Diakonia - Evangélikus Szemle, 1989
1989 / 2. szám - Summary
D1AK0NIA Publication of the Lutheran Church in Hungary Responsible Editor: Dr. Gyula Nagy Editorial and Publishing Office: H-1088 Budapest, Puskin u. 11 Subscriptions to above address. Published every six months. Annual subscription: 130-Forints. Lutheran Review Summary Church historian Tibor Schulek’s posthumous essay is a continuation of his recollation of the history of the 100-year old Hungarian Lutheran Church in Transylvania. After World War I., at the time of the Peace Treaty of Trianon, some 30-32.000 ethnic Hungarian Lutherans came under Rumanian rule. This second part contains the history of the first years in this new situation, as revealed by extensive research. In accordance with the author’s last wish we are including a list of the Hungarian Lutheran congregations living today in the Socialist Republic of Rumania, as classified by the dioceses of Brassó and Arad with the location names both in Hungarian and Rumanian. Magic is mankind’s eternal quest for controlling the supernatural, transcendent powers, while superstition is the hidden explanation lurking behind it. The two, entwined in a refined form, steal themselves into man’s cultured world, and even into church practice. Retired professor of theology István Ferdinánd examines this phenomenon in the various areas of church life and piety. What exactly is Protestantism today, at the end of the 20th Century, after Vatican II., and here in Hungary? Titular professor of theology Károly Hafenscher addresses these questions in his article. Protestant identity is not easily clarifiable in our decades. From the four known Protestant basic principles - solely by the Holy Spirit, solely by faith, solely by grace, solely Christ - the first three hardly separate us from revived Catholicism. Christ, however, as absolute authority in space and time above all finite reality: remains even today the most characteristic and comprehensive teaching of the Protestant faith content. Solus Christus is today’s most specific expression of Protestant concordance. Under the title „The ’Jewish Question’ in two kinds of German Evangelical Approach” Pastor László Donáth presents first Bonhoeffer’s viewpoint, and then the opinions expressed after the war. For the Lutheran Bonhoeffer the ’Jewish question’ meant at the same time both state- social and church-theological issues. His pamphlet in 1933, ’The Arian Article in the Church’ warned even before the Holocaust: in this exigence the Church’s truth is unavoidably at stake. After 1945 German evangelical church statements made no mention of active responsibility and theologically supported anti-Judaism. Though there were valuable initiatives also, the author stresses E. Bethge’s opinion that the significant efforts were not followed by a truly committed confession by the German churches. Sociologist Zsuzsanna Elekes reviews the drug poblem in Hungary in the past years. Among the social problems, in the order of the seriousness of the danger, drugs come second. After over 10 years of silence, in the early 80’s, a significant change took place in the official attitude towards the drug issue, though very little was actually done. As the institutions concerned have no information about the addicts, their treatment presents a number of unsolved difficulties. The article calls attention to the open matter with alarming factual information. Besides the papers reviewed above also a full Table of Contents is included in the English and German languages.
