Magyar Egyház, 1957 (36. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1957-11-01 / 11. szám
14 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ NEWS HUNGARY -According to the “Hungarian Church Press”, 5,000 school children have applied for Protestant religious instruction in Budapest as against 800 last year. The instruction is given twice a week by a fulltime and 23 part-time teachers between noon and 2 p.m. or 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. * * * Bishop Zoltán Turoczy (of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary) has spent several weeks in Finland as guest of the Finnish Church. He met the bishops and preached in Finnish churches. At the same time Hungarian churches were visited by a Finnish and a Danish pastor. E.P.S., Geneva # # * GERMANY -NIEMOLLER ON THE SATELLITE Asked whether the launching of a satellite as first step to conquering the universe meant that man had exceeded the limits imposed on him by God, Pastor Martin Niemoller said that the question was better applied to weapons of mass destruction than the socalled satellites. He said God had imposed limits on man by making love the fulfillment of the law. “Everything that is contrary to love of God and of one’s neighbor exceeds the limits,” he declared. In reply to a question asking whether the new situation created by the satellite imposed special tasks on the evangelical church, Dr. Niemoller replied that the Church had only one task: to arouse the conscience of mankind, for whom God sent His Son so as to reconcile men with Himself and with one another. E.P.S., Geneva # # # In Königsberg, the historic East Prussian city now administered by Soviet Russia, there are no churches in which worship services are being held. The churches which were not destroved during World War II are now being used as “houses of culture,” granaries or sheds for storing agricultural machinery. Russian Orthodox who want to attend services have to travel to Kaunas, where two Russian churches are open. E.P.S., Geneva * # # Do you appreciate that your children can go to confirmation classes freely? Here is the story which may make you think. Ecumenical Press Service reports that the German evangelical churches have come out strongly against a wave of propaganda in East Gearmany (DDR) aimed at recruiting youth throughout the country for the annual “youth dedication” ceremonies arranged by the Communist government. The state-sponsored ceremonies are held every spring at the same time as confirmation. This year’s preparation has been ushered in by a speech from East German vice-president Walter Ulbricht, indicating that all boys and girls leaving school are expected to participate “irrespective of their parents’ view and of the ideology in which they have been brought up.” Acompanying publicity has emphasized that the ceremony tries only to strengthen the “social consciousness” of young people and is therefore compatible with church confirmation vows, but this year, in opening the youth dedication drive for 1958 at the end of September, vicepresident Ulbricht sharply attacked the Church. “Are young people trained to think freely and independently,” he asked, “when their confirmation classes force them to believe that they were created by supernatural beings?” On previous occasions Ulbricht had given assurances that “people with religious susceptibilities” would not be hurt. This year, however, he went on to say that “scientific explanations and the discoveries of great research workers and scientists must not be smothered under a lot of old-fashioned cant.” The churches have been opposed to the dedication ceremonies from their inception. They say they are definitely secular and usually dialectical materialistic in outlook. Church ordinances bar children who have taken part in the ceremonies from being confirmed. Leaders of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany met at Hanover on October 4 and noted “with deep concern” that the Ulbricht speech had created a new situation for the East German churches. They said it meant that “the struggle against the Christian faith among youth is proclaimed as a concern of the state.” * * * GREAT BRITAIN -ARCHBISHOP WARNS OF DANGERS OF UNITED CHURCH (Leeds) — The Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking at the bi-annual meeting of the British Council of Churches on October 22, has warned that Christians should consider the “dangers” that would be involved if every branch of the Church were united. The Archbishop, Dr. Geoffrey Fisher, said that if the Church could speak with one united voice, thrones and crowns might falter. But, he warned, power is dynamite. “You can also realize what a terrible danger we ourselves could be in,” he told an audience of 3,000, at a public meeting. “I mean this sincerely, because, if we were all one and united, the danger of the freedom to differ from the majority in poiuer would be threatened, and there has always been in the history of the world a great value in minorities and differences of opinion.” “Please God some day there will be a united Church — in some sense united. But it will not come until we are all strong enough in the Christian faith to bear with one another’s differences and to refuse to exterminate them by force . . . We are not yet fit enough in the sight of God to be a completely united Church.” # # * ONLY A NICKEL — According to the Southern Baptist Handbook, “Mr. Average American” spends only 5c a day for religious and welfare causes. In contrast to this nickel, each day he spends 9c for tobacco, 15c for alcoholic beverages, 22c for recreation, 58c for transportation including foreign tarvel, 59c for taxes, $1.12 for food and $2.30 for other household expenses such as rent, clothing, savings, medical and miscellaneous expense.
