Magyar Egyház, 2000 (79. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2000 / 4. szám
10. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 2000: BIBLES IN 679 LANGUAGES Crete, Illinois - The Bible League is relocating its International Headquarters from South Holland to Crete, Illinois, because the growth of their ministry has exceeded the capabilities of their current facilities. Since 1969, when they first occupied their current facility, the Bible League has increased the number of Scriptures they provide around the world by 1,000%. The number of staff has grown 300%, and overseas ministry activity has increased by 4,000%. The International Headquarters serves as the base of operations for 95 of The Bible League’s 117 U.S. staff members. These people work to support a network of hundreds of overseas staff who train and equip thousands of local church members with evangelism/discipleship tools and skills. By 2002, says President Dennis Mulder; “We will need a U.S. staff of approximately 170 people to keep pace with growing ministry needs.” “The need for Scriptures around the world just keeps growing,” explains Mulder. “And we cannot expect to meet that need without adding staff.” Rev. Mulder says that not expanding into a larger facility would mean The Bible League would have to halt growth and thus decline millions of requests for Scripture each year. “Halting ministry growth would be a disturbing prospect,” says Mulder. “God is blessing (the Bible League), our work is bearing fruit, and more and more people are asking for Scriptures. The spiritual cost of turning our backs on the hundreds of millions of people who still need God’s Word would be incalculable.” The Bible League is known as a ministry that is both efficient and effective. The organization can print, ship, and place a Bible in any one of 679 languages for an average cost of only $4.00 - funded primarily by individual contributions. Records show that more than 1.2 million new believers have been baptized into church membership as a result of their ministry; 17,059 new churches have been established through their church planter training programs. Did you think the star was meant just for the magi and the shepherds - just for that one night alone? Oh, no! God hung it there against the ages; it is for all of us. Its radiance enfolds us all; knowing no bound of creed, color, or servitude. It guides the aged home; it is reflected in the eyes of babes, generation after generation, and in the eyes of mothers seeking in their babes the countenance of Christ. All of us come once more under the spell of the star, come to take new hope in peace and the prince of peace. THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE The second meeting of the third phase of the international theological dialogue, co-sponsored by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, took place in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands. The first phase of the dialogue (1970-1977) produced a report The Presence of Christ in Church and World. The report of the second phase (1984-1990) was entitled Towards a Common Understanding of the Church. In its current phase, which is expected to last 5 or 6 years, the dialogue is exploring the relationship of ‘Church and kingdom of God.’ This second session focused on the kingdom of God as context for the church’s common witness. Papers included a biblical study on the kingdom, presented by Benedict T. Viviano OP, with a response by Rathnakara Sadananda. Alasdair I.C. Heron presented a Reformed perceptive on ‘kingdom and Church; the Witness of the Church Fathers’, to which Michel van Parys responded. A survey of The kingdom of God in Western Catholic Thought from the late Middle Ages to the Present’, given by William Henn OFM Cap, and another by Heidi Hadsell on Theology of the Reformed Churches from 16th Century to the Present’, offered more recent perspectives on the theme. Two papers explored the ethical and social implications of the kingdom of God: ‘Church and Kingdom in recent Reformed Theology and Ethics: A Marginal Voice’, by Russel Botman; and ‘Kingdom of God as Principle of Action in the Church’, by John Fuellenbach. The papers were followed by extensive discussion. Common areas of interest were identified, and special attention was given to those topics, which seemed most likely to lead the discussion in helpful directions in future meetings. The dialogue group also began an informal discussion of methodological questions. It was decided that in future meetings time would be spent on questions such as the various ways in which Reformed thought and Roman Catholic thought take context into account in thinking about Scripture and tradition; hermeneutical assumptions that help shape the thought of the partners in the dialogue; and how the nature of authority, the use of the Bible and the role of tradition operate differently in Roman Catholic thought and in Reformed thought. The theme of the third dialogue session is the church as sign of the kingdom in history. Topics identified for discussion in the third meeting include; biblical perspectives on the kingdom of God, God-talk in the New Testament in relation to the kingdom of God, the church as sign and instrument of the kingdom, and the church as creatura verbi and sacrament of grace.
