Magyar Egyház, 1964 (43. évfolyam, 3-9. szám)
1964-10-01 / 8. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ many voices from minority churches which regretted this situation, but these voices are unfortunately not heard by those who should hear them. There was no Department of Theology prior to 1954; fortunately the World Alliance decided in favor of it at the 18th General Council. There isn’t any kind of Youth Work Committee under the auspicies of the Alliance. Now it seems that sooner or later we shall have one as this proved to be a desire of the youth itself within the Reformed Churches. This thinking is based on the conception which equates the Ecumenical Movement with the structure and existing form of the World Council of Churches. This may have been the situation of yesterday but it is not anymore since the emergence of the new climate of ecumenism within the Roman Catholic Church. The world confessional bodies like the Lutheran World Federation and the Alliance of Reformed Churches are here to stay and their importance will increase within the Ecumenical Movement, especially if the dialogue with Rome will continue. All signs point this way. The question is whether the World Alliance of Reformed Churches wishes to remain the ecclesiastical “little league” in the shadow of the World Council of Churches or it is ready to venture into a new phase of service which is more markedly Reformed in its service and theology. THE SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION SECTION VIII The fall of man. Sin and the cause of sin. 1. IT hat do we understand by the fall of man? By the fall of man we understand that man, created in the image of God, as perfectly righteous, holy, good and true, had abandoned all goodness and righteousness, under the temptation of the serpent (Satan) and from his own guilt. And thus, man made both himself and his descendants victims of sin, death and various miseries. 2. What is sin? Sin is our inborn corruptness, inherited from our first parents, the consequence of which is that a. ) we immerge into sinful desires, turn away from good and incline toward all evil, b. ) we feel mistrust, contempt and hatred toward God, c. ) by ourselves we are not able to do, not even to think of, any good, d. ) with the increasing of our years, our wicked thoughts, words and deeds against the law of God increase too, e. ) the wrath of God inflicts upon us just punishments, f. ) God would have rejected all of us if the saving Christ would not have taken us back to Him. 3. What do we understand by death? By death we understand not only the death of our bodies, with which we all have to pay for our sins, but also the eternal punishments we all duly deserve for our corruptness. 4. How do we regard all sins? We regard all sins as coming from our original corruptness and disbelief, even if they are called mortal, forgivable and unforgivable sins. The unforgivable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit. However, we admit that some sins are graver than others. 5. What error do we reject? We reject the error that says that God caused man to commit sin. The Holy Scripture refutes this error, saying: “For Thou art not a God who delights in wickedness.” 6. How should we understand those parts of the Bible which seemingly indicate that God sometimes is doing evil? God never does evil, but occasionally He does not hinder man in committing evil. This way God either executes his judgement or shows his almighty power to bring forth good out of the evil of man. 7. What is the clear teaching of the Bible about sin, its cause and consequence? The Bible clearly teaches that God prohibited man to eat of the forbidden fruit, and that He punished man for his diobedience. Stephen Kovács-----------o-----------THE REV. STEPHEN KOVÁCS: 25 YEARS PASTOR IN AKRON On September 20th our Akron church celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Rev. Stephen Kovács as pastor of the congregation. Rev. Kovács was born in Kecskemét, Hungary. He received his theological training in the seminary of Sárospatak. A few months after his arrival in America he became the pastor of the Akron Church. At the anniversary service the Rev. Joseph Urban preached the Word of God. It was he who sent Rev. Kovács to Akron in 1939 to fill the then vacant pulpit. The anniversary worship service was followed by a banquet in the church hall. The congregation and the various organizations and the delegates of local institutions warmly greeted the pastor and expressed their good wishes with many gifts. The following ministers honored Rev. Kovács with their personal attendance: Rev. Robert Baldauf, Rev. Aron Elek, Rev. Valentine Toth, Rev. Alexander Marton, Rev. Kalman Adorján, Rev. Tibor Dömötör, Rev. Stephen Szőke, Dr. László Harangi, Rev. Csaba Baksa and Father Alajos Bartko. The brief but impressive program was conducted by Mr. John P. Farkas, chief elder.
