Amerikai Magyar Reformátusok Lapja, 1919 (20. évfolyam, 1-52. szám)

1919-06-07 / 23. szám

AMERIKAI MAGYAR REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

a

tek — beszédükre nem készültek — mert tudták, hogy a Szentlélek abbanaz órában meg fogja őket tanitani arra, hogy mit szóljanak. S mikor egymásnak levelet írtak, hát az Isten szeretetén s a fiú kegyelmén kívül a szentlélek közöltetését is kívánták barátaiknak, testvéreiknek.

De nagy dolognak tartották azt az első keresztyének, mert annak ereje által oltották meg a tűznek erejét s menekedtek meg a fegyver élétől s erősödtek meg az erőtlenségben s lettek erősekké a viadalban! — Ennek ereje által térítettek s gyógyítottak s terjesztették Isten országa határait mindig messzebbre és messzebbre.

De nagy dolognak tartják azt a keresztyének mais, mert tudják, hogy a Szentlélek nélkül ők sem lettek volna soha keresztyének és Krisztus országa érdekében semmit sem tehetnének, mert tudják és pedig tapasztalásból tudják, hogy ő elkezdője és bevégzője a mi id- vességőnknek és nála nélkül semmit nem tehetnek. Csoda-e azért, hogy keresztyénség ünnepet szentel a Szentlélek Istennek — mint annak a csodálatos nagy isteni erőnek, ki a világban mindenütt munkál ugyan, de a kinek egyéb legfőbb munkája itt e földön az emberiség üdvre hozatala. És pedig ünnepül szentelő ép a mai napot, midőn oly nagy erővel, hatalommal jött le e földre, hogy az apostolokat felöltöztette mintegy mennyei erővel s képesítette őket arra, hogy beszédeik által egy ily napon 3000 lélek térjen meg s tegyen vallomást bűnösségéről, Jézushoz való hitéről és egy szent életet élni törekvő vágyódásáról.

Keresztyének, mi is ünnepet ülünk, a szentlélek Isten ünnepét, törekedjünk megismerkedni a Szentlélek Istennel, munkájával és munkája eredményével. — Kérjük Idvezitő Jézusunkat, hogy adjon nekünk is ama menyi ajándékból, a Sz! Lélek Istennek kegyelméből, hogy lehessünk az ő áldottak — Kér. Ev.

AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM THE GEO. W. MONTGOMERY, D. D.

Supt. of Presbyterial Missions, of the Pittsburgh Presbytery.

The editor of this paper has received from Dr. Montgomery, Supt. of Presbyterial Missions, the following interesting and kind letter, which we publish both in its original English text and in Hungarian translation: —

My Dear Rev. Harsanyi:—

Permit me to extend to you my most hearty congratulations on your securing through the Board of Publication of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., the privilege of enlarging your paper, “The Sentinel,” to a sixteen page weekly instead of an eight page weekly. I realize most fully how very much handicapped you have been in carrying, week by week, to the Hungarian people of this country even a fair presentation of the things which are vital both to their own welfare and to the welfare of the country which they have chosen to make their home.

The very genius of the Government of the

U. S. A. is so fundamentally Protestant in character that it isdifficult indeed for anyone who has grown up under the influence and dominion of the monarchical idea of government, be it modified as it may, be it in civil life or in religious life, to appreciate the significance and the blessing of the

opportunities offered, without proper guidance into a proper understanding. The Government of the U. S. A. is of the people and for the people and by the people in its every ideal. Tht highest glory of the country is that the largest possible liberty is given to every man when that liberty does not interfere with the liberties of the largest number. It is the privilege of the citizenship of the United States to dictate what shall be the laws of the land and to see to it that their will becomes operative. Even the highest officers in the State are subject to review and control, even to impeachment if they should insist upon the assertion of their individual wishes as over against the wishes of the majority of the people. All this is so fundamental in our form of government that it reaches out into every department of our life. Men are privileged to follow whatsoever line of business that may be congenial to them, provided they keep in mind the lights of others which are just as sacred as their own rights. On the other hand, men are compelled to conform their lives and their actions and their business to a conformity with what has benn decided to be the largest interests of the largest number, this decision being made by the people and not by any self-appointed dictator.

This being true, it is easy to see how the whole principle of Romanism is fundamentally antagonistic to the government that obtains in the U. S. A. Protestant religion is just as essential as democracy in government. We have seen through the fall of the monarches in recent days the doom of all such forms of government among civilized peoples: I believe that it is just as true of all forms of religious activity as in civil life, that there shall be no self-centered, infallible, human head. God only is King. He has not relegated to any man or set of men the prerogative of control of the souls of his subjects. The open Bible, which is not as subject of private interpreta tion, must come into the hands of the people if the people are to know and to love the purposes and the will of Almighty God. Too many thousands of Hungarians have come to this country blinded to the real truth of the character and purpose of GocT. His great passionate love, exhibited in the precious gift of His only begotten Son, has been unknown to multitudes through no fault of their own. It is a great privilege that is given to you through the medium of the paper that you are permitted to edit and distribute, to give light to minds that have hitherto been in darkness, to give a desire for the larger and sweeter understanding of the privileges of Christian life and hope. I congratulate you on this greatly enlarged door of opportunity that is offered you to go forth as an evangel of light to the people whom you love and of whom you are loved. I shall watch with great interest the future growth and progress of the church paper and hold myself in readiness to rend er to you at any time wtatever service in within my power to make this paper the largest possible success.

Very sincerely,

Geo. W. Montgomery