Calvin Synod Herald, 1994 (94. évfolyam, 2-6. szám)

1994-09-01 / 5. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

. 6 -REFOMflTÜSOK LAPJA

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1994 Annual Meeting

Gains Fame in Observer

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The Christian Observer, in its July 1, 1994 issue, under the title "Our Times", reprinted the photograph our 1994 Annual Synod meeting held in Ligonier, PA.

Underthe picture of the delegates, the following explanation, written by our own Joseph Posta, appeared.

The Calvin Synod (UCC) is part of the Hungarian Reformed Church founded in Debrecen, Hungary, in 1567. The synod began as the Hungarian Classis of the Reformed Church (US) on July 4, 1896, in Trenton, N.J. In 1939, the body became the Magyar Synod and still later changed the name to Calvin Synod. As the eldest daughter of the mother church, the synod cared for the international Magyar churches outside Europe since World War I. In the past 100 years, some 200 Hungarian Congregations have formed in the United States. Calvin Synod congregations are grouped into four regional classees.

The Reformátusok Lapja (Calvin Synod Herald) paper was founded in 1900 in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the oldest Hungarian Reformed paper in the world. The Rt. Rev. Stephen Szabó, who is only two years younger, is the editor.

Among many aid programs, we have two of particular interest to Christian Observer readers. The Kolozsvár

Fund, administered by Rozsa Nádas, supports a school in the Cluj, Romania. The other is the Sulyok Dezső Fund, which supports the Institute of Higher Education in Nagyvárad (Oradea), Romania. Synod churches also support Sulyok István College in Nagyvárad.

The synod participates in the Hungarian Reformed World Synod (see the June 17Christian Observer, page 10). This is the international confessoinal gathering of Reformed Churches subscribing to the Second Helvetic Confession and XheHeidelberg Catechism. An English translation of these confessions and the historic creeds are available under the title Creeds of the Hungarian Reformed Christians.

Calvin Synod also supports the Hungarian Reformed World Federation, which is a service organization supporting the various Hungarian Reformed denominations.

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The Christian Observer is published on the first and third Friday of every month. The annual subscription rate $27.00. The address is: Christian Observer, 9400 Fairview Avenue, Manassas, Virginia 22110. The editor is Dr. Edwin P. Elliot, Jr.

Th eChristian Observer is our sister publication written in the same spirit as our own Calvin Synod Herald, and proclaims the same confessions of the traditional Calvinistic teaching, sharing the same historical background.

We recommend it most highly to our readers.

The Christian Observer, under the title “Our People", started a new series based on our editor's book The March of Truth. The lives and credos of twenty heros of the Reformation are brought to life. It brings each and every of the twenty historical miniatures in a condensed summary, including the small pictures from the book .Reinhold H. Weidemaar drew the pen-drawings forDr. Szabó's book, winning with them the Guggenheim Prize of Art at the time of its publication.

Here we present the one of the first condensations that appeared recently in the Observer.

John Reuchlin

"But truth shall arise out of the earth for those that come after: light shall put to flight the darkness." Reuchlin wrote in one of his last extant letters.

On the 23rd of June 1520, a bull arrived in Ingolstadt, the capital of Bavaria.

Students from the University of Ingolstadt, the university where Dr. John Eck taught, gathered to hear the reading of the bull from the Pope condemning John Reuchlin's writing as a "dangerous book," and ordering all copies of the book be burned in public fire.

Reuchlin, old and alone, knew that he should have defended what he wrote, but he made his home with Dr. Eck and bowed to the order from Rome. In his heart, he knew that though the books were burned, the flame ignited by what he had said and written would spread far beyond the bonfire.

John Poliander, the personal amanuensis of Professor Eck, listened and thought about what he saw and heard. As he wrote out Eck's statements and heard Luther's answers, he could not escape the knowledge that truth lay with Luther. He heard Tetzel shout

aloud: "Ho! Everyone who wants a royal road to heaven, a primrose path from the everlasting bonfire, let him buy Indulgence letters!" As he listened and read, he came to the conclusion that Dr. Eck, loyal champion of Popery, was seeking glory, not truth. Martin Luther was the advocate of freedom and truth.

Reuchlin gave one last great gift to the Reformation even if the bull was delivered against him. His great nephew was Philip Melanchthon whom he educated in thefaith and sent to Wittenberg to be with Luther. Melanchthon was to light the flame to the bull which the Pope had issued against Dr. Luther! □□□