Magyar Egyház, 1961 (40. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
1961-05-01 / 5. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ MAGYAR CHURCH A Message from the Presidents of the World Council of Churches The keynote of St. Peter’s Pentecost sermon, the first sermon of the Church of Christ, is: “This Jesus God raised up and of that we are all witnesses”. Peter thus gives evidence of the fulfilment of Christ’s promise that His disciples would receive the Holy Spirit and be enabled to proclaim the good news to the ends of the earth. The disciples, so slow to understand and to believe, have been transformed by the Spirit into men who speak boldly and convincingly of “the mighty works of God” manifested in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Thus at the very beginning it becomes clear that the Church in history is by its very nature a company of men and women who are all called to render witness to God’s act of salvation in Christ. Today we need this reminder about the central task of the Church. A world of conflict and darkness, in which there is so much lack of clear purpose and real hope, needs to hear the message of reconciliation and renewal of life with which the Church began on Pentecost. It needs a Church which witnesses to the present activity of the Holy Spirit by its peacemaking, its concern for man and need, its evangelism, and by manifesting its God-given unity. This year the churches in the World Council prepare for their Assembly in New Delhi. The main theme will be: “Jesus Christ, the Light of the World”. At the center of our deliberations will be the absorbing purpose of agreeing upon our common Christian task. This is an opportunity to demonstrate that this great light “already shines” and that it dispels the darkness in and around us. For it is in the unity of living, speaking together that the churches must show their desire and readiness to reflect the one Light of the World. And all congregations can participate in this by their study of the Bible and their prayer in relation to the Assembly themes. Let us, therefore, all join in praying that the Spirit may inspire and enable us, like Peter, to respond gratefully to Christ’s promise by accepting it and committing ourselves to be His witnesses together. Bishop S. U. Barbieri—Buenos Aires Archbishop Iakovos—New York Bishop Otto Dibelius—Berlin Metropolitan Juhanon Mar Thoma—Tiruvella Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill—Boxford, Mass. WTe Pentecost Poster The motif on the Pentecost poster for 1961 which appears on the title page of this issue of “Magyar Egyház”, is derived from the Geneva heraldic device representing the sun in flames surrounding the first three Greek letters of the name of Jesus. It is the seal of the Church of Geneva. About the year 1470 the Bishop of Geneva had the three letters JHS (Jesus Hominum Salvator) engraved on the gates of the city out of devotion for the name of Jesus. This type of piety was extensively through the influence of the Franciscans. These three letters appeared as a device in the arms of Geneva surrounded by a sun in flames. An ancient pagan temple dedicated to Apollo, the god of the sun, used to stand on the summit of the hill where Geneva’s famous Church of St. Pierre is now located. Some people think this is the origin of the use of the sun with the three letters representing the Savior to form the first emblem of Geneva. But it is more likely that the sun symbol, used elsewhere before the Reformation, is intended simply to glorify the name of Jesus, The Greek letters IHS, which form the first half of the name of Jesus in Greek, were first seen in place of the Roman letters in a sculpture dated 1558 in the College De Geneve, and in 1581 on a seal of the Academy. It is evidently, therefore, at the time of the Reformation that the Latin has been replaced by the Greek. The two symbols continued, however, to exist side by side in the following centuries. Today the motif is used as the arms of Geneva. In 1931 the National Protestant Church of Geneva adopted as its official seal the three Greek letters surrounded by a full sun, with the motto: “Sol et scutum ecclesiae Genevensis” (“Sun and shield of the Church of Geneva”), taken from Psalm 84:12. Another version is that of the seal of the Company of Pastors of Geneva. The symbol was given particular prominence during the celebration of the fourth centenary of the University of Geneva in 1959 and is portrayed as the principal emblem on the Rector’s chain of office. It now appears on the seal of the Ecumenical Graduate School of the World Council of Churches, possibly the first formal ecumenical use of the symbol. The poster was designed by John Taylor, WCC, Geneva, Switzerland.
