Religious Revival Movements in Hungary Beyond the River Tisza and the Mission Among the Hungarian Small Farms

SUMMARY The dissertation entitled „Religious Revival Movements in Hungary Beyond the River Tisza and the Mission Among the Hungarian Small Farms” covers a rather long period of time, reaching from the second half of the 19. century to the end of the 1940ies. The connecting element of this long period is the geographical limitation of the largest Hungarian Calvinist church district beyond the river Tisza. Two of the three (Budapest, Debrecen and the Southern Plain) 19. century religious revival movements in the Hungarian Reformed Church are bound to this diocese. The most significant spiritual center of the revival movement of Debrecen and the Southern Plain was the College of Debrecen. Nevertheless it must be stated that the spiritual influence of the Free Church of Scotland had a great importance, - directly through the wandering students and indirectly through the means of literary works. The evaluation of the Reformed College in Debrecen could not be imagined without the person of sen. Imre Révész, being the most outstanding church authors and pastor of his age. His widespread home and foreign correspondence represents irreplaceable documents about the beginning of the religious revival movement in the region of Debrecen és the Southern part of the Plain, allowing the examination of the beginnings of both movements in Hungary. Owing to his important organizational work and personal intermediate role, several students could get scholarships in Edinburgh, further he was able to organize new ministry locations in the Southern Plain. The dissertation has the intention to display the history of the religious revival of the region of the Southern Plain through the person of József Szalay. He caried out his pastoral service in Nagybecskerek, being a multinational region. As an earlier Edinburgh scholar, he made efforts to put into practice in his congregation what he experienced in the church life during his scholarship. His versatile activities made him wellknown, having issued a paper, organized teaching among the children, started home Bible studies, and women’s associations. He tried to draw into this service persons of not pastoral circles, e.g. ad Bible distributors for those he also initiated the organization of Bible study schools. The mission among the Serbs was started by Pavkov Mita. The activity of Szalay was running parallel with the Baptist and Nazarene movements at this territory. He tried to build out good contacts and being in dialogue with them, which was critizcized by his contemporaries. As Szalay’s acitivity was based on the great masses of people, it is very natural, that he founded the „Blue Cross Association” for saving hard drinkers, or a „Non-alcoholic heated public rest room”, or a provicional shelter for the domestic servents