Magyar Egyház, 1957 (36. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1957-10-01 / 10. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11 iasi?®iB»Qjm®sür 1517 — 1957 October 31, Reformation Day is the anniversary of Martin Luther’s courageous act of nailing his 95 theses about indulgences upon the door of the borough-chapel at Wittenberg, Germany. Protestants around the world look upon this day as their symbolical birthday. By the XVI. century much indignation accumulated within the Church against the abuses of Rome; also much longing after the clean and fresh breath of the Spirit. Through the act of Martin Luther these accumulated powers manifested themselves in a bold witness to the truth of the Gospel. They also showed strength enough to maintain themselves and since Rome stubbornly refused to accept them they established themselves as the new churches of the Reformation. Let us emphasize that in the XVI. century Reformation the “searching after a gracious God” was much more important than the fighting against certain grave abuses within the Roman Church. As a matter of fact the man of the Reformation became conscious of these abuses only after he had found his personal, gracious, loving, forgiving God. After martyr-forerunners like Peter Waldo, John Wiclif, John Hus, Jerome Savonarola, Martin Luther was the first who survived his bold act of witnessing and who gained a continent-wide following. Indeed, it was the fullness of time. Within a generation’s time many other reformers emerged in other lands, the greatest among them being John Calvin. All the reformers re-emphasized the scriptural doctrine of sin: all men are sinners, worthy of God’s judgment; because of sin all men are equal before God. At the same time, the reformers also emphasized the scriptural doctrine of grace. They also taught that salvation is the GYÓGYSZERKÜLDÉS IKKA CSOMAGOK FORINT BANKJEGY MAGYAR SZÓTÁRAK és KÖNYVEK MAGYARBETÜS ÍRÓGÉPEK eladására referenciával rendelkező ügynökök jelentkezését kérjük. 1590 SECOND AVENUE TRANSGLOBUS EXPORT nJw Telefon: REgent 7-7008 free gift of God; His grace is imparted freely and sovereignly. Man comes to the knowledge of his sinfulness and of the grace of God by hearing and upon hearing by believing in God’s own Holy Word which is in the Bible. Thus salvation comes through faith alone, while faith is the free gift of God worked in the sinner’s heart by God’s own Holy Spirit. This was the basic teaching of the reformers, all else was the result of this teaching. All men are equal, salvation through faith, God’s sovereignty: along this line there was no place for a separate priestly order. On the contrary: every Christian should serve and praise God individually and intelligently. This led on the one hand to the appreciation of all kinds of human activities, professions, no matter how humble they may have been, and on the other hand to the active participation of the entire congregation in the services of worship. This latter was made possible by translating the Word of God into the languages the people understood and spoke. This again called for a program of general education. Another result was the church people’s active participation in church government. This sketchy presentation may already indicate that the Reformation affected more than the mere theological thinking. It affected not only the Church but man’s entire life. And, indeed, even a cautious appraisal will show that many of the basic structural features of our modern world have their roots in the soil of the Reformation: capitalism and free enterprise, representative form of government, equality of all men without discrimination. On Reformation Day we as heirs of the Reformation will certainly want to remember those fathers in the faith through whom God'has made His light shine again. However, commemoration is worth only if it has real relevance for the present. Therefore, Reformation Day is a wonderful opportunity to check our present understading of Christ’s Gospel. Are we truly aware of our being equally sinful before God? Do we acknowlege His sovereignty? Do we sense His saving grace through Jesus Christ? Are we diligent hearers of His Word and doers of His will? And we must also check upon this too: do we acknowledge that God is our Lord not only in Church but He is Lord of all life? Which practically presents the challenging question: do we do our utmost to implement the standards of our faith in the fields of politics, economics, social relations? We must realize on Reformation Day that this cannot be left to any single group, to “government” or “Church”; it is the responsibility of every Christian as an individual standing, thinking, believing and acting in the presence of the living God. _A.H.
