VEGA 1/0698/23 - "Lajčiak´s Dissertation about Ezekiel in the Contemporary Research of Prophetic Writings"

Principal Investigator: ThDr. Dávid Benka, PhD. 

Deputy Principal Investigator: doc. ThDr. Sidonia Horňanová, PhD. 

Scientific Co-workers: Mgr. Radoslav Hanus, PhD., Mgr. Maroš Nicák, Dr. theol. 

Mgr. Radim Pačmár, PhD. (2025) 

Annotation of the scientific project 

The project examines the dissertation "Ézéchiel: Sa Personne et son Enseignement" and selected theological works of Dr. J. Lajčiak in the context of research on the prophetic writings of his time The aim of the research is to broaden the Slovak reception of the dissertation, so that it is not perceived in isolation or defined only by a general description, but in interaction with the research of its own time Contemporary research on the prophets is central to understanding the intent of Lajčiak's work 

The scholarly perception of prophets at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as religious thinkers and proponents of "ethical monotheism" also influenced Lajčiak's dissertation It was not exceptional that research on the prophets profoundly influenced the public activities of the scholars concerned From today's perspective, the image of the biblical prophets in turn-of-the-century writings is in many ways a mirror image of the ideals of the classical liberal theologian, with his/her emphasis on religion as a primarily ethical concern, commitment to social justice, and critique of the cultic aspects of religion and expressions of piety. 

International partners: 

Department of Old Testament Studies, Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic 

Department of Old Testament Studies and Biblical Archeology, Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Vienna, Austria 

Home partners:  

Central Archive of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia 

An overview of the current state of research 

The personality of Dr. Ján Lajčiak, a native of Pribylina in the region below the High Tatras, has influenced several social science disciplines in Slovakia. Lajčiak provided them with many thought-provoking impulses and contributed significantly to the creation of Slovak scientific terminology in the Slovak language. Although Lajčiak has been called "a tragic priest in a tragic time" and Samuel Štefan Osuský saw in him "the personified tragedy of his Slovak nation", interest in this inspiring figure of Slovak scholarship and theology has not disappeared. Lajčiak still finds resonance in philosophy (e.g. Lalíková, Erika. Reality and Philosophy in Slovakia: Ján Lajčiak, Gejza Vámoš and Svätopluk Štúr. Bratislava, 2010), sociology (e.g. Turčan, Ľudovít. "Ján Lajčiak: Slovakia and Culture". Sociologija, Roč. 40 (2008), No. 1, pp. 82-85), Oriental studies (e.g. Macúch, Rudolf. "The Beginnings of Slovak Oriental Studies." Tvorba T, Vol. 1 (1991), No. 10, pp. 18-20) or in the field of culture, literature and current challenges of society (Petrík, Borislav. "Ján Lajčiak in the light of unknown documents." Tvorba T 3 (1993), no. 6-7, pp. 58-59; Petrík, Borislav. "Introduction." In Slovakia and Culture, by Ján Lajčiak, Bratislava: Q111, 1994, pp. 17 - 24; Kadlečík, Ivan. "Diagnosis of Slovak Life." Tvorba T 1 (1991), no. 3, pp. 8 - 9; Várossová, Elena. "Ján Lajčiak and the Critique of Cultural Conservatism." In Language, Values, and the Slovak Nation, edited by Tibor Pichler and Jana Gašparíková, Washington, D.C.: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 1994, pp. 47-59; Kováč, Ladislav. The European Legacy of Ján Lajčiak. . week. October 25, 2008, online, etc.). Last but not least, the interest is also evidenced by several editions of his most famous work Slovakia and Culture (1921, 1957, 1994, 2007, 2020). 

Lajčiak participated in such fields as Hebrew and Semitic studies (Die Plural- und Dualendungen am semitischen Nomen. Leipzig 1902). He is the only Slovak quoted in the epochal Hebrew grammar by Wilhelm Gesenius. He was active in such domains as Old Testament theology (Ézéchiel: Sa Personne et son Enseignement, Paris 1905), Bible translation (Psalms, Gospels), and finally, symbolically, he was also active in the church, preaching and pastoral work (Pest, Kysáč, Vyšná Boca). Lajčiak was also appreciated in art and documentaries (Baláž, Anton. The Speech of Ezekiel. Bratislava: Literary Information Center, 2012; Ján Lajčiak in the Slovak television series Portraits, director. Fedor Bartko). This list could certainly be continued. 

At the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty, the institution that currently carries out this scientific task - more precisely, at its direct predecessor, the Slovak Ev. A. C. Theological Academy - it was S. Š. Osuský, a professor of the previous academy, who in 1921 paradigmatically published Lajčiak's work Slovensko a kultúra (Slovakia and Culture) as the first volume in the series of the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Library. This scholarly interest in the personality of J. Lajčiak continues at the institutional level (Ábel, František. "Dr. Ján Lajčiak's Translation of the Gospels of the New Testament from the Greek Original into Slovak." In The Gospels, edited by František Ábel, Anton Baláž and Rastislav Stanček, Liptovský Mikuláš: Spolok Martina Rázusa, 2018, pp. 455-475; Bándy, Juraj. Doctoral thesis of Ján Lajčiak on plural and double endings in Semitic names. Vol. III, rev. Ján Juráš, Liptovský Mikuláš: Spolok Martina Rázusa, 2014, pp. 11-12; Benka, Dávid. Ján Lajčiak and his Slovak translation of the Book of Psalms (1904). In Nicák, M.; Tamcke, M. (eds.): Theology - Service and Necessity. Münster: LIT, 2021, pp. 49-56; Horňanová, Sidonia. "The Personality and Scientific Contribution of Ján Lajčiak - a Slovak Intellectual of European Standing." In Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference of J. Selye University - 2015 "Innovation and Creativity in Education and Science", Komárno: J. Selye University, 2015, pp. 49-60). 

The project includes an international scientific symposium The Prophet in Exile inspired by the life and work of Dr. Ján Lajčiak. It will take place on October 28-29, 2024 in the premises of Comenius University, Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty, Bartókova 8, Bratislava.