Repository of the Protestant Theological Institute

In New Testament textual criticism, a broad consensus has emerged that the Markan shorter ending, the scene of Jesus' agony (Luke 22:43–44), and the story of the adulterous woman (John 7:53–8:11) did not originally belong to the text of the Gospels. Because the traditions underlying these passages are early, the most recent critical editions of the Greek New Testament print them in the main text.

The primary aim of my thesis is to examine how and in what direction the image of God held by individuals struggling with addiction changed during rehabilitation in various rehabilitation centres. I also investigated whether this change influenced their therapy, especially in relation to abstinence. To answer these questions, I conducted 21 interviews, taking into account the complexity of the image of God.

This master's thesis examines the ego concepts of the New Age and postmodernism, weighing them against the gospel and the Christian confessions. The research explores the birth of the modern self, focusing on how humanity shifted from following the divine order to creating its own identity. The thesis critiques the unstable, fluid identity of postmodernism, as well as the self-worshipping ego of the New Age movement. Based on Scripture and Reformed confessions, the work contrasts these modern secular ideas with the biblical worldview.

The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah contains four visions that are generally accepted by scholarly consensus: 1:11–12; 1:13–16; 24:1–14; and 38:21–23. This thesis examines the origin, structure, and possible interpretations of these visions, with particular attention to identifying and analyzing elements that indicate visionary experience. The book also contains several other passages that include vision-related elements, namely: 4:23–28; 11:18–23; 13:1–11; 25:15–38; 23:19–20/30:23–24; and 4:13–18. These disputed passages are also examined in the thesis.

This thesis examines the unitarian liturgical treasures displayed in the exhibition opened in 2018 at the House of Religious Freedom in Cluj-Napoca, with a particular focus on their historical background. The research analyzes sixty-five communion vessels originating from twenty-nine Unitarian congregations and is based primarily on episcopal and deanery visitation records, as well as other manuscript church sources.

This thesis examines the emergence and influence of liberal theology within the Transylvanian Reformed Church through the life and work of Bishop Péter Nagy. The aim of the research is to explore how nineteenth-century theological rationalism and liberalism appeared in Transylvania, what its principal teachings were, and how it influenced Reformed theological thought and religious education. The first chapter presents the origins and main characteristics of liberal theology, with special attention to its understanding of revelation, Scripture, and the person of Jesus Christ.

This thesis addresses the challenges of small-group catechesis (5–10 participants) within the Transylvanian Reformed context, characterized by declining youth participation and fragile faith commitment in the context of the Romanian Reformed congregations which comprise 2.38% of the population according to 2021 census. The central research question examines how Motivational Interviewing (MI) can be applied in catechetical settings so that faith commitment and ecclesial integration emerge from intrinsic conviction rather than external obligation.

This thesis is a continuation of a previous research project examining the little-known phenomenon of foreign-born wives of Reformed ministers in the Transylvanian Reformed Church between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Building upon an earlier study that primarily focused on identifying and mapping the phenomenon and the individuals involved, the present work aims to provide an in-depth exploration of individual life stories and marriages.

Across Transylvania, countless people struggle with addiction, to the extent that nearly everyone is affected, either individuals themselves or at least one of their close or distant family members. The issue of addiction is exceedingly complex, as it manifests on physiological, psychological, familial, and social levels, while also impacting the spiritual life of the individual. Just as addiction is complex, so too is providing assistance to those affected.

In this study, I examined the eighteenth-century aristocratic funerals and the pastoral ministry performed during these ceremonies. My research sought to reconstruct and describe, step by step, the funeral practices of the period, to identify all relevant references in synodal records, canon law, and contemporary diary entries, and to draw conclusions and establish broader patterns based on statistical data derived from the bibliographies of eighteenth-century funeral sermons. Aristocratic funerals of the period were among the most significant events in Transylvanian Reformed society.