Western Biblical Studies in the Work of Roman-Catholic and Orthodox Theologians

Abstract

During the dualistic period (1867-1918), the historical Banat region in Romania had two active Churches: the Roman-Catholic and the Orthodox churches. Of course, there were also Greek-Catholic and Protestant (Lutheran and Calvin) churches, but most Christians belonged to the Roman-Catholic and Orthodox communities. Because of ethnical separations, the orthodox were further divided into the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Romanians of Banat were led by two Bishopric Centres: Caransebes and Arad. Both bishoprics were canonically dependent on the Transylvanian Metropolitan Church with its headquarters in, Sibiu. The Roman-Catholic Bishopric of Timisoara led valuable activities, having a clerical school in its jurisdiction. Therefore, historical Banat had three theological study centres: Arad, Caransebes, and Timisoara – although Arad was not officially part of the historical Banat.