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

1981-01-01 / 1-2. szám

MAGYAR QGYtmi

8. oldal

j---------- What you always wanted to know ----------j about The Hungarian Reformed Church in America

We all must agree as intelligent people that in order to be members of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America we should have a clear knowledge of the Christian Church in general and the Hungarian Reformed Church in America in particular. Also we should know the basic truths we as members of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America believe and follow in our daily living.

In this article we present to you a brief church history and a list of the basic truths the Hungarian

Reformed Church in America teaches.

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GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

The very first Christian congregation came into being in 33 A.D. in Jerusalem. Very rapidly other congregations were organized in other towns and cities and in different nations. All these congregations made the One Church of Jesus Christ. In 1054 A.D. this One Church was split into two great denominations: the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. In 1517 A.D. a great movement began in the Roman Catholic Church, which is known as the Reformation. The Reformation was started by Martin Luther, a German Roman Catholic monk and continued by John Calvin, a French theologian. The purpose of the Reformation was to re-establish the original teachings, church government and ceremonies of the first Christian congregations. The followers of Martin Luther, because of the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated them, organized the Lutheran Church, and the followers of John Calvin the Reformed Church. Other churches, like the Methodist, Baptist, etc. came into being after the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, and basically they follow in their teachings, their church government and ceremonies either the Lutheran or the Reformed Church. All the churches which became the result of the 16th century Reformation are called, as a group, the Protestant Church. Today the One Church of Jesus Christ exists in these three great church bodies: The Eastern Orthodox Church, The Roman Catholic Church and The Protestant Church. In spite of this unfortunate division we still believe that Jesus Christ has Only One Church, of which the Reformed Church is a

part as are the other churches.

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GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA

As a result of the 16 th century Reformation a strong Reformed Church came into being in the same century, in Hungary. Today there are in Hungary and all over the world about 4 million followers of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Toward the end of the last century many Hungarian Reformed Christians began to immigrate to America. They built their churches and in 1924 they organized their own denomination, the Hungarian Reformed Church in America. Those Hungarian

Reformed congregations which did not join this denimination were incorporated into different American Protestant denominations.

The Hungarian Reformed Church in America is called “Hungarian” because its organizers came from Hungary and preserved and continued in America the same Reformed religion they had in Hungary. Today the Hungarian Reformed Church in America includes not only Hungarians but everybody who accepts the teachings; the church government and ceremonies of this church.

The Hungarian Reformed Church in America has three classes (districts) under the ecclesiastical heads of the deans. All three classes make the diocese under the

bishop as its ecclesiastical head.

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THE DOCTRINAL STANDARDS OF THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA

In the true spirit of the 16th century Reformation the Hungarian Reformed Church in America accepts the Bible as the only source of its teachings. Also it accepts and uses the Apostles’ Creed which is a short statement of the original, pure Biblical truths of the Christian religion. Also, the Hungarian Reformed Church in America highly treasures the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and the Second Helvetic Confession (1562) which were written in the time of the Reformation to prove that the Reformed Church did not teach anything that the first Christians had not taught and professed.

The Reformed Church is not a new church, it is the original Christian Church which had to be “reformed”

or purified in the 16th century.

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WE, THE MEMBER OF THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA

BELIEVE AND PROFESS THE FOLLOWING BIBLICAL TRUTHS:

WE BELIEVE that the whole Bible contains the Word of God. In the Bible God revealed to us everything we should know about Him and ourselves.

WE BELIEVE that there is ONE GOD in the eternal unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is the blessed Trinity.

WE BELIEVE that God created the whole universe and also us. The first pair of men, Adam and Eva, were holy and sinless, destined to live forever in perfect happiness.

WE BELIE VE that A dam and Eva lost their original blessed life by willfully breaking the law of God, under the temptation of Satan. We as descendants of sinful Adam and Eva are born with an imperfect, sinful nature. Many of our thoughts, desires intentions and actions prove that we also break the holy laws of God. We do not live up to the Ten Commandments.

WE BELIEVE that the perfect justice of God demands upon us punishments, death and damnation in hell, because of our sinfulness.