Volume 49 Number 1 Article 5 September 2020 Contemporary Interpretations of Christian Freedom and Christian Democracy in Hungary Zsolt Szabo Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Szabo, Zsolt (2020) "Contemporary Interpretations of Christian Freedom and Christian Democracy in Hungary," Pro Rege: Vol. 49: No. 1, 14 - 21. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol49/iss1/5 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Contemporary Interpretations of Christian Freedom and Christian Democracy in Hungary paper, I attempt to present this concept, as well as the Christian origins and approaches to the concept of legal-political freedom, and today’s interpretation of Christian democracy. My the- sis is that all Christian governance is necessarily democratic, but not all democratic governance is Christian. Christian freedom Freedom in the Bible appears mainly as freedom from sins, available by personal repen- tance. We can talk about Jesus in this regard as a “liberator,” saving us from the captivity of by Zsolt SzabÓ our sins: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). From among the Introduction multiple Bible verses we quote here, those from It is well-known in Western Europe and the Romans (7:24-25) are the most significant: United States, but less so in Central Europe, “Who will rescue me from this body that is that Christianity, and Protestantism in particu- subject to death? Thanks be to God, who de- lar, had a great impact on the development of livers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” The liberties and democracy in general. The possibil- theological principle of determinism, expressing ity of a political interpretation of Christianity the omnipotence and omniscience of God, does was recently raised by Hungarian Prime not contradict the free will of created humans Minister Viktor Orbán, making the concept of or their responsibility related to this freedom, Christian freedom a governing principle. In this based on which man must live by the law of God. Christian freedom is predominantly free- Dr. Zsolt Szabó is Associate Professor of dom from our own self and our sinful nature Constitutional Law at the Károli Gáspár University through Christ. of the Reformed Church (Budapest, Hungary), and The Reformation revived this spiritual free- Bolyai Fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. dom when it was under the same pressure and 14 Pro Rege—September 2020 control as it had been, over and over again in the Calvin said that civil government is not a pen- course of history, and was particularly faced by alty, but the goodwill of God: it is a bad thing the early followers of Jesus. Luther wrote a book to live under a monarch who does not permit titled The Freedom of the Christian, expressing anything; but it is even worse if everything is that the secular power cannot act as judge over permitted.4 In the case of freedoms from a legal conscience. The Reformation unbound and perspective, the protestant movement brought liberated the individual from the power of the about religious freedom first, which means that official church and subjugated it only to the -au no state power can prevent a believer from abid- thority of Christ.1 A person following Christ is ing by God’s law in faith. therefore free of the burden of sin and the result- Freedom can only be experienced by free ing subjugation—only God is above him. There people who can take responsibility on their is no place for the hierarchy of subordination, in own—because the Lord is responsible for the the Calvinian way of thinking, among persons, deeds of the servant. Freedom comes with re- services, or position holders.2 This holds true for sponsibility; this freedom requires responsible, the relationship between the state and the in- mature people who are proficient in public af- dividual: a person is given fairs. The situation is the this freedom by God, not same within the church: by the state; therefore, the As our freedom only responsible members state cannot restrict that gained in Christ does of the church can be free, person’s freedom in order so teaching the word of to provide the same free- not mean unlimited God is crucial. It can pro- dom for others. freedom in all matters, tect the congregation in Liberated persons are the task of the state is childhood, but it can also on the same level as their help believers to reach ma- fellow human beings or to provide social peace, turity, with the capacity of the state, concerning their provide and maintain critical thinking.5 As a re- position before God. They sult, the church board may make decisions about their public order, and be considered in practice lives and possessions, based defend the rights of as a “school of democra- only on their responsibil- cy”6 because its members ity before God; they do citizens. (can) obtain experience not expect the state to help in the open negotiation them, care for them, or finance them. Freedom of public affairs and the making of decisions in as a Christian concept also means everybody is consensus. equal before the law3: they are given no special A mature, free person obeys the laws of God privileges in secular society or in reaching salva- and laws of the world, not because of fear of tion. The state simply defends these freedoms by punishment but on his own volition, recogniz- limiting the freedom of everybody. ing the glory of God in obeying those laws. 7 As our freedom gained in Christ does not Calvin considers freedom and (self)-restraint mean unlimited freedom in all matters, the task two sides of the same coin: “there is not a hap- of the state is to provide social peace, provide pier type of government, when freedom comes and maintain public order, and defend the rights with appropriate restraint and it is rightly fur- of citizens. This means not only self-limitation nished for permanence.”8 for the individual but also self-limitation on the Freedom, however, cannot be interpreted part of the state: freedom is threatened from only on the level of the individual. The real- all sides—by other people or even by the state ization of freedom on the level above the indi- itself. The state must limit certain freedoms to vidual, on the community level, is well exem- preserve freedom; otherwise, anarchy will result. plified by what Abraham Kuyper, in his 1880 Pro Rege—September 2020 15 lecture “Sovereignty in the Sphere of the State,” a Christian democracy that the practitioners of at Princeton University, called the principle of power also have their own conscience and do “sphere sovereignty,” which he also called “dif- not solely rely on that of the church.) ferentiated responsibility.” The essence of this Let us take a further step toward a new di- differentiated responsibility is that all groups mension of Christian freedom. The idea of a and spheres of society (family, education, pro- community-political dimension of freedom also fession, church, etc.) have their own scope of ac- appeared in the time of Jesus: the Jews expected tion and responsibility, with the same rights as Jesus to liberate them from the Romans; they all the others, none of which are above the oth- wanted freedom on a national level when Jesus ers. This differentiated responsibility is harmo- was offering liberation in the personal-spiritual nized by the leadership and sovereignty of God. realm. Disillusionment in this realization, along These spheres are free of domination by each with Roman apprehension, became the trigger other, as their autonomy is under the author- point in the crucifixion of Christ. ity of God, not human beings. This principle “Christian freedom,” in a Hungarian public of God’s sovereignty and human liberation only speech in 2019, can also be seen as related to by Christ results in a free people, a free church, the community dimension. Hungarian Prime a free state. This freedom also means that fol- Minister Viktor Orbán highlighted the national lowing Christ is an option not only for church dimension of freedom, not individual liberation, officials and institutions but also for any orga- when repeating the concept. The Prime Minister nization, be it state-owned, artistic, or profes- first talked about Christian freedom, on June sional. Each can fully experience this benefit of 27, 2019, as the basis of government for up- Christianity. The Holy Spirit works not only in coming years. He again expressed his thoughts the church but also in the world! about this concept on September 14, 2019, at The relativization of the omnipotence of the the 12th Congress of Association of Christian state,9 in light of the unlimited sovereignty of Intellectuals, in Parliament: “Christian freedom God, is a frequently returning Calvinist idea. is originally a theological category, but we use it as It can be shown in the case of Calvin that he a political category. It summarizes politics, which overstepped the Lutheran principle of “two defends the Christian way of life. It means that we Regiments” (meaning that the church abides by have the right to defend our Christian way of life, Scripture, the state abides by the law) and put which created a Christian culture in two thousand everything under the sovereignty of God, in a years, [the two, life and culture] layering on top of fashion similar to that of Kuyper in the 19th- each other throughout generations.