The Padlás Project >> Illuminating Transylvanian and Hungarian Unitarianism

Istennek képére és hasonlatosságra, jó
cselekedetre újonnan teremtett emberek
vagyunk, hogy Krisztus az igaz hit által
mi bennünk lakozzék és az õ törvénye a
mi szívünkbe beírattassék.

We are people created anew in the
image and likeness of God and for
good works, so that through the
true faith Christ may dwell within
us and his law may be written
upon our hearts.

Ferenc Dávid

The Unitarian Churches of the Transylvanian region of Romania and of Hungary are the oldest surviving Unitarian faith communities in the world today. Founded in the early decades of the Reformation (c. 1567), they continue to provide an active witness to a liberal, rational, yet evangelical, Protestant Christianity.

As the Rev. János Szász of the Unitarian Church in Hungary wrote:

"From the moment of its birth Unitarian religious thinking has traveled its own path, but it has never separated itself from the spiritual roots of Christianity..."

Unitarian religious thought "... stresses the importance of the individual, personal experience of and faith in God; it rejects the dogma of the Trinity and accepts the humanity of Jesus, whose teachings and example its believers must strive to follow; it recognizes the value of human beings and respects life unconditionally; it claims the freedom of conscience and of religion that rests upon free will and proclaims tolerance toward the thought of others ... It holds an active, values based Christianity to count for more than a dogmatic Christianity cast within rigid bounds.

As a consequence of these principles, the practice of the Unitarian faith is characterized by "a piety that is free from dogma; by acceptance of the evolutionary dynamic of religion, with the stipulation that this development has as its goals the perfection of the human and the realization of God's Kingdom; its religious world view always strives to be scientific, liberal and modern..." [Szász János: "Az Unitárius Egyház"; in Egyházak És Vallások A Mai Magyarországon, Gesztelyi Tamás ed.; Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1991.]

For more than four centuries the Unitarian Churches of Transylvania and Hungary have exercised a significant, creative and moral influence in the religious life of East Central Europe and in the fields of education, literature, culture, politics and social reform as well. Their historical contributions continue to be of interest to scholars in the region and around the world.

The main venues for work concerning Transylvanian and Hungarian Unitarianism are three Hungarian language denominational periodicals: the quarterly journal Keresztény Magvetõ and magazine Unitárius Közlöny, published in Cluj (Kolozsvár), Romania, and the magazine Unitárius Élet, published in Budapest, Hungary. These publications reflect the concerns of Churches striving to meet the spiritual and temporal needs of their members and societies. For the Unitarians of Transylvania and Hungary these publications are forums in which they meet to explore their spirituality and faith traditions, reaffirm shared responsibilities and values, and discuss strategies for meeting the challenges that confront them as women and men in the modern world, persons of faith, stewards of their Churches and religious traditions, and as citizens. Through them, they share the resources that their faith community and its traditions offer to guide, empower and sustain them. The main purpose of The Padlás Project is to make a broad sampling of the best of the current literature of the Unitarian Churches published in these three periodicals available to interested readers outside the Hungarian language community.

In the coming months we will resume publication of the Unitárius Quarterly as an online review of the Unitarian Press in Transylvania and Hungary, focusing on the theology, history and other comporary Hungarian language scholarship relating to the Unitarian Churches and tradition.

We will also begin publication online of the Padlás Report, a survey of current news coverage regarding the Transylvanian and Hungarian Unitarian Churches and public issues and events which affect the lives of the Churches, their members and their societies as presented in both the Unitarian and general Hungarian language press.

Over the past year the Padlás Project has been working to help broaden the presence of Transylvanian and Hungarian Unitarianism on the world wide web.