Dr. Arpád Szabó

                                    Laudatio of Imre Gellérd--Posthumous doctoral degree

October 19, 1995

 Honorable Senate,

             I thereby report (to the Senate of the Unified Protestant Theological Institute) that the late Rev. Imre Gellérd submitted his doctoral dissertation on Practical Theology to the Unified Theological Institute of Kolozsvár on March 7, 1970.  Because of political reasons, however, the state denied his right to defend it and the degree be awarded to him at that time.  Now, 25 years later and 15 years after Imre Gellérd’s death, the Doctoral Committee of the school wishes to serve justice to him [who had been so unfairly disregarded [set aside?],] by accepting his dissertation and qualifying it Summa cum laude.

            In his dissertation, after a thorough research and study of primary sources, Imre Gellérd presented the history of Unitarian literature of sermon in a critical elaboration.  He highlighted the homiletical and liturgical ideals and its methods of the Transylvanian tradition.  He rightly recognized a basic principle, that before an attempt to effectively renew the homiletical and liturgical practices of the Church, he first had to unveil [discover] the past and its lessons.  He was right in his views when he emphasized that practical theology has to adopt a horizontal view of its problems, the shere vetical approach is not enough.

            The great merit of Imre Gellérd’s work is that it has researched and elaborated vast new territories of our theological literature with an impressive accuracy, and as such, his scholarship fills a gap.  Being absorbed by the in-depth study of each epoch, homiletical trend and personality, he brought to light [revealed] new theological knowledge which will greatly benefit not only the Transylvanian Unitarianism, but undoubtedly the entire Protestantism of the country.

            Honorable Senate, hereby I wish to ask you to bestow upon Imre Gellérd the post mortem doctoral degree.