OPłIUNI CULTURALE SI CONFESIONALE ÎN BLAJUL LUMINILOR. RAPORTURILE LUI SAMUIL MICU CU EPISCOPUL IOAN BOB
CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS CHOICES IN BLAJ DURING ENLIGHTENMENT. RELATIONS BETWEEN SAMUIL MICU AND BISHOP IOAN BOB

Summary/Abstract: Romanian historians from the Romantic period until the second half of the 20th century have paid special attention to the (often conflictive) relation between the main representatives of the Transylvanian School (Samuil Micu, Gheorghe Sincai and Petru Maior) with the Greek- Catholic Bishop Ioan Bob. More recent research has led to a deeper understanding of the complex cultural, social and political rapports of the time. This study carefully analyzes the intellectual and religious relations between Samuil Micu and Bishop Ioan Bob. An excellent scholar and a great mind, Samuil Micu wrote major theological works. We discuss here those works by Micu that were criticized by Bishop Bob, such as the Bible (published between 1793 and 1795), Theology and Ethics (1796), A Brief History of the Churchfor the Knowledge Avid (whose printing was blocked by the Bishop), The Laws of Nature, Ethics and Politics or Pragmatic Philosophy (1800). The second part of our study explores the religious orientation of Micu. He took part in the 1796 attempt of the Orthodox clergy to have a Romanian bishop. Micu was also involved in the 1797-1798 project to unite the Greek-Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Bishop Bob accused Micu of having betrayed his faith and started an investigation. Micu asserted his belief in promoting religious unification through missionary actions and by encouraging harmony and understanding between the Orthodox and the Greek-Catholic. Micu’s dream of a unique Church was based on the ethnic and religious identity of the two denominations. Our study ends with an analysis of Bishop Ioan Bob’s portrayal in Samuil Micu’s major historical works.

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