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?
Szilveszter Füsti-Molnár 2.3 The Experience of Liminality and its Consequences for Existing Structures First of all, the crossing person in liminality is not a lonely wanderer but belongs to the love community of those, who became one Spirit in one body. So what is a human being? Christian anthropology finds the core of human existence in this call into community; “in the community chosen for eternal life”, as it is highlighted in Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 54. This can be seen and become experienced in our time. These moments, however, are not only immortal but also the most mortal, when they get into interaction with structures of our world on the level of human consciousness. But as Buber says: when our world of structures clashes with the influential foundation that determines the nature of humanity, these structures melt time and again. Thus the world becomes double-faced just as the behavior becomes double-faced as well.15 The overturning, or the influence of liminality’s tension and dramatic nature, appear in this world and also in the structure of constant self-inadequacy. Christ is the center of this dramatic point, and as the result of this the Church, which confesses itself to be the Body of Christ, becomes similarly influential since God and the human being are both there in Christ. 3. Summary We can arrive at Gods righteousness only by means of the belief and creed that He raises in us through His Word. This faith means a living relationship with the living God. It does not parrot learned truths but is willing to question the picture about itself in all circumstances. This is a questioning faith, because such a faith that stops thinking becomes worthless after a while. Faith that stops thinking ceases to have self-critique. Without critical insight about our own thoughts, we will understand neither God, nor the world around us.16 The Heidelberg Catechism is still present in the Hungarian Reformed Church’s theology and teachings, along with the need to encourage dialogue. It shows us the script of this dialogue, which should be relevant especially at particularly intense dramatic points of borderline situations as in our age. In this dialogue, on one side is the existing one, who addresses one’s questions due to one’s general circumstances of existence, to our divine Majesty on the other side. And not less is at stake - referring to Calvin - than an unbreakable unity of knowledge of God and of ourselves.17 And in this unity we come to the realization that we need not only the logic of suitability according to the structured world of today, but the logic of overflow, which is brought to life as the ecology of grace. Regarding thi Kálvin János: A keresztyén tanítás rendszere, Pápa: Református Főiskolai Nyomda, 1909., I kötet, 37-39.s, it is possible to reveal the qualitatively deeper layers of Christian spirituality, which is not limited to an idealized subjec15 Martin Buber: Én és Te. Európa, 1991.39 16See Eberherd Jűngel: Das dunkle Wort vom Tod Gottes, in Von Zeiz zu Zeit, München, é. n. 18. kk. 17 Kálvin János: A keresztyén tanítás rendszere, Pápa: Református Főiskolai Nyomda, 1909., I kötet, 37-39. 54 Sárospataki Füzetek 17. évfolyam | 2013 | 4
