Magyar Egyház, 1964 (43. évfolyam, 3-9. szám)
1964-07-01 / 7. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11 Testimonial for Dezső Abraham The congregaton of our Perth Amboy Church honored Dean Dezső Ábrahám with a Testimonial Dinner on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his service in Perth Amboy. More than 500 church members, guests and friends were prsent to hear Bishop Zoltán Béky and Dr. Louis Nagy (Cliffside) pay tribute to Pastor Ábrahám’s outstanding ministry and congregational leadership. The Rev. Guilford K. Davis, President of the Protestant Ministers Association, Mayor James J. Flynn and Congressman Edward J. Patten expressed the community’s appreciation. Among the many gifts to Mr. and Mrs. Abraham a new “palást” for the Pastor was presented by leaders of the various church organizations. Recitations by Mrs. Stephen Cseresznye and Miss Helen I. Seemann as well as vocal selections by the Rev. Imre Bertalan and Mrs. Betty Szakacs added a great deal to the warm atmosphere of the evening. It was a testimonial honoring not only a faithful Pastor but also a faithful congregation. AH. THE SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION RENDERED IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SECTION VII Creation of the world. Angels, Satan and man. 1. How did the world come into being? The good and almighty God created everything, both visible and invisible, by his eternal word and sustains the same by his eternal Spirit. As David says: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.” 2. If hat kind of a world did God create? God created a “good world” of one origin, for the use and benefit of man. 3. If hat do we deny concerning the creation oj the world? We deny that error which says that both “evil” and “good” as separate substances or natures existed originally. 4. If hat does the Bible teach about angels? It teaches that God created angels for His own and man’s service. “Are angels not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?” — says the Scripture. 5. Who is Satan? Satan is the leader of those angels who by their own fault had fallen and become enemies of all believers and everything good. 6. What does the Bible teach about the creation of man? God created man good, in His own image and likeness, and put him in Paradise, giving him dominion over all things. Also, God gave him a wife and blessed them both. 7. What is man? Man is a person, consisting of two distinct components: an immortal soul and a mortal body. S. What is the relationship between the soul and the body of man ? In death the soul is separated from the body but it neither sleeps nor perishes. At the Last Judgement the decayed body will be resurrected that thus the whole man remaain either in life or deaath (hell) for ever. 9. What errors do we refute? We refute those errors which ridicule the immortality of the soul and/or say that the soul sleeps in death, and that it is a part of God. Stephen Kovács GOD AMD OUR DREAMS 1 Dezső Trombitás, God and Our Dreams, Los Angeles, 1964: 38 pages. The writer of this work has been a well known theologian of the Reformed Church of Hungary during the 1930’s and 1940’s. I recall the many lively discussions in my home between my father and some of his fellow pastors which were originated by the thoughtprovoking articles of the then young pastor from somewhere in Western Hungary, Dezső Trombitás. I was yet a very little boy and did not know what the discussion was about, but somehow the contributions of Rev. Trombitás originated livelier discussions than the many others I heard about. This remarkable quality of Dezső Trombitás is now a part of Hungarian church history. His theological thinking has always been refreshingly original and his messages are still remembered by many thousands who attendd his evangelistic rallies during the years of the post-war church awakening. After the tragic end of the Hungarian revolution. Reverend Trombitás began the “unwilling journey” of many thousands of his people and escaped to the West. This recent publication indicates that an interesting and promising theological career did not come to an end; it is being continued in a thought-provoking original way. Good and Our Dreams has all the necessary ingredients of an interesting and relevant theological essay. Its author knows his field and he presents his case with a wealth of Biblical evidences. Rev. Trombitás summarized the findings of his study in the following way: God created the dream — (a) to declare through it His love, just as His wrath because of our sins. Further (b) to unveil the secrets of Satan through the Word and the Holy Ghost instead of revealing His secrets to men; to throw light upon the evil intentions of Satan to wrong mankind and vanquish him with his own weapons: and finally, (c) to lead us to know ourselves and to the true knowledge of God.” Another passage from the same work should be quoted which throws light upon the important pastoral ministry of the author: “After having interpreted hundreds and hundreds of dreams, we came to the tremendously moving recognition: there are many more people living under the signs of the Holy Spirit than we may suppose; there are many more who are members of the Kingdom of God than any church statistical data would comprise; and that God is evermore so clement and enduring with our sins than we may justly hope for and that He is much nearer to the brokenhearted than we think.” The reader will be enriched by reading this interesting booklet. Not every reader will accept its conclusions as the final word on the subject but all will agree that the writer succeeded to stimulate their thinking which may lead to a healthy discussion. We are grateful to Reverend Dezső Trombitás for this publication and hope that other works from his pen will follow. (A.K.)
