Magyar Egyház, 1954 (33. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)
1954-03-01 / 3. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ LUKEWARM FAITH I. HYTHOLOGY (Part One of Three Installments) Ever since the dawn of Prehistory, that period in the evolution of the human race prior to the invention of writing as a means of recording and communication, man has been curious about the advent of his predecessors, their development, their habits, modes of life and beliefs. Much has been uncovered through the findings of geology, archaeology, the study of anthropology, and contact with present day primitives in substantiating the facts into acceptable hypotheses. Of the assumption, that from the beginning of time Man has had beliefs in some form or other, I shall not discredit one iota. Isn’t it humanly logical that man should have beliefs; that the totemism of the primitives should be expressed in their socially acceptable forms of nature worship, animal worship, and supernatural worship? These forms of beliefs of early man I justify by the following: 1. That man believed there existed everywhere invisible spirits possessing the powers of good and evil who were eternally active in the affairs of man. 2. That man himself comes from and ultimately returns to the spirit world. 3. That man must discover and learn the wishes of the spirit world and comply accordingly if he is to achieve success throughout his life and be assured a return to the happy hunting ground of the spirit world. Could people endowed with the power of reasoning believe such things? My answer is an emphatic yes. Even today there are remnants of many such ancient beliefs which aren’t far removed from the origin of primitive man, or from primitive man’s thinking, e. g., black cats crossing one’s path, the misfortunes associated with the number 13, walking under a ladder, or lighting three cigarettes from the same match. From whence did man derive his beliefs? Were they concoctions of his imagination, apparitions in his hallucination, dreams, or did they have a basic foundation in something concrete and tangible? Most of it is attributed to Mythology which is man’s attempt to explain the existence or the occurance of some reality or event beyond his scope of comprehension. These beliefs manifested themselves in many forms; appeasing nature in the belief that a spirit controlled the behavior of the elements, that the slaughter of an esteemed animal was wholly against the accords of the spirit of the animal world, and that disease was an evil spirit which had taken up abode in a human body. These and countless others have come down through the ages and met with approval in their entirety or have taken on new forms to meet with the changing times and culture of our civilization. The Australian aborigenes would no doubt scoff at the hygenic preparations of our surgeons prior to an operation, and we likewise at the chants and herb brews of their witch doctors; the Melanesians at our attitude of humility and prayer in times of stress and dire need, and we likewise at their primitive exhortations for victory during their tribbal dance. Yet as absurd as it may seem our highly developed civilization owes much to these primitives. It was upon their trial and error methods that some of our sciences have laid their foundations. In his struggle for knowledge and understanding man has devised and derived many theories based upon these primitive beliefs and origins. Not only has man attempted to explain them, but also to relate us to them through a chain of connections and links. This conflict for the mastery of mens’ minds has been highlighted by three of the most reknown theories from men of learning and stature. Of primary importance are those of Charles Darwin, the famous biologist, whose expounded theories of evolution can no longer hold water. An examination of the Darwinian theory and factual evidence brought to light by men of science has conclusively proven the fallacy of his views. Yet people still adhere to a half faith, half in evolution and half in God. Why? Joseph Olah, Jr. --------o-------THE HOLY BIBLE We, Reformed Christians, always strongly emphasize that in matters of the Christian religion, we recognize only one authority: the Holy Bible. We accept as the truth only those religious teachings and doctrines which are in the Bible or which are clearly proved by the Bible. The reason why we so strongly hold on to this attitude is that we know very well our “weak, sinful human nature”. We know that we would remain in a total ignorance concerning God and his plans with us, if we should rely in these matters on our own “wisdom”. We need to have God himself reveal to us what we should know about Him and his things. And the merciful God had indeed revealed to us everything in the Bible that which we should know about Him and his things, but did not reveal those things the knowledge of which is not necessary for our benefit. For example, in the Bible we are informed in the minutest details about the sufferings, death, resurrection and ascendence of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven . . but the Bible remains entirely silent about the departure of Virgin Mary from this earthly life: whether she was lifted up into heaven in the same manner as Jesus was, or she died and had been buried like any one else. If God does not inform us about the departure of Virgin Mary in the Bible, it means only one thing: we are not supposed to know it. It should not be our concern. Therefore, those who are not satisfied with the revealed truths of God in the Bible, but make new man-made doctrines, confess their sacrilegious opinion that the all-wise, eternal God gave mankind a “bad and imperfect revelation”, and the miserably earthly man shoul supplement, complete and correct the work of God. This attitude is ont only illogical and sacrilegious but a brazen defiance of the warning of God concerning the Holy Bible: “Add you not unto his words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar”. (Proverb 30:6.) In our next month’s article, we will explain why we believe that the Bible contains indeed the truths of God. Stephen Kovács
