Calvin Synod Herald, 1996 (96. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1996-01-01 / 1. szám

CALVIN SYNOD HERALD

AMERIKAI MAGYAR REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA- 6 -Whatever Happened to the Reformed Tradition?

A question raised by Dr. William D. Bonis at the Calvin Synod from Los Angeles

"Holy tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead facts of the living."

Our Reformed Church may rejoice in the Reformed Heritage. Several assemblies have opened the way for a long overdue adventure with the richness of the past. Some of the decisions have caused great concern among a number of church members, talking about departing from the Reformed tradition - of abandoning doctrinal purity, of adulterating polity, and of encouraging the church to "meddle" in civil affairs in a very un-Reformed manner.

This concern is understandable. It involves not only decisions on the highest level of denomination governance but a basic challenge to reevaluate and reassess the meaning and mission of the Reformed heritage.

What is this tradition? It is difficult to define it with precision. The Reformed movement in the 16th and 17th centuries was one of the most creative and constructive developments in the history of the Christian Church. Usually associated with John Calvin rather than Martin Luther.

I would like to say that Calvin's true legacy is not a system, but a method of striving to see everything not from man's point of view, but from the standpoint of God. God, according to the Reformed tradition, is the "Source, Origin, Creator, Sovereign and Center of all." Only from this God-focused dynamism can our own decisions ever be legitimate, as we attempt to meet some of our problems in the 20th century in the spirit of our forebears. Is it possible that we have short-changed ourselves and lost something of our Reformed tradition?

Theologically let me start with just listing the principal doctrinal statements of the Reformed tradition: The Gallican Confession, 1559; the Belgic Confession, 1561; the Heidelberg Catechism, 1563; the Second Helvetic Confession, 1566; the Thirty- Nine Articles of the Church of England, 1563,1571; the Scots Confessions, 1560,1581; the Canons of the Synod of Dort and the Westminster Confession of Faith and catechism 1647.

Our forefathers believed that the Church must always be reformed in its thought by the Word of God, made known in an through the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, during the great evangelical and missionary movements. Presbyterians began to confront theological problems, the Westminster Divines did not have fully to face, that is, the proclamation of the Gospel of redemption to the whole world. Finally, in 1903, the Presbyterian Church, U.S., amended the Westminster Confession with identical chapters on the work of the Holy Spirit and the love of God as the motive for the ministry of reconciliation.

Problems appeared among the Presbyterians in America when we began to "subscribe" to the Westminster Confession and catechisms in 1729, almost a century after they had been written led to what may be called confessionalism.

Our confessional writings should act, not as gag-rules, but as impetus to fresh explanations of apostolic truth.

Confessing the headship of Jesus

Christ, we have attempted to organize our ecclesiastical life the participation of every person in the fulfillment of the church's functions, and the parity of elders or presbyters ir. church government.

The Reformers of the 16th and 17th centuries manifested a marked spirit of catholicity in trying to maintain the unity of the church and in allowing a variety of ecclesiastical forms.

In response to one of the earliest Reformed adventures in ecumenism, Calvin wrote to Archbishop Cranmer of England: he would eagerly "cross ten seas" for the purpose of achieving a larger consensus among the ten seas" for the purpose of achieving a larger consensus among the Reformed fractions throughout Europe. This desire for unity was frustrated because of the growth of nationalism which often obstructed ecumenical efforts.

Those in the Reformed tradition, separated by national barriers, recognized one another as part of the body of Christ, and then proceeded to organize the church in several ways. In some situations, congregational life was organized by presbyters and under a graduate system of judicatories, i.e., in France, Holland and in Scotland. In other situations, congregational life was organized under bishops, i.e. in Hungary, Poland and England. This latter development was sanctioned by both Calvin and Knox, provided the system, protected the parity of the presbyters.

In the debate Presbyterians opposed the local autonomy advocated by the Congregationalists, and the autocracy of bishops whose powers were political as well as ecclesiastical. Ecclesiastical arteries hardened. Unfortunately in immigrating to America, members of the Reformed family organized themselves after patterns established in Europe, perpetuating Old World customs.

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