Hungarian Church Press, 1950 (2. évfolyam, 4-13. szám)

1950-03-01 / 4. szám

■5-the Roman Catholic Church from these considerations/ is that political pressure increases the tendency to idealism, be Christianity becomes non-incarnational. And such relation as you are effecting between the political and economic '‘being* and Christianity is largely ignored. It is dismissed as a new kind of Erastianism. And the “Church of England" bewails the swiftly diminishing number of those who still worship, These considerations require further study.

2./ borne of us are fervently concerned with the question of the reubiop of Christendom. /Again I exclude the Roman Catholic Church from what I say, because that Church needs different approach/*On this question I believe that we, the non» Roman, but "Catholic" Christians, reach deeper levels, using the term to mean; "the wifetoly* Truth for all men”.

I would venture to suggest that the answer to our problem is to be found in the life and belief of Christians in the /say/ first three centuries before division became explicit* Por the Churoh, the Body of Jesus Christ, is timeless# And the core of evangelism and of worship is to be found in so far as

we draw nearer to HIM Who was, and is, and is to bo,

I must not embark on sacramental controversy, but I do believe that in so far as we rediscover, say, the Truth as

it is incorporated in the Fourth Gospel as being relevant to

our day and time, we shall, by God’s grace, approach the Way Wherein reconciliation is to be found.

For we face, as the Evangelist faced, the c.itioal drama of faith as contrasted with un-faith in the possibility of the fact of the Love of God for Hit world and for us men. We also face, as he faced, the essentially spiritual fact that the worship of God must be focussed upon the historic fact of *The Word made Flesh", And surely this involves a sacramental intea>* pretation of all "material", things. Otherwise the Word of God begins and ends in "words“, and the world is suffering overmuch from words which are not translated into deeds.

Some of us feel that worship can not be revived apart from sacrifice, and that re-evangeliaation begins and , ends in sacrifice. And that means the "making holy" of the wherewithal of worship.

You and your brethren, who accept the socialisation of life rfs being the Will of God, can help us much in the reinterpretation of worship. You can help us to "see" that worship of God is vain /empty/ except as coming from a loving community*

This letter, dear Doctor, is couched in somewhat abstruse language. That is due to the fact that I am not great enough to put it Rore clearly. You will, however, doubtless be enabled to understand what I am trying to say.

After forty years ministry in the Church of England, I begin to discover that we need greater faith in the reciprocal activity of God. what X mean is that faith in the Personal, Holy Spirit makes effective what we sinners bring to our worship.And God’s return to us is in terms of Grace to sanctify all the means of living and- of fellowship.

I remain,Yours very sincerely in Christ,

'John Tfcnnieliffe,Rector of JEasington

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