Magyar Egyház, 1969 (48. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1969-08-01 / 8-9. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

11

MAGYAR

Andrew Harsanyi:

THE MESSAGE OF APOLLO 11

As we write these lines more than a month has already passed since the successful — we may say glorious — moon-trip of Apollo 11. We are still under the spell of this great leap of mankind’s progress.

One may wonder why landing on the moon was such a big thing and why the achievement of the Apollo 11 astronauts was greeted so jubilantly. There was more to it than just feeling great satisfaction over the completion of a hold plan, right at the first try without previous failures.

After orbiting around earth and moon, after rendezvous and walks in space the landing on the moon was hound to come sooner or later. But it seems that it is in the mind of man that he wants to have solid ground under his feet. Flight — in the air or in space — is an exhilarating experience, yet man’s goal is not to fly aimlessly around and about, lie wants to settle down. He wants to fly so he can land. He wants to conquer space so he can have dominion over what is in it: earth, moon, and whatever comes next.

The successful moon-trip has, of course, many “messages.” Interdependence is one of them: without a score of new inventions — the computer being one of the most important — the whole project would have been impossible. More important, still, was the perfect cooperation of thousands of men from planning through building to the flight itself.

Another message speaks about the dreamers, particularly about those of past ages. Science fiction writers of previous generations, like Jules Verne and

H. G. Wells (and let us not forget the Hungarian Maurus Jókai and his novel, “The Story of the Next Century”) have become heralds of actual events.

Here is, maybe, the greatest message of this moon-trip. Technical progress seem to have no limits.-1 What is science fiction today may become an actual event or process tomorrow. Let, therefore, man watch carefully what dreams he builds for the future. The creation story of Genesis may have a mythical air about it, but it also has the solid conviction of the

CHURCH

faith-community: God’s order is that man should have dominion over all things — which may well include many celestial bodies — except his fellow-men. No dream of man for the future may include domination of any man over other men, any people or nation over other people or nations. All things should serve man’s welfare, happiness and, yes, his pleasure, too — hut man must remain free to serve God.

Consultation on Reformed-Roman Catholic Dialogue in Hungary

Representatives of seven Reformed Churches from Central Europe met May 28-30 in Balatonfiired, Hungary to discuss the recommendation that will he considered this summer by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches Executive Committee and the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity of thd Vatican that “Roman catholic-Reformed dialogue should be engaged in.” Bishop Tibor Bartha, president of the general synod of the Reformed Church of Hungary, host to the meeting, motivated the consultation by referring to “the realization that the Reformed churches of Central Europe, with their specific past and present experiences, should make their peculiar contribution to the dialogue...”

The consultation urged the World Alliance to adopt an “attitude of gentle spirit and sobriety in meeting the ecumenical stance of the Roman catholic church.” While the representatives recognized that “the church of the anathematizations .. . has opened herself towards the non-catholic churches, to the non Christian religions, the unbelievers, that is, to the whole world”, they also warned against “the romantic view which does not envisage the whole Roman catholic Church ... and makes a choice instead between the various Roman catholic declarations, stressing and propagating the theses which are amenable to evangelical teaching.” (EPS and RPPS)

The United Church of Christ elected the Rev. Dr. Robert V. Moss, Jr., president of Lancaster Theological Seminary to become its new president. The (Hungarian) Calvin Synod is a member conference of the U.C.C.