conference was  read by interior designer György Fekete , president of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, who  analysed how the Hungarian Protestants are  demanding or undemanding relating to arts.

Historian László Tőkéczki ,  Lay President of the Danubian Reformed Church District,  General Superintendent focused on the issue of  „the Reformation and a new public". The Protestants form  the basis of  the European public by   including  the corporate   principle of bottom-up building which can be controlled and checked at all levels. He emphasized that this democratic structure rests on theological grounds.

The final presentation was held by Mrs. Enikő Sepsi, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the  hosting institution.   In her presentation, richly illustrated with slides, she dealt with the measures taken by the management of the Faculty of Arts    helping students to achieve a modern,  European-level  knowledge. The students can  broaden  their knowledge about the spirit of the university during the  "training weeks" which take place once  in every 6th month. The following factors  for the further  professional development of the Faculty of Arts were mentioned by the Dean : at first, a wider cooperation with foreign educational institutions and  providing scholarships , on the other hand, the expansion of doctoral schools, and at the third place, the launching of a  vocational college, which will bear the name of the great Hungarian historian  Kálmán Benda.  

Between the presentations of the conference, poetic masterpieces connected with the  Reformation written by the famous Hungarian poets  Gyula Illyés and Sándor Reményik  were proclamed by actor Csaba Lázár. A great success among the the participants of the conference  was achieved with the musical contribution of two Kossuth Prize winner brothers, Dániel and Vilmos Gryllus  (members of the Kaláka Group) - who made this event memorable  by performing the hymn of the Reformation, beginning with the words „A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" , which is based on the words of Psalm 46.

Máté Millisits

Translated by Endre Millisits