Magyar Egyház, 1959 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1959-03-01 / 3. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 15 NEWS FROM HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCHES AND PEOPLE DUTCH THEOLOGIAN’S THANKS Dr. H. Berkhof, the famous Dutch theologian, dedicated. his new book “Christus de zin der geschiedenis’’ (Christ, the meaning of history) to the Reformed Theological Academy at Budapest in gratitude for the honorary professor’s title received from that Academy at its centennial celebration in 1955. k k k “SELECTED WORKS OF GÁSPÁR KÁROLYI” The “Theológiai Szemle” announces that extracts from G. Károlyi’s writings were published in one volume recently in Hungary under the above title. It was he who after the Reformation translated the entire Bible into Hungarian, printed it at Vizsoly in 1590 and in a sense laid the foundation for the Hungarian literary tradition. The volume that appears now in the “Magyar Könyvtár” contains parts from the original Bible translation and from its preface, also some of his short writings and selections from his “Two Books” that dealt with the national tragedy of Mohács (1526) when the Ottoman-Turkish empire’s army won a decisive battle over Hungary inaugurating by this the century and half of Muslim rule in the central part of the country. Károlyi’s translation of the Scripture became the most widely read Hungarian “book”, which saw almost 300 editions. Its impact and continuing influence on the Hungarian language and literature is immeasurable. In Hungary a new edition of Károlyi’s original Vizsoly Bible is planned to be produced photostatically. * * * The Hungarian government has made special grants to the Roman Catholic, Reformed and Lutheran Churches, to compensate for the implementation of a 25 per cent cut in subsidies scheduled for 1958. A plan for five-yearly reductions was made in 1948. The new grants extend to the end of 1959 and were announced by the government paper “Népszabadság” as being given “in the hope of seeing the churches support the work of building the country for the prosperity of the people”.-----------o----------EARTH The earth soft and rich With its dark, warm soil Nourishes life. In its bosom Is beginning and end. The secret of creation Embodied here, in silence, For eternity. Foolish man! You seek for answers in vain. The earth cannot reveal What God entrusted to her. You will spend your life Questing For what you will know In death. Fruzsina Harsányi Teen-Age Bible Knowledge How much Bible knowledge can young people acquire in thirteen or fourteen years? We have no specific information on this point insofar as all teenagers are concerned, but we do know that Miss Agnes Lindemulder, Miss Judy Rooze and Gary Garehan, all three of the church school of the Christian Reformed Church of Prospect Park, New Jersey, answered correctly on “The Living Bible” radio quiz program sponsored by the American Bible Society every one of the fifteen questions asked on each regular broadcast, and on a “Winner’s Broadcast”; and also correctly answered thirteen questions out of fifteen asked on a “Super- Winner’s broadcast” (special feature). In addition they answered correctly forty-two extra questions which were asked in breaking “ties” on these different broadcasts. This was a history-making accomplishment! That these three young people should have answered correctly eighty-five Bible questions out of a total of eighty-seven asked is not only a rare accomplishment, but an achievement which has never been attained before in the history of the program by three participants, all from the same church school. They all attend Eastern Christian High School. “The Living Bible” radio quiz program is heard Sundays at 7:35 A.M. over Station WNEW (1130 on the dial), New York City. (Bible Society Record) --------o-------Mixed Marriages Frowned on in Germany (Cleves, Germany)—The local Cleves synod of the Rhineland Church has struck a fresh blow in the “battle over mixed marriages” in Germany by warning Protestants that mixed marriages might bring them under church discipline. In resolutions dealing with the subject, the synod says that marrying Roman Catholics or bringing up children of mixed marriages in the Catholic Church are offences under the church discipline and can be followed by exclusion from Holy Communion and loss of church-membership rights. Declaring that Protestants who marry Catholics are not bound to keep promises given to Catholic priests that their children will be brought up as Catholics, the synod decided to recommend tightening up the marriage regulations of the Rhineland Church as a whole. Protestants in the Rhineland also report that the Roman Catholic Church’s attitude toward mixed marriages has resulted in an increasing number of couples being married in Protestant churches. * * * THE DEATH SENTENCE passed against Dr. Konrad Möckel, German Evangelical pastor in Brassó, Hungarian Transylvania, arrested last spring on a charge of “activities against the state”, has been modified to life imprisonment. * * * THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY branch in Belgrade has now obtained permission to import 200 Bibles a month in the form of registered parcels from abroad. This marks a relaxation of the prohibition against importing Bibles, in effect since September 1956.
