Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)
1968-06-01 / 2. szám
HOP Vol XX Special Number 1968 No 2 .101 -(07805) and a significant part of the world population, including our nation, is already involved in the process of ccmplet ing and consolidating the consequences which issue from these changes,, In other places, only the foretokens and signs of coining changes of radical character are as yet in evidence* This profound, abrupt and jerk-like transformation of the modern world and society is a process of ex-tracrlinary canplexity* We may d ist in- * guish four main trends^ Beyond all doubt- the most significant is the social revolution: the struggle of the poor strata of society that lived for > oenturies under oppression against the privileged possessors of economic and rpolitical power, for the "sunny side of life", for mare bread and human dignity. Another decisive trend is visible in the long series of national revolutions led by the underdeveloped peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin .America that once lived in the state of colonial dependence, for their political, economic independence and social progress* At the same time, in many parts of the world, we are witnesses to the revolutionary struggle of the races far equality, today most notably in the United States and in South Africa,, And, as a background of these main trends, we discern the fact of the ra- * volition of science ard technology, with its impact on all fields of life, bringing about a hitherto undreamed-of change in the life of today's society and also in our personal lives,. 76) Richard. Shaull is, therefore, right when he states that a vast polarization is going on in the world today? on the one side, we see' those enjoying the advantages of the statusquo and hence opposing any radiwal ohange, and, on the other side, the social' strata, peoples and races aware of their subordinate and oppressed state - these motors of change - struggling fer a new and mere just world ardero Shaull believes that tlx- future of our modern world will be decided on the frontiers of revolutionary transformations* Those, therefore, who feel their responsibility for the welfare and future of the human race will have to take up their posts on the front line of the revolut ions© b) The Rejection of Revolution in Traditional Cliristian Tliinking If the above analysis of the feverishly changing modem world, this - field of the church's ministry today, is a right one, then we are no longer surprised to see the awakening of a very keen theological interest in the problem of revolution and in the ethical problems posed by the revolutionary transformnt,ion of society« What might puzzle us is rather the question why has this come so late* If this succession of revolutionary changes and abrupt transformation is indeed a characteristic feature of history in the Modern Age and especially of our XXth century life, why has this fact been ignored for so long a time by Christian ethics? Or, if they have touched upon the problem of revolution at all., why have they failed to go beyond its outright condemnation, often .without a careful and thoroughgping assessment
