Mission and Limitations. Back to the Origins of Lutheran-Orthodox Contacts in the 16th Century

The Reformation in Transylvania, Lutheran in structure, has been from its very beginning in direct contact with representatives of the Orthodox Church. An Orthodox clergyman, Philippus Pictor (Filip Moldoveanul), had worked for decades in Hermannstadt in the service of the magistrate, with tasks – among other responsibilities – in the printing house; it was probably during his activity in office that the (now lost) Romanian catechism of 1544, the church-slavonic and the bilingual (Slavonic-Romanian) gospels were printed. There are good reasons to assume that these prints were made directly by the initiative of the city council; but this was not an attempt at the conversion of Romanians to the Evangelical faith, but rather an exercise of the duty – emerging from Luther’s theology – to make possible for all people the access to Scripture.