Magyar Egyház, 1978 (57. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-05-01 / 5-6. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 woman herself. Matthew Henry, the famous English Biblical commentator (1662-1714), likened this portrait of the virtuous woman to a mirror in which all women can examine themselves, though few will find their likeness. But the woman who looks in the mirror there will catch something of the beauty of spirit and the serenity of the virtuous woman. She has been a source of inspiration to women for more than two thousand years, and her ideals are as faithfully applicable to this generation as they were to the generations of long ago. A singular thing about these twenty-two verses on the virtuous woman is that in the Hebrew they form an acrostic. That is, each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order, beginning with aleph, beth, gimel, daleth, and so on. Because of its alphabetical acrostic form these twenty-two verses have been called “the ABC of the Perfect Wife.” Since this passage is found at the end of a chapter whose title mentions King Lemuel and his mother, the questions often have been asked, Who was this King Lemuel? Who was his mother? Neither has ever been satisfactorily identified. Tradition attributes the writing of Proverbs to Solomon. If this were so, this chapter might draw its inspiration from the wise counsel of Solomon’s own mother Bath-sheba. But modern scholars do not accept this theory. They look upon Proverbs as embodying not only the wisdom of Solomon but that of many old Hebrew sages. The story of the virtuous woman fittingly ends the study of the great women of the Old Testament. Though this good wife was not a real woman but an ideal one, she does typify almost all the admirable qualities of the actual women of Hebrew history. Centuries later, at the beginning of the New Testament, comes Mary, Mother of Jesus, who more than any woman in the Bible embodies all the best qualities of womanhood. We see clerly that the virtuous woman of Proverbs was a motivating force in the refined and enlightened society of her day. As woman goes so the world goes. In the new Christian community that was to come, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, would be a radiant center. ☆ ☆ Carpatho-Ukraine Church Has New Bishop The Reformed Church of Carpatho-Ukraine (USSR) has a new bishop. He is the Rev. Paul Forgón of Beregszász who had for several years been serving as deputy to his predecessor, Bishop Bela Gencsy who retired at the end of 1977 after a ministry of nearly 30 years. The Hungarian-speaking Reformed Church became an independent church after the second world war when the Carpatho-Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union. The Church, with a membership of between 70,000 and 80,000 spread over ninety parishes, maintains good ecumenical relations with other communions, notably with the Roman Catholic Church of the same region. —RPS Mortgage Burning in the Allen Park, Michigan Church The joyous occasion, the mortgage burning of the church will be celebrated on Sunday, June 4th, 1978 in the Hungarian Reformed Church, Allen Park, Michigan. It was 12 years ago, that the church leaders decided to sell the church on the corner of Dearborn and Vanderbilt Avenues and move to the new location 9901 Allen Road, in Allen Park, Mich. The lots for the church, educational and social center were purchased earlier. The $300,000.00 mortgage loan from the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America was granted and the buildings were completed in one year 1965-1966. All church members and organizations worked very hard to meet the payments on the loan, which amounted to $2,300.00 every month. The last payment was made this year January 1978. All Hungarian churches and fraternal organizations of the area have been invited. The mortgage burning committee hopes to make this day memorable in the history of the Allen Park, Mich, church with a special service of thanksgiving at 4 P.M. followed by a banquet at 5:30 P.M. The (Dutch) Reformed Church In America Celebrates Its 350th Anniversary The Church Herald, official newspaper of the Reformed Church in America devoted considerable space and time to the 350th anniversary celebration of the denomination. Some statistics about the Dutch Reformed Church: there are 921 congregations, 215,188 communicant members, 115,807 children and
