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Vol. I. No. 3                                            DECEMBER, 1924                                                       Subscription Price $1.50

                                                                            Night had fallen when there they prepare to make their
                                                                        abode for the night.
                                                                            Because there was no room for them in the inti. . . .
                     NO ROOM FOR HIM                                        There was no room for them. . . .
                            . . .  .Because there  wais  no room for
                            &hem  in  the inn.  - Luke  II:Tb.              And one of them was the blessed among women! Thus
                                                                        the angel had greeted her, when he had visited Mary's
   Eveiling was falling.                                                lowly dwelling in Nazareth, with the wonderful message
  The shadows were growing longer.                                      on his heavenly lips that a virgin should bring forth a
  Twilight's hush was spreading a still expectancy over                 Son! Thus also had Elizabeth recognized Mary when the
the country surrounding Bethlehem. The landscape's rich                 latter visited her cousin : "Blessed art thou among women.
and manifold colors had not as yet been utterly defaced,                and blessed is the fruit of thy womb". And the silent
hut the deep blue of Palestine's heaven, the shining green              Mary, wont to hide things beneath the quiet surface of
of the olive and the pale tint of the almond were fast                  her profound heart and given to still pondering, had
being  swallowed up by the dusk and blending in the gray                broken forth in  jovous strain:  "My soul doth magnify
of evening. Even at this late season! for it was winter                 the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
in the Promised Land, the rich fields, vine-clad hills and              For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden:
terraced gardens around the City of David presented a                    for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me
picturesque view.                                                       blessed".
   Two weary travelers were approaching the ancient city
uf Israel's most renowned king, a man revealing the vigor                   Supremely blessed among women was Mary.
of youth in spite of his evident weariness, and a woman                     Blessed she was, not simply because of the glad ex-
scarcely having passed the threshold of womanhood.                      pectation of approaching motherhood. Surely, also this
Judging by their outward appearance, one should not have                blessing was hers in that night of nights when Joseph
classed them with the rich of the land. For even though                 and she were crowded out of Bethlehem's inn and sought
a careful observer might have been reminded of long                     lodging in a place for cattle. Gladness fills the heart of
forgotten royalty and nobility by the features of these                 the parent and the sorrows of a laborinx  mother are soon
two strangers. yet the man made the impression of being                  forgotten for the joy of possessing a child in the world.
a common tradesman and the woman was dressed in the                      And in anticipation of this happiness Mary took up her
garb of the common Israelitish woman. A long journey                    abode in the stable that night. Yet, nothing distinguished
lay evidently behind them, for they did not pause to take                her in this  recgard  from any mother in the world. And.
in the beauty of the evening, and a sigh of satisfaction, besides, the mere joy to bring a child in the world and
escaped their breast as, leaving behind them the gardens                 for the world is far from unmixed. Expectation of mere
surrounding the city, they enter the city of their fathers.              motherhood did not make Mary the supremely blessed
                                                                         among women.
   In the little town all was astir. `For the same command                   Greater joy filled the heart of Mary  becazse  of the
of the mighty Caesar that had brought Joseph and Mary                    fact, that as mother she might take her place among
to Bethlehem, caused the city to be overcrowded with                     Israel's women, who in  brin,ging  forth their children
visitors that had come to be enrolled. And so it happened                labored in the blessed hope of the realization of the
that every home was lodging its strangers, that even the                 promise made to the fathers in times of yore. In the
inn was filled to capacity, and that no choice was left to               midst of sorrow the eye of these covenant-women,  belie-
the strangers from Nazareth but to turn to one of the                    vine the promise and lookinK for an heavenly country with
caves on Bethlehems outskirts, to seek lodging for the                   faithful Abraham, looked hopefully far hevond the present
night in a place where passing caravans used, to stable                  and the things of this world, toward the blessed and ever-
their cattle,                                                            lasting reign of David's mighty Son. In this hope shared

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

Mary. She looked forward to the realization of Israel's             And they crowd Him to the accursed tree. . . .
hope. But  even this, though distinguishing her from so             Because there was no room for Him in the inn of the
many  thousands of women that labored in vain because             world.
they were laboring merely for the world, was not the
cause of Mary's supreme joy and blessedness.                        But is not the relation toward Him different in the
     For even among these covenant-women and believing            world of to-day?
Israelitish mothers, Mary occupied a place of unique                Superficially considered it would seem so.
distinction. Had not the angel that is standing before              For who does not adore the Master in the  modern-
God, mysteriously dropped the message from heaven that            religious world and swear by His name? Who, on glad
she would be mother though still a virgin? And had he             Xmas  day, does not take his children to that sweet little
not explained upon her anxious query how these things             baby in its manger-cradle, to teach them how a poor boy
might be, that the power of the Most High would over-             with all things against him from his very birth may
shadow her and that He who was to be her Son forever              become a truly great man? Who, in the modern world,
wouId  be called the Son of God and sit on David's throne         refuses to follow the good Man of Galilee on His travels
forever? Were they, by heavenly injunction. not to call           thru the country of His people, to take as his example
the name of her Son Jesus, because He would save His              all the good He did for society, to listen to His remark-
people from their sin ? Mother of Israel's Saviour Mary able reformatory discourses  fuII of love, to watch Him
was to be, the King of kings was to assume her own flesh          feed the hungry, help the sick, express His sympathy with
and blood! This was her  &ique  privilege from the Lord.          the poor and needy and invite publicans and sinners into
     And this  glad hope was to be  reaIized  that very night!    His company? Or what is more, who would refuse to
                                                                  follow to Golgotha to take an object lesson that even as
     But there was no place for them, not even in the inn.        He so we must be ready to lay down our lives for our
.:1nd because there was no  pIace  for them, there was no         fellow men. Surely, the world adores Jesus, the Good
room for Him to Whom she was to give birth.                       Man, the Master who revealed to us the Fatherhood of
     And it happens that even at the very moment of His           God and the Brotherhood of man, who taught us to
birth, Jesus is crowded out to the very edge of the world.        beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into
Born in a stable, laid in a manger!                               pruninehooks, the Prince of Peace. . . .
     Because there was no room for Him in the inn!                  The inn-doors of the world are thrown open wide and
                                                                  all the inside crowd are beckoning Him to take His place
     No room for Him!                                             among them. . . .
     Strange, yet prophetic incident !
     Full of strange and mysterious contrasts is that manger        But they labor under an illusion. For it is a Jesus of
in Bethlehem's stable. Is that babe not Israel's King, yet        their own imagination, a Phantom-Man, a dream.
was ever a king born in circumstances less suggestive of            For speak now of the Christ of the Scriptures, whose
royaltv, more beggarly and abjectly poor? Is that babe            poverty is ours, who humbled Himself even unto death
not Mighty God. infinitely glorious. whom  tlie heavens           and shed His life-blood because of God's justice and our
and the heaven of heavens are not able to comprehend  ;           iniauity. Go now to the door of that world-inn and let
yet is He not wrapped in swaddlin&othes  and held by a            Jesus speak of sin and righteousness and judgment, and
manger? Was it not the  anEel's  injunction from God that         teII the inside  throng that they must be washed in His
he must be called Jesus because He was to save His people         blood and that Christ is nothing to them, no Example,
from their sins? Yet is He not crowded out by the very            no Master, no Good Man and no Teacher, if He is not
people He came' to save? Israel's  KinT in miserable              first their Redeemer, who purchased them as His people
poverty! God in  swaddlim-clothes  ! The Saviour crowded          and must wash the  ,elty stains from their heart and
out to the very  edge of the world!                               mind.  -<nd the inn-door will be closed, and from within
     Yet. that crowded inn is prophetic of the world's rela-      you will  ag-ain  here the murmur of the Galilean  bread-
tion to Him that was born in the stable.                          seekers : "This speech is hard, who can hear it?"
     There is no room for Him.
                                                                    The world of to-day is as the world of His own day.
     No room there is for Him in Israel. No place for Him,          There is no room for Him in the inn.
the carpenter's son, in his home town, and presently  the!:                                                            ,_  "-.._  _.-
p,ush  him to the edge of the precipice for the purpose of          No room!
thrusting Him out of the world. No place for Him in                 How proper it should be thus!
the hearts and minds of the worldlv-minded  bread-seekers           For, on the other hand, in the world's inn thev serve the
of Capernaum and thev forsake Him, offended  by His               world's Prince. He has dominion there. Under his
speech. No  pIace for Rim in Jerusalem that  kiIreth the          dominion darkness  blinds  their.eyes so that thev cannot
uronhets,   among priests and elders, in secret counsel or        yee the lig-ht  shining in their midst. Enmity fills the hearts
Sanhedrim. And all this  worId  ultimately crowds  to-            against God and His annointed. And because their works
<ether  and unite in shouting:  "pl.wav  with  Wim, away          are evil they love darkness rather than  light. And He is
with Him!                                                         the Light. mercilessly exposing the dark hypocrisy of the


      human heart-  %nd, opening the whitewashed sepulchre of                "V~B~~~~ENBON~~IGGEHOUD~~~QRDEN"
      the Pharisee's  soui. Without hesitancy he deprives every               Thuis van zijn  tweeden  tocht, meent "The Standard
      man of all his  boasteil  glory and self-righteousness, and           Bearer" weer het een en ander  te.  moeten   opmer&en  in
      brings him naked to Him that judges righteously and                   verband  met' de door hem opgedane ervaringen.
      whose eyes burn thru to the deepest recesses of the soul.                Aan het reizen raakt hij al  zoo'n beetje  Lvwoon,   of-
      That dark and  .hostile  world, unless changed by His own             schoon hij nog  iiiet  alle  moeilijkheden te boven is, en
      gracious power, must refuse to let Him in, cannot  -but               enkele adressen ook  wet verkeerd las.
      crowd Him out.                                                           Sij de vrienden, die zeer in aantal toenamen, was de
        And on the other hand, no flesh may glory in His                    ontvangst hartelijk. Zij zijn uitstekend  voldaan  over ons
      presence.                                                             blad, betreffende inhoud en vorm beide ; en men. verstaat
         For, surely, this poor babe of Bethlehem, for whom                 zeer  wel, dat er voor het  tegenwoordige  niet meer van de
      there was no place in the inn is destined to have room in             redactie en de publicatie commissie `mag worden  gevraagd.
      the world. But it is room, not given Him by the world,                Dit neemt  echter  niet  weg, dat  velen  oordeelen, dat het
      but created for Him by the very wonder of His own                     blad  noodig  tweemaal  per  maand  moest verschijnen, of
      grace. `The glory is all His. From the very edge of the               eigenlijk, indien `t maar kon,  elke week, "The Reformed
      world in the humiliating stable, He pushes His way into               Free Publishing Association" deelt dat  gevoelen.  Er
      the world. Over the cross and thru the grave He stead-                wordt behoefte gevoeld aan geregelde systematische voor-
      fastly advances till He is received in the highest heavens,           lichting en onderwijzing, en  aan bestendig contact.  Daar-
      angels and principalities and-powers being made subject               mede  hopen we dan ook naar ons vermogen  rekening  te
      tmto  Gim. Thence, as the Lord of heaven and having                   houden  ; en we doen hierbij tevens een beroep op de har-
      become the quickening Spirit He edges His way into the                telijke medewerking van al onze vrienden.
      hearts of thousands from all nations and  tonLgues and
      tribes, exposing sin. breaking sinful pride, making humble               In het kamp der tegenstanders verneemt rn,en  in hoofd-
      publicans of conceited pharisees, cleansing and justifying            zaak  s!echts  een geheimzinnig gemompel. Het  schel ge-
      and dwelling in them even as the Father dwells in Him.                roep van: "Anabaptist",  "Dweper", "Doopersch",  "Be-
      And thus, by the irresistible power of His grace He                   krompenheid", enz.. vroeger zoo gansch  algemeen,   weer-
      realizes the spiritual temple of God's covenant : "1 in them          klinkt niet meer. De  discussies  over het "dogma", het
      and Thou in Me, that we may be perfect in one."'                      L`leerstuk".  de "thearie" der zoogenaamde gemeene gratie,
         And presently all things will be united in Him, things             op de hoeken  der straten, op de colleges en in de vergader-
      in heaven and things on earth, and God shall spread His               plaatsen van onderwijzers en leerlingen, van  voorgangers
      tabernacle over all. . , .        1                                   en  volgelingen  van afgevaardigden en machthebbenden
                                                                            ni jn eveneens verstomd. Ook de  per-s,  `speciaal  de  kerke-
         No room for Him in the inn. . . .                                  lijke  per-s!  bewaart over de zaak waar het  eigeniijk  om'
         Such was the sad beginning. . . .                                  gaat  volhardend het stilzwijgen. En van een gehoor geven
                                                                            aan de opwekking der Synode om  "bet  leers& der  Ge-
         But He makes room for Himself. Room in your con-                   meene Gratie" in nadere studie te nemen verneemt men
      trite and broken heart, room in your weary and laboring               tot nog toe  Keen  taal of  teeken.   Thans  hebben  mannen
      soul, room in the hearts of all that are given Him by the             van vermaardheid om hunne kennis van het Gereformeer-
      Father, room in heaven and earth, till the Kingdoms of                de kerkrecht en de Gereformeerde kerkregeering de zetels
      the world shall be His. . . .                                         ingenomen. Men  vergadert veel, meestal  achter gesloten
         Then there  will be room for Him, and for His, and                 deuren, laat niet meer uit dan strikt noodig is, wint advies
       for no other. And all this shall be forevermore, solely              in bi i deskundigen,  en vraagt ten slotte, na veel deliberatie
      attributed to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus en rijp beraad, kerkelijke bekrachtiging van de  gevonden
      Christ. . . .                                                         oplossing,  oordeelvelling en beslissing. Het  vraagstuk der
                                                                            ,gemeene   gratie onder ons  staat thans in het  teeken  van
         Solely of grace.                                                   de kerkeli jke discipline. die over personen  gaat.  Zorgvuldig
                                                  1..              H. H.    elke botsinp met `<de loochenaars van de algemeene  ge-
                                                                            nade"   *vermi  jdende, zoekt men nu "de verachters van de
                                                                            Spnodale uitspraken" te treffen met den banbliksem.
                   My God, my everlasting Hope.                                De wijze.  waaron   zulks  wordt bewerkstelligd, is  onge-
                       I live upon Thy truth ;                              ; veer  als  volgt : Uitzonderingen  daargelaten.   geeft men
                   Thy hands have held my childhood up,                     `rewoonlijk eerst te kennen.  vooral in persoonlijke  ont-
                       r"ind  strengthened all my youth.                    `meeting,  die niet  altiid te vermijden is, dat men de heele
                   Still has my life new wonders seen,                      situatie eenvoudig  spi  itiy vindt. De  moeilijkheid, die de
                       Repeated every year;  "                              hroeders H. D. en H. H.  verleden  zomer ondervonden  op
                   Behold my days that yet remain.                          de breedste  vergaderina der Christeli jke  Gzreformeerde
                       I: trust them to Thy care.  "                        .kerken-  te Kalamazoo, Michigan, weer  ophalen wil men
I-                                                                          met.  Men'%%  gaarne,   zeer  gaarne   zelfs, zien, dat ze door
                                                         BOGAZTKY.          brbederhjke  bespreking geheel  uit den weg werd geruimd.
                                                         `.  ,.


                                                                                                              ..~           ,~
.  .                   _.~,.        i,           .     .     ,,:.2      `..              .;      :           ..,       ^
                                  .,       .'                .

                                                                  /  THE       S T A N D A R D                   B E A R E R
        van verzoening en vereeniging. Hij is de Vriend, die
        met zijne ziel borg geworden is.                                       ,                                *.                         GOD AND SIN                 `..
                                                                                                                                  \
          In Hem  ligt de  CCne schepping Gods dan ook van  eeu-                                                                       . . . . "for in the day that  &IOU eatest thereof,
        wigheid  gewaarborgd. In Hem ligt de schepping van ecu-                                                                        bhou shalt surely die.  - Gen.  lI:17.
        wigheid tot eeuwigheid vast aan God. In Hem is de schep-                                        The first Adam fell. Even as Satan was deceived by
        ping met God vereenigd, en is God in haar  C&n.  .&ls de                                   himself and probably stumbled over his own beauty and
        verbondsband in Adams  harte door de  zonde verbroken                                      the glory of the place assigned to him by his God into the
        wordt, dan blijft die  tech  binden  in den  tweeden  mensch,                              darkness of his Satanic pride, so the first man in Paradise
        den Heere uit den  hemel.  Als in Adams hart de liefde                                     yielded to the temptation of the father of the lie and of
        omslaat in  haat, dan betuigt  Christus : "Ik draag uw                                     liars and fell into sin and death. Thru the fall of the first
        heilige wet, Die Gij den  stervling zet, In `t binnenst  in-                               man, the father of us all, and his spiritual alliance with
        gewand". Dan is Hij volvaardig, om Gods  wil-te-doen.                                      the Devil the latter has his spiritual seed among men, and
        Als er geen  slachtof?er  en spijsoffer en brandoffer en                                   becomes the father of a generation of liars. Thus it is,
        zondoffer meer gevonden wordt, en niemand zijnen  broe-                                    indeed, possible to speak of a fatherhood of the devil in
        der immermeer kan verlossen, omdat de verlossing  deer                                     the world, according to the Word of God: "Ye are of
        ziel te kostelijk is, en niemand Gode zijn rantsoen vermag                                 your father, the Devil." This fatherhood of the Devil
        te  geven; dan is  Christus nochtans Gode welbehagelijk,                                   stands in antithetical relation toward the fatherhood of
        om"den  arbeid zijner ziel, en dan gaat ook door zijne hand                                God, even as the Brotherhood of Liars stands antithe-
        het welbehagen des HEEREN  gelukkiglijk  voort. Met                                        tically over  agains! the Brotherhood of the children of
        vervulling  van  alle wet en schaduw en  symboliek  beurt                                  Light. And thus we obtain quite a  dif%erent  conception
        Christus Gods Schepping op uit haren val tot in de voor                                    of relationships in the world from the modern dream of
        haar bestemde eeuwige heerlijkheid.                                                        glorious general brotherhood of men based upon an
          Zeker, er is een laten liggen, een volharden in het                                      equally general fatherhood of God. For, surely, from a
        kwaad, eene verharding, eene verwerping, en een  uitwer-                                   purely physical point of view, apart from the history of
        pen in de  bmtenste  duisternis,  waar weening  zal zijn en                                sin and grace, the whole human race is organically one
        knersing der  tanden,   zelfs van  kinderen des koninkrijks  ;                             in Adam. But spiritually there exist in that one human
        maar het van God in  Christus verkorene wordt in Hem                                       race two brotherhoods, determined on the one hand by
        getrokken met' koorden van goedertierenheid, en aan den                                    the Fatherhood of Him Who is a Light and in Whom
        Schepper verbonden met onverbrekelijke  banden  van                                        there is no darkness, and on the other by the fatherhood
        vriendschap en liefde. Er zal dus zijn het  eeuwige   licht,                               of him who speaks of himself only when he speaks the lie.
        en de duisternis. In den Middelaar Gods en der menschen                                         But we are anticipating.
        werkt de band des verbonds. In Hem wordt in de volheid                                          How this twofold brotherhood is realized historically
        der tijden wederom alles  onder   &en hoofd  bijeenverga-                                  and develops itself organically is a matter for future
        derd, beide dat in den  hemel is en dat op de aarde is.                                    discussion. The question that presents itself at present
        Want het is des Vaders welbehagen geweest, dat in Hem                                      and that requires a definite answer before we will be
        al de volheid  wonen  zoude  ; en dat Hij door hem vrede                                   able to view all subsequent development and history in
        gemaakt hebbende door het bloed zijns kruises, door hem                                    their proper light is : what is God's relation to the his-
        zeg ik  alle   dingen  verzoenen zoude tot Zichzelven, hetzij                              toric entrance of sin into the world? Three questions,
 1 de dingen  die op aarde, hetzi j de dingen  die in de hemelen                                   relevant to this inquiry, present themselves for our dis-
        zijn. Daarmede  zullen de hemelen die  nu zijn, en de                                      cussion. First: what is the relation of God's determinate
        aarde, vergaan ; en  zullen  wij ontvangen, naar de belofte                                counsel to the fall of the first Adam? Secondly: what
        van Christus, nieuwe hemelen en eene nieuwe aarde, in                                      was the relation of God's cooperative providence to the
        dewelke  gerechtigheid woont. En die verloste,  vernieuw-                                  fall of man? And thirdly : how did God maintain Him- .
        de, wedergeborene schepping zal  deelen  in die  heerlijk-                                 self and His covenant after sin entered the world of man?
        heid en majesteit, waarvan de discipelen aanschouwers
        geweest zijn,  toen zij met  Christus op den heiligen berg                                      In answer to these questions and to eliminate from the
`"waren. En die eeuwige  scheppings  zal in hare hemelsche                                         outset all possible misunderstanding, it is probably safest
        eenheid waarlijk actief  e&n zijn met den Schepper door                                    to take our starting point in the important truth, that God
        de werking van den band des verbonds in Christus,  C&n                                     is a light and that there is no darkness in Him. This
        in de liefde Gods: de liefde, die in  Christus uitgaat tot statement from the Word of God does not signify simply,
        het creatuur en in Hem in de wederliefde van het schepsel                                  as is sometimes alleged, that God is wholly self-conscious
        wederkeert tot den God des verbonds.                                                       and knows the unfathomable depths of His divine Being
                                                                                    H .   D .      perfectly. We do not deny that this is true, neither that'
                                                                                                   it is implied in the statement that there is no darkness in
                                                                                                   God. But it does not exhaust the meaning of this figura-
                  Rwam  na lijden geen  verblijden,                                                tive statement. Light, as a figure in Scripture, certainly
                    Dan was lijden zielsverdriet;                                                  has ethical significance and, applied to God, refers to His
          .    Maar na lijden komt verblijden,                                                     immaculate moral perfection. Even as the figure "dark-
 -                  Daarom  acht  ik  `t  lijden   met.                                            ness" represents  all that is evil, unholy, impure, wicked,
                                                                                                        -


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      9

so light refers to that which is ethically perfect. God is       clreadful  accident, the first  si,gnificant  victory of the devil
essentially goodness and there is no evil in Him. He is          over God. And history becomes the scene of a frightful
righteousness and there is no unrighteousness in Him.            battle, in which God ultimately gains the victory, but not
He is holiness and there is no unholiness in Him. He             until in the course of thousands of years, the Creator
is. purity and there is no defilement in Him. He is              sustained horrific losses and saw His originally beautiful
essentially perfection and there is no imperfection in Him.      handiwork marred and devastated for century upon cen-
And in Himself, as the perfectly  Self-suff?cient  He lives      tury. He, then, restores order in the chaos wrought by
the full and eternal divine life of perfect goodness and         sin, but at the terrible price of the hellish suffering of
purest light.  4nd from this it also follows evidently,          His only begotten Son. And even when finally order and
that God is not the source or the Author of sin. On the          peace are restored thousands and millions of God's most
contrary, he hates sin and the workers of iniquity. To           noble creatures have been lost and suffer as the everlasting
impute evil to Him is a hideous monstrosity. No more             victims of this terrible accident in hell! If sin  is  an acci-
than darkness issues forth from the sun, no more can             dent all is a terrible mistake! As truly horrifying as is
sin proceed from Him who is a Light and in Whom                  the presentation that God could in any wise be the worker
there is no darkness. Intentionally we wish to emphasize         of iniquity, so alarmingly hideous is the separation of
this truth. Others have sometimes very improperly drawn          the fact of sin from the sovereign counsel of God. And,
their own conclusions from our conception of the relation        therefore, with relation to the subject under discussion,
between God and sin, and attributing their own wrong             we postulate in the second place, that God is God and that
conclusions to us, have made us assert that God is the           there is no God besides Him, and that for this very
author of sin. We will in no wise be responsible for the         reason His counsel always stood, always stands and shall
logic and conclusions of others. Besides, it must not be         stand forever. He always did and still performs all His
forgotten that the indictment of making God the Author           good pleasure. Not merely that our God shall have the
of sin was always lodged against the strictly Reformed           victorvd in the end and that then His counsel shall prove
view of the counsel of God with relation to iniquity.            supreme, but that He is continually victorious and that
There is nothing new in the accusation. Let it, therefore,       all the opposing forces are but means to His purpose,
be stated once for all, that to impute iniquity to the Holy      such is the implication of the truth we now state with
One is directly opposed to our view of the matter. The           equal emphasis as the first: God is God alone!
very suggestion as if evil might be found in God is
sufficient  to fill our soul with horror. God is a light and       We conclude. therefore, that according to any proper
there is no darkness in Him. His soul loaths iniquity and        and adequate conception of God, sin has a place in the
the wicked and He loves righteousness and the righteous.         sovereign counsel of God. No, God is not the Author of
                                                                 sin,  but. surely, sin and the agents that work iniquity, and
  On the other hand we equally abhor any presentation            the means whereby they work it, these are all fore-
of the relation between God and sin that is an encroach-         ordained in God's eternal purpose. We do not now have
ment upon the fundamental truth that God is God, that            to discuss the place of sin in the eternal counsel of the
He is God alone, that there is no God besides `Him and           Most High. These are hardly times to elicit a discussion
that, therefore, He continually fulfills all His counsel.        on the question of supra- or infra-lapsarianism. Nor does
God is God alone. "For who is God save the Lord and              it make a great deal of difference for our purpose. It
who is a Rock save our God?" Ps.  18  :31. Any dualistic         matters not which, side you prefer to take in the con-
conception is an infringement of God's unique divinity           troversy above referred to, the all-important fact remains,
and absolute sovereignty. To postulate that God surely           that you must admit that sin and its  a,Tnts and instru-
is mightier than all the opposing powers of evil and that,       ments are there and operate according to God's counsel.
therefore, He will have the ultimate victory over all that       From their own point of view these agents of iniquity
rises against Him; but nevertheless to maintain that these       may operate aeinst the Most High and aim to.oppose  His
powers of evil are to a certain extent operating  indepen-       counsel  ; from God's point of view, they simply serve
dantly from His will and counsel is to assert a dualism,         His good and wise purpose. And, therefore, the fall of
foreign to the revelation God gave of Himself in Holy            PLclam  was no accident, neither did it in any way interfere
Writ. Such a conception does not do justice to the truth         with the execution of God's plan with the world, but
that God is God alone. He may then be relatively supreme         Adam fell according to the determinate counsel of God.
in counsel and might, but there are nevertheless powers          God's purpose was not ended with the first  ndam,  and
and principalities independant of Him though inferior to         His counsel was not accomplished in earthly paradise,
Him. And these inferior but indepenclant powers may at           but He had purposed to lead  all things in heaven and on
least temporarily oppose Him with a certain measure of           earth to a higher and heavenly glory, uniting them all in
success. He may then  <gain  the victory in the end, but this    Christ Jesus.  ,4nd unto this also sin serves as a means
victory is not attained till these opposing forces of dark-      to an end. We know that by many this  is  called a hard
ness have repeatedly frustrated His counsel and made             doctrine, even as our Canons were called "the horrible
havoc of the works of His hands.  1-10~ truly horrible           decrees". But in the first place, let it be remarked that
any such presentation becomes to our minds when applied          this judgment of the sinful mind need not surprise us
to the actual course of history! Sin, then, becomes a            greatly. Tt is exactly the inherent characteristic of sin,

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

that it will not confess that God is God. The devil's            so we are taught, and correctly so, was endowed with a
promise in paradise that through disobedience man would          free will. But we must never forget that this must be
become like God struck root very deeply in our nature.           understood in a creaturely way. Adam was creature.
It is, therefore, more pleasing to the sinful heart to let       This surely implies that in all things he was dependant
all things turn on the hinge of Man's free will, even            upon his God. Independancy  is classed among the in-
though this must be done at the expense of God's unique          communicable attributes of God, if we distinguish God's
divinity. It is hard for men to take to heart the question       perfections in this way. God alone is independant, the
of the apostle Paul : `Who art thou o man, that answerest        creature is in no respect. In body and soul, in thinking
against God?" It is contrary to sinful nature to leave           and willing he is from moment to moment dependant
God on the throne without even desiring a share in His           upon God. Hence,  .when we speak of Adam's free will
sovereign reign. In the second place we deny that a              we may never understand this in a manner that presents
conception which leaves sin and the devil from moment            Adam's will as sovereignly independant over against, or
to moment serve God's purpose is harder than the presen-         next to the will of God. God's will is uncaused, Adam's
tation that subjects them to man's free will. On the             will is caused. In and thru and behind the will of man
contrary, the very suggestion that the power of evil and         operates the will of God, in such a manner that His
darkness and death might actually be left to such a              counsel shall stand, and that also thru man's will God
changeable thing as the choice of mortal creature, is  s&i-      performs all His good pleasures. This does not infringe
cient to make us shudder. Rightly conceived it is not a          the responsibility of man, still less his consciousness of
hard but a glorious truth, that all things, sin and the devil    responsibility. Man's responsibility does not require a
and all the wicked included, never accomplish their own          will that is as sovereignly free as the will of his Creator.
purpose but always serve the counsel of Him Who  ,is             It merely requires that he remains a free agent, the
good and wise beyond conception and in Christ our                conscious and willing subject of his own actions. God's
Father. And, lastly, lest it be objected that we are after       co6peration never encroaches upon this dependant free-
all dealing with matters that are secret, let us remind          dom, which causes man to be a responsible agent in his
ourselves, that this perfect sovereignty of God even over        own actions. A slave may probably be compelled by his
sin and its agents is the current thought of Holy Writ.          master, and therefore, by a power  fore@ to his own
Christ does not appear as an afterthought in Scripture,          will and choice to commit a crime. The master in that
but as the great end, to the realization of whose  kingdom       case is at least as responsible for the crime as the slave.
all other things serve as means to an end. Eph.  1:9, 10.        But never may God's  coaperation be presented in that
The wicked deliverance and crucifixion of the  T,ord  was        light. He does not become the Author of sin, neither
not an accident, a temporary victory of the devil, but           does He share the responsibilitv of his guilt. And yet the
according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge           will of  -4dam  did not work  indenendantly  from God's
of God, Acts 2  23. Pharaoh with all his power and               co6neration. But this sovereign will of God so  coijperated
wicked raving against the people of God does not appear          with the will of Adam that the latter of his own free
and reign as king in Egypt at that time accidentally, but        choice executed the counsel of God with regard  to*the
was raised up by God for that very purpose according             fall. Thus much must be maintained. It may not be
to'the Scriptures, Rom. 9  :17.  L4nd the vessels of wrath       possible for  us  to make evident to our understanding the
are fitted unto destruction because God willed to make           manner of this coijperation. the fact of it remains. Adam's
known His wrath and to show His great power. And,                free will was dependant because it was a creaturelv will.
therefore, our answer to the first question is, that God's       God executes His own counsel also thru Adam's will and
counsel stands when Adam falls.                                  choice.

      Nor is this the last word that must be said on the           The last matter to which our attention must be called
subject. For God not only decrees, but He also executes          with relation to Adam's fall is that God immediately
that purpose. God's decrees have been defined as the             maintains Himself and His covenant after the fall is
eternal purpose according to which He works all things           become an accomplished fact. He does so in a threefold
in time. If this is correct as it undoubtedly is, we are         way. First of  all He inflicts the punishment that was
confronted with still another question. For then it is           threatened : "in the dav  that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
evident, that He had not only ordained a place for the           surelv  die". It is well-known how some, following Dr.
fall of Adam in His eternal counsel, but that He must            A.  Kuyper Sr., prefer to interpret this threat and its
have  coiiperated  in  i4dam  by His providence unto the         execution. Tt is explained that the words: "in the day
execution of His decree in Adam's fall. Also  this must          that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" must be
he maintained. The manner of this divine  coijperation           understood as a sort of prophetic announcement on the
may present to our finite understanding still more difficul-     part of God, a  warninK  of the dire results that would
ties than the problem of God's all-determining counsel           follow from the eating of the forbidden fruit. God knew
with regard to sin, the fact as such may never be denied.        that death would follow from eating. To eat from that
Neither is it entirelv an unfruitful thing to confront the       tree would be similar to  taking poison. And God warns
problem involved. For it brings us face to face with the         against this. But, so the interpretation runs, this result
equally important question of Adam's free will. Adam,            was not realized, at least not on that very day. For then


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   11

and there Adam did not die. On the contrary, he lived           so little finished is every part, and so course are the
to be well-nigh a thousand years old. And if it is asked        strokes with which it is executed".  *> And a similarly
how it must be explained that God's warning announce-           minded philosopher, contemplating the same phenomena
ment was not fulfilled, the answer is to be sought in the       of suffering and disturbance in the universe, boldly states
immediate operation of God's common grace. The latter           that even human wisdom could improve upon the world,
acted as an antidote against the poison of sin and death.       and that, therefore, divine wisdom surely does not become
Man vomited the poison out again. And thus death on             manifest in it. Disturbance'and disarrangement, suffering
that very day was prevented. We do not hesitate to say          and agony, and idle laboring and vanity,-these are mani-
that we cannot  a-gree with this  exegese.  For, first, it      fest in the  worId, but not as it was originally created but
must be remarked, that the words : "in the day that thou        because of the curse of its Maker. Things do not seem
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die', cannot mean any-         evenly balanced, nature in vain looks for its equilibrium.
thing else than an announcement of punishment upon the          Now the gentle zephyr swells and rises up to a wild
act of sin. Eating from the tree itself did not subject         tempest, now it quiets down to a breathless stillness,
man under the power of death. Apart from a punitive             suffocating man and beast. Now, the thirsty creation is
act of God, death could never proceed from the tree. It         left to pant in vain for the beneficent showers in a
was, God who was to inflict the punishment of death             blighting drought; now it is flooded in a deluge from a
upon man. And, hence, the sentence from Gen. 2  ~17             bursting cloud; now it is devastated by a pelting hail.
must mean : "in the day that thou eatest thereof, I will        Suffering  and sorrow are the common  lot of God's
inflict the punishment of death upon thee". But in the          creatures, becoming keener and more intense according
second place, it is neither the conception of Scripture nor     as the creature rises in the scale of beings formed by the
of our confessions, that Adam did not die on that very          Creator of all. All creation groans and is subject to a
day: The interpretation proceeds from the wrong con-            terrible yoke of afflictions from which it is not able to
ception that separation of soul  and body is the essential      liberate itself.  -4nd besides, the creature is made subject
form of death.  .4nd this is not the case. Our confessions      to vanity and labors and toils in vain. It is well that the
have it :                                                       evolution-phi!osophy of the modern mind refers us to a
  "We reject the errors of those:                               period thousands and millions of years in the past for
                                                                evidence of its theory, for in the present there is no real
  "Who teach: that the unregenerate man is not really evolution. All things move and toil within the limits of
nor utterly dead in sin,`. Canons III,  1V:IV.  And the         the earthy and corruptible and as prisoners toiling from
Scriptures testify : "And VOLI  bath he quickened who were      morning till night in a treadmill, they remain where they
dead in trespasses and  s&s. Wherein in times past ye           are or arrive at the point whence they started. "One
walked, according to the course of this world, according        generation passeth away and another generation  cometh:
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now      but the earth abideth forever. The sun also ariseth and
worketh in the children of disobedience',. It is the cur-       the sun  goeth  down, and hasteth to his place where he
rent teaching of Holy Writ, that man is born dead in            arose. The wind goeth toward the south and turneth
trespasses and sins, and that he passes from death to           about toward the north ; it  whirleth about continually ;
death. till he is lost in eternal and outer darkness, unless    and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
he is regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Adam died, not            All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full :
approximately a thousand years after the fall, but on the       unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they
spot, in that day, according to the Word of God.' This          return again. All things are full of labor; man cannot
death consisted in "blindness of mind, horrible darkness,       utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear
vanity and perverseness of judgment, wickedness, rebel-         filled with hearing. The thing which hath been it is that
lion, obduracy of heart and will, impurity of affections".      which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall
It also consisted in this that his body was made subject        be done, and there is no new thing under the sun".  EccI.
to vanity and death and suffering in separation from the        1  :4--o. This does not speak well for the evolution theory.
tree of life. God maintained Himself over  a,gainst  the        Yet. thus is reality. The creature is made subject to
enemy, by revealing His antithetical relation to sin and        vanity. It labors to no purpose. It does not attain to the
inflicting the punishment of death upon the sinner. For         heavenly. It continually moves and labors as in a circle.
He is a Light and there is no darkness in Him.                  The labor of the sun, bearing the raindrops, scooped from
                                                                ocean and sea and lake, in soft cloud-vessels to the high
  In the second place, God maintained Himself by  send-         mountains. there to witness how they are poured out to
in<g the chilling breath of His curse upon all creation,        rush down again to the place whence thev were carried
subjecting all the creature to the yoke of bondage. It is       forth, is a picture, the silent  testimonv of creation con-
because of the manifestation of this curse of God in the        cerning the vanity to which it was subjected. "Vanity of
universe, that mere human philosophy is not able to             vanities, saith the Preacher, it is all vanity". No, the
understand the present arrangement and operation of             universe was not created in vanity, but it was subjected
things in the world "One would imagine,, thus one of            to it by reason of Him, who is a light and in Whom there
the representatives of  scepticism expresses itself, "that
this world had not received the last hand of the Maker,           *)  MC.  Gosh  ""Che Divine Government, pp.  2s~.  ~$3.


12                                        TIIE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

is no darkness, maintaining Himself over against a fallen            van de gemeene gratie op onze jongste Synode nauw
world.                                                               samenhingen, en waarmede de Synode zich dientengevolge
                                                                     we1 `moest inlaten, bestaan er in hoofdzaak vier. Daarvan
      But, surely, this is not the last word. God's counsel shall    willen  we thans melding  maken.
stand and He shall do all His good pleasure. And to this
good pleasure also belongs the glorious purpose which                  Allereerst dienen we dan te vermelden, dat de Synode
He purposed in Christ from before the foundation of the              een vijftal  punten,  betreffende welke men in verzoek- of
world. He maintains His covenant. Misery, suffering,                 ,bezwaarschriften, of instructies,  Synodale handeling  be-
vanity, these are not, could not be the last, the ultimatum          geerde, heeft uitgeschakeld. Om onderscheidene redenen
in the counsel of a good and  ,glorious  God. He does not            is de Synode daarop niet ingegaan. Het rapport der
leave His handiwork in the throes of agony, He does not              Commissie en de  Acta der Synode hebben in betrekking
leave His image-bearer in the power of darkness and                  tot deze uitschakeling het volgende:
its Prince, he does not allow the alliance between His                 "iidvies der Commissie in het algemeen ; cf.  Acta
covenant-friend and His arch-enemy to remain inviolated.             Synodi, bl. 121-124.
He maintains His covenant. Thus it is God's counsel.                   Op grond van de boven ontvankelijk verklaarde  stuk-
And thus it stands in history. Behind Adam stood Christ ken en  ingevolge  de instructies boven genoemd,  leg-t  uwe
and the fall of the former made room for the immediate               Commissie het volgende voor inzake het  betrokken  leer-
operation of the latter. -4dam  falls, but in the arms of            stuk en de punten, die daarmee  in  verband staan.
His Savior, according to the counsel of the Almighty                   I. In genoemde stukken werden de volgende  punten
Whose name is Wonderful. The old organism of the                     betreffende het leergeschil voor de aandacht uwer  Com-
race dies in its first root, but only to receive a New Root          missie gebracht  :
in the Second Adam. the Lord-from heaven. And the                        1. De gunstige gezindheid Gods jegens de  verwor-
life of  grace, the new, eternal, heavenly life, proceeding                   penen.
from this New Root shall quicken all that are included in                3Y. Het stuiten der zonde of  intoumen  van den  zon-
God's gracious and sovereign election, leaving the others,                    daar.
according to His righteous reprobation to develop in their               3\_. Het  doen van burgerlijk  goed door den  onweder-
sin unto corruption. And thus the basis is laid for the                       geborene.
development of the human race, along the antithetical                    4. De tweeledige werking van Gods wil in verkiezing
lines of sin and grace, till all things shall be fulfilled and                en verwerping.
perfected in new and greater glory than ever could have                  5-. Het stellen van verkiezing en verwerping op  CCne
been attained in First Paradise, in the eternal Kingdom                       lijn.
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And also until that time, in                   6 Des menschen verantwoordelijkheid.
all the history of the world, God's counsel stands, and                  7. De voorzienigheid Gods en de regeering aller  din-
from moment to moment He performs all His good                                gen.
pleasure.                                                                8. De Godsbeschouwing van Ds. H. Hoeksema.
                                                       H. H.             Q/. Het  nadruk   Ieggen  op den eeuwigen  raad en in
                                                                              het  algemeen  op den goddelijken factor.
                                                                       10. De onvoldoende Evangelic-prediking  van genoem-
           NOG BEN VIERTAL MEDEDEELINGEN                                      den leeraar.
  De  vorige keer hebben we melding gemaakt van het                    11. Het  krachteloos  maken  van de tweede  tafel der
oorspronkelijke voorstel van de commissie van praeadvies                      wet.
in zake de kwestie der gemeene gratie,  hetwelk  door de               12. Ook  wordt in  dCn dezer stukken geklaagd over
Synode  vervangen werd door een  gewijzigd   substituut-                      lichtvaardige beschuldigingen tegen ambtsdragers.
vnorstel, nadat een ander substituut-voorstel was  verwor-             II.    Uwe Commissie  is  van oordeel, dat de Synode
pen geworden. Wij  wezen  er  toen op, dat "de drie  pun-            sommige van deze  punten  in hare behandeling dient  uit
ten", door de Synode aangenomen,  zullen  moeten   worden            te schakelen :
ingedacht  in `t  licht van  hetgeen  de Cnmmissie  oorspron-            1. Wat we  vinden  in de  Instructie  van  Classis G. R.
keli jk voorstelde. Het is gebiedend  noodzakeli  jk, dat het                 Oost onder  punten  2,  5 en 6, en in het  bezwaar-
verband  worde  aangegeven  tusschen het  origineele van                      schrift van Rev. Van  Baalen onder punt B, he-
de adviseerende commissie en hetgeen de Synode daaruit                        treffende de voorstelling der leeraren H.  Dar&of
afleidde en eindelijk  be&&. Voor die  noodzakelijkheid                       en H. Hoeksema van de verkiezing en de  verwer-
staat  oak de Synode. Want zonder dat  verband   hangen                       ping; van des menschen verantwoordeli jkheid ; de
hare zoogenaamde "drie punten"  in de lucht. Wij konden                       Voorzienigheid Gods, en de regeering aller  dingen  ;
toen  daaroo  echter niet aanstonds nader  ingaan, en we                      a> omdat  soortgeli jke  uitdrukkin%gen door  supra-
kunnen  zulks  ook thans  nag niet; omdat het tot  recht                          lapsari&s  we1 meer gebruikt zijn zonder tot
verstand van de finale uitspraken der  Svnode betreffende                         kerkelijke discipline te leiden. (Maccovius : `dat
het  vraagstuk  van de algemeene  .genade noodig is, dat                          de verworpenen noodzakelijk zondigen en ver-
we eerst nader ken&  nemen van onderscheidene verwante                            Ioren  gaan')  ;
zaken.   - Van  zulke zaken, die met de concrete kwestie                      b) omdat de broeders  Danhof'  en Hoeksema de


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 23

lijke wijsheid en  schijnvroomheid van het pad  deer  waar-                 WIiiAT SCRIPTURES TEACH CONCERNING
heid afvoeren?                                                                            F A L L E N   M A N
   Indien zoo, dan ja, is voorzeker reformatie hard  noo-                 The first sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve,
dig, al zouden wij die niet willen zoeken op de banen,  die             emitted over the entire human race a copious stream of
"De Reformatie"' in Nederland uitbakent en plaveit.                     unspeakable misery and woe. Adam's guilt was imputed
   Maar een terugkeer tot zuivere  paden,  tot de Wet en                unto us. All men consequently are by nature children of
de Getuigenis, is  we1 allernoodzakelijkst  om een  waar-               wrath and the Divine threat "The day that thou eatest
achtig christelijk leven weer te leiden, gelijk het verbonds-           thereof thou shalt surely die" is realized in respect to
kind betaamt.. . . . . . . . . . . .                                    every individual. Man comes into the world a spiritual
   Nog eens  ; met verwondering hebben wij aangestaard                  corpse. The original holiness, beauty and perfection with
de woorden die Dr. H. H. K. in De Heraut van 12 Oct.                    which the Father of lights had clothed our first parents
1.1. schreef over den Volkenbond.                                       is wanting. Man's life upon this earth is a continual
   Wat zijn vader  jaren  lang  onder  veel smaad van                   death. And if he departs without Christ his decease is a
"liberalen van  alle  gading'"  bestreedt, wordt door den               plunge into the deep abyss of death eternal.
zoon aangeprezen en verheerli jkt !
   Tegen dezelfde leer en beschouwing die het Heraut-                     That all man are sinners is undeniably and abundantly
nummer door ons genoemd ten beste  gaf, een leer die                    asserted by Scriptures. Concerning the generations be-
 Christus zijn eere ontrooft en het christelijk leven  ont-             fore the Deluge it is reported that the wickedness of man
zenuwt, een leugenleer, werd door den ouden Kuyper                      was great on the earth and that every imagination of the
 jaren  en  jaren  lang met mond en pen gevochten.                      thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, that the
   De zoon, die `s vaders opvolger werd  aan Universiteit               earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence,
 en in diens lijfblad, verloochent al dit werk en dien                  that all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
 strijd. Voor hem is dat al  ijdel geweest.                             Genesis VI: 5, 11, 12. The flood brings no change. For
   Hij geeft, met Dr.  Kuyper's Gemeene Gratie in den                   in speaking of Noahs posterity the Lord said that the
 grm,  aan de vroegere aartsvijanden van "Christus.  onzen              imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Genesis
 Konin$'  het gansche terrein gewonnen.                                 8 :  2i. Who, complains Job, can bring a clean thing out
   En die Gemeene Gratie  zou het fondament van het                     of an unclean, not one. Job 14: 4. For there is no man
 Gereformeerde leven zijn?                                              that sinneth not. 1 Kings 8: 46. The Lord looked down
   Dat zij verre ! Daarvoor beware ons  onze Verbonds                   from heaven upon the children of men to see if there
. God!                                                                  were any that did understand and seek God. They are all
   Waar de Revolutie opstand was  tegen God en  ver-                    gone aside. They are all together become stinking. There
 werping  van `s Heeren  ordinanti& ; en die Revolutie over             is none that doeth good, no not one. Ps. 14: 2, 3. If thou
 "heel de linie", ook in Nederland, zegevierde, naar het                shouldest mark iniquities, 0 Lord, who shall stand? Ps.
 oordeel van wijlen Dr. A. Kuyper zelf ; de Vrijheidsboom               130: 3. For in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
 het  symbool  was van de verachters van het Kruis van                  Ps. 143 : 2. Who can say I have made my heart clean, I
 Christus ; en onder dien boom der boosheid en van rebellie             am pure from my sin? Proverbs 20 : 9. For there is not
 tegen God nog steeds wordt geschuild door de volken en                 a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not.
 regeerders der wereld ; daar is ook Dr. H. H. Kuyper                   Ecclesiastes 7: 20. Now we know that what things
 gedeserteerd uit "de slagorden des Ievenden Gods", en                  soever  the law saith, it saith to them who are under the
 roemt hij  nu mee met de vijanden des kruises van                      law, that every mouth may be stopped and that all the
 Christus.                                                              world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the
    Tmmers  .I"_ (`de  maatstaf van  hct  chri.steZijk   geloof",       deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His
 de eisch van Gods  Woord,   "kan  Niet  worden   aangelegd             sight ; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Rom. 3 : 19,
 VOOY het gewone  menschelijk   Ieven."                                 20. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world,
    Ikabod !                                                            and death by sin  ; and so death passed upon all men for
                                                           G. V.  3.    that all have sinned. Rom. 5 : 12. But the Scriptures hath
    (De schuine letter is van ons. G. V. B.  >                          concluded all under sin. Gal. 3 : 22. And the whole world
                                                                        lieth in  tickedness.   1 John 5 :  19;
                 Deze wereld  gaat voorbij,                                Man is sinful from  his very beginning: The wicked are
                Jezus' broedren, vreemdelingen  ;                       estran,ged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they
                 Laat ons `t lied der kindren Gods,                     are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison
                 "t Lied van eeuwig  Ieven   zingen   ;                  of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth
                 Zingen in den donkren  nacht,                           her ear,  whic$ will not hearken to the voice of charmers,
                 `t  Tieil dat ons bij Jezus  wacht   !                  charmirx never so wisely. Ps. 58: 4, 5. That which is
                                                                         born of the flesh is flesh. John 3 : 6. But  sin? taking
    Dwars door de menschheid  heen gaat de scheiding van                 occasion by the commandment, wrou.ght in me all manner
 beli jders en bestri jders van Christus.                                of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For
                                                      BAVINCK.           `I was alive without the law once : but when the command-


 2 4                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 ment came sin revived and I died. And the command-                    to do evil.  Jer. 13 -.23. Whosoever committeth sin is the
 ment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto                   servant of sin. If the Son, therefore shall make you free,
 death.  Rum. 8: 7-10. Wherein time passed ye walked                   ye shall be free indeed. John 8 : 34, 36. Because the carnal
 according to the course of the world, according to the `mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the
 prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh           law of God, neither indeed can be. Rom. 8: 7.
 in the children of disobedience, among whom also we                     The  natzrval  man is incapable and  unzetilling  to  even
 all had our conversation in times passed in the lust of               hear and see the right. He is spiritually and morally
 our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the             b&d  and  deaf.  Yet the Lord hath not given you a
 mind: and were by nature the children of wrath, even as               heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear unto
 others. Eph. 2: l-4.                                                  this day. Deut. 29 : 4. Then the eyes of the blind shall
        The heart  of  tm~z  is  p-rzcpt:  Every imagination of .be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
 the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Gen.             Isa. 35 : 5. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the
 6 :  5b. For the imagination of man's heart is evil from              prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness
 his youth. Gen. 8 : 21b. The fool hath said in his heart              out of the prison house. Isa. 42 : 7. Having eyes full of
 there is no God. Ps. 14: 1. The heart is deceitful above              adultery, and that cannot cease from sin, beguiling, un-
 all things and desperately wicked ; who can know it? Jer.             stable souls, a heart they have exercised with covetous
 17 : 9. And I will take away the stony heart out of your              practices, cursed children which have forsaken the right
 flesh.  Ezech. 36: 26. For out of the heart proceed evil              way, and are gone astray following the way of  Baalim
 thoughts, murders, adulteries,  fornications,  thefts, false          the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteous-
 witness, blasphemies. Matt. 15 : 19.                                  ness. 2 Pet. 2: 14-16. For all that is in the world, the
        The will  of  man is  corn@@@   and  his  mind is darkness:    lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of
 Therefore they say unto God, depart from us for we                    life. . . . . . , 1 John 2: 16. Hear now  this? a foolish people
 desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. Job 21: 14. Be-                 and without understanding, which have eyes and see not,
 cause that, when they knew God, they glorified him not                which have ears and hear not. Jer. 5 : 21. But they refused
 as God, neither were thankful  ; but became vain in their             to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their
 imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Pro-             ears that they should not hear.  Zach.  7: 11.
~ fessing themselves to be wise they became fools, and                   The  natztml  max  `lkrges  the members  of  his body to
 changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image              serve  1si.s wicked sozd: For their feet run to evil and make
 made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and  four-              haste to shed blood. Prov.  1 : 16. A proud look, a lying
 footed beasts, and creeping things. Rom. 1: 21-23. For                tongue and hands which shed innocent blood, a heart that
 it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and             deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in run-
 will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.               ning to mischief, false witness that speaketh lies, and he
 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where  is the                 that soweth discord among brethren. Prov. 6: 17-19.
 disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the                 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth, they
 wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of                 trust in vanity and speak lies, they conceive mischief, and
 God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God                  bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice eggs, and
 by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.            weave the spider's web : He that eateth of their eggs
 1 Cor.  1:  19-21.  But the natural man receiveth not the             dieth, and that which is crushed breakefh out into a viper.
 things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto            Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they
 him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritual-            cover themselves with their works. Their works are
 ly discerned. 1 Cor. 2: 14. Having the understanding                  works of iniquity, and the acts of violence is in their
 darkened, being alienated from the life of God through                hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed
 the ignorance that  is  in them, because of the blindness of          innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
 their heart. Eph. 4: 18. For ye were sometimes darkness,              wasting and destruction are in their paths.  *The way of
 but now are ye  Kg& in the Lord. Eph. 5  : 8.                         peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their
        Man's conscience is polluted and needs cleansing:  But         goings ; they have made them crooked paths; whosoever
 unto them that are defiled and unbelieving there is noth-             goeth therein shall not know peace. Isa. 59 : 4-8. They
 ing pure ; But even their mind and conscience is defiled.             are enclosed with their own fat, with their mouths they
 Titus  1:15;  . . . . . . .  .that could not make him that did        speak proudly. Ps. 17 : 10. Who (the wicked) have said
 the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. Hebr.           with our tongues will we prevail, our lips are our own:
 9: 9. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who who is  rAord over us? Ps. 12  : 4. And they bend their
 through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot               tongues like their bow for lies, but they are not valiant
 to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve                 for the truth upon the earth  ; for they proceed from evil
 the living God. Hebr. 9 : 15 ; . . . . . . . . having our hearts      Ito  ,evil and they know not me, saith the Lord. Jer. 9: 3.
 sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed              And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will
 with pure water. Hebr. 10: 22b.                                       not speak the truth  ; they have taught their tongues to
        The natural man is powerless to de&e.  will and do the         speak lies and weary themselves to commit iniquity. Jer.
 good: Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard                9 : 5. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness ; their
 his spots? Then may ye also do good that are accustomed               feet are swift to shed blood. Rom. 3 :  14, 15.


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 2.5

     What the Scriptures have to say relative the condition       to please God without faith? Do you know why? Because
  of natural man may be briefly expressed as follows : Man        of the very nature of faith. What is faith? We might
  is conceived in sin, born a spiritual corpse. He desires,       define in several ways according to our point of view. In
  wills, and performs evil `only. He cannot desire, will and      this connection we desire to say three things concerning it.
  think and do good.                                                The first is this : Faith is the principle of self-abdica-
     Our fathers actually succeeded in extracting from            tion.
  Scripture a truth fundamental, when they agreed that              My second point is this : Faith is the principle which
  man, revolting from God by the instigation of the devil,        honors and obeys the Word.
  and abusing the freedom of his own will, forfeited these          Finally: Faith is the principle that unites the soul with
  excellent gifts and on the contrary entailed on himself         God."
  blindness of mind, horrible darkness, vanity and perverse-        Rev. Ghysels is correct. The thing that we do must be
  ness of judgment, became wicked, rebellious and obdur-          done to the honor and glory of God; it must be done out
  ate in heart, and impure in his affections  ; that man after    of obedience to Gods Word. That is to say : We may only
  the fall begat children in his own likeness (a corrupt          do those things of which we are confident that they agree
  stock produces a corrupt offspring} that all the posterity      with Gods revealed will. Nay more: the good works we
  of Adam, Christ excepted, have derived corruption from perform must be done because God commands us to do
  their original parents.                                         them; that is to say, zve must will to do them because God
     The natural man according to Scripture and our Stan-         commands it. This is obedience. True obedience to be
  dards is a terrible, horrible and most loathsome creature.      sure is permeated with love, not with fear.
                                                                    Therefore, if a good work is not performed to the
            THE EXTENT OF MANS DEPRAVEDNF,SS                      honor and glory of God, *and out of obedience and love
     Now the question arises : can natural man dead in tress-     for God, it is sin, according to Paul. According to this
  passes and sin yet do good?  -4nd  now I am thinking of         passage, therefore, civic-righteousness of the unregene-
  the generosity of the unregenerated man of wealth, who          rate, is sin, as in his heart there is no love for God, nor
  often responds so liberally to the cry of the afflicted and     is, there present with him this true obedience and he
  the distressed. I have in mind the activities of the philan-    honors and glorifies God not.
  thropists. I am thinking of the hero who lays down his             1  Car. 13 contains a remarkable passage. It reads :
  life for his country. I have in mind the self-sacrificing       Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
  mother, the indulgent father, the obedient son, the modest      and have not charity (love) I am become as sounding
  maiden-daughter, the devoted wife, the providing hus-           brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
  band, the law-abiding citizen, the cultured gentleman, and        And though I have the gift of prophecy, and under-
  the well-bred man of the world who is sure to do the            stand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have
  proper thing at the proper time. In a word, does this  so-      all  faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not
  called civic-righteousness as depicted above and which one      love,  I am nothixg.
  so often meets with in the world, actually imply that             -\ncl though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
  natural man, even though he be dead in tresspasses and          and though I give my body to be hurned, and have not
  sin, is nevertheless performing works which are actually        charity, it profiteth me nothing.
  genuine and positive good works? Our answer depends               This passage condemns civic-righteousness.          Good
  upon the ethical value of civic-righteousness. If a civic-      works if not performed out of love toward God are sin,
' righteous work or deed is an actual real positive good          and the doer of them is as sounding brass, as a tinkling
  work then it follows that natural man is performing real        cymbal. He is nothing. His good works profit him
  positive good works even though he be dead in tresspasses       nothing.
  and sin. In this case the bad tree is bringing forth good         Matt. 22 :  37-40   : Jesus said unto them, Thou shalt
  fruit.                                                          love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
    This is the question then to which we must have an            thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and
  answer : ,4re civic-righteous works actual real positive        great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou
  good works? We shall, to be sure, permit Scripture to           shalt love thy neighbor as thy self. On these two com-
  answer our question. We must hear what God's Word has mandments hang all the law and the prophets.
  to say.  ,4nd Scripture's answer is decisive. Thereupon           Hebrew 11 : 6: But without faith it is impossible to
  we shall go with our question to our Standards. Then too        please him (God j.
  we desire, do we not, to know what our spiritual father           Deeds which are not pleasing to God must be sin.
  John Calvin has to say about the matter. We shall also          Calvin asks : "Ik zou waarlijk van hen, die verdichten,
  ascertain how the late Dr. A. Kuyper Sr. regarded this          dat de mensch met eenige gerechtigheid der werken God
  so-called civic-righteousness.                                  ontmoet,  we1 begeeren te  weten? of zij meenen, dat er
                                                                  volstrekt eenige gerechtigheid is, buiten die, welke God
    Let us now hear what Scripture has to say. The apostle        aangenaam is? (Calvi jn's Institutie,  Dee1 II, p. 292).
  Paul asserts: And whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Rom.         The Lord had given unto Israel a ceremonial law. To
  14:23b. Rev. J.  M. Ghysels' meditation on this passage,        that law the Jews were outwardly conforming. And the
  is to the point. Rev. Ghysels asks: "Why is it impossible       Lord said: Bring me no more vain oblations, incense is


an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the              1 realize that I am quoting from students' dictations
calling of assemblies, I cannot away with it, it is  ilzi&ty      which are not always reliable. And I would not hold
even the solemn meeting; your new moons and your                  Dr. Ruyper responsible for the statement if it were not
appointed feasts my soul hateth. They are a trouble unto          for the fact that he corroborates'it in his Gemeene Gratie.
me. I am weary to bear them.                                      `Let me furnish proof. We find in the Gemeene Gratie,
   And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine          Vol. 1, p. 7, a paragraph which reads as follows:  "Aan
eyes from ye; yea when ye make many prayers, I  will              het doodelijke karakter der zonde hebben onze Gerefor-
not hear. Outward conformity to the law (and  civic-              meerde  vaderen  steeds vastgehouden, van nature dood
righteousness is outward `conformity to the law j is sin.         door de zonde en de misdaden bleek aller  getuigenis. Maar
"The calling of assemblies, I cannot away with, it  is            schijnbaar klopte dit niet op de werkelijkheid. Er was in
~inniquity."                                                      die zondige wereld ook buiten de kerk zooveel  schoons,
   Rom.  8 :  7 : Because the carnal mind is enmity against       zooveel eerbiedwaardigs, zooveel dat tot jaloerschheid
.God; for it is not subject to the  Zazv of God, neither          verwekte.  Dit stelde voor de keus om of al dit  goed  en
can it be.                                                        tegen beter  weten  in te loochenen en met de Doopers af
                                                                  te  dwalen of  we1 om den gevallen mensch niet zoo diep
   Is there anyone who dares to assert, with these passages       gevallen   voor te  stellen  en  alzoo te verdolen in de  Armi-
of Scripture before him that civic-righteousness is not           niaansche ketteri j. En voor dien tweesprong geplaatst
sin ?                                                             heeft  nu de Gereformeerde belijdenis geweigerd een dier
   Scripture denominates "natural good" sin. The un-              heide  wegen in te  &an. Voor het  goede en  schoone
regenerate sins. So the Scriptures teach. Shall we. close         buiten de kerk onder ongeloovigen in de wereld mochten
our eyes to Scripture  ?                                          wij het  ong niet sluiten. Dit goede was er, en moest
   Classis Grand Rapids East  ii engaged in deposing Rev.         erkend. En  evemnin   mocht  ook maar iets afgedongen  op
Herman Hoeksema because he asserts with Scripture that            de  volstrekte verdorvenheid  deer  zondige nature.  Do&
natural good is sin. God have mercy upon  classis Grand           hierin lag de oplossin g van deze schijnbare  tegenstrijdig-
Rapids East.                                                      heid, dat er ook buiten de kerk, onder de heidenen, midden
         DR. ABRAHAM KUYPER ON THE TOTAL                          in de wereld, genade werkte, genade niet eeuwig noch tot
                 DEPRAVITY OF MAN                                 zaligheid. maar tijdelijk en tot stuiting van het verderf
   It appears from Dr.  Kuyper's monumental work "De              dat in de zonde school", On Page 49 of Vol. 2 (De
Gemeene Gratie" that this thinker regards the so-called           Gemeene Gratie) we find the following: "De Gerefor-
civic-righteous works as real actual positive good works.         meerde  Kerken belijden conform de H.  Schrift dat door
True, Dr. Kuyper distinguishes between "natural" and              hetgeen voorviel in het nu verloren Paradijs  `onze  natuur
"spiritual" good. The unregenerated, according to him,            alzoo is verdorven geworden dat wij  allen in zonde  ont-
perform by means of "common grace" natural good. The              van,gen en geboren  worden'  en zulks  we1 in dien zin dat
spiritual good is performed by the regenerated only. But          wij ganschelijk onbekwaam zijn tot eenig  goed en  ge-
this distinction does not militate against my assertion that      neigd tot  alle kwaad. Een staat waarin geen keer kan
Dr. Kuyper regards "civic-righteous" work as actual               komen tenzij wij door den Geest Gods wedergeboren
positive good work, for, according to him, natural good           worden. "Van deze belijdenis nu kan niet gezegd, dat
is genuine real positive actual good ; only, the real positive    ze accordeert met onze persoonli jke ervaring noch ook met
genuine good of the unregenerate is natural genuine good,         Tee1 dat we elders in de Schrift   lezen(  ?> .  Net met onze
and the good of the regenerate is  spi&&  genuine good.           persoonlijke ervaring, want ook bij van  alle geloof  ver-
According to Kuyper, the adverbs  actztul  and real must          vreemde menschen bij wie wij met geen wedergeboorte
be applied to the good performed by the unregenerate as           rekenen mogen, ontmoeten wij  velerlei  levensuiting die
well as to the good performed by the regenerate. -4s to the       liefelijk aandoet, en we1 verre van tot het kwaad  te neigen
distinction, "natural" and "spiritual" good I will show           er  veeleer  tegen  ingaat". Dr. Kuyper in this paragraph
in a following essay that it is an impossible one of              repudiates the confessions by an argument from ex-
Pelagian origin and not found either in the Scriptures            perience.
or in our Standards.                                                You see, the so-called civic-righteousness militates
                                                                  against the doctrine of the total depravity of man as
  The point is that Dr. Kuyper regarded the so-called             taught by the Scriptures and our Standards. Clear then,
civic-righteousness as  actual  gefzfcine  righteousness, not     that Kuyper regards the civic-righteousness of the  un-
sin. This is very evident from his writings. Dictations,          reagenerate as having real ethical value. According to
Locus de Salute, p. 145, you find this question with its          Ruyper, natural  goo'd is real actual good, so much so that
`answer : "Wie zijn de voorwerpen van deze genadedaad             he needs the doctrine of common grace to make it possible
Gods? Tot op zekere hoogte gaat er eene heiligende                for himself to cling to the Scriptural doctrine of the
`werking  Gods uit op  alle menschen,  n.1. in de algemeent       total depravity of man.
genade." According to this statement of Kuyper. the
so-called common grace implies sanctification. The sinner           That Dr. Kuyper thought of civic-righteousness as
is sanctified before he is regenerated. Even the reprobate        genuine appears from the phrase "Dit stelde voor de keus
undergoes the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit.           om al dit goede tegen beter weten  in  te. loochenen en met


de Doopers of te dwalen". According to Kuyper one falls         which he becomes inexcusable before God". Clear, is  ,it
into the error of Anabaptism if one denies that civic-          not, that our Standards label civic-righteousness sin?
righteousness is real genuine righteousness. The very
fact that, to his mind, natural good militates against the         Let us now learn how John Calvin regards civil good.
doctrine of our fathers to the  elect that natural man is       Permit me to remark that I am quoting a Dutch trans-
totally corrupt, clearly indicates that  Ruyper regarded        lation by G. Bawn, E. Cunitz, and E. Reuss. Chapter 14
civic-righteousness as actual genuine righteousness. Ac-        of Book III contains the following : "Naardien dan hunne
cording to Kuyper, the natural good of the unregenerated        werken (the good works of the unregenerate j van de on-
is positive virtue. If not, there would have been to his        zuiverheid' des  harten als van derzelver oorsprong  af
mind, no conflict between "natural good" and the doctrine       bedorven zijn zoo mogen zij met geen meer recht onder
of total depravity of man. It would simply have been a          de deugden  worden  gesteld dan de ondeugden, die,  we-
case of bad trees bringing forth bad fruit. Kuyper's work       gens hare gelijkheid en overeenkomst met de deugd plegen
entitled De Gemeene Gratie is a huge attempt on his part        te misleiden. Eindelijk, dewijl wij  weten dat het  on-
to make it seem plausible how that total-depravedness and       veranderlijk einde des  rechts is dat God gediend wordt
genuine righteousness can dwell together in one body. It        dat  ai wat tot iets anders strekt terecht den naam van
is needless to say that he failed miserably as we shall make    recht verliest. Dewijl zij dus niet zien op het  doe1 dat de
clear in a following essay. Clear, that the statement           wijsheid Gods hun voorstelt zoo is hetgeen zij  doen,
which we found in the Dictations relative man's sanctifi-       schoon het ten aanzien van het uitwendig bedrijf  yocd
cation prior his regeneration agrees fully with Kuyper's        sc.hijnt,  (niet  goed   is> nochtans ten opzichte van het  ver-
writings in De Gemeene Gratie.                                  keerde  doe1  .zoizde." And again: om deze  reden is dit
   Dr. A. Kuyper Sr. set aside the plain teachings of           gezegd geworden door  Augustinus : `Onze godsdienst
Scripture and of our Confession and of John Calvin and          onderscheidt de  rechtvaardigen van de onrechtvaardigen,
of St.  21ugustine,  when he asserted that the natural man      niet door de wet der werken, maar door die des geloofs,
performs real good.                                             zonder welk geloof alle werken die  goed schijnen in  zon-
                                                                den veranderen'."      This quotation informs us what
DR. ABR&FI.AM KUYPER'S VIEW OF THE NATURAL                      .%ugustine  thought of civil good. He, too, takes civil good
      MAN CONDEMXED BY SCRIPTURE, OUR                           to be sin. Again Calvin,  "Ten laatste is het zeker dat
           STANDARDS, mD JOHN ICALVIN                           bet kwade boomen  zijn, dewijl er zonder de gemeenschap
   Kuyper's view of natural man is condemned by the             van  Christus geene heiligmaking is". Calvin means to
Scriptures, as we have seen. (See above article). Scrip-        say that the sinner is not sanctified until he has been
ture teaches that civic-righteousness of the unregenerate       placed in a vital contact with Christ. Not until then does
is sin.                                                         the sinner undergo the sanctifying influence of the Holy
                                                                Spirit. According to Kuyper the sinner is sanctified
  Our Standards assert that the natural man can do no           before he is regenerated. Even the reprobate undergoes
good, that he is capable of sinning only. Question eight        the sanctifying influence of the H. Spirit. The doctrine
of our Catechism reads: "Are we then so corrupt that            of Common Grace by Kuyper implies exactly this.
we are wholly incapable of doing any good and inclined            Now let us still further hear Calvin again:  "Zij (the
to all wickedness?" The answer: "Indeed we are except           good works of the reprobate, the `unregenerate) mogen
we are regenerated by the Spirit of God"". Neither do our       dan  we1  schoone  en op het oog kostelijke en voor den
Confessions hesitate to denominate the so-called civic-         smaak  aangename vruchten kunnen voortbrengen, goede
righteousness sin. Art. 14 of our Confession of Faith           echter  geenszins. Hieruit zien wij lichtelijk, dat al wat
reads : "And being thus become wicked perverse and cor-         de  mensch  bedenkt, overlegt. en verricht, eer hij met God
rupt in all his ways he  bath lost all his excellent gifts      verzoend wordt door het  geloof, vervloekt is, en met
which he had received from God and only retained a few          slechts  van geene waarde is tot rechtvaardigheid, maar
remains thereof which, however, to leave man without            ook  gewis de verdoemenis verdient." In John Calvin's
excuse for all the light which is in us is changed into         eyes civil-righteousness is sin.
darkness as the Scriptures teach us saying. . . . "Canons
of Dordt III, Art. 4 reads as follows: "There remains           It is clear that there is a fundamental difference be-
however in man since the fall the glimmerings of natural        tween the teachings of Dr. Abraham Kuyper, relative the
light whereby he retains some knowledge of God of               total depravity of the sinner and the teachings of Scrip-
natural things and of the difference between good and           ture and of our Standards and of John Calvin on the
evil and discovers some regard for virtues, good order          same matter. Dr. Kuyper taught that "civic good" is real
in society and for maintaining an orderly external de-          genuine good. He regarded "civic good" as virtue having
portment. But so is this light of nature from being             real moral value. The Scriptures, our Standards and
sufficient to bring him to a saving knowledge of God            Cohn  Calvin, on the other hand, do not recoil from
and to true conversation that he is incapable of using          declaring civic good to be sin. The Scriptures, the
it  aright even in things natural and civil. Nay, further,      Fathers who have formulated our Standards, and John
this light such as it is man in various ways renders            Calvin did not need common grace to make it possible for
wholly.polluted and holds it in unrighteousness by doing        themselves to maintain the total depravity of man.  ,4nd

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

for the very simple reason that they regarded the civic.       special message for the pious Jews of Christ's day.  A
righteous deeds of the reprobate and the unregenerate as       special message was given to the church under the sway
bad fruit. They had no problem. For, the fruit which           of the Roman emperors. Thruout the Middle Ages God
the bad trees grew was also bad as well as the tree. Con-      guided His little flock in the ways of fuller truth. The
sequently, the Scriptures and our Standards know nothing       Reformers had their Divine instruction. Our fathers in
of common grace. True, John Calvin teaches a certain           the Netherlands in 1618-1619 and again in 1834 received
kind of grace which is common to all. Be it said, how-         the guidance of God into fuller truth as well as bravery
ever, that there is a most essential difference between the    and  courage  to be the living witnesses of His law and
common grace of John Calvin and that of Dr. Kuyper,            testimony. In  1886-1892  God's message was clear unto
as we shall have occasion to see in a following essay.         the Israel of the Netherlands. Step by step God leads us
  `Dr. Kuyper's was the task to prove from Scripture           into fuller truth. And when we hear His voice, when
that a bad tree brings forth good fruit. This he did not       He makes His objective truth glow for us because He
succeed in doing. Jesus states explicitly that bad trees       gives a better insight into His word, and it begins to
bring forth bad fruit. The good tree good fruit. Kuyper        glow for us as though it is filled with new truths, then it
was unable to prove his proposition  ,from Scripture.          is not audacity, but rather the essence of fidelity, to wel-
Thereupon he attempted to justify it before the bar of         come these new truths and to go out into fresh paths.
reason. He failed miserably, as I shall make clear in a          Those timid souls who live as if to cling to the past
future paper. His failure was inevitable. For he attempt-      were the only way of safety, are leaving the living God
ed the impossible. Dr. Kuyper's common grace is not            out of account, They are acting as if He with His  all-
taken from Scripture. It is a product of his own fertile       pervasive being had only lived in the past. Nay, not thus.
imagination. Therefore human philosophy. Again, Dr.            The life of faith is always a great venture. Thus it was
Kuyper's theory of common grace is a negation of the           for the Patriarchs. Thus it was for the early Church
total depravity of the sinner, a negation of the numerous      Fathers. Thus it is for us. Faith always meant a willing-
passages of Scripture  w,hich assert that man is totally       ness to risk all for God, trusting solely to His leadership.
corrupt.
                                              G. M. 0.           True enough, the fundamental facts and characteristic
                                                               principles of this faith are especially recorded for us in
                                                               the N. T. It is to it that we have to turn if we desire to
   A BRIEF SKETCH  Ob  TEEi REVELATIONAL                       learn what the Christian faith is, and what it signifies
       REQUI8ITEFORPROfXW3SOFD0GMA                             for humanity. There we have presented to us not merely
  We wish to show as briefly as we can how God by              the origin of the Christian Church, but its essential
progressive revelation to His people established for the       character, the sources of its inspiration, and the supreme
church of the N. T. the requisite for the development of       standard of its life.
her dogmas. God commenced the revelation of Himself
with the earliest of days. But this revelation of God was        Without the light of the New Testament we  could not
not completed until the days of the Son of Man, of Jesus       understand the 0. T. Neither, however, could we under-
Christ, the Savior and Redeemer.                               stand the N. T. fully  i+f the 0. T. were lost. The twc
  For progress of dogma we are, therefore, dependent           are integrally linked together. And it is not by  accideni
upon the Word and the work of the living God. This             that the 0. T. is bound with the N. T. as  an integral
dependence is in itself the characteristic of  Protestant-     part of the Christian Bible. For though Christianity
ism. Without this dependence Protestantism would mean          was in one sense a new thing in the world, in another ii
nothing. In Scripture men are called upon to expect and        was but the culmination of a divine revelation which  hat
to wait for the guidance of God; and it follows therefrom      been long in process. It had its roots deep in the past
that we may hope to be led into fuller truth as we wait        Likewise the faith of the patriarchs was essentially  the
upon Him.                                                      same divine gift as the faith of the N. T. believer.  The
                                                               Son of Man Himself is according to the flesh the  chilc
  For  humble  men progress of dogma may sound some-           of Judaism. He was born into a race, whose chief  dis
what suspicious. To them it must seem somewhat audaci-         tinction was that God had chosen it for Himself as  tht
ous to desert old trodden paths, especially if they must be    instrument of His purposes, and whose proudest memo
deserted in reliance merely on their own judgment. Were        ries were of holy men and prophets of the Most Higl
there no resource for us but to depend simply upon our         God. The Son of Man was nourished from the  earlies
own human judgment for progress of dogma, then per-            years by communion with the ever-living One, the  Got
haps the most pious  souls of our world would be found         of Abraham, David and Isaiah. He knew and spoke  0'
clinging tenaciously to the traditions of the past. And        Himself as the fulfiller of Israel's prophecy. He  spoke
f/zat would mean an end to all progress.                       of Himself as the "Desire of all the Nations". He eve
  But if it is possible that men should be as truly led by     regarded the 0. T. with the profoundest reverence as  tb
God today as were the men of olden time, then what had         record of the divine discipline of the chosen people  am
at first seemed a mere audacity may become a plain duty.       that which He revered has a permanent claim on  thl
God has His message for each generation. He had a              homage of His disciples.


   What He reverenced we also reverence. We also wish                God knows Himself absolutely. He eternally knows
 to pay the homage of disciples. For in it, we also, come          what  Heis and what He is not. He knows that He is the'
 in contact with the ever-living God. His holy books teach         Truth and that He is not the lie nor its father.  .He
 us concerning the preparation, establishment and corn-  - knows that He is the Highest Good, and that He is not                                    `:
 pleting of  H&  great  et&nalXingdom  which shall fill the        the highest evil. He knows that He is Light and that He
 earth. In them we have the picture of the holy city, New          is not darkness. He knows that He is God  andthat  there
 Jerusalem, which is being prepared by the ages  .of the           is no other God besides Him. He knows that all things
 Lord; they give a vision of the Tabernacle of God which           must be for His glory and that nothing exists for any
 shall be with men and which J&n saw descending out of             other purpose than for His glorification. He knows that
 heaven from God upon the new earth. Gorgeously array-             He is Righteous, and Good, and Just and Perfect; that
 ed and bedecked, described as the exquisitely beautiful,          He is not the Untruth, that He may not be mocked, that
 yet in terms which leave the impression that no human             men must serve and praise Him if they will have eternal
 language on earth is a fit instrument wherewith to de-            life. He knows what is good and what is evil. He knows
 scribe its majestic glory. From God's books we know that          that he is the Self-existent One and that there is no other
 we are not  at  Mount Sinai but at Mount Zion, the city           Reing alike unto Him.
 of the living God, with its innumerable company of angels           God has revealed what He is and what He is not. God
 and saints made perfect. Truly, an inheritance,  incof-           has given a self-revelation. Consequently,, all that which
 ruptible, not defilable and never fading away. Remaining          bears His self-revelation must  bear/the  marks of what
 forever. Its righteousness shining  as the brightness of          God is and of what Gdd is not. What He loves and what  -
the morning dawn. Its salvation as a burning lamp. For             He hates. That this is true the Bible is sufficient warrant
 the sake of which the Servant of the Lord did not rest            for.
 and would not hold His peace. Neither shall we. If we                                                     B. J. DANHOF.
 do, we shall never share in that new name which Jehovah
 shall name. Thus God's book teaches us.                            IN  NEDERLAND  BLIJFT BETERE VOORLICHTING
    But  if,,as true disciples we shall pay our homage, we                              HOOG   N O O D I G   '
 must also be willing to look at its teachings concerning            Hoezeer het noodig `is dat onzerzijds het Buitenland,
 that place where the worm dieth not and where the fire            met name dan Nederland, de Gereformeerde broeders en
 is not quenched. There is, indeed, in it a description of         zusters  aldaar, beter  worden  ingelicht en voorgelicht met
 a lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. Over against         betrekking tot  onzen strijd tegen de dwaalleer der  Alge-
 heaven there is hell. A description of the ever-transcend-        meene Ctinade,  gelijk die vooral in dezen tijd hier te lande
 ing beauty and glory of the former goes hand in hand              en sedert  jaren in Nederland  aan al het christelijk leven
 with the description of the terrible dismalness and the           in wetenschap en kunst, in Staat en Maatschappij wordt
 abject God-forsaken bitterness of the latter. God's fruit         ten grondslag  gelegd,  in stee van te  Ieven naar de  anti-
 of the ages of time is not only to be found in the New            thetische lijn die de  Schrift  aangeeft, blijkt ook  we1 uit
 Jerusalem and the Zion of eternity, but also in the eternal       meer dan een "boekaankondiging"  en mededeeling in
 Sheol and the everlasting Valley of Hinnom. To think              Nederlandsche kerkelijke en theologische bladen  voor-
 of the fruit of the ages in a different way is not  scrip-        ` k o m e n d e .
 .tural. God has wrought all things for His Name's sake,              Uit Wachter en Banner, de  Synodale   Acta en Onze
 "also the wicked for the day of evil. In eternity, heaven         Toekomst,  zullen  de broeders en zusters in Nederland de        `r
 $nd hell form an eternal antithesis..                             waarheid omtrent ZONDE `EN GENADE, en  onzen                           '
    If now the fruit of the ages is, according to revelation,      strijd voor ZUIVERE  BANEN  in het verkondigen van
 a never-ending antithesis, what else can  ,we expect of           de leer der genade, e n   V O O R   WAARHEID  E N
 anything in the ages which bear the fruit than to find            RECHT in het behandelen van de zaak der Schriftuur-                         '
 the mark of the antithesis. From the earliest times good          lijkheid onzer.opvatting van het leven der Gemeente Gods
 has stood over against evil. The truth over against the           en van het  Ieven der wereld, door de voorstanders der
 lie. The believers are always against the unbelievers.            Gemeene Gratie tot een hatelijke twistzaak gemaakt in het
 Kingdom  a,&nst kingdom, nation against nation, people            kerkeli  jk bestaan van de Chr. Geref. Kerk hier te lande,
 against people, father against father, son against son,           zeker  we1 nimmer vernemen.
 mother  apinst mother, sister against sister, brother over           Een bewijs hoe slecht men in Nederland op de  hoogte
  against brother. Life versus death, joy opposed to misery,       is met die  zaak,  en hoe verkeerd ingelicht daaromtrent
  sinners versus the righteous, elect versus reprobates,           geeft ook De (Nederlanclsche) Wachter van 5 September
  people with God in the world and people without God. Il., ons welwillend verstrekt, te zien.
  inO the world.                                                      Ziehier wat Ds. 0. Boersma, van Koudum,  zegt onder
    God has even revealed Himself antithetically. His              "Boekaankondiging"  van de door onze R. F. P. Associa-
  revelation  is  a revelation of antithesis. This is the point    tion  uitgegeven  brochures : LANGS ZUIVERE   BANEN
we must hold fast to.  -This' is the point God began with.         en OM WAARHEID EN RECHT:
  This is the point to which He added to in His  revelatian           "Deze beide werkjes handelen  over het. leer&k van de
  unfolded to His people,                                          Algemeene Genade, waaromtrent de schrijvers  een andere
            .                    . .


   Dan  deie:  "Cl Heere! heb Dank voor Uw  Goed,                  - that little by little we.are endeavoring to make the
 - Waarmede Gi j mij en mijn  huis hebt gevoed  ;                  world such that
   Gij hebt onze zielen  Genadig verkwikt,                                   "Sweeter shall the roses blow
   -Hetzi j Gij ons weini g - of veel hadt beschikt !                           In those far years, those happier years ;
   "Wij  danken'  U dies niet voor  "weinig" of  "veel",                     And children weep when we lie low
   Doch  -"voor het door-U-ons-bescheidene  deel"  ;                         i Far  fewer tears,  1 far softer tears."
   Uw Trouw en Gena zijn Uw kind steeds genoeg;                                                * * *
   `t Waar' dwaas en God-tergend zoo `t meer van U
                                                  vroeg'  "  -        The above we deem very expressive of the spirit of our
                       *  * * * *                                  times prevailing in many churches.
                                                                                                                          H.  D:
   Gods Volk Viert den Dankdag, gulhartig en blij ;
   God schonk die Genade  ;  aan  u en  aa,n mij,
   -Doch  n&t  aan den zot, die met God en Gebod                                        I N G E Z O N D E N
   En  - ergo  - met  alles   bat Heilig is, spot!  -              WaardP Redactie, lezers en medeleden van de
                                                                   "Reformed Free Publishing Association."                             L  s
                                     B. A. HENDRIKSEN.                Net  dacht  ons  gepast.   u eenige  inededeelingcn  te  doen
                                                                   aangaande  onze vereeniging.
            A  PRAkER OF THAN&GIVING                                  Wij  z?jn zeer verblijd `over de verschijning van ons
                    By Dr. Frank Crane                             maandblad : "The Standard Bearer". Dit orgaan is de
                  (The Delineator, Nov.,  `22)                     vrucht van het schouder  aan schouder  staan van de leden
Almighty Creator, we Thy creatures thank Thee for                  onzer  ,reeniging. En het  .resultaat van onze  gemeen-
`Ii fe:                                                            schappelijke  actie overtreft onze verwachting. Gode de
   First of all benediction, foremost of  aIll creeds, and         eere !
sum of all riches, it is to-live.                                     Onze werkzaamheden dateeren van af het begin. van
   To be a spot of consciousness in a vibrant universe,            1924. Zij vonden  hunne aanleiding in het onrecht, dat
is this not to be a very son of God?                               men den predikanten H. Hoeksema en H.  Dar&of  a.a%
   To have so amazing avenues of appreciation, to see the          deed, inzonderheid  in` het weigeren van hunne artikelen
sun, to hear the moving wind, to smell the dawn, to feel           in de bladen. De  idee van eene vereeniging rijpte  echter
the fire  ahd the snow, to taste the fruit of trees, .to do,       eerst langzamerhand.  Aan den avond  varr den achtsten
to know and to love, surely a creature with such royal             April evenwel  waren  er een veertiental broeders  samen-
advantage hast Thou crowned with glory and honor.                  vergaderd ter bespreking van het plan om te  komei  6t
   We thank Thee. for our Day, this twentieth century              opricliten eener vereeniging om aan bovengenoemde  broe-
wherein  .the world is walking.                                    ders predikanten steun  te bieden in hun strijd voor de ons
   We thank Thee for' the maturing mind of mankind                 dierbare beginselen van waarheid en  recht. Men besloot
which is struggling to cast off the past childishness of           tot dat  doe1  zich te vereenigen. `t Plan was, om  voor-
violence, of contention, of narrowness and hate.                   Ioopig de voomoemde leeraars bij te staan in het publicee-
   We thank Thee that clear-eyed Science advances while            ren van brochures, en om later te komen tot het uitgeven
`ancient frauds, unclean superstitions and the cruel obses-        van een maandblad.
sions of ignorance are passing away.                                     Natuurli jk was uitbreiding van. onze vereeniging zeer
   Tha$ the nations are earnestly striving to come tog-ether,      gewenscht.  Pogingen daartoe in het werk gesteld,  wier-
and that slowly out of  ,our patriotism there is emerging          pen dit resultaat af, dat nu reeds zeer  geruimen  tijd  ver-
the  great,cause  of Humanity, we thank Thee.                      leden  ons Iedental klom tot ongeveer 300 en dat het  .nog
   That woman is being set. free, and that her right to her        steeds toeneemt. En deze  Ieden   wonen  geenszins alleen
own soul, her own body and her own citizenship is being            in Grand Rapids en  KaIamazoo, maar  sommigen   wonen
acknowledged! we thank Thee.                                       een duizend mijl van het middelpunt onzer Kerken.
   That the sure law of growth in this Thy  garde'n  of the           Wij  bedoelen   echter niet, om  u  alle  bi jzonderheden
world becomes more and more apparent; that evil falls as           van onze vereeniging mede te  deelen.  Slechts enkele
discarded scales and the good, the true and the beautiful          hoofdpunten stippen we hier  aan.
persist ever to fruitage; that after every winter of death               NB de Synode van Kalamazoo  v&-leden  zomer werd
comes the sprin,0` of resurrection, and that the miracle of        definitief besloten tot het publiceeren van "The Standard
life is eternally recurrent, we thank Thee.                        Bearer". Volgens de Redactie van "Onze Toekomst" had
   That achievement is being valued above  privile-ge  and         de breedste vergadering onzer kerken aan de broeders een
business above idleness, that liberty is more and more             stok in de  handen   .-g&en. Wi  j  .~laten  die  uitdrukkinp:
conceived in point of law, that justice is turning to help-        voor  rekening van den auteur. Maar zou men zoo'n stok
fulness rather than vengeance, and that sanity outlives            kunnen  gebruiken.  dan moest  men-  we1 een  eiqen   orpaan
delusion,  iYe thank Thee.                                         hebben  ; want de bladen  waren  feiteliik  gesloten.  Men
    And most of all we thank Thee that we. are learning to- weigerde zelfs  de* opname van `onze advertenties,  ivaarin
give the  littie  children  their just due of care and training    de `komst van ons  b!ad  $erd aangekondigd.  Men  Wilde
                                                            .      .'


