Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)

1968-06-01 / 2. szám

- 119

(07900)

HOP Vol XX Special Number

1968 No 2

can speak with convincing power, as this was dan on st rated, far instance, at the Geneva World Conference on Church and Society, We quote from the report of Section IV: "We are fully aware that the tensins between the affluent segments of society, which happen to be predominantly white, and the disinherited segments which happen to be predominantly coloured, are more acute than ever before. The World Council cf Churches Assembly at New Delhi noted this and. it was confirmed by subsequent events throughout the world.

In Africa and in North America particularly, disinherited racial groups are desperately struggling to achieve social justice by organizing themselves to gain political and economic power1^) "In dealing with racial and ethnic problems, Christian churches must be fully aware cf the political and economic structures of society and see the problems in their contexts, That is to say, socialist countries, capitalist countries, and countries with mixed economies are bound to present .different contexts within which to view the racial and ethnic problem ",^/ This familiarity with the relevant facts can, of course, never make us give up or forget our present viewpoint ,

What is the right Christian approach? It is to see the problems in their relation to Christ, This is a hopeful way of looking at things, even in the most complicated cases* The foundation of ouf hope, also in this ocnnection, is the fact that sin is cancelled sin and conquerable sin* Just as the problem of sin. should never be considered in itself but always in relation to Jesus Christ, the problem of racial discrimination, too, should be considered from this angle. We regard racial discrimination as sin, yet it holds true of this farm of sin also that it is cancelled and and can be conquered in Jesus Christ, If one forgets this, then even the Christian spectator of the horrors of racism might easily be overcome by fear and anxiety and come under the spell cf the "demons" of racism* Yet our faith in Christ delivers us even from this fair; his perfect love casteth out fear0 We take sin seriously, also in this matter, but we are still mere serious about our relation to the Lord Jesus Christ* Even when we are face to face with the terrible inferno of racial discrimination, we do not give up our hope* But we emphasize that the goal of our hope is not in ours elves,neither in the church, but in our Lord, And for this very reason we con affirm the efforts of those men who, although outside the church, are led by good will. The apostle teaches us (Philippians 4:8,9) that we are not to sccrn what is good in the world even if it is not Christians that invented or practise it. Our fellowship with Jesus Christ does not preclude the wide embrace of our humanity; the nearer we are to him, the source of our hope, the greater He appears to us as our victorious Lord and the smaller our problems become.

2) The complete elimination cf racial discrimination from the life of the church. The credibility of the church depends on her doing what áie preaches to others. She must first make her own task what she coi-jpends to others. In relation to our problem, the church must demonstrate the healing power of the work of her Lord Yd thin her own life. The unity of the church, the brotherhood of Christians which bridges the gulfs between men, have been