Translated Sermon #42: Concio Deut. 16, 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: SermonConcioDeut16.

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.

This is one of the few sermons of Enyedi György where there is a certainty about the date of live delivery. There was an election of judges in Kolozsvar in December of 1593, and Enyedi György delivered this sermon in the weeks preceding the election. The tone is of a deep care and concern about the fate of Transylvania, as Enyedi György goes on to explain that judges are the mortar in the wall of human communities, and that their duty is to bring fair judgements. He also warns about the two failings of judges ought to avoid: prejudice and bribery. The “Unitarian Plato” doesn’t disappoint, as he reveals timeless concerns about the system of justice; many of his words ring true today.

Enyedi György was born in the town of Nagyenyed in Transylvania, and the current Unitarian Church there is partnered with the First Unitarian Church of Louisville, Kentucky.

In this sermon you look through a window into late XVIth century Transylvania, and hear the words of the third Bishop of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church. The translation time machine will take you back to late 1593, and allows you to listen to this gem of a sermon, available the first time in English.

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