Diakonia - Evangélikus Szemle, 1993
1993 / 3. szám - Summary, Aus dem Inhalt
79 DIAKONIA Lutheran Review Summary The main theme of the current issue is ’Churches after the Political Change’, though one could also say ’in the course of political change’, since what is called political change is actually a lengthy process. And we have only got through the first four years. After the new Babylonian captivity of the churches in Eastern Europe is over, pastor Tamás Fabiny compares the reorganisation problems the Jews returning from capitivity had with the situation of the churches today. Considering the number of preliminary signs it is difficult to pin-point the time of the essential change. The enfolding of such signs are today examples of the church’s internal independent organisation, which are reviewed by the author, especially the Lajos Ordass Friendship Circle (OLEK), the Hungarian Lutheran Young People’s Alliance (MEVISZ), the Young Men’s/Women’s Christian Association (KIE), the Lutheran Christians for the Gospel movement (EKE), the Deaconess Training (FÉBÉ), the Luther Alliance (MLSZ), and the Foreign Mission Association. Ts Democracy within the Church Viable?’ asks engineer Zoltán Koczor, lay member of the Lutheran Synod. Though the expression has no theological character, it is the most effective method of handling people and opinions within a congregation. Lack of democracy, even in the church, leads to malfunctioning and to a loss of credibility which, in the Lutheran Church with its democratic traditions, do not follow of necessity. The author reviews the impacts which undermine democracy in the church today. In this context he then points out the responsibility of the Synod. An impartial picture of the relationship between society and church is obtained only if viewed through the eyes of people outside the church. With this Publication of the Lutheran Church in Hungary Editor: D. Imre Veöreös Assistant Editor: László Bízik Editorial and Publishing Office: H—1447 Budapest P.O.B. 500 Subscriptions to the above address. Annual Subscription: 720,— Fts. in view, Zsófia Mihancsik, a prominent reporter at the Hungarian Radio, interviewed some well-known and respected local public figures. According to aesthete Peter Balassa it is characteristic of the church today that it has not yet overcome its old fears and ultra-conservative theology. He compares today’s situation with other countries (e.g. Poland) and finds that it will take a long struggle before the church experiences a revival, or before it achieves real independence from the authority of the state. In his opinion the future belongs to the church which lives in small fellowships and which is able to dialogue with everybody. Philosophy historian Mária Lugossy is very sympathetic in her criticism of the church before and after the change, sympathizing in the first place with the manifestations with which it tries to impose its own opinion on the whole of society, be it moral (abortion, religious instruction), or institutional (returning schools or property to the church). On the basis of the traditions of Jesus’ non-conformism and Luther’s protestation one must resist the temptation of coveting wordly power and with self-restraint one must hold on to time-enduring values. Of the interviewed people only the organist artistpolitician Árpád Fasang Jr. qualifies as ’ecclesiastic’, who from the outset played a part in bringing about changes in the church. While formerly the trouble was over-conformism, today the church in its confused state, does not dare to appear in public life and, for instance, even in the matter of religious instruction it represents two different opinions. Besides the papers reviewed above, also a full Table of Contents is included in the English and German languages.
