Magyar Egyház, 1977 (56. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1977-01-01 / 1. szám
6 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ coming year. “Be ye steadfast unmovable!” said the great apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. Sometimes ministers regretfully admit, that all their preaching and teaching seems to be in vain and they are not able to convince everyone to be a steadfast, adamant believer. Yes, only God can teach this with the passing days and years: let our Lord teach you, to be steadfast in your church membership. Let each hour, every day and every passing year teach you to be faithful, loyal and steadfast forever. Dezső Ábrahám, Bishop ☆ ☆ THE CHURCH’S PLACE IN TODAY’S MODERN COMMUNITY I. FALSE OPINIONS ABOUT THE PLACE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN COMMUNITY There is no place for the church in the modern community: This is the official statement of the atheistic, communistic, ungodly forces. They want to build a new world, new cities, new houses, new communities and a new society without religion, without churches, without God. They work differently in every country but they have a common goal: to destroy the church, to eliminate the faith in Jesus Christ and to undermine the belief in the existence of God. A few days ago I read a very interesting article in the official newspaper of the Communist Party about the renovation of the Russian church buildings. The writer acknowledges that the churches are empty in the Soviet Union because “the people of the Soviet Union is very well educated and the practical leadership of the Communist Party solves the problems of the population.” The writer explains later, that they do the rebuilding of church buildings because “the Soviet Government feels, that the church buildings are important signs of the past and have artistic values.” But to clear all possible misunderstanding the writer fastly adds: “Of course we all know, that religious belief is based on primitive fairy tales and history proves that religion is always in the way of progress, therefore there is no place for the church in modern society.” You can clearly see from these official statements, that the policy of the Communist Government and the position of the Communist Party toward the churches did not change during the past sixty years. The renewal of the old church buildings in Soviet Russia or in any Communist controlled country is not the sign of the revived church life and definitely has nothing to do witli religious freedom. The same time, the same forces use a very different tactic in the United States. They want “to modernize” the churches, make them “useful”. A few days ago I received a letter from California, which includes the following text: “Why you should quit going to Church? 1. Most deep thinkers question traditional religious beliefs and practices. 2. Christianity is a comedy of errors. It is divided into hundreds of competing denominations, each claiming to have the one true interpretation of ambiguous Bible myths. 3. Christianity appeals mostly to a childish mentality. That is why many church leaders oppose family planning. They want more and more children to indoctrinate. 4. Many church members are hypocrites: they say one thing and do the opposite. 5. Jesus was no “Prince of Peace.” Christians have been fighting wars for twenty centuries. 6. A hallucination is called a “vision” when it seems to confirm a dogma of Christian belief. According to statistics, church membership is positively correlated with mental hospital confinement. 7. Many Christians reject the theory of evolution because they are too conceited to admit they evolved from an ape-like ancestor. 8. Faith is like the loyalty of a family pet. Fed wine and bread crumbs by the clergyman, the church goer is rewarded for superstitious behavior. 9. In most churches women are not allowed to serve as clergy. 10. “Holy Communion” is a cannibalistic ritual. It panders to the savage superstition that the virtues of the slain are magically transmitted through the act of devouring his carcass. 11. There is no statistical evidence that church membership is a deterrent to crime. 12. The money donated to church could be put to a more worthwhile purpose. Let us boycott churches until they modernize their teachings and practices and begin to serve a useful function in the community. A Stone Age religion cannot help us plan for a better future. Discourage others from attending church and help organize alternatives to church. Help us inform the community. Take this letter to a printer and have 500 copies made. Distribute
