      VOLUME  XXXIV                               APBIL   1, 1958 -  GRAND  RAPIDS,   MICHIGAN                             NUMBER   13

                                                                                   events and places, serve the central,  fundamental and
            M E D  I T A  T,  I  0.N                                      most important of all.
/)                                                                            Such it was in anno Domini  335.
                   TEE CRUCIFIXÍQN                                                                  * *  =i  *

              "And it was the third hour,  .and they crucified Him."          It was the third hour ; it was Jesus ; it was Golgotha; it
                                                         Mark  1525      was the crucifixion.
                                                                              It was the hour of God, but also of the devil. It was the
      The Preacher tells US that there is an appointed time for          hour of the Church, but also of Antichrist. The whole uni-
everything  that  happens  under the sun. And that is correct.            verse had its hour, and .the hour was the great THIRD.
When  a lowly sparrow dies, and falls out of a tree, it was                   You wil1  naturally ask me for proof.
the appointed time from al1 eternity for that little insigni-
ficant ; ( ?) beastie to. die.                                                Here it is : Do you have any idea how long eternity is ?
                                                                          Can you form a conception of everlasting presence before the
      And as it is with that little sparrow, so it is with every-        throne of God and the Lamb?  Did- you ever ponder  on the
thing in this whole great- universe..                                    idea  that you wiil stand there before the throne, and did you
      However,  there is a differente.  We speak of important            ask yourself then  how you  wil1  be occupied for  al1 eternity ?
and unimportant things, events,  persons and relationships.                   God gave the answer : You wil1  be looking at a little Lamb,
      Moreover, there is always the most important thing,                 standing as if slain. Billions and billions of years after  you
theme, thought, etc. Music  lovers know that there is one                first arrived in heaven you wil1 stil1 look at that little Lamb,
theme in every piece of music,  composition, opera, etc. There            standing with its throat cut, the blood oozing through the
is one  main thought running through  a book, play,  composi-             fleecy wool. And the sight -of it wil1 make heaven musical
tion of any kind.                                                        forever: Ever and  .ever your song  wil1 arise before that
      In the opening paragraph of an essay, as wel1  as in the           throne, and addressing that little Lamb, you wil1 say : "Thou
closing paragraph, there should be a summation of al1 that is            hast redeemed  US unto God by Thy  bloed  !"
written  in such essay.                   .                                   Why ?
      Architects   tel1  US that in great buildings, cathedrals,              Because that Lamb,  slain. from before  the foundation of
houses  of parliament, étc., there is one thought expressed.             the world, is and ever was the, most important  of God's rev-
That was especially so in the middle ages.                                elation. It is because Golgotha is the most important  place,
      The  same idea you find in  sculpture,  paintings, etc.            the Crucifixion the most important event, the affair the most
                                                                         important happening in  al1 history.
      And that this is so, is because of God.                                 What happened in the 4000 years before led up to that
      There is one focal point in time ; there is one Man among          hour, event,  place  and Man. And what happened since then
the billions ; there is one place in the universe ; there is one         is flowing  from that Cross, Man, hour and event.
event in the affairs of men, angels and devils that stands  out,
that is most important, which draws really al1 the attention.                 Oh yes, it is for that very reason that this question is
That one point of time, that one affair, that one Man, that              paramount'among absolutely  al1 other questions : "What think
one  place, that one event stands .in the `center of al1 things.         ye of the Christ?"
And you  may even say that  al1 the other  times, affairs, men                Simeon saw this clearly : "that the thoughts of  many
 (and, for that matter, angels, devils, `men, both wicked and             hearts  may be revealed."


290                                               THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

    Let's look at the place.                                            When  devils and wicked men enter hell, and  when  they
    It is Golgotha.                                                  look into the future, they see only the blackness, the despair
                                                                     of an everlasting torture. There is not one speck of light, of
       It is near Jerusalem.                                         hope, of release.
       It is a little ways without the "tamp."                          If I would have to go to hel1 (God have mercy on me !>,
    Jerusalem is the most important place in the universe.           and if God would say to me at my entrance  into the pit which
    It is the City of the great King.                                burns with fire and brimstone : "You wil1 stay here and suffer
                                                                     the torture of the damned for one billion,  times one billion,
       It is the City of Peace.                                      times one billion of years ! And at the expiration of that
       In heaven there wil1 not be a city by the name of New         awful period of time 1 wil1 release you ; 1 wil1 dry your tears,
York, London, Berlin, Tokyo, etc.                                    and 1 wil1  let you enter the abode of -the blessed !" If God
    But there wil1 be a -no - the Jerusalem.                         would so speak to me, 1 could enter hel1 with a smile. Be-
                                                                     cause al1 through those weary years 1 would see a speck-of
    There is the-sound of heavenly music in that name.               light. 1 would ever hear the echo of that promise. And every
    Men have searched in the English language for the most           day of my untold suffering 1 would tel1 myself : There wil1 be
beautifully sounding word. One body of linguists  chose the          a day of which you  wil1 say : "This is the last! Tomorrow 1
word WLelody.                                                        wil1  go to heaven !"
    They are mistaken. It is Jerusalem.                                 Now attend to  this : Jesus had to suffer everlasting
    Allow me a figurè. Jerusalem is the place  where the             punishment ; everlasting hel1 on earth ; everlasting death for
Triune Covenant God kissed the earth and the  human  race.           His sheep.
But that is not the most important.                                     But 1 hear you say : But Jesus arose the third day ! And
    The most important about that place is that there the            He lived only  33% years ! How do you explain that?
great mystery of Godliness appeared.                                    Then here is the answer: Jesus suffered an eternity of
       It is both terrible and beautiful.                            horrors  -through  the concentration of al1 the fury of God's
       It is terrible according to the text which 1 wrote above      eternal wrath  -in the short  space  of time. Again concerttraL
this little meditation.                                              tion.  Do you not see that Jesus' hel1 is worse than  any other
                                                                     heil, even of Beelzebub ?
    At the THIRD HOUR something happened which beg-                      When  1 think  on that, 1 am dazzled, and am amazed with
gars' description. There is only One who could adequately            great amazement.
describe it. Oh yes, He did describe it in the whole of the
Bible. 1 would almost  say: "especially in the four Gospels,"           And now in the third place:
but -1 hesitate. How about Psalm 22, 25, 44-, 69, 77, 88 ? Or           When  1 would have to go to heil, and if 1 would have
Isaiah 53, the books of Jonah and Job ? Or for that matter           to bow and writhe under the terrible torment of God's  wrath,
"And beginning at Moses and al1 the prophets, He expounded           there  would be a constant  voice which would testify within
unto them in al1 the Scriptures  the things concerning Him-          me: "Serves you right ! You get what is coming to you!
self ."                                                              This wrath is perfectly commensurate with  al1 the filth and
       In order to make you  fee1 the real terror of that most       wickedness  you have perpetrated  !"
important place of the  whole universe, 1  wil1  characterize it        But now look once more at Jesus !
as fellows  : At Golgotha, a little without the tamp,  hard by          He is the Holy One of Israel! He is  L'lnnomnce Him-
Jerusalem, you see and hear the worst of hel1 ! God touched          self ! There is absolutely no guilt in Him !
that little spot, and His tornados began to bowl,  as they
never wil1  in the place which `is created for the devil  and his        Can you imagine what suffering Jesus underwent? His
angels.                                                              soul and body and spirit fitted in heaven and in the Bosom  of
                                                                     God. But He found Himself in a very special hell!
       And that is true for more than one reason.                        Oh yes, we begin to understand His terrible cry at about
       It was the worst hell, because a Man suffered there al1       the nintlz how! "Afy God, .My God, zuhy bast Thou  fomaken
the individual hells of billions of people. What would have          Me P
come on each head individually, a billion times multiplied,
came upon His dear Head done.                                            Perhaps you wil1 agree now when  1 said that the hour,
                                                                     the place, the Man, thë event were paramount in the Counsel,
       But that is not the most terrible. 1 must now speak of a      the History, the Universe.
terror, of an anguish which 1  can but  tel1 with stammering                                      Q *  8  -li
tongue.
       Attend to this fact :                                             But why ? What is the sense of al1 this horror?


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                   291

    The answer,  dear reader, sings of the beauty of Jerusalem,
Golgotha, the Third Hour, the Man and the God Jesus                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
Christ.                                                                         Semi-m.onthly,   exeept monthly  duting  June,  .luly and August
                                                                                  Published by  the  REFORMED  FREE   PUBLISHING  ASSOCIATION
    When  you stand before the cross of Jesus, and when  it                     P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station,  Grind Rapids 7,  Mich.
grows   very   dark around that cross, and when  yöur  checks                                          Editor   - REV. HERMIAN  HOEKSEMA
blanch  at the cry of the Lamb of God, 1 ask you to look above                  Communications relative  to  contents   should be addressed to
that cross and beyond that cross. And if you have the faith                                   Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
of God, and know the Holy Scriptures, then you wil1 hear                                                           Gr+nd  Rapids 7,  Mich.
the sound of a beautiful melody  : it is Jehovah singing His                    All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                                G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
eternal song of the Covenant. And here is one of the strains :                  Announcements and Obituaries must be  mailed to the above
`!This  cross and this suffering Jesus is the love of My                        address and  will be published at a fee of $1.00 for  each   notice.
Heart !" God cow$mendeth  His love towards US in that Christ                    RENEWAL:  Unless a  dei?nite  request for discontinuance is  re-
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             US !                                                               to continue without the  forma& of a  renewal  order.
    What does that  mean:  He cowvtendeth   His love?                                                   Subscription  price: $5.00 per year
    It  means this : God is love. Èven the little  catechism                     Entered  &  Second   Class matter at Grand  Rap&,  LMichigan
children know that. And Adam and Eve knew of it in  Para-
dise. If you could have asked our first  father:  Does God
ïove you, Adam ? He would have said: Oh yes, God loves
me. My heart tells me. And  1  can  read His love in  every                                                             C O N T E N T S
throbbing moment of  time. Every  creaturé around me, and                     ~IEDITATION  -
the blue heavens above -me have but one story to tell: God                          The Crucifixion _.. ..__ ___ ___ .._ .._. __ __.. _. ___. __ . _.. _._........... 289
loves me !                                                                                   Rev. G. Vos
     But now stand again before the cross. And then God                       EDITORIALS  -
again says to you and me: 1 love you! But now He  com-                              The Declaration of Principles.  ______ __. ___ ____. __ ___ ____. __ _. __.. .._. . . 292
                                                                                              Rev. H.  Hoeksema
mendeth   His love- towards  US. It  means  that He  writes  in
italics. It  means  that He underscored that love. It  means                  OUR  DOCTIUNE  -
that He  places  the verb  to  love in quotation marks.                             The Book of Revelation  _.._._.._.____~   __.____.___._..._._..........................  294
                                                                                              Rev. H.  ,Hoeksema
     Ah me ! What more shall 1 say, my brother ! If you do
not understand  my last sentence, 1 cannot help you. And here                 THE  DAY OF  SHADOWS   -
                                                                                    The Prophecy of Zechariah ________.~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
it is :                                                                                       Rev. G. M. Ophoff
     God loves you and me so much that He `went to hel1 for                   FROM  H~LY   WRIT -
you, so that you and 1 might go to heaven! Amen.                                    Exposition of 1 Corinthians 7 ( 8) ______._..................................  300
                                                                    G.V.                      Rev. G. Lubbers

                                                                              FEATURE  ARTICLE  -
                                                                                     The Jesuits _.___.__.._,..............,..,............................  ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
                           IN MEMORIAM                                                        Rev. G. Van Baren

    The Men's Society of the Doon  Protestant Reformed  Church here-          CONTENDING FOR  THE  FAITH  -
by  wishes   to express its sincere  sympathy   to one of its fellow  mem-           The Church and the Sacraments   ._.......................................... 304
bers, Mr. Henry Kuiper and his family, in loss of his brother,                                Rev. H.  Veldman
                         MR. JOHN KUIPER                                      THE  VOICE OF  OTJR  FATHERS  -
    May the Lord sustain the bereaved in their sorrow and comfort                    The Canons of Dordrecht . . ..__________.___._....................................  306
them with  the assurance  that He does  al1 things  well and that there                       Rev. H. C.  Hoeksema
remaineth a rest for ee people of God.                                        DECENCY  ANIJ  ORDER  -
                                 Rev. G. J. Van Baren, President                     Prayer in Ecclesiastical Assemblies   .,.. . . . . . 308
                                 Mr. Minard Van Den Top, Secretary                            Rév.  G.  Vanden Berg

                                                                              ALL  AROIJND  US  -
                     Eastern  Ladies' League                                         Christ's  Death  ,and  Its Signific&ce  ..,.__.. _.._______....___._............  310
                                                                                     The Dead Sea Scroll  of Isaiah . . .._________.._................................                                   311
     The Eastern  Ladies'  League  wil1 hpld their Spring meet-                               Rev. M. Schipper
ing, D.V., on April 24 at First Protestant Reformed Church.                   CONTRIBUTIONS                           -
Rev. C. Hanko  wil1 be our speaker.                                                  Calvinism - The Truth..                                  _.        _.        _.        _. . .                       ,312
     Ladies,  keep this date in mind.                                                         Rev. Robert C. Harbach
                               Mrs. H. Velthouse, Vice Secretary


292                                             T H E   STANDAR'?  _BEARER

Il                                                                             Let  US consider for a moment what is implied in the
                EDITORIALS                                    j I promise of God unto salvation, in order to see whether any
                                                                       part of this promise  is or can possibly be conditional.

                  The Dedaraiion  of Principles                                There is  first of al1 the fact that the promise of God is
                                                                       eternal in God and is rooted in  election.  God determined,
      In our last editorial on the above mentioned  subject we         sovereignly, from before the foundation of the world who
stated that it is not the Declaratioti  of Principles that was the     should receive the promise  of salvation. Is this election  con-
cause of the  schism   in our churches and the reason why the          ditional? In other words, did God  merely, in His eternal
schismatics left US, but the  fact that the  latter did not want       counsel, determine that they  who would fulfill the condition
to maintain the Protestant Reformed truth.                             of faith and repentance would receive the promise  of salva-
      For that declaration is the truth.                               tion ? No Reformed man would dare or would be willing to
      And that truth the schismatics rejected.                         maintain this.  Every  one knows that this is contrary to
      They, principally, rejected it because they want to  main-       Scripture and the Reformed confessions.  Election  is  ab-
tain their conditional theology.                                       solutely sovereign and unconditional. But if we confecs this
      This the Declaration strongly condemns. It .emphasizes           truth, the matter of conditions is  already  determined at the
throughout that salvation is God's work from beginning to              same time. Salvation is the realization of the counsel of elec-
end and that, therefore, it is and must be unconditional.              tion in time, and if that counsel is unconditional salvation,
                                                                       the application of the promise in time is also unconditional.
      What is meant by the term "condition" or "c~nditional"?
Let  US consult Webster's dictionary.  Webster   defines  con-                 But there is more.
dition  as "that which must exist as the occasion or  con-                     Perhaps, someone  wil1  object that, after al1 the counsel of
comitant of something else  ; that which is requisite in order         God is a deep mystery and that we.may not, in determining
that something else should take effect ; an essential qualifica-       the character of salvation and the realization of the promise,
tion ; stipulation ; terms specified."  And the adjective "con-        proceed  from the counsel of election.  Now, personally 1  deny
ditional"  he defines "containing,  implying, or depending on,         this. Scripture everywhere gives  US to understand that  sal-
a condition or conditions ; not absolute  ; made or granted on         vation  has its source in God's eternal counsel of election,  and,
certain terms  ; as, a conditional promise."                           therefore, there  can be  nothing  wrong in following its  teach-  _.
      This idea of condition is applied to salvation by  .many  and    ing.
also by the schismatics. It is applied by them particularly to                 Be that as it may.
the promise  of God so the meaning of the promise is that God
says to the sinner : 1 promise unto thee salvation, eternal life               Let US turn to the realization of the promise  in time.
and glory on condition that thou repentest and believest in                    We may distinguish salvation or the realization of the
Christ.                                                                promise  as objective  and subjective  salvation. To the former
      If this were true, if the terms of the promise  of God were      belongs al1 the work of Christ for US  or in our behalf, to the
such that repentance and faith were  required as conditions            latter  al1 the work of Christ within  US. To the former belong
which man must fufïll  in order that God may fulfill or realize        the coming of the Son of God in the flesh, His sojourn and
His  promise, the promise of God would be exactly  afid  -en-          public ministry  among   US, His suffering and atoning death on
tirely  out of reach of the sinner. He cannot,  wil1  not, and         the cross, His resurrection on the third day, His ascension
cannot  wil1 to repent  and to believe. He is wholly dead in           into heaven, His sitting at the right hand of .God,' His recep-
sin. Hence, if the promise of God unto salvation bepends  in           fion of the Holy Spirit of grace, and His coming again in the
any measure  upon.  a condition which that sinner must fulfill,        last day. To the latter belong  such works of grace as regenera-
the case is hopeless  and the promise of God is absolutely im-         tion, the effectual.calling,  the work of faith, the grace of re-
p o s s i b l e .   ~                                                  pentance and justification, the  grace of, sanctification, of  pres:
      1 realize, of course, that these, who maintain and preach        ervation unto the end and of final glorification.
this conditional theology  often  add that God Himself fulfills
al1 the conditions. This, however,  is merely done in order to          Is any of this work of God conditionally determined,  that
give the fundamentally  Arminian doctrine of conditions an             is, so determined that it depends in  any respect on man, on
appearance of .being Reformed. Usually, you wil1  discover             the sinner, wh&er  it shall be realized or not?
that those who believe in conditions also preach the Arminian             We may perhaps  say immediately that this cannot be true
doctrine of free will. The statement, moreover, that God               of the work of God in Christ in the objective  sense of the
fulfills al1 the conditions is sheer nonsense. Either there are        word. God sent His Son into the world, and the Son came
conditions which the sinner must fulfill to obtain the promise         into our flesh unconditionally. This was the  sovereign  work
of salvation or the promise  is absolutely unconditional.              of God alone and there were no possible conditions attached
      The latter is the truth of Scripture, of the Confessions,        to it on dur part. And the same is true of al1 the rest of the
and  also of the Declaration of Principles.                            work of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. He was nailed to the


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R '                                                         293

accursed tree and on that tree He bore our sins, that is?                   evil or turn it to our profit.  And when  we are baptized in the
according to Scripture and as we al1 believe, the sins of al1 the           name of the Son, the Son sealeth unto US! that he doth wash
elect. He atoned for them. He took them  al1  away.  They are               US in his b1ood  from al1 our sins, incorporating US into the
removed for ever. This, too, is simply a  fact,  and an  un-                fellowship of his death and resurrection, so that we are freed
conditional work of God in Christ. It woulb  be absurd to                   from  al1  our sins  and accounted righteous before God."
say that our Lord bore our sins on the tree on condition that                   Al1 the preceding refers, of course, to our objective  salva-
we would repent  and believe. Nor is this any different in                  tion. Nevertheless, do not fail to notice that al1 this is sealed
regard to the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. NO more             unto  US unconditionally.
than thc death of the cross is the death of a mere individual,                 The following,  however,  refers to our salvation in the
but the death of  al1 that are in Him,  whom  the  Father                   subjective  sense of the word : "In like manner,  when  we are
hath given Him, the death of the Head of all, the elect ;                   baptized in the name of the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Holy Ghost as-
no more is the resurrection of our Lord, on the third                       sures  US, by this holy sacrament,. that he wil1  dwell in US,
day, the resurrection of  a  mere man, but it is the  resur-                and sanctify  US to be members of Christ, applying unto  US
rection of the representative as  wel1  as the organic Head of              that which we have in Christ, namely the washing away of
al1 th-e elect. And since His resurrection is the proof of our              our sins, and -the daily renewing of our lives, til1 we shall
justification, we were al1 justified in Christ objectively on the           finally be presented without spot or wrinkle in the assembly
day of His own r,esurrection  from the déad. This is sifilply               of the elect in-life eternal."
an indubitable fact. There  are no possible conditions attached
to it on our part. Christ was raised for our justification. We                 Al1 this is presented as the work of God absolutely. The
may say stil1 more. Christ, as we said, is also the Head of                 very idea of conditions does not even fit into this language of
His body in the organic sense of the word. `This means that,                our Baptism. Form. The Holy Ghost simply assures US that he
principally,  when  He was raised from the dead we were al1                 wil1 apply unto US al1 the blessings of salvation in ChriSt Jesus
raised and quickened unto everlasting life.  Also this, 1 say, is           our Lord.
simply a fact. It is accomplished. It is finished by `God in                    It is true that, according to the Baptism  Form, in al1 cov-
Christ.  It' is  a matter of  absolute@   sovereign  grace. It is,          enants there are contained  two parts. Mark you well, two
therefore, unconditional. The same níay be said of His as-                  pa&,  not two parties. And our part of the covenant  is the
cension into heaven and His sitting at thé'right hand of God.,              fruit of God's part. Only  when  and after  God establishes His
When  the Lord went to heaven, we  alt  aiscended  up  inti                 etemal covenant of grace with US, only when  and after the
heavenly glory. According to Scripture,  princi$lly, we, that               Son has washed US in His blood from al1 our sins and in-
.is al1 who are objectively in Christ, al1 the elect, arc`ixï heaven        grafted US into the fellowship of His death and resurrection,
and we are partakers of His powcr  and glory. Are there  any                and only when  and after the Holy Ghost has come to dwell
possible conditions attached to this  ? The answer is, of course,           in US, - only then can we possibly begin to do our part of
entirely negative. In other words, the entire work of Go!                   the covenant.  Hence, our part of the covenant can not possibly
in Christ in the objective  sense of the word is entirely sover-            be a. condition on our part for God to fulfill His part of the
eign and absolutely unconditional.                                          everlasting  covenant of grace.
        BUt if this be true, as it is indeed,  is it possible that there      .  Indeed,   iti the  covenant we have a sacred  obligation to
are conditions, some  requirements  which we must fulfill,  at-             love the Lord our God and to walk  in a new and holy life.. But
tached  to our salvation in the subjective  sense of the word ?             this is an obligation, not as a condition to, but as a calling irz
        On the face of what we have  written  above, this appears           God's        covenant..
absolutely iinpossible.                                                                                                                    H.H.
        Nevertheless, we  wil1 examine this aspect of our subject,
too.
        Let US, first of all, turn to the language  bf our Baptism
Form, which  every Reformed minister reads  when  an infant                                              IN MEMORIAM
is baptized but which he cannot conscientiously  read if he                    The Mary-Martha Society of the Protestant  geformed  Church of
believes in conditions.                                                     Redlands, California, hereby  wishes  to  expr&s  its sincere sympathy
        There we read that "Holy baptism witnesseth and sealeth             to two of its members, Mrs. Ed  Mullek,  and Mrs. Thys Feenstra in
unto                                                                        the loss of their father  and brother-in-law,
         US the  washing  away of our  sins through Jesus Christ.
Therefore we are baptized in the  name of the  Father,  and of                                         HERMAN  DE VRIES
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. For when  we are baptized                   on  March  5, 1958.
in the name .of the Father,  God the Fatber witnesseth and                     May the God of  al1 grace comfort and sustain them in their
sealeth &to US, that He doth make an eternal covenant of                    sorrow.
grace with  US, and adopts & for his children and heirs, and                                                        Rev.  H. H. Kuiper, President -- -7
therefore wil1 provide  US with every  good thing, and avert al1                                                    Mrs. Harvey Sawyer, Secretary


       294                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER

                                                                             of the antichrist shall develop and reach  its climax, when  the
                    O U R   D O C T R I N E                             'r l great apostasy shall take place and the few faithful shall
                                                                             stand over against a world that is filled with enmity against
                                                                             Christ  and His people, then shall they be hated of al1 nations
                     THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                  and shall be  subjected  to terrible persecution. To this  parti-
                                                                             cular period the phrase refers in its narrowest sense. Never-
                                   CHAPTER  11                               theless, we must never conceive of this great tribulation as
                                                                                             .
                                                                             standing al1 by ltself. For that is not the case. It is merely
                                                                             the climax, the ultimate  manifestation of the power that al-
                              Revelatioh  7 : 9, 13-17                       ways was filled with bitter  hatred  against the church of
                                                                             Christ in the world. And therefore we must not forget that
           The same truth ïs indicated in the palm branches which            this great tribulation is in process of formation  al1 the time,
       they hold in their hands. By these we are referrecl, no doubt,        throughout this entire dispensation, In a wider sense it  in-
       to the celebration  of the Feast of Tabernacles, when  the chil-      cludes   also those minor persecutions, terrible enough in
       dren of Israel  commemorated   how they had been in the               themselves,  but minor in comparison to the  final tribulation,
       desert, and joyously thought of their being led  out of bond-         to which the people of God have  already  been  subjected.
       age into the land of promise. So. also this multitude : they          There was the persecution under the Roman emperors,  -
       have been in the wilderness of life, of sin and imperfection,         under Nero, under Domitian.  - the persecution in the period
       of suffering and want and death. But they are  al1 through:           immediately preceding the Reformation, as wel1 as dur@
       they are now in the land of  promise, They  celebrate   their         the time of the Reformation. Al1 these were in principle  the
       final  cleliverance and entrance  into the land of glory.             same tribulation as  the  otie that is stil1 to some shortly  be-
              Finally, this is also indicated by the place where they are    fore the coming of Christ.  Only,   they  were not  such  fierce
       now found. They stand before the throne and the Lamb.                 manifestations of it as the last one wil1 be, according to the, _
       They  are in the place where the glory of Almighty God agd            words of Jesus. We may understand this term, therefore;   `-n6'?
       of the Lamb shines forth,  where the elders worship, and  al1         in the broadest sense, namely,  as including the tribulation of
       creation with the mighty angels praise the name of the God            the people of God of  al1 ages. Principally the people of God
       of their- salvation. They are, in a word, in that new economy         from their spiritual point of view are always in this great
       of things that has been pictured  to US in the fourth chapte;         tribulation. The power of antichrist was in the world al-
       of this book, that new economy  that was to replace the old           ready in the  time of  John. has been in the world ever since,
       dispensation of imperfection, the  neti  economy  of the  per-        and is never out of the world. That power of antichrist al-
       fected  kingdom  of glory. And there they stand, that is, they        ways is filled with enmity against God and His Christ and
       are ready for worship ancl service and praise. In a word,             His people, always plans to hurt the children of God and
       this portion  permits US to tast a glance into the future, to         to destroy the kingdom  of Christ, tiow in one farm,.  now in
        see what wil1 be the portion  of the people of God when  al1         another. And therefore the children of God always have a
       shall have been accomplished  and when  the new heavens and           battle to fight  if they are faithful: the battle against sin with-
       the new earth shall have been realized. This numberless               in and the power of evil without. And always the word of
        throng is the multitude of the people of God after  they shall       Jesus is true, that we must take  up  our cross,  deny  ourselves,
       have been gathered in eternal glory in the new creation.              and follow Him in the path of tribulation if we would be
              Finally, it is of importante  that we notice their origin.     His disciples.  Hence, the picture we may form of this great '
        For  also that is espressly indicated in the test. The elder         tribulation is that of a great ocean,  involving  al1 history and
        tel- John that they have al1 come out of the great tribula-          every age. But in this great  ocean  there are  higher  and
        tion.  To understand this clause  fully, we must remember the        lower waves, while the great tribulation that is stil1 to come
        genera1 standpqint of  the Book of Revelation. We have seen          is the highest of al1 and most threatening to the church of
        time and again that it pictures to US the events of this entire      Christ and the people of God. Hence,  when  our text speaks
        dispensation as they, under the  control  of Christ, must lead       of the great tribulation, it does no doubt refer especially to
        to the completion of the  kingdom  of God. These events cover        those  times of persecution  when  the blood of the saints shall
        this entire dispensation, as we have stated repeatedly.  Never-      be shed for the testimony which they have and for the- Word
        theless, they wil1 increase in force and in number as the            of God. Yet, in genera1 it implies  this entire dispensation to
        time draws near that the Lord shall return to establish the          a gfeater  or smaller degree.
        kingdom  of glory forever. This must be  remembered   also
        with  regard to this great tribulation. In the narrowest sense           We are now ready also to answer the further question:
        of the word this  phrase  calls to our mind the period  im-          what is the relation between the one hundred forty-four
        mediately  before  the coming of Christ. There is no doubt           thousand, those that were sealed, according to the first part
       in-the light of Scripture that there shall be a period of perse-      of this chapter,  and these  that are in the numberless throng,
r
      /  cution  of the church.  and a  period of great tribulation for      standing before the throne of God and the Lamb, that have
 "
,/      the people of God, as has never been before.. When  the  power       already  entered into everlasting glory? There are, of course,


                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   BiZARER                                                           295

     various possïbilities.  and also different interpretations. These         the one hundred forty-four thousand of God's people. At
     different interpretations vary according to the explanation               the time of the Reformation  they were there. And they are
     that is given of the first passage of this chapter.  Those  who           there today. So  r`emember  : the one hundred forty-four thou-
     claim that the first one hundred forty-four thousand are Jews             sand are al1 the elect existing at any time in the world. In
     in the national sense of the word also maintain that in OU~               every generation there are the complete number of God's
     text there is a reference to an entirely different class of               elect on earth, symbolized by the number one 1%z~+&ed  forty-
     people. In support of this assertion, they point, in the first            foztr  thonsand.   But  this numberless throng represents  al1
     place, to the fact that in the former portion  mention  is made           these one hundred forty-four thousands added together, of
     only of Israel, while this part speaks of people from al1 na-             every generation. From the beginning of the world to the
     tions  and peoples and tongues and tribes. In the second                  end of time, Christ Jesus~  gathers His church. Part of that
     place, they point to the  fact that in the first  portion   the           church is always in. the world. And that part is representecl
     ,people referred to are stil1 in the midst of the battle, while           by the number  owe  hztnd~~ed   foyty-fo,wr   tkzoum~~d.   It is the
     this numberless throng in white robes and with palm branches              church militant. But at the end of time  al1 these parts shall
     in their hands evidently have already  gained the victory.                be gathered together before the throne and tha  Lamb. Is it
     And in the third place, they especially point to the proof that           surprising, then, that at the end of time we find no more
      the former consists .of a definite number,  while here there is          the one hundred forty-four thousand, but nothing less than
     mention  made of a numberless throng. For $1 these reasons                a numberless throng ? Who then are these people ? They are
     `they claim that we must accept. that these are not the same              the people öf God of al1 ages and climes and nations and
      as the one hundred forty-four thousand, but are a radically              tribes, gathered  together  in the new economy  of things  in the
      different throng. We wil1  not enter into details in  `regard            new creation. And if you ask, then: but why was it neces-
     to these interpretations. Al1 we wish to do now is to make                sary that also this portion  was révealed at the time, and what
      clear that essentially the numberless throng and the one                 is  the purpose of this passage, what is the comfort there is
      hundred forty-four thousand are not a different class of                 implied  in it for the people of God in the world? we must
      people, but principally the same.  This is shown, in the first           place ourselves .for a moment before fhe important question :
     ,. place, by ,the fact that ?he great tribulation.  is one of the main    what is the  state  of these people, and what is their present
      ideas in both passages, the passage that speaks of the one               condition  ?
     himdred forty-four thousand and the one we are discussing                     Regarding this question, we reäd in the text, in the first
      now. In  fact, both passages find their  ieason,  the reason             placet that they are in the temple  of their God. `Thus we
      why they are revealed, in the coming of that great tribula-              read in verse 1.5 : `(Therefore are they before  the throne of
      tion over the church. The purpose of both passages evidently             God, and serve him day and night -in his temple: and he
      is to reveal to the churcli their precarious position in the             that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." A mo-
      world, and nevertheless their safety over against that great             ment's reflection  wil1 make  it plain that in both parts of tlíis
      tribulation. The only  differente  is  tha? the one hundred              verse the same idea is expressed: they shall serve Him in
      forty-four thousand stil1 confront that tribulation, while  the          His temple, and He shall spreacl His tabernacle over  them.
      numberless throng have  already  passed through it. It is                The centra1 idea of the temple,  in the first place, is that it is
     very  evident that it is the same throng: the one  pictured as            the place where God dwells, the place where He makes  His
      in the midst of the great tribulation, or  rather,  as standing          abode. And in the second place, it is the sanctuary of His
      on the verge  of passing through it, and the other pictured              holiness,  where He is worshipped alyd served in the true
      as already  having experienced it and having overcome.  It is,           sense of the word. In the old dispensation this was the
      therefore, the same multitude,  only in different states, at             building  in Jerusalem, the type of the true temple which
different  periods, and therefore from different points of view.               was in  heaven.   especially   in the most  holy place. The idea
      In the first part they `are upon  the earth ; in the second part         was, of  ciurse, that since sin  came into the world, God's
      they are already  in glory in the new  economy  of the king-             temple  was no longer  found everywhere, as it was in the
      dom that is completed.  In the first they are in tribulation;            beginning, before the fall; but the place where He dwelled
      in the second they are already  passed through that tribula-             was limited to a definite building. In the beginning, before
      tion. And if you ask, then, but how must the differente  in              the fall,  al1 creation was His  temple:  in  al1 creation He
      number  be esplained, then, 1 ask you to recall our explana-             dwelled, and in  al1 creation He was worshipped and praised
      tion of the one hundred forty-four thousand that were sealed.            &nd glorified. But throu$  the fact of sin this was changed.
      We found that they represented the people of God as they                 God no  longer  dwelt in  al1 creation. In the old dispensation
      were upon  earth at any period of history. Orte lm~d?ed forty-           He dwelled typically  among  His people in a definite, limited
      fo.zw tlzoumnd  is the number  of God's elect as they are in the         place, with the exclusion of the rest of creation. That was
      world at any time. But the numberless throng represents                  the  meanikg of the temple in Jerusalem. In the new  dis-
      the people of God of al1 ages added together. At the time                pensation, however,  there is this clevelopment,, that the idea
      of John the one hundred forty-four thousand of God's people              of a definite place is removed  ancl that since the Spirit is
      existed. During the period ,of the early church there were               poured out, God now dwells in His people and makes His


  296                                         ~THE  S ' T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

  abode in their hearts. He  tabernacles   among them-and with           shàll surèly have, eveti  in glory. A life and existente  without
  them. However,  stil1 He does not dwell in al1 creation, and           needs  and without wants is inconceivable, and, in fact, would
  stil1 al1 creation is not His temple. Wis temple in the new            be no life at all. But this is the condition of the numberless
  dispensation is the church of the living God in Christ Jesus           throng in glory, that  al1  their desires shall be completely
  our Lord ; and with His people He dwells in the spiritual              satisfied. There shall be no more any vain desire  ; there shall
  sense of the word. But this is not the end, and this is not            no more be any need that is not immediately and completely
  the sideal situation. It is a step in advance of the old dispensa-     fulfilled. NO more hunger and thirst there shall be in the new
  tion, and there is evidently progress. But although it is true         creation. There shall be no hunger and thirst either in the
  that the time has come that the people of God worship no.              physical or in the spiritual sense of the word. 0, what a
  more at Jerusalem. but in spirit and in truth, nevertheless,           glorious contrast there is between this  numberless  throng as
  .the ideal is not reached before  al1 the  tiorld and  al1 creation    thei are now in glory and- that same throng as they existed
  has ,again become-the  temple of the living God, and God not           throughout the ages of the world! These people came  out
  only tabernacles and dwells with His people, but spreads               of the great tribulation.  They were in a  state of imperfection.
  His tabernacle over them. This is the condition that is                Often they were in suffering and tribulation.  Often they
  pictured  in verse 15 of this  chapter.  In that new  economy          were in want, physically .and spiritually. Often their soul
  they are before the throne  of God, and they serve Him day             thirsted after  God. Often they were in trouble and in afflic-
  and night iti His temple. God's temple shall again be all.crea-        tion because of their  many wants, spiritually as  wel1  as
  tion, heaven and earth. And wherever the redeemed in                   physically. Stil1 more: they were the despised, they were
  eternity shall turn, whether they shall rise up to heaven or           hated and persecuted in the world, they were chased over
shall dwell on the earth, whether they shall sit down at the             al1 the world,  homeless,  breadless, miserable. They were
streams of living water and dwell in  al1 the glorified creation,        shut up in  dingy   cells, behind prison bars. They were
  - everywhere they shall see their God and be aware of His              brought to the scaffold, and burned alive at the stake. They
  presence.  Al1 creation shall again spel1 the name of their God        were poor, naked, hungry, despised. And no one there seemed
  and reveal His glory,.  even as it was in the typical temple of        to be that took pity on them in the whole world. But now,
  Jerusalem. Thus God shall widen His tabernacle. He shall               behold, they suffer no more want; there is no more lack of
  spread His tabernacle over them. He shall spread His tent              anything ; but they dwell in the temple of their God, without
  over al1 the world. And in Him and in His presence we shall            fear and without any unfulfilled desire.  They now sérve  &m
  be in the literal sense of the word. In al1 creation He shall          perfectly, and have perfect fellowship with  Him, according
  be revealed. By  al1 creation He shall be glorified.  Irì  al1         to the desire  of their heart, and that too, constântly. day and
  creation shall be His temple. And the redeemed, walking  con-          tiight. The heat of the sun, nor any heat, shall strike them
  stantly in the-presence  of God and in His fellowship through          no more. There shall be nothing  outside  of them, not in
  the Spirit of Christ in their heart, constantly enlightened by         nature  `nor in the world of .men, that shall ever do them any
  that Spirit, shall serve.Him day and night in that new crea-           harm.  Nature shall be  perfectll' redeemed.  Al1 the evil
: tion. Surely, day and night in the literal sense of the word :         forces  of  nature  shall have  disappeared.   Al1 that harms  u?
 not only in the sënse of always and continually, but literally          now and  that  causes  sickness and  pain and suffering and
 day and night they shall serve Him in the new creation. The             death because of the disharmony  in nature  shall be forever.
 old creation shall again shine forth in al1 its beauty and purity,      removed. At the same time, al1 that harms and inspires US
 and the night as  wel1  as the day shall sing of the glory and          with fear and  causes  trouble and tribulation from the world
 of the power and  wisdom  of God Almighty.                              of .men -shall also %e removed, so that al1 is perfect and al1
     In the second place,  we read something about the personal          adds to their bliss, both physical and spiritual. Their body
 condition of these saints of the nùtiberless  throng. Several           and their soul aqd their spirit shall be in perfect harmony
 details are  mentioned  here that  al1 find their  centra1  idea in     also with the world about them..  And altogether they shall be
 this, that they-shall  be perfectly delivered also from al1 the         in harnionious relation to the Lord  Go{ Almighty in Christ
 ,effects  of sin. Thus we read  in verse 16: "They shall hunger         Jesus their Lord.
 no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light              The reason for  al1 this is expressed in the last words
 on them, nor any heat." This implies, in the first place,  that         `of our text : "For the Lamb which is in the n+t of'the  throne
 the saints of this numberless  throng shall never know ány              shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of
 want. They shall  lack nothing, absolutely nothing. Hunger              waters: and God shall wipe away al1 tears from their eyes."
 and thirst are the most emphatic manifestations  and expres-            Is not this glorious and beautiful in the highest  sense of the
 sions of dire need and want. When one has no bread where-               word ? Does not this fulfill al1 the desires of oUr hearts even
 with to feed himself and no water to quench his thirst, he              in the present world ? `Are there among the people of God to
is in dire want, and lacks the very  necessities of his existente.       whom this does nof appeal in the highest sense of the word ?
 :And therefo.re,  hunger and thirst are here taken as the sym-          Human  language  coul?l never  say it more beautifully than it
 bols of al1 need and want:  Notice,  it does not say that we            is expressed in this beautiful and rich symbolism of the Book
 shall have no more desires and no more needs   ;  the& we               of Revelation.                                             H.H.


                                                T H E   ST-ANDARD   B E A R E R                                                             297

                                                                            of  Jcldah;  and the Lord utzy  God .&a.ll come,  and al1 the saints
 11 THE DAY OF SHADOWS                                                 11 with thee.
                                                                                1-3. These verses  must be considered as a further  ex-
                                                                            pansion  of 13 :7-9. The Lord's  loving concern is always to-
               The Prophecy of Zechariah                                    ward the remnant, the one third that remains in the land after
                                                                            the  cutting off of the two thirds. But the one part is not yet
           Final  Conflict and Trium.ph of Jemsaleutz                       free from @Oss. In the church there is stil1 so much that is
                                                                            of sin. And so the need of purgation continues. How the
                          Chapter 14 :1,21                                  Lord is always  at work refining the gold is described in these
    The  prophet  again beholds  al1 the nations gathered against           verses  (14 :l-3).  The reach  of the prophecy of these verses
 Jerusalem: Also 12 :l-9 speaks of a conflict between Jeru-                 extends to the end of time..  They set forth realities of this
.stilem  and al1 the nations. `But there the enemies are described          present dispensation of  time but in a language borrowed from
 as smitten, cut in pieces; no mention  is made of an initial               conditions and forms of the dispensation of shadows. The
 Capture of the city by the adversary. But here the announce-               language, therefore, is figurative. It's the only language that
 ment is that-"the  city shall be taken, and the houses spoiled             our prophet knew ; and it was the only language that the
 and the women  raped and half of the city shall go forth into              church of that day understood. "Behold," says the prophet,
 captivity." Only then  wil1  Jehovah appear for the salvation              "a day is about to come to Jehovah." The day is the day of
 of the remnant and for the setting up of His kingdom  (1-7).               Jehovah so often  mentioned by the prophets. It is the day
_ .._From Jerusalem, the dwelling place of Jehovah, two streams appointed of Him for the manifestation of His. power and
 of living water wil1  go forth  covering  the whole land with              majesty. In lb Jerusalem is addressed, "And the spoil shall
 blessing and fertility (S-11 ) . The nations that have come to             be divided in  the  midst  of t1Lee."  The italicized expression
 war against Jerusalem  wil1 be destroyed, and their wealth                 denotes that the victory wil1  be complete, the defeat over-
 wil1 be given to the  covenant people (12-15). Those  who                  whelming. The inhabitants of Jerusalem that died not in
 éscape  wil1  turn to Jehovah in true worship ; those who refuse           battle  wil1 be either in chains or in hiding. For the  time
 to do so wil1 be smitten with drought (16-19). Jerusalem                   being, therefore, they may be forgotten.  So absolute is the
 and Judah and al1 that is in them wil1 be holy unto Jehovah                mastery thst wil1 be gained, so thoroughly demoralizing. Such
 (20-21).  Such is the gospel of this  chapter.                             wil1 be the magnitude of the calamity next to strike the holy
                                                                            city. And it  wil1 surely  come to pass. For it is the Lord
     in the first stages of the conflict success  wil1 go to the            that speaks, saying what He wil1 do. "For 1 wil1 gather.  al1
 enemies of the  holy city. Jerusalem  wil1 be taken. That                  nations against Jerusalem for battle  ; and the city shall be
 12  :l-9  makes no  mention  of this, but speaks only of the               taken, and the houses plundered, and the women  raped ; and
 victory of the church over her adversaries does not warrant                half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the remnant
 the conclusion that Chapter 14 describes a new conflict and                of the people shall not be cut off from the city."
 is, therefore, an independent piece. That the two conflicts are                Gather  He wil1 the íïations  against Jerusalem for battle.
 one and the same fellows  from this, namely, that both wil1                Rightly considered, this the Lord had been doing  through al1
 take place in "that day," by which is to be understood this                the ages of the past - gathering the nations against Jerusalem
 present Christian dispensation.                                            for battle. For Jerusalem represented the church, and the
                                                                            church is the seed of the woman, centrally Christ. And the
           Capture and deliverance of  Jerusalem,   1-5                     nations here are the brood of the serpent. And against this
    Behold,  the day cometh  unto Jehovah, and the spoil shull              holy seed this brood was always  ,gathered  for  battle-
 be divided  ih  the  &dst of thee. 2. For I wil1  gather  al1  na-         gathered o$ God for the fiT$ time as represented by Cain,
 tions against Jerusalem for battle; and the city shall be taken,           then successively through the ages by the world that perished
 and the hoerces spoiled,  and the wolken  ruped;  a%nd half of the         by the waters of the flood, the builders of the tower of Babel,
 city  shall go forth into  caphity,  and  the  remnartt  of  thb           .the .Egypt  of the oppression, the Canaanites, the nations that
 people   shull not be cut  off  fro~%  the city. 3. Then shall  the        dwelt on Israel's borders, and finally the world powers. At
 Lord  go forth, and fcgkt against  these nations, as when he               the  time of the utterance of this prophecy the Lord had but
 fotight  ,in tlze day of battle. 4. And bis feet hall stmd in tht          recently gathered the nations against Jerusalem for battle  -
 day fbppon  the mount  of Olives, whick is before  Jemsalem  om            the nations represented by the Babylonian world power. Then,
 the east, and the mou.nt  of Olives shall be cleaved in the midst          too, the city was taken, the houses plundered, the temple
 thereof  toward the east and towayd  the ioest, and there shall            ,destroyed  and the spoil divided in the midst of the city. And
 be a. very great valley; and Zalf of tlae Ytzountain  hall remove          Judah had gone into exile. But  after  the seventy years the
 toward the north, and half of it tozvard the -south. 5. And ye             Lord had turned the captivity of His people. The remnant
 slzall  flee to the valley of the mozi,ntains; for tlze  valley  of the    was again in God's  country. A new temple had risen  on the
 +nountains  hall reaclz  unto Azal; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye         ruins of -the old. But the breaches in the walls of the city
 fled  from  before  the  èarthquake  in  the days of  Uzziah   King        had stil1 to be-mended and the  gates  repaired.  Yet, notwith-


298                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

standing, the voice  of prophecy was again proclaiming, "For         they chose death. Being ingrafted in Christ by a faith that is
1 (the Lord) wil1  gather  al1 the nations against Jerusalem."       living and indestructible, they could and can not wil1 to do
How long, Lord ? The  reach of this prophecy extends to the          otherwise. So is the church always purified in God's fire. .
end of time. The sufferings of which this` prophecy speaks           God's fire, mark you. For that it is. For, according to our
and foretells for the church are as actual  in this last day as      prophet, it is He who gathers those nations against Jerusalem,
they have ever been. Surely, the antithesis is no  longer Israel     the world against the church, for battle. It could not wel1 be
in contrast to the nations, as was the case when  the church         different, seeing that those nations exist, body, soul, and
was  stil1 represented by the earthy Jerusalem, and was being        spirit, nat otherwise but by His power. In Him they live and
gathered from the one nation  only and this nation is the Jew-       move and have their being. Can the rod shake itself ? Can the
ish, and was limited to the earthy Canaan as the proper place        staff lift up itself, as if it were not wood ? Those nations are
of its abode. NO, but Jerusalem, being but a shadow, the             so in His power that without His wil1 they cannot move.
true worshippers were loosed from that city and sown among           Persecutions come by His hand. Those strokes are strokes
al1 the nations. And seeing that the blessings of Christ have        laid upon the church .by Him. Collectively, those nations are
now come unto the Gentiles, the nations themselves, prin-            only a rod - the rod in His hand. And He loves His people,
cipally the elect, are now the church. But there is stil1 the        so loves them that He gave His only begotten Son.
world in the midst of which  the church now dwells- the                 In the second place, He goes forth to fight  against those
world, the reprobated  portion  of humanity, the Babylon of the      nations, as when  He fought in the day of battle. This fight
Revelations of John: knowing not the Father,  it knows not           of the Lord against those nations must, surely, not be  con-
His people. Surely, the church is as  much an object of              ceived of as having anything in common with a life and death
hatred  in this last day as it ever has been. That in this world     struggle between two  humans  with the outcome uncertain.
the true believers have many tribulations, that men revile           Al1 those nations before Him are as nothing ; änd they are
them, and,  persecute  them, and say al1 manner of evil against      counted to Him less than nothing,  and vanity, counted less
them, falsely,  for Christ's sake, is basically the thought of       than a drop in the bucket, smal1 dust on the balance. They
this prophecy, and, therefore, also, basically its fulfilment in     have no strength in themselves by reason of which they can
this last day. But there have been times in this Christian           shove God around, force Him in a corner. He takes away
dispensation in which the prophecy was fulfilled  almost  to the     their breath, and they die, and return to their dust. He sends
letter. Such a time was the first three centuries of om Chris-       forth His spirit, and they are created. His fighting against
tian era. The Christians were convicted and put to death             those nations can only  mean that Re  raises .them.up.to  show
simply on the charge of hatred  of humanity, and on the charge       His great power in them in order that they may'be destroyed-
of their being Christians. Nero conceived of the idea of con=        of Him and thereby His people delivered and His name
verting the punishment of the Christians into an amusement           declared throughout  al1 the earth. The reference is  particu-
for the populace. Christians,  covered  with pitch or some other     larly to the  kings  of those nations. An outstanding example
combustible material  and nailed to posts of pine, were lighted      is the Pharaoh of.the oppression. The Lord created Pharaoh.
and burned for the entertainment of the mob. Christians were         He caused  him to be born, seated him in the throne of Egypt,
daily harassed, tracked  out, .surprised  in their most sacred       turned his heart to hate Israel (Ps. los),  and sovereignly
assemblies. Or  they were sent into exile and their property         hardened his heart, so that he refused to let the people go.
confiscated.  Al1 the pains which iron and steel, fire and sword,    In a word, the Lord raised him up. And then He fought
rack and cross, wild beasts and beastly men could inflict,           against Pharaoh. He multiplied His plagues in the land of
were employed to induce the Christians to renounce Christ            Egypt. He sent the plagues  upon  Pharaoh's  heart. And
and burn intense  at the  heathen  altars.                           Pharaoh was sore afraid,  even confessing at one time that the
   But the prophecy contains also an only comfort. In the            Lord is righteous and that he and his people were wicked.
first place half of the city shall go forth into captivity. This     Yet  when  there was respite, he again refused to release his
half is the carnal seed in the church. The Lord has prepared         hold upon  Israel. And so, in the way of his persistent rebel-
His fìre - the fire of tribulations. And the fire bums hot.          lion - for the Lord continued  to harden his heart - he was
The city is taken ; the houses are plundered ; and the women         cut off from the earth, he and his host, as the Lord had said,
ravished. But this carnal seed cannot endure.  For they are          and said also to him, so that he `was without excuse. Ancl
not of Christ's sheep. So they go forth from the presence of         for this cause did the Lord raise him up, for to show him His
God and His people to serve in Baal's temples. The church            power and that His name  might be declared throughout  al1
father  Cyprian was amazed  and appalled at the sight of so          the earth.
many faithful~members  of the church rushing to the temples             So did the Lord go forth to fight against Egypt,  rep-
of the pagan gods to burn intense at the heathen  altars to          resentative of "those nations."  Such was the  mercy  of the
escape the loss of their goods or free themselves from the           Lord upon His people, however  ill-deserving. In the words
penalty of death.                                                    of the psalmist, He saved them for His name's sake, that He
   But the other half remained in the city, the Jerusalem            might make His power to be known. He rebuked the Red
which is above. Made to choose between Christ and death,             Sea also,  and it was dried up; so he led them through the


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                            299

depth, as through a wilderness. Then believed they (His              And would the refugees not be pursued by the enemy? What
people) his words ; and they sang  bis praise" (Ps. 106). And        then may be the Gospel of this imagery ? Is not the Lord
the name of the Lord was declared -throughout al1 the earth.         through this fìgurative language declaring unto His people:
And the Canaanites were terrified. For also upon their hearts        1 am thy God. Though from human  standpoint your plight is
the Lord sent the word of these same wonders. And they,              hopeless, with me there is power to save. Fear not, therefore,
too, were sore  afraid. Their hearts  did. melt, neither did         1 wil1  surely  deliver you out of al1 your troubles. This is here
there remain  any  courage  in  them, because of the  Lords          His word,`His  promise to His afflicted and distressed people.
people ; for they perceived that Israel's God is God in heaven       And of this promise  Christ in His suffering and dying on
above, and in earth beneath (Jas. 2 :ll) . But they did not,         the cross for His people was the fulfilment. For thereby He
so we  read, make peace with the children of Israel, save the        blotted out al1 their sins and delivered them  from al1 His and
Gibeonites. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts,           their enemies. And being raised from the dead, with His
that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might        people, and being set with them in the heavenly at the right-
destroy them  utterly, and that they might have no favor,            hand of the throne, and having received of the Father  the
but that He might destroy them, as the Lord commanded                promise of the Spirit, and having thereby been made of God
Moses  (Jos. 11 :20).                                                for them sanctification and righteousness and redemption, is
    It is to.this warfare of God - His war against Egypt and         He not the way, their way of escape by which they come to,
the Canaanites. of that day - that doubtless our prophet             take refuge to, the Father,  His Father  and their Father in
chiefly has reference when  he says, "AS when  he fought in          heaven 7 - t$e God of their salvation in Him.
the day of battle."                                                      5. "And ye shall flee to the  valley  of the  mountains.!'
    4. As he had in that day gone forth and fought against           They flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set
`?hose nations," so  wil1 He again go forth and fight against        before them. They hide themselves in Christ and through
"these  nations"  gathered ,of Him against Jerusalem. Needless       Christ in God. And here they safely dwell. For here the
to say, "those nations" are not literally anymore  the Egyp-         enemy cannot pursue. And knowing the terror of the Lord,                      '
tians and the Canaanites of old. They are different nations.         thc judgments of God by which the city  is. being overtaken,
In this last day they are the world that lies in`darkness.  Yet,     they flee as they fled from before the earthquake in the days
being one in spirit with the Egyptians and Canaanites of old,        of Uzziah  king of Judah. This earthquake  is again mentioned
they are still, in this point of view, "these  nations." Always      in Amos 1  :l, but nothing more is known concerning it. But
their striving is to destroy the church from  the face of the        it must have been a serious calamity, a terrible manifestation
earth. But it shall not happen. The Lord wil1  go forth and          of the wrath of `God, or else the memory  of it  would  not
fight against them, as  when  He fought in the day of battle.        have remained alive  after  so  many centuries.
Besides, He wil1 provide  for the remnant a place  of refuge.            Yes, the remnant flees to the valley  of the mountains, as
    Since Jerusalem is in the hands of the hostile  nations          did the men of Judah, pricked in their hearts at hearing of
Jehovah  "cannot  be represented as coming from mount Zon            Peter that "God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have
 (compare Amos 1  2)  ; He  wil1  come from His heavenly             crucified, both Lord and Christ." They said to Peter and to
dwelling  place (Joel 3  :16), and take His stand  upon  the         the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what must we
mount of Olives, east of the city. The mount wil1 cleave  in         do ?" "Repent  and be baptized, every one of you in the name
halves as soon as Jehovah steps upon it. It wil1 cleave from         of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive
east to west; as a  result  the northern and the southern por-       the gift of the  Holy Spirit," was Peter's  answer to them.
tions wil1  be separated, and when  they recede, the one to the          But in the meantime  the Lord continues to lead "these
north, the other to the South,  a valley  is formed that  wil1       nations" against His church, persists in bringing the remnant
serve as a way of escape for the remnant that is stil1 in the        into the fire of tribulation.  How long? Until Christ  come
city. The  valley   shall   reach unto Azal.  -This is an obscure    and al1 His angels wit11 Him to judge the quick and the dead.
word. If it is the name of a place, which is not certain, it         And then shall He once more go forth and for the last time
may be identified  with Beth-ezel (Mic. 1 :2), whose location        fight against "these  nations." The earth shall be permanently
is not known.                                                        cleansed of them,  andto  His little flock He wil1 give the king-
    Whether the valley  is to serve as a way of escape or a          dom. And this  little flock includes, surely,   al1 the nations.
place of refuge is not  clear. It is obvious that the  whole         For the nations, principally the  elect, are blessed in Abraham,
description is figurative. If it was meant to be understood          in Christ.                                                        G.M.O.
literally,  the mount would have been made to undergo the
described  cleaving  before the expiration of the Old Testament                                   IN MEMORIAM
dispensation, seeing that Jerusalem is now above. But the                The Adult Bible Class of the Randolph Protestant Reformed
                                                                     Church in Randolph, Wisconsin,  wishes  to  express  its sincere  sym-
mount has stood whole and entire unto this day. Besides,             pathy to its fellow members: Mrs. H.  DeVries,  in the  loss of her
the valley that would result from its being thus worked upon         mother,  and Mr:H.  Rutgers,  in the 10s.~  of his sister.
                                                                         May the Lord of  al1  grace  comfort our sister and brother in their
would be much too smal1 to serve.the refugees either as a way        bereavement.
of escape or as a place  of refuge. For it is but a smal1 hill.                                                        The Adult Bible  Class
                                                                                                                       Randolph, Wisconsin


 300                                       THE,STANDARD  - B E A R E R
ll                                                                     devil  and .afterwards reigning with Christ over al1 creatures.
             FROM  HOLY  WRIT                                       / Paul willnot put a noose about the neck of the Christians.
                                                                       He wil1  not rob them of their líberty.' He strives to have them
                                                                       walk at liberty by avoiding licence !
               Exposition of 1 Corinthians 7                           Hence, Paul  introduces  two possible and different  in-
                              VIII.                                    stances, in which he demonstrates the principle  of walking
                                                                       so  as. to be in good spiritual decorum ín relationship to
                     (1 Corinthians 7 :36-40)                          Christ. -41~0 here Paul does not lay down a "rule,", but he
      In the last essay we noticed that Paul speaks of the last        does gíve two "case studies" in whích he demonstrates the
class of persons to be noticed under the matters of marriage           proper motivation which must enter into a given decision in
and its related problems. He emphasizes  that in regard to this        connectíon with either "allowing a daughter to be married,"
matter he has no particular  command  from Christ. Thus he             or "nat to give in marriage" a virgin daughter !
did have in  regard to the matter of those married.  Any one               The text here in question is as follows : rrBut if any mun
who is married must remain in the marríage  state.  The                think that he  beha4veth  himself  unco,mely   foward  bis  virgin,
ordinance of God from creation, as reiterated by Jesus in              ij  sh.e  pass  the  flowm  of  her age,  and need so  require,  let
Matthew 5 :32 and 19:1-12 stands !                                     him do what he ~21, he sinnetjz  nat: let thm mmry.  Never-
      What Paul gives here ís his "opinion." It is an opíníon,         theless he that standeth  stedfast  in his  heart,   having  no
a judgment of one  who  bas  received   mercy  to be faithful!         n'ecessity,  blt,t  ha,th   power  over his own  will,  a.nd hath so
When  he, therefore, gives his opiníon he surely gives a ripe          decreed in his hea,rt that he wil1 keep bis virgin, doeth well.
judgment, based on a wide experíence ; ít is an opinion in             So  then  he  t1za.t  giveth her in  mmriuge  doeth well:  hut he
`which we see wísdom  of one who has not merely observed               that giveth. h.er not in mxrriage  doeth better." Verses  36-38.
                                                                                                                                       1
much of life, but  who himself lives by the  principles here               In this passage Paul keeps the following  factors in view.
enunciated! One cannot take the opinion of such lightly.                   In the first  place m&riage is not outlawed. It is main-
      It should further be once more observed that Paul is             tained as holy ordinance of God. If such were not the case
giving a very  considered opinion here. He gives this judg-            Paul could not write,  "So then he that giveth her in marriage
ment by keeping in mínd, on the one hand, what our liberty             doeth  well."  Verse 38.  Jt is only because of the "present
is in Christ to enter into the marriage state,  since it is an         need"  and the presence of sín in our members that `his ad-
ordinance of God. Celíbacy is not a higher or  holier  form            vice is as it is.
of life and morality than the marriage state.  On the other                In the second place,  Paul gives permission to a woman  or
hand, Paul knows that not al1 can sanctify God in the mar-             man to remarry only after the death of one of the parties.
riage state.  Each ís to work out his salvation with fear and          Even then it is this- time to be "only ín the Lord.?
trembling. There are special temptations in the marriage
state for our flesh ín which dwells no good. Hence, there is,              Thirdly, ít is even then true, that the one who marries
from this viewpoint, a dístinction,between  the interests of the       not, "even in the Lord," ís happier  than one who marríes
married  woman and of the virgin. Certain temptations are              in the Lord!
present in the marriage  state,  both for the husband and for              Let US look at each of these factors a bit more closely.
the wife.                                                                 We notíce in the two "cases" cited  by Paul, that in each
      That Paul points out these difficulties in- the marríage        of these.cases  it ís presupposed that the father  or the guardian
state is not that he would place a snare upon  the belíevers,         has the  a.uthority   over his vírgin daughter in respect to her
limit them once more with a false dualism between good                 entering ínto the marriage  state.  Marriage in the argument
                                                                                            -_
and evil, that is, as if. he would advocate celibacy as some-         of Paul, and as a factor in his "opinion" ís not simply a
thing necessarily good and the marriage  state as something           $ersonal  agreement ; it is more than a mutual  agreement be-
necessarily evil. God forbid. He is only interested that. the         tween a given young man and the virgín whose hand he
church, whether in the marriage  state or outside of wedlock,         seeks. NO marriage was  legal  or could be solemnized with-
live with undivided attention  upon the Lord!                         out the consent of the  father  or guardian.
      Here too there is a certain indulgency. Not a hard and              In passing we may observe that this is too often  forgotten
fast rule for every case. Nor do we have here enunciated              in our day of loose morals, a day when  it is `ymarriage  often
the principle  of casuistry, the determining of duty ín doubt-        in haste and a repentance at leisure !" Too often  marriage is
ful cases. The  latter is the application of the  principle  of       viewed as a personal agreement, which  can be enacted and
being under  law, wíth íts distínction of a separate  "law"  for      broken at the wil1  of the parties in marriage. However,  this
every particular case and contingency !  Rather the rule here         is not only contrary  to the  accepted standards of  Paul's  day,
is: let  every  man work  out his own salvation with a free           but it is also in conflict with the expressed view and accepted
and good conscience in his life, fighting against sín and the         standards of the Statutes of the land in which we live. -The-


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D  `BEARER.                              *                        301

 writer of these lines happens  to have studied the Statutes of         wisdom,  and having the spiritual and eternal well-being of
 the State of Colorado in the matter .of Marriage,  Divorce,            his daughter at heart, is fully persuaded>in  .his:own  heart
 etc. It is expressly stated by these Statutes and taught by           that he should not give his virgin daughter in marriage under
 competent authorities that marriage is a CiviZ  contract, in          the existing politica1 circumstances of the  times.
 which the State is always a third and interested party. When                   3. There is nothing in the circumstances which  makes it
we keep in mind that al1 authority is basically that of the            impossible or spiritually indiscreet not to give his daughter
father  in the family, it is not difficult to see why the State as     in marriage. He has power over his own will. In his own
the outgrowth of the- family, would be a third and interested (idiai kardiai) heart he is fully persuaded that such is the
party.                                                                 proper course.
    It should be more than a  mere formality at a  "nice                        4.  Such a parent  or guardian does  wel1  in so deciding.
wedding" that the father   pztbkcly  states that he gives his          It is a wise decision under the existing circumstances in the
daughter in marriage !.                                                -world and in the life of his virgin!
    This is sound decorum in God's church and it is accord-                     Forsooth this is not a "Tule" in the church, but  rather
ing to Statute  Law!                                                   an "opinion" of Paul in which he applies the  wisdom  of
                                                                       grace to a particular circumstance of life ! What a far cry
    Now it is left to the christian  discretion of a believing         this is from a rule for monarchism  in every form!
father  or guardian whether he  wil1 give his virgin daughter
-in marriage or not. Is there a hard and fast rule here given                   Paul  ends this  chapter  by reflecting on the "case" of a
by Paul ? Not at al1 !                                                 woman whose husband has died. Of course, the rule is that
                                                                       what God has joined together let no  mapz put asunder. This
    It al1 depends upon the circumstances, and what a father           dissolving the tie of matrimony is solely the prerogative of
is assured in his heart is for the real, lasting and spiritual         God. When  he has cut the tie in the death of a husband, the
well-being of his daughter. Paul presupposes that the father           wife is free to marry another. But not until or unless God
is a zefise  man ; that he has spiritual wisdom  to deal accsr.ding    had dissolved the tie.
to the facts in the case.                                                                                _.
                                                                                That is the rule! That is the command  of Christ.
    In case number one, of which Paul speaks in verse 36, the
facfs are .postulated  as being as follows :                                    But even though  al1 things are permissible yet  al1 things
                                                                       are not convenient  or wise.
    1. The virgin daughter is no longer  a young girl. She is
one who has passed the bloom and spring-time  of her life.                      It is the judgment of Paul that even when  a husband has
She desires marriage. If she waits  longer  she  wil1 have             died, a  woman is more happy and blessed in the Lord if she
passed the time of life that it is proper for marriage, and wil1       remain unmarried,. and be a widow indeed  ! Let no one take
fa11 into a new temptation on that account. To prevent her             this advice lightly ! There is a saying : no fool like an old
to marry  wil1 drive her possibly to give in to the approaches         fool.  Paul's   advice is here  no,  mere practica1  wisdom   from
of her lover. This poses a new problem in such a case of sin           the viewpoint of utility. It is spiritual wisdom.  He too thinks
and shame!                                                             to have received  the Holy Spirit.
   2. The father,  a wise man, sees this very  real temptation.                 Then too there is a limitation added. It is that when  a
He is convinced in his heart, that, in spite of the present            woman  remarries: it is to be in the Lord! This was not the
politica1 urgency of the  times and the affliction which married       case `with the Corinthians in the case of the first marriage.
life then entails; it is the part of spiritual wisdom  and pru-.       Both were quite likely ozctside  of the Lord. The Kingdom  of
dence that "it ought to be marriage" for bis virgin. Surely            God was not in their thoughts.
such a man "sins nat" when  he allows the virgin daughter,
who is wel1  eligible and ripe for marriage to have her desire.                 But now they must not marry a non-christian. Shall they
Let them marry !                                                       put their feet under the kitchen table together, it must be that
                                                                       they have first sat around the same table of the Lord, whether
   Such is Paul's judgment in  such cases !                            they be  Jew or Gentile, bond or free. Let no one be a
   In case number two the conditians and facts  are different.         profane person as was Esau.  The first marriage was not a
Here the  facts  are as follows, with the correspondingly dif-         mixed marriage. Let this one not become  such!
ferent judgment :                                                               Let it be remembered: to the pure al1 things are pure,
   ,l. There is here no  "treed," that is, fhe daughter has not        but to the defiled  al1 things are impure, they are reprobate
passed the bloom of life. Hence, the "necessity"  of case num-         to every good word.
ber one is not present.                                                         Let these things sink deeply into our -hearts  !
   2. The father,   who is  also a wise man,  having spiritual         ..`._                                                          G.L.


 302                           B              T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR.ER

                          THE JESUITS                                   During  May  of that year he had been severely `wounded at
        "It is lawful to kil1 a man who gives you a box on the ear,     the battle of Pampeluna - one leg had been broken, and the
 or a blow with a stick, if you cannot get justice otherwise."          ether  one dangerously damaged. During the months as an
                                                           - Lessius    invalid, which were spent at his father's castle, he at first
        "It is lawful to steal,  not only in extreme necessity, but     had sought reading material  concerning the great men in
 also in such necessity as is hard to be endured, thoùgh not            secular  history. His idea of chivalry had not changed immedi-
 extreme." - Lessius.                                                   ately. It is said  that, unable to find  sufficient   material  on
        "When  a man has received money  to do a w.icked act, is        this subject to satisfy himself, he had taken and  read a life
 he obliged to return it? We must distinguish: if he has not            of Christ which had come into his hands. From that time
 done the action  for which he was paid, he ought to return it;         there had been a remarkable change in  :the man. Now with
 but if he has done it, he is not.obliged  to any restitution."         avidity he sought out histories of the great saints of the past
                                    `_                     - Escobar    within the Romish Church. Within his heart began to burn
        "It is lawful for a son to `rejoice at the murder of his        the desire  to emulate them. Upon  his recovery he traveled to
 parent  committed by himself in a, state of drünkenness,  on           the monastery of Manresa  where he hung his military acces-
 account of the great riches  tlience acquired by inheritance."         sories before an image of the Virgin Mary. There also he
                                                 -  F a g u n d e z     wrote the Sfiivitatal Exehses whick were later to bear great
        "We may wish barm to our neighbors without sin when             influence on the Jesuits as  wel1  as the entire Romish Church.
 we are pushed  upon  it by some good motives."                             At the age of thirty-three, realizing that he could accom-
                                                 - Father  Bauny        plish little without the forma1 education which he lacked, he
        "1 shail never consider that man to have done wrong,            began learning the fundamentals of  Latin  wit11 a  class of
 who,  favoring the public wishes,  would attempt  to kil1 him          school boys. Within two years he was ,admitted  to the Uni-
 (a'  heretic   .prince  or a  Romish  prince not favorable to the      versity of Alcala and the following year to- the University of
 Romish interests) ." - John Mariana                                    Salmanca. In both of these places  he met with little favor
    These quotations, taken from the book Tlze Jemits:  A               because he tried to induce students to follow what he had
 Historica1 Sketch which is put out by the American Sunday-             written  in his Spiritual Exewises.  From here he went to the
 School  Union,  reveal  somewhat the  principles  which have           University of Paris  where he received instruction'for seven
 guided this particular organization within the Roman Catholic          more years.
 Church. It is this body (the Jesuits) of whom it has often                 It was at Paris ,that a nucleus for the future Society of
 been  maintained  that they taught that "the end justifies the         Jesus was formed. Most notable of his followers were Peter
 means." Concerning this, one of their own writers states:              Faber,  Francis Xavier, and Jacob Lainez. In 1534 seven
 "These and other charges have been repeatedly disproved, yet           of them vowed "on completion of their studies to enter on
 writers of romance, and even writers of history, never fail to         hospita1 and missionary work in Jerusalem, or, opportunity
find readers credulous enough to accept  them  as  truc." The           failing, to go without questioning wherever the pope might
reason for  such charges is surmised by the  same writer:               direct." They did find themselves unable to go to Jerusalem.
 "Though many died as martyrs on the scaffolds, and in the                  In 1537 Pope Paul 111, upon .hearing  of their zeal in their
prisons. of England  and elsewhere, yet their ski11 in evading          purposed endeavors, called these men from Venice, gave them
detection as wel1  as their coui-age  in living in the midst of         a  commendation,  .and permitted them to be ordained as
their enemies and their great  success  in  winning   converts          priests. In Rome during the next two years they were highly
wel1  explain the hatred  with which they were regarded in              regarded and charges of heresy which had been leveled
Protestant countries from the beginning, while it gives  US the         against them were almost forgotten. In the light of their
historica1 origin of the tradition of cunning and deceit  which         favorable reception, they  co%dently  requested Paul 111 to
has always been associated with the name Jesuit" (T. J.                 be  confirmed  as a special order. This  took   place in 1540.
Campbell, S. J., in the EfLcyclopedia  AYtzericapza)  .                 Although  their membership was limited at first to sixty, three
    There are thousands of books  written  by and concerning            years later this restriction was removed. Loyola was elected
the Jesuits. Many  of their thousands of members have at-               its first general.
tained  prominente  in  history  since the Reformation. An                  The society is divided into four classes. There is first of
article such as this, therefore:  can necessarily present only a        al1 the pyofessed who take four vows : of perfect obedience, of
brief sketch of this "Society of Jesus."                                voluntary poverty, of perpetual chastity, and of absolute sub-
    Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, was            mission to the pope with respect to missions on which they
born in  Spain  on Christmas night, 1491, at the castle of              might be sent. The second class is called the coa.d&ors. These
Loyola. During his early life chivalry, rather  than the church,        are either ecclesiastics or lay members. They aid in realizing
was his  passion.  In his youth he entered the  army,   un-             the designs of the society, but are bound only by the vows of
doubtedly seeing in that the possible fulfillment  of the desire        obedience, pöverty, and chastity. The third class, the ;rcholcws,
for chivalry within himself. It is reported that the year 1521          have a position determined by their own qualifications. They
was one during which a great change took place in his life.             too are bound by the first three oaths, but are allowed to


                                            TlkIE  STAtibARti  B B A R Ë R                                                         303

take the last with the consent of their superiors. Th novices,       also explains the great amount of influence the Jesuits have in
the last group, are the candidates  on trial. These are on trial     the Romish Church - and even outside of it L today as wel1
for two years before they can become coadjutors,  and a third        as in the past.
year before they can become one of the professed.                        The teachings of the Jesuits are probably of  greater`in-
   Concerning the four vows taken, perfect obedience is un-          terest  to US than their history, particularly because of the
derstood to imply complete submission to the wil1 of the             strangeness of their doctrines to  US. Generally speaking, their
superior. There are no doubts permitted whatsoever. Volun-           views are those of the Romish Church. Possibly this could be
tary poverty  means that the members hand over  al1 they             stated more correctly that the views of the Jesuits more and
possess and  receive theìr subsistence from the Society. The         more were taken over by the Romish Church. The most
chastity is such that marriage is never allowed. The submis-         famous of these in recent years was the doctrine of the  im-
sion is to the pope under whom  the members so  place  them-         maculate conception (that Mary was born without the guilt
selves that they must go wherever he sends them.                     or pollution of sin) adopted in 1854. This was a victory for
   About their history only a few remarks need be made.              the Jesuits, many of whom  had long maintained  the view.
Their history is entwined with that of nearly every nation  of          Another of the more famous, or infamous, views of the
the world, for its members as missionaries went throughout           Jesuits was  what  is called  proba~bilism.   According to this
the' world. Very briefly their history could be summarized as        view, one could determine a particular course to follow if he
turbulent. They have been charged by Protestants with at-            could find support in  any one of the Romish writers. Needless
tempted and successful assassinations particularly of Prot-          to say, one could almost  surely tînd someone who had main-
estant kings or queens, with meddling in affairs of  govern-         tained some mora1  principle  which agreed with the proposed
ment, and with intrigue in financial matters in spite of their       action. If, for instance, a man wished to commit robbery  and
vows of poverty. And although the Jesuits deny  guilt, yet           could find one Jesuit author who maintained  that under cer-
there appears to be much basis of fact in these charges. In          tain circumstances  robbery  is morally right, then he could rob
fact? their history within the bosom  of the Romish church           without being guilty of sin. If two writers differed on this
was by no means always peaceful. Many  times they had to             question, one could choose the mora1 judgment which  best,
struggle  with the pope himself for the right of continued           suited his intent. As one of their writers stated : "An opinion
existente. At one time in their history they were officially         may be deemed probable,.when  it is grounded on the opinion
disbanded, but this ban was later lifted. At various times           of one grave doctor. When two learned men differ, both their
they were barred from nearly al1 of the several nations to           opinions are probable. A man may do what he conceives law-
which they had gorie.                                                ful, according to a probable opinion, though the contrary may
   Their purported purpose was primarily mission  werk  and          be more safe. For this, the opinion of one learned individuai
instruction especially in schools of higher learning. The pi-        is suficient." In the eighteenth century, because of  opposi-
oneer~n~issionary  was Xavier, one of the original members of        tion arising against this view, this `was modified to three
the"Society.  Called the missionary  of India, he performed          types : (1 j one of two mora1 opinions may be followed if both
much of his  mission  work there as  wel1  `as in  Japan  and        are equally probable ; (2) if the probabilities are not equal, the
neighboring islands. According to his  testimony,  thousands         one which is more probable must determine the course of
each  month were converted by him. Baptism, which was given          action ; (3 j or the safest, rather  than the more probable,
at once,  was the basis for determining the numbers of "con-         ought to be followed.
verts"  -so possibly the figures given are correct. In some             A second more humorous, but equally-serious, view is
places,  it is said, his very  appearance caused  many to fa11 on    what is called  mental  reservation. It was a method of `lying
their knees in confession of sin before Xavier even uttered a        without being  guilty of sin  - according to their opinion. It
word. Many  miracles were also ascribed to him.                      worked something like this. Suppose 1 had robbed  á bank
   From  the time of Xavier many missionaries were sent              and had been put in prison for suspicion of  robbery.  Several
out. A number of them were sent also to North America  in            days later 1 would be taken to coürt and asked under oath if
the early days of settlement. One of the better known was            1 had committed the crime. 1 could truthfully answer, "NO,"
Marquette, the explorer of the Mississippi River.  Mission  sta-     provided 1 added silently in my mind,  "1 did not commit  this
tions were  also established in the territory of California.         robbery  today." Filliucius, a. Jesuit, writes  of a case where
   But that which by far was of greater importante  with re-         one is questioned concerning his eating of something  for-
gard to their  influence over others was the establishment of        bidden. In such a case, says he, ."When we begin to say `1
many colleges and universities. These they began founding            swear,' we must insert, in a subdued tone, thé mental  restric-
almost from the beginning of their history.  Many  of the            tion `that today,' and then continue aloud, `1 have not eaten
schools for higher learning even today are Controlled or were        such a thing.' " 1 say such a view seems humorous, yet it is
begun by Jesuits. In these schools, of course, their own             the height of corruption, reminding one of the hypocrisy of
men taught.  -The thousands of students  who  came from              the Pharisees of old. 1 would almost  think that today this
these schools, although most never became Jesuits, neverthe-         view is yet maintained, also among non-catholics, when  those
less were instructed thoroughly in their. principles.  This fact                          (Continued on page  309)


 304                                          T H E   STAND.ARQ:~-BEARER

                                                                           The Apostles'  Creed was  sung in Greek and  Latin.  Papa1
            Contending For The Faith                                       delegates were sent to Constantinople to consummate the
 8                                                                      ll union ; but the agreement was rejected by the Greek clergy.
                                                                           It is more than surmised that the Greek emperor, Michael
             The Church  cmd the Sacraments                                Palaeologus, was more concerned for the permanency of the
      VIEWS  DURING  THE  THIRD  PERIOD  (750-1517 A.D.)                   `Greek occupation of Constantinople than for the ecclesiastical
                                                                           union of the East and the West upon which the hearts of
                  THE  SUPREMACY OF THE  POPE                              popes had been set so long.
      THE  PAPACY FROM THE  DEATH OF  INNOCENT  111                            Other important matters before the council were the rule
                  TO  BONIFACE  VIII. 1216-1294.                           for  .electing a pope, and the reception of a delegation of
                             (continued)                                   Mongols who sought to effect a union  against the Moham-
                                                                           medans.  Several members of the delegation received  baptism.
        The elevation of Rudolf inaugurated a period of peace in           The  decree  of the Fourth  Lateran,  prohibiting new religious
 the relations of the papacy and the empire.  Gregory  X had               orders, was reaffirmed.
 gained a brilliant victory. The emperor was crowned at                        The f?rm and siatesmanlike  administration  of Nicolas  111
 Aachen, Oct. 24, 1273 (his furthering of the election of  Ru-             checked the ambition of Charles of  Anjou,   who was plotting
 dolf.  pf Hapsburg to the imperia1 throne): The place of  the.            for the Greek crown.  He was obliged to abjure the senator-
 Hohenstaufen was thus taken by the Austrian house of  Haps-               ship of Rome, which he had held for ten years, and to re-
 burg, which has continued to this day to'be a reigning  dynasty           nounce the vicariate  of Tuscany. Bologna for the first time
 and  loyal to the Catholic hierarchy. In the present century              acknowledged the papa1  supfemacy.   Nicolas  has been called
 its power has been  eclipsed  by the  Hohenz.ollern,  whose               the  father  of papa1 nepotism (favoritism, especially  govern-
 original birth  seat- in Wurttemberg is a short distance from             mental  patronage, extended toward nephews or other rela-
 that of the Hohenstaufen. The ancient seat of the Hapsburgs               tives), and it is partly for his generosity  to his relatives that,
 was in Aargau, Switzerland, scarcely one hutidred  miles away             before the generation had passed, Dante put him in hel1 :
 from Zollern. The establishment of peace by Rudolf's election                    "To enrich my whelps, 1 laid my schemes  aside,
 is celebrated by Schiller in the famous lines : -                                 My wealth I've stowed, - my person here."
            "Then  was ended the long, the direful strife,                     Again, in 1281, the tiara passed  t,o a Frenchman, a man
             That time of terror, with no imperia1 lord."                  of humble birth, Martin  IV' Charles was present at Viterbo
        Rudolf was  a man of decided religious temper, was not             when  the election took place and was active in securing it.
 ambitieus  to extend his power, and became' a jtist and safe              Martin showed himself completely complaisant to the designs
 ruler; He satisfied the claims of the papacy by granting free-            of  the Angevin house and Charles was  once more elected  tó
 dom tosthe chapters  in the choice of bishops, by protiising  to          the Roman senatorship. Seldom had a pope been so fully the
 protect the Church in her rights, and by renouncing al1 claim             tool of a monarch. In Southern Italy  Frenchmen  were  every-
Jo'Sicily and to the State of the Church. In a tone of modera-             where in the ruling positions. But this national insult was
 tion  Gregory   wrote.:  "It is incumbent on  princes to  protect         soon to receive a memorable rebuke.
 the liberties and rights of the `Church and riet to deprive her              In resentment at the hated French regime, the  Sicilians
 of her tempora1 property. It is also the  duty of the spiritual           rose up, during Easter week, 1282, and enacted the bloody
 ruler  to maintain kings in the full integrity of their authority."       massacre known as the Sicilian Vespers. Al1 the Normans
 The  emper& remained on good terms with Gregory's                         on the island, together with the Sicilian wives of Normans,
 successors, Innocent V, a Frenchman, Adrian  V' a Genoese,                were victims of the mercikss  vengeance. The number that
 who did not live to be consefrated, and John XXI, the only                fel1 is estimated at from eight to twenty thousatid.  The trage-
 priest  froti Portugal'who `bas worn the tiara.  ,Their  com-             dy gets its name from the tradition that the  Sicilians   fel1 to
 bined reigns lasted only eighteen nìonths.  John died from                their work at the ringing of the vesper bell.  Charles' rule was
 the falling of a  ceiling  in his palace in Viterbo.                      thenceforward at an end on the Panormic isle. Peter  of
        The  secqnd Council of Lyons,  known  also as the Four-            Aragon,  who married  Constante,   the daughter of  Manfred
 teenth Ecumenical Council, was called by  Gregory  and opened             and the granddaughter of  Frederick,  11, was crowned king.
 by him with a sermon. It is famous for the  attempt  made to              For nbarly  two hundred years thereafter the crowns  of Sicily
 unite the Greek and Western Churches and the presence of                  and Naples.  were kept distinct.
 Greek delegates, among them Germanus, formerly patriarch                     Not to be untrue to Charles, Martin hurled the anathema
 of Constantinople. His successor had temporarily been  placed             at the rebels,  placed  Aragon and Sicily under the interdict,
 in confinement for expressing himself as opposed to ecclesias-            and laid Christendom under a tribute of one-tenth for a
 tical union.  A tertiination  of the schism  seemed to be at hand.        crusade  against Peter. The measures were in vain, and
 The delegates announced the Greek emperor's full acceptance               Charles' galleys met with defeat off the toast of Calabria.
 of  the Latjne creed,  including the procession of  the-  Holy            Charles and Martin died the same year, 1285, the latter, like
 Spirit from the Son and the primacy of the bishop of Rome.                Gregory  X, at Perugia.


                                                              _.

                                               THE,STANDARD   B-EARER                                                                          305

     After  an interregnum of ten months, Nicolas  IV ascended           become Coelestin's successor, was responsible for it. He
 the papa1 throne, the  .first   Franciscan  to be elevated to the       played upon the hermit's credulity by, speaking through a
  office. His reign witnessed the evacuation of Ptolemais or             reed, inserted-.through  the  wal1 of the  hermit's'  chamber, and
  Acre, the last po+,session  of the Crusaders in Syria. Nicolas         declared  it..i& be heaven's wil1 that his reign should come to
  died in the midst .Of futile plans to recover  the Holy Places.        an end. As the Italians say, the story, if not true, was wel1
     Another  interregnum of twenty-seven months followed,               i n v e n t e d .
 April 4, 1292 to July 5, 1'294, when  the hermit Peter de Murr-             The author of the suggestion  that Coelestin should ab-
 `hone, Coelestin V, was raised to the papa1 throne, largely at          dicate  has given rise to a good deal of controversy  in recent
 the dictatiion  of Charles 11 of Naples.  His short reign fprms         years. Was  Benedict  Gaetani (Boniface VIII) the author,
 a  curieus episode in the annals of the papacy. His career              or did the suggestion come from the senile old pope himself ?
  shows the extremes of station from the solitude of the moun-           Hans Schulz,  a Protestant, has recently called in question the
 tain cel1 to,the chief  dignity of Europe. He enjoyed `the fame         old view that laid the  blame  on Benedict, and regards it as
, of sanctity and founded the order of St. Damian, which sub-            probable that Coelestin. was the first to  propose  abdication,  '
  sequently honored him by taking the name of Coelestines.               and that Benedict  being called in gave the plan his sanction.
The story ran that he had accomplished the unprecedented                 He says, however,  that in the whole matter "Benedict's eye
 feat of hanging  his cowl on a sunbeam. At the time of his              was directed to the papa1 crown  as his own prize." Certain
 elevation to  the papa1 throne  Coelestine  was seventy-nine.           Roman  Catholic historians have adopted the same position.
     An eye-witness, Stefaneschi, has described the journey to           The contemporary historians differ about the matter, but
 the hermit's retreat by three bishops.who were appointed to             upon the whole are against the cardinal. The charge that
 notify him of his election.  They found him in a rude hut in            he was at the bottom of the abdication and the main promoter
 the mountains, furnished with a single  barred window, his              of it.was one of the chief charges brought against him by his
 hair unkempt, his face pale, and his body  infirm. After an-            enemy, Philip the Fair of France. One of the measures for
 nouncing their errand  they bent low and kissed his sandals.            humiliating Boniface  proposed by the king was the .canoniza-
 Had Peter been able to go .forth f'rom his anchoret  solitude,          tion of Coelestin as one whom Boniface  had abused.`A tratit is-
 like Anthony of old, on his visits to Alexandria, and preach            sued by one  of.<Boniface's  party attempted to parry this stig-
 repentance and humility,  he would have presented an ex-                gestion by declaring that Boniface,  who was then  dead, had
 hilarating spectacle to after-generations.  As it is, his career        merits  which entitled hip to canonization above Coelestin.
 arouses  pity for his frail and unsophisticated incompetency to         The author declares  that (`Coelestin's  canonization is asked
 meet the demands which his high office involved..                       because he profited himself and died in ma siwz.plicitate;  Boni-
     Glad in his monkish habit and riding on an ass, the bridle          face's ought to be asked for because he profited others and
 held  hy Charles 11 and his son, Peter proceeded to Aquila.             died for thg freedom of the Church." Coelestin was canonized
 where  he was crowned, only three cardinals being present.              1313 by Clement V.
 Completely under  the  dominante  of the king, Coelestin took               In äbandoning the  papacy the  departing pontiff forfeited
 up his r.esidence in Naples.  Little was.he able to battle with         al1 freedom of  moyement. He attempted to flee  across the
 the world, to cape with the intrigues of factions, and to resist        Adriatic  hut in vain. He was kept in confinement by Boniface
 `the greedy  scramble  for office which  besets the path of thöse       VIII  yin the castle of Fumone, near Anagni, until his death,
 high in position. In simple confidence Coëlestin gave his ear           May  19, 1296. What a world-wide contrast the simplicity of
 `to this counsellor and to that, and yielded easily to-all ap-          the hermit's reign presents to the violent  asseriion and  am-
 plicants for favors. His complaisance to Charles is sec; in his         bitious designs of Boniface, the first pope of a new period!
 appointments of cardinals. OUt of twelve whom he created,                  Coelestin's sixth centenary was observed by pious  admirers
 seven  Were  Frenchmen, and three Neapolitans. It would seem            in Italy. Opinions have differed about him. Petrarch  praised
 as if he. fel1 into despair  at the self-seeking and worldlincss  of    -bis humility. Dante, with releitless  severity held him up as
 the papa1 court, and he exclaimed, "0 God, while 1 rule over            an example of mora1 cowardice, the one who made the great
 other men's  souls, 1 am losing the salvation of my own." He            renunciation.                                                       H.V.
 was clearly not equal to fhe duties -of the tiara.. In vain did
 the Neapolitans seek by processions  .to dissuade him from                  t.7
 resigning. Clkment  1 had abjured his office;  `as had  also                                       IN MEMORIAM
 Gregory  VI though  at the mandate of an emperor. Peter                    The Consistory of the Randolph Protestant Reformed  Church
 issued a bul1 declaring it to be the pope's  right to abdicate.         hereby  wishes to express its sincere sympathy to one of its
 His own abdication he  placed  on- the ground "of his humble-           fellow consistory members,  Harry   Rutgers,  in the  10s~  of his sister,
 ness, the quest of a better life and an easy cdnscience,  `on ac-                               MRS., JAKE  FISHER
 count of his frailty of body and want of knowledge, the  bad-              May the Lord strengthen and comfort him with the assurance
 ness of men, and a desire  to return to the qùietness of his            that His  werk  is perfect and always done in love to His  chUren.
 former state." The  real reason for his resigning is obscure.                                                   Rev. E. Emanuel, President
                                                                                                             -, Jake  Fisher, Secretary
 The story went that the ambitious Cardinal Gaetani, soon to             Randolph, Wis.


JOU                                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                             (              "Dat die gemeene genade van groot belang is, wordt ook
`1l         ihe `u'oice of Our Fathers                                       ll door de Gereformeerden niet ontkend; zelfs niet, dat zij in
II                                                      -                    fl    verband staat met des menschen zaligheid,
                  The Canims  of Dordrecht                                                  "Ook staat de gemeene genade in verband .met de moge-
                                                                                   lijkheid om maatschappelijk samen te kunnen leven, en dat
                                  PA  I<`I'   `I'\VO                               maatschappelijk samenleven staat weer in verband met het
                    1~SI'OS1'1'1Oh'   01;  `I`IIl2   C A N O N S                   christianiseeren van volken en staten.
                                                                                            `"De vraag is echter, of de gemeene gratie een gave is, door
                                                                                   den mensch zoo te ontwikkelen en te gebruiken. dat hij er
                                                                                   door komt tot zaligheid. En dan verwerpen de Gereformeer-
                                                                                   den de dwaling der Remonstranten, die beweren van wel.
                   RE!   ECTION OF  ER.RORS                                        Neen, noch de ware kennis van den waren God, noch de
                        Article 5  (continued)                                     kennis van den eenigen Zaligmaker, noch  de,genade  der recht-
                                                                                   vaardiging, noch een beginsel van  de heiligmaking ontwikkelt
       We must stil1 investigate the significante  of this article in              zich uit clie gaven, den mensch na den val nog overgelaten,
as far as it touches on the common grace question. As we                           omdat het geen zaligmakende genade is. Die gaven zijn  wel
said before, this is the only place where our Reformed con-                        oorzaak dat de mensch niet te verontschuldigen is en ont-
fessions use the term  co~~a?~~on  grace. And'this, of course, at                  wikkelen den natuurlijken aanleg in den mensch; doch om-
once attracts the attention. As we  also indicated previously,                     dat de grond dier gaven niet ligt in het nieuwe leven, brengen
it must at once bti granted that in this article the matter of                     zij ook nooit vruchten voort van geloof en bekeering waardig.
common grace enters in rather  incidentally. The article  as such                  Als natuurlijke gaven laten zij den natuurlijken mensch in
deals not with the common grace doctrine, but with the gen-                        den staat der ellende; waarin hij van  nature  neerligt:  &be-
era1 grace doctrine of the Arminians. However, this does nof                       kwaam  tot eenig goed, en geneigd tot alle kwaad."
mean that we can learn nothing from this article as to the                                  By way of a brief summary for our readers who do not
doctrine of common grace. On the contrary, the very  fact that                     understand the Holland language, the author maintains the
in this sole instance  of the term in our confessions it is placed                 following  in the above paragraphs :
in the mouth  of the Arminians already  indicates  that we can
learn something  of importante  as to the view which our con-                               L) That in the field of theological thought  co-cerning
fessions maintain as to this doctrine.                                             common grace there are pitfalls to be avoided, necessitàting  a
                                                                                   discerning judgment in our thinking and reading on the sub-
       At the  outset  we  may observe that  nat  al1  find in this                ject, and that the  Arminian  doctrine rejected by the Reformed
paragraph a contradiction of the common grace theory. This                         can serve a useful  purpose in this regard.
is not surprising, buf it is a  fact worth noting as we  investi-                           2) 
gate this, matter. There are those who find in our Canons no                                       That both Arminians and Reformed speak of common
contradiction of the common grace theory whatsoever,  hut                          grace, or the gifts left to man after  the fall, and that concern-
who find,  in fact, that the                                                       ing this point there is no differente,  as the Confession speaks
                                   Caizons maintain the doctrine of
common grace. We have had occasion to note  this previously                        of this too.
in  c8nnection  with Canons 111, IV, A, 4. And. it might be                                 3) That this common grace is of great imp8rtance is not
expected, therefore, that also with  regard to this fifth article                  denied by the Reformed, and that it is not even denied that
of  Ca.Norts  111, IV, B, the claim is made that the fathers do                    it stands in connection with man's salvation.
not oppose  the common gr'ace theory, but on the contrary,                             4) That common &ace stands in connection with the pos-
grant its validity. And `this is exactly the claim that is made.                   sibility of living together socially, and that this  social  living
It is  mainiained  that our  Ca?&ons do not condemn the theory                     together-stands again in connection with the christianizing of
of common grace as such, but rather  condemn the wrong use                         peoples and states.
of this doctkne. Thus, for example, T. Bos writes  in his "The                         5) That the question is whether this common grace is  a
Canons of Dordt Explained," the following comments  con-                           gift so to be developed and used by man that by it he comes
cerning this very article, p. 157 :                                                to salvation, and that while the Arminians maintain this, the
       "Er liggen op het veld der theologische wetenschap over                     Reformed reject it emphatically, and maintain  th?t  al1 man's
de gemeene gratie voetangels en klemmen, zoodat er met een                         natura1 gifts  le++e  him after  al1 in the state of misery in which
oordeel des onderscheids over gedacht en gelezen moet wor-                         he lies by nature  : incapable  of any good, and inclined to al1
den. De leer der Remonstranten, door de Gereformeerden                             evil.
verworpen, kan ons daarin van nut zijn. Zij toch spreken                               Now we may note at once that this is a far cry from the
ook van `de  gemeene  genade,' of de gaven, na des menschen                        position of the Three Points of 1924, and especially from the
val hem nog gelaten. Daar over is dan ook geen verschil. Er                        position of the First Point. But we shall return to this matter
zijn van het beeld Gods, in ruimeren  zin genomen, tiog enkele                     presently. At this  juncture  we want to investigate the  ques-
sporen over gebleven. Dat zegt onze Belijdenis ook.                                tion whether the above position is actually in harmony with


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                        307

 the position of our Ca.wons.  And then we would cal1 attention         grace, they nevertheless make it abundantly plain that  the
 to the following.                                                      common-grace man is pure fiction. Think  how they  em-
     In the first place, there is the fact that this is the only        phasize that not the favor of God, but the wrath of God is
 place in our Reformed confessions  where the term coT%J+zon            upon man outside of Christ. Think of the  fact that they
 grace is used. What is the significante  of this fact,  however  ?     emphasize even in  regard to the light of  nature  that the
 It certainly  means that it is nothing but loose talk to maintain      natura1 man cannot use it aright even in the sphere of things
 that both Reformed and Arminians speak of common grace,                natura1 and civil, 111, IV. A, 4. Consider too how they sted-
 if by Reformed you  mean the Reformed fathers speaking  of-            fastly reject in III? IV, A, 1-4, and B, 1-4, the idea that there
 ficially in our Reformed creeds.  It is, of course,  true that Re-     is any capability of good left in man whatsoever after  the fall.
 formed theologians have spoken of common grace. And it                 In this light it becomes indeed  importan;  that they say in the
 may be granted that their speech has a certain `weight, and            present article, ". . . . common grace, which to themselves is
 that it must be considered. But if you have in mind the                the light of  nature   `. . .  ." But in the second place, this is
 official expression of the Reformed faith, then it must be             important because there is exactly  a striking similarity  be-
 maintained  that the confessions do not mention  common grace          tween the so-called Kuyperian common grace and thè .Ar-
~ with so much as  a breath. And the reasoning that would               minian  theory of common grace on this point. There  may be
 mak5 of the confessional speech concerning the remnants of             a differente  of understanding, in  a degree, as to the contents
 man's  original gifts (not: remnants of the image of God) a            of this natura1 light. But on this they agree, that common
 confessional reference to common  grace is entirely faulty. In         grace, becoming operative at the moment of the fall,  preserved
 fact,  it is' not even true, as the Rev. Bos asserts, that the         in man  a remnant of original goodness.                       F
 Confession  also says that there are remnants left of the image
 of God in the broader sense. This is not confessional lan-                And this, in the third place, stands in closr connection
 guage. In this we heartily  agree.  fherefore, that concerning         with the fact that the Arminian and so-called Calvinistic the-
 the subject of common grace one must think and read with a             ories  of. common grace both agree ultimately in their denial
 discerning judgment.                                                   of total  depravity:  They  may disagree, again, as to the
                                                                        significante  of this common grace, as to the yuestion whether
    Now this may be an argument e silentio  (out of silence),           common grace is  a starting-point and a connecting link for
 but it is nevertheless a striking fact that while several Re-          saving grace. But they agree on this, that "total depravity" is
 formed theologians spoke rather  freely of common grace,               only  a description of  wlmt  qaan  wozlld  have  been  had not
 this idea did not find a place in any of our creeds.  And this         God's common grace intervened.  And if it is true, as the Rev.
 is especially striking in regard to the Canons, which are of           Bos avers in his comments on this article, that these natura1
 a later date than our other confessions. One would say that            gifts (which he also calls common grace) leave the natura1
 the fathers had several opportunities to speak of common               man in the state of misery in which he lies by nature,  that is.
 grace in the Canorts without going out of the way to do so,            incapable  of any goed,  and inclined to al1 evil. then he woulcl
 if tltey lmd wanted. to, and that they could very easily have          be hard-pressed  indeed  to show where there is any element
 expressed, if such was their view, that they did not disagree          of grace, favor, in this so-called common grace.
 with the Arminians as to c&mon  `grace and as to the signi-.
 ficance of man's natura1 gifts. (But  they did not do so.                 Finaliy,  we must give our attention-to  the matter of the
    In the  second place, in close connection with the above,           First Point, with its general, well-meant offer of salvation, in
 we should note that not only is the term coztcp>ton  grace placed      connection with this article. This,  after all, is  much more
 in the mouth of the Arminians in this one instance  in which           serious than the whole matter of common grace. Here the
 it appears in our creeds,  but the definition of this common           question is .not whether man by using his common grace
 grace is also attributed to the Arminians. The.fathers  do not         can climb to  the leve1 of saving grace, but  `the question
 say, as they could have if they agreed with the Arminians :            is exactly the main one of the Rejection of Errors in this
 "by which we understand the light of  nature."  But they say           article. The Arminians maintain that "God on his part shows
 very pointedly : "by which  they  understand  the  light of  na-       himself  ready to reveal Christ to al1 men." And on this matter
 ture."  Hence, it is the Arminian understanding of this light          the First Point of 1924 tragically agrees. The question is not
 of  nature  that it  constitutes  common grace. This is  very          that of the  external  preaching of the gospel. The question is
 telling. It is telling, first of all, because while it may be true     as to the significante  of that preaching. Point One teaches
 that the fathers nowhere in our confessions expressly  state           that its significante  is that God on His part is ready to save
 that this light of  nature  is not common grace, it is equally true    al1 to whom the gospel is preached, that the preaching of the
 that they nowhere state  that it is common grace, and, on the          gospel is a general,  gracieus  offer of salvation. The Arminians
 contrary, everywhere indicate  that there is. no element of            also  teach  that God shows Himself ready to reveal Christ to
 grace in this natura1 light whatsoever. We stated previously           all. And our Reformed fathers tel1 US : "For the experience of
 that in this fifth article the fathers say nothing about the com-      al1 ages and the Scriptures do both testify that this is un-
 mon grace aspect of the Arminian error. But we etiphasized             truc." 1924, therefore, stands condemned  by  1615-19.
 that while elsewhere they do not  mention  the term common                                                                       H.C.H.


308                                                  T H E   STANDARD   B E A R E R

ll                                                                             that exalts itself in the thought that man is capable  of building
              DECENCY and ORDER                                           IJ +he church and properly performing  al1 the labor attendant
                                                                               to it without God. He does not want God in his labor. He
                                                                               is ignorant of the truth that the church and al1 that pertains
          Prayer  in  EccleSiastical  Assemblies                               to it is immanently spiritual so that in the .final analysis  only
       "If  any of  you  lack  wisdom, let  J& ask of God, that                God and God alone  can and does perform that work that is
giveth  to  al1  liberally,  nnd  ,upbra.idetlz   `nat;  a.nd it  shall  be    conducive to the well-being of His church.  "`Ezcept  the Lord
given  I&L." -James 1  :5                     .2                               build  tlae hese, they la.bor in va,in who bztild it." - Ps. 127 :l.
       "TAe pi-oceedings  of al1 assemblies $~11 begin by calling              In the performance of this work, God uses human   instru-
ution  the Name of God and be  closC'%.hh~  tha~~ksgivi~ng."                   ments but these in turn, to be useful and to labor construct-
                                                    2 Article 32, D.K.O.       ively, must be filled with Divine  grace and the  Holy Spirit.
       It would seem as thoigh  a provision such as this in the                Prayer then, at the beginning of the assemblies wherein the
Church Order is really quite unnecessary.. The matter of                       work of the church is to be administered, must be rendered
prayer before and  after  ecclesiastical assemblies is  sq  common-            in the consciousness of this utter dependence upon God ! Only
place  that its genera1 acceptance would seemingly  preclude                   then  tiill the meeting  draw to its proper conclusion wherein           J
the necessity of expressing it as a binding rule. NO gathering                 thanksgiving may be rendered to God for the evidente  of His
worthy of the name of the church of Jesus Christ would think                   grace and  S@rit in the manner in which the work has been
of peyforming  its work without first calling upon the Name of                 performed and in the decisions that have been taken. To this
God for guidance nor could it properly bring its labors to a                   end prayer is indispensable since, as expressed  in our  Heidel-         .
conclusion  without giving Him due praise  &d thanks.                          berg  C+echism, "God,  zvill give His  gmce  a.pLd   Holy Spirit
      Yet, it is not wholly redundant to express this. NO, not                 to these only, zoho with  sincere  desir-es  continztally  ask tlzem
any more than it is that the Scriptures repeatebly  admonish                   of  Hht,  &d  are  thnkful  fou  hem"  (Lord's Day 45). And
the saints in Christ to pray always. Al1 ecclesiastical rules                  the requisites of that prayer which is  acceptable  to God and
need not govern only those matters concerning  +bich  there are                which I$e wil1  hear are, according to the same Lord's Day :
or  may arise differences of opinion.  Also those matters  con-                "First,  tht we frotté tlze hens! pl'ay to the one tme God only,
cerning which there is complete unanimity  ma; properly be                     Who  icatlz ma?zifest  H,i.self in His Word, for al1  things,  He
expressed in the form of an established rule. In. f'act, it would              katlz conmanded  `xs to ask of Hint; secondlyj  tlmt we pightly
be an excellent thing if there could be the-same' unanimity  of                and  tlaoroughly   knozv  02~ need  a.nd  miseq,   that so we  may
conviction concerning  al1 ecclesiastical  rules as there is with              deepiy  humble  oruselves  in the presence of His divine majesty;
respect to this one. Such theh is the matter"&eated  in this                   tlhdly, that we be fully pcrsuaded  that He, notwithstanding
article. One would hardly ,dare to conceive of an overture                     that  we  are  unworthy  of it,  wil1  for  the sake of  Christ  om*
requesting the alteration or rescinding of this' rule. NO one                  Lord,  certainly  hear  OWP  praycr, as He  bas  promised   ZW in
wil1  rise before an ecclesiastical assembly to question its                   His  Wmd."
propriety. Even though a direct or literal comciland  enjoining                    Al1 this we cite to emphasize that the thrust of the article
this practice cannot be found in the Word .of God, al1 are                     we are dealing with is not that it establishes a certain forma1
agreed, that fhe matter expressed is thoroughly Scriptural.                    procedure that ecclesiastical assemblies must follow, but rather
We do not have to do here merely with ari,ordinance  of man,                   that God requires US to approach Him in the consciousness
an ecclesiastical precept, but rather  with' á. -practice which,               of our needs and dependency upon Him. Always and in every
from the  very   nature  of things, is  self-evidently  necessary              circumstance this is the case but it is especially imperative
for the reason that., God :Himself  requireg  it.: `Quite  proper,             when  a gathering is called to. engage in labors that pertain
therefore, it is that the church expresses this revealed wil1  of              directly to His Cause, the Church of our Lord Jesus Chiiist.
God and, further, in doing so, that she understands the reason                     From the Church Order Commentary we learn of the
it is mandatory. :                                                             origin of this regulation. of our Church Order. We quote
      Prayer is not-something  that can be legislated. The  mere               the following :
fact that an assembly is begun and concluded formally with                         "The incorporation of this provision in our Church Order
prayer is no guarantee that al1 that transpi& during the                       goes back to the first regular Synod of our mother churches.
course'  of the gathering  meets with  OiVine approval and                     i.e., the Synod of Einden, 1571, which ruled: `@`hm tlzzts as-
carries  with it a blessing. In this respect  l&t:us  remember                 senzbled, tiae Minister  of the chrclz where  the *z-eeting is held,
that many worldly gatherings are  also opened with so-called                   OY ,if the chu~~clz is vacant, the president of the fomzer meeting.
prayer. If -ahd when  prayer is rendered +imply as an external                 shall lmd im pjpayer  with a viezer to the election  of a president,
formality  or as .compliance  with certain established regula-                 an.  assista,nt   an.d a cle-rk . . . The president, having  been ap-
tions, the spirit of our Church Order has not been observed.                   poirtted,  Aal1 then 1ea.d  in pyayer witlz a viezer to a.11 the work
The essence of the rule of Article 32 is deeply spiritual and                  before the  gathe&g.
its observance can only follow from the spiritual conscious-                       "But in 1581, at the Synod of Middelburg, the provision
ness of its need. By nature  man is filled with carnal pride                   for two distinct prayers was altered. The provision, namely


                                                                                 6.
                                                                      :,
                                                             i                             .-     c
                                                   T H E   STAN'DARD'BEARER                                                                        309

     for a separate prayer regarding the election  of directers for           such prayer can be so  composed  as to more appropriately fit
     the meeting, was dropped, and the wording of a ruling  per-              the particular circumstances. Liturgical prayers must neces-
     taining fo the second prayer was. retained so that we now                sarily be genera1 in content and this is not always the best.
     read : `Tlze proceodings  of alb asse&lies ~1~~11  begin  Oy callì.ng    Finally, we believe that free-prayer expresses more fully the
     upon   the  Name of God . .  .' Dutch  : `De handelingen  a,ller         spiritual consciousness of the gathering and this is an essential
     samenkomsten  . . .' Originally the word `pr0ce-eding.r'  in  this       element in  -prayer.  The Lord, to whom we pray, does not
     article therefore referred to the actual questions requiring             determine the validity of our prayers by their polished form,
     action  on the part of the assembly. Later the term was taken            grammatica1 accuracy, length or well-composed phraseology
     to refer to al1 work performed,' including the opening and               but He looks  upon the heart. This is evident from the Parable
     closing of the meetings. And thus matters stand today."                  of  `the Publican and the Pharisee. And this is the most im-
                                                                              portant matter !
                             Liturgical Prayers                                  But we have a few more things to say about the liturgical
        Though seldom used today, there appear in the back of                 prayers. That these have not been preserved in our Psalter
     the Hollandsche Psalm Boeken various prayers for  usage  in              is not a serious  10s~. Were these prayers today to be again put
     the churches and in the christian  homes.  These prayers, as             into genera1 use, we would advocate that they be recomposed
     translated into the English language, appear also in the Psal-           before adopted by our churches: In their present form we do
     ter Hymnal. We do not have them in our Psalter. There are                not  fee1 them to be wholly  acceptable.  To show this more
     prayers to be used for various occasions, such as : At the be-           fully, we will, D.V., quote some of them in our next article
     ginning of public worship,  A prayer for al1 tlw needs  of chris-        and express a critical evaluation of them:                      G1V.D.B.
     tendo?%  to  be  used on  Sabbatlz  aftw the  fìrst  serwzon,   For
     public  confessiox  of sim and pmyer  bejore the sermon,  Prayer
     after tlte serutzon, Prayer before the en-planation of the ca,te-                                       THE  JESUITS
     chism..  PTayer  after  tlze  explanati0.n   of the  catdkm,   Prayw                              (Continued  from page 303)
     before me&, Thanksgiwing after me.a.ls, Prayer  for the sick             insisting that they  walk according to God's   Word.  can lie
     a.n.d   th  spiritually  distressed, Morning  Pr-ayer,  Evening          with what they say is a clear conscience.
     Prayer. Opening Prayer  fop ecclesiastical a.ssemblies, Closing              Much more'could be  written  of the doctrines and history
     Prayer  for ecclesiastical a.ssemblies>  a.nd Opening praiyw  for        of the Jesuits; what we have here is but a sample. Certainly
     the~yuzeetings  of tke deacons.                                          their motto, "To the greater glory of God" is blasphemy. That
        Something   can undoubtedly be said both in favor of and              such can take upon themselves the name "Society of Jesus" is
     agai,nst the use of these liturgical prayers. In favor of it is          almost  beyond comprehension. Yet that is the case. It should
     the fact that sometimes matters are brought  under considera-            open our eyes to the fact,  particularly in these last days, thàt _
     tion which directly involve  persons or things concerning                many there are  who take  upon themselves the name of
     which there is a rather  sharp differente  of opinion so that Christ and propagate the lie. And many more gladly follow                               ,
%    debate and discussion result in the creating of a rathèr tense           that lie also in the name of Christ.            .
     atmosphere in which it is difficult, if not virtually impossible,                                                               G. J. Van Baren
     to remain  objective  in prayer. Then prayer  may become
     offensive rather  than edifying and where this is the case and                                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
     it  can be avoided it is better to use a proper liturgical. prayer.                                      1908 - 1958
     Or a brother may be called upon to lead an assembly in prayer               On March  19, 1958, our beloved paren&
     whose ability to do so is very  limited. It may then be ad-                       MR. and MRS. TIM  KOOIMA  (nee Groeneweg)
     visable to use a prayer that has been prepared for the occa-
     sion. There are, however,  also various factors that are against celebrated  t+eir 50th wedding  anniversary.
     this  practice  except  in cases of  real or extreme necessity.             We are deeply  grateful  to  our  covenant  God for  all the blessings
                                                                              He has bestowed  upon  them and 
     Firstly, liturgical praying has a tendency toward  becoming                                                     US; and we  trust   and pray  that
                                                                              accorditig   CO His  wil1 they  may be spared for  each   other  and for
     mechanica1 rather  than real.  In al1 our praying we need to             US unto  fulness  of years, and that  they  may continue to experience
     guard against this danger and, therefore, should not engage              Jehovah's  loving kindness  al1 the days of their pilgrimage.
     in practices  that readily Contribute toward it. Secondly, in                                         Their children:
     ecclesiastical assemblies where each session is opened and                                                     Mr. and Mrs. Sam T.  Kooima
     closed with prayer, the use of the same prayer repetitiously is                                                Mr. and Mrs. Albert Harmsen
                                                                                                                    Mr.  and Mrs. Paul  Kooima
     not good. There are times when  the same prayer can properly                                                   Mr. and Mrs. Edward  Koqima
     bé used over and over again.  Thus, for example, the  Lords                                                    Mr. and Mrs. Arthur  Kooima
     Prayer or the prayers which  farm part of our regularly  used                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Henry Rozeboom
     liturgical forms. However, in ecclesiastical gatherings it is                                                  Mr. and Mrs. Ted Ribbens
     better to avoid needless repetition. Thirdly, to choose one's                                                  26 Grandchildren
                                                                                                                    5  Great-Grandchildres
     own words and to express one's own thoughts is better  because           Rock  Valley, Iowa


  310                                          T H E   STANDARD.  B E A R E R

                                                                         is  clearly taught in the Bible. More than seven hundred
                AL1  A R O U N D   U S                                   years   before that event Isaiah spoke of One who `hath borne
                                                                         our griefs, and carried our  sorrows,'  of One  who was
                                                                         `wounded for our transgressions . . .bruised for our iniquities  ;
                                                                         the chastisement of our peace was up% him; and with his
         We are coming  to the close of the season of Lent, that         stripes  (bruises) we are healed.  Al1 we like sheep have gone
                                                                         astray . . .
  season of the year in which the church morè than at any other                          and the Lord hath laid on  him the iniquity of US
                                                                         all' (53 :3-6). Literally, the Lord `h.ath made' the iwiquity  of
  time meditates upon  and preaches about the suffering and              zts  al1 to meet on  him.
  death of our Savior on Calvary's Cross. In fact, just three                                                                       _-
  days  after  you are supposed to receive this issue of The                 "Jesus' vicarious death is the theme `also of John 1:29 :
  Sta.nda.ld  LYearei;  most of the Christian churches wil1  conduct     `Behold the Lamb of God, the One bearing away the sins of
  special Good Friday services which, of course,  wil1  be foílowed      the world'  (literal translation) . The words `bearing away'
  with special Easter services on the following Sunday.                  mean to take  upon one's self and. carry that which has been
         This same theme is carried out in most of the religious         raised by another. Thus Jesus  became the scapegoat of the
  periodicals we receive.  All! with few exceptions, contain at          New Testament as he took  upon himself the sins of the world.
  least ene or two articles dealing with some phase of the pas-              "Every  man, were he to bear to his own death his own
  sion and death of Christ. It is with mixed feeling that we             sins, would fa11 under the weight of the burden and be un-
  read them. On the one hand, we rejoice in the fact that, at            able to carry them away. For this reason God mercifully
  léa& in the more conservative  literature we read, the cross of        raises our sins off from US and places  them upon Jesus, the
  Christ  receives its deserved attention: But, on the other hand,       Lamti of God; who in turn carries  them for US in death as our
  we are, greatly disappointed in the  contents  of most of these        Substitute.
  articles. This is especially true when  the writers of these
  articles  attempt  to explain the  significante  of Christ's death,       m"It is significant that a iew weeks before Jesus' death,
                                                                         Caiaphas, the high priest, had pointed  out to his colleagues
  and. particularly the  redemptive  purpose of that death. Oh,
- they wil1  admit  the vicarious character of Christ's passion  and     that it was expedient that `0n.e man should die for (author's
  death.  Indeed,  abaording  to  them,  Christ's death was  sub-        italics)  the people, and that the  whole   nation  perish not'
  stitutionary, but He was a substitute for al1 sinners. He is           (John 11:50).  John comments that Caiaphas had unknow-
  therefore a Savior for all. Al1 sinners may go free because            ingly `prophesi$ that Jesus should die for that nation;  and
  Christ died for them.                                                  not for that nation  only, but that also he should gather  to-
                                                                         gether in one the children of God that were scattered abroad
         A good illustration of this presentation  is to be found in     (: 11 :51f.). This word for is indeed  significant, for Jesus uses,
  the March  17th issue of Clw-istiaiity  Today. We refer to the         it in explaining the purpose of his death: `1 lay down iy life
  article of Herschel  H. Hobbs under the title : Tlte Mea.p&g           fwv (author's italics) the sheep' (John 10:15), that `whoso-
  of tlze Death of Clwist. After  a brief introduction the writer ever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
  divides the rest `of his article under the following headings :        `life'  (John 3 :16). Had the jzc.&ce of God prevailëd Barab-
  A Voluntary Death, A Vicarious Death, A Votive Death,                  bas, nat Jesus, would  have been crucified. But because his
  and A Victorieus  Death.' We are primarily concerned with              judgment is wielded in yttercy, Barabbas and al1 other sinners
  what he writes  under: A Vicarious Death. This is what he              may go free.        :
  writes  :                                                   ,
                                                                             "Jesus Christ was our Substitute. And as we lift our eyes
         "A vicarious deatli simply means a substitutiona&  death.       to see him hanging  on a tree, we must avow, `But for the
  In his crucifixion Jesus was our substitute, bearing the               grace of God, there hang I'."
  penalty for our sins. This is seen in Jesus' becoming the sub-
  stitute for Barabbas. According to Roman  custom, the Jews                 It cannot escape  the reader's attention  how  the writer of
  had the privilege of selecting  one prisoner  to be released for       the above lines leaves the atonement of Christ  general,  i.e.,
  them at the season of the Passover. Knowing  this, and hoping          how Chi-ist  is said to be a substitute for al1 sinners. 1 fïnd no
  thus to release Jesus,  Pilate asked the crowd whom  they              particular atonement here at all. Instead 1 find a studied at-
  would have released unto them, Barabbas, a nòtable  prisoner           tempt to present a Christ  for  all. And  in my judgment this
  accused of insurrection,  murder, and robbery?  or Jesus. .At          destroys .the very idea of vicarious  atonement. A Savior for
  the  instigation  of the  chief priests and elders, the people         all, is really a Savior for none.
  chose  Barabbas and called  for the crucifixion of Jesus (Matt.            How much  better it would be and truei-  to the Scriptures
  27:15-22).  Thus, when  our Lord died between two thieves              to say that Chris! dieb  in the place of His people, His sheep,
  he was actually a substitute for the sinner, Barabbas.                 His elect. Rut it seems there are only a few who dare to say
      "In actuality, of course, Jesus died not merely as the sub-        this.
  stitute for one man, but for al1 men (1 Tiin. 2 :ó). This truth           Even the editor of  Christianity   Today in his editorial


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    311

  `".F$eaching the Cross", in `the same issue of this periodical        attention in most of the religious periodicals recently, it
 makes Similar  statements as the writer referred to above. I           might be  wel1  to  giue a word of explanation.  Dead Sea
 quote three of these statements at  random.  "The Scriptures           Scrolls refer to manuscripts  of the Old Testament Scriptures
 p<cserlt  the sacrifïce on the cross as once and for al1 accom-        which have recently been discovered near the  northwestcrn
 plished for the sin of the world." "True biblical preaching of         end of the  Dead Sea  iii Palestine  where archaeologists
 th`e cross must therefore  set `forth Christ as the great High         searched the  caves and discovered the monastery of Qumran
  Pr&t `offering himself a sacrifice  for the sins of the world' -      in which these valuable ancient documents had been preserved.
 a&crifitie   that.  procures  pardon and eternal life." "A true           Professor Young tells  US that "of  al1 the  manuscripts dis-
' .$a&@F  of the cross .will_point  out that Christ gave his life       covered  none  can  compare  in  importante  and  significante
 & ransòm for many, that he báre our:sins  in his own body on           with the great scroll of the  prophet  Isaiah." He describes it
 the tree, and is the propitiation  for sin. Setting forth that         as "written  in a beautiful Hebrcw hand on 17 sheets of leather
 truth,  therefore,  is the di?ect and-only  way of calming the         sewed together," and consisting "of 54 columns. It is about
troubled conscien'ce  and putting men in possession of peace."          a foot in height  and 24 feet long. The clearly written  text is
     1 submit.  that there.  is nothing distinctive  in that kind of    not divided into chapters  as is the case in our English Bibles,
 preaching;  and no Armitiian-wil1  ever object to it. 1 also fail      but into paragraphs." As to its antiquity, we are informed
 to see how any man's  cong&etice'  wil1 be, ,calmed, nor that he       that "There now seems to be fairly ..widespread  agreement
 wil1 ever  come into the p&s&,&on  of $%ce with that kind              that the scroll of the  prophet   Isai&  comes from the late
                                             .-
 of preaching.                                                          seconb century B.C."
                                                                           The writer continues : "What is of importante  to note is
     But. Christianity tod&$  ap@%rs,  wan&  what Gwistianity           that the Isaiah scroll from the Dead Sea is without question
 Toáay says it is. It also `appe&s  that they  know  nothing of         the earliest known estant entire copy of any book of the
 what our Reformed fathers aver in Canons of Dordt 11, 8:               Bible. It  is about one thousand years earlier than the earliest
 "For this was the sovereign co&sel, and most gracieus  wil1            portion  of any copies of the Hebrew Old Testament now ex-
 and purpose of God the  Father, that the  quickening  and              tant. In the light of this fact we may wel1 ask, What light
 saving  eficacy  of the most  precioug  death of his Son should        does this important manuscript throw  upon the text of the
 extend to `al1 the elect, for bestowing  upon them alone the gift      Old Testament ?" He answers: "The answer to this question
 of justifying faith,  thereby to bring Lthem infallibly to salva-      is that for the most part the Isaiah scroll agrees remarkably
 tion: that is, it was the wil1 of God, that Christ by the blood        with the text of the Hebrew Bible  already  in our possession,
 of the cross;-whereby  he confirmed  the new covenant,  should         the so-called Masoretic text . . _ There are, however.  more
 effectually redeem  -out of every people, tribe,  nation,  and         important divergenties  from the Masoretic text. In certain
 language,  %ll those, and those only,  who were from eternity          instances the scroll shows a preferente  for the reading of the
 chosen  to salvation, and given to him by the Father; that he          Septuagint rather  than for the Masoretic Hebrew. Thus, to
 should confer  upon. them faith, which together with  al1 the          take an example, in Isaiah 53  :ll the scroll reads, `he shall
 other saving gifts of the  Holy Spirit, he  purchased  for them        see light,'  ,and thus follows the Septuagint, `to show him light.'
 by his death ; should purge th;3,from  al1 sin, both original          There are also other minor variations." Professor Young is
 and actual, whether committed-.before  or after believing ; and        not`ready to accept the theory that the monks who lived in
 having faithfully  preserve$&em  even to the end, should at            the monastery at Qumran were of the sect of the Essenes,  but
 last bring them free from:$ery  spot and blemish to the enjoy-         he does say that apparently it was a sect that did not vigor-
 ment of glory in his OX& presence forever."
                                :+ 8'                                   ously maintain al1 the tenets of Judaism.
     That is what .mu$ibe  preached, and this preaching is the             The important point in the article of Professor Young, it
 only kind that ca~íL6alm  the troubled conscience and give
                        :;/                                             seems to me, is to be found  in the following quotation  from
 abiding peace.         'pi'                                            his article : "The Isaiah scroll is a wonderful testimony  to
                                                                        the accuracy of the Masoretic text, and its divergenties  are
The  Dead Sea  Scs$ll of  Isa:iah.                                      very  few and minor. Here then is further witness to the fact
     Edward J. Yo&g,  professor of Old Testament at West-               that the text of the Old Testament is one upon  which we
  minster   Seminary  in Philadelphia,  writes  an interesting and      may rely and whose teachings we accept with confidence."
  informative  article `in the March  17th issue qf Christianity        And in answer to' the higher criticism, which  denies  that
  Today  under the above title. Professor Young is reputed to           Isaiah is the secondary author of the entire prophecy, the
 be an eminent scholar in Old Testament studies, and hac                Professor writes  : "On the other hand, those  who believe tlie
 written  several books tind commentaries in his field. He has          Bible to be the infallible Word of God and hence believe the
 obviously  also given a rather  thorough review of the latest          witness of the New Testament to the authorship of Isaiah,
  archaeological findings respecting the prophecy of Isaiah.            may rest assured that in this new manuscript there is further
     To the reader who may not know what is meant by "The               support for their position . . ."
  Dead Sea scrolls," a Subject which has received considerable                                                                        M.S.

                   . . -<


                                                                                     - .  .  .._.
Il                                                                    faith  is the gift of God, án exotic something, not something
                 CONTRIBUTIONS                                        native  to man. Not al1 men have it. When Paul speaks -of
                                                                      "they  which aye of faith" (Gal. 3 :7), he implies that some
              CALiiNISM-THETRUTH                                      are not of faith : "al1 men have not faith" (11 Th. 3 :2). Again,
                                                                      why ? Faith is  "the grace given"  (Ro. 12 :3,  6), not tö all,
                    (Arminianism the Lie)                             but "was oncè délivered  unto the .rain.ts"  (Jude 3). Further-
As Based on the Canons of Dordt, Popularly  known as the              more, in regeneration and the receiving of faith, man is pas-
                   Five Points of Calvinism;                          sive, as an infant in physical birth (and has al1 done to it and
                                                                      for it - no co-operation~!)  , and as in the initial work of salva-
                 by REV. ROBERT C. HARBACH                            tion. Then. it is not, "`save yourselves;"  but as in the original,
                        Total Depmvity                                "be  saved" (aorist passi've)  , and  indicates  that God  per-
                          (Continuedj                                 manently makes alive the sinner dead in trespasses and sins.
      Man, therefore, after the Fa11 nat only has power to do         Then he acts ánd lives Godward. Thus the ?-eceiving"  and
good, but can so resist  God (Ac. 7 :51) that he can entirely         "believing" are acts of the regenerated who already  "were
prevent his (conditional) regeneration, since it is in his            born of God" (Jn. 1:12), and so believed as bom again, and
power to be rëgenerated or not. For first before regenerating         becaztse regenerated. It is never true that one believes and
grace can work efficaciously in man's new birth, the wil1 of          so is for that regenerated; but is regenerated so that one may
man must first move, and determine to comply with the con-            and does believe: "he that heareth . . . and believeth . . .
ditions of regeneration, e.g., "1 have set before you life and        hath eternal life"  (5 :24). Wjzy he hears ancl believes is be-
death . . . therefore choose life . . ." (Dt. 30 :19). To be sure,    cause he "katls passed out of death, ïnto life" (Gr.). He had
,God must give the grace to conform to the prescribed pre-            to be in life before he could believe! For believing is evi-
requisites, as we ourselves  can do nothing. Nevertheless             dence of regeneration.
regeneration is a work of God in harmony with the free
agency of man and performed on conditions required of man.                                  Unconditional  IElection                    `_
"AS  many as  received Him, to them gave He power to be-                  3. ARMINIANISM pretends to believe in. the doctrine
come the sons of God" (Jn. 1:12).                                     of  election. "Election  is of  such  persons as believe and
      CALVI.NISM  confesses  the Scripture truth that man is          persevere in faith. For God has chosen the act of faith as
z&olly'  gone from original righteousness, has in his sinful          a  condition  of salvation, which  condition  is  a prerequisite
flesh.  "no good thing" (Ro. 7 :18), and that "there is none          unto the final  establishment of man's election:  `repentance
righteous, no,  -nat one" (3 :lO). Man is totally depraved,           toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ' are every-
totally deprived of al1 spiritual ability, "dead  thru trespasses     where presented as the conditions. If then, some men do
and sins" (Eph:  2 :l-39,  and. this death passed upon  al1 men       not fulfill the conditions, they  may possibly have an  election
(Ro. 5 :12). "We ourselves had the sentence of death with-            unto faith, but not an  election  unto salvation . They may
in ourselves" (11 Co. 1 :9). Calvinism alone takes man's              once have had faith, but unless they  also fulfill the con-.
spiritual death seriously. For man is dead, not merely half-          dition  of perseverance, they at last are lost: "lest . . ; when
dead  ; he is drowned, not simply drowning. By the Fa11 man           1 have preached to others, 1 myself should be a castaway
lost al1 power unto good, or to better himself. He is "wise           (reprobated)" (1 Co. 9  :27). Thus their-  election   can be
to do evil, but to do good he has no knowledge" (Jer. .4 :22).        unto a justifying faith, without being a decisive  election  unto
He can do no good when  it is.his nature  only and continually        salvation. For it is necessary to "give diligence to make your
to do evil (Jer.,`13   :23). Freedom of wil1 for fallen man is        calling  and  election   sure"-  (11 Pe. 1  :lO). God elects  be-
the ability to act according to his nature. What is his nature ?      lievers,  ,then, because He foresaw their faith, their holiness,
One totally corrupt; for "the heart is deceitful above  al1           obedience and turning to Him in  final perseverance. These
things, and desperately wicked ; who can know it ? 1 the Lord         good qualities, therefore, do not have their source in  sover-
search the  heart" (Jer.  17:9,  10). His "carnal mind is  en-        eign, immutable  election.  But  where the Scripture says,
mity against God. It is not subject to the law of God; neither        "as  many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Ac.
indeed  can be. So then, they that are in the flesh (unregener-       13  :48) we are to understand that it  means,  "as  many as
ate  nature)  cannot please God" (Ro.  8:7, 8). This being            believed  to eternal life were ordained." Or, if the familiar'
true, unregenerate man cannot añd wil1  not believe..  "Ye be-        order be retained, we are to understand "ordained" to mean,
lieve not" (Jn. 5 :38) ,- "How  can ye believe . . . 7" (5 :44),      "these  who were ready" (Twentieth Century NT), or "those
and, "they  co&  not  believe" (12  137, 39). And we neyer            disposed," i.e., "these  who felt led to exercise faith." Armini-
wil1 until "we believe according to the working of the                anism takes the basic virtues of salvation and makes  them
strength of' His power" (Eph. 1 :19) ; for -we "believe thru          previously necessary  causes   of-  election,  foreseen as being
grace" alone (Ac. 18 27 j, i.e., our believing is the result  "of     fulfilled by the finally faithful.
them operation of God" (Col. 2 :12). Why is this? Because                                     (To be continuedj


