A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine


                     SPECIAL ISSUE:
                    THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION





                In the beginning God created the
                     heaven and the earth.
                          Genesis 1: 1


 May 1,199Z


CONTENTS                                                                                                                    May I, 1,991
Meditation F Rev. James D. Slopsema
       The Worlds Framed by the Word of God . ..*.......................................;......339
Editorially  Speaking. . . - Prof. David J. Engelsma .t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma
       Theistic Evolution's War Against Christianity . . . . . . . . . ..*.............*................ 341                                                                                               ISSN 0362-4692
The Doctrine of Creation, According to the Reformed Creeds                                                                                                                                                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
       Prof. Robert D. Decker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344           Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Assoclatlon, Inc.
                                                                                                                                                                                                           Second Class Postage Pald at Grand Rapids,  Michigan.
Faithfully Interpreting the Creation - Only with the Bible
       Rev. Steven R. Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346      Portmaater: Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                                                                                                                           P.O. Box 6064, Grand RepIds,  MI 49516.
Creationism -vs.  theTestimony of "Science"
       Mr. Gary Lanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                                                                                                                                  348      EDITORIAL COMMR-tEE
                                                                                                                                                                                                           Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
Creation in Our Schools                                                                                                                                                                                    Secretaty: Prof. Robert D. Decker
       Mr. Lammert Lubbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351         Managing  Ed&x: Mr. Don Doezema
The Reformed Doctrine of Creation                                                                                                                                                                          DEPARTMENT EDfTORS
and the Reformed Christian's View of the Environment                                                                                                                                                       Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev. Arle
                                                                                                                                                                                                           denHartog, Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev. Barry Gdtters, Rev.
       Mr. Thomas Newhof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352       Carl Heak, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. John Heys, Rev. M&n
Created in the Image of God                                                                                                                                                                                Kamps,  Rev. Kenneth Kwle, Rev. Jason Korterlng, Rev. Dale
       Rev. Arie denHartog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355     Kuiper,  Mr. James Lantlng, Rev. George Lubbers, Mrs.
                                                                                                                                                                                                           MatySeth Lubbers, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev. Charles
Creation and Redemption                                                                                                                                                                                    Terpska,  Rev. Glse  Van&en, Rev. Ronald VanOvetfoop. Mr.
       Rev. Dale H. Kuiper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357      Senjamln Wigger,  Rev. Bernard WOUdwbq.
News from Our Churches -Mr. Benjamin Wigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360                                                                EDITORIAL OFFICE             CHURCH NEWS EDfTOR
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         William Jennings Bryan once remarked that Darwin, in his writings,  Qsed the                                                                                                                            (616) 531-1490
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phrase "we may well suppose" no fewer than 800 times. (Hardly surprising, given the
amount of evidence available for his fantastic theory of the origin of species.) Bryan in                                                                                                                  EDlTORlAL  POUCY
                                                                                                                                                                                                           Every editor !s solely responsible for the contents of his own
fact went on to say that "the entire absence of proof is the strongest possible proof that                                                                                                                 articles.  Contributionsof  general Interest from our readers and
evolution is a myth."                                                                                                                                                                                      questions for The Reader Asks department are welcome.
         Thatwas65yearsago.  Muchmorerecently twoeminentBritishscientists(SirFred                                                                                                                          Contributions will be llmlted  to approximately 300 words and
                                                                                                                                                                                                           must be neatly written or typemen, and must bs slgned.
Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe) mounted a new assault (in  Evolution from                                                                                                                                Copy deadlines are the Rrst and fifteenth of the month. All
Space) on Darwinian evolutionary theory -both the gradual evolution of different life                                                                                                                      ccmmunlcatlons  relative to the contents should be sent to the
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forms from common origins and also the development of the fir& Eiring  cells by random
processes in some primordial ooze. The chances of either happening, they say, are not                                                                                                                      REPRINT POUCY
                                                                                                                                                                                                           Permlsalon  Is herebygrantedforthereprlntlngofartlcleslnour
sensibly "different from zero."                                                According to the calculations of the two scientists                                                                         magazine by other publlcatlons, provided: a) that such
(neither of whom, by the way, is a proponent of biblical creationism), the chances of                                                                                                                      reprlnted articles are reproduced In full: b) that proper
random chemical shufflings in some primordial soup  groducing  the complex basic                                                                                                                           acknowledgment Is made; o) that a copy of the periodical In
                                                                                                                                                                                                           whkh such reprint appears Is sent to our editwlal  ornm.
enzymes of life are only one to ten to the 40,OOOth  power.
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         William Jennings Bryan, the most prominent creationist of his generation, was                                                                                                                     Offke as early as possible In o+derto avoid the Inconvenience
wrong when he said that the best argument against evolution is the absence of any                                                                                                                          of lnterrupbxi  delivery. Include your Zip or Postal Code.
evidence to support it. The best, and only necessary, argument (as Rey. Slopsema writes                                                                                                                    ADVERTISING POUCY
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Writ." Evolution, because it contradicts that testimony, is ipso facto false. And                                                                                                                          annhrersarles,  obltuarles. and sympathy resolutions will be
evjdently  purpos&lly so. Bryan was right on target when he observed that "no one can                                                                                                                      placed for a 33.00 fee. These should be sent to the Suslness
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         Writes Rev. Slopsema, "Pity those whose faith can not stand alone on the word                                                                                                                     possible after completion of a vdume year.
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338  I Standard Bearer/May  1,1991


                                                The Worlds Framed
Meditation
Rev. James Slopsema                             by the Word of God

                                               Through faith we understand that             spoke and put in order the universe
                                               the worlds were framed by the word           in which we live.
                                               of God . . . .                                    This same truth is very succinctly
        Through faith we understand that              This almost seems to be a need-       stated in Psalm 33:6,9: "By the word
the worlds"w&e framed by the word of           less digression from the subject and         of the Lord were the heavens made,
God, so that things which are seen were        the line of thought the writer is devel-     and all the host of them by the word
not made of things which do appear.            oping in this chapter. Upon closer           of his mouth. He spake and i.t was
                           Hebrews  123        examination, however, we see that            done, he commanded, and it stood
                                               the writer has a very important point        fast."
                                               to make. The writer will point out                From Genesis 1 we learn the
        Faith is the substance of things       very powerfully that his readers have        details of this creative work of God.
hoped for, the evidence of things not          the same faith as did the Old Testa-         In six days God called into existence
seen. So begins this grand chapter of          ment saints. For the conviction that         the heavens and the earth and all that
Hebrews 11.                                    the worlds were framed by the word           they contain. On the first day God
        By this faith the elders obtained      of God requires faith. It requires the       said, "Let there be light: and there
a good report. By "elders" the holy            same faith the Old Testament saints          was light." On the second day God
writer means the saints of the Old             had - the evidence of things not seen.       called into existence the firmament.
Testament. By faith they lived. By             This faith the saints of the churches        On the third day God formed by His
faith they did many mighty works.              have. Through faith we understand            sovereign, creative word the dry land
By faith they persevered in the face of        that the worlds were framed by the           as well as the world of vegetation.
great obstacles. Hence, by faith they          word of God.                                 This was followed on day four by the
also obtained a good report or testi-                 The implication is that the saints    creation of sun, moon, and stars. On
mony from God. Some of these eld-              must now also perform the same deeds         the fifth day God called forth the fish
ers and their great deeds of faith are         of faith as will be set forth in this        and birds. On the final day of crea-
listed in this chapter. There was Abel,        chapter by way of example.                   tion God formed the animal world
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob                        *  *  *  *  *  *  *               and mankind in Adam and Ev'e.
. . . . The list is so long the writer runs           The worlds were framed by the              All this was accomplished by
out of space.                                  word of God so that things which are         the word of God.
         But before the holy writer turns      seen were not made of things which                He spake and it was done; He
to the first hero of faith, he pauses to       do appear.                                   commanded, and it stood fast.
reflect on the creation of the world.                 The worlds obviously refer to              Consequently, the things which
                                               the universe in which we live. Liter-        are seen were not made of things
                                               ally we read not of "worlds" but of          which do appear.
                                               "ages," referring to the various ages
                                               or eras of history. By speaking of              God simply brought the worlds
                                               ages the holy writer views the world                   into being out of nothing,
                                               from the viewpoint of its history. The            calling them into existenoe
                                               heavens and the earth are but the                        by His spoken word.
                                               stage of a grand and glorious history
                                               in which God works out His eternal                The things seen are those things
                                               purpose to glorify, His holy name            of the universe which we see and
                                               through the salvation of His church.         handle every day. They are the ob-
Rev. Slopsema is pastor of Hope Profes-               These worlds were framed by           jects of our study and contempl.ation.
tant Reformed Church in Walker, Michi-         the word of God. The emphasis here           They include the sun, moon, and stars,
gan.                                           is on the spoken word of God. God            the oceans teemingwithlife, the earth

                                                                                                        May 1,1991/ Standard Beam / 339


rich in minerals and treasures, the              Faith is described in the opening
trees and plants, the animals, our dear     verse of this chapter as the substance
children . . . .                            of things hoped for, the evidence of                          All we have
       These things were not made of        things not seen.                                 is God's word on the matter.
things which do appear. In other                 We ought to pause briefly and               That is more than sufficient
words, the things we see every day          understand what this means.                                    for faith.
do not have their source in that which           According to this description
is visible. There is no eternal matter,     faith has to do with things we can not
as taught by the Greek philosophers,        see, yet for which we hope. This                     By this same faith we also be-
from which our present universe arose.      refers, of course, to the coming again       lieve that the worlds were framed by
God simply brought the worlds into          of our Savior at the end of the .world       the word of God.
being out of nothing, calling them          and our final salvation in the new                   God's work of creation is some-
into existence by His spoken word.          creation. These are things that we           thing that belongs to the realm of the
       How horribly this is denied by       can not as yet see. Nevertheless, they       unseen. No one saw God form the
the almost universally accepted the-        are the firm hope and desire of every        heavens and the earth. No one heard
ory of evolution.                           true child of God.                           God call into being the light, the fir-
       Evolution teaches that the things         Faith is the substance of these as      mament, the dry land. For man was
which are seen by us every day were         yet unseen things. The word trans-           last created.
made of things which, in fact, do           lated "substance" can perhaps be better              All we have is God's word on
appear. For at the heart of the evolu-      translated "confidence." Faith is the        the matter. That is more than ~3%
tion theory is the idea that the higher     fim~ confidence that these as yet unseen     cient for faith. God's testimony in
forms of life we see every day devel-       things for which we hope will indeed         Scripture is evidence enough to give
oped out of lower forms of life. Man        come to pass.                                us the firm conviction that the worlds
developed from the ape. Land ani-                Closely related to this, faith is       were framed by the word of God. Let
mals have their origin in lower forms       the evidence of these unseen things.         the scientists dig in the ground, until
of sea life. That which is seen by us            The word translated "evidence"          Christ returns, to find the origin of
today in the universe developed over        canbetterbe translated "conviction."         the universe. Let them spin their
billions of years from some primor-         This word is used to describe the            fantastic theories. We have God's
dial soup. The things which are seen        evidence one presents in an argu-            word on the matter.
are made of things which do appear.         ment to convince his opponent. But it                By faith we understand that the
       In turn, this evolutionistic the-    also describes the firm conviction one       worlds were framed by the word of
ory as held by the world has no place       has once that evidence has been pre-         God.
for God. The world has simply de-           sented. Here the latter idea is most                 By that same faith we have the
velopedofitselfoverbillionsofyears.         likely the holy writer's intent.             firm conviction that Christ is coming
       Some would redeem the theory                                                      again to make all things new. This
of evolution by giving God credit for                                                    too belongs to the realm of the un-
this process, claiming that God used                   Faith simply believes             seen. But we have God's word on the
the evolutionary process to bring the       and accepts as conclusive evidence           matter. And this is evidence enough
world into existence. This is known               all that the Bible teaches.            to convince us of the glorious renlity
as theistic evolution.                                                                   of this promise.
       However, even the widely held                                                             Pity those whose faith can not
theistic evolution flatly contradicts            Faith is the firm conviction con-       stand alone on the word of God, whose
the clear testimony of Scripture.           cerning the reality of the things for        faithneedsmoreevidencethanGod's
      For the worlds were framed by         which we hope. What is the evidence          testimony in Holy Writ. They must
the word of God. God spoke and it           that gives us this firm conviction?          see to believe. They struggle with the
was done; He commanded, and it              That evidence is the Word of God.            creation account. They must needs
stood fast (Ps. 33:9). Does this at all     The Bible teaches the reality of Christ's    also struggle with the glorious prom-
sound like a process that took billions     coming and the final salvation of the        ises of God for the future.
of years to accomplish?                     church. Faith simply believes and                    Ray that God preserve us strong
       Besides, God so created the          accepts as conclusive evidence all that      in the faith of the Old Testament saints
universe that things which are seen         the Bible teaches.                           that we may not only understand
were not made of things which do                 This is the faith God gives His         that the worlds were framed by the
appear.                                     people.                                      word of God but also live in the hope
           *  *  *  +  *  *  *                   This faith the Old Testament            of Christ's coming. 0
       Through faith we understand          saints possessed. By it they were able
that the worlds were framed by the          to persevere in the face of great odds
word of God.                                and do many mighty works.

340  I Standard Bearer/May  1,199l


Editorial/y Speaking . . .

                                                   Readers of the  SB expressed               To those readers who desire to
     This issue of the Standard  Beurer       appreciation for an earlier cover that     study further in the area of creation
is the second of our special issues this      was published in color. We liked it        and science, we recommend th,e fol-
volume-year. We devote this issue to          too. But the cost of such a cover          lowing books: Alfred M. Rehwinkel,
the Reformed doctrine of creation.            strains our tight budget, making           TheFlood  (St. Louis: Concordia Pub-
As a fundamental doctrine of the              anythingmore  thanan occasionaluse         lishing House, 1951) and John C.
Christianfaith, thisdoctrinedeserves          of color impossible. Still we wanted a     Whitcomb, Jr. and Henry M. Morris,
the attention of the church. The church       cover in color for this special issue.     The Genesis FZood  (Philadelphia: The
is called to defend this doctrine in our      We express our hearty thanks to a          Presbyterian and Reformed Publish-
day against the attack upon it that is        firm supporter of the magazine who         ing Company, 1967).  0
motivated by acceptance of modem              gave us the money that made the
evolutionary scientific thought.              cover of this issue possible.


                                              Theistic Evolutiorf's
                                                                War against  L
Editorial                                                       Christianity
                                                                                                                                        . .


     Theistic evolution is waging war         gas, and the guiding of the process        Reformed denomination of churches
against Christianity. It is a full-scale      over the ages.                             that condemns and forbids the teach-
attack. If the tenets of theistic evolu-           This assault on Christianity is       ing of theistic evolution.
tion prevail, Christianity will have          widespread in evangelical and Re-               An effective tactic of theistic
been destroyed.                               formed churches throughout the             evolution in its war is the plea to
     Theistic evolution is the teach-         world. I cannot say that the war is        alarmed saints not to be so old-fash-
ing about origins that holds that our         raging in all these churches, because      ioned and un-Reformed as to engage
world and everything in it developed          most of the churches have surren-          Christianity in a fight againstscience.
naturally and gradually over billions         dered without a fight. But this theory     There is something perversely amus-
of years from an original mass of             of origins is everywhere. It is a mis-     ing about this. The enemy comes
matter. Living things evolved from            take to associate the theory only with     down upon the Christian faith like
dead matter. More complex forms               one particular denomination, one           the Assyrian host upon Judah, invad-
developed from simpler forms. One             particular college, and three teach-       ingtheland; wreakinghavocuponall
species produced another, higher              ers. The former editor of the Banner       the territory; and threatening destruc-
species. Theistic evolution is simply         once asked all the colleges associated     tion to the people of God. When the
standard evolutionary theory as the           with his denomination to express           gates of the holy city are not thrown
explanation of man and his world.             themselves  concerning  theistic evo-      open to theis tic evolu tion but defense
     But it is standard evolutionary          lution. The result was silence - tell-     is offered, the evolutionists lament
theory  within the Christian churches         ing silence. Rare is the evangelical or    the stubbornness and folly of the
and within  fhe Chrisfian schools.  It has    Reformed college that rejects theistic     defenders of the faith in promoting
a right to be there, we are told, be-         evolution. Is there even one? Rare is      war between Christianity and science.
cause it is "theistic." It is "godly"         the evangelical or Reformed semi-               The evolutionists are responsible
evolution. For it ascribes to God the         nary without a professor of Old Tes-       for the war. We recognize full well
making of the original matter whence          tament explaining Genesis l-11 as un-      that the enemy of the faith in this war
all developed, probably a mass of             historical. Rare is the evangelical or     is not genuine science but ungodly

                                                                                                 May I,1991  / Standard Bearer I 341


We have nothing against the sword.           book, i.e., the Word of God (II Pet.              n Nature of Truth. This is not
             Our concern is                  1:19-21).                                    the least significant of the attacks of
       to ward ofi the madman.                     a Creation. This is the obvious        theistic evolution upon Christianity.
                                             attack. On the very face of it, glar-        For Christianity, the truth of ahistori-
scientific theory. John Calvin taught        ingly evident to even the dullest church     cal event is that it really happened
us to distinguish. Referring to "the         member, theistic evolution replaces          exactly as made known in Scripture.
liberal arts and sciences," he wrote,        the Bible's account of origins with a        For theistic evolution, an event re-
"knowledge is not by any means to be         theory that bears not the slightest          vealed in Scripture as historical is
blamed for this (attack upon the faith),     resemblance to that of Scripture. In         true even though we now know from
any more than a sword, if it falls into      fact, it contradicts the Bible's account     modem scientific thinking that it never
the hands of a madman" (commen-              at every point: billions of years in-        took place. There never was a fall into
tary on I Cor. 8:l). We have nothing         stead of six days, each one of which is      sin by a sensually perceptible ser-
against the sword. Our concern is to         limited by one evening and one mom-          pent's tempting the wife of Adam to
ward off the madman. Nor are we              ing; an orderly world evolving rather        eat forbidden fruit from a literal Tree
concerned to dispute the niceness and        than being formed by a new, creative         of Knowledge in a garden eastward
even the sincerity of the theistic evo-                                                   in Eden. Still the fall described in
lutionists. The battle of the church                         Undermining                  Genesis 3, we are assured, is a :real
has never been with flesh and blood.                      the truth of creation           event. Still it is true. Such a view of
She fights against "spiritual wicked-              brings about the collapse              truth does such damage to the con-
ness in high places" (Eph. 6:12) and                 of the en tire structure             cept of truth that is at the heart of
against theories that exalt themselves              of the Christian religion.            Christianity that at this point atheis-
against theknowledge of God (II Cor.                                                      tic evolution is preferable. On the
10:3-5).                                     Word of God on each successive day;          ground that the fall revealed in Gene-
      As a theory-a doctrine-with            the sun preceding light rather than          sis 3 never took place, a Darwin and
its own presuppositions, affirmations,       light preceding the sun; one species         a Huxley concluded that the biblical
denials, and implications, theistic          developing into another rather than          account was false. On the biblical
evolution is an attack upon Christi-         each "kind" reproducing after its            conception of truth, their conclusion
anity. It is an attack upon Christian-       "kind"; man born from two primates           follows from the premise.
ity in its fundamentals. I deliberately      rather than being formed by the hand              n Reality of Adam and Eve.
do not say "Reformed Christianity"           of God from the dust; the woman              According to theistic evolution, Adam
but "Christianity." At stake in the          likewise  born from two apes rather          and Eve- the man and woman de-
war is biblical Christianity.                than being formed by the hand of             scribed in Genesis l-3 - never ex-
      These are the fronts along which       God from the man; no Garden of               isted. Some beetle-browed, ape-like,
theistic evolution attacks.                  Eden with two, special trees; no origi-      male human once happened to be
      1 Holy Scripture. Theistic evo-        nally good world, free from sin and          born from two primates and found a
lution is a denial of the clarity, suffi-    free from death; no Sabbath day. But         beetle-browed, ape-like, female
ciency, trustworthiness, and author-         the doctrine of creation is basic in         human, likewise descended from two
ity of Scripture, particularly in Gene-      Christianity .to all the' other truths.      primates, to mate with, to whom the
sis l-11. This denial is based on, and       This is evident in the Apostles' Creed.      authors of Genesis l-3 in their pre-
clearly implies, the rejection of the        The first article of the faith is confes-    scientific naivete give the names Adam
inspiration of the Bible as the Word of      sion of God the Father Almighty              and `Eve; but the Adam and Eve of
God, as taught by the Bible itself (about    "Maker of heaven andearth." Under-           Genesis l-3 are pure fiction. But if
the entire Old Testament!) in IITimo-        mining~the  truth of creation brings         they are fiction, Christianity is ficti-
thy  3:16: Theistic evolution is' con-       aboutthe collapse of the entire struc-       tious. Christianity hangs the truth of
vinced that-the first eleven chapters        ture of the Christian religion.              its central message on the historical
of the Bible are a human word about               n Historicity of Christianity.          reality of Adam and Eve (cf. Rom.
origins. The reason is that theistic         Unlike the other religions, Chrigtian-       5:12ff.;  I Cor. 15:21-23).  With the loss
evolution receives modem scientific          ity is historical. Its gospel is based on    of a real Adam and a real Eve made
thought, which is evolutionary, as its       real events and deeds in history.            directly by the hand of God are l'ost
authority on origins. Like all modem         Among the deeds and events upon              the truths of man's original creation
theology, of which it is a part,`theistic    which Christianity depends are crea-         in God's image; of the divine institu-
evolution has a problem with revela-         tion and the fall. If the events re-         tion of marriage; of the ordering of
tion: God is unable to reveal Himself        vealed in Genesis l-3 never really           the family by the headship  of the
in.a book. This attack on inspiration,       happened (and theistic evolution says        husband and the submission of the
if successful, means the destruction         `that they did not), Christianity is just    wife; and of Gods making all nations
of Christianity,`for  Christianity stands    another mythical religion, itself the        of one blood (Acts 17:26). Over the
on the foundation of the inspired' product of evolution.                                  loss of the divine institution-of mar-

342  / Standard Bearer/May  1,199l


riage and of the headship of the hus-       delberg Catechism, "Did God then                      in redeeming. Is there anyone so
band, the majority of professing            create man so wicked and perverse?,"                  simple as to suppose that this spirit
Christians will shed no tears.              and says no to the teaching of Ro-                    will meekly call a halt at the end of
     n The Fall. In addition to re-         mans 6:23 that death is "the wages of                 Genesis ll? or at the end of Malachi?
jecting the Bible's account of the ori-     Sill."                                                The evolutionary theory to which
gin of sti and death in Genesis 3 as                                                              theistic evolution has committed it-
the kind of odd history that did not                     Assault on creation                      self is all-comprehensive and terribly
actually happen, theistic evolution,                           is itself,                         (I use the word in its proper sense)
holds that there never was a time                            and as such,                         consistent. It has no place for the
when man was sinless and free from                       attack upon Christ.                      wonder of grace. Not as regards the
death. From the earliest emergence                                                                appearance of Jesus of Nazareth ei-
of humanity from the animals, hun-                    n Christ. Jesus Christ in His               ther. He too must be the natural
dreds of thousands of years ago, man        Person and work is the object of the                  result of evolutionary development
has always been prone to evil and           assault by theistic evolution. Criti-                 (of course, under God's superinten-
subject to death. Death is a normal         cism of Old Testament Scripture makes                 dence), not the Gift of God by Incar-
feature of the evolutionary process,        Him a fool or a liar for He thought                   nation and Virgin Birth. Likewise
preceding the appearance of man by          that "Scripture cannot be broken" (John               His "salvation" can only be earthly
millions of years.                          10:35).  Denial of the  h&tori&y  of                  improvement of the evolving race (of
     In his influential book, Story and     Genesis 1-11 abolishes the  mother-                   course, as driven by the "Spirit" of
Fuctin theOId Testument(theDutch            promise of Genesis 3:15, source of the                Jesus).
title is Verhaal en Feit in het Oude        historical coming of the Savior. On                         This is war!
Testament), Dr. J. L. Koole, profes-        the explicit testimony of the New                           God's church must fight. She
sor of Old Testament at the Free Uni-       Testament, rejection of the condemna-                 must defend the faith all along the
versity of Amsterdam, writes that           tion and death of the human race                      front where the attacks are made.
Genesis 3 only relates "a tragic no-        through Adam the First necessarily is                 She must preach and teach the Word
tion that life had perhaps been able to     rejection of Adam the Last, who jus-                  of Scripture on origins. She  lmust
be somewhat happier" (p. 50, my             tifies and raises from the dead as the                discipline impenitent evolutionists in
translation of the Dutch). This is          first Adam plunged into sin and death                 her fellowship. She must see to it that
pitifully little to learn from the chap-    and because the first Adam sinned                     the schools in which her children are
ter. And even this is "perhaps."            (Rom.  5:12ff.; I Cor.  15:21-23).  As-               instructed are sound in the doctrines
Genesis' 3, therefore, tells us abso-       sault on creation is itself, and as such,             of Scripture and of creation.
                                            attack upon Christ. For creation is                         If scientists cry out that these
                                            His work (John 1:lff.). And He is the                 verities of Christianity clash with
                                            goal of creation (Col. 1:16).                         contemporary scientific theory, so
         Theistic evolution                           The spirit that now moves theis-            much the worse for contemporary
             answers yes                    tic evolution to criticize Genesis l-11               scientific theory. These fundamental
            to Question 6                   and to rob God of His glory in creat-                 truths of Christianity stand eternal in
   of  the Heidelberg Catechism,            ing-a daring spirit, the spirit of                    the heavens. They are the very Word
     "Did God then create man               unbelief concerning the Word of Go&                   of God concerning His Son Jesus Christ.
     so wicked and perverse?"               can, must, and will likewise subject                        Attack upon them means war.
                                            the gospel narratives to criticism, in                      Christianity will not lose. Cl
                                            order openly to rob God of His glory                                                     -- DJE
lutely nothing about the origin of sin
and death. But this means that the                                                 The Creation
fall which is essential to Christian-
ity's message of redemption is a fable.                     `Twas God who made this world so fair,
Original sin, without which the cross                       The shining sun, the sky, the air;
                                                           `Twas God who made the sea, the ground,
is senseless, is norisense apart from                       And all the things we  see around.
the fall. Sin and death are merely                               When He began this world to make,
part of the evolutionary process. And                            These are the mighty words He spake:
since the evolutionary process was                               "Let there be light!" His voice was heard,
begun by God and is the `process by                              And then the light of day appeared.
which God "makes" the world, God                           The angels saw the light arise,
Himself is responsible for the sinful-                      And with their praises filled the skies:
ness of the human race and for death                        "How great our God! How wise! How strong!"
in the world. Theistic evolution an-                       Such is the never-ending song.
swers yes to Question 6 of the Hei-                                                           Standard Bearer,  10-15-32
                                                                                                             May 1,199l / Standard Bearorl343


                                            The Doctrine of
                                            Creat.ion According
                                            to the Reformed
Prof. Robed D. Decker                       Creeds
      In straight-forward, simple, yet      teaching models and hence cannot be         to the church through the Spirit.
profound language the Belgic Con-           interpreted literally. If we wish to        Therefore also creation is of the Fa-
fession in its twelfth article (cf, the     know the origin of things, we must          ther, in the Son, and through the Spirit.
Heidelberg Catechism,  q. 26) pres-         not consult the Bible but listen to         This is plain already from the second
ents what Scripture teaches and what        science. Science must tell us how to        verse of Genesis 1, where we read,
we as Reformed believe concerning           interpret the Bible. From this view         "... and the Spirit of God movedupon
the creation of all things.                 we wish to separate ourselves com-          the face of the waters." Creation is
      During the past fifty years or so     pletely. We believe and confess with        the work of the Triune God, How
this doctrine of creation has been the      Article II of the Belgic Confession         beautifully this is emphasized already
subject of no little discussion within      that we know God by two means: by           in the majestic and profound opening
the Reformed community. This dis-           the most elegant book of Creation           words of the Bible: "In the beginning
cussion was precipitated by the so-         andsecondly God is more clearly and         God created the heavens and the earth"
called period theory. According to          fully known to us by His holy and           (Gen. 1:l). Indeed, as David sings,
this view, the days of Genesis 1 and 2      divine Word. Scripture, this means,         "The earth is the Lord's and the full-
are really long periods of time during      must govern our science. Because we         ness thereof; the world and they that
which the creation evolved from first       believe this "we reject with all our        dwell therein. For he hath foundedit
principles which God created. Really        hearts" whatever conflicts with the         upontheseas,andestablisheditupon
one's view on this issue depends on         truth of Scripture (Art. VII). It is our    the floods" (Ps. 24:1,2).  And John in
his view of the Scripture itself. Any-      firm conviction that Article XII is an      vision sees the twenty-four elders
one who takes Scripture seriously will      adequate and beautiful summary of           worshiping God in glory with these
have to admit that the Bible teaches        the  truth of  Creation as revealed in      words: "Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to
that God created all things in six days     Scripture. Genesis does record what         receive glory and honor and power:
by "his Word, that is, by his Son."         actually happened. Without shame            for thou hast created all things, and
The issue between those who teach           we take the creation account literally      for thy pleasure they are and were
the period theory and those who teach       and as it stands. We do this because        created" (Rev. 4:ll).
that God created all things by His          we believe: "All Scripture is given by           That God created all things by
Word is not one of the proper inter-        inspiration of God, and is profitable       His "Word, that is, by his Son" is
pretation of Scripture. There can be        for doctrine, for reproof, for correc-      equally plain from the Bible. We read
no question as to what the Bible says       tion, for instruction in righteousness:     repeatedly in the creation account,
concerning creation. That this is true      that the man of God may be perfect,         "And God said, Let there be . . . and
is obvious from the fact that now the       throughly furnished unto all good           there was' (Genesis 1). So it is that
theologians and scientists who do not       works" (II Tim. 3:16, 17).                  the psalmist declares, "By the word
want a literal creation tell us that             The Confession begins by as-           of the Lord were the heavens made;
Genesis 1 and 2 are not literal history.    cribing the work of creation to the         and all the host of them by the breath
These and several succeeding chap-          Triune God. Creation is "of the             of his mouth" (P.s. 33:6). Hebrews
ters in Genesis are only myths or           Father, by the Word, that is, by his        11:3 teaches thesame:  "Throughfaith
                                            Son." To this we may add, and through       we understand that the worlds were
                                            the Holy Spirit. This is in harmony         framed by the word of God, so that
                                            with the nature of revelation. God          things which are seen were not made
                                            always reveals Himself in the Son           of things which do appear." Scrip-
Prof. Decker is professor of Practical      and through the Spirit. The Scrip-          ture teaches that this Word is God's
Theology in fhe Profesfanf Reformed         tures also are the revelation of God in     Son in many passages. The Gospel
Semina y.                                   Jesus Christ; and this revelation  comes    according to John opens with these
344  I Standard Bearer/May  -I,1991


words: "In the beginning was the            doctrine of creation has nothing to do      tion. Nothing could influence God in
Word, and the Word was with God,            with the doctrine of salvation. To          the determination of all things. This
and the Word was God . . . all things       touch creation is to touch Christ           does not mean that creation is arbi-
were made by him; and without him           Himself, by whom and.for whom all           trary. Never! God created all things
was not anything made that was made         things were made!                           "as it seemed good unto him," i.e.,
. . . And the Word was made flesh,               Article XII goes on to declare         with a definite purpose. This is the
and dwelt amongus, (and we beheld           that creation was "out of nothing."         idea of the repeated words "And God
his glory, the glory as of the only         By this phrase the fathers mean to          saw everything that he had made,
begotten of the Father,) full of grace      emphasize that there was nothing            and behold, it was very good" (Gen.
and truth" (John l:l, 3,14). The apostle    outside of God out of which He framed       1:31). All creation was "very good,"
Paul instructs Corinth and us, "But to      the worlds. Creation is an act of the       which is to say that the whole of
us there is but one God, the Father, of     omnipotent will of God'who "called          creation was perfectly adapted to the
whom are all things, and we in him;.        the things which be not as though           purpose for which God made it. This
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom          they were" (Rom. 4:17). That crea-          purpose was the glory of God's name
are all things, and we by him" (I Cor.      tion is by the Word of God "out of          in Jesus Christ. Creation was  by Christ
8:6). Hebrews 1:2 teaches that God          nothing" means "that things which           but also for Christ (Col. 1). God never
has spoken to us in these latter days       are seen were not made of things            intended to reach His ultimate pur-
by His Son N whom he hath appointed         which do appear" (Heb. 11:3). Cer-          pose with the first creation. The Fall
                                            tainly with this phrase, "out of noth-      was not an unexpected accident, and
          To touch creation                 ing," the article closes the door to any    the work of Christ is not some ktid of
     is to touch Christ Himself,            view or theory of evolution. Evolu-         repair work of the original creation.
      by whom and for whom                  tion must of necessity explain the          The first creation was a picture of the
        all things were made!               existence of things as developing from      new creation; the first paradise of the
                                            other prior things. No matter how far       heavenly paradise. The first Adam
heir of all things, by whom also he         back one goes, things always come           was a "figure of him that was to
made the worlds." Perhaps the most          from things. By the words, "out of          come," the last Adam, who is Christ
beautiful of all these passages is the      nothing," these theories stand con-         (Rom. 5:14; I Cor. 15:20-22).  The tree
one found in Colossians 1. In this          demned. And, let us understand,in           of life was a symbol of the heavenly
passage the holy Scripture speaks of        this connection, this is a matter of        tree of life (Rev. 2214). All things,
Christ as the "image of the invisible       faith. Creation is the opening won-         therefore, in the original creation spoke
God, the firstborn of every creature"       der, miracle, of God's revelation. It is    of God's great purpose to glorify
(vs. 15). Christ is that because "by        the beginning of the manifestation of       Himself in Christ.
him were all things created, that are       God's glory in Christ as that glory              By creation God also gave to
in heaven, and that are in earth, vis-      shall be revealed perfectly in the new      every creature "its being shape,, form,
ible and invisible, .whether they be        creation. As such, creation belongs to      and several offices to serve its crea-
thrones, or dominions, or principali-       "the mystery of the gospel" (Eph.           tor." This, too, opposes every form of
ties, or powers: all things were cre-       6:19) which can be apprehended only         evolution - God gave to every crew-
ated by him and, for him: And he is         by God's gift of faith. It remains          fure  its being, shape, form, and sev-
before all things, andby him all things     forever true that "through faith we         eral offices. By "several offices" is
consist. And he is the head of the          understand that the worlds were             meant the place each creature.  occu-
body, the church: who is the begin-         framed by the Word of God, so that          piesin the creation so that it can serve
ning, the firstborn from the dead;          things which are seen were not made         the purpose of God. Creation is a
that in all things he might have the        of things which do appear" (Heb.            beautiful harmony in which all crea-
preeminence" (vss. 16-18). What a           11:3). Either one approaches the Bible's    tures reveal the glory of God.
blessed truth! All things were cre-         teachingconcemingcreationwiththe                 Impressed with the wonder of
ated by and for JesusChrist who is          prayer "Lord, I believe. Help thou          creation the child of God exclaims in
the firstborn of every creature, the        my unbelief," or in pride he rejects        faith, "0 LORD our Lord, how excel-
firstborn from the dead. Among other        the biblical record. In this latter case    lent is thy name in all the earth! who
things what this certainly means is         one is driven to some form of evolu-        hast set thy glory above the
this: what one believes concerning          tion. And, ultimately, he will deny         heavens...When I consider thy heav-
the wonder of creation, one must also       the truthateverypoint. Itisassimple         ens, the workof  thy fingers, the moon
believe concerning Christ. To deny          and as serious as that!                     and the stars, which thou haet or-
Scripture's teaching concerning crea-            Article XII, with the words "as it     dained; What ,is man, that thou art
tion involves one in a denial of Christ     seemed good unto him," teaches that         mindful of him? and the son of man
Himself! It simply is not true, as          creation is according to God's good         that thou .visitest him? . . . 0 LORD
"theistic evolutionists" would have         pleasure or eternal counsel. God was        our Lord, how excellent is thy name
us believe, that one's position on the      sovereignly free in the work of crea-       in all the earth!" (Ps. 8:1, 3,4,9). 0

                                                                                                 May 1,1991/ Standard Bearer/ 345


                                           Faithfullv
                                           Interpreting the
                                           Creation - only
Rev. Steven Key                            with the Bible -

      We thirst for knowledge. That        educated guesses about which direc-          to the idea. Revelation is God mak-
is evident already in the small child,     tion to fly, in order to find an airport     ing Himself known.
who brings to expression as his or her     not shrouded by the fog, but sooner               But one thing ought to be clear
first full phrases: "What is this?"        or later they are going to run out of        even by a cursory reading of that
"What is that?" And through the            fuel and come crashing down to death         article. The revelation of God by the
centuries themind of man has indeed        and destruction.                             creation, and the revelation of God
come to a knowledge of much. An                 The true light and knowledge to         by His holy and divine Word, are not
immeasurable wealth of knowledge           which I refer is that which reveals          placed on a par with one another.
is ours in just about every area of        God - who He is, what He does,               Many, eveninReformedcircles,want
creation. But there is one thing we        why He does what He does, and how            to maintain that science and religion
shouldknow and we must not forget.         all things serve His purpose and stand       must each confine itself to its own
There is a difference between the mere     related to Him and to His purpose.           area. In other words, we ought to
knowledge of facts and phenomena,          The only source of that true light and       study creation independently from
and the understanding and compre-          knowledge is God's Word, the Scrip-          what Scripture says about it. That is
hension of their origin and causes         tures.                                       not and never has been the positioa of
and importance and value. In our                I understand fully that our his-        Reformed Christians! The result of
day when knowledge and wisdom              toric Confession of Faith, the Be&c          such a position is an inevitable attack
appear to fall all around us like giant    Confession, speaks in Article II of          upon the teachings of Scripture in the
rain drops, we find that there is a        God being made known by two means.           area of science or the study of God's
veritable drought of spiritual knowl-      Article II is titled "By What Means          creation.
edge, and therefore of true knowl-         God is Made Known Unto Us," and
edge and wisdom.                           reads as follows:                                  Only when the believer
      Despite all their knowledge and        We know him by two means: first,                knows God in Scripture
ability, men who are separated from          by the creation, preservation and gov-                  does he begin
the source of all true light and knowl-      ernment of the universe; which is
edge are like those in a small airplane      before our eyes as a most elegant          to know God rightly in creation.
flying without compass or instruments        book, wherein all creatures, great
in a dense fog. They may make many           and  small, are as so many characters           What must be understood from
                                             leading us to contemplate the invis-       the outset, and what is ignored by
                                             ible things of God, namely, his power.     many, is the effect that sin and the
                                             and divinity, as the apostle Paul said,    curse have had on creation and man's
                                             Rom. 1:20.  All which things are suf-
                                             ficient to convince men, and leave         interpretation of that creation. After
                                             them without excuse. Secondly, he          the fall, the curse obscured the reve-
                                             makes himself more clearly and fully       lation of God in creation, and the
                                            known to us by his holy and divine          mind of man became dull and insen-
                                             Word, that is to say, as far as is         sitive to the revelation of God that is
                                             necessary for us to know in this life,     there. That is evident from Romans
Rev. Key is p&or  of Soufheast Protes-       to his glory and our salvation.            1:18ff. What fallen man does with
tant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids,           The article, although it does not       that revelation in creation is to cor-
Michigan.                                  use the term "revelation," does refer        rupt it and change it into an image.

346  I Standard Bearer/May  1,199l


Only when the believer knows God            to ignorance and darkness. When it           at and teaching in the college that
in Scripture does he begin to know          comes to man's interpretation of that        goes by Calvin's very name. What,
God rightly in creation. The speech         which he sees in the creation, "Surely,      then, is the church to say? Must we
of God in creation and history can          just as waters boil up from a vast, full     rethink our position, longheldby our
only be properly understood and heard       spring, so does an immense crowd of          spiritual forefathers?
in connection with and as interpreted       gods flow forth from the human mind,              We answer that question in ac-
by the speech of God in Christ. Then        while each one, in wandering about           cordance with the words of Jeremiah
only are we able to confess that the        with too much license, wrongly in-           6:16, "Give us the old paths!" We
universe "is set before our eyes as a       vents this or that about God himself"        acknowledge unequivocally that
most elegant book."                         (BookI, Chap. V, Sec. 12, Ford Lewis         Luther's statement remains true and
     Revelation is not a matter of          Battles translation). In the same book       always shall remain true. We main-
man's interpretation of certain events.     and chapter, section 14, Calvin devel-       tain that Calvin's perspective was in
When God reveals Himself to man, it         ops from Scripture the truth that the        agreement with the truth of Scrip-
is not by allowing man to see some          manifestation of God in nature speaks        ture, which truth we reject at risk to
natural phenomenon and then wait-           to us in vain.                               our own souls.
ing for him to draw his own conclu-              It is therefore invain that so many
sions as to what those phenomena              burning lamps shine for us in the                      . ..only Scripture
might imply concerning God. God is            workmanship of the universe to show                      clearly defines
specific. He is the Master Communi-           forth the glory of its Author. Al-
cator, who reveals Himself clearly.           though they bathe us wholly in their          the boundaries within which
Sometimes He does so to the com-              radiance, yet they can of themselves                  all other disciplines
                                              in no way lead us into the right path.
plete surprise of man, such as by             Surely they strike some sparks, but                   and fields of study
making the sun and the moon stand             before their fuller light shines forth                must be interpreted.
still (Josh. lo), thus showing that He        these are smothered. For this reason,
alone is God! orby sustaining the life        the apostle, in that very passage where         The current insistence that the
of a Jonah in the belly of a great fish!      he calls the worlds the images of          Bible must be interpreted in the light
orby giving us Jesus, born of a virgin!       things invisible, adds that through        of modem science is devastating to
or by raising Jesus from the dead!            faith we understand that they have         the Reformed faith, should it be al-
Our God is the God of the wonder!             been fashioned by God's word [Heb.         lowed to persist. For it is a denial of
That very God reveals Himself to us           11:3]. He means by this that the           the fundamental principle of the Ref-
through faith. But He does so by His          invisible divinity is made manifest in     ormation, Sola Scriptura,  Scripture
Word, which He addresses person-              such spectacles, but that we have not      alone. Only Scripture has the author-
ally and specifically to those in whom        the eyes to see this unless they be
                                              illumined by the inner revelation of       ity to rule our doctrine and life. Only
He has worked that faith, making              God through faith. And where Paul          Scripture can be used to interpret
them capable of apprehending His              teaches that what is to be known of        Scripture. And only Scripture clearly
revelation.                                   God is made plain from the creation        defines the boundaries within which
     Historic Christianity has always         of the universe [Rom. 1:19], he does       all other disciplines and fields of study
recognized that the interpretation of         not signify such a manifestation as        must be interpreted. For all things
general revelation must always be             men's discernment can comprehend;          are subject to the purpose of God the
conformed to the teachings of Scrip-          but, rather, shows it not to go farther    Creator-Redeemer. Thatmaybevery
ture, not the other way around. Any           than to render them inexcusable . . . .    unappealing to the minds of unbe-
theory of science must be compatible             So Calvin immediately follows           lieving scientists. But to those who
with the truth God reveals in the           with the chapter entitled, "Scripture        are gifted by God with our reason-
written record of His Word.                 is Needed as Guide and Teacher for           able faith, that is a precious truth
     Some 450 years ago, Martin             Anyone Who Would Come to God                 indeed.
Luther spoke about some of the fool-        the Creator."                                     Things not seen and theories of
ish conclusions of men concerning                That historic position is being         men are all to be subjected to what
creation and the Creator. His evalu-        challenged today, not only by those          the Creator Himself reveals in Holy
ation was this: "The minds of men           unbelievers outside the church who           Scripture concerning Himself and His
arrive at these foolish conclusions         have always challenged it, but by            work. After all, who better under-
when they are determined to do their        many within the nominal church and           stands this world and its origin than
thinking about such lofty matters           even within Reformed circles. And            He Himself who created it? We are
without the Word."                          those within the church who are              not subject to the whims of men, and
     John Calvin wrote in his Insti-        challenging that historic position of        man's ever-changing  interpret,ation
tutes that as a result of sin each man`s    the church are led by educated men,          of things. But we have an authorita-
mind is like a labyrinth of error.          theologians and those educated in            tive Interpreter whose Word is fever-
Rashness and superficiality are joined      the field of science - some educated         faithful, ever-sure. Theories will never
                                                                                                    Kay 1,199-i I Standard Bearer I347


replace the reality. And the reality of    chapters of Genesis, but in Psalm 33        When Jehovah is our light and our
all things is revealed to us in the        and many, many other passages. He           salvation, whom shaIl we fear (Ps.
Scriptures by God Himself.                 spoke and it was done, He commanded         27:1)?.  The saint who penned Psalm
      What we are seeing in the church     and it stood fast. So it was and is with    119 under the inspiration of the Holy
today is the inroads of those who. are     aZZ these things. Thus the Lord re-         Spirit had no inferiority complex,. He
worshipers of science, and who will        veals Himself to us.                        was not ashamed of God's Wlord.
give only so much weight to the Scrip-          A strong doctrine of creation          "Thy testimonies that thou  :hast
tures as what they themselves deter-       and a clear understanding of that           commanded are righteous and very
mine! As if the eternal and inviolable     magnificent work - insofar as we            faithful. My zeal hath consumed me,
truth of God depended upon its con-        are able to comprehend it - comes           because mine enemies have forgotten
formity to the theories of unbelieving     only from a strong doctrine of Holy         thy words. Thy word is very pure:
science! They mock the authority of        Scripture.                                  therefore thy servant loveth it. I am
the Holy Spirit! The exclamation of             Is it any wonder that Satan be-        small and despised: yet do not I
Calvin is as applicable today as it was    gan to speak to humanity with the           forget thy precepts . . . . Thy word is
when he wrote it in the middle 16th        question: "Did God really say . ..?"        true from the beginning: and every
century: "To what mockeries of the         (Gen. 3:l). If God had not spoken,          one of thy righteous judgments en-
impious is our faith subjected, into       everything is left to appearances and       dureth for ever" (Ps. 119:13&141,3160).
what suspicion has it fallen among all     conjectures of the fallen, darkened              It is necessary that God's people
men, if we believe that it has a pre-      human mind. One guess about Him             be led out of the current confusion
carious authority dependent solely         and His will is as good as another. If      brought by those who have placed
upon the good pleasure of men!"            God did not really say anything, then       science above the Scriptures. But the
      These modem-day Gentiles come        theologians and scientists are free to      only way for that to happen is in the
with their science, elevated above the     speculate  - a new idolatry has been        way of a humble return to the autlhor-
Scriptures and made more authorita-        born! And we ought to recognize             ity of the Scriptures. It is our prayer
tive than God Himself, and they say,       that such idolaters are zealous to win      that a number of God's people are
U Join us in worshiping science." They     multitudes to their views. Yet their        ready for that. That authority,alone is
do not put it so bluntly, of course.       gods are like speechless scarecrows         the great distinctive of Christianity.
They do not say that science is their      in a cornfield. The Almighty alone          We have the one and only message
idol. But their rejection of Scripture     has spoken!                                 from heaven. When this conscious-
makes clear, to all who believe, that           It is a shame upon the church          ness is lost, "Christianity" is a hollow
their science isindeed  their idol. And    today and a testimony of her great          shell, a mere name. The same is
they call the church to join them in       spiritual weakness, when the claims         certainly true with the doctrine of
praising the god of evolution, evolu:      of scientific theories throw the church     creation. May God give us grace so to
tion which they can also apply to          into a dither and cause panic in the        confess Him, and to understand His
social and ethical issues. And be-         ivory towers and in the pews, as if         creation in the light of His faithful
hold, the church  joins them! Amaz-        scientific theoryisalwaysright. Why         and true Word. 0
ing! And utterly wicked!                   should we Christians act as though
                                           we  .have a terrible inferiority com-
  We may not reject science.               plex? We stand with the living God!
            But we must
               s u b j e c t   i t
          to the teachings
          of  God Himself!                                                 I believe
     No,  we  do not have to  reject                                          in `God
science. Science and the study of
science, or the study of God's crea-                            the Father Almighty,
tion is a wonderful gift of God. We
must encourage our children in their                      Creator  of  heaven and eaith.
studies of God's creation. We may
not reject science. But we must sub;
jectit to the teachings of God Himself!                                  Apostles Creed,
We serve the Creator-God. And the
Bible teaches more clearly than any                                           Article 1
theoretical science textbook how God
created`too - not only in the first

348  I Standard Bearer/May 1,1991


                                             Creationism - Vs.
                                             the Testimony of
Mr. Gary Laming                              " S c i e n c e "

        In Michigan's upper peninsula a      a plausible theory, and the evidence          Berra lumps those who believe in
careful observer can find some truly         to support it can be seen by all.             creation in the same category as those
remarkable history lessons writtenin              Here, however, the observer faces        whobelieve inBigfoot, extraterrestri-
the bedrock. For here one can find           a difficult decision. The geologist's         als, ghosts, and communication. with
deep gouges suggesting that some             explanation makes sense. Yet his              the dead. Furthermore, Dr. Berra
colossal stonemason started to work          explanation requires millions of years        cites a survey which revealed1 that
and then thought better of it. These         of earth history.                             those who accept creation are less
grooves can be found in many parts                How do we respond to all of              likely to read books and they tend to
of the northern hemisphere. Remarka-         this? We ought not respond with               have lower GPA scores than non-
bly, all these grooves run in a north-       scorn for the stupidity of those scien-       creationists.
south direction. Where did these             tists who set forth this explanation.              Finally, Dr. Berra writes off crea-
grooves come from?                           To respond in such a manner is to             tionists' interpretation of life as'being
        Six hundred miles to the south-      refuse to face the fact that many of          on a par with the idea of a flat earth.
east one can find more history les-          these scientists are brilliant men, and            This type of ridicule we expect,
sons. Here, near Grand Rapids, can           many of their reasons for arriving at         and I think we can deal with it. I am
be found a rock called jasper con-           this explanation make very good sense,        afraid however that we bring more
glomerate. These rounded cobbles             at least from a purely scientific point       ridicule on ourselves than we need
are found scattered amongst many             of view. Nor should we be embar-              to. We do this when we pretend to
other types of rock in vast gravel           rassed and meekly reply that we do            know about things which we really
deposits which dot southwest Michi-          not know much science and therefore           know very little about, Very few of
gan. The history lesson begins when          cannot decide whether this explana-           us are scientists. I also am not a
one tries to find the source of these        tion is correct or not, even though our       scientist but a science teacher. How
puddingstones, as they are called.           conscience may tell us it is wrong,           many of us are "geologists or biolo-
The nearest jasper conglomerate                   Tragically, some respond to the          gists or astronomers? If we are none
bedrock is found in southern On-             evidence presented for this theory by         of the previous then we ought not
tario, 600 miles to the north. How did       accepting the theory and all the an-          pretend to be either. And then we
the cobbles end up near Grand Rap-           cient-earth baggage which goes along          ought not to try to prove creation by
ids?                                         with it.                                      using arguments which require a
        Geologists today tell us that the         How can a Christian who wants            thorough understanding of these
grooves were caused by vast ice sheets       to maintain a faithful interpretation         branches of science. Creation scien-,
which covered much of North Amer-            of Scripture do so in the face of all the     tists often do this, and we are often
ica some time in the past. These same        "scientific" evidence which contra-           eager to accept their scientific proof
ice sheets broke pieces of bedrock off       dicts his stance?                             that the earth is indeed.only about
in Ontario and carried them south-                In the first place we must not be        6,000 years old. Let me present two
ward as the ice sheet advanced. When         afraid of ridicule. TheBible  hasnever        examples of this.
the ice melted, this Canadian bed-           been a popular source of information               1. Aretherereallymissinglinks?
rock was left behind in the form of          to the unbeliever and certainly will               Creation scientists argue that, if
cobbles and gravel. This sounds like         not be popular in this present crea-          evolution occurred, ,there should ex-
                                             tion/evolution controversy either. But        ist many.fossils  of animals "caught in
                                             be sure that we will be ridiculed by          the act" of evolving from one type of
                                             those who confess Christ and by those         animal to another. For example,  if
                                             who do not alike. Listen to what              birds evolved from reptiles, and if
Mr. L'anning is head of fhe science de-      evolutionists are saying.                    this transition took millions of years,
partment in Covenanf Christian  High              In his recent book  Evolution and        then we should:be  able to find many
School in Grand Rapids, h$chigan.            the Myth of ,Creationism,  Dr. Tim            fossils which are part birds and part.
                                                                                                   May 1,199l I Standard Bearql349


      reptile. Creation scientists claim these       understanding of God's Word is not         allow disguised fundamentalist be-
      have not been found. Evolutionists             dependent on our understanding of          liefs (Berra includes in fundamental-
      however have a very convincing                 science. If we accept that the Bible is    ist beliefs sudden creation from noth-
      argument as to why these fossils do            inaccurate with regard to history but      ing by God, a worldwide flood, a
      not exist in great numbers.                    accurate with regard to sacred his-        young earth, and a separate ancestry
               2.Does evolution violate the          tory, then man becomes the ultimate        of humans and apes) into the science
      second law of thermodynamics?                  judge of what is and is not the Word       classroom is to .,. cheat them [stu-
               This is a favorite claim of crea-     of God.                                    dents], shackle their intellectual
      tion scientists. This secondlaw states              No, we need not be intimidated        growth, erode their ability to com-
      that entropy is always increasing, that        by the science of the world today.         pete for jobs, and stifle their pros-
      is, all things tend toward random-             For, as with all good gifts of God,        pects for arewardinglife." Surely we
      ness and disorder. Thus the disorder           unbelieving man has taken science          stand on opposite sides of the an-
      resulting from the alleged Big Bang            and twisted it into the opposite of        titheses and have no common ground
      could never result in the orderliness          what it was intended. Man has taken        from which to cooperate. Berra admits
      and complexity of today's natural              a gift which speaks of God's power         this also: "Those readers who de-
      world without violating the second             and wisdom and has used it to "prove"      mand a literal interpretation of the
      law of thermodynamics. Yet evolu-              that there is no God.                      Bible will probably not be swayed by
      tionists counter this argument quite                Worldly, unbelieving science is       this book, for they have chosen to
      easily with a simple example. Surely           no science at all. True science does       abandon reason and evidence in fa-
      a bicycle when assembled is much               and must say something about God:          vor of dogma and blind faith." What
      more orderly than when it arrived in           "The heavens declare the glory of          better testimony could we desire than
      a box unassembled. Likewise, the               God . .." (Ps. 19:l). Thus any science     to have the unbelieving world notice
      atoms which make up an oak tree are            or scientific method which claims to       that we have abandoned humanistic
      far more orderly than they were when           be separate from and unaffected by         reason in favor of faith in our Lord!
      those same atoms were in the soil or           the word of God immediately shows               No, the evolution/creation de-
      air. The point is that, even though the        itself to be a false science and thus      bate is not a scientific debate at all. It
      whole system may become more dis-              something to be avoided.                   is a spiritual debate. And here theis-
      orderly, yet, with the input of energy,             Worldly scientists say that ac-       tic evolutionists make a tragic rnis-
      parts of that system become more               tivity that does not follow the scien-     take. We need not be intimidated by
      orderly. Thus energy from the sun is           tific method is a poor bet to uncover      them either. For they too must inter-
      used to make parts of the solar sys-           truth. Their major flaw is the idea        pret the Bible through their science.
      tem more orderly while the universe            that truth can be arrived at outside of    They too must take off the spectacles
      as awholebecomes more disordered.              the Bible. This implies that the truth     of God's Word in order to get their
               This type of discussion could fill    concerning the origin of the universe      distorted view of creation. If the
      the pages of a hefty book. The point           must also be arrived at outside of         Creation account according to Gene-
      is, can you, the reader, ever make up          Scripture. This immediately sets sci-      sisis wrong, then Paultoo was fooled,
      your mind about creation vs. evolu-            ence on a false foundation and thus        for he says in several places that Eve
      tion from this kind of discussion? I           all arguments which follow are sus-        came from Adam, and Paul states
      think not. We simply do not know               pect. Thus all "evidence" and data         this as if it really happened.
      enough biology, geology, and astron-           which fails to take into account real-          We do not need to prove that
      omy to determine which view is cor-            life sacred history events such as the     God created all things. We believe it
      rect.                                          Fall and the Flood is bound to mis-        because God works this belief in our
               Nor does God require us to be         lead the investigator who is trying to     hearts. Then we find that we can
      scientists in order to understand His          read and interpret that data.              study the creation and find, not that it
      Word. For in the final analysis this is             The worldly scientist of course       is boring and empty as evolutionists
      not a question of good science versus          can stomach none of these ideas. We        claim a Divine Creation account must
      bad science. In fact, it is not a ques-        really have nothing in common with         be, but rather we find it to be rich and
      tion of science at all. Instead it is a        those who teach science based on the       fulfilling because all Creation points
      matter of faith. It is a question of           theory of evolution. We teach science      to the glorious Creator.
      Scripture's infallibility. It is a ques-       antithetically. We teach science as we          So, how did the puddingstones
      tion of whether or not we will bow             understand it through the spectacles       get to Michigan? And how and when
      before the instruction of Scripture. It        of faith. They teach science through       did the grooves get carved in the
      is at this point that we have our real         the spectacles of humanism. That we        bedrock?       Glaciers?       Perhaps.
      quarrel with modern science. Our               have nothing in common can be seen         Noachian flood? Perhaps. I'll  leame
      understanding of the origin of the             in the writings of many evolutionists.     the answer to this question up to
      universe is dependent on the instruc-          Two examples from Berra bear this          geologists as long as they do not take
      tion found in Cod's Word. Our                  out. In his preface he states: "To         off their spectacles of faith. 0
       ,.I
__    350  / Standard Bearer/May  1,199l


                                             Creation in Our
Mr. Lamm Lubbers                             Schools

     Christian parents establish             many college classrooms where a              creation. In the words of Psalm 19:1,
schools and colleges for scholarship,        synthesis of evolution and creation is       "The heavens declare the glory of
Christian scholarship.        Christian      taught as new-found truth.                   God; and the firmament sheweth his
schools do not teach evolution. My                The heroes of faith are those who       handiwork."
dying grandfather gave us his patri-         believe not having seen. The writer to            We then are amazed that in many
archal blessing with, "Don't learn up        the Hebrews tells us: "Through faith         Christian schools today the philoso-
too high." Although he insisted we           we understand that the worlds were           phy of evolution (now refined and
go to school, grandfather knew the           framed by the word of God, so that           synthesized as theistic evolution or
great dangers of education. Grandfa-         things which are seen were not made          progressive creation) is not  0nl;y tol-
ther, who reached the third reader in        of things which do appear" (Hebrews          erated but protected by evolution-
grade school, had a childlike faith in       11:3). It is faith only that allows one      creation statements. Some statements
his God as Creator and Savior. Al-           to see the Creator and to believe His        are vague enough to allow any type
ready forty years ago, before it was         creative work. In the absence of faith       of creation teaching which can be
considered chic for professors  to teach     in a Creator God, man believes in the        justified within the limits of general
a world which came to us through an          evolutionary process for which he            revelation. The "sons" of the early
evolutionary process, he was warn-           has no proof but to which he clings in       period-theorists have become bold
ing us not to be deluded to deny the         his unbelief and his hatred of God.          not only to teach  origins from an
faith of scripture in the halls of higher                                                 evolutionary viewpoint, but to do so
education.                                        There is a fundamental link             to the ridicule of those still uninformed
     When I read the amazingly clever                   between creation                  enough to hold to the literal creation
explanations of origins which are                 and the work of the school.             account of Genesis 1.
coming from the lectures and writ-                                                             Under the blessing of searching
ings of professors today, I think back            The Christian school's task is to       for truth by investigating both gen-
to the warning of my grandfather.            teach every aspect of curriculum in          eral and special revelation, God's
He believed that the world came into         the light of the Word of God. This           Word is judged for accuracy by the
being in six days through the creative       education not only takes an occasional       "evidences of evolution in creation."
power of God's Word.                         look at Scripture but bases all instruc-     Then by sleight of hand, the priruciple
     Kindergarten children in the            tion on the normative principles of          of "scripture alone" is replaced by
school in which I teach sit in rapt          Scripture. (Recently it has become           "scripture if it is scientifically accept-
attention as the greatness of their          necessary to reaffirm this obvious fact.)    able."
Creator is retold by their teacher. They     The doctrine of creation is funda-                Not only creation but also the
trust that God created the world in          mental to the work of the Christian          moral basis of the school is attacked
six days and that He did this great          school.                                      through the introduction of evolu-
work by the word of His power. There              There is a fundamental link be-         tion into the school. Christian ethics
is more wisdom in these simple chil-         tween creation and the work of the           is based on the premise that the Crea-
dren, of whom Christ says, "suffer           school. The teacher demonstrates to          tor-God has the right to demand our
them to come unto me," than in               the students the marvelous hand of           obedience to all the laws of His com-
                                             the Creator in His creation. The stars       mandments. If what evolution says
                                             in their infinity illuminate the great-      is true, that we are but products of
                                             ness of creation's God. The diversity        chance, then we are free from the
                                             of plant and animal species demon-           demands of the Creator who says to
                                             strates God's many-faceted creation.         every man "Love me, and serve me,
                                             The distribution of the animals across       and keep my commandments." It is
Mr. Lubbers is administrator of South        the earth's biomes illustrates God's         the despairing hope of every evolu-
Holland Protestant Reformed School in        providential care in making every            tionist that God does not exist. If He
South Holland, Illinois.                     creature for its unique place in the         does exist, then every man is in.deed
                                                                                                    May 1,1991/ Standard Bearor/ 351


held accountable for each act and             proach with great sensitivity, caring               Many years ago in a Chris&n
thought.                                      and sharing the burdens of the homo-           high school science room, a student
      Premarital sex, homosexuality,          sexual and the abortionist.. God clearly       was defending her belief that God
divorce, hatred of the neighbor are all       tells that it is nbt for us to judge at all    made the world in six days. Her
judged by God as sin. They are not            because He makes the rules. The                teacher went to great length to con-
condemnedbecausesocietysaysthey               Christian school does not negotiate            vince her of the implausibility of this
are wrong or even because they have           morality or  adjtist it to changing            view if the evidences of evolution
a destructive effect on society and           conditions and mores.' Evolutionists           were to be properly interpreted.
those who perpetrate them, but be-            know there is no better way to get rid         Finally she was asked, "Then how
cause they violate God's explicit             of godly living than to get rid of the         did God create the world in onlly six
command, "Thou shalt not...." God             Creator. In schools where creation is          days?" She thought only a minute
made the world and God made the               taught there is law and order. There           before she answercdwith convictioq,
rules.                                        is a sovereign God who judgesevery             "By the word of His power." Grandpa
      Social issues today are commonly        deed whether it is good or whether it          would have been proud. 0
discussed as problems we must ap-             is evil.

                                              The Reformed
                                              Doctrine of
                                              Creation arid the
                                              Reformed
                                              Christian's View of
ML Thomas Newhof                              the Environment

      Environmentalism is currently           interest is not of recent origin, how-              Genesis  1:6-l@  And God said,
a popular cause which has many                ever. From the earliest days of crea-            Let there be a firmament in the midst
proponents. Governmental legisla-             tion, our God has revealed Himself               ofthewaters,andletitdividethewa-
tors and bureaucrats, businessmen             and His plan for our salvation through           ters fromthe waters. And Godmade
and consumers, all have become                the Scriptures. We have also learned             the firmament, and divided the wa-
"green" advocates, interested in pre-         much about our environment in the                ters which were under the firma-
                                                                                               ment from the waters which were
serving or enhancing the environment.         Scriptures.                                      above the firmament: and it was so.
     The Reformed Christian also has                Although environment can mean              And God called the  firmamlent
an interest in the environment. This          different things to different persons            Heaven. And the evening and the
                                              (air, land, water), water is the sub-            morning were the second day. A.nd
                                              stance which has the most profound               God said, Let the waters under the
                                              effect on our lives. It is the major             heaven be gathered together unto
Mr. Nezohofi a member of First Protes-        component of our bodies. It is the               one  pIace,  and let the  dxy land ap-
tant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids,         material without which life is not              pear: and it was so. And God caned
is a professional engineer and a Principal    possible.                                        the dry land Earth; and the gathering
in Prein ,& Nezuhof, P.C., a Consulting             I_n order  $0 understand better            together of the waters called he Seas:
Engineeringfirm in Western Michigan.          God's plan for our environment, let             and God saw that it was good,
                                                                                                  Genesis  1:20-23  And God said,
His practice is in -Environmental Engi-       us examine some of the Scripture which          Let the waters bring forth abundantly
neering, Water Supply, Was tewa ter Col-      reveals to us God's creation of the              the moving  creature. that hath  life,
lection and.Treatment.                        water:                                          and fowl thatmayflyabove the earth

352  I Standard Bearer/M&y 1,199i


in the open firmament of heaven.               from thence it was parted, and be-                 waters. And the waters prevailed
And God created great whales, and              came into four heads. The name of                  exceedingly upon the earth; and all
every living creature that moveth,             thefirstisl'ison:  thatisitwhichcom-               the high hills, that were under the
which the waters brought forth abun-           passeth the whole land of Havilah,                 whole heaven, were covered.
dantly, after their kind, and every            where there is gold; and the gold of                  Genesis  &l-3:  And God remem-
winged fowl after his kind and God             that land is good: there is bdellium               bered Noah, and every living thing,
saw that it was good. And God                  and the onyx stone. And the name of                andallthecattle thatwaswithhimin
blessedthem,sayingBefruitful,and               the second river is Gihon: the same is             the  ark and God made a wind to
multiply, and fill the waters in the           it  that compasseth the whole land of              pass over the earth, and the waters
seas, and let fowl multiply in the             Ethiopia. And the name of the third                assuaged; the fountains also of the
earth. And the evening and the  mom-           river is Hiddekek that is it which                 deep and the windows of heaven
ing were the fifth day.                        goeth toward the east of Assyria.                  were stopped, and the rain from
    Genesis  1:26-31  And God said,            And the fourth river is Euphrates.                 heaven was restrained; and the wa-
Let us make man in our image, after                From the above clear descrip-                  ters returned from off the earth con-
our likeness: and let them have do-          tion of God's work during the six                    tinually: and after the end of the
minion over the fish of the sea, and         days of creation, we learn the follow-               hundred and fifty days the waters
over the fowl of the air, and over the       ing about the water that God created:                were abated.
cattle, and over all the earth, and                God  created all things good,                     From these texts we can make
over every creeping thing that creepeth                                                         several more observations:
upon the earth. So God created man           includingthe water. Water was  given                    Rains began, possibly for the firsi
in his own image, in the image of            its place above (clouds and atmos-                 time after the world was created, since
God created he him; male and fe-             phere) as well as its place below (lakes,          God used the rainbow as a symbol oi
male created he them. And God                rivers, oceans, and groundwater).
blessed them, and God said unto                    God instructed man to use the                His faithfulness.
them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and         good things which He had created.                       Water came not only from the
replenish the earth, and subdue it:          However, "Subdue it . .." and "Have                sky ("windows of heaven") but also
and have dominion over the fish of           dominion over . . . fish . . . fowl . . . every    from the ground ("fountains of the
the sea, and over the fowl of the air,       living thing . .." does not mean that              deep").
and over every living thing that             we may waste our environment or                         There must have been. an
moveth upon the earth. And God               ravage it or destroy it in the name of             enormous upheaval of the former
said, Behold, I have given you every                                                            order of the earth. These changes
herb bearing seed, which is upon the         commerce or convenience or neglect.                must have resulted in massive ero-
face of all the earth, and every tree, in          We notice that there was no rain             sion as an effect of the water falling
the which is the fruit of a tree yield-      in Paradise. Instead a mist watered                from the sky and rising from! the
ing seed; to you it shall be for meat.       the ground.
And to every beast of the earth, and               There were four large rivers in              depths. If we consider the dev.asta-
to every fowl of the air, and to every       Paradise. We can surmise that there                tion that is caused by a flood result-
thing that creepeth upon the earth,          was ground water which replenished                 ing from twelve inches or so of rain
wherein there is life, I have given          the rivers. There must also have been              (an event which occurs, on the aver-
every green herb for meat: and it was        lakes and oceans into which the riv-               age, only once every hundred years
so. And God saw every thing that he          ers flowed.                                        in Michigan), we can only imagine
had made, and, behold, it was very                                                              what must have happened to the face
good. And the evening and the                      At the time of the Flood, God                of the earth when there was enough
morning were the sixth day.                  wrought some major changes on our                  water  to cover the mountains.
   Genesis  2:l Thus the heavens             environment and the water which
and the                                                                                              There are a few other texts in
            earth were finished, and all     sustains our life.                                 Scripture related to the water in our
the host of them.                              Genesis 7~10-12:  And it came to pass
   Genesis 24-6 These are the gen-             after seven days, that the waters of             environment. Many of them are re-
erations of the heavens and of the             the flood were upon the earth. In the            lated to God's miraculous interven-
earth when they were created, in the           six hundredth year of Noah's life, in            tion on behalf of His people. Some
day that the Lord God made the                 the second month, the seventeenth                examples of these are:
earth and the heavens, and every               day of the month, the same day were                   Exodus 1421, the Red Sea dried
plant of the field before it was in the        all the fountains of the great deep              up for Israel; Exodus 15:23-25,  Moses
earth, and every herb of the field             broken up, and the windows of heaven             made the water sweet in the pool of
before it grew: for the Lord God had           were opened. And the rain was upon               Marah; Joshua  4:10,  the Jordan River
not caused it to rain upon the earth,          the earth forty days and forty nights.           backed up so Israel could cross; I
and there was not a man to till the                Genesis  7~17~19:  And the flood             Kings 18:1, Elijah asked God to with-
ground. But there went up a mist               was forty days upon the earth; and               hold rain from the land of Israel for
from the earth, and watered the whole          the waters increased, and bare up the
face of the ground.                            ark,andit wasliftupabove theearth.               three years.
   Genesis 210-14  And a river went            And the waters prevailed, and were                    God also instructed His pelople
out of  Eden to water the garden; and          increased greatly upon the earth; and            to use water for washing (Num. 20).
                                               the ark went upon the face of the
                                                                                                           May I,1991  I Standard Bearer/ 353


      Revelation contains some de-                 This final destruction of the             lakes.) The pollutants removed
scription of God's judgment on the            water's usefulnessis God's judgment            by the plant are not destroyed
earth, not only in the last days but          on the ungodly. In BehoZd He Com-              but are converted to sludge. This
also throughout  the history of the           eth, Rev. Herman Hoeksema expresses            sludge is disposed of by incinera-
world.                                        the belief that this will happen only          tion, landfill, or spreading (injec-
      Revelation  8:8-11:  And the sec-       after God's elect have been taken from         tion) on farm land. Each of these
  ond angel sounded, and as it were a         the earth (p. 535).                            disposal methods frequently re-
  great mountain burning with fire was             With that broad and general               sults in further water pollution.
  cast into the sea: and the third part of    overview from Scripture of God's                     From the above examples, we
  the sea became blood; and the third         creation and subsequent judgment,            can see a gradual accumulation of
  part of the creatures which were in         let us look at our present use of the
  the sea, and had life, died; and the                                                     waste products, many of them toxic
  third part of the ships were destroyed.     environment, particularly our water.         or carcinogenic or otherwise hazard-
  And the third angel sounded, and                 First, we can observe that God          ous:
  there fell a great star from heaven,        created a finite amount of water. It is              0 Intheair:  Acidrainisdam-
  burning as it were a lamp, and it fell      continually recycled by the natural            aging our lakes and streams.
  upon the third part of the rivers, and      phenomenon known as the hydro-                       0 In the water: Some por-
  upon the fountains of waters; and           logic cycle. In this cycle the precipita-      tions of our streams and lakes are
  the name of the star is called Worm-        tion (rain or snow) either infiltrates         not usable and will not sustain
  wood: and the third part of the             into the ground or run% off to the             normal aquatic life because toxic
  waters became  wormw~  and-many             creeks and rivers. The infiltration            chemicals have accumulated in
  men died of the  waters, because they
  were made bitter.                           also slowly moves loward the creeks            the food chain.
      From Jeremiah 9:15 and 23:15            and rivers. Plants use some water                    0 In the soil: Groundwater is
we learn that wormwood was a plant            and return it to the atmosphere through        polluted as evidenced by the them-
with a very bitter taste. Our study of        transpiration. The creeks and rivers           sands of toxic waste sites being
Revelation indicates that the events          flow to the lakes and oceans from              identified all over our country.
announced by the sounding of the              which water returns to the atmos-                    In many cases our solid waste
trumpets are an early and milder form         phere by evaporation only to return          disposal practices are also contribut-
of God's judgment. Probably they              again to the earth as precipitation.         ing to the water pollution problems
have been on-going since the fall,                 Secondly, notice that our rivers        described above. In some areas the
certainly during the days of Jeremiah.        are really natural drains or sewers          primitive process of open dumping is
      Revelation  16~3-7:  And the sec-       which carry runoff from the earth            still practiced. But even our  best
  ond angel poured out his vial upon          including sediment and decompos-             processes have faults. Many landfills
  the sea; and it became as the blood of      ing organic material such as leaves,         leak into the groundwater. Modiem,
  a dead man; and every living soul           grass, and animal wastes.                    costly incinerators produce toxic: ash
  died in the sea. And the third angel             Third, to this natural process,         which is brought to the landfills.
  poured out  his vial upon the rivers        man has added (many times in exces-                  After considering our present
  and fountains of waters; and they           sive amounts) wastewater from our            position we often feel powerless to
  became blood. And 1 heard the angel         cities, industries, and homes.               reverse a process which is inevitably
  of the waters say, Thou art righteous,           Fourth, none of our water treat-        following God's plan. However, we
  0 Lord, which art, and wast, and            ment processes are 100% efficient,           should consider our calling as Chris-
  shalt be, because thou hast judged
  thus. For they have shed the blood of       which results in accumulation of             tians, which means:
  saints and prophets, and thou hast          pollutants in ourwater. For example:                 0 Use God's creation care-
  given them blood to drink; for they              l Treatment of our drinking               fully and responsibly. Use tlhe
  are worthy. And I heard another out           water removes most but not all of            natural processes as they were
  of the altar say, Even so, Lord God           the bacteria and some but not all            intended.
  Almighty, true and righteous are thy          of the toxic chemicals.                            0 Manage our wastes to t1he
  judgments.                                       0 To this water we add wastes            best of our ability by minimizing
      We notice that the severity of            from our homes and industries                the volume and strength of the
God's judgment announced by the                 and send it to the wastewater               waste and by treating Ihe waste
pouring out of the vials is increased           treatment plants.                           water and solid waste to the best
from that of the trumpets. Also we                 0 The wastewater treatment               of our ability.
notice a similarity to the first plague        plants remove some but not all of                   0 Serve God and promote His
on the Egyptians, Exodus 7:17. This            the pollutants. That which re-               glory as we exercise dominion
time, however, not just the Egyptian           mains in the water is discharged             over the fragile but wonderful
waters are affected but all water:             to the rivers, lakes, and oceans.            environment which God has cre-
oceans, rivers, and fountains (ground           (Note the warnings against eat-             ated.  0
water).                                        ing fish from certain streams and

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                                                Created in the
Rev. Arie denHattog                             Image, of God

      One of the greatest questions of        the moral nature of man, but accord-        Its moral and spiritual implications
human existence is the question of            ing to him this is nothing more than a      are inescapable. Not only is this phi-
man's own origin. The answer that             certain social consciousness that has       losophy blasphemy against God, it is
we give to this question has great            arisen in man which is also the prod-       also grossly evil in its estimation of
moral and spiritual implications as           uct of man's evolution. The rules of        the glorious nature of man as he came
far as our understanding of the na-           man's behavior change with time and         forth from the hand of his creator.
ture of man and his calling in the            circumstances. Man, because he is                The Bible begins at a point abso-
world is concerned. We believe that           really only an animal, has no higher        lutely opposite that of the evolution-
the Bible clearly gives the answer to         reason for existence than his own           ist. It begins with the revelation of
this great question. The Bible does           survival, his own pleasure, and his         the absolutely sovereign, almighty,
not merely tell us in a vague way the         own glory. He lives on this earth for       wise, holy, and glorious God. Ac-
fact that God created man, It tells us        a brief span of years and then he dies      cording to  theBible, Godcreatedman
how God created man and also what             as the beast and is no more. This is        by a sovereign, distinct, and wonder-
sort of creature God made man to be.          the ungodly and immoral nature of           ful act of His creation. Before He
      The evolutionist rejects the Bible's    the philosophy of evolution. This           created man He paused to take coun-
testimony concerning the origin of            philosophy has had devastating con-         sel with Himself. The Triune God
man. The theory of evolution is an            sequences for the thinking of modem         said before He made man, "Let us
ungodly theory. It wills to come up           man. It has contributed much in             make man in our own image and
with a theory of the origin of man            hastening man's rapid development           likeness: and let them have domin-
without God. According to this the-           in corruption and ungodliness.              ion over the fish of the sea, and over
ory man was born from a long proc-                 The so-called theistic evolution-      the fowl of the air, and over cattle,
ess of evolution which has continued          ist imagines that this ungodly theory       and over all the earth, and over every
over millions of years. Man is the            can somehow be harmonized with              creeping thing that creepeth upon the
product of the struggle of the forces         Christian truth. According to the           earth" (Gen. 1:26). This pause of God
of nature as they run their blind course      proponents of theistic evolution God        before creating man is highly signifi-
through natural selection and sur-            created all things, and therefore also      cant, emphasizing that man is a dis-
vival of the fittest. Man evolved in          man, by the process of evolution. God       tinct and glorious creature of God.
this long process just after the ape in       is merely the superintendent, so to         Great detail is given in Scripture
the evolutionary chain. Essentially           speak, of the process that has gone on      concerning the creation of man. This
there is no difference between man            for millions of years. Other than that,     detail tells us how God created man,
and animals. He is only a physical            evolution has developed pretty much         and it describes the nature with which
being. He is the product of his envi-         as we are told by the unbelieving           man was created. Scripture tells us
ronment. He is not created by God             scientist. It is alleged by the theistic    that man was created distinct from
and not dependent on God. He is               evolutionists that this theory is rather    all the other earthly creatures of God.
therefore free to live as he pleases.         innocent. It only seeks to explain the           God made man as a creature of
He really does not have a moral na-           origin of man. It does not have neces-      His own hand, wholly dependent upon
ture. The evolutionist may speak of           sary spiritual and moral implications       God for his very existence and life. It
                                              for who man is and what his calling         always remains true that in God man
                                              is. One canbe a "good Christian" and        lives and moves and has his being.
                                              believe such a theory. The question         Whether man himself acknowledges
                                              of the origin of man is an isolated         this or not, he is in fact so utterly
                                              question that does not affect our           dependent on God that without God
                                              understanding of the other doctrines        He can do nothing. This has pro-
                                              of the Christian faith. Nothing how-        found spiritual and moral implica-
Rev. denHartogis pastor ofHope Protes-        ever could be further from the truth.       tions for man. Man is a dependent
tant Refomed Church in Redlanes, Cali-        The philosophy of evolution touches         creature of God who is also obligated
fornia.                                       virtually every area of Christian truth.    to God for all things.
                                                                                                  May 1,1991 I Standard Bearer / 355'


                                          turely representation of Himself. God      tale, an idealism that could never have
     The great excellency of man          made man able to know God his crea-        been fulfilled in the past and will not
           as created  by God             tor. This knowledge was created in         likely be fulfilled in the future,. Ac-
       is that God created man            man in the beginning. It was not           cording to the Bible, the purpose of
   in His own image and likeness.         something learned or acquired. It          man as created by God is to serve and
             It is impossible             was not something that could be            glorify God, his Creator, and to (enjoy
       that this could have been          possessed by a creature a little higher    Him forever. Covenant fellowship
                the product               than a monkey. The theory of evolu-        was man's greatest joy and satisfac-
     of the evolu tiona y process.        tion has no explanation for this amaz-     tion. God gave this to man as a gift of
                                          ing and wonderful knowledge of man.        His grace and created him in the
      The Scriptural record tells us      According to this theory the knowl-        beginning in such a way that he was
that God formed man from the dust         edge of Godin manis only something         adapted to enjoy it.
of the ground and breathed into his       imaginary and purely subjective. This           At the time of creation God es-
nostrils the breath of life. And man      knowledge comes from a conscious-          tablished the moral order of rnan's
became a living soul. God created         ness of helplessness over against the      life according to His own holy law. It
man to be a personal, living soul.        forces of nature. As man evolves in        is striking how often Scripture takes
This is not something that could have     his intellectual development he is no      us back to the creation order to teach
evolved from animals, but it could        longer in need of God, and he under-       us moral and spiritual truths. The
only have come by a direct, creative      stands by his own great wisdom that        basis for the forbidding of murder is
act of God. Man was created a per-        there is no God. According to the          in the fact that God created man in
sonal, moral, rational creature. In       Bible, however, such a man is a fool.      His own image (Gen. 9) According
this respect he is different from all     He is the product not of evolution but     to the inspired apostle James, in chap-
other earthly creatures. He stands        of "devolution," deeper and deeper         ter 3 of his epistle, we are not to `curse
personally and consciously related to     descent into darkness, spiritual igno-     our fellow man with our mouths
God his creator. He is created with a     rance, and foolishness. Modem man          because God created man after His
moral and spiritual aspect of his na-     has not increased but only decreased       own similitude. The proper order of
ture. God, the absolute, holy, and        in the knowledge of God.                   the relationship between man and
righteous God who is the standard of           God created man in true right-        woman in the home and the church
all goodness and truth, created in        eousness and holiness. This we are         was a created order. The denial of
man a consciousness of His abso-          told is the content of the image of God    this has led to the great influence of
lutely perfect and holy law and a         in man according to Ephesians 4. He        the evil and worldly philosoplhy of
sense of his obligation before God.       was created absolutely perfect and         feminism in the church.
This truth has no place in the whole      without sin. That was man's original,
ungodly scheme of evolution.              true glory and greatness before God.                If  the church adopts
      The great excellency of man as      The theory of evolution teaches that         the ungodly theo y  of  evolution,
created by God is that God created        man arose out of the brute beast.                      she can expect
man in His own image and likeness.        How could such a creature have as-                 all sorts  of  corruption
It is impossible that this could have     cended to moral spiritual perfection?              and mise y to follow
been the product of the evolutionary      God made a perfect world with a                 in her homes and families.
process. Man did not inherit this         perfect man who was able to love
from a primeval ancestor. This was        God perfectly from the heart and able           A wonderful part of the creation
not later given to man after he had       to keep all of his commandments            account in Scripture is the reco,rd of
proceeded some distance up the            perfectly. He knew the holy law of         the creation of woman and the crea-
evolutionary spiral above his ances-      God and delighted in submitting            tion of marriage. Those who com-
tor the ape. It was not something         himself to that law.                       promise with the philosophy of evo-
which man himself achieved. It was             God created man a covenant            lutionism necessarily regard this part
man's by virtue of his being created      creature who could know and have           of Genesis 2 also as nothing but saga
by God. It was possessed by the first     fellowship with God his creator. God       or myth. Great spiritual and moral
man in the beginning. This distin-        placed Adam and Eve in the perfect         truths were established by God in
guishes man from all other creatures.     and beautiful garden of Eden which         creation for marriage and the home.
Whatever may be said concerning           was called the earthly Paradise. Those     There can be no truly Christian home
the exact definition of the image of      who hold to the theory of evolution        that is not founded upon these truths.
God in man, it is clear from Scripture    have no place for this history of the      Marriage did not evolve as man
that-the implication of this truth of     wonderful work of God. According           developed and rose above beinglittle
man's creation is that God made man       to them, there could never have been       more than an animal dwelling in caves.
good and perfect even as God Him-         such a time and place. It is only a        The truth of creation teaches us that
self is. God created in man a crea-       figment of man's imagination, a fairy      marriage is a holy ordinance of God,

356  / Standard Bearer/May  1 ,199l


and that God's people willbe  blessed        wickedness. This truth is denied by         The Lord renews His chosen ones by
only when they live in accordance            the theory of evolution. The biblical       His Holy Spirit so that they are cre-
with God's creation ordinance. If the        truth has great spiritual implications.     ated again after the glorious image of
church adopts the ungodly theory of          The child of God who humbly ac-             Christ Jesus. By recreation God forms
evolution, she can expect all sorts of       cepts this truth by the grace and Spirit    in His people in a new and even nnore
corruption and misery to follow in           of God in his heart understands his         glorious way His own image that He
her homes and families.                      own sinfulness. He understands that         once at the beginning of the world
     The historical record found in          God who created him is alone able to        had created in man. Those who deny
Scripture of the order of a perfect          save him. He cries out to God and           what the Bible tells us about the first
creation created by a perfect and holy       depends on the mercy of God.                creation of man will also necessarily
God followed by the fall of man into              God's first creation was intended      deny the blessed truth of salvation
sin through his own wilful disobedi-         by God Himself to be a picture of           according to which man is malde a
ence and under the instigation of the        heavenly Paradise. God promised a           new creature in Christ Jesus. 01
devil clearly teaches us that man and        salvation for His elect through the
not God is responsible for sin and           second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.


                                             Creation and
Rev. Dale Kuiper                             Redemption

     Geation is first an eternal thought     this a casual observation. Let me il-       has to praise the Lord "which made
in the mind of God; He willed or             lustrate. In Romans 4:16 we read that       heaven, and earth, the sea, and all
decreed every creature in the entire,        Abraham believed God "who quick-            that therein is: which keepeth truth
vast universe. Creation is second a          eneth the dead, and calleth those things    for ever" (Ps. 146). As those who
word which God has spoken; without           which be not as though they were."          were made a little lower than the
the Word which was in the beginning          The act of quickening the dead is re-       angels but are destined to be higher
was not anything made that was made.         generation. That God "called those          than the angels in Jesus Christ, we
Creation is third an act of God; He          things which be not as though they          exclaim, "0 Lord our Lord, how
gave separate existence, by the Word         were" is a description of regenera-         excellent is thy name in all the earth:
and through the Spirit, to every crea-       tion, the mighty act of God whereby         who has set thy glory above the heav-
ture that He conceived of in eternity.       His call makes living saints of dead        ens" (Ps. 8). Also, our calling is to
Now the question is, Why did God             sinners. But the words "those things        enter into the rest that God has pre-
do this? Our assigned subject re-            which be not as though they were" is        pared in Jesus Christ, especially by
quires that we answer in terms of            also an unmistakable reference to           keeping the Lord's day holy.  Ac-
salvation or redemption.                     God's work in creating, as set forth in     cording to the fourth commandment,
     The biblical doctrine of creation       Hebrews 113 ti . ..so that things which     this is a creation ordinance; God cre-
is as plainly set forth in the Scriptures    are seen were not made of things            ated in six days, and rested the sev-
as the doctrine of salvation. In fact,       which do appear." Thus the Canons           enth day by entering into the enjoy-
the act of the Triune God in creating        of Dordt call regeneration "super-          ment of His perfect, creative work.
touches at many points on the work           natural, most powerful, and at the          Under the new covenant the people
of the covenant God in saving His            same time most delightful, astonish-        of God enter into the enjoyment of
elect church in Jesus Christ. This is        ing, mysterious and ineffable; not          Christ's perfect, atoning work, and in
not an accidental relationship, nor is       inferior in efficacy to creation, or the    the refreshment of that strength go
                                             resurrection from the dead" (Canons         forth to work the next six days.
                                             III-IV, Art. 12). As in creation God
                                             spoke and it was done, so in regen-          If man is the product of evolution
                                             eration God speaks and the dead are                      of  any kind,
                                             raised as new creatures!                           accountability to God
Rev. Kuiper is pastor ofImnanue1  Prot-           The relationship between crea-              is impossible to maintain,
estant Reformed Church in Lacombe,           tion and salvation is seen in the call-      and all moral standards are lost.
Alberta, Canada.                             ing that the redeemed child of God
                                                                                                 May I,1991  / Standard Bearer 1357


      The parallel continues. The             are so closely related and intricately        dominions, or principalities, or pow-
Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day            interwoven in the Scriptures that an          ers: all things were created by him,
W maintains that among those things           attack upon one is an attack, with            and for him." The entire passage,
necessary for the Christian to believe        equal force, upon the other. Another          Colossians 1:15-19,  takes us into the
is that "God the Father, Almighty, (is        point must be made here. It is cer-           eternal counsel of God. There we
the) Maker of heaven and earth." And          tainly true that God speaks in crea-          must take our stance, there we must
Lord's Day IX explains the first ar-          tion and God speaks in Holy Scrip-            walk very carefully, and there we
ticle of the Christian faith in terms of      ture. However, these two means by             may do so without fear as we confine
comfort and reliance. This Almighty           which God makes Himself known                 ourselves to God's own revelation of
God and faithful Father "who of noth-         unto us are not equal in power or in          these mysteries. Then we find that
ing made heaven and earth, with all           purpose or in clarity. The word of            before the worlds were, when there
that isin them" is my God andFather,          God in creation and the word of God,          was only God, He is pleased to heap
so that I need have no doubt but He           the Bible, do not stand on the same           glory upon His Son in our flesh, the
will provide for me and will make all         level! This must be kept in mind              Lord Jesus Christ: He is the image of
those things which He sends me in             when men study the creation through           the invisible God, the firstborn of every
this valley of tears to turn out to my        scientific investigation.     Although        creature; He is before all things and
advantage. The Scriptures also teach          Scripture must be used to cast light          by Him all things adhere or hold
that redemption in Christ is not only         upon the study of creation (Calvin            together; He is the head of the lbody,
a redemption for the new humanity             said that the spectacles of Scripture         the church; He is the beginning; He is
of the elect, but also a redemption in        must be on our noses when we study            the firstborn from the dead. All things
which the entire cosmos shares (Rom.          creation), the results of the study of        were created by Him and for Him, as
8:19-22). Further, because God has            creation may not be used to under-            that glorious image of the invisible
created man in His own image and              stand the Bible! The rule for theology        God and Head of the church. And
after His own likeness, man is ac-            and for science is Scripture alone!           God's purpose in this arrangement
countable and responsible before God.         Different scientific views change of-         and appointment is "that in all things
If man is the product of evolution of         ten and radically; the truth of Scrip-        Christ may have the preeminence"
any kind, accountability to God is            ture remains unchanging. And the              and "that in Him all fulness should
impossible to maintain, and all moral         truth of Scripture is derived, not from       dwell."
standards are lost. Finally, when Je-         what man discovers or thinks he dis-
sus taught us the lessons of the king-        covers in the study of creation, but it                  True scholarship
dom of heaven He used parables; the           is derived from the study of Scripture                           is
Master threw alongside each other             in the light of other Scriptures! A                   believing scholarship.
earthly creatures and heavenly veri-          denial of Genesis I-11 as the literal
ties, either explaining His point very        word of God;or the setting forth of                Scientists demand a climate of
patiently, or leaving it for the Spirit to    these chapters as a word of God en-           academicfreedominwhichtopursue
reveal to the church His meaning.             lightened by theistic evolution or the        their work, and lately theologians are
Clearly, God created the earthly crea-        period theory, will result in the de-         insisting upon exegetical freedom with
tion with a view to the heavenly; the         nial of all the Scriptures as the infal-      which to delve into the Scriptures.
present creation is a temporal picture        lible Word of God. You can not have           Where these freedoms have been
of the new heavens and earth wherein          itbothways: aBible, on the one hand,          granted or taken, the results have
dwelleth righteousness (II Pet. 3:13;         that is trustworthy, infallible, and clear    been that the Bible has been so
Rev. 21).                                     when it speaks to us of gracious sal-         interpreted that its clear meaning is
                                              vation, and a Bible, on the other, that       lost and its single message is denied.
                  The rule                    is flawed, untrustworthy, and obscure         The word of man replaces the Word
     for  theology and  for science           when it speaks of creation, during the        of God, and aIZ the revelation of God
             is  Scripture alone!             history of which that redemption is           inChristislost.  Oh,foratimevarious
                                              worked out. The revelation of God is          subterfuges are tried, all kinds of
      The foregoing makes clear that          always in Jesus Christ, and that reve-        theories are foisted upon the
whenever we say something about               lation is a unity! One denies this            Scriptures, but in the end Scripture
the creation, about its present state         unity to his peril!                           must go. No matter in what field a
andits final end, about the act of God             The clearest Word of God on the          man is busy, he must know himself to
in creating, about the claims of scien-       relationship between creation and             be bound by the Word of God. And for
tific theories, and about the so-called       redemption is found in Colossians             those in the Reformed tradition, this
fossil evidence, we had better be aware       1:16: "For by him (Christ) were all           means that they are also boundby the
that we are not only speaking of crea-        things created, that are in heaven,           Three Forms of Unity. This is not a
tion but we are at once speaking of           and that are in earth, visible and in-        disadvantage or a stumbling block,
redemption in Jesus Christ! The two           visible, whether they be thrones, or          but when a man bows in a hulmble

358  I Standard Bearer/May  1,199l


faith to the Word of God, when he             ing and cooling. About six billion          sible to our puny minds! The word of
knows that everything outside of that         years ago our galaxy, the Milky Way,        the almighty God in His Son! Re-
Word is darkness, when he labors to           was formed. Around four and a half          ceived by faith!
extol the Creator-God and the Lord            billion years ago the history of the             By Christ andfor  Christ. Would
Christ, then is he free indeed! True          planet earth begins. Around three           the all-wise God use twenty billion
scholarship is believing scholarship.         and a half billion years ago single-cell    years to evolve a universe and an
Never dare a man peer through a               life forms appear. The primates about       earth on which the history of redemp-
microscope or a telescope without             sixty-seven million years ago, and          tion shall take place, the history of
this Word of God in his heart and             man in various stages of develop-           which is a mere six or seven thousand
mind: "All things were made by                ment from two million to a hundred          years? Would the all-wise God take
Christ and for Christ!"                       thousand years ago. We ask you to           such time to prepare the foundation,
     The passage in Colossians 1 re-          compare that chronology to the chro-        when the house of His glory .takes
veals that the whole work of God in           nology that God gives us in the Bible.      only a few thousand years to com-
salvation flows forth out of His coun-        We ask you to read the Bible with a         plete? Not only do we find this anti-
sel. In that counsel Christ is first, for     childlike faith. We ask you to have         biblical, we find this contrary to the
it is the good pleasure of God to unite       your children read the Bible, and tell      revealed purpose of God. Immedi-
all things in Christ as the head of His       you what they understandit to mean.         ately after the Fall God comes with
church and as the head of all creation.       As one of our seminary professors           the Christ-centered promise; respect-
The earthly creation was not first in         used to say, that is a good test for the    fully we say, God could not wait!
God's counsel, the heavenly creation          true meaning of the Bible! Then we          Before the full three days and three
was. Adam was not first in His coun-          learn that creation took place in six       nights were passed, God raised His
sel, Christ was. In Him must all              ordinary days, and creation took place      Son from the dead; respectfully we
things be perfected and glorified.            by the almighty, speaking God! He           say, God could not wait! God suffers
Therefore what is first in God's coun-        spoke and it was done; He commanded         long with His people, forbearing the
sel (the glory of His grace in the salva-     and it stood fast! And God spoke in         wicked, before He sends Christ to
tion of the elect church in Jesus Christ)     Jesus Christ, the Word which was            make all things new; respectfully we
is last in time (the glorification of that    from the beginning. He spoke a crea-        say, God can not wait! Christ must
church with the coming of Christ).            tive word, and the creature He had in       have the pre-eminence! And He does!
And what is last in that counsel (the         mind eternally appeared immediately.                                                 cl
creation of the heavens and earth and         Staggering thought! Incomprehen-
all they contain) is first in time (in the
beginning God created the heavens
and the earth). Christ is the Alpha
and Omega of all things! In Him all
creatures must be united into one
heavenly kingdom. And to that pur-                              By the word of the Lord
pose of God everything else is subor-
dinated in His counsel and in time:                              were the heavens made;
creation, the fall of mankind into sin,
the promise of redemption, the rag-                             and all the host of them
ing of the devil and the unbelief of the
world, redemption at the cross, every                        by the breath of his mouth.
event of history. All things for Christ!
In Him all things consist and have
their meaning. He is the beginning,                                        For he spake,
the principle, or fountain source of
everything that happens from the be-                                    and it was done;
ginning of creation to the end of it.
How precious the Son of God in our                                       he commanded,
flesh is to the Father! What pre-emi-
nence is bestowed upon Him!                                            and it stood fast.
     We read recently a short "chro-
nologyof origins." About twentybil-
lion years ago, our universe was con-                                      Psalm 33:6,9
centrated in a very small volume.
Then something led to a "big bang"
which led to long periods of expand-

                                                                                                  May 1,199l I Standard Bearsir  1359


   THE
STANDARD                                                                                                         SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                                 Postage Paid at
  BEL1RER                                                                                                        Grand Rapids, Michigan
 l?O. Box 60M
 Grand Rapids, MI 49506


                                              News From our Churches 
Mr. Benjamin Wigger                                                                                            (abbreviated)

Ministerial Calls                                 RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                              WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
        The congregation of the Hope               The Council of the South Holland                  On May 10, 1991 our parents and
PRC in Isabel, SD extended a call to          Protestant Reformed Church does here-             grandparents,
                                              with express its sympathy to fellow office-         MR. and MRS. EDWARD  CAMYENGA,
Rev. B. Gritters to serve as their pas-       bearer James Lanting, his wife, and chil-         celebratetheir4Oth  wedding anniversary.
tor.                                          dren in the loss of their father-in-law, fa-      We are thankful to our covenant God for
        Rev. R. Cammenga declined the         ther, and grandfather,                            the love and Christian instruction we have
call he had been considering to serve                    MR. DICK BLEYENBURG                    received from them in these years. May
as missionary to the area of Venice,          whom the Lord took to Himself on March            the Lord continue to bless and keep them
FL.                                           20,1991. May their grief be turned to joy         in the coming years. "But the mercy of the
        And the Hudsonville, MI PRC,          by the words of our Lord Jesus Christ             Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
the calling church for a missionary to        which tell us in John 14:2,  3, "I go to          upon them that fear him and his right-
Lame, Northern Ireland, has formed            prepare a place for you. And if I go and          eousness unto children's children" (Psalm
a new trio from which they will call          prepare a place for you, I will come again,       103:17).
on April 21. The trio consists of the         and receive you unto myself; that where I         Rev. Ron and Rhonda Cammenga
                                              am, there ye may be also."                              Rebekah, Catherine, Ben, Chuck,
Revs. B. Gritters, C. Haak, and D.                       Rev. Charles Terpstra, President             Laura, Leanne, Amy, Daniel, Tracy
Kuiper.  IJ                                                         George Vroom, Clerk         Randy and Joyce Cammenga
                                                   RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                             Wesley  and  Lauren
Mr. Wigger  is a member ojthe Protestant            The Council of the South Holland            Rev. Ron and Nancy Hanko
Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michi-        Protestant Reformed Church wishes to                    Jenny, Ryan, Sarah, Jessica,
gan.                                          express their sincere sympathy to Rev.                  Herman, Neal, Rosanna
                                              George Lanting, his wife, and his chil-           Tim and Sandy Sale
                                              dren, in the recentdeath of Rev. Lanting's              Jamie
            TEACHERNEEDED                     father,                                           Bob and Shelley Cammenga
        Hope Christian School of Redlands                MR. LAMMERT LANTING.                   Tom and Sherry Cammenga
needs a teacher for the coming year. For      May their hearts be lifted up and made                  Travis
information, pleasecontact Mr. Ed Karse-      glad, for his confession was, "For to me to                                     Holland, Michigan
meyer at the school (714) 793-4584 or         live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippi-                TEACHERS NEEDED
Mr. Bill Feenstra (714) 793-3597.             ans 1:21).                                              Covenant Christian High School of
        RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                           Rev. Charles Terpstra, President       Grand Rapids, Ml is accepting  applica-
        Herewith the members of the RFPA                            George Vroom, Clerk         tionsforthe positions of band directorand
(Standard Bearer3  Board and the Per-              RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                       choir director. Interested persons should
manent Committee for the Publication of             The Ladies Aid Society of the First         contact Miss Agatha Lubbers at school:
Protestant Reformed Literature extend         Protestant Reformed Church (Grand                 1401 Ferndale  S.W., Grand Rapids, Ml
their most sincere Christian sympathy to       Rapids) expresses her heartfelt sympa-           49504 (616) 4535048, or at home (616)
their chairman and fellow member, Neal        thy to one of her members: Mrs. Jean              458-2057.
Pastoor, concerning the death of his fa-       Pastoor in the death of her husband                   RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
ther                                                       CHARLES PASTOOR                            The Men's Society of the Doon  PRC
           CHARLES PASTOOR.                   who was called home on March 28,199l.             wishes to express its sincere sympathy to
         "To everything there is a season,           Our prayer is that she may find            a fellow member, Henry Bleyenburg, in
and a time to every purpose under the          peace and comfort in the beautiful words         the death of his father,
heaven . . . a time to weep - a time to        of Psalm 91:1,2:  "He that dwelleth in the                   DICK BLEYENBURG.
mourn" (Ecclesiastes  3:1-8). Precious in      secret place of the Most High, shall abide       "For whether we live, we live unto the
the sight of the Lord is the death of his      under the shadow of the Almighty. I will          Lord; and whetherwe die, we die unto the
 saints" (Psalm 11615).                        say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my           Lord: whether we live therefore, or die,
               P. Koole, Secretary (RFPA)      fortress; my God: in him will I trust."          we are the Lord's" (Rom. 14:18).
           Chuck Kregel, President (PPRL)                 Mrs. George DeVries, President                     Chester Hunter, Jr., President
          David Harbach, Secretary (PPRL)                 Mrs. Sidney DeYoung,  Secretary                        Henry Miersma, Secretary

 360 I Shdard  Bearer/May 1,199l


