Renata Czyż

The little known legacy of Julian Ochorowicz in Cieszyn Silesia is discussed in this article. This is the region where the controversial philosopher and psychologist spent several years. The scientist conducted his research on mediumists in Wisła, where he engaged in social and scientific activities and gathered a large collection of books. The author discusses the fate of his material legacy and the endeavours of the heirs of his scientific theories. Julian Ochorowicz’s scientific achievements and thought were propagated by the people he had met personally, such as Jan Pilch and Jan Wantuła or by those associated with the esoteric centre that developed in Wisla in the interwar years (Andrzej Podżorski, Józef Chobot, Jan Hadyna). As it turns out, Julian Ochorowicz had a significant influence on teachers of folk schools who were also publishers of magazines and esoteric books in the multi-denominational Cieszyn Silesia.

This article, constituting a contribution to the history of dogmatic theology and religious polemic in the Polish Republic of the 16th century, is devoted to the dispute of the Jesuit priest Jacob Wujek and the Calvinist minister Gregory of Żarnowiec. Subjected to analysis were the texts of sermons from Marian feast days found in the authors’ postillas as well as their polemical works praising or defending theses stated earlier. Mariology, as one of the subjects of religious polemic, was examined in terms of both dogmatic theology and religious practices.
In the dispute in question Wujek attacked the Protestant articles of faith announced by Mikołaj Rej and taught Catholic learning on Mary. Gregory of Żarnowiec responded in defence of the views of Rej and his postillas, sharply opposing the interpretation of Catholic theologists of certain passages from the Bible referring to the Mother of Christ. In their dispute, mostly based on the Bible, the adversaries availed themselves of quotations from the works of Doctors and Fathers of the Church, as well as other sources. The patristic argument, however, was subordinate in relation to the biblical one, although in the field of Mariology it appeared often, especially in Wujek’s work.
The polemic took in the whole of the Mariological teaching of the Church. The Calvinist minister questioned the legitimacy of the majority of the titles granted to Mary as well as the celebration of certain feasts, such as the Nativity, Sacrifice and Assumption of Mary. He also condemned Catholic religious customs and practices. His radical view and the Christology in his sermons on Marian feast days contradict the theses of some historians and theologists on the submissive tolerance of Polish Protestants concerning the Marian cult in the 16th century.