Abacs Márton és Zalányi László vitája és a hit artikulusai

Abstract

The Dispute between Márton Abacs and Laszló Zalányi and the Principles of Faith.

Disputes regarding economic issues, like the one that lasted from spring until the autumn of 1751 was not unique events in the history of the Reformed church in Transylvania. The influential and respected Abacs family had numerous conflicticts with their contemporary of church dignitaries. When their personal interests and demands needed, the members of the Abacs family did not take into account anyone or anything. They reached their goals using less legal methods. Abacs Márton junior became a priest of Torda (Turda) taking advantage of the support of the wealthy nobility of Torda (Turda), and as a “devoted brother” he also tried to obtain another congregation of the city for his brother. Besides the economic dispute with Zalányi László, it was also a Reformed dogmatic conflict between the two. Abacs accused Zalányi of apostasy of the Reformed faith, but later, as a former student with theological education gained in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), managed to clarify his religious position. Their dispute reached the Consistory, where they soon remedied their divergences on economic issues. However, in order to investigate Zalanyi’s supposed apostasy, a broader analysis of the Consistory was needed. On this occasion, the Bishop of the Reformed Church emitted an interesting document of dogmatic history, called the Fundamental Articles of Faith. The document clearly demonstrated that in the middle of the 18th century the official position of the Reformed Church was still based on the official doctrines of Orthodox Protestantism. It denied the idea of free will, human goodness, and sustained the idea of original sin.