Magyar Egyház, 1969 (48. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1969-02-01 / 2. szám
12 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Our mission should be carried out by helping our own mission churches. We can do missionary work among the Hungarian Reformed Christians in the United States and other countries who are still scattered around and waiting for our help. We can help to pay off the debt of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Montevideo, Uruguay. We can help to build a Hungarian Reformed Church in Geneva, Switzerland. We can help to renovate some of the churches in Hungary. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, ... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Ministers, elders, officers, organizations, Sunday School teachers, young people, children of church schools, and members of our churches, the Lord commands us to go and witness and to bring people into his church. It is a hard and difficult task, but let us obey his mission command for “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him”, and he is with us always. THE SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION In Questions and Answers SECTION XX. The Holy Baptism 1. Who baptized the first time? It was John the Baptist who also baptized Jesus in the River Jordan. 2. Who administered the sacrament of baptism after John the Baptist? The apostles of Jesus Christ, whom the Lord strongly commanded to proclaim the gospel and to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 3. What are the spiritual blessings of baptism? The Apostle Peter explained them to the Jews, as follows: “Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:28). 4. What does it mean to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ? It means that we are received among those children of God who are cleansed by the blood of Christ, and are spiritually renewed by the Holy Spirit, and abundantly blessed with the various gifts of the Spirit. 5. Why is it sufficient to be baptized only once? It is sufficient because no one can he received among the children of God more than once. Those who are cleansed of their sins by the blood of Jesus and are renewed by the Holy Spirit, will remain forever in the communion of the children of God, and together with the Son of God, Jesus, they will inherit the heavenly eternal life. 6. In what sense does the baptizmal water symbolize the washing away of our sins and our spiritual new birth by the Holy Spirit? It symbolizes them in the sense that as water cleanses and refreshes unclean and tired body, so the blood of Jesus cleanses the soul of sins and the Holy Spirit creates a new spiritual life in man. 7. What are the duties of a baptized person? His duties are to obey God, to fight against his sins, and to remain forever in the communion of the children of God, in the church, working for the benefit of his brethren. 8. What is the true mode of baptism? The one as J esus was baptized and as the apostles administered baptism. 9. What do we not approve? a. ) We do not approve those human inventions which were added to the administration of baptism, like exorcism, the use of lighted candles, salt, spittle and other things. b. ) We do not approve the administration of baptism by midwives or women, for the Apostle Paul prohibited women to administer religious ordinances. 10. Why do we baptize infants? Because, according to the gospel, infants belong to the kingdom of God, that is, they are children of God and are in the church. Through their baptism we profess this truth. Stephen Kovács U.S. CHURCH IN 1999: ONE-THIRD OF PROTESTANTS UNITED INDIANAPOLIS — (RNS) — One-third of American Protestants will be united before 1999 is the prediction of Dr. Harold E. IFey, professor-emeritus at Christian Theological Seminary, and the former editor of Christian Century. He wrote on “The Church in 1999” for the 50th anniversary issue of World Call, magazine of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He said he thankfully anticipates the union of onethird of the U.S. Protestants within the next decade. The way to unity, he added, is shown by the Consultation on Church Union (COCU), representing nine Protestant denominations. He also forsaw strong Protestant-Roman Catholic cooperation, but with the likelihood that “forces of obstruction in Catholicism and Protestantism” will cause disruption and suffering. * * * * CHINESE BISHOP DIES Washington, D. C., (EPS) — News has just been received of the death of Bishop W. Y. Chen, 70, the last Methodist bishop to serve in the People’s Democratic Republic of China.
