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

1968-06-01 / 2. szám

HOP Vol XX Special Number

1968 No 2

52 -(07694)

To give an example: we have had to review the whole economy of the church both in the congregations and in cur central organisations. An economy based on landed property and other immovables owned by the church,and church taxes exacted in the seme manner as those of the state differed, of oourse, from our present economy, within the framevrork cf the socialist planned economy, with a much greater emphasis now on voluntary contributions, especially in view of the fact that church membership is also voluntary. It has been in the interaction of concrete decisions and theological,scrutinies that we have had to evolve the servant pattern of the church in our society* In this connection we merely refer to the arising necessity and since accomplished task of revising the code of church law,

It has been our experience that theological work is not only a manifestation but also the promotive agait of the diakonia pattern of our churoh. In defining the conception of the Church, the new code cf church law in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary begins with the ministry received fjförn Jesus Christ, and, in defining the contacts cf church ministry, makes mention, beside the preaching of the Word and the administration cf the sacraments, of the exercise of love also* The order of the Reformed Church in Hungary , in the new code of church law, is also deduced from the ministry of Jesus Christo This approach reflects not only the actual practice but also our theological efforts» Our theological work has three guiding viewpoints; we try to seek the Biblical foundations, we try to have a Christ ological view of our doctrines and we try to pay due attention tc the ^guidance of the fathers' confessions of faith* Our experience has been that the Biblical and confessional approach does not result in abstractions if we sufficiently concentrate cur attention on the person and redeeming work of Jesus Christo We have recognized in him the Diakonos* We have learned that his life pattern, even after his resurrection and ascension, is the diakonia pattern* This is, in the first place, the main source cf strength far our churches, but then the supreme example and task as well*57)

While walking in the path of the serving church, we have come to a clearer view of our situation and a more sober view cf our tasks. While living according to the diakonia pattern, we, too, have recognized the fact which is well-known in all parts of the world, that we live in the qge of revolutionary changes* We have watched the revolutionizing effect cf theology, yet it is not only in this fact that we seek the real causes of the revolutionary transformation, but also in society itself, ir\the inner movement of society. This is precisely a recognition peculiar of the serving church living in our sooiety. According to cur experiences, it is a mistake to set up the revolution of science and technology against the social revolution, - this artificial view being used recently to divert men's attention from the social revolution* We believe that technical progress is one of the significant constituents of the age of social revolutions, not separable from the social revolution, still less something that could be pitted against the latter.