Translated Sermon #30: Concio CXCIV by Enyedi György

For full text go to the menu on top of the UnitarianTorch home page, click on Translated Transylvanian Unitarian Sermons line, and then click on the title: SermonConcioCXCIV.

Summary of sermon: The author of the sermon deserves as much attention as the topic.  Enyedi György was the third bishop of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church, until his death in 1597. He is called in some Hungarian language literature as the “Unitarian Plato”, because most of his writings and sermons focuses on the explanations of Bible verses.  He is noted for using everyday, mundane metaphors to teach the congregation about the meaning behind the words of Christ.  Hungarian translations of the Bible began to spread in his time, and it was important to teach churchgoers on their mother tongue about it.

The topic of the sermon represents a  continuation of the teachings of David Ferenc, who wrote  and preached about the reasoning why Antitrinitarians (today’s Unitarians) find the concept of the Trinity unacceptable.  This sermon is the third part in a series of teachings on Psalm 2. I have previously shared the two preceeding sermons, Concio CXCII and Concio CXCIII. This sermon relies on verse 8 of Psalm 2 to complete the Antitrinitarian argument that Jesus Christ is not a person of the Godhead.  Enyedi wrote and preached this sermon under the extreme stress of persecution of the Unitarian Church in the form of confiscations of property, and forced catholicization of Unitarians.

In this sermon you look through a window into late XVIth century Transylvania, and hear the words of a contemporary of Shakespeare.  So, sit back, relax, allow your time machine to take you back to around 1597, and enjoy this gem of a sermon, available the first time in English.

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