Magyar Egyház, 1967 (46. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1967-01-01 / 1. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ highest legislative and executive body being the General Synod consisting of 50 ministers and 50 elders. After a brief survey of the history of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Bishop Bartha spoke about the 400th anniversary celebration of the acceptance of the Second Helvetic Confession: “Why should we celebrate a 400 year old confessional statement? “For one thing, the acceptance of the Confession marks the formal birthday of the Reformed Church in Hungary. There are other confessions that might be richer in teaching values, such as the Heidelberg Catechism, but the Second Helvetic became the constitutional foundation stone, on which the future institutional life of our Church was built. Royal edicts, peace treaties, international agreements, for hundreds of years, refer to the Second Helvetic as the criterion of the very existence of the Reformed Church. “But there are further reasons for our celebration. This document came to our forefathers from sister-churches, demonstrating ecumenicity in those times. Today’s Reformed Church in Hungary is strongly ecumenical-minded. It is a source of strength for us to see that our attitude is but the continuation of a noble tradition. “Furthermore, the Confession is the statement of faith of our forefathers by which they related their convictions to the actual problems of the world in which they lived, expressing all in a light derived from the Scripture. Tbeir example inspires us to follow in their footsteps heeding the injunction, “ecclesia semper reformari debet” — and do the same thing they have done 400 years ago: in the light of revelation state our convictions and relate them to the world in which we live. “That is the reason why the central theme of our celebration became: Reformation, as Heritage and Challenge. For the preceding reasons, it is understandable why we seek the answer to our questions in the fellowship of our sister churches. Giving thanks for the past, and facing up to the challenges of the present and future — in our opinion — is a family affair, in which all our brethren in the faith should take their part. “Preparing the Anniversary, our General Synod organized an extensive study program, doing research in five fields: 1) The role and contribution of the Reformed Church in the history of the nation. 2) The calling of the Church, and the practical consequences of this calling, with respect to the radical secular society in which she lives. 3) Dialogue between Roman Catholics and Reformed Christians. Due to historical reasons and some present realities, this problem has special aspects in Hungary. 4) Dialogue with non-Christians, including Marxists. The Christian-Marxist dialogue, that is becoming quite popular today, has a more than two decade old history in our Church. 5) Ecumenism. What it means for us, and what our contribution should be. “It is our fervent desire to make the results on all five fields known to all interested brethren, thereby serving the common cause of the Kingdom. “The next anniversary project is the new translation of the full Bible into modern Hungarian, in cooperation with the other Protestant churches in Hungary. This is a logical result of our newly found biblical centeredness, on one hand, and the recognition of a need, I should say, world-wide need among Hungarian speaking Christians on the other. In addition to the two million Calvinists, and nearly a million other Protestants in Hungary, there are about one million Hungarian speaking Protestants in Rumania, two hundred thousand in Czechoslovakia, one hundred thousand in the Soviet Union, tens of thousands in Yugoslavia and Austria, not to speak about the hundreds of thousands living in the U.S.A., Canada, and scattered all over the world. With this project our Church intends to fulfill a mission that is world-wide indeed. “A further anniversary project is the publishing of a comprehensive biblical commentary to the whole Bible, taking into consideration the results of modern biblical research. “Next, the publication of a study series in five volumes, dealing with the most important events in the history of our Church. “One of the projects, dear to our heart, is the restoration and modernization of the Debrecen Collegium, the oldest educational institute in the country, founded in 1536 by our forefathers. This institute, in addition to producing church-leaders for four centuries, became a hot-bed of Hungarian cultural life. Countless writers, poets, scientists, statesmen were educated in the Debrecen Collegium. Believing that this alma mater has an important role to play in our life in the future, we established the 400th Anniversary Fund, which is going to finance the rebuilding project. “A publication in English will present the 400 year long history and describe the contemporary life of our Church in articles and pictures. “The actual celebration of the festive event will take place on three levels. a. ) On May 19th the General Synod will hold a Commemorative Session in the Great Church of Debrecen. b. ) On May 20th the Debrecen Seminary will have its Festive Assembly, honoring the leading theologians and churchmen of the Reformed family with honorary doctorates. c. ) On May 21st, which is a Sunday, many of our congregations plan to have special worship services, with our visiting brethren in the pulpits. “The meeting of the General Synod honors the past. The Festive Assembly of the Seminary demonstrates the vital interest of our Church in finding the new meaning of the ancient truth. The services in the local congregations express the fact that ecumenism in our Church is not an exclusive issue for the top leadership of the Church but has vital roots among our people making them living members of this wonderful, world-wide Christian Community.” After the Memphis meeting the Hungarian church delegation spent two weeks in the United States visiting theological seminaries and meeting with Hungarian Reformed ministers and congregations. CONFIRMATION CATECHISM by the Rev. Stephen Kovács available again for one dollar per copy. Write for it to 180 Home Ave., Trenton, New Jersey.
