Łódź wielowyznaniowa. Dzieje wspólnot religijnych do 1914 r.

Abstract

The book consists of four basic parts, apart from an introduction and a conclusion. The first part: “The urban structure and social development of Lodz and its adjacent properties until the outbreak of the World War I” (K. Badziak) constitutes an introduction to the main subject. As it was mentioned above, an extension of the scope of research obliged the authors to adopt a synthetic description of the processes of creation and development of the city and its surroundings, in both, urban structure and social contexts. In the consecutive parts of the book the authors addressed the necessity of adjusting its scope in accordance with the division of the religious groups. The first to be presented, the largest (the most numerous) ones in Lodz, are Christian denominational families which, simultaneously, have strong cultural connections with this part of Europe. Next, there are the Christian communities which are important from the Lodzer historical perspective. Therefore, the second part: “The traditional Christian confessions” refers to the Roman Catholic Church (K. Chylak) and to the Orthodox Church (M. Łapa). The third part: The Christian denominations, which came into existence as a result of Reformation and the subsequent religious movements is a description of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (K. Badziak), the Evangelical Reformed Church (K. Chylak), the Moravian Church (K. Badziak), the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (K. Chylak), the Baptists (K. Chylak), the Seventh-day Adventist Church (K. Chylak) and the Mariavite Church (K. Chylak). The fourth part: The Non-Christian denominations in the city of Lodz is an attempt to present the importance of the Jewish community in Lodz (K. Badziak) as well as to familiarize the reader with the small Muslim community (M. Łapa). The aforementioned parts of the book complement each other. In addition, in some parts of the book, they confront each other with reference to the most important issues regarding development of the city, constituting as a whole – as expected by the authors – a relatively comprehensive coverage regarding the activity of the religious denominations as well as their role in the city of Lodz and the surrounding colonies, villages and settlements. An awareness of both, the complexity and multithreading of the subject leads the authors to believe that the critical comments relating to the particular texts of the researchers dealing with the respective subjects will appear.