Magyar Egyház, 1981 (60. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1981-01-01 / 1-2. szám

For teachers such as Mr. Salyer, the institute has prepared a plethora of textbooks, monographs and filmstrips. One popular offering: “The Twilight of Evolution, ” described as a “summary of the impact of evolution on modern life, as well as (the theory’s) ultimated end.”

The institute also makes its case in presentations to local school boards — some boards have agreed to add the creationist view to their subject matter—and in debates with evolutionists.

“They have a number of polished speakers whose profession it is to go out and debate,” says John T. Robinson, a professor of zoology at the University of Wisconsin who took part in a debate there with a representative of the Creation Research Institute. Mr. Robinson says the audience of about 3,000 persons was packed with “bused-in creationists from churches, who cheered every time the creationists made a point. ”

Another explanation for the creationists’ victories in debates is offered by Richard Bliss, director of curriculum development at the Creation Research Institute. “We win because the scientific data for the Creation model is far better than the evolution model. They regress toward the religious; we stick to the science. ”

Mr. Bliss says, for instance, that “when you look at the fossil record, and the sedimentary rock, it screams out that there was a great catastrophe, that it was buried suddenly.” But when evolutionists hear this argument, and its parallels to the Biblical flood, he says, “they seem to be paranoid that what we are proposing is religion. ”

The evolutionists agree that every place on earth was under water at one time, but they say that it wasn’t all under water at the same time. They say they know this because of radioactive dating, the technique that scientists use to determine the ages of objects and materials.

This technique can be faulty, creationists say. Lane Anderson, a high-school physics teacher in Park Ridge, 111., says that Hawaiian volcanic rock known to be only 200 years old was mistakenly dated at 200 million years.

Mr. Anderson insists that the 200-year old rock story is fact. “Yet nobody knows about it,” he says, “because there is a tendency for these things not to make the news. It’s tough for the creationists to get things published in scientific journals. ”

The scientific evidence for Creation is overwhelming, says David Menton, a creationists who is an associate professor of anatomy at Washington University at St. Louis. “More and more reasonable scientists are speaking out against this silly theory of evolution, ” he says.

He points, for instance, to “incredible structures, such as the human eye, that make our most complicated computers look like beer-can openers.” He asks rhetorically whether it is possible to “account for this by random chance, as the evolutionists do.”

Mr. Menton and others also argue that the fossil record is on their side. “Even the evolutionists’ best experts say that there isn’t any fossil evidence of one animal’s developing into another,” says John Jensen, an Iowa state senator who has introduced a bill to require the teaching of Creation alongside evolution.

“I’m a farmer,” Mr. Jensen says, “and we’re raising better cattle than we used to. But when we cross cattle, we get cattle. We don’t get a dog. ” Many evolutionists concede that the creationists are making progress.

AKRON, OHIO

Our Congregational Meeting made an important decision on Jan. 25th. We have decided that we will build a beautiful Educational Center adjacent to our present church building. The ground floor of the new building will have a beautiful big hall with a big new kitchen, a big stage, projection room and bar facilities plus other necessities, the second floor will have a lounge, a meeting room, a library and 7 class rooms. The building will be a multipurpose building, which will be used by our Sunday School, Youth activities, Hungarian language school, weekend activities, summer Bible School, theoligical training and teaching and for an extension Hungarian High School program for the American and Canadian Hungarians. We can use the building for the training of our religious leaders like Sunday School teachers, council members etc. The construction of the planned new building will start as soon as the details will be worked out. The price of the building will be around 400,000 dollars. The big new kitchen will serve the

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“They just seem to have gotten a full head of steam, ” says Mr. Kennedy of the biology teachers’ association, “and the indications are that they aren’t going to give up.”

Some evolutionists suggest that the creationists’ advances are part of a continuing revolt against science and technology.

Keith Nissen, a colleague of Mr. Salyer’s at Holmes Junior High, disagrees. “If you’re going to go by the evidence that exists,” he says, “Creation is the only thing you can believe. I’m a show-me guy, and I’ve been shown.”

DONATIONS TO KAROLI SEMINARY:

From our Linden and Vicinity Church, New Jersey: Rev. and Mrs. László Hunyadi S100.—; In loving memory of Mrs. Waldemár Weichhart, her Daughter 100.—; Miss Piroska Hunyadi 50.—; Mr. and Mrs. Ferenc Bodnár 50.—; Mr. Béla Misley 10.—; Mrs. Teréz Aczél 10.—; Mrs. Julia Németh 10.—; Mr. István Mihály 10.—; Mr. László Ruszkay 10.—; Our Linden and Vicinity Church, New Jersey 150. —; Hungarian Reformed Church, New Brunswick, NJ 100.—; Mr. Lajos Ádám Halmágyi, Chicago, 111. 100. — ; Rt. Rev. and Mrs. Tibor Dömötör, Akron 100.— ; Mr. and Mrs. József Daróczy, Cleveland 50.—; Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Marhevsky, Akron 50.—; Mr. and Mrs. Zoltán Kocsondy, Grand Rapids, Mich. 50.—; Mr. and Mrs. István Apáti, Chatam, New Jersey 30.—; Mr. and Mrs. István Lacza, Akron 25.—; Mr. and Mrs. György Gróf, Kalifornia 20.—; Mr. and Mrs. Jenő Szedenits, Cleveland 20.—; Mr. István Csőeke, Akron 10.—; Mrs. Teréz Németh, Seattle, Washington 10.—. — Thanks for every donation! God bless you all!

existing Fellowship Hall and the new Hall. The Congregational meeting elected the following persons to serve on the Building Committee: Edward Vargo, Ted Szőr, Charles Boehme, Emmajean Rutherford, Dr. Árpád Banda, Anna Sala, Margaret Race, Blodge Bukovey, Simon Adler, Robert Rutherford, Tom Kovács and Mrs. Imre Nagy. The Chairman of the Committee will be our minister. The building Committee will meet the first time during the month of February and discuss the necessary decisions to start the project. The architect will be Mr. István Gáspár, the architect of the new wing of our Lorantffy Care Center. The theological students will start their studies during the month of September 1981 in Ashland and will return to continue the education during 1982 for the second school year, hopefully in the new building. Presently we have 13 applicant and they will be screened through tests in August. Only 4 or 5 will start in 1981.

The Hungarian Reformed Church have great interest in our new project which will keep us alive and growing through the hard times of the eighties and nineties. There is a

[NEWS FROM THE CONGREGATIONS]