Sárospataki Füzetek 17. (2013)
2013 / 4. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Szilveszter Füsti-Molnár: Can the Heidelberg Catechism be Neglected in the Life of the Reformed Church of Hungary?
ARTICLES Szilveszter Füsti-Molnár CANTHE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM BE NEGLECTED IN THE LIFE OF THE REFORMED CHURCH OF HUNGARY? Introduction In this paper we wish to answer the question in the title by throwing light on the environment of our Church’s condition and the temptations of the tendencies deriving from it. For a better understanding, we try to outline a possible hermeneutical connecting point that can be compared to dominant perspectives of our time, and to the present situation of the Christian Church, and to the main theological message of its mission. In this presentation we intend to draw your attention to the Heidelberg Catechism in a way that we are not trying to find the relevant message of history of dogma today by a historical exegesis of the Catechism. On the contrary, our aim is to try to find the possible scope of interpretation in the present situation, in which it is possible to highlight the need for confession of faith in the Church’s mission, and stress what role the Heidelberg Catechism can play in this. 1. The Changing Value Orientations and the Transitional Status of the Present Time The changes of values influence our social and church life in a quite ambivalent way today. On the one hand, we can see the structure of a world which can be more or less easily understood and categorized, with types and hierarchies. But at the same time, at definite points in these structures, among the clear-cut categorized statuses, there are cracks, breaking points and limiting points. These are in-between situations - or using a more adequate anthropological and sociological notion - liminal1 circumstances, ' It was not until the second half of the 20th century, though, that the terms "liminal" and "liminality" gained popularity through the writings of Victor Turner. Turner borrowed and expanded upon Van Gennep’s concept of liminality, ensuring widespread usage of the concept not only in anthropolSárospataki Füzetek 17. évfolyam | 2013 | 4 45
