Bible School in Martin

» For more information about Bible School see our webpages
www.bsmt.sk or www.cce.sk

Idea of the Bible School

“The idea to start a school where anyone can join in immersing themselves into study of the Bible to find answers to life’s fundamental questions is not at all original. As a matter of fact, in developed countries it is quite common to find institutions like this. During my time working at The Lutheran High School in Tisovec, I realized how great the need for this type of education was. I was surprised by the immense amount of questions and the high interest of the young people to understand God’s Word. At the same time, I realized that our Lutheran youth is poorly prepared spiritually to ” go out into the world.” The vision to create The Bible School became much more concrete and tangible during my studies in the US, where I actually had an opportunity to study at this type of establishment. I also found a lot of understanding and support in the congregation at Martin. We created a preparatory board that would help actualize this project.”

Bohdan Hroboň
the Dean of The Bible School in Martin
Translation by Viera Buzgová

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The Historical Context of the School

“The Bible School in Martin, besides being a dream and desire of today, also has a long history. Janko Kalinciak was a famous Slovak pedagogue and principal of The Lutheran Grammar School in Cesky Tesin. In 1862, he proposed a project to create a system of Lutheran schools for the superintendence whose main leader was Karol Kuzmany.

Kalinciak, in his project, also suggested the idea of implementing supplemental theological and legal education for graduates of the eight-year grammar school. Only part of this idea came to realization in the 1860s. On the basis of Kalinciak’s project, a lower level Lutheran parochial grammar school was established. This institution had so called “public approval” which meant it accredited. However, the idea to make it an eight-year school and to implement the supplementary theological education was never realized. Indeed, after eight and a half year of its existence, the grammar school was closed. Despite that, the idea did not perish and was resurrected after 130 years.

The Bible School in Martin is an answer to Kalinciak’s project and expresses continuity of the dreams and desires of those people who are building up Slovak school, who care about the education of the younger generation and who attempt to revive the spirituality of today’s society. Thanks to God that the old idea still lives on.”

Miloslav Kovačka
Director of the Bibliography Institute of Matica slovenska
Translation by Viera Buzgova

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