Magyar Egyház, 1961 (40. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)
1961-08-01 / 8-9. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 13 PRAYERS FOR THE DAY For Workers 0 Son of God who was pleased Thyself to be reckoned among the craftsmen, bless all who labor, that the things which they make may be a pleasure to make and a pleasure to use. Enable all craftsmen to rejoice in good work well done. And for those whose work is mechanical and wearisome, grant them the right use of leisure that they may learn to enjoy and to admire rightly the wonderful works of Thy hand and the works of the skill of Thy children, for Thy Name’s sake. Amen. For the Unemployed O Lord our Father, we commend to Thy protecting care and compassion the men and women suffering distress and anxiety through lack of work. Support and strengthen them, we beseech Thee, and so prosper the counsels of those engaged in the ordering of industrial life that Thy people may be set free from want and fear, and may be enabled to labor in security for the relief of their necessities and for the wellbeing of our Nation and its People for Jesus’ sake. Amen. Adapted from the Labour Day Bulletin, the Church of England in Canada, 1937 The Christian Must Never Approve Or Support The Atheistic Communist State Pamphlet Gives Guides to Christians in East Germany The Christian in East Germany “can only accept the fact that he lives in an atheistic state and put up with it; but he must never approve or support it. He should not show political resistance, nor leave the German Democratic Republic (DDR); he should go on living and enduring in Christian faith and patience in the position in which God has placed him.” This is the salient conclusion of a pamphlet published recently by the United Evangelical Church in Germany (YELKD). The church has congregations in Saxony, Thuringia and Mecklenburg in East Germany and in some half dozen areas of the West German Republic. The pamphlet says that even though East German Protestants are not prevented by their faith from cooperating with the DDR government in social and economic fields, they must reject its atheistic ideology “even if this leads to distress or death”. “In all cases of conflict between the State’s demands and God’s orders, God’s word remains valid that one must obey God rather than men”, it declares. All areas of life become more difficult for a Christian living in an atheistic state, it adds, “because all fields are determined by socialism based on materialism and atheism. For the same reason the Christian education of youth becomes almost hopeless.” However, the statement stresses that, in accordance with Romans, Chapter 13, the Christian must recognize in the government of this “ideological state” an authority which is appointed by God and must be subject to it in the fulfilment of his civic duties. In practice, it said, this means that it is permissible for Christians in the DDR to cooperate in supporting the state in areas where this is possible “without adopting the ideology of atheism or directly strengthening that ideology”. As an example the pamphlet says a Christian could work in industrial cooperatives, without compromising his faith. However, it disapproves of participation in “Youth Dedication” ceremonies, the Communist counterpart of Christian confirmation rites, and of “atheist weddings and funerals”. * * * The East German Department of Church Affairs has reported that a total of 6,060 Protestant and 1,433 Roman Catholic clergymen are serving in the East Zone. It further noted that there are seven Jewish communities in East Germany with a total membership of some 2,000. (EPS—Geneva) Need for Local Ecumenical Cooperation Cited (Hamburg—EPS) — The future success of the ecumenical movement will not be decided at the top but at the lowest levels of local cooperation among the various religious bodies, a German Lutheran leader has told an ecumenical workshop here. Bishop Heinrich Meyer of Luebeck, chairman of the Lutheran World Federation’s Commission for the World Mission, said all large ecumenical conferences are a “dangerous self-deceit” unless they are paralleled by a mutual approach to the local practical situation at home by different denominations. WCC Urged to Adopt World Mission Concept Warnings of the growing menace of Islam on the African Continent came from Bishop Stephen Bayne, executive officer of the Anglican Communion, who in a speech made recently in London, declared that Islam is the greatest threat to Christianity on the Continent. Moslem missionaries are proving more adaptable than Christian missionaries he said, and are preaching an austere monotheism which is finding wide acceptance. Bishop Bayne’s warning was repeated by the Rev. J. M. Bums, domestic chaplain to the Archbishop of Capetown. Mr. Burns reported that he had seen a noticeable drift from Orthodox Christianity. He said it is “being increasingly viewed as allied with Western domination. The Church in South Africa is being attacked openly and this main attack comes from the resurgent forces of Islam. Africans are turning in ever increasing numbers to this alien faith.” Meanwhile in the United States the 19 bishops of the 1,200,000-member African Methodist Episcopal Church in a message to the Church’s 5,000 congregations declared that “since nearly two thirds of the people (of Africa) are coloured this is our great test. Our victory over Communism and Islam can be assured if we learn to drop racial discrimination. . . ” EPS, Geneva.
