Magyar Egyház, 1963 (42. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1963-02-01 / 2. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 7 MAGYAR CHURCH DR. ALADÁR KOMJÁTHY: The Heidelberg Cathechism Today Among the many churches represented at the Third General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, there was a denomination called “The Evangelical Christian Church of West New Guinea.” How much do we know about New Guinea? It may be known that this far away region is the second largest island in the world. We may recall the recent transfer of the western part of this island under the sovereignity of Indonesia. We may know that “most of its people have only crude tools and weapons made of stone or wood.” In this strange land, where our nuclear age peacefully co-exists with the Stone Age, there is a small Protestant Church. What a formidable task must be for the Church to serve as an agent of reconcilliation, witnessing to people living both in the twentieth century and the Stone Age. at the same time? The Evangelical Christian Church of West New Guinea has been organized quite recently. At the organizing synod, the Christian leaders of that island made a remarkable decision. They adopted the Heidelberg Catechism as the statement of faith, the official creed and confessional standard for their young denomination. While most of us would have some difficulty to locate New Guinea on the map, San Francisco sounds definitely more familiar. Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California will be remembered in the history of the Christian Church as the place where Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, the grand statesman of contemporary American Protestantism delivered his great sermon on December 4, 1960. Preaching on the subject “The Reunion of Christ’s Church,” Dr. Blake made his famous proposal for the union of the four major denominations of our country into one single church, a church truly Evangelical, truly Catholic and truly Reformed. From this historical sermon we quote the following statement: The great confessions of the Reformation must have their place in the confession, teaching and history of the reunited Church just as do the ecumenical agreements of the undivided Church. I would hope that such a reformation confession as the Heidelberg Catechism,... might be lifted up in some acceptable formula as having a proper place in the confession of the whole Chinch. We may not be familiar with the situation of the church in West New Guinea, but we do know at least some of the critical problems of the Christian Church in our own land. We may have never heard of the Reverend Rumanium who is the fine leader of the Protestants in that far away island, but we certainly are aware of the great influence Dr. Blake has within the Reformed family of churches and far beyond it in America and in the world. What a difference is there between the situation of American Christianity and that of the New Guineans! And yet, they seem to agree on one fundamental issue. At the beginning of their own indigenous church, the church of West New Guinea feels that the four hundred year old Heidelberg Catechism can render a vitai service as its standard of faith. In seeking reunion of the separated brethren of the Protestant Reformation, after a long and rich period of denominational rivalry, it is felt that the Heidelberg Catechism can render an important service in the confessional foundations of that much desired reunion of American Christians. It may be so, but it is not our concern: we are not members of the Evangelical Christian Church of West New Guinea and our own denomination is not immediately affected by the Church Union consultations begun under the inspiration of Dr. Blake’s sermon. This reasoning is not entirely unfamiliar amongst us. “We are Hungarian Reformed. . .” Yes, indeed. Had there not been a Heidelberg Catechism our Hungarian Reformed heritage would have been definitely poorer. A few months ago I heard a Southern Presbyterian churchman to make the following statement: “How fortunate you are Hungarian Reformed brother having such a wonderful statement of faith as your Heidelberg Catechism!” Do we know our Catechism? Or do we know of it at least? The Reformed and Presbyterian Churches remembered the four hundredth anniversary of this Heidelberg Catechism last January, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A modern American translation and a commentary for laymen on the Catechism were prepared, published and presented to the churches as a fitting memorial. We are fond of the hymn “Faith of Our Fathers Living Still.” If there is anything which should be “alive” of our religious heritage: it is the faith
