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

1968-06-01 / 2. szám

HOP Vol XX Special Number

1968 No 2

130 -(07911)

really take seriously her own role to be the firstfruit in this world of the world to oome, - In the interests of the authority and validity of the churches* ministry for the peaceful coexistence of nations we must persist in our endeavour to make and maintain ecumenical contacts of the purest intention between ourselves*

e) Political Responsibility as a Specifio Attitude of Christian Faith

It is already in a "pluralistic world community" that the idea of ' the peaceful coexistence of nations is to be put into practice* When the churches affirm this idea and offer their help towards its realization,they by no means give up their Christian faith, neither do they become instruments of alien political interests*

Professor Hran&dka in his aforementioned lecture formulates this as follows; "A believing Christian cannot make concessions in his belief in the genuine Gospel cf Jesus Christ, he cannot accomodate himself Jideologically* to other philosophical or religious views# For him also coexistence cannot mean diluting his own faith and witnessc But a believing Christian is by his very faith in the Gospel led to the places where man struggles for his own dignity, for justice, freedom, far higher social and political orders# The Gospel is universal.;, It is related to humanity it self 0 The purer, the warmer and the deeper is our faith, the greater is our desire tu serve mnkind across the national or racial, religious or political difiepenoes# "

This means, on the one Land, that it is not the church's "ideological ability to accomodate herself" but her living faith that enables her to perform genuine ministrations in the interests of peaceful coexistcnco0 Hence it is basically important always to assert against herself the requirement of the reformat io ecclesiae continua in ca^ite et in membriss Nothing less than continuous renewal in self-srutiny and penitence can enable her to resist the temptation of exchanging or identifying her faith with some human idea or ideology.

On the other hand, it means that the church cannot make herself, under the pretext of "cooperation", a tool to serve some impure designs of group interests or political ccnceptiens# T/e believe, that, in our time, the churches have reason to warn each other agpinst this danger,, Peaceful coexistence does not mean that only the instruments of war and enmity have changed, that the "hot wire" is replaced by "psychological, warfare" in the relation of peoples living in different and antagonistic social and political systems# Thus peaceful coexistence does not mean a situation in vhioh, "camouflaged as peaceful competition, the various self-interests ard group interests of an inhuman character me in actual conflict; a situation in which one cf the partners makes use of all the available instruments, with