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   A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





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                                       Volume  LII, No. 7, January 1.1976


                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER





                           CONTENTS:                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                              Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and  August.
                                                                               Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
Meditation -                                                                      Second Class Postage Paid at Grand Rapids, Mich.
   The Changeless Christ In An                                             Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                           Department Editors:  Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rev. David J.  Engelsma,
       Everchanging World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .650         Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C. Harbach,
                                                                           Rev. John A.  Heys, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. Dale H.  Kuiper,. Rev.
   Our Australasian Tour (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .652            George C. Lubbers, Rev. Meindert  Joostens,  Rev.  Marinus   Schrpper,
                                                                           Rev. Gise J. Van  Baren. Rev. Herman  Veldman,  Mr. Kenneth G. Vink.
   Correspondence and Reply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .656             Editorial Office:  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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My Sheep Hear My Voice -                                                   Church News Editor:        Mr. Kenneth G. Vink
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   Letter to Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .658                                   Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
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MEDITA  TIO N



                                       The Changeless Christ
                                   in an Everchanging World

                                                                      C. Hanko

                             "Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today, and forever".  Heb. 13: 8


   Come, join me for a few moments as the sun settles                             Leafless trees cast long shadows over the fields.
down to rest beyond the horizon, marking the end of                         The evening glow spreads its multi-colored rays far to
another day.                                                                the north and to the south. A quiet peace settles over
   Just another day, and yet not. This is the last of                       the landscape beckoning us to a few moments of
three hundred sixty five similar days, reminding us                         serious contemplation.
that God in His providence has cared for us through-                              Those rose-colored clouds, emitting rays of light,
out another year.                                                           do add, to the beauty of the evening, don't they?


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                651


What would life be without its sorrows and dis-              our exalted Highpriest, our glorious King of kings,
appointments, and its poignant grief? God never              and Lord of lords.
seems nearer to us than in those hours of anxiety              The saints of the old dispensation knew Him as the
when we need Him most. Much of the past year is              Angel of Jehovah, ever encamping round about those
already forgotten, but the hours of need, of crying          that fear Him. Some saints were even privileged to see
for help, of being drawn under the protection of the         Him, to converse with Him, to carry out His man-
Everlasting Arms will never be forgotten.                    dates, and to marvel that heaven had come so very
   Even this constant recurrence of morning and              close to them Imagine Abraham's surprise as he sat
evening, of day and night, of yesterday gone by and          under the oak at Mamre, when he realized that his
today steadily moving toward tomorrow, reminds us            distinguished guest was the angel of Jehovah, eating,
that life is far more than a treadmill of repetition. We     fellowshiping, talking with him as a Friend with a
move onward day by day, from week to week, from              friend. Even then, as now, the secret of the Lord was
year to year, from time into eternity.                       with those who fear Him.
  Where have those three hundred sixty-five days                                         *****
gone? It was but as yesterday that we stood before
this new year. Then it spread itself so far into the            Even greater was the wonder when God sent His
future before us. Then it was pictured as a babe in          son into the world, born of a woman, born under the
diapers, now already it is presented as an old man           law. The etemal,Christ  took on the form of a servant,
bent under the weight of his scythe. Time like an ever       humbling Himself unto death, even the bitter and
rolling stream . . .                                         shameful death of the cross to carry out Father's will
   Yet Jesus Christ remains the same, yesterday, and,        and to fulfii the Scriptures. Never do we weary of
today, and even into endless eternity.                       speaking of that cross; never do we cease to marvel,
                                                             never may we cease to glory in it. We had Father's
  I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son.        promise, the promise of complete deliverance from
  How thankful I am for that assurance that my God           bondage of sin and death into the glorious liberty of
is my Jesus.                                                 the sons of God. That promise had to be made good.
   God tells us that in His own inspired revelation          And it was. For Christ fulfilled every detail of the
concerning Himself. He draws away the veil to show           divine program of suffering that had been assigned to
us that He is our Savior - Jesus, the Christ. He tells       Him, bearing the burden of God's wrath as the only
us of the mystery of godliness, "God was manifest in         possible atonement for our sins. When all was
the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,          accomplished He could say with as much certainty as
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,        relief: "It is fmished."
received up into glory." I Tim. 3: 16.                         Therefore God hath exalted Him to the highest
   That is what gives the cross its infinite value as the    position of power and authority in the heavens. He
complete atonement for all of our sins. For it was           now rules over the angels and saints in heaven, over
none other than God's blood that was shed on Cal-            all the demons of hell, over every creature that stirs
vary's brow. Acts  20:28. God was in Christ recon-           upon the earth. Imagine that! The man Jesus is risen
ciling us unto Himself. God came into the flesh to           from the dead, is brought into heaven, and is now
redeem  His people unto Himself as an everlasting            entrusted with power to carry out the eternal counsel
possession and thus to redeem unto Himself all things        of God's will. He has power over springtime and
in heaven, and all things on earth. In saving His            harvest, over summer and winter, over all of history,
people He carries out His purpose in making all things       so that this same Jesus brings us this last sunset of the
new in that unending Tomorrow.                               year. Even this little hour must also serve for the
                                                             gathering of God's church and the coming of His
  Jesus is the unchangeable, eternal God.                    kingdom, even unto that day when all things will be
                        *****                                made new.
                                                               For Christ is Lord over His church, appointed to
   Jesus is also the unchangeable Christ.                    rule over them in love. He gathers His sheep unto
  We see Jesus, "Jehovah salvation."                         Himself, leads them into green pastures and beside
  We see Him as He is revealed to us on the pages of         still waters. He protects and defends. them against the
Holy Writ and sealed to ours hearts by a living faith        attack of every ravenous wolf. Like a shepherd He
through the testimony of His indwelling Spirit.              gently leads them, carrying the young in His bosom,
                                                             ever bringing them into the sheepfold of glory.
  We see Him as He stands eternally before the
Father: THE Elect of God. He is chosen eternally to            Jesus Christ is still the Savior of His people, and
be God's great Friend-Servant, our eternal Prophet,          thus the Savior of the world that soon will appear in


652                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



all its perfection, to the glory of that one, great,          Even as individuals we can rejoice in the fact that
sovereign God, our Savior.                                  God has kept us in the palm of His hand, under His
  I believe in Him. My Lord, and my God.                    watchful eye. His ear was always attentive to our
                       *****'                               sighs, His mouth pouring forth words of comfort,
                                                            peace, and blessedness. We could worship with His
  Jesus Christ the same in an ever-changing world!          church, exercise the communion of saints, train our
  He was Jesus, the Christ, yesterday.                      children in our own schools, freely worship our God
  The sun drops behind the distant hills, informing         in our homes. The caves of the earth have not beck-
us that another day is gone, another year is all but        oned as yet.
spent.                                                         He was Jesus, our Savior; the Christ of God.
  History is in the making. Powers have risen and                                    *****
fallen. National and international politics have re-
vealed their corruption. Kissinger has gone about              He is Jesus today.
buying peace. There have been storms, severe bliz-             Yet today is but a passing moment. I must not
zards in the mid-west. There has also been an extreme       delay. I must recount His faithfulness of the past and
.drought  of summer; corn stood withered in the fields.     see His good hand upon us still today. True, we have
Nations were in turmoil. People were concerned              our problems, even today. We have our cares, our
about rising prices, about the price of oil this winter.    burdens of sin. But we flee to Him as our Refuge also
  The usual, one might say. Yet the usual has in-           now.
creased its tempo at an amazing rate. Floods, toma-
does, and other destructive forces are at work more            The Jesus of yesterday is the Savior of today.
than ever. Wars, unrest among nations, are on the              And He is Jesus into endless eternity.
increase. Time rushes on almost faster than we can
keep up with it. New highways prove inadequate even           Yes, tomorrow, and the next day, and the next He
before they are finished. New inventions are obsolete       has planned for us in harmony with His glorious
almost before they appear. on the market. The world         purpose with all things. He will create new needs, but
can only wonder, where are we going?                        He will also provide for the needs that He creates. He
                                                            is Jehovah, Who changes not; how could we ever be
 As churches we have had a wonderful year. Our              consumed, even if all the powers of hell would break
congregations experience a blessed harmony. Our             loose against us.
denomination still enjoys a wonderful unity of faith
and love. Our seminary flourishes; many young men             Thou, Lord, has dealt well with thy servant! Thou
are zealously being prepared for the ministry. We           hast holden me by Thy hand, afterward to lead me to
have found contact with saints of a life faith even in      glory!
the far ends of the earth. God is drawing His'church          Teach Thou me to trust in Thee and to walk in
together from far and wide, preparing her to maintain       good judgment and knowledge. For in Thy command-
a united front in the evil days to come.                    ments I trust.



EDITORIALS


                           Our Australasian Tour  (6)
                                              Pro$ H. C. Hoeksema


  In the last portion of our report, we had left            south over Bass Strait to Wynyard. This was our first
Christchurch, New Zealand, and flown across the             stop on the island-province of Tasmania.
Southern Alps of New Zealand and across the Tasman            The accompanying maps will help a bit in the
Sea to Melbourne, Australia  - some 1800 miles to           geography lesson needed at this point. For it must be
the northwest. After a  5-hour layover at the  Mel-         remembered that both geographically and ecclesiasti-
boume airport, we travelled another 250-300 miles           tally this was an entirely new portion of our tour.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                               653


Geographically, I remind you, New Zealand and                 the island was nothing short of hectic, life seemed
Australia are by no means close neighbors, being              more quiet and slower-paced in Tasmania than in the
separated by many miles of ocean. And although they           large urban centers of the mainland. We had one dis-
are culturally related, in our brief visit and through        tinct advantage during this portion of our tour: we
admittedly hasty observation we gained the distinct           travelled in Pastor Rodman's Holden Station Wagon,
impression that in several respects they are culturally       and thus we had an opportunity, though hastily, to
different. Australia, I would say, is culturally much         see something of the countryside. It is a ruggedly
more like the United States or like Canada than is            beautiful country, with profuse vegetation, much
New Zealand. There are even distinct differences              forest-land and many mountainous areas, but also
between Australia and New Zealand as to the way               many beautiful coastal areas. We had many an unfor-
English is spoken. Perhaps by that time I was picking         gettable view of the northern and eastern coastal
up a bit of an Australian accent, but at one point in         areas in our travels from Wynyard to Launceston to
our Australian tour I was even told after a lecture           Winnaleah to  Taranna. We did not get to see the
that I spoke "just like an Australian."                       fierce animal known as the Tasmanian devil; we did
                                                              have opportunity to see kangaroos in their native
              T A S M A N I A                                 habitat. The chill of their winter season still bothered
                                                              us, especially at night; but on the whole, we experi-
                                                              enced somewhat milder weather than during our stay
           B A S S   S T R A I T                              in New Zealand. However, I can imagine that just
                                                              about this .time of the year would be ideal for a grand
                                              TASMAN SEA      sightseeing vacation on the island.
                                                                One more item connected with the geography must
                                                              be mentioned. Travelling another 2000 miles also
                                                              made another 2 hours' difference in the time. The
                                                              total difference between us and Grand Rapids was
                                                              now 10 hours. And, seeing we were also across the
                                                              International Dateline, our formula for figuring
                                                              Grand Rapids time now was: add 10 hours to local
                                                              time and subtract a day. Thus, when we were in
                                                              church for our first Tasmanian, meeting at 8 o'clock
                                                              in the evening on July 4, it was 6 o'clock in the
                                                              morning of July 4 in Grand Rapids, and probably
                                                              your neighbor's children were setting off their first
                                                              Fourth of July firecrackers.
  But let us get back to geography.' Tasmania lies in           Our contacts in Tasmania were with the small
about the same latitude as Wellington and Christ-             denomination known as the Evangelical Presbyterian
church, New Zealand. Thus, when we were on the                Church of Australia. This contact is a story in itself.
Tasman Peninsula in the vicinity of Taranna, we were          The brethren of the EPC had first heard of us through
not as far south as we had been in Dunedin, N.Z. But          the Rev. Malcolm McKay, of Nova Scotia, Canada, a
don't let the size of the map fool you. Mainland              Presbyterian who had some correspondence with the
Australia, remember, is about as large as continental         Standard Bearer  several years ago. The common
United States. And when we made our tour from                 interest between the EPC and our churches was the
Tasmania up the east coast to Brisbane, it was                matter of common grace and the "free offer" of the
roughly equivalent to travelling from Florida to New          gospel. Over the past few years, especially through
York City. I hasten to add, however, that Australia is        our Reformed Witness Hour printed messages and our
not nearly so heavily populated as our country. By            Standard Bearer, we  had built up some corre-
far the largest portion of the population is concen-          spondence. Then in August, 1974 the Rev. Charles
trated in the eastern coastal region; and it is in this       Rodman visited for a few days in Grand Rapids; and
part of the country that the largest population cen-          we had the opportunity to become better acquainted.
ters, Melbourne and Sydney, are found.                        As this happened, we also discovered that apparently
  Although Tasmania, in the accompanying map,                 we had much in common as far as the Reformed faith
looks very small in comparison with mainland                  is concerned.
Australia, it is no small island. Actually it is not quite      The background of the Evangelical Presbyterian
as large as the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. One gets         Church, however, is entirely different from ours. You
the impression that Tasmania is a bit of an orphan in         will recall, perhaps, that Pastor Rodman wrote about
relation to mainland Australia. Although our pace in          the origin of their churches  in  the  Standard Bearer


6 5 4                                          THE STANDARD BEARER





                                                                                                           TASMAN
                                                                                                             SEA





last y&r. (By the way, he still promises to finish that      standing is not yet very thorough. These churches are
story for us in the future.) But to put it briefly, these    relatively young yet; and a church grows, of course,
churches (and this is true of most of the membership         as it faces various problems in its ecclesiastical life
as well as of the ministers) came from a radical, de-        and as it searches for proper solutions. One of these
cisionistic, crusade-type Arminian background.               areas of the truth is that of the covenant. But they
Among the membership there are a few who have                are interested in this subject, have studied it, princi-
come from a Dutch and Reformed background; but               pally understand it, and agree with our explanation.
most of the people are Australian and have had               They certainly want nothing of Arminianism in the
ecclesiastical experiences similar to that of Pastor         sphere of the covenant. They are deathly afraid of
Rodman. As far as we could discern  - and we had             presupposed regeneration; but they also must have
much opportunity for discussion as we travelled  -           nothing of a conditional promise, as is the view of the
these churches, in their long journey from  Armini-          Liberated, with whom they have also had some con-
anism via the Baptistic position, have come `to the full     tact in the past.
Presbyterian position in every respect. As you might           The one area in which we found a difference was
expect, there are various areas in which their under-        that of so-called "purity of worship." The purity of


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                              655


worship idea involves an insistence on Psalm-singing       that island. There are also congregations and preach-
in their worship services - something on which we          ing centers on the mainland, especially in the prov-
also insist. However, it also involves the elimination     ince of Queensland. Near the end of our Australian
of all instrumental music in the services; they sing       tour we visited Brisbane, where there is a congrega-
their Psalms a Capella. In a congregation which is able    tion presently being served by one of their students,
to sing well, this kind of singing seems to grow on a      Mr. Chris Coleborn. And while we were at Brisbane
person; we soon felt at home singing the Psalms with       we made the acquaintance of the Rev. Philip Burley,
them from the Scottish Psalter. Further, purity of         pastor of the congregation in Rockhampton. We
worship also involves the non-observance of any of         deeply regretted the fact that our schedule did not
the Christian holidays in their worship services. More-    allow us to spend more time in the Brisbane area and
over, in harmony with their Directory of Worship,          also to make a visit to Rockhampton. For we found
there are no fixed liturgical forms used for the sacra-    real fellowship in the faith with the brethren and
ments. In practice, perhaps, we would find their wor-      sisters of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. In the
ship to be considerably different. But we must also        second place, it struck me repeatedly that these
remember that as long as purity of worship (which is       churches are not afraid to be small, nor are they
of long standing in Presbyterianism) is not elevated to    afraid of small beginnings at their little preaching
the status of a fourth mark of the church, there is no     centers, which, I gathered, are in the nature of church
obstacle to fellowship here.                               extension outposts. And finally, I must mention that
                                                           this little denomination has a rather severe shortage
  I must bring this installment of our report to a         of laborers. And while they have instituted their own
close. But before I do so, I must mention a few facts      program for the training of ministers, this is largely
to complete the picture. In the first place, these         by correspondence and on a part-time basis; and it is
churches are not limited to Tasmania, although most        necessarily a rather slow process.
of their congregations and preaching centers are on                           (to be continued)





                                       Professor H. Hanko
                                                  $5.95

                       Can be obtained from the Business Manager of the Standard Bearer:
                                      Mr. H. Vander Wal
                                      P.O. Box 6064
                                      Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506


656                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


                            Correspondence and Reply

From France                                                 Courthial for his response to the. comments which
  In response to the Rev. Veldman's comments in             appeared in our October 1 issue. Since I was involved
the October 1 issue we received the following letter        in the original discussion of Editor Vander Ploeg's
from Pierre Courthial, Academic Director of the             "Dream" in The Outlook, I wish to add the following
Faculty of Reformed Theology at Aix-en-Provence,            editorial comments:
France. The letter was written in French; and I must           1. Perhaps our French Reformed brother is not
thank my sister, Mrs. Chas. Kregel, for the following       aware of the entire discussion of this matter in  The
translation:                                                Outlook, seeing  that the latter magazine published
"Dear sirs and brother,                                     only part of the exchange of views between The Out-
  "I thank you for having addressed me in the Octo-         look  and  The Standard Bearer  on this matter. I am
                                                            therefore asking our Business Manager to send him
ber first issue of The Standard Bearer, the contents of     the back issues containing the 
which are very interesting to me.                                                              entire discussion.
                                                               2. The underlying questions are, of course: a) Who
  "Permit me only to be surprised that the Rev. H.          are "truly Reformed"? b) Who is to decide who are
Veldman has written: `One also wonders what kind of         "truly Reformed"? After all, just because someone
a  Reformed  congress this brother from France en-          claims  to be Reformed and to adhere to the Re-
visions. He speaks of "too narrow points of view, too       formed creeds does not guarantee that it is 
much drowned in local controversies," which would                                                            true. I, for
                                                            one, deny that the brethren of 
be enlarged. He also speaks of a "Reformed evangeli-                                              The Outlook  and of
                                                            the Christian Reformed Church (to which they are
zation being extended in the entire world." One             loyal) are 
wonders what his opinion may be of the fathers of                          truly Reformed if they adhere to the Three
Dordt and of the Canons of Dordrecht etc . . .'             Points  of  1924 and to all that their denomination
                                                            stands  for  today.
  "In reality, in my letter to the editor of  The Out-         3. For a genuinely fruitful ecumenical congress
look - and The Outlook has clearly published it - I         there must be openness and a willingness to discuss
wrote (but the Rev. H. Veldman did not quote this
passage): `Along the lines of the wish of Calvin . . .      openly. This is also in the spirit of John Calvin, let us
my dream, in 1975, . . . is that there be convened as       remember. But M. Courthial must remember that the
soon as possible a Reformed ecumenical congress             brethren of  The Outlook  were not even willing to
with pious and wise men,                                    have a 
                              ONE in the recognition of                 committee meeting with us for the purpose of
the great ecumenical creeds of the first centuries and      arranging  a conference without adding all kinds of
                                                            conditions. And, by the way, it is not true, as the
of  the confessions  of  the Reformed faith, including      church news editor of Reformatorisch Dagblad  sug-
the Canons of Dordrecht . . .' (Note: the last words,       gested some time ago, that we demand, as a pre-
"including . . . Dordrecht," were doubly underscored        condition of any conference agreement on the
in the letter. HCH)                                         matter of the Three Points of Common Grace of
  "To my eyes, `the issues which confronted our             1924. We do demand as a pm-condition a willingness
fathers at the great synod of Dordrecht were  "`not         to have open and free and frank discussion of that
secondary matters'!                                         subject, and that, too, on the basis of Scripture and
  "To my eyes, `it is  "not"  a secondary matter to         the Reformed Confessions. And why? Because we
teach (or not) that God saves whom He wills' etc . . .      believe that these issues go to' the heart of our Re-
                                                            formed Confessions.
  "I would not wish that the readers of The Standard                                                                 H.C.H.
Bearer  imagine that my dream is not a `truly Re-
formed' dream!                                                                        *****
  "My article intended solely to affirm that we have        In Response To "Open Your Eyes"
`to search for the path of unity, toward the unity of          Not very often does an editor receive corre-
the truly Reformed churches of the entire world. '           spondence on his editorials unless he happens to
  "I am sincerely yours.                                     kindle some disagreement. Two such responses
                           "Pierre Courthial"                follow.
Comments:                                                      The first letter is as follows:
  The Rev. Veldman may comment further on this               Dear Editor-in-Chief of the Standard Bearer:
matter if he wishes, of course. We thank Prof.                 Will you allow me to give my opinion about your


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  657


article in the November 1 issue of the Standard              I hope we maintain our old mode of worship for I
Bearer? If so, I appreciate your kindness. I like to       think the old is better than the new.
object to the advice given to our churches, namely,           Respectfully yours, with Christian greetings,
that we should have our eyes open when the blessing                                                             N.D.
is laid upon the congregation. I do not like the ex-
pression "habit" which means "to do something with-        Comments:
out premeditation." In the second place, by having         1. If you consult my editorial, it is quite obvious that
our eyes open we exclude our children and small            I did not use the word habit in the sense N.D. sug-
people because some big people stand in front of           gests. This, of course, is not the only connotation of
them and they cannot see the minister. It also pre-        the word.
vents the minister, if he closes his eyes, from stam-      2. It takes a good deal of imagination to get  this
mering as ours also did about ten weeks ago. Maybe         picture of Jacob and Joseph and his sons from the
he was distracted by something he saw.                     Genesis record.
  Allow me further to explain my view. When Jacob          3. I do not believe it is good pedagogy to teach even
blessed the two sons of Joseph, he bowed himself           little children incorrect practices. Instead, teach them
with his face to the ground and no doubt the boys          to pay attention in the proper way.
also were kneeled down with their faces to the             4. You would be surprised how many people, chil-
ground, in a state of obeisance. Even if they had their    dren and grownups, think of the salutation and bene-
eyes open they were not distracted by anything             diction as prayers, rather than as addresses by the
around them because they had their faces bowed to          minister, as ambassador of Christ, to the congrega-
the ground. We don't have this mode of worship any         tion.
more so the best way to show reverence is to close         5. It simply is not reasonable in such an  address-
our eyes and bow our heads. When the minister pro-         listening situation to close the eyes, no more than in
nounces the introduction to the salutation, we have        the address-listening situation which exists during the
our eyes open and while the pastor raises his hands to     preaching of the Word.
pronounce the blessing, the parent puts his or her                                                             H.C.H.
hands.on the eyes of the little ones to close them and
by so doing teaches them to behave reverently. The                                  *****
older ones close their eyes and so, being distracted by      The second letter is as follows:
nothing, we altogether receive the blessing of the         Dear Edit or :
Lord which is something invisible and cannot be seen         Would like to react to your recent editorial, "Open
by the natural eye even if we see the raised hands of      Your Eyes" as follows:
the minister.                                                                 Take Your Shoes Off!
  In the old country, prior to the pronouncement of          The recent editorial asking us to "open our eyes"
the blessing, the minister would say, "Receive the         led to the contemplation of worshipful attitudes
blessing of the Lord." This enabled us, through the        mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. Examples are
closing of our eyes and the bowing of our heads, to        numerous for the people of God always assumed a
receive that blessing.                                     posture which indicated their reverence in the
                                                           presence of their God. Moses was told to take his
  -`The argument that the Epistle was read in the          shoes off when he approached the burning bush, (Ex.
congregation while the reader had his eyes opened          3:5); Joshua was given the same command when in
does not hold water because he was not looking at          the presence of God (Joshua 5: 15); many, many
the congregation and most likely not raising his           other occasions the people struck attitudes of wor-
hands.                                                     shipful reverence, the most prevalent was to bow with
                                                           faces to the ground. In II Chron. 20: 18 we learn that
  When we celebrate the Lord's Supper and the              Jehoshaphat and all Judah and the inhabitants of
sacrament of Baptism the minister reads the prayer         Jerusalem did so. In Neh. 8:6 we read: ". . . and they
which is included in the Form. And, of course, he has      bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their
his eyes open. Does that mean now that he is not           faces toward the ground." Turning to the N.T. we
praying? Of course not! Neither does it mean that the      find in I Cor. 14:25 that Paul describes a new convert
mere fact that the congregation has its eyes closed            "and so falling down on his face he will worship
when the blessing is pronounced indicates that this        god . . ." In Rev. 7: 11 it is said that angels "fell
must be a prayer. Likewise, what the minister says         before the throne on their faces, and worshipped
may well be an authoritative pronouncement even            God." And a final example, in Rev. 11: 10 we read,
though his eyes are closed.                                "And the four and twenty elders, which sat before


     658                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



     God on their seats, fell upon their faces and  wor-       them deals with a situation parallel to the one under
     shipped God." The reason we bow our heads with            discussion. It is true, of course, that they refer to a
     eyes closed while receiving the Benediction of the        worshipful attitude which is portrayed physically.
     Triune God, it seems to us, is not in the attitude of     But they do not speak of the situation under dis-
     prayer, but that of worship. We have strayed "far         cussion; nor do these passages speak of  all possible
     right" from Moses' and Joshua's attitude of worship,      attitudes of worship.
     even past the "near right" of the angels' falling on      3. I submit that there is no principal difference
     their faces, to the present attitude of bowing our        between the minister's pronouncing the benediction
     heads with eyes closed. So let us not go to the "far      and his proclaiming the Word of God  - both of
     left" and open our eyes while standing so near to the     which he does as ambassador of Christ. In one case
     presence of God while the minister of God pronounces      you are no nearer to the presence of God than in the
     the benediction of God upon the people of God. We         other - and no farther from it. In both cases we hear
     are not recommending  .returning to the attitude of       the Word of 
     humble prostration of falling on our faces, but let us                    our God mediately, not immediately and
                                                               directly - that is, through the agency of the minister.
     keep the present worshipful attitude of bowing our        In both cases our attitude should be that of  wor-
     heads with eyes closed. If we have to give that up        shippers - as it should be for the full hour-and-a-half
     then we would recommend starting all over again and       service. But our worshipful attitude in these cases
     remove our shoes in our worship of God.                   should be that of reverent and believing attention.
       Thanking you in advance for receiving the contri-
     bution,                                                   4. I wish brother Faber would be less quick with
                                                J.M. Faber     innuendoes such as "far right" and "far, left." I find
                                                               no objective grounds for such characterizations, and
     Comments:                                                 they do not contribute to the serious discussion of a
     1. Brother Faber should not entitle his contribution      serious subject.
     "Take Your Shoes Off!" if he, as he says, does not        5. Finally, I have at least succeeded in kindling some
     mean it.                                                  thinking, apparently, about our worship practices.
     2. Anyone who takes the trouble to analyze the            That is all to the good!
     passages cited carefully will discover that none of                                                       H.C.H.



     MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE


                                        Letter to T i m o t h y

                                          January 1, 1976        I think this is an extremely important question to
     Dear Timothy,                                             understand. And it is important for more than one
                                                               reason. It is important in your work with the people
       In our last letter we talked about the fact that the    of God. We must face the fact that far and away the
     so-called New Hermeneutics was fundamentally a            majority of the people of God come to Scripture
     rationalistic approach to the Scriptures which had to     without any knowledge of what the New Hermeneu-
     be rejected. Setting this rationalist approach  over-     tics is all about. In fact, they come to the Scriptures
     against the approach of faith, we decided that the        without even knowing what Hermeneutics is all
     issue was, at bottom, a spiritual, ethical issue  - an    about. They do not even come with any conscious
     issue which involved the difference between faith and     awareness of using principles of interpretation. They
     unbelief.                                                 have probably never heard the term "Hermeneutics"
       I want to spend a little time in this letter talking    before. They have received no course in Hermeneutics
     about what is meant by the approach of faith. What        in the Seminary. They cannot recite the various rules
     exactly do we mean when we say that Scripture must        which must be applied to the interpretation of Scrip-
     be approached in faith?                                   ture. They come equipped only with  faith.  And we


L


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   659



must surely ask the question whether this faith is              take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
enough to give the child of God the key to Scripture's          until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your
meaning. There is, after all, such a thing as what our          hearts: Knowing  this first, that no prophecy of the
fathers used to call a "simple faith". Is this adequate?        scripture is of any private interpretation. For the
That is the question.                                           prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
  The second reason why this matter of faith is so              but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
important is because there are those who maintain               the Holy Ghost."
that faith is indeed indispensable to the interpretation          Now these passages, it is clear, speak of the inspira-
of Scripture, but who have a sort of misconception of           tion of Scripture with the kind of language which
what faith really is. Is this faith, e.g., a blind leap into    proves that Scripture is, in its entirety and through-
the dark? Is this faith simply a matter of blindly              out, the infallibly inspired Word of God. We accept
accepting what is fundamentally unprovable? Is this             this testimony of Scripture by faith, and, on the basis
faith a sort of secret power  which enables one to              of these passages, we believe that the Bible is the
accept as true a number of propositions which lie               verbally inspired Word of God. We need no other
beyond the realm of proof? Or, to put the matter a              proof. This is sufficient for us. But, you see, those
little differently, is faith something which stands at          whose approach is rationalistic call this simplistic not
odds with man's powers of reason? We who insist that            only, and unscholarly, but they also charge us with
Scfipture must be approached by faith are often                 arguing in a circle. They accuse us of teaching that
accused of this. We are said to deny the use of reason          the Bible is the Word of God because the Bible says
and the validity of reason. This is implicit in the             so; and the testimony of the Bible is true because it is
charge of "unscholarliness". We are said to commit              the Word of God. Is not this arguing in a circle? Is not
the sin of "Bibliolatry" - the worship of a mere                this really assuming to be true exactly the point that
book. And the implicit charge is that we honor the              needs to be proved? Is not this committing an obvious
book for its own sake and do not worship the God                logical fallacy which makes the whole argument
Who is revealed in the Bible. We are said to substitute         fallacious? It would seem so. It would seem to be the
faith for reason so that we are content with slavish            same kind of argument as saying Mr. McCall is a trust-
adherence to the words of the Bible without even                worthy man. I believe that this is true because Mr.
understanding what they are all about and without               McCall himself says so. And I know that Mr. McCall
taking into account the nature of the book which we             speaks the truth because he is a trustworthy man.
call the Bible.                                                 This is arguing in a circle, and no one would entrust
   So we shall have to look into these matters some-            his most cherished possession to the safe-keeping of
what and see if we can come to any understanding of             Mr. McCall on these grounds. Would we trust the salva-
them.                                                           tion of our souls to the Scriptures when the argument
                                                                for the veracity of the Scriptures is the same kind of
  I think probably the best way to get at this matter           argument? The argument is reasoning in a circle. It is
is to jump forthwith into the fray and state unequivo-          a false proof for the truth of the Scriptures.
cably that we believe the Bible is the Word of God
because the Bible itself says so. This is a fact which             But is it?
no one can deny. If you want to read a book which,                This really brings us to the heart of the matter.
in a very beautiful and thorough way, sums up all the             And the heart of the matter is exactly the ques-
proof for this statement, I highly recommend Edward             tion: What is faith?
Young's book: "Thy Word is Truth." There are other
good books as well. To mention but a couple, I could              Is faith a sort of blind acceptance of basic pre-
refer you to R. Lair-d Harris's book: "Inspiration and          suppositions which, in their very nature, are un-
Canonicity of the Bible," and Archibald Alexander's             proved? This is the way faith is often explained. I
book: "Evidences of the Authenticity, Inspiration               recall, e.g., that when I was taking a science course in
and Canonical Authority of the Holy Scriptures."                my college years that the professor spent a great deal
These men show that the truth of inspiration is liter-          of time in the introduction to the course making
ally taught on every page of Holy Scripture. But the            plain that the approach of the Christian scientist was
two classic passages will serve our purposes for the            indeed the approach of faith. Never mind the fact for
present. I refer, of course, to II Timothy 3: 16, 17:           the moment that he was a man who believed in the
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is           "period theory" as a way of interpreting Genesis 1.
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,           He claimed that our approach was one of faith, that
for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God           indeed we were compelled to this approach by the
may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good               very fact that we were Christians. And he said that
works." And II Peter 1: 19-21: "We have also a more             this meant primarily that we accepted as true a num-
sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye             ber of propositions which were not susceptible to


660                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



proof. The very nature of the propositions made               cannot acquire it through learning. It does not come
proof impossible. We- accepted as true, e.g., the fact        along with a Ph. D. degree. You cannot buy it on the
that there is a God, that in some fashion God created         open market or from your friend. All the money in
all things, that He rules over all things in His provi-       the world will not purchase it. You cannot share it
dence. He insisted these were unprovable, but that            once you have it. You cannot give it to the man with
faith accepted them without proof. He sternly cau-            whom you are arguing about the truths of Scripture.
tioned us not to be ashamed that we did this, for he          You either have it, or you don't. And he either has it
insisted that the unbeliever does exactly the same            or he does not. And once it is yours, no one can ever
thing. We are not the only ones who build a science           take it from you, nor can you, through your careless-
on faith; the unbeliever is guilty of the same thing. He      ness, lose it. It is yours for all time and into eternity.
too builds his science on faith because he too builds         It is yours because God has given it to you.
his science on the basis of presuppositions. The only
difference then is that the presuppositions which the
believer and the unbeliever accept by faith are differ-          But the power of faith is a tremendous something
ent. The difference is not a lack of faith and the            which is unexplainable. It is a power to change and to
presence of faith. The difference is in the content of        shape the whole life of a man. It is a power to alter
faith.                                                        everything he does not only in his outward conduct,
                                                              but also in his inner life of thinking and willing and
                                                              feeling. It is a power so great and so wonderful that it
  I am convinced that this distinction has done a lot         defies description, is beyond explanation, needs never
of damage. I suspect, in fact, that it is this distinction    give an account of itself, cannot be accounted for
which is really at the bottom of a lot of the trouble.        even by the one who possesses it, and gives to a man
Quite obviously, if we all have faith, believers and          so completely a different direction in the whole of his
unbelievers alike, and differ only in what we accept          life that he is not and cannot be the same kind of a
by faith, then there is a lot of common ground                man which he was before that faith was his.
between us, and it is very easy to reduce the argu-
ment once more to a rationalistic argument: Who has
the better presuppositions? Who has the best "proof'             I want to talk a little bit more about this matter of
for the position which he holds?                              faith - and its wonderful power. But the hour is late
                                                              and the pages of this letter are full; and so we shall
                                                              have to wait with this till another time.
  This is surely not the meaning of Scripture when
Hebrews 11: 3 tells us: "By faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the Word of God . . ." The             But, in the meantime, there really is not anything
faith spoken of here is not a blind acceptance of cer-        which can be called "a simple faith". There are
tain unprovable assumptions. This faith is "the sub-          people of God whose knowledge is somewhat meager
stance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not        and whose understanding of the profundities of the
seen."                                                        Christian religion is limited. There are people of God
                                                              who do not have the capacity for profound theologi-
  We must always remember above all that faith is             cal endeavor and for deep theological penetration
the bond that unites the believer to Christ. I do not         into the mysteries of the truth. There are little chil-
want to get into a theological discussion  ,of this. I        dren who stand at the very beginning of the road of
refer you to the beautiful description of this faith as       salvation. There are "dying t&eves" who come to the
it is given in our own Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's         faith shortly before death. There are people who have
Day VII. But the truth of this assertion cannot be            never had the opportunity to learn a lot of the riches
emphasized strongly enough. Faith is the means                of the truth in Jesus Christ. From this point of view,
whereby the life of Jesus Christ becomes the posses-          their faith may be a simple faith. But faith itself can
                                                              never be simple. Their faith is not simple. It is, even
sion of the elect child of God. And, insofar as this has
implications for our present discussion, faith is the         in them, a mighty power. And indeed, sometimes the
                                                              power of their faith is so staggering that it puts the
means whereby we are put into contact with Christ
and with all that belongs to Christ's kingdom  and,           learned man and the professor of theology to shame.
                                                              Do not despise faith wherever and in whomever it
truth.                                                        may appear. It is a gift of God.

   Faith is an altogether wonderful gift. The greatness
of it can hardly be fully appreciated by us. It is a gift.                           With Christian greetings,
Ephesians  2:s is clear enough on that score. YOU                                    H. Hanko


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                              661



ALL AROUND US


                           On Masons and Membership
                                                         Rev. H. Veldman


  In the Banner of August 29, 1975, under "Voices,"               Christian and therefore should be accepted into the
James Daane of Fuller Theological Seminary, has an                fellowship of the church. He concedes that the re-
article on "Masons and Membership." He writes:                    ligion of Masonry  is incompatible with the Christian
                                                                  religion. So, one can be a Christian and at the same
      About fifteen years ago I contended in the  Re-             time deny the Christ! If such a man be a Christian, he
   formed  JoumaZ  that if Christian Reformed mission             is surely not walking and revealing himself as a Chris-
    effort brings a man to faith in Christ, the church is         tian, and the church of God must judge a man, in this
    obliged to accept such a man into its membership              instance, according to his appearance. Besides, does
    even if he is a member of the Masonic Lodge. I                not the Saviour say in Matt.  lo:33 that "whosoever
    claimed this on the ground  that if Christ accepts a          shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before
    person the church may do no less. Not to accept him           My Father which is in heaven?"
   would be a sectarian act.                                        James Daane maintains that a Mason should be
      Now, many years later, the Rev. George Vander
   Weit                                                           accepted into the fellowship of the church of Christ.
             makes the same  plea  (Barzner,  May 16, 1975).
   He contends that any Christian whom God through                How, then, would.the sacrament of baptism be possi-
   His Spirit brings to the Christian Reformed Church             ble, when it is promised before God and His church
   must be accepted even if he is a Mason. He is, of              that the child will be instructed in the doctrine as
    course, right. He has, furthermore, asked the CRC to          taught in this Christian church? How, then, can there
   prove him wrong by officially declaring that the               ever be public confession of faith when it is promised
   reason a Christian Mason cannot belong to the CRC is           before God and His church that he will maintain the
   that such a person is not a Christian but a child of the       truth as taught in this church and that he will fight
   devil.                                                         every heresy repugnant thereto? How, then, could
      This the CRC, of course, will never do. Why not?  '         Christian discipline ever be exercised against any
   Because although the CRC argues that the religion of           heresy, when a person can be a Christian regardless of
   Masonry is incompatible with the Christian religion -          what he believes and confesses?
   which ii is  - nonetheless the CRC recognizes that
   saints are still sinners, that a Christian can incon-            Notice how miserably and inexcusably weak James
   sistently be a Mason and for all of that still be a            Daane is. He concedes that Masonry is incompatible
   Christian. The CRC's basic position on this matter is          with the Christian religion. He writes that Masonry
   not  that a Christian cannot inconsistently be also a          is profqundly unbiblical and un-Christian. Rev. Daane,
   Mason, but that it does not want such inconsistent             Masonry is anti-Christian, even as Arminianism is
   Christians to be members of the CRC.                           not merely un-Christian and un-Reformed, but  anti-
      Is this a legitimate position? I make no brief for          Christian and anti-Reformed.
   Masonry. I think its religious aspects are profoundly            James Daane would welcome Masons into the fel-
   un-Christian. But I also believe it is profoundly  un-         lowship of the church of God and of Christ. This
   bibical for a Christian church to exclude from its             means that James Daane would not hesitate to wel-
   membership any authentic Christian whose conduct               come wolves into the sheepfold of Christ. He would
   or doctrinal views are less than wholly Christian. The         not hesitate to expose the church of God to every
   ,CRC  is untrue to its Lord  ivhen it excludes those           heresy. Does he not know that the Saviour warns
   whom Christ has accepted, and the CRC is sectarian
   when it maintains conditions of church membership              against those wolves? Does he not know that  the
   that exclude Christians from its membership.                   church of God is exhorted to keep that which it has,
                                                                  that no man take our crown? Does he not know that,
  Now in the first place, James Daane does not state              according to Eph. 4: 14-l 5 the people of God and the
why the CRC does not want such inconsistent Chris-                church of the Lord are exhorted to be not as  chil:
tians in its fellowship. However, I can give him some             dren, tossed about with every wind of doctrine?
very good reasons.                                                James Daane would not hesitate to expose the church
  James Daane maintains that a Mason can be a                     of the living God to ruin and destruction.


662                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER



OPC-RPCES UNION FAILS TO GAIN                                       WORD AND CHURCH
SUFFICIENT VOTES                                                      In the  Banner  of Sept. 26, 1975, the editor also
   The  Presbyterian  Journal  of June  15,1975  informs            writes on: Word and Church. We quote:
us that this union fails to gain sufficient votes. On                      So we, too. The rescued must come to the
page 5 we read the following:                                           Rescuer: "What, 0 Lord, would You have me do?"
          BEAVER FALLS, Pa.  - In voting tallies which                     The divine and inspired answer is spoken to us
       surprised both observers and participants, the Ortho-            through the Scriptures. Here and here alone is to be
       dox Presbyterian General Assembly approved a pro-                found, as we confess, the infallible guide both to faith
       posed merger while the Reformed Presbyterian Church              and to life - to belief that issues in doing.
       Evangelical Synod voted against a plan of union                     Fundamental, then, to the role of Christianity in
       which had been ten years in the making.                         the world is always this question: what of the Bible?
          The Orthodox Assembly, which had been expected                   Every attack upon the Scriptures weakens the
       to reject the plan, voted 95-42 in favor.                        impact of Christianity upon human behavior. If the
          In the RPCES General Synod, the vote was 122  -               guidelines are blurred, the path is obscured and our
       92 in favor, slightly less than the two-thirds required.         steps become uncertain. The moral confusion so
                                                                        characteristic of our era bears eloquent testimony to
          Following the vote, which was taken after a full             what follows for human behavior when the Bible has
       day of debate scheduled by both bodies, both                    been riddled by criticism, speculation, and scepticism.
       Churches adopted statements of continued  interestin
       on going discussions but without setting any par-              What can and shall we reply to this? To this we say
       ticular deadline for another vote. However, the re-          a hearty AMEN. How true, editor of the  Banner!
       spective union committees were directed to continue          How true that the moral confusion so characteristic
       their contacts in hopes of an eventual merger.               of our era bears eloquent testimony to what follows
         It was generally conceded that a deciding influence        for human behavior when the Bible has been riddled
       in the RPCES General Synod were remarks made by              by criticism, speculation, and scepticism!
       the Rev. Francis  Schaeffer, who spoke against the             Yet, to anyone who loves the truth that the Bible
       union proposal.                                              is the infallible Word of God, from Genesis through
   Our readers may recall that  The Standard Bearer                 Revelation, these words of the editor of the Banner
has written sometime ago about this merger.  There                  are a hollow sound. They mean so.little.  Fact is, this
are difficulties involved, such as Arminian and  pre-               same writer has written in a booklet that the Bible
millenarian tendencies. However, this merger may yet                does not tell us whether the evolutionistic theory of
come to pass.                                                       creation is true or the theory that the world was
                                                                    created by God's almighty power. He wrote that the
ARE WE HEADING FOR A SHOWDOWN?                                      Bible does not bother to settle this issue. And, editor
  In The Outlook the editor, Rev. John Vander Ploeg                 of the  Banner,  do you believe that the Bible is in-
writes editorially on the above subject. This article               fallibly inspired from the beginning of Genesis to the
appears in The Outlook of Sept., 1975. We need not                  end of Revelation?
quote the article. Rev. Vander Ploeg directs attention                In the  Banner  of Sept. 12, 1975, under "Voices"
to conditions in the Christian Reformed Church. The                 appears a short article under the above heading. See
attention of our readers has been directed repeatedly               page  20  of this issue of the  Banner.  We quote the
to these terrible conditions. And I may add that the                following:
editor of The Outlook has also called the attention of                    Prosperity, affluence, material success can never be
his readers repeatedly to these conditions. And now                    equated with the favor of God; much less as a reward
he asks the question: Are we heading for a show-                       or payment for faithful service.
down?
  Our comments will be very brief. First, Rev.                        There is more in this article. The writer takes issue
Vander Ploeg, how long must this continue before                    with one who had written that "the farmer in India
this showdown is finally reached? And, secondly,                    may experience success equal to that of the Iowan
what must be done with those in the Christian Re-                   farmer if he would only take the "positive Christian
formed Church who believe in and advocate these                     outlook, taken as a whole and taught. by Calvin."
terrible departures from the Word of God? How long                    We were so surprised to read in this article that
must they be tolerated? How long can you recognize                  prosperity, etc., can never be equated with the favor
them as brethren and have fellowship with them and                  of God. Did this writer ever hear of the theory of
sit with them around the same table of the Lord? If                 common grace? This is exactly the position of the
you can tolerate them, what guarantee is there that                 Christian Reformed Church that prosperity must be
you will not tolerate them in the future.                           equated with God's favor. Sunshine and rain, etc., are


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                663



all tokens of the favor of God. I assure the writer of       equated with things, and we have held to this teach-
these words that the Protestant Reformed Churches            ing of the Word of God throughout our existence,
hold to this view that God's favor must never be             ever since 1924.


THESTRENGTHOFYOUTH


                                        A Good Name
                                                  Rev. J, Kortering



  All of us are out to make a name for ourselves.               Soon one comes to himself. He realizes how silly it
  We are interested in building a certain image of           is to act that way, to be completely' dominated by
ourselves. We care what others think of us.                  others without really being one's self. He begins to
                                                             think of himself as an individual person. He asks him-
  This is generally true of people. We are  name-            self how his teachers view him, what others think of
conscious.                                                   him. We're concerned what aspect of our personality
  President Ford is interested in being known as the         is coming through loud and clear.
healer of a troubled nation. Having gone through the            There are all kinds of possibilities:
trauma of Watergate, having taken over an office that
had become defamed by the actions of an irrespon-               Mr. Brain
sible man, our President wants to restore dignity to            Mr. Tough Guy
the office, and confidence in the people. The nation            Miss Ambitious
needs healing and he wants to be the healer.                    Miss Daring
                                                                Mr. Poker Face
  "Squeeky" Fromme wants to make a name for her-                Miss Giggly
self. She wants to be known as the protector of red-
wood trees. She took the idiotic route of pointing a            It all boils down to one of two possibilities: either
gun at our president to get such attention. Now she          we have a good name or a bad name.
has a different kind of a name.                                 Paul wrote to the church of Galatia and described
                                                             the bad name this way, "Now the works of the flesh
  Sports heroes want to be known as the greatest in          are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication,
their respective fields  - Hank Aaron, Jimmy Con-            uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft,
nors, Mohammed Ali. They go to great lengths break-          hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
ing records, winning games, all for the purpose of a         heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings,
name!                                                        and such like; of the which I tell you before as I have
  Even Fanny Foxe, ever since she took her dip in            also told you in the past, that they which do such
the tidal basin in Washington, wants a name. And it          things shall not inherit the kingdom of God," Chapter
isn't a very good one at that.                               5:19-21.
WHAT KIND OF NAME                                               In the same context he described the good name,
                                                             "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-
  As a young person adds years to his life, he be-           suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
comes more conscious of his own name. There is               temperance: against such there is no law. And they
quite a difference between the timid freshman and            that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
the confident senior in high school. The persistent          affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit let us also
drive of a teen-ager is to conform. One's peers prac-        walk in the Spirit," Chapter 5: 22-25.
tically dominate his personality. They talk alike, dress
alike, laugh alike, eat alike, think alike, dream alike.        I ask you, what name are you after?
For a while teens act like so many robots manipu-
lated by some strange psychological force - "every-          A GOOD NAME
one does it".                                                   The Holy Spirit instructs us through Solomon, "A


 664                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


 good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,"        boast how good he is. This would be terrible. The big
 Prov. 22: 1.                                                "I" would come through loud and clear, and that is
   Are you concerned about a good reputation? Do             displeasing to God. Christ called these kinds of people
 you want your teachers, your parents, your fellow           white-washed sepulchres, beautiful on the outside,
 students, your friends to consider you to be the right      but tilled with dead men's bones on the inside.
 kind of person?                                               To look at it a bit differently, one might also avoid
   Obviously, good has to be explained. It makes a           getting into trouble, and thereby save his name, be-
 great deal of difference from what perspective we           cause he is afraid of what people might think. In
 speak of good. To the street gang in New York City, a       other words, because he knows that his reputation is
 good guy is one who will flash the switch blade at the      at stake, he might work hard to "keep his nose
 command of the leader, will rape a woman to show            clean." He doesn't want people to think bad things of
 his contempt, will shoot off his lip to anyone in           him, so he avoids wrong. This makes him a hypocrite.
 authority. Such a fellow is "in" with the gang. He's        The final test of hypocrisy is his private life. If he is
 the kind they want.                                         motivated to do good publicly, but privately he acts
   Here we speak of good in the only real sense one          differently, then he is indeed a hypocrite. Such a
 can speak of it. There is no good apart from God. He        person avoids going to the theatre because "people
 is the source of good, the standard of good, and the        might see him", but doesn't blink an eye to watch the
 ultimate determiner of all good. What God says is           same movie on television in the privacy of his own
 good is really good, what God calls evil is really evil.    home. Such a person wouldn't check out a bad book
 The texts we quoted from Galatians 5 demonstrate            at the public library, but would buy a cheap paper-
this.                                                        back and read it on the sly. He doesn't buy the  8-
                                                             track tape of the latest hits - then he would have to
   One who walks in a way that God calls good pos-           admit he listens - he just tunes in on the radio. If he
 sesses a good name. His reputation will be that he          does things just to be or not to be seen of men, it is
 obeys the command of God and seeks to do His will.          wrong.
   Such a name is to be "chosen", according to Prov.           It is important to seek a good name for the sake of
 22: 1. No one possesses such a name naturally or            others!
inherently. By nature we have a bad name. Rather,
we have to choose it.                                          If we who claim to be Christians and to be born of
                                                             the Spirit walk openly and repeatedly in sin without
   This involves two things. We first of all must value      repentance, that act may very well give occasion to
it greatly so that we desire to have such a name. We         other young people to sin. You have heard of giving
must consider it a real treasure, a wonder of grace, a       offense, of making oneself a stumbling block. Chris-
gem of sanctification. We look at such a name with           tian young people have to be doubly careful that care-
amazement and thankful contemplation. Secondly,              lessness does not cause some other struggling child of
we cultivate such a name. A good reputation does not         God to abandon the struggle. This is serious. We have
fall from the sky, but comes through daily prayerful         to care about each other, to bear one another's
effort, through hard work, through tears of repent-          burdens and so fulfill the law- of Christ. If we go to
ance, through reading the Word of God, through test-         church, attend a Christian school, are raised in a
ing the spirits, through putting into practice what one      Christian home, and publicly and openly flaunt the
believes to be right, and not being afraid of the con-       warnings of those who care about us, we will cause all
sequence. The crucifixion of the flesh and the living        those who are spiritually weak to become more bold
in the Spirit is a wonder of grace. It means over-           in walking in sin. It never fails. Sad as it may be, the
coming a "bad name"and replacing it with a "good             weak within the covenant look to those who claim
name".                                                       covenant promises, but who are careless, and follow
   Such a name will be considered good, not by the           them. It comes in the well known phrase, "Well, so-
world at large, for they will scoff. However, God will       and-so does it". Ask yourselves: why is it that the
consider it good and your fellow believers will rejoice      brash, the bold, the daring become the popular ones
in it. Such a name is attractive to the good.                within the sphere of the covenant? Must that not
WHY A GOOD NAME                                              sound a warning to us? We are responsible not only for
                                                             our own faults, but also when we lead others into
   We must be careful here. We could easily desire a         fault. If we choose a bad name, we hurt not only
good name with an evil motive. This would be bad             ourselves, but others as well.
news. Conceivably within the sphere of the covenant,
someone might work hard at a good name much like               The opposite is true when we choose a good name.
the Pharisees of Jesus' day. They did it to be seen of         God gives us the Holy Spirit, renews our hearts,
men. It might be a personal ego trip for someone to          and thereby influences our lives so that we may


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                665


demonstrate every day the mighty power and glory of          church. These are things that cause one to have a
God Himself. A good name testifies to God that He is         good name. By doing these things we make God's
faithful and good. It is proof that God is able to save      cause to triumph and contribute to its welfare in the
His people from their sins. When the people of God           world.
walk in Jehovah's fear, they show in all their lives            A good name will also make you to be a good
that grace is greater than the power of sin. This is the     example to others. Rather than giving occasion to
deepest reason why we desire to have a good name.            others to fall into sin, you will give occasion to others
God's glory radiates from such a life.                       to imitate. Sometimes young people overlook the
  In addition to this, by doing good we are able to          potential of this. So often we can reason concerning
advance the cause of God's kingdom. This doesn't             something worthwhile: no one does that; consequent-
mean that we have to be missionaries to bring God's          ly I won't either; and so no one ever does. Try break-
Word to others in remote areas. This may indeed be           ing that trend sometime. Do something worthwhile
the calling of some who are missionaries. For young          that no one else seems to do and see if others might
people, it means more than anything that they live           not begin doing it. It works both ways. We can be a
out their life of faith in the place God has given           powerful influence to one another by being a right
them. Choose a good name as a student and you will           example.
advance  ,God's kingdom in the area of your school             It is all part of choosing a good name.
work. Be obedient to your parents and this will con-
tribute to Christ's kingdom. Study your catechism               A good name is rather to be chosen than great
faithfully and this is fulfilling your God-given calling.    riches.
Be kind to others around you, avoid harsh and unfair           Who doesn't want to be rich?
criticism, don't wag your tongue but be helpful, think
about your aged grandparents and demonstrate kind-             Is a good name of greater value to you?
ness to them, contribute to your society life in               Choose it.


TAKING HEED TO THEDOCTRINE

         "Hyper-Calvinism" and the Call of the Gospel  (15)
                                                 Rev. David Engelsma


   We are presently examining the doctrine of the call       Dordt.  The New  Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia  of
 of the gospel in Reformed theology of the past. We          Religious Knowledge  describes him "as an earnest
are concerned to discover whether Reformed                   defender of the orthodoxy represented by the Synod
theology has historically maintained the doctrine `of        of Dort," and a living Presbyterian theologian, John
the well-meant offer of the gospel, as is confidently        Gerstner, refers to him as "the greatest champion of
asserted and widely accepted today, so that the denial       the high-reformed orthodoxy of the seventeenth cen-
of the offer must be regarded as conflicting with            tury." The theology of Turretin, therefore, can safely
 classic Reformed thought, if not as hyper-Calvinism.        be regarded as the expression of classic Reformed
In the previous article, we looked at the theology of        thought. What makes his theology even more signifi-
John Calvin. We now consider  Francois Turrettini.           cant is the fact that immediately after Turretin's
                             `_                              death the Reformed Church in Geneva apostatized
   F. Turrettini (or Turretin, as hereafter) was a Re-       from the Reformed faith  - ironically enough,
formed pastor and professor of theology in the 17th          through Turretin's own son, Jean Alphonse.
century. Born in 1623, only four years after the
Synod of Dordt, he became professor of theology at              Turretin's theology is found in his three-volume
Calvin's academy in Geneva, Switzerland in 165 3. He         work,  Institutio  Theologiae Elencticae  (Institutes of
was a successor of Calvin, therefore, less than a hun-       Polemical Theology). The work has never been pub-
dred years after Calvin's death and about fifty years        lished in English. But in the middle 1800's a certain
after the death of Calvin's immediate successor,             George Musgrave Giger of Princeton University trans-
Theodore Beza. Turretin is universally acknowledged          lated it from the Latin into English. Although the
as a significant, faithful proponent and defender of         translation - which is located at Princeton Theologi-
the Reformed theology of Calvin and the Synod of             cal Seminary  - remains unpublished, a large and


666                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


important part of it has been reproduced in mimeo-           decree, whether it is called a counsel or purpose, or a
graphed form as "Selections from  Francois  Turret-          conditional will, by which God truly and earnestly
tini's Theological Institutes." It is from this nearly       intended to have mercy unto salvation upon all and
600 page and rather rare reproduction of Giger's             each one, not by giving faith, but by sending Christ
translation of Turretin that I quote in these articles. I    for all and each one, and calling them to salvation
take thisopportunity to voice the hope expressed in          under the condition of faith and repentance which the
the preface of the work (by "J.H.G."): "It is hoped          patrons of Universal grace maintain; We deny."
that the perusal of these pages by interested students       (p. 112).
may create a demand for a critical revision and publi-          Next, he proves that there is no such gracious will
cation of Turrettini in English."                            or purpose towards all men in God. The first proof is
  Turretin treats the doctrine of the call of the            obtained "From the decree of Election and Reproba-
gospel in two sections of his work. The subject comes        tion. Because the Scripture makes the purpose of
up, first in the section on "The Decrees of God              having mercy particular, not universal, since it testi-
in General and Predestination in Particular" (pp.            ties that God has mercy upon some certain persons
33-143). After explaining and defending the Re-              only, loves and inscribes them in the book of life, but
formed doctrine of double predestination,  Turretin          hates, hardens, appoints to wrath, and ordains to con-
investigates, whether there is in God any will, or           demnation others, Rom. 9: 11, 12, 13, 18, 22; I
purpose, of having mercy upon all men and of saving          Thess.  5:9; I Pet. 2: 8; for who would say that God
all men, which will, or purpose, is reflected in the call    willed to pity unto salvation those whom he repro-
of the gospel. The viewpoint here is that of God's           bated from eternity, and most seriously intended for
will. The issue, in reality, is the teaching of the de-      them' one end under a condition, whom by the same
fenders of the offer that there is in God a sincere          act of will he excluded from the means of ever arriv-
desire to save all men and their squaring of this            ing at that end? And who does not see that the condi-
"desire" with the decree of election by the positing         t  ional purpose to give salvation to innumerable
of two wills in God, one will to save only the elect         persons, is destroyed by the absolute purpose con-
and another will to save everyone.                           cerning the not-giving of faith to them" (p. 113)?
                                                               Against this proof, it was objected that, in addition
  Turretin heads his treatment of this issue with a          to the merciful will of God in election that effec-
question: "Whether any conditional will, or universal        tually saves, there is also a merciful will that does not
purpose of having mercy upon the whole human race            save  - exactly the position of the present-day de-
fallen into sin, of destinating Christ as Mediator for       fenders of the offer. Turretin's reply to this objection
all and each one, and of calling them all to a saving        is devastating: " . . . it is gratuitously supposed that
participation of his benefits, ought to be attributed to     there is that twofold purpose of having mercy, while
God?" His immediate, clear, and conclusive answer -          the Scripture draws every purpose of God's mercy
on behalf of Reformed orthodoxy - is: "We deny."             from his eternal election, yea, it makes Election itself
Such a view, Turretin attributes to the Lutherans, the       to consist in it, Rom. 8:28, 29 and 9: 11; Eph. 1: 11;
Arminians, and certain Reformed theologians who,             II Tim.  1:9. And the thing itself teaches that it
by "extending more widely the periphery of grace             cannot be conceived without absurdity, that God, in
and defending the universality of Mercy, Redemption          whom there cannot be priority and posteriority, and
and vocation (God's call by the gospel  - D.E.),"            who decrees all things by a sole and most simple act
"depart from the doctrine thus far received in our           of will, by the same act willed most seriously to
Churches" (p. 110).                                          intend salvation for some under a certain condition,
  First of all,  Turretin explains the question. "The        and at the same time, he, who alone can give, deter-
question is not, whether there is in God a will com-         mined to deny to them the very condition without
manding and approving faith and salvation of men;            which salvation cannot be obtained; what else is this
nor, whether God commands in the Gospel men to               than to will to have mercy and not to will at the same
believe and repent, if they wish to be saved; and            time? I confess that the sole act of the divine will can
whether it please him for me to believe and be saved.        be divided into various acts, which may be conceived
For no one denies that God is pleased with the con-          as prior and posterior, but this is to be understood
version and life of the sinner rather than with  his.        only of those, which do not butt against each other,
death . . . But the question is, whether from such a         and destroy themselves; Now to say that God in-
will approving and commanding what men must do in            tended salvation for all, and at the same time decreed
order to obtain salvation can be gathered any will or        to elect and love some, but to hate and reprobate
purpose of God, by which he intended the salvation           others, are most absurd, nor can they either at the
of all and every one under the condition of faith . . ."     same time stand with God, or even successively, un-
(pp. 111,112). ". . . the question may be reduced to         less his will is supposed to be liable to change, which
these boundaries; whether there is in God a general          is blasphemous" (p. 114).


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           667


  The second proof is that, if God earnestly willed                tion to several passages of Scripture that the oppo-
the salvation of all men, He would also will all the               nents of Reformed orthodoxy brought up  - already
means necessary to that end, e.g., the preaching of                in the 17th century! - in support of a Divine desire,
the gospel and the gift of faith, and would actually               or will, to save all men. John 3 : 16 is the first passage.
confer salvation upon all - which, in fact, is not the             Turretin  insists that "the Love treated of in John
case. Turretin's argument here is that by the notion               3:16 . . . cannot be universal towards all and every
of a sincere, merciful desire to  save  all, "velleities           one, but special towards a few." It has reference
(wishes  - D.E.) and vehement desires, but fruitless               "only (to) those chosen out of the world." As for the
and frustrated, are attributed to God, by which he is              word, "world,"  "why then should not the World here
made to intend and in earnest will that which willing              be taken not universally for individuals, but indefi-
he yet knew would never either be, nor could be."                  nitely for any one, Jews as well as Gentiles, without
This, says Turretin, is not "becoming to the majesty               distinction of nation, language and condition, that he
of the supreme Deity"; is "repugnant to his wisdom                 may be said to have loved the human race, inasmuch
and power"; obscures and lessens the divine goodness               as he was unwilling to destroy it entirely but decreed
and grace, making God's goodness `and grace "vain                 to save some certain person out of it, not only from
and inefficacious" (p. 118). In short,  Turretin con-              one people as before, but from all indiscriminately
demns the doctrine of a sincere desire of God to save              although the effects of that love should not be ex-
all men as a denial both of God's sovereignty and of              tended to each individual, but only to some certain
God's truthfulness. It is a denial of God's sovereignty            ones, viz, those chosen out of the world? And noth-
because God's will to save is not realized; it is a denial        ing is more frequent in common conversation than to
of God's truthfulness because it represents God as de-            attribute to a community something with respect to
siring to save many whom He has no intention of                   some certain individual, not to all" (pp. 119, 120).
saving.
  In a fascinating section,  Turretin turns his  atten-                                 (to be continued)


THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS


                            Man's Creation and Fall  (1)
                                                       ProJ Robert D. Decker


   "We believe that God created man out of the dust of                 repugnant to this, concerning the free will of man,
   the earth, and made and formed him after his own                    since man is but a slave to sin; and has nothing of him-
  image and likeness, good, righteous, and holy, capable               self, unless it is given from heaven. For who may pre-
  in all things to will agreeably to the will of God. But              sume to boast, that he of himself can do any good,
  being a honor, he understood it not, neither knew his                since Christ saith, No man can come to me, except the
   excellency, but willfully subjected himself to sin, and             Father, which hath sent me, draw him? Who will glory
   consequently to death, and the curse, giving ear to                 in his own will, who understands, that to be carnally
  the words of the devil. For the commandment of life,                 minded is em-r&y  against God? Who can speak of his
  which he had received, he transgressed; and by sin                   knowledge, since the natural man receiveth not the
  separated himself from God, who was his true life,                   things of the spirit. of God? In short, who dare suggest
  having corrupted his whole nature; whereby he made                   any thought, since he knows that we are not sufficient
  himself liable to corporal and spiritual death. And                  of ourselves to think any'&ing as of ourselves, but that
  being thus become wicked, perverse, and corrupt in                   our sufficiency  is  of  Go+? And therefore what the
  all his ways, he hath lost all his excellent gifts, which            apostle saith ought justly to be held sure and firm,
  he had received from God, and only retained a few                    that. God  wo!keth in us both to will and to do of his
  remains thereof, which, however, are sufficient to                   good pleasure. For there is no will nor understanding,
  leave man without excuse; for all the light, which is in             conformable to the divine will and understanding, but
  us is changed into darkness, as the Scriptures teach us              what Christ hath wrought in man; which he teaches
  saying: The light shineth in darkness, and the dark-                 us, when he saith, Without. me ye can do nothing."
  ness comprehendeth it not: where St. John calleth
  men darkness. Therefore we reject all that is  taught                                   Article  XV, The  Be&c Confession


668                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


       One continues to marvel at the beauty of this gem           This latter verse has often been misinterpreted to
among the creeds of the church. In relatively few                  mean that God created man by two separate creative
words this article sets forth some of the deepest                  acts so that man is made up of two separate parts: a
truths of God's Word in clear and unequivocal lan-                 body and a soul. According to this view man is really
guage. The doctrines outlined here are certainly                   two distinct entities or beings: a spirit or soul within
among the most important of the Scriptures. Man's                  a body. Now, it is certainly true that Scripture dis-
original excellence as well as his present sinful and              tinguishes between soul and body. No one disputes
depraved state are described. Only in the way of a                 this. But what must be understood is that man is not
clear understanding of these are we able to under-                 made up of two beings; man is one. The body is not a
stand the depth into which we are fallen. And, it is               meaningless shell or abode for the soul. Man is one.
only when we realize that depth that we can begin to               This is plain from the fact that in the resurrection our
appreciate the power and beauty of God's mercies by                bodies shall be raised to newness of life. But this is
which we are saved. These truths, therefore, have pro-             also evident from the text in Genesis 2. By the one
found significance for the Christian doctrine and life.            act of God with its two aspects (the forming of man
       Here, too, we find in sharp focus THE battle which          from the dust of the ground and the breathing into
the church has had to rage all through the centuries,              his nostrils of the breath of  life) God created the
the battle between Jesus and the Pharisees (salvation              whole man. And that whole man thus created is one
by works, no depravity), Pelagius (denial of total                 personal, thinking, willing, moral creature. Note well
depravity) and Augustine, Erasmus (free will) and                  that Genesis 2 does not tell us how God created first
Luther, Roman Catholicism (meritorious good works)                 a body and then a soul. Rather it speaks of the form-
and Protestantism, Arminianism and the Reformed                    ing of the whole man. God formed man, the whole
truth. Because the truth is one beautiful harmony our              man, out of the dust of the ground and He breathed
views concerning man's creation and fall and the con-              into man's nostrils the breath of life and the whole
sequences of that fall radically affect our views of the           man became a living soul. Man, therefore, is one
grace of God in Christ.  Hence, we had better have a               being.
proper understanding of these first principles. We can               By virtue of this twofold creative act man stands in
only thank God for the beautiful summary of the                    a twofold relationship. He is created "out of the dust
Scripture's teaching on these matters presented in                 of the earth" as the creed emphasizes, and this means
Article XIV.                                                       he is of the "earth earthy." This is literally stated in
                                                                   that interesting comparison Scripture makes between
       The Confession really speaks of two subjects in this        the first and last Adams in I Corinthians 15:45-47:
article: the creation of man by God and his fall into                  "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a
sin and the consequences of that fall. We shall devote,                living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening
therefore three articles to the exposition of Article                  spirit. Howbeit that  was not first which is spiritual,
XIV. We limit ourselves in this issue to the relatively                but that which is natural; and afterward that which is
brief statement of what we believe concerning man's                    spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the
creation out of the dust of the earth. Even here we                    second man is the Lord from heaven."
shall have to be brief. For a much more detailed dis-              Notice, man as a living soul, according to this passage,
cussion of these rich doctrines the reader may consult             is "natural" and "of the earth, earthy." This means
Herman Hoeksema's Reformed Dogmatics, pp. 197,                     that man as a living soul is earth bound. In fact from
ff.                                                                this point of view he is no different from the animals.
                                                                   The animals too, are called "living souls" (cf. Gen.
       The creation account refers to the creation of man          1:24 and Gen. ~2:7. While the King James translates
in two passages. The first is found in Genesis 1:26, 27            "living creatures" with reference to the animals and
and reads:                                                         "living soul" with reference to man, the Hebrew
        "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after         terms in both instances are precisely the same.) The
        our likeness: and let them have dominion over the          fish and fowl were produced from the waters by the
        fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over    creative Word of God and they are earthy. The
        the cattle, and over all  the earth, and over every        animals were produced by that creative Word from
        creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God        the earth and they are earthy. Likewise God formed
        created man in his own image, in the image of God          man from the dust of the ground and he is earthy. He
        created he him; male and female created he them."          is bound to the earth; completely dependent upon it
Genesis  2:7 tells us how God created man in these                 for all his earthly existence. Man cannot escape from
words:                                                             it. Dust he is and to the dust he must return. H.
        "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the            Hoeksema puts it nicely when he writes:
        ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of           "He has earthly sensations and perceptions; an
        life; and man became a living soul."                           earthly eye,  with which he perceives earthly things;


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                           669


    an earthly ear, that can hear earthly sounds; an            formed as it were by the very fingers of the Almighty.
    earthly sense of taste and touch and smell, that can        Thus while man remains of the earth, earthy he is far
    bring him into contact with earthly objects. He is          above the rest of the earthly creation. This factor,
    bound by ties of earthly love and friendship. Even his      too, will not allow any form of evolution. There is
    thinking and willing assume earthly forms. There are        obvious distinction between the animals and man.
    things which eye cannot see, and ear cannot hear, and       Man cannot be explained as coming from the animals,
    which cannot arise in the heart of man, which only          neither is there a gradual transition from animals to
    the Spirit of God can reveal to him. And this, finally,     man. "The missing link is indeed missing." (Hoekse-
    also implies that man is mortal,  ahhougb  as he came       ma,  Reformed Dogmatics,  p. 201) God did not
    forth from the hands of his Creator death had no
    dominion over him. Yet he was not beyond the reach          merely call man from the earth, He formed him and
    of death. And therefore he was not created in the           breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
    state of immortality. It was possible for him to fall
    and to die. Thus man was made a living soul."                 But there is still another dimension to man's being.
                           (Refomzed Dogmatics, p. 200)         He is a spiritual, moral, personal being for God
                                                                "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." God
                                                                did not do this with the animals. They are merely of
  Yet even from an earthly and natural point of view            the earth, earthy. They are simply called forth from
the Bible speaks of the excellency of man. Even the             the earth and nothing more can be said of them.
earthly aspect of man contains something which                  While man, too, is of the earth, earthy he is more; for
makes him a creature higher and more excellent than             when God formed him from the dust of the ground
all other creatures. This is evident from man's very            God also infused man with the breath of life. Thus
appearance. His upright stance, his face which reveals          man was created with a mind and a will. And thus,
intelligence and understanding, and his ability to look         too, man was created capable of knowing His Creator,
upward to heaven all indicate that even from an                 loving Him and serving Him. Man was enabled to
earthly point of view he was created as king. Man is            serve His God by exercising lordship over the crea-
not merely the highest form of animal life. He is               tion. He could stand in covenant relationship with the
something much more than the animal. This excel-                Most High. Truly in his original state man stood in
lency is also clearly evident from the creation narra-          the image and after the likeness of Him that created
tive itself. There is that significant pause and divine         him This is his excellency, his nobility. Well may we
soliloquy (cf. Genesis. 1:26) before God creates man.           exclaim with the Psalmist: "I will praise thee; for I
God speaks with Himself: "Let us make man in our                am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are
image, after our likeness. . . ."; and then follows in vs.      thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."
27 the statement of the actual creation of man. The             (Psalm 139: 14)
form of the creation narrative itself indicates the
excellency of man before God and in relationship                   On the basis, therefore, of the clear and powerful
with the rest of creation. Man is made a friend-servant         testimony of the Scriptures: "We believe that God
of Jehovah. As such he is to be lord of the creation:           created man out of the dust of the earth, and made
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be               and formed him after His own image and likeness,
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and            good, righteous, and holy, capable in all things to
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea,          will, agreeably to the will of God."
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1: 27) In
man the whole creation finds its focus and meaning.
Through man the whole creation "declares the glory
of God." The creation serves man in order that man
may serve His Creator. This factor makes all claims of
evolution nonsense. Even the form of the creation                       Kn,ow the standard  n, ,
narrative precludes any evolutionary conception of                                                :     i!l
things.                                                                     and follow it. rf  $!R3
  Man's excellency is evident from another fact of
the creation narrative. In Genesis 1 we read that by
the power of the creative Word of God the waters
brought forth the fish and fowl and the earth brought
forth the animals, but of man we read that God                                          Read the
fcirmed him out of the dust of the ground. (cf. Gen.
1:20-25  ; 2:7) Man as well as the animals was created                      STANDARD BEARER!
out of the dust of the earth, but only man was


670                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


                                          Book Reviews
                                                    Pro5  H. Hanko



GOLDEN BOOKLET OF THE TRUE  CHRTSTIAN                          These meditations on the Psalms are a good
LIFE,  by John Calvin; Translated by Hem-y J. Van            example of how the Psalms may never be used. The
Andel; Baker Book House, 1975; 96 pp., $1.45.                author fails completely to see the Messianic character
   This booklet is a new translation of the material in      of the Psalms and even denies that Psalm 22 speaks of
Calvin's Institutes entitled "On the Christian Life "        Christ. The result is little moral homilies tacked on to
However, since 1550, this material was published             a particular Psalm. [Reviewed by Prof. H. Hank01
separately also in French, Latin and Dutch. It has
been republished a large number of times, but now it         WILLIAM BARCLAY: A Spiritual Autobiography;
appears in a new and more modern translation. For            Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975; 121 pp.,
those who have neither the time nor the inclination          $5.95.
to read the whole of the Institutes, and for those who         Biographies are difficult to write. Autobiographies
desire this important material in a separate booklet,        are, especially for a Christian, almost impossible. This
this is a worthwhile purchase. [Reviewed by Prof. H.         book is not, in the true sense of the word, an
Hanko]                                                       autobiography. Although the author does give con-
                                                             siderable information about himself, especially in the
DEVOqTIONALS  FOR TEACHERS, by Nelle Vander                  chapter entitled "Self-Portrait", nevertheless, he is
Ark; Baker Book House, 1975; 80 pp., (no price               more interested in setting forth his own theology in
given .)                                                     the context of a description of his work.
   A rather sentimental and moralistic book intended           He was a pastor, a radio speaker, a writer of "Daily
to help teachers through their difficult work by             Study Bible", and, for twenty-seven years, a member
means of devotional readings based loosely on various        of the Divinity Faculty at the University of Glasgow,
Scripture passages. [Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]             Scotland.
                                                               The book is interesting reading, but the theology is
WORD IN DEED, Theological Themes in Evangelism,
by Gabriel Fackre; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,           very deficient, and, as a matter of fact, Antichristian.
1975; 109 pp., $1.95 (paper).                                On page 40, e.g., the author comes very close to
                                                             making his evolutionism a step to outright  Armin-
   A rather liberal neo-evangelical approach to             ianism. On pp.  44ff., he denies that sickness and
evangelism which is not much help to a Reformed              suffering are God's will. But by far the worst, on pp.
man, but does give the current approach to much of           49, 50, 52, he denies the deity of Jesus Christ and the
evangelism. He treats the themes: Orientation, Proc-        vicarious atonement of Christ for sin.
lamation, Authorization, Action, Conversion.                   After reading the book, one wonders why he
[Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]                                 continues to preach and teach Divinity if these truths
                                                             are denied. I: Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]
THE CALL TO HOLINESS, Spirituality in a Secular
Age, by Martin Parsons; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1975, 95 pp., $1.65 (paper).                            THE GOSPEL OF MARK,  by William Hendriksen;
                                                            Baker Book House, 1975; 700 pp., $14.95.
  This primarily devotional book deals only briefly
with the specific problems of the work of sancti-              Baker has produced another in the series of New
fication, and is, consequently, not much help in an         Testament Commentaries by Dr. Hendriksen. We are
understanding of this important doctrine. It contains       happy that additional commentaries are being
a mild criticism of neo-pentacostalism and defines the      published in this series, for they constitute some of
means of holiness in terms of prayer and Bible              the finest commentaries available.
reading. It is somewhat evangelically orientated.              The desirable features of these commentaries are:
[Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]                                 1) The text is clear and written in a style under-
                                                            standable by all. 2) The books of the Bible treated are
MORE PSALMS FOR ALL SEASONS, Expressions                    all introduced by a rather lengthy discussion of date,
o.f the Believing Heart, by David Allan Hubbard; Wm.         authorship, and various problems of an introductory
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975; 96 pp., $1.50             nature. 3) The author is firmly committed to the
(paper).                                                    truth of infallible inspiration. 4) All technical


                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               671



material is placed in footnotes. There are two ad-                                 Christian Focus Publications is a recently formed
vantages to this. On the one hand, the reader is not                            organization in Scotland which was formed for the
interrupted by this technical material. On the other                            purpose of "the  ,propagation of the Gospel through
hand, those familiar with the Greek will find much                              literature." As far as I know, this is its second
material of value by a careful perusal of the foot-                             publishing venture. Its first was an exposition of the
notes. 5) The commentary is generally thorough and                              Westminster Confession of Faith by Robert Shaw.
is of considerable value for Bible study whether that be
in personal study or in preparation for Societies.                                 This present book contains some of the sermons
   There are several features which are not too                                 preached by Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813-1843)
desirable. 1) The author believes in the theory of                              whose short ministry was spent as pastor of St.
common grace and the general offer of the gospel. He                            Peter's in  Dundee, Scotland. These sermons were
brings these into his commentary at many points,                                originally published five years after M'Cheyne's death
sometimes in what seems to be a forced way. 2) The                              from notes taken down by his audience during the
author, in this commentary as well as in others, is                             services.
very fond of acrostics and various devices and
schemes to divide or elucidate material. Sometimes                                 These sermons stand in the Puritan tradition for
these force the material into strange patterns some-                            the most part. They are strongly Calvinistic, but have
what foreign to the Scriptures.                                                 that undercurrent of mysticism which so charac-
                                                                                terized much of Puritan preaching. Although quite
   Our ministers are often asked to recommend com-                              naturally the homiletics is quite different from what
mentaries to their people. Hendriksen's commentaries                            we are accustomed to, these sermons make fine
can be recommended highly and will prove valuable                               reading. The book is well worthwhile to anyone who
additions in family, church and ministerial libraries.                          enjoys devotional reading and who would like to have
[Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko]                                                    some idea of circumstances in Scotland among Cal-
                                                                                vinists during the first half of the Nineteenth
                                                                                Century.

A BASKET OF FRAGMENTS,  by Robert Murray                                           The book can be ordered from the address given
M'Cheyne; Christian Focus Publications, 118                                     above and a publicity leaflet giving information about
Academy St., Inverness, IV1 ILX, Scotland; 194 pp.,                             Christian Focus Publications can be obtained from
$7.95.                                                                          the same address.





                   RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                      Gifts which we gratefully acknowledge for the year Sept. 1, 1974  -
                                                                               August  31,1975
    The Adult Bible Class of Faith Protestant Reformed Church (Grand
 Rapids) wishes to express its sincere sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. David            Doon                                                     $111.81
 Ondersma in the passing of her father, MR. HENRY HEEMSTRA.                      Edgerton                                                  163.01
    It is our prayer that the Lord will remember them in their loss. "The        Faith                                                      65.80
 Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people           First                                                     571.15
 with peace." (Psalm  29:ll).                                                    Holland                                                   438.26
                                                                                                                                         1,553.89
                                                The Adult Bible Class of         Hope
                                                                                                                                           640.34
                                                           Faith Church.         Hudsonville
                                                                                 Hull                                                      207.81
                   WEDDING ANNIVERSARY  "                                        Kalamazoo                                                 173.40
                                                                                 Loveland                                                  110.79
    On January 4, 1976, our parents, MR. AND MRS. DICK VAN                       Lynden                                                     75.75
 UFFELEN, hope to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.                      Pella                                                      29.00
    We are thankful to God for the preservation of them for each other           Randolph                                                  193.16
and for us, and for the covenant love and instruction they have given us.        Redlands                                                  178.87
 Our prayer is that God may continue to bless them in the years to come.         South East                                                599.26
                                                            Their children,      South Holland                                           1,413.20
                                 Mr. and Mrs. Lewis H. Bruinsma (Donna)          South West                                                202.12
                                                                                                                                            25.00
                                                         John Van Uffelen        Hudsonville  MS.
                                                                                                                                         3.333.45
                                                       JoAnn  Van Uffelen        Individuals
                                                        Laura Van Uffelen                                                              $10.086.07
 Redlands, Cal.                                     Robert Van Uffelen                                                       Board of the R.F.P.A.


 THE STANDARD BEARER
            P.O. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506





672



                                News From Our Churches

  Most if not all of our churches use tape recorders       little sad, for one does not leave the place which has
to bring recordings of church services into the homes      served as church home for almost 5 decades without
of members of the congregation who are shut-in.            some feeling.. But, we are all looking forward to the
Tape ministries have also been an effective tool in        building of the new Hudsonville Church. In the
church extension work. First Church in Grand Rapids        course of the November congregation meeting, it was
began this service with the use of wire recorders          decided to alter the plans for the new church. The
about 30 years ago. Recently, the following report         new church will have all the rooms as well as the
appeared in First's bulletin concerning the cassette       auditorium on one level. The earlier plan was for a
tape ministry conducted there:                             bi-level church.
  During the past several years we have been using              Hudsonville also conducted a clothing drive for the
  cassette recorders for our shut-ins, but also to send    needy in Jamaica this fall.
  out our recorded services to those outside our con-
  gregation. We have also offered for sale such re-             Due to growth in the size of their respective con-
  cordings as well as recordings of past lectures. At      gregations, the size of the consistories in both South-
  present, we have 14 individuals or families in our       west and Holland churches was enlarged. The Holland
  congregation who receive the recorded services,          consistory has brought building fund needs to the
  and there are 17 outside of the congregation who         attention of the congregation because it appears that
  receive these. We have also sold over 500 cassettes      the building will have to be altered to make more
  of services and lectures to many both within our         seating room in the auditorium.
  denomination and outside of it. We thank our                  Both our churches in Hull, Iowa and Isabel, South
  covenant God for this opportunity to witness to          Dakota, scheduled church cleanings last fall. Hull
  His sovereignty and goodness. Should any desire to       even furnished dinner for the cleaners. Isabel needed
  be added ,to the list of those receiving recordings,     a couple men to dust the church ceiling. I always
  they may contact John Van Baren, 245-6666.               thought Spring was the time for the annual cleaning
                                                           -
  John Van Baren is Rev. G. Van Baren's oldest son.             especially among the Dutch.
John serves as the recording engineer in this tape              Kalamazoo extended their call to Rev. J.  Korter-
ministry. It is quite evident that no little recording     ing.
activity has been `taking place on Fuller and Franklin          For many years, the Sunday School of First
Streets.                                                   Church has been publishing and distributing a number
                             *****                         of pamphlets. Recently a letter was received from a
  In Hudsonville's November 2 bulletin this note           book shop in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A new supply
appeared: "On July 26, 1926, this congregation was         of pamphlets was requested to replace those lost
organized. Approximately in February of 1927 the           when the shop was bombed - "Our Book Shop near
church building was dedicated. After worshipping for       city centre suffered bomb damage on a number of
more than 48 years in this building, the time has          occasions. On the last occasion we suffered loss of
come that we leave it. Next Saturday morning cate-         most of our stock - books & Bibles. But after 6 or 7
chism classes will be held in the Hudsonville Public       months in temporary quarters we are back in our
High School at the usual time,  9:30 and 10: 15.           Shop again. The Lord reigns.," The shop owner writes
NEXT SUNDAY services will be held in the Hudson-           that one of the pamphlets was a great help to a con-
ville Public High School at 9:30 in the morning and at     vert from the Roman Catholic Church. We rejoice
3300 in the afternoon! Please notice the change of         that the Lord has given opportunity to use these
time for the second service!" For many in the  Hud-        materials even in distant lands.
sonville congregation, November 2 must have been a                                                        K. G. V.


