Bővebb ismertető
LECTORI SALUTEM!The purpose of the conference organised at and by Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary between the 15th and the 17th of October 2013 was to discuss the basic theological principles that led to the foundation of two new Christian Universities (Pázmány Péter Catholic University and Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary) twenty years ago, after the collapse of Communism. The conference was initiated by KRE who proposed to host the event. The conference also intended to celebrate the founding of our university.The work has been organised in three panels: Christian Universities; Confes-sionality and Nation; Religiosity and Protestantism Today.Presenters of the first panel were asked to discuss the challenges and opportunities for Christian universities and to redefine a vision for their work and presence in the current postmodern, secular world. Representatives of both the Catholic and the Protestant Universities were requested to reflect upon their missions within the traditions of their respective European and North American Catholic and Protestant higher educational contexts.Invited North American speakers were asked to reflect upon the past, present and future of their Christian educational heritage and to share their experience and insights with their Hungarian colleagues. We were deeply honoured by their symbolic presence at our university and we strongly believe that this ceremony has strengthened not only personal but our respective institutional relations as well.Special attention was given to introducing the activities of the two Christian Universities in Hungary as well as the one in Lithuania and the two Hungarian-speaking Christian Universities in Transylvania (Romania).This conference panel was an essential part of a three-day celebration, organised by the dean Enikő Sepsi and professor Tibor Fabiny, director of the Jonathan Edwards Centre and the Institute of English Studies at the Faculty of Humanities. The programme took first shape at Chicago Airport on their way back from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the very inspiring annual IAPCHE meeting took place in Spring 2013.The second panel was organised essentially by the rector Prof. Peter Balla and the dean of the Faculty of Theology, József Zsengellér and sponsored by the Centre of Reformed Culture and Public Life. The theme, confessionality and nation, had a certain topicality this year in Hungary. As the first speaker, Gottfried Adam (Church and Education: Religious Education in Schools) connected 7