289 - A Half Century of Ecumenism in Hungary

A Half Century of Ecumenism in Hungary
By Ecumenical Study Center

The following is adapted from a statement of the Ecumenical Study Center on the fiftieth anniversary of the organized ecumenical movement in Hungary. Károly Tóth is the president of the Center.

On June 26, 1943, the Reformed and Lutheran Churches in Hungary established the Hungarian Ecumenical Commission, a remarkable fact since this happened five years before the official founding of the World Council of Churches.

The past fifty years have brought speedy, radical, and favorable changes in the relations of the various Christian churches and denominations all over the world, as well as in Hungary. Restoring the unity of the churches was a hope never forgotten in the course of the almost two thousand years' history of Christianity. But the burgeoning development of technology in the twentieth century, the emergence of modern transportation, as well as the evolution of worldwide systems of accessible information created the conditions for the actual seeking of the churches' unity.

Christian churches realized that their division into denominations had been brought about not only by their diversity but also as the result of their sinful disobedience to the will of God. The incomprehensible wisdom of God can, however, turn even human disobedience and wickedness into something good. We draw the conclusion that God has turned the sinful division of churches into a good ecumenical endeavor in order that Christian denominations living in different social, political, and cultural situations all over the inhabited earth may preach the good news of Jesus Christ. They preach this good news in their own concrete circumstances and, thus, obey the great missionary commandment that "all nations, kindreds, people and tongues" (Rev. 7:9) may hear the gospel.

The various denominations represent and emphasize certain parts of the biblical truth, those sections of it to which they attach special

290 - A Half Century of Ecumenism in Hungary

importance. The many colors characteristic of the various churches together represent the body of Jesus Christ, the communion of saints, the Church universal. The hymn of love in 1 Corinthians 13, speaks about knowing "in part. . . , for now we see through a glass, darkly." The perfect unity of our partial knowledge will come when we see "face to face," at a time beyond human chronology. We see the diversity, but we believe in, confess, and work for, the unity of the Church universal.

Therefore, an ecumenical mentality requires that we should not look at other churches disparagingly but with openness and readiness to learn, bearing witness to the truths especially emphasized by our own church. An ecumenical view demands that we try to recognize and to appreciate, without preiudice, the peculiar values of other churches, the partial truths professed by them. We should not regard them as rivals, rather as coworkers in building up the Kingdom of God.

The ecumenical spirit of Christians is indispensable to effective missionary work. Together, the churches must find answers to the great challenges of our days: military conflicts, injustice, hunger, and others.

No organization, however comprehensive and successful it may be, can lay claim to exclusiveness. Ecumenism is not merely a question of organization, conferences, or dialogues; it is an inner necessity and an irreversible process. Ecumenism is the spirit of Christ, a peculiar way of thinking and openness. The Church universal, obedient to God's summons to unity and his missionary command, has been charged by Jesus Christ "to preach the everlasting gospel unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" (Rev. 14:6).