Hungarian Church Press, 1957 (9. évfolyam, 14-15. szám)
1957-11-30 / 14. szám
HCHP XI,30,1957, Vol,IX/14 161 5 ~ sins, mistakes ani* failures. I try to avoid "both approaches since, during the Godgiven trial of a long year’s sickness and convalescence, 1 proved thousands of times both lines of thought and came to the conclusion that ws crust have both, at the same time, in our view. Tills path which we, after ITorld YTar 1.1, perceived, in the life of a well-nigh collapsed church and of a people emerging from its own grave, was the way of lif e, The question is whether our wolle therein was so bad that we came to a dead end, In my first report I said that "wherever faith is laclzing in this utter’ humility of repentance, there the way not only narrows but comes to a dead end." Have we come to a dead end? R -dical g-el. f - s crut iny The question we liave just raised is not a rhetorical question with an implied answer. It is on open, a most •gainfully open question. My assessment of the situation, in the spring of 195S, was wrong. Let me be the first to begin our self-scrutiny with this admission. I,y opinion was that it was yet possible, for about half-a-year, to struggle along with those inner tensions of church life to which my expression "the miserable battlefield of divergent forces" had been applied. By then, I thought, we shall have passed one of the most decisive outcome of our labours over long years, the Galyatető .meeting of the Central Committee of the 7/orld Council of Churches.- This postponement of action was not justified by the subsequent events, I thought it will be enough to have confidential talks, in preparation for the autumn season of work in 1956, with a few of our district’s leaders with a wellattested ability to carry burdens, and, on the other Iiond, with state functionaries who were significant from the viewpoint of the church’s life, in order to maize clear in these discussions, right into the details, how I imagine the way of solving our problems. Allow me to report on these talks, which were carried on in an ever-widening circle of friends, by referring to my jottings which served then as a syllabus of lay expositions. Hy notes carried the title; "Divergent trends in our church". The foli-owing sketch contained the description of six types, 1. The simplest,though by no means harmless type is marked by a hankering far the past, No perspective, no recognition of God’s judgments, based cm the sectarian slogan; "7e were happier in those times". - 2« A species of the first, a hankering for tne ecclesiastical past, for the old-fashioned missionary work in terms of our former "Inner I.Iission", A more complex mentality; motives of higher honesty must also be taken into account. - 3. Wavering. Here we must make distinctions« The simplest cane would be the tcaptation to adopt the standpoint of Ito. 1. Therm are cases when, in the constantly changing situations, men are not resilient enough in making their orientation. In some cases the hesitation is caused by the struggles of Christian conscience amidst inner selfcontradictions o Those pangs of conscience may be intensified by the repellent spectacle which the activity of opportunists and climbers present in cur church life, - 4, Opportunism that we may also call "obedience without faith".. Its slogans .are these; "One cannot do otherwise'1, or, "Wc must accomodate ourselves.,e" etc. 5. The attitude of those trying to maize a career. This is a degeneration of ambition. It is often difficult to distinguish it from believing obedience, for pushers seem to do the same thing, but in an entirely different way and motivated by entirely different ends, It is with this type that instances of morally unscrupulous behaviour occur. - 6, The narrow path« It has, amidst divergent forces, many temptations. Its best formulation so far: "He, arc building the Reformed Church of Jesus Christ in Hungary according to a socialist society" (The for. ula was made by our friend of blessed -memory, János Victor)® This sketch was for all those familiar with our church life a lifelike picture of our church situation. It was evident that the question we faced was this: what was the immediate task of those who, amidst such divergencies, wished to walk I
