i - ~ — __ i age Ihree
Non-world Realms, A Shaking Earth
Capper-Johnson Poses
Crisis-facing Question
| “Docs it make any difference
whether we face a crisis as a
Christian or not?" was the leading
I question explained by Karlin Cap
per-Johnson in his speech to an
• audience of ovef 125 on “Facing
I, the Crisis” Thursday afternoon in
the Student Union Dad's lounge.
Cappei-Johnson defined, the term
“crisis" in relation to a person’s
•point of view as a member of a
specific nation or as neither a
'Christian or a materialist. The two
main crises facing Christians in the
Atlantic area, as explained by Cap
per-Johnson, were those of power
-and values.
- “American power is obviously
.predominant in the world today,”
he commented and presented the
* idea that Europe’s power is gone.
In his explanation of a crisis of
values, Capper-Johnson pointed out
in terms of medieval times that
when a man had done wrong for
the state as an authoritarian
Rower he had committed a sin, al
though the state had not.
During the discussion period, led
oy C. P. Schleicher, professor of
-■political science. Capper-Johnson
Ktated that he would look to the
U N. to bring about the true Chris
tian attitude and action to the
crises faced today, and stated that
If people could get away from an
innate sense of superiority the
Utate would cease to be important
pud international politics would
become easier.
Gossan! Discusses
Church, Religion
In Germany State
Hal C. Gossard, who recently re
i turned from an official tour of
j duty in Germany, spoke Thursday
; morning in the Dad’s lounge of the
! Student Union on "The Church
and Religion in Germany.”
The two dominating churches in
Germany, according to Gossard,
are the Lutheran and Roman Cath
olic faiths. It has been traditional
in that country that the religion
of the country is that of the pres
ent ruler. For this reason, he point
ed out. one religion will dominate
at one time and the other will
come into power at another time.
In outlining the educational set
up in Germany, Gossard stated
that school facilities are usually
chosen in direct proportion to the
religions of the students. The Bible.
Catholic and Lutheran, is an in
tegral part of the German educa
tional program.
Church and state are closely re
lated in Germany. Gossard be
lieves. however, that, if a vote were
taken to separate them, only 40
percent of the people would vote
in favor of separation.
Church, State Separation Wilt Cause
Conflict Within Individual: Florovsky
'
“Conflict within the individual
jircnr:; when Hie church and state
fne separated because the church,
• )n the end, is ultimate and abso
lute," the Very Rev. Georges
» Worovsky, Greek Orthodox church
1 epresentative said Wednesday
• porning.
In his talk, entitled “The King
• oom Not of This World,” Dr. Flor
iDVSky traced the rise of the church
„ (fiom its beginning as a corporate
jsociety apart from the state to its
merging with the state in the Mid
jtfle Ages.
He told his audience that under
lie theory held in the Middle Ages,
he state was one of the existing
nders in the world that needed
Vchristianizing.’’ Under the L.uth-1
frail, or modern theory, the church
- js a special institution of the
ivorld of God in a world ruled by
, jcmgs putting the state first.
>• Wh.en the church and the state
Burger Discusses
- Catholic Viewpoint
An insight into the Roman
SPatholic viewpoint and explana
tion of the points about the Cath
olic faith which most bother oth
er faith members was given by
. tin* Rev. Matthias Burger, profes
sor of scripture and religion at
|Mount Angel seminary.
-i -Father Burger first took the
church’s claim to infallibility and
said it was nothing more than
J What any other church believes of
its convictions of truth.
The second “stumbling block"
for those not in the church is the
idea of “outside the church there
. is. no salvation.” What the idea1
presupposes, Father Burger said,
is that apart from Christ there is
no salvataion. Those who are con
vinced that the way they are fol
. lowing also leads to the same goal
will also be saved, Father Burger
said.
i.
became united, Dr. Florovsky
stated, there was much opposition
in the church toward the step. For
this reason some church members
withdrew from the active world
to monasteries.
30 Million Have
Little for Belief,
Maser Declares
Thirty million people in the
world today have little to believe !
in. They are faithless, jobless, and
without adequate food, shelter, or
clothing, according to Clifford E.
Maser v/ho spoke in the Dad’s
| lounge Thursday morning.
"These refugees are the great- !
est problem facing Western civili
sation today," Maser said
I Twenty-four million are in Europe,
alone, and 10 million are crowded
into West Germany and Austria.
Maser has a current picture of
the situation having recently re
turned from 13 months in Europe
where he worked with the Ameri
can Friends Service committee, a
■ Quaker organization.
"It is a picture of tragedy," he
! said. Thousands of people were set
i up in agricultural areas after the
war for reasons that seemed good
at the time, he said. Now there is
: no employment in rural areas,
while jobs are going begging in
the industrial areas. In these areas,
however, there are no housing fa
cilities for workers and their fami
lies. "Every square meter is al
ready crowded,” he added. They
, can barely feed or clothe them
selves, and subsist mainly on re
lief packages from America, he
said.
Youth faces what is called an !
"ideological vacuum". When asked |
what they believe in, they say
“nothing." They have no belief in
work or education.
“We are forcing the Germans to
( rearm, he said. “What is better
! for them then believing in a uni
form?" To youth it means belong- !
ing. occupation, income and pride.” I
Meserve believes, however, that
armament is not the answer.”
i "We don’t w'ant strength of arms, !
but strength of conviction and be- !
lief.” he said.
West Europe, Catholics
Said Naturally Anti-Red
Western Europe and the Catholic church can not be reconciled to
BuraTr "told a pT" ^ 2°mmunism’s PMosophy, the Rev. Matthias
^urger told a Religious Evaluation week audience Thursday.
ather Burger, Roman Catholic representative, went on to say that
ommumsm violates two basic Christian principles—man's idea of
spiritual being and that men are all created equal from one spiritual
source. However Father Burger said, we “have no ground to disprove
uuisuevism an raise. We can only
oppose materialism with a doc
trine of spiritually.”
Father Burger made this state
ment after telling his audience
that ^Communism has two basic
concepts — materialism and dia
lectic materialism. Under the sec
ond principle, the father stated, is
the process which gives history
life. According to the theory, two
opposing forces arise, clash, de
stroy each other and out of the
ruins a third force arises. He com
pared this to the capitalist and the
proletariat of Communism, with
Communism as the third force.
Communism is a religion which
has a scientific appeal to the edu
cated and uneducated alike, Father
Burger said. It varies its program
to fit the situation, but in such a
way as to promote the "revolu
tion.” There is not room in Com
munism for religion which has in
ternational connections, he de
clared.
At the close of his speech,
Father Eurger set down five prin
ciples in dealing with Communism
maintain armed force to combat
oppression; remove social evils,
which Communism uses as a pre
text for helping people; keep Com
munists from getting a toehold in
important or influential positions
in the country; understand Com
munistic philosophy; accurate in
formation on dealings and tactics,
and strong Christian faith.
Church Has Part in Formation
Of Man's Community: Wright
1ZIC cnurcn has a real part in.
the formation of the community
which ail men seek, according to
the Rev. Paul S. Wright, pastor ■
of the First Presbyterian church. !
in discussing the “Church as a
Nucleus of the New Order."
^an is made for community,
W right said, and he contrasted
real community i an integrated
group in -which all feel they be
long i with a group at a party or j
a crowd. Nations and families of j
nations can also unite for a com- ;
m unity.
But, he declared, one can con
tend that there will be no com
munity on earth until relations
Spiritual Unity vs. Church Unity
Argued at RE Ecumenicity Forum
Spiritual unity versus church
unity was hotly argued at the Re
ligious Evaluation week “ecumeni
city forum” yesterday.
Five speakers, each representing
a different demonination, agreed
that ecumenicity—religious unity
was desirable, but couldn’t de
cide what the word meant.
The Rev. Harry C. Meserve, Uni
tarian, said ecumenicity was like
a wheel. God is at the hub, he said,
and the different religions w'ere on
the spokes.
“The farther we travel toward
the center, the nearer we are to
God and to each other,’’ he said.
A different view was expressed
by the Very Rev. Georges Florov
sky, Greek Orthodox, who has been
connected w'ith the official Chris
tian ecumenicity movement for 20
years. He said the eventual aim
was “one church—one faith."
“If it is, then I don’t want it,"
answered Karlin Capper-Johnson,
English Society of Friends. He felt
the individual conscience was the
main thing.
“What will you do about her
etics?" Rabbi L. Eliott Grafman,
Judaism, asked Dr. Florovsky.
“Pray for them.”
“Praying isn’t enough,” Rabbi
Grafman answered. If you pray for
them you’re admitting they’re dif
ferent. Ecumenicity means free
dom of salvation, according to the
Rabbi. People of all faiths will in
herit salvation.
The other speakers quickly
agreed that all righteous people
could be saved.
"I can't send Mr. Meserve and
Rabbi Grafman to hell," Dr. Flor
ovsky insisted, ‘‘that's a matter
between God and the individual."
Meserve and the Rabbi shook
hands across the table. Father
Burger said he thought the ques
tion of individual salvation was
irrelevant.
‘‘But if orthodox church would
admit that Jews and others could
find salvation, there would be few
er arguments,” Rabbi Grafman in
sisted.
“It must come from the pulpit to
the people," he cried.
It does, according to Dr. Florov
sky. He reminded that the people
censored clerical litterings, espe
cially newspapers. It’s often men
tioned. he said.
“Not often enough,” countered
Mr. Meserve.
Each speaker devoted ten min
utes to his church's interpretation
of ecumenicity.
“There is Judaism in Christian
ity," Rabbi Grafman said. This
does not mean that Christians are
obligated to Judiasm, but that the
two have a common spirit, he said.
The spirit stems from Judaism.
Insistance on the sanctity of
man, a “spiritual consanguinity”
is a Jewish view which will con
tribute to ecumenicity, Rabbi Graf
man added.
Dr. Florovsky said the Greek Or
thodox church offered its message
in its every existence. "We cannot
disregard the united past if we
want a common future,” he empha
sized. "All Christians were once
united by a common faith, and
that faith is now rigidly followed
by the Orthodox church.”
"Roman Catholicism seems to
have discouraged the movement,
but we meant only to keep it seri
ous.” Father Burger said. He
agreed that Catholics had to take
the forms of their faith seriously,
and this was a bone of contention.
"We should get together in our
social work relief and rehabilita
tion,” he said. “That will form a
spirit of unity in the world.” He
indicated that religious unity, and
ultimately a common church would
follow.
Mr. Meserve put his emphasis on <
the world situation. Better commu
nication will bring world order, he '
explained. He felt the problem ;
should be attacked on economic,
political, and sociological levels.
“We should seek to find God in
our fellowmen of all races,” Cap
per-Johnson stated. He said world
order was the end of ecumenicity,
and that a search for it must start
from reality. There is a way of God
for all situations, he said, and war
is never the way.
with God are found.
Wright listed three functions of
the church in helping to form this
community. First, the church al
ways exists as a protest that one
can never give total allegiance to
anything human; second, the
church exists as a demonstration
of unity and that in spite of sup
eriiicial differences, all churches
are basically one; and third, the
church will draw on its power re
sources for achievement of this
unity, although completion of this
lies beyond this world.
Judaism Concerned
With Earth Realm,
Grafman Declares
“Judaism is concerned with the
Kingdom of God on earth, and
nowhere else," Rabbi L. Elliot
Grafman told a religious evalua
tion audience Wednesday morn
ing.
Rabbi Grafman, who is spirit
ual leader of Temple Israel, Long
Beach, Calif., spoke on “Judaism
and the Kingdom of God.”
“Every founder of any faith I
ever experienced had one purpose,
as though God were doing the
The address, “Judaism and the
World Crisis,” scheduled to be
presented by Rabbi L. Elliott
Grafman Thursday morning was
cancelled when Rabbi Grafman
left campus before the close of
the Religions Evaluation week
program.
speaking,” Rabbi Grafman said.
This purpose is to teach two
points, he said, that men must
know they have a kinship with a
God, who is universial to all men,
and that God desires men to live
by his will.
In due time, he said, the follow
ers always did the one thing which
could hurt the leader . . . they
would make him a god to his
people. The result of this deifica
tion was that they turned their
backs to his teaching.
“Judaism has avoided this,”
Rabbi Grafman explained.
Two other points Rabbi Graf
man made were: “The way to
truly know God' is to live by his
laws," and "The test for the val
idity of any doctrine is life . . .
does it crush or exalt it?”