Magyar Egyház, 1970 (49. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1970-05-01 / 5. szám
14 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ THE SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION In Questions and Answers SECTION XXVI Burial of the believers, care about the dead, purgatory and the apparition of souls. 1. What is our duty concerning the dead? Their bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Spirit, and which will be resurrected on the Last Day, should be buried decently without any superstition. Their earthly lives should be remembered respectfully. 2. if hat is our duty toward the surviving loved ones of the dead? Toward them, and especially toward the widows and orphans, we should show our true compassion and loving care. 3. if hose behavior do we disapprove? We disapprove the behavior of those a. ) who either lament their dead excessively like pagans, or, who do not feel any sorrow at all; b. ) who mistakenly think that they can spare their dead of sufferings in the other world with their sacrifices and prayers. 4. Can we do anything for the benefit of the dead? No. We believe that after the believers have died, they dwell with Christ and do not need any service from us. Also, we believe that the godless are cast to hell and there is no way for us to free them from it. 5. Why do we reject the idea of Purgatory? We reject it because it contradicts the teachings of Christ who said: “Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my words and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24. 6. How do we regard the alleged apparitions of the souls of dead? We regard them as deceits and snares of the devil whose purpose is to destroy the true faith. God forbids any communication with the dead. The wicked rich man in the parable of Jesus who having been tormented in hell wanted to communicate with his brothers was told: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.” Luke 16:29-31. Stephen Kovács SAINTS ARE ORDINARY FOLK The Roman catholic practice of canonization is “irrelevant to true religion and to the life of the church today”, according to Dr. W. Gordon Robinson, a former chairman of the Congregational Church in England and Wales. Dr. Robinson made the charge in the February issue of The Congregational Monthly, journal of the CCEW. Dr. Robinson criticized Rome’s canonization policy when it was announced that this year the Pope will probably canonize the 40 English men and women who died for their faith in the 16th and 17th centuries. He said “no honest and unbigoted person will deny the right of these 40 martyrs to be regarded as faithful heroes” but he declared that the Vatican’s proposed action “has caused misgivings and perturbation both within and outside its own communion.” He then listed four reasons why some people are, or should be, uneasy about canonization. 1. “Canonization with all it involves of invocation of the saints and of belief in the efficacy of their intercessions and their intervention in human affairs is a denial of the supremacy of Christ as the Sole Mediator between God and man. We can find no warrant in Scripture for any continuance of the medieval practice of interposing many mediators between God and man — the Blessed Virgin, the angels, the saints and the priesthood...” 2. “Canonization is a complete denial of the New Testament conception of sainthood. The New Testament never speaks of a saint (in the singular) except in the titles of books and these were added later. It always speaks of saints in the plural...” 3. “Modern translations tend to drop the term saints and to paraphrase it as ‘God’s people’, ‘God’s men and women’ and the like and they do this either because they wish to avoid the stained-glass ‘image’ of sainthood or because they wish to emphasize the nature of the Christian church... All God’s people are ‘called to be saints’ or more simply, ‘called saints’...” 4. “Canonization is irrelevant to true religion and to the life of the Church today.” Dr. Robinson added: If we condemn one branch of the whole church for this, let us beware of smug complacancy about our own branch. How far have we become immersed in trivia and in niceties which are irrelevant? Is it only Rome which is fiddling while the world is burning?
