Primoz Trubar: Why Slovenia Celebrates Reformation Day

Kids Talk Church History

Every year on the 31st of October, an Eastern European country named Slovenia celebrates Reformation Day - the day Martin Luther posted his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. It’s a national holiday when people stay home from work and school. Particularly interesting is that less than 1% of Slovenians are Protestant! So why these celebrations? Tune in to Kids Talk Church History as Emma, Christian, and Ruth discuss this with Slovenian historian Todd Hunnicut and delve into the adventurous life of Primoz Trubar, the father of the Slovenian language.

Thanks to the generosity of our friends at Reformation Heritage Books, we are excited to offer a bundle of Simonetta Carr’s books to two listeners! The winner will be selected just in time for Christmas. Register here to win this special giveaway!

Show Notes:

Episode 46 about Cyril and Methodius: https://kidstalkchurchhistory.podbean.com/e/cyril-lucaris-a-controversial-reformer/
Trubar Forum: https://trubarforum.si/ (Be sure to click on the English setting, unless you read Slovenian!)
YouTube videos created by Todd Hunnicut and his teammates about Primoz Trubar:

https://youtu.be/aQnARBpsK7k?si=jSUKwt6oXk4wgaM7

https://youtu.be/_MJw39g3834?si=p6nynZojtFN8OclT
Article by Simonetta Carr about Primoz Trubar: https://www.placefortruth.org/blog/primo%C5%BE-trubar-%E2%80%93-protestant-reformer-who-fashioned-language

Other Resources from Todd Hunnicutt:

• A small booklet with three chapters summarizing the message of the first Slovene book, the Katekizem. It is designed as an evangelistic tool, but it also shows key ideas from the Katekizem.
• An English translation of the first printed Slovene song. Here is a link of my wife, myself and a friend singing it in Slovene. The tune is a German church song, but a completely different text. It’s a great summary of the Gospel message, mixing the biblical narrative of Genesis 3 and 4 with extra Gospel/Christ comments. Imagine this being the first ever printed song in the language, and the solid, simple Gospel message in it. https://youtu.be/zZ8LgodEFRk?si=IxFDPv1bJVdqKYxi
• A section introduction and three chapters I wrote for the Slovene version of the missionary/Christian hero biographies book, Hero Tales. A family devotional with stories from Trubar’s life that might be the most appealing of these to kids.
• The final section of the Katekizem, the “Sermon on Faith.” This is key because the phrase “Stand and Withstand” which is well-known, which is on the Slovene €1 coin, is here in its proper context. It’s on page 5 in the fourth paragraph. The part before that, where he defines true faith, I find to be very, very profound; I quote this in sermons in English and in Slovene often because it’s a gritty, realistic, biblical view of what faith is – basically holding on to God’s truth on the Word no matter what.