 VOLUME XXI                                                  APRIL 1, 1945                                          NUMBER 13


                                                                    gezelde,  maar zich hfaastte om have ontdekking en hare

       IbfEDITATION                                                 conclusie den discipelen te vertellen. -Ze was toch naar
                                                                    het graf terug gekeerd, want ze `was d'iep  ontroerd                      ,
                                                                    over het verlies van haren Heer, ,en ko.n  niet rusten eer
                                                                    ze Zijn 1ichza.m  de laatste eer bewezen had.             En daar

                                                                    had ze Hem gezien, met  ,Hem  gesproken, Bern,  dien. ze
              .ChristuG  Is Opgestaan                                                                                                              ,
                                                                    eerst niet kexxde, in het noemen van l-qren naam her-*
                Maar`nu, Christz~s  is opgiewekt  uit de doo-       &end.  . . .
              iden, en is .de tiersteling  gewo+den,  deygewen,             Daarna'  ook <de  andere yrouwen.
              die owtslapen  zijn.                                          Zij waren met Maria niet aanstonds, terug gekeerd, `_-*/
                                                                    maar hadden zich !naar  het open&  graf gespoed, hadden
                                : ,.       ,I Ccw:l5:20.            de ledige plaats gezien en het wonder der linnen ,doeken,
    De Heer is waarlijk opge&an!                                    hadden daar in het graf een gezicht van  engelen gezien,
    ,Hij is opgevekt  uit de ,doodan  als de eersteling!
    Daarvan zijn velcgetrouwe  getuigen, en op hun ge-              die haar het eerste opitandings-evangelie  verkondig-
                                                                    Iden
tuigenis moeten alle aanvallen der tegenstanders schip-                      : "Hij is hier niet, want Hij is opgestaan !"     En als
breuk lijden.                                                       zij zich verbaas,d  en verheugd met groote blijdschap
                           _
    Daar is het getuigenis van  Maria Magdalena en de               van het guaf  haastten, om hare ervaring den discipelen
ander.e  vrouwen, die vroeg in den morgen van  den                  te verkondigen, ontmoetten ze den Heiland op haren
,derden  dag zbhd grafwaarts begaven, om het lichaam                weg, Dien ze aanbaden. . . .
van haren                                                                   En ook van (Simon wals,  Hij gezien.
                Heilla.nd  eenen laatst,en  dilenst te bewijzen.
                                                                            Deze had zich met Johannes naar het graf begeven,
    Asn de opstanding .der dooden  dacht.en ze `zeker niet.         nadat ze het rapport van Maria gehooyrfi  hadden.                  OQk
Het woord des Heeren, dat Qij meerinalen tot haar                   zij war,en.  in het graf gegaan, en hadden het wonder
gesproken had, aangavande  zijn overgeleverd worden                 van de linnen doeken axnschouw$.          En kort daarna had
in de handen -der zondaren, Zijn ,lijden en stierven, en            Petrus; die immers daaraan bijzondere behoefte had,
Zijn opst,anding  ten derden tdage, waren ze zeker niet
indachtig.     Hadden zae daaraan  gedacht, ze hadlden zi,ch        en voor wien de Heiland een persoonlijke boodschap bij
                                                                    de engelen in het graf h& achter gelaten, hem gezien.
zeker in dien vro,egen morgen niet sbegeven  naar ,den hof
                                                                            De Heer is waarlijk .opgestaan;  en is van Simon ge-
van Jozef van Arimathea, maar zouden reeds op. weg ge-              zien 
weest zijn naa,r Galilea, waar;henen  Hij haar, naar  Zijn                  !
woord, immers' voor ZOU gaan.             Het kruis was voor           Later in den middag, toen Jeruzalem reeds vervuld
haar het droeve, donkere einde. . . .                               was met "allerlei geruchten, werd Hij gezien van de
   Doch zilet, zoekende Jezus, Die gest,orven  was, vin-            twee `discipelen, die van de oude  Godstad  naar Emmaus
,den ze den opgestanen Heiland!                                     wandelden, en op ,den  weg zich yerdiepten  in allerlei
   Z-e zien Hem !                                                   vragen aanga.ande  J!ezue, van Nazaret.h,  die immers em
   Eerst Maria, die eerst met de vrouwen twijfel-                   Iprofeet  was, ma_chtig in woonden en w,erken,  uan Wien
moedig was over den zwagen  steen, die voor het :gpaf               ze verwacht haddfen, dat Hij Degene was, Die Israel ver-
gewenteld was ; maar :die,.  toen ze van verre reeds z5gen,         lossen zou ; Die echter door de leiders was veroordeeld
dat de steen van het gra:f gewenteld was, over het opene            en gedobd. En nu zochten ze naar een !antwoonti  op
g?af even twijfelmoedig waS* geworden, en iaanstonds                de vraag aangaande dat kruis, doch tevergeefs. En
ba:luitende;-dat  men het lichaam van Jezus gestolen                bovendien was het thans .de derde Idag, en _ingei  er
had, niet verder de andere vrouwen  WLLT `IJ& graf ver-             allerlei geruchten in Jeruaalewi.  Men zeide  `zelfs, dat
                    ` .

                                                                                                                                . .


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286                                           .`- THE STA?JbARil  REAkER


`Hij opgestaan was! En toen had Jezus zich bij hen                                             . En ten Iaatste va.n  allen had ook Paulus Hem ge-

gevoegd, schoon ze meenden, dat Hij een vreemdeling                                           zien, en had hij zijne plaats  ingenomlen  onder de ge-

was, had gevraagd naár het onderwerp humner ernstige.                                         tuigen der opstanding.

discussie, _ en had hun uitgelegd, hoe. Mozes en lal de                                           Christus is opgewekt uit de  dooden  !
profeten juist van ldlat kruis, dat zij niet verstondren,                                         Machtige werkelijkheid !
gepr,ofeteerd  hadden, en aangetoond, dat de Christus

alzoo  moe&  lijden, om in Zijne heerlijkheid in te gaan.                                         Wonder der genade!

En hunne harten waren brandende geweest. De weg                                               Licht in die duisternis!

naar Emmaus was hun veel te kort.                            Hij was Ibij hen                     Hij stond .op!      De ,dood  heerscht niet meer over

ingekomen ,en in het br.eken des broods hadden ze Hem                                         Hem! Door de duisternis des doods heen brak het

herkend ! . . . ;                                                                             licht der  onsterfelijkheid door 
                                                                       u                                                          !
       De Heer is opgestaan!                                                                      Want immers Zijne verrijzenis uit de dooden  is wel

       Om die boodschap den overigen discipelen te bren-                                      waarlijk opsstamcling!

gen war,en ze nog dienzelfden  avond naar Jeruzalem                                               Neen, ze is geen terugkeer in dit leven, in de gelijk-

terug gekeerd, om echter te worden begroet met  Ide                                           heid (des zondigen vleesches,  in h,et  (beeld  Ides  laardschen,

blij de mare : "De Heer is waarlijk opgestaan, en is                                          in het zwakke, verderfelijke, oneerbare, sterfelijke van
van Simon gezien."               En terwijl ze met elkander de                                onze tegenwoordige existentie, die immens niet anders

ervaringen van dien dag sbespraken,  stond ,de Heiland                                        is dan een gestadige (dood.     Hij ging door het graf heen.

Zelf plotseling in hun midden. Ze waren echter ver-                                              ,Ze is ook geen terugkeer naar het leven, dat de

schrikt gewor,den,  en meenden, dat ze leen geest zagen.                                      eerste mensch Adam genoot im den staat der rechtheid

Want, in weerwil van het feit, dat ze reeds overtuigd                                         in het eerste p!a.radijs.    Want de eerste mensch was uit

waren, ,dat Hij was opgewekt, was de Opgestane hun                                            [de aardë aardsch: de onver~derfelijkheid  had hij niet

nog vreemd. Maar van de werkelijkheid Zijner op-                                              b.ereikt,.buiten  het bereik des ,doods stond hij niet.

standing had de Heilaad  hen ov,ertuigd  door iln hun                                             De opstanding van Jezus ligt op een  hooger  vlak!

bijzijn en voor aller oogen  te :eten!  . . . .                                                   Toen Hij opstond, deed het verderfelijke de onver-
       Hij is opgestaan!                                                                      derfelijkheid  aan, het sterfelijke de onsterfelijkheid,

       Mijn Heer .en Mijn ,God!                 Zoo  had een week later                       werd de dood finaal verslonden tot overwinning.             Het-
Thomas, voor wi!en het bange kruis het einde was, Idie                                   geen in zwakheid gezaaid werd, werd in kracht op-
lilever  maar met den Heilan,d  gestorven was, die gans&                                      gewekt; hetgeen door onleer  gekenmerkt was aan Ideze

geen licht zag, en die zich van het gezelschap  (der overige                                  zijde des grafs, kwam in heerlijkheid te voorschijn
discipelen had afgescheiden; die ook het woord.zijner                                         aan de overzij ; wat hier zich bewoog in de sfeer van
medea.postelen  niet had willen gelooven,  en die hun de                                      het verder.felijke,  werd in onverderfelijkheid opgewekt.
plechtige, schoon dwaze, verzekering had gegeven, dat                                         Het natuurlijke wer,d,  Idoor het graf heen, geestelijk.
hij.niet gelooven wilde, tenzij hij den Opgestanen zou                                        Het beeld des; ,aardschen,  dat ook Hij had aangenomen

kunnen  voelen en tasten,-zoo  had deze discipel in ver-                                      en gedragen, wierd met het beeld des hemelschen ver-
voering uitgeroepen, toen de `Heiland nogmaals in het                                         wisseld.    Het leven `en de onsterfelijkheid zijn .door  <de

midden der 8discipelen was verschenen., :en zijnen onge-                                      opstanding van Jezus ,Christus  uit de .dooden aan het
loovigen discipel had uitgenoodigd, om Zijn vinger te                                         licht gebracht !
leggen im de teekenen  der nagelen, en zijne hand in                                              Ja, waarlijk, de Heer is opgestaan.         De opstanding
het teeken  van de speerwonde. . . .                                                     is werkelijkheid !
   De Heer is waarlijk opgestaan,!                                                               Maar [even  zeker is, dat Zijne verrijzenis wel waar-

    Daarvan waren zeven der apostelen nogmaals ge-                                       lijk opstanding  is: Hij is voor eeuwig buiten alle  be-
tuige geweest, nadat ze op Zijn woord zich naar Gali-                                    `reik .des  Idoods !
lei hadden begeven, en Hij hun Zich bekend maakte                                                Hij leeft!
door de wondervolle vischvangst, hen  er tevens aan                                              En ook van'-het wonld.erlijke,  het anderzijdsche, het
herinnerende, `dat ze visschers der menschen zouden                                      dood-verslindende van de opstanding ,des Heeren  waren
worden.                                                                                  [de #discipelen overtuigd geworden.              0, zeker, ook dit
   Daarvan waren meer idlan vijf honderd broederen                                       begnepen ze niet terstond.            De idee van de opstanding

op eenmaal getuige geweest, toen ze met Hem ver-                                         ten derden dage verstonden ze niet.              Als Hij plotseling
gaderd waren op een berg in (Galilea.                                                    in hun midden verscheen, `werden  ze verschrikt, en

   Daa,rvan  was .ook  Jakobus, (de broeder des Heeren,                                  meenden ze, dat ze een geest zagen..             Maria Magdalena
getuige geweest.                                                                         wilde ongetwijfeld de vroegere gemeenschap weer aan-

   Dat leefde in de harten  ,der apostelen, toen ze terug                                knoopen,  en .moest  het hooren:  "Raak mij miet aan  !`?

keerden van ,den  Olijfberg, walar  Hij was opgenomen                                    Thomas wilde voelen en tasten, en verstond het nog

geworden, en eene wolk Hem had weg genomen uit hun                                       niet, dat het aa.liger  was om niet te zien, en nogtans te

g e z i c h t ,                                                                          gelooven,        Bij de zee van  Tiberias wilden ze Hem eigen-
               I_,__._.  i --,..  !__,  -/  ._< .w._  , -. _ < _-1 &....&_,.  __I __.


  %                                         _THE  STANDARD BEARBR  "                                                                 287

 `.lijk gàarne  vragen, wie Hij was, schoon ze wisten, dat                 Christus is opgewekt uit de dooden!
 `Hij ;de Heere was.       En op d:en berg in Galilea waren er             En dlie opwekking van Christ,ua is eene daad Gods.
 sommigen, Idmie twijfelden. . . .                                 En die daad ,Gods is Zijne openbaring aan ons, Zijn
       Doch langzamerhand werden ze, niet alleen. van de           Woord tot ons.          En door dat woord der opstanding van
 werkelijkheid, maar ook van ah:et hoogere -en geheel              Jezus Christus kennen wij Hem als' den `God  onzer vol-
 andere der opstanding verzekerd.                                  komene zaligheid, als `God,  Die de dooden  levend maakt.
       Vele dingen werkten daartoe mede, em Id,ienden d!e          Zooals Hij in de schepping Zich doet kennen als den
 openbaring van ,den opgestanen Heer.                              Almachtige, Die de /dingen roept, die niet zijn, alsof
       Daar was reeds. het feit, dat niemand getuige ge-           ze waren, ,zoo openbaart Hij Zich in de opstanding van
 weest was van het eigenlijke moment der opstanding.               .Jezus Christus uit de dooden  als den God onzer vol-
 Er was eene !aaticlbevimg  .geweest, een engel was ge-            komene verlossing, die het licht uit de duisternis, de
 komen en had den steen van het graf gewenteld, de                 gerechtigheid uit de zo:nde,  het leven uit den dood, de
 wachters waren verschrikt oip de vlucht geslagen.         Het     leeuwige heerlijkheid uit lde diepte der hel roept. `Ziende
 graf was open ter inspectie ,voor de discipelen.        Maar      op den olpgewekten Christus door het geloof, zingen we
 niemand was getuige geweest va.n #de opstanding zelve.            blijmoediglijki
 Niemand kon zeggen, hoe <en wanneer Jezus uit het                                 "IHlij  kan, en wil, en zal innood,
 graf verrezen was, dbehalve  Idan, dat, het naar Zijn eigen                I      Zelfs bij het naad'ren van den dood,
 woord .den der,de dage geschiied  was.      Dan was daar "de                      Volkomen uitkomst geven."
 plaats, waar Jezus gelegen had," en de linnen doeken!                 Want immers, het is Christus, Die opgewekt is!
       Bovendien waren [de verschijnimgen  zelf wonderlijk.            En Christus is ,de Eersteling!         .
       `0, die veertig dagen van de openbaring van den                 Hij staat niet alleen. Hij is geen enkeling. Hij
 opgestanen Christus we.ren  .wonderlijke dagen voor de            is maar geen mensch onder Ide menschen.                     Zijne op-
 discipeleix!    Het oede verkeer met hunnen Meester was           standing is niet een op zichzelf staand feit, iets, waar-
 afgebroken, werd niet weer hersteld. Hij verscheen                van het historiebljad  getuigt, dat het in het verleden
 aan hen, nu in dezen vorm, dan in dien, sprak met hen,            geschied is, dat nooit eerder gezien of gehoord werd,
 íen verdween weer even mysterieus als Hij `gekomen                ,en dàt wel nimmer weer geschieden zal.            Neen, Hij is
 was !                                                             de Christus, de Gezalfde des Heeren,, de Uitverkorene
       Hij leefde, doch niet meer in hunne levenssfeer.            aller uitverkorenen, het Hoofd Zijne kerk, Hem door
       En van de overzijde van het graf, (de hemelsche             den Vader gegeven voor de grondlegging Idler wereld.
 zijde, kwam Hij tot hen, om hen van Zijne opstanding              Aan die Kerk is Hij onlosmakélijk  verbonden door
te verzekeren.                                                     <Gods  eeuwig decneet, en zij aan Hem.          Die Kerk is met
          (Om hun als het ware toe te roepen: "Ik b,en de          Hem lotgemeen. Sterft Hij, dan sterft Idie Kerk in
 opstanding en het leven !"                                        `Hem.         Voldoet Hij a'sjn  het recht ,Go&, dan is er voor
       En: "Ik leef, en gij zult leven."                           ,die Kerk genoeg gedaan.           Wordt Hij d,oor lden dood
                                       *
       ,Goddelijk  wonder !                                        heen, gerechtvaardigd, dan is, Zijne Kerk gerechtvaar-
                                                                   digd.         Stalat Hij uit de <dooden op, dan staat die.Kerlr
                                                                                                                          0
       Rijke genade !                                              met Hem uit ,de ,dooden  op.
       De opstanding ,des Heilands toch is het hart des                Dalarom is er een,e eeuwige gerechtigheid voor allen,
 evangelies.                                                       die in Hem zijn!
       Indien lChristuscniet  opgewekt is, is alles tevergeefs.        Hij werd overgeleverd voor onze zonden; Hij werd
 Dan is .èr in de duisternis van onze zonde en van onzen           opgewekt voor onze rechtvaardigmaking.                      Zijne op-
 dood geen enkele lichtstraal. Dan is het kruis het                standing is (Golds  antwoord op Zijn eigen, aan het kruis
, einde, en dan is Christus tevergeefs gestorven.                  uitgeroepen woord: "Het is volbracht!" Het is Gods
       Dan is er geen opstanding uit de ,dooden !                  Woord, dat onze zonden zijn uitged~elgd, en dat we in
       Dan is ons geloof ijlde1  !                                 IChristus  voor eeuwig ger.echtvaardigd  zijn.
       Dan kwam er uit den hemel geen antwoord op het                  Dla:arom is er eene opstanding uit de  dooden!
 "Volbracht" van Christus aan het kruis. Dan is er                     Buiten Hem is er geene opstanding; is er niets
 geen vergeving van zonden'. Dan. werd de offerande                anders dan de dood,, de eeuwige dood.           Maar Hij is de
 der verzoening niet gebracht. Dan is er geen recht-               .opstanding ,en het leven. Hij `is (de Eersteling dergenen,
 vaardigmaking, geen uitweg, geen leven uit ,den dood,             die ontslapen zijn, het Begin der opstanding. Met zijne
 geen hope.      Dan zijn wij, Idlie in dit leven op Christus      ,opstanding is de ,opstanding een voldongen feit gewor-
 hopen, zeker de ellendigste van alle menschen.        Dan is      den.
 het motto der ijdele en goddelooze wereld verreweg het                Thans reeds`hooaen we Zijn Woord, (en leven, want
 wijst en verkieselijkst : `"Laat ,ons' eten endrinken,            IH,ij leeft iln ons.
 want morgen sterven wij !`"                                           Straks wordt de dood verslonden tot overwinning1
       Maar nu! . . . .                                                Rijke, opgestane Heiland!                                H? H,


                                                   .- .,
288                                                                                                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEA--RtiR



                                   ., The .2i3kinbd Bearer                                                                                                                                                                 EDITOiULS
            Semi-Monthly, except MonUlly  in July and August

                      .                                                    Published                                   b          y

                           .The  Reform&  Fr& Publishing Association

                                                      946 Sigsbee Street, S. E.                                                                                        _                                                      The Text ,of a ;Com&aint  .> '
                                              EDITOR - Rev. H. Hoekaema                                                                                                                                                                                         -J

 Contributing editors-Revs. J. Elankespoor,  A.' Gmmenga,                                                                                                                                                             The second main point of the "Complaint" against
 . P. De Boer; J. D! de Jong, H. `De Wolf,. L. Doezema,                                                                                                                                                           Dr. Clark concerns; in the words of the complainants,
  M. Grit&s,  C. Hanko, B. Kok, G. Lubbers, G. M. Ophoff,                                                                                                                                                         "his view of the relation of the faculty of knowledge,
 A. Petter, M. Schipber,  J. Vanden  Breggen; H, Veldman,
.R, Veldman, L. Vermeer,  IP.  Vis, G. Vos, W. l!Iofman,                                                                                                                                                          the iritellect,ual  faculty, `to -other  faculties of. the soul."
  J. Heis,  Mr. S. De Vries.                                                                                                                                                                                      I have ,rerea:d  the material. the complainants bffer  on

  Communications relative to contents  _ghould  be addressed                                                                                                                                                      thiB point, and also its refutation in  "T.he  `Answer."
 to REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., .S.- E., &and                                                                                                                                                            I think that the points of difference between Dr. Clark
 Rapids, -Michigqn.                                                                                                                                                                                               and his accusers may, in the main, be summarized as

 ,Comm&ications  relative to `stibscription  should be ad-                                                                                                                                                        f o l l o w s  :
 dressed ti MR. GERZIT  PIPE,  946 Sigsbee Street. S. E.,
  Grand Rapids, Mich.  All Announcements and Obituaries                                                                                                                                                                1. `I'he complainants hold to the t&hotomous di-
 must be sent to the above address and will not be placed                                                                                                                                                         vision or Idistinction  of the human soul into its faculties,
 unless the regular fee of $1.00 accompaliies  the notice.                                                                                                                                                        and apply this also to God. Iin the human soul they
                                                    Subscription $2.60 per year                                                                                                                                   distinguish between intellect, emotion, and will. Dr.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Clark prefers the dichotomous distinction of +nte$ect
 Entered as second class mail at  Grand  Rapids, Michigan
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  `and .wwiill,  nefuses  to sp.eak  of emotion as a separate

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  faculty, and considers the emotions as aspects of the

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  intellect and will.` And he, too, applies this Id#istinction
                                                                           CONTEN'I'S                                                                                                                             to God. This seems evident -from  the "Complaint,"

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  p. 7: "Any lstatement  of _the relation ;between  the in-
MEDIFATION  - ~.                                                                                                                                                                                                  tellectual and the other spiritual  facult.ies .must needs

   CHRXSTUS  1s OPGESTAAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 be concerned. with God 2is well as with  man.                                                                                               Although
                 R e v .   H .   H o e k s e m a                                                                                                                                                                  comparatively little. was said in the course of Dr.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Clark's examination about what might ,be called divine
EDITtiRIALS -                                                                                                                                                                                                     psychology, there is enough evidence in the tr;a.nscript

    THE T XT OF A CONPLAINT                                                                                       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i..288        of the examination to outline his position. Dr. Clark

    BEING CRAFTY, I CAUGHT YOU WITH GUILE . . . . . . . . . . 290                                                                                                                                                 should certainly not be accused of dividing the nature

    BREAD FOR ToHE RIGHTEOUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . 290                                                                                               of ,God,  or `even of man, into discrete parts which might
   EXPOBLTION  OF THE HEIDELBERG CATiECHISM  . . . ...291                                                                                                                                                         be labeled .`int4lect',  `emotion', and `volit,ion',  OE by

                 Rev. H. HoeTisema                                                                                                                                                                                other terms.        However, since  he is willing, at least, for

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  the sake of Iargument,  to use such words as indi,cating
   THE REACTIONS OF UNBELIEF TO SAMSON . . . . . . . . . . . . 294                                                                                                                                                diffeyent  faculties thene  is certainly meaning in what
                 Rev.  G. M_! Ophoff                                                                                                                                                                              has been said on. the subject,.        First tif all. Dr. Clark

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  specifically- states (p. 16) that the stitement  ,of the
   VAN D E RECHTERS                                                         . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..a.. ,29S      Westminster Confession thai `God is without. 
                 Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               . . .pas-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  sions' means that :God  is lacking in feeling and emotion.

   COMMON GRACE IN S,CHILDER:S  PASSIQN TRZL-                                                                                                                                                                     :&though  he objects to a definition of f,eeling  or_ emo-

  O G Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300                 tion which would make those words mean anything
                bev. G. Lubbers                                                      .                                                                                                                            d(ifferent  from `passions', he does not make provision
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  for any other faculty in God'.s  natlire  which .would be
   THE' FIRSTFORN  OF EVERY CREATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302                                                                                                                              non-intellectual and  non-volitional. Seconjdly,  to round
                Rev. R. De Wcolf                                                                                                                                                                                  out t%e picture, Dr. Clark apparently does assume that

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  God has both intellectual and  voliti&nal  facultieis,  for
  PACZFISM. . . .I..............: . . . . . . . . ..!......................................................  304                                                                                                  he. talks about the decretive  and perceptive will ,of God,
                R e v .  B  V e l d m a n
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  BS w1el1 as about God's knowledge."

  CONTRIBUTION                                               . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307        "The Answer" makes plain. that Dr. Clark does not
                Mr.  F r a n k   R o t i e r .                                                                                                                                                                    deny the reality of ,emotions  in God, but gives them 2

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  different connotation from that of the  complainants,
 - - h_.. -_L._M_.. _ __ __ ,._ ___ .._                                                                                                      -  ,_.                    -,-I



                                                                                                                                  .
                              i


                                               THEST.ANDARD   B E A R E R                                                              289


      and assigns to them a position differrent  -from that             valence'  : love, goodness, mercy, and g&e. Even here                 _
      which the `latter assign to them, `in relation to God's           we must be careful to defend the immutable self-deter-

      intellect and will.    The complainants make of the emo-          mination of God. But the question still remains, can

      tions in God a separate faculty, next to, and on a level          these be identified with, or associated with, the idea

      with intellect and will. c Dr. Clark gives them a sub-            of `emotion' or `feeling'?      IObviously,  we Idefine  those

      ordinate position, and explains them as aspects or func-          words in their .narrow but perfectly colloquial sense as

      ti,ons of Gold's  intellect and will.    From "The Answer"        something which arouses the will Ia!nd  thus determines

      we quote: "Dr. Clark never made any `forthright de-               action.    In fine, is there any quality or faculty in God

      nial of ,anything  that might she called emotion in God.'         which is-neither intellectual nor volitional, and which

      Love or wrath `might Ibe called an emotion.'         Dr. Clark    underlies or aocompani&,  volitional activity?           That

      did not deny love and `wrath to  *God.        Hse holds that      question, in simiktr words, Dr. Clark studiously avoid-

      while some people might call #God's love aand  wrath              ed answering." pp. `7, 8.

      emotions, it is ,better  to classify them as volitions.     In       It is interesting for more than one reason to notice               .
      this Dr. Clark is in accord with a large  .sectioa  `of           how Dr. Clark "studiously avoided answering" this
      theology and .of literary usage." p. 27.       :.                 particular question in his examination.. In "The Ans-
         It would seem, then" that the chief point of differ-           wer" the transcript of the  .examination  on this point
      `ence.between  the complainants !and Dr. Clark may be             is quoted 8s follows : "Q;  When,the  Confession of Faith

      stated thus, that the former. hold to the trichotomous,           says: <God is without body, parts ,or passions', .does  it
      the latter to the dichotomous  Idistinction  as applied to        mean that God is lacking in feeling or emotion? A. It

      human and "divinle  psychology." (I must not. be held             does. Q. I'll define the meaning of emotions: I mean
      responsible for the latter term).;                                -affections in the sense of principal activity with                        -
         2. While the complainants- pface theaintellect,  emo-          reference to objections. Now I'll repeat the question,
      tions, and will, both in man-and in God, on  zlevel  A(they.      if you wish. A. #Go  ahead. Q. The Co,nfession  says:

      even leave the impression of teaching a certain primacy           `God  is without body, parts, or passions.' Does it

     `of the emotions), Dr. Clark certainly assigns to the  - mean. that God is lacking in feeling or  ,emotion ?              A. Go
      emotions a subordinate position; and; ,according  to the          ahead. Q. And by feeling or emotion I mean-in the
      complainants, teaches the primacy of the intellect.        The    sense of principal activity with reference to `objects.
      latter position the complainants hold to be. a serious.           A. I f,orgfet  whi'ch  way to answer that-yes or no.
      error, contrary to the best Reform@ tradition:; I quote           Q. -The Confession of Faith says : `God is without
      from the "Complaint": "While Dr. Clark is `willing to%            body or parts. A. The answer is yes, but I protest
      admit  that the intell~ect  and volition and emotion are          against the ,awful  English iin your statement,, the word
      equally essential to a human being', he maintains that            ,emotion-never mind that English.             Q. You mean '
      they have ,different  functions' and. `that the intelle,ct        that God has never acted upon anything aside from
      is the supreme function.' " p. 7. And again: "What,               himself? A. I don't understand you.  Q... What `I
      in the first pbce, is,the  Reformed teachmg  about the.           would like to know is this: We can call these feelings
      aspects of God's nature, or, if you will, the faculties           or emotions~  in God,. and I would define them as  analo- o
      which reside in God? (How easy itwould be to Ideduce              gous  to our feelings and emotions and affections in the
'     from statements like "faculties in God" that the  com-            sense that they lare alctive  principles, active with refer-. '
      plainan&  deny the simplicity of ,God  !    We d.o  not make      ence  to objects.    For example: God is angry with. tht3':.
      the deduction, of course, although we would neither be'           wicked.      IGoldS  loves Hi& people eternally, would yoii  .t
      responsible for the terms,. H.H.) .      That ,God has know-      deny that       A. That is right, right; what you say is
      ledge land will is. agreed by all. `..The  questi,ohs  that       right.. Q. That is what.the  ,Confession  means? A. No,
      must concern us .are'two  : .does ,God have what may be           what-not what it means right there'_of  what the
      properly called `emotions'? and, what is the relation             Confession means."                          .._.
      between God's faculties? If we assign to the word                    If the transcript of this part of the examination. is
      {emotion' an c~ ptiri  definition which in the natur,e            correct,' the insinuation that -Dr. Clark "studiously
      of the ca:se  identifies emotion with `passions', it would        avoided  answering" is not.true.     However, one wonders.
      obviously be denying our standards to say that `God  has          whether the questioner himself was not somewhat'
      emotions (Westminster Confession, II, 1). God does                vague and confused in his owln  mind. >And certain it is
      not change, there is no .shadow  of turning in him,. he           that the last question was answered correctly by Dr.
      is not a man that he should repent., he is immutable.             Clark: when. the Westminster Confession states that
      Certainly, also, God does not share certain of the quali-         there are no passions in ,Goldb  it cer@inly  has no refer-
      ties which we call (emotions'; such as fear, longing, and         ence to ~Gdd's wrath against the wicked, and to His love
     surprise.    If we are to speak of feeling  or..emotions.in        to Ss elect,                                            I .
      `God at all, we must confine ourselves to his attributes             Because of lack of space, and because of fear  that
      which ane sometimes summed up under the word `bene-               more of this material might make our readers too


           290                      I                           TI$i3   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

           dizzy at present, I.must  reserve my own opinioln  of this
           point of the controversy for the next issue.                                           Bread For The- Righteous
                                                                        H. H.

                                                                                         The South Holland Men's #Society  asked for an ex-

                                                                                     planation of Ps. 37 :25. We read there:       "I have been

                                                                                     youlng,  and now I am old  ; yet have I not seen the
                                                                                     righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."

                  "Being Crafty,  I Caught You                                           I suppose that the Men's Society of South Holland
                                                                                     had really. n.o difficulty to understand the meaning of
                                   With Guile"                                       these words as such. They are very plain. They
                             .
                                                                                     simply state that the poet in his days (land he had

               The Roosevelt Park Men's Society sent me the                          lived long) had nev:er  seen the righteous begging
           following ~communioation                                                  bread. And these words need no -interpretation.  The
                                               :                I
                                                                                     difficuhy  in th,e South Holland Men's Society must
               "Esteemed Editor :                                                    have arisen when they compared this statement with

               "The English Men's Society of -the Roosevelt Park                     reality, when they tried to find the realization of them

           Protestant Reeformed  Church has experienced consider-                    in actual conditions.    And even in Israel at the time  ,of
           able..!dlifficulty  in arriving at a satisfactory interpreta-             Jesus and the apostles there were beggars. Lazarus
           tion of the latt,er  part ,of II Cor. 12 :16, namely : `. . . .           in the parable is an outstanding illustration.
           nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.'                         I think we must remember the following :
               "They w.ould  very much appreciate reading your                           1. Under normal conditions, and when Israel walked
*          interpretation of this. portion .of Scripture as soon as                  in the way of the Lord's precepts, there were no poor
           you can conveniently do so.                                               in the land of Canaan.     This was the promise of God.
                         Respectfully yours,.                                        See Deut.  15:4,  5. The righteous, therefore; would
                                         The Roosevelt Park .Men's  Society.         not. be :forsaken, nor his seed begging bread in normal
                                   CGeo. Ten Elshof, Sec'y."                         conditions.     The text means literally tha.t the poet

                                                                                     had seen the realization of this promise in the Idays of
           Answer.                                                                   his life.

              In the light of the context, it would appear evident                       2. If the Church \n the world understands her call-
      that the apostle is defending himself against a slander-                       ing, the text may be applied to present day conditions
      ous accusation by- his ,opponents,  the accusation in this                     also. In normal conditions there is no need for the

     s case being that he preached the gospel for mercenary                          right,eous,  even though they be poor, in any church to
      purposes.         Under the pretext of his being interested                    go abegging  f.or bread. The Lord us,ually  gives plenty
           in the salvati,on  of men, he mea,nt  to aaquire ,filthy                  to any church to provide for all.

      lucne.  He answers that he never burdened them, the                                3. This ,does  not mean, of course, that under no

      Corinthians, ,while  he labored among them ; that he conditions the righteous ever suffer hunger and want.
      will not be burdensome to them when he will come to                            Think of times of persecution for Christ's sake.      Think

      them the third time, aed that, `on the contrary, he will                       of the time of antichrist, when those that refuse to
      gladly spend. and be spent for their sa>ke, even though                        receive the mark of the beast, CZA neither buy nor sell;

      "`the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved."                        Besides, if ever the righteous go begging for  .bread,
      vs. 15.                                                                        this may be a testimony against the church, as it was
              However, the !evil adversaries .in Corinth would say :                 a testimony against Israel in the old dispensation.

           "No, it is true, he is not #directly  and personally burden-                                                                H. H.

      some to the p.eople when he is among them.                        He is too

      sly for that. He is crafty. He catches them unawares.

      What he does not do directly, he does through his

      helpers. These take your money  .and  through them

      Paul indirectly gains his mercenary end." These
      words of the opponents the apostle somewhat sarcastic-                                                   NiOTICE

      ally adopts as his ,own.               They therefore should be read
      as follows                                                                         Classis  -East will meet in regular session Wednes-
                      : "Be it so, very `well (they say), personally
      I.Idid  not burden you: lbut being crafty, I caught you,                       day, April 4 at 9 :00 at the First Protestant Reformed
                                                                                     Church, at Grand Rapids, Michigan. The consistories
     - with guile, and took. my share of filthy lucre ,from yen
      through ,others."                  And the apostle then continues to           w.ill please remember that this is the last meeting of
           disprove this accusation. vss. 17; 18;                                    Classis  before the next Synod meets.
                                                                        H. H.                                             D.`Jonker,  S. C.
      1                                             __ . . .

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

 lw-"                                                             stating that in the incarnation the Person of the Son

    The Triple Knowledge                                          assumed aan imerson& human nature.             This is, per;
                                                                  haps, hardly ,correct.      Better it woul,d  seem to express

                                                                  the matter thus, that the human nature of Christ be-

                                                                  came and is personal only through its assumption by

  An- Exposition Of The Heidelberg                                the Person of the Son of Go'd,  it has no personal sub-
                                                                  sistence of its own, but it is personal because the Soa
                         C a t e c h i s m                        of God took up His abode in-it.        Henoe,  both the per-
            0                                  .                  sonality of the human nature of the Saviour and its
                            Part Two.                             union with the divine nature have their ground in the

                      Of Man's Rede-mption                        Person of the Son of `God.
                                                                     It is rdifhcult  to conkeive  of and to define what is
                         .Lord's  Day XIV
                                                                  meant by person.          It has usually been defined las an

                                3.                                individual sucbsistence  in a rational, moral nature.
                                                                  Only a rational, `moral being clan be a person.          There
                 Very God and Righteous Man.
                                                                  may be many individual trees, but a tree is not a per-
    The early Church, after a long period of  contra.-            son.. There may be an endless variety of the species
versy about the truth concerning the incarnated Word,             horse, but ao individual horse is !a person. God is
finally expressed the faith  of the orthodox believers in         personal, for He reveals Hiimself as having intellect
the Symbol of Chalcedon,  in the year 451, as f.ollows  :         and will.    And so, those creatures are persons that are
    "We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one           endowed with a rational, volitional nature, like angels
consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son,               and men.      This description, however, is rather an
our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in  JGodhead              answer to the ,qu&ion  : what is a person? It does not
and also .perfect  in manhood; truly God and truly                define what is that mysterious something within.  us
man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial I that we call our person, or ego. My person is that
,with  the Father according. to the  ,Godhead, and con-           ,which".I  know to be the subject of all my actions, and,
substantial with us ,according  to the Manhood ; in all Ibesides, of ,whose  identity I remain. cons&us and as-
things iike unto us, without sin ; begotten before all : sured no matter what radical change's my nature  may
ages of the Father according to the &Godhead, and in              undergo.     It is not my nature, my body or my- soul, my
these latter days, for us land for our salvation, born            brain, my eye, my ear, my mouth, my feet, that acts,
of the Virgin Mary, the .Mother  of God, according to             thinks, sees, hears, speaks, runs, but my person:  I act,
the Manhood; one an'd the same Christ, Son, Lord,                 I think, I see *and  hear and speak aind  run, ,in and
Only-begotten, to ,be acknowledged in two natures,                through my nature. And from childhood to old age,
incomfusedly,  unchangeably, irditisibly, inseparably;            from the cradle to the grave, my nature undergoes
the distinction  `of natureis  being by no means taken away       many and great changes ; yet, my *person  remains the

"by the union, but rather the property of each nature             same. I keow  that I am still the  same  person that
being preserved,, and concurring in one Person and one            once was nursed at my mother"s  breasts. And even
Subsistenae,  not parted or divided into two persons,             through death my person remains the same, retains its
but one and the same Son, and only begotten, ,God,  the           identity. It is I that die, and will be raised again in
Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the             Christ at the last day.
beginning have declared concerning him, and the Lord  ~              Now, in Christ.this  person is the Son of God, the
Jesus Christ himself has  t,aught us, and the Creed of            second Person of the Holy Trinity.       In and through the
the holy Fathers has handed ,down to us."                         human nature of Jesus it is the Son of God that is the
    Briefly expressed, the Church here f'ormulated  the           subject of all His actions' and  all His experiences.     It is
Idoctrine,  which since that time has remained un-                He that is born in Bethlehem, as to His human nature,
changed) that the two natures of Christ subsist in unity'         that grows up in. the home of Joseph and Mary in
of divine Person, without mixture, without change,                Nazareth, that converses with the do,ctors  of the lacw  in
without division, -without separation. About efach  of            the temple when He is twelve years old, that is  hap`-
these chief elements iln the doctrine con'cerning  Im-            tized and enters upon His public ministry when He was
manuel, ,God  with us, we will make a few remarks.                about thirty years of age.       The Person of the Son of
    First of all, then, it must be emphasized that ,Christ        God, Who is in the bosom of the Father as to His
is one Person, not two persons.          In the incarnation of    divine nature, appeared in the form of a servant in the
the Son of God, it. was not a humian  person that was             human nature, tabernacled among us; spoke to us, per-

unit,ed  with the second Person of the Trinity, but a             formed His mighty works among us. The Person. of

human, nature, body~ and soul, which the Son of  #God             the Son of -God as to and in His human nature is cap-

assumed.         This truth has sometimes been expressed by       tured in ,Gethsemane,  condemned by the Sanhedriu,


                                                                                                   -.I,u..&-"--___  .-.-._.    . . . ..c-     -. _.-.__`.. .~ , _
292                                          TH.E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

delivered over unto dea!th  by the RIoman  governor.                   seccmd  limitation, or negative qualification of the miion

The Son ,of God suffers ,death,  is raised. from the dead,,            ,of the two natur.es  in Christ by the council .of  Chalce-

exalted at the right hand of God, and recleived  a name                #don,:  unx@ngeably.,  Neither the (divine  nor the human
that is above every name,-all in His human nature.                     nature was essentially changed through the `incarna-
Always. He is the same Person, "not  part,ed  or divided               tion.    The Son of IGod ,did not leave  the bosom of the
into two persons, but one and the same Son, aad only                   Father to become  man : He is, aocording  to the ,divine
begotten, the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ." Were                       nature, in the bosom of the Father, ,while, l&cording  to

I& tw'o  persons, He would.not be Immanuel,  the union                 the human nature, He lies in the manger of Bethlehem,
of God with us. would not be `established. in Him, His*                grows up in Nazareth, walks among us in  thec"form of

death would have no other .sig,nificance  than any human               a servant, dies on the cross, is raised and exa:lted.
death,. ,atonement  would not have been. made through                  For the divine nature is immutable. Nor did the Son

Him, and He could not be the object of ,our.  adoration,               of God put asicde  the divine virtues.                     The Infinite was
and worship : we could not address Him as  : "my Lord not changed into the finite, but assumed the finite  ;
and- my God."' -                                                       the Eternal ldid not ,empty Himself of eternity, but
       The union of the two.aatures  in Christ, tlleref,ore,  is       assumed the temporal ; the Lord of #all did not cease
in :a;nd thr.ough  the Person. Hence, the Church con-                  to be Lord, but assumed the form of a -servant.                                     Nor
fesses that this union is without mixture ,or f&on.                    *did the human nature in any sense  ,change  into the

`The  two natures in CChrBt are not merged, blended,                   divine, or assume `divine attributes. In His human  i
or fused into .one nature.       Christ is not a theanthropos,         ,nature  Christ `was finite, temporal, limited in power,
a God-man. .Such  a view would be Pantheistic.                 For     knowledge, wisdom and understanding, dependent and :
Pantheism i,dentifies  the eselence  of .God  with the es-             changeable.     In. it He lived our life, thought human1
sence of the creature. It fuses the Creator and the                    thoughts, had human desires, and spoke ,our language.
creature into one vagee  All.        (God is the worl,d,  and the      Yea, He even assumed our weakened human nature
world is God.          The world' spirit is the spirit of !God,        from the virgin Mary. Hiis. was not the 0rigi;nia.l  human
that comes to highest expression and self-conscious-                   nature, as Adam possessed it in the state of rectitude,
ness in man.       It obliterates the line of ,demar&ion  be-          but the flesh and blood of the chilldren,  subject to self-`
tween ,God  an'd man, the, Infinite and the finite.            Ac-     fering an,d d:eath.    The only exception to this was His
cording to this proad  philosophy, the incarnation is                  sinlessness.    For He ,came  in the likeness of sinful
only the natural .,development  of, the. human race : in flesh: not in sinful flesh,,lbut yet in its likeness. Rom.
Christ Gold  reac%hed  self-consciousness. Hence, He                   8 :3. And it behooved H1i.m.  in all things to be made like
Icould identify Himself with the Father.           He was divine       unto His brethren, and we have not an high priest
because He was truly human.             This Pantheistilc  view,       which cannot be' touched with the feeling of our in-.
which in the course, of hist'ory  frequently lifted up its             firmities, but one, who was in all points tempted even
proud head in `one-form  or la;nother,  is the destruction             as we are, yet without sin.             Heb. 2 :17 ; 4 :15.                      He is
of all true religion.      If, the !divine  essence is not'distinct    et,ernally  very God ; H:e became truly man in time. He
from the essence of-the  creature, if the Personality                  is -eternally iln the form of Gold ; in the fulness of time .
of God and that ,of .man are merged, if my life, my                    He also assumed the form of a servant. :And thus
thoughts,and  my desires, are nothing but little ripples               He could speak. that mysterious word to Nicodemus:
on ,the  swelling, tide .of the universal Spirit,-ocean,-              "And no man bath  ascended up to heaven, but he that
.then  there is neither religion nor morality,,~;Then  God is          came downlfrom  heaven, even the Son of  man  which ,is                                       '
the one Universal Subject in all, and there is no fellow-              in heaven." John 3 :13.
ship between Him and us, no responsibility, no. sin and                    This already implies that the two natures, the
`no .redemption.       Then He does not exist, has no being,           human and the Idivine;  subsist in` Christ inclivisibly.
in Idistinction  from us, we cannot speak to Him, believe              Yet, the early fathers considered  it..necessary  also to
in Him; trust iln Him, enter into His covenant fellow-                 express this negative qualification to bar another erron-
ship.. Hence, it is important' that.  the confession of                eous view from entering into the Church. For the
Chalcedon  be maintained with regard to the natur.e  of                heresy had already been taught that Christ assumed
Christ: they,aire  united in the Person of the Son  un-                only a partial human nature, that the natures of
,conzfusedly.  ~The Son of God, W,ho is co-equal with the              Christ were divided into parts, and that parts ,of these
Father and the Hely ,Ghost,  God of `God, Light of Light,              natures were joined in the incarnation.                               He was rea&
assumed the real and complete human -nature,  Ibody  and               human in as far as He assumed the human nature,
soul, ;but  so that the two' natures1 rlemain  for ever !d.is-         but H'e was not aompZeteZy  huma.n:  the divine Spirit
tin& ,God and man are most intimately united  -in                      or nature inhabited a human body .and a human soul,
Him, yet so thlat  the two are never fused into                one     but not a human spirit or mind.                    The highest in man,
substance or nature.                                                   his. spirit or mind, was replaced by the divine Spirit.
       In close connection with the preceding stands the               It is my experience that some such conception is .often..


                  .


  S U P P L E M E N T '  'EO iHE-STANDARD   B E A R E R F O R   A P R .  l,-1945



                       Report of Classis West - Convened Mar& 7,1945

                                                 at .Sioux  Center, Iowa

    The Rev. P. De Boer conducted the              Thereupon the Candidate is given a  c blessing in his new field of labor. Rev.
  usual opening exercises.     Xt appeared       half hour to p.reach  his classical sermon              Gritter responds with a word of thanks
  from the credentials that all the churches     on the passage of Scripture taken from                  and wishes the Classis  God's continued
  were represented.                              I Cor. 1:27-29.                                         blessing.
    Rev. L. Doezema takes the chair as             The chair appoints the Revs. C. Hanko                   The Rev. A.. Cammenga of Hull was
  president of the day, and Rev. P.. De          J. Blankespoor and the elder H. P. Van                  appointed as moderator for Sioux Center
  Boer serves as secretary.                      Dyken to examine the credentials of Can-                during their vacancy.
    The president extends a word of wel-         didate Van Weelden.                                       The following are delegated by the
  come parti&larly  the two new mini(sters         Upon receiving the advice of the depu-                Classis  to &e next Synod:

  now serving in Classis  West, Rev. C.          ties ad examina, the Classis  decides `to
                                                                                                                            Ministers:
  Hanko and Rev. L  .Vermeer,  and also to       express that ,Candidate  James Van Weel-
                                                                                                                   Primi                  Secundi
  the deputies. ad examina, the Reverends        den has shown the necessary qualifica-
                                                                                                         G. Vos                _ L. Vermeer
  B. Kok, A. Petter and M.  Schipper.            tions for the ministry of the Word and
                                                                                                         C. Hanko                P. Vis
    The church visitors for the middle           Sacraments in our churches, and advises
                                                                                                         L. Doezema              A. ,Cammenga
8 West present their report, informing the       the consistory of Sioux Center to proceed
                                                                                                         J. Blankespoor          P. De Boer
  Glassis  that love and unity prevail in the    with the ordinatirm.         Candidate Van                                  Elders 
  churches they visited, as also love for the    Weelden is informed of our decision, and                                           :
                                                                                                               Primi                      ,Secundi
  truth, The church visitors for the far         the assembly. sings "Des Heeren Zegen
                                                                                                         J. Dotter               H. Kuiper
  West report that they have carried.out         Op U Daal".        '                               ?    C. Vander Molen         J. Broek
  their mandate,. visiting the churches in         The requests for subsidies from the                   W. De Vries             ,G.  Rijken
  California and Montana, and that they          various churches are given into the hands               E. Hoekstra             J. Kuiper
  found everything in good order in these        of a committee for further investigation,
  churches.                                      upon which they report their findings to                  Since Mr. F.. LaGrange  has not been
    The sermon committee presents its re-        Classis.     The committee consists of the              remunerated for his services in regard

  port that they have carried out the work       Revs. Vis, Vos and Gritters, and' the                   to the finances of Classis  West, it is de-

  assigned to them by the previous  Classis.     elders H. A. Kimm and A. Katje.                         cided to notify him of a former. decision

  They have mimeographed and compiled              A request from,Oskaloosa for remun-                   of Classis  that he .should  be remunerated

  in book form a number of English and           eration of certain recently incurred ex-                for this work annually, and that Classis

  Dutch sermons, which are available to          penses i.s also given into the hands of                 desires to carry .out this decision accord-
  the con&stories  for reading services. The     this committee.                                         ingly.

  Classis accepts this report and decides          The committee advises Classis to grant                  Pella thanks the Classis  for the aid
to place these books on sale to the  con-        t h e  irequests  for :subddies  .as pres'ented         extended to her during her vacancy in the
  sistory members for the eost price of          by the various consistories.                            past year.

  $2.50 per set, each set including two            The request of Oskaloosa is rejected on                 The questions of Article 41 are satis-
  volumes.                                       the grounds that their request falls under              factorily answered. Oskaloosa asks ad-
    The consistory of Sioux Center asks          no particular rule now in vogue in our                  vice concerning the matter of Catechism
  Classis  to examine Candidate James Van        churches, and also that ,Oskaloosa  has                 books fo,r young people who are not yet
  Weelden, who has accepted the call ex-         presented no proof that she is in need of               ready for the commonly used "Essentials
  tended to him by their congregation. She       this aid.                                               of Reformed Doctrine" . They are in-
  Classis  decides to comply with this re-         Classis  approbates the letter of Testi-              formed that they can contact Rev. A.
  quest and p,roceeds  to examine him ac-        monial of the Rev. M.  ,Gritters,  who has              Cammenga, who has prepared a "Primer
  cording to the following schedule:             accepted the call to our Oak Lawn church.               of Reformed Doctrine".

    Rev. C. Hanko examines. him on the           It is also decided to give him a letter of                Since both Oskaloosa and Rock Valley

  first three loci of Dogmatics for 25 min.      transfer to Classis  East.                              nr+ibe  the Classis  to hold its fall meeting

   Rev. L. Vermeer examines him on the             Since Rev. Gritters is leaving  .our                  in their  church, Classis  decides to accept
  last three' loci of Dogmatics for 25 min.      Classis  Rev. C. Hanko has been chosen'                 the mvitation of Rock Valley. The next
    Rev. P. De Boer examines on Know-            to take his place as Stated Clerk. of                   meeting to be held on the first Wednes-
  ledge of Scripture for 15 minutes.             Classis  West. And the Rev. G. Vos has                  day of September, D. V.

    Rev. S. Cammenga examines on Know-           been chosen to fill hi,s  vacancy in the.                 After the minutes are app.roved  the
  ledge of the Confessions for  15 minutes.      Classical Committee.                                    president makes. a few fitting closing
    Rev. J. Blankespoor ,examineS  on Con-         The Chair expresses the appreciation                  remarks, whereupon the Rev. J. Vander
  trovers for 15 minutes.                        of Classis  West to Rev. M. Glitters  for               Breggen returns thanks to God for His
    Rev. G. Vos  concludes with an examina-      his faithful services as Stated Clerk of                guidance.
  tion on Practica  for 15 minutes.              the Classis  and now wishes him God's                                 C. HANKO,  Stated Clerk.


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                                     T H E  `STAND.ARD  BEARJl!R                                                            29.3

   met with_ in those that Ibelieve  the incarnation of           according to the infirmity of His flesh." -
   Christ. Upon questioning eatecbumens,  I frequently                This union of ;the  human.  nature  to the $vine in
  ,discovared.  that they had the notion that the [divine         the Person of the Son already  postulates the s@l~s~-
   nature inhabited a human body, took the place of the           ness of His human'  nature.          For  ,God can have  no
   human soul. It must, therefore, be con&antly  made             fellowship with sin. In a corrupt human natwe the
   clear and :emphasized  that the whole, infinite  divilne       Son of 8ti.d could not have dwelled,.      H;e w+s  l&e  Holy
  nature was joined insdivisibly  to the whole human              Child Jesus.      I-Ie was separate from singers.  "For
  nat,ure,  boldy  and soul. <Christ  `is very God, and com-      such an high priest  beesme  us, who is holy, ha:rmle~s~s,
  pletely man.'                                                   -nndefileld,  se&rate from singers,  and made higher th$n
      And yet, although ea,ch  of the natures  in Christ          the heavens." H.eb.  7 :26.
  retains its own distipct qualities, and the two natures             This .@l~essness  of ,Christ  implies especially three
  neither are mer@ed  or fused into each other, aor               elements.      It-means, first of all, that He was without
  supplement each other, they are" united in the divine           original guilt,. We are porn  in original guilt and con-
  Person of the Son of ,God inseparably. Although the             demjnation  : the sin of Adam is imputed,to  us, we being
  human nature  in Christ never partook of the divine,            reckoned in Adam forensically. But Christ does not
  thrdugh the intimiate  union ,of the two na;tures  in t&e       fall un'der  this imputation beewe  He is not a  human

  Person of Christ, there was a constant inner con-               person, but the Persoai  of the Son of God.  Although
  nection between His huri?an  nature  and the divine,            as to His nature He is out of Adam, as to His Person
  between His human. mind and the mind of God, His                He WI&S not reckoned in Adam. IGuilt is imputed -to
  human, power and the power of the Almighty,  ipstruet-          the peTso%      And as Christ. was a divine, not a human
  ing Him from within, making Him obedient u&o                    person, the  guilt of `Adam's sin could not be imputed
  ,death,  sar&ifying Him, and sustaining Him even in             to Him.      Personally He did not lie under the ,wrath of
  His deepest afflictions.    That is why He is the per-          (God  and under the condemnation  .of' the human race.

feet  irevelation of the Father in buman  nature.. Aed            He wa,s  sepa.r&e  from sinners. Second!y,  the sinles?-

  that is the reason why He could endure the .terrible            .ness of Christ implies that He was not depraved, t&at
  moment of the pouring out of all the  vials of God's            His nature wag without `corruption, that He assumed a

  wrath without being crushed. -                                  holy human nature.  Being without original guilt, He
      Beautifully this ,distin&ion  aed  union of the two         wta!s entitled to a sinless human nature,  *fdr He was

  natures in Christ is expressed in the  @onfessio.  Belgica;,    p'ersonally  not subject to the sentence of death. And
A r t .   X I X : "We believe that by this conception, the        this sinless human nature He assume,d,  not from a

  person of the Son is inseparably united with the human          holy virgin, who herself was immaculately  conceiveld,

  nature ; so tbalt there are not two Sons of God, nor            but because the Son of God formed His owp  huma?
  two persons, but two natures  united in one single              nature through the conception by the Holy Spirit in
  person: yet, that each nature retains its own distinct          the womb of the virgin Mary.          "The Holy Ghost shall

  properties., As then the `divine nature hath always             come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall

  remained uncreat,ed,  without beginning of days or end          ,over&adow  thee: therefore also that holy thing  which

 ,of life, filling heaven and earth : so also hath the human      shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of  God-'

  nature not lost its properties, but  remailned  a creature,     Luke 1:3,5.     Apd, lastly, this implies that Christ never

  having beginning of days, being a finite nature, and re-        had `any  actual sin, tha& His whole existence, from the

  taining all the properties of a real body. -AnId  though        manger to the cross.was  without spot or blemish.         -He

  he l&h  by His resurrection given. immortality to the           was t.empted.  in all things even as we are, yet without

  same, nevertheless He hath not changed the reality              sin.. Heb. 4 :15.

  of His human nature ; forasmuch as our salvation and                iAnd .in., this copnection  it must be maintained th;hat
  resurrection also depend on the reality of His body.            there was not  the slightest posB:ibility  *hat  Christ

  But these ;two natures ane so clm:ely united in one             should $211  int.o.sin.    The first Ad&m  was lapsible,  the

  person, that they were not separateid even by His ,death.       last Adam was ndt. And this impossibility was due,

  Therefore that which He, when dying, commended into             not to the holiness of  .His human. nature alone, for

  the hands of His Father,  wais a real human spirit, de-         Adam also was righteous and holy, yet he fell ; but,
  parting from His body.        But/'  in. the meantime the       :subject,ively,  to God's decree t&at  in Him 1211 things
  ,divine  nature always remained united with %he human,          should'be  mad.e  perfect ; and, subj ectiaely,  to' the union
  &en  when He lay in the grave.      And -the  Godhead [did      of +he human nature to the ,divine  in the Person of
  not cease to be in Him, any more than it did when  .H,e         the Son.     T,o maintain that aLso for (Christ there was a

' was an infant, though it did nc& so clearly manifest            possibility of falling `into sin, is to Ideny  God's im-
  itself for a `while. Where&e  we confess that He is             mutable ,decnee  that He should Ibe made perfect as the
  very God a>nd very Man: very God aby  His power to              i(=apta?n  of our  .salvationl; and is tan&amount to  th_e

  GFnquer `death; and v&y man tha-t Be Q@&%  die fs% PS           &&ment  th'at the Person of the Son could become  dis-


      .294  _, ..- .-.I                            `j_' -&I E. .S T A N D.`A.R D B E A R .E R`

       obedient to the Father in human flesh:  And this is                        The .`Rezkfions  of -TJnbelief
       absurd.       Hence, it must -be mlaintained  that Christ

     .could  not sin.     This idoes not render the reality  of. His                         "A0 Samson
     `rtemptations  less real. He was tempted in `all things

      evgn ais w,e are, yet without sin.           The trial or test, of                                      . .
      :anything  *does  `ilot become less real because it is' certain          In this essay, we analyze the reactions  .of the Phil-

     from the outset that it `will not-and cannot' break.             The     ist,ines  to Samson's attacks upon them, and .with them

      strain put upon  the obedience of Chrisit  in His suffer-              the responses of Samson's own brethren. The import

      ings and death is nonetheless real and heavy, because                    of these reactio.ns  and responses can be grasped only

      it was (c priori established that Hoe  could never be                  in the light of the following considerations.        Somson,

      crushed uadeir the strain.            Also iln this respect Christ     !as was said,  was wonderfully strong, physically; but no

      was isep&rate  from  sinners. `He could never fall. In                 statement occurs indicating that hle w+s  big and course,

- ..,Hirn  the realization of God's everlasting covenant is                  a mau  df giant stat&e.       There is ,every  reason to be-
      assure,d  from .,the beginning, because He is the Wol-d                lieve .that he was a mlan  of or,dinary-  build. This
      ~b&ome~flesh!                   :.                                      explaias the inability.. of his enemies to know his
     ;-.' Thus He is our Mediator, Who is able to bring the strength:. It cou1.d.  not be explai'ned  on the ground that
      kerfect  sacrifice for.our  sins; and to deliver us f,rom  all         he was a man with a bodily frame of uncommonly large

     the dominion of sin and  d&h. At first sight, the                       proportions.     What man, though he were many times

      wopds  of the Cat,echism  in question and .answer  36                  as ,big a man as t.he giant Goliath, could have done the

      leave' a somewhat strange impression, as if only by                    things.that  he dild,  meeting and vanguishing, in battle,
      -the holy conception and birth  of` `Christ our sins are               as a lone hero; on army of Philistines whose- number
      covered in the sight of God, an'd that, too, only OLW                  ran into the thousands, bearing away on his shoulders

      origina:l  sins : "What profit dost thou receive by Christ's the <doors  of the gates of Gaza, the doors and their two
      holy conception and nativity?           That he is our M:ediator  ;    posts. ,As was said, the only possible explanation of
      `and with -innocence and perfect holiness,  covers  in the             his pro'wess  was-that (God  wrought wonderfully in him

      sight of God my sins, `wherein. I. was conceived and                   and through him.      Thus Samson .was  a wonder of God
      brought forth."      -Ursinus,  in his Sclh&b,oek  offers no           both~to  the Philistines and to Israel.     No one had ever
      further ,explanation  of these words. Th,e  meaning                    seen anld heard of the like ,of  him.    Undeniably, he was

     cannot be, of course, that by Christ's holy birth my                    the outstretche'd  arm of `God,  a wonder of God's, grace

     `original  sins are blotted' out. However,  if His holy                 and `as such an unmi&akeable  sign to the adversary
      .conception  and birth are brought into connection with                that God fought for Ispa.el,  and that in Samson they
      His perfeit  sacrifice.on  the cross, all is plain.       Because      stood face  to-face with Jehovah.                       .I

     He had no original sin, because He was free from the                        The first' indication of Samson's ,being the out-

      `guilt of Adam's sin, and from the defilement of -the                  stsebched  .arm of .Jehovah  for the liberation of Israel,
      human nature, He could offer Himself up to God, 2                      was his rending asunder, with no effort to .speak  of,

      Lamb without spot or .blemish, and perform that per-                   the j!aw,s  `of that rapacious beast that  roared against
      fect act of obedience that constitutes the peEfeet                     .>hirn. on the road to Timnah. Doubtless he had told

     Yes over against the No of th& entire humag  race, and                  his young wife all about that ieeident  in connection
      thus blot out the guilt of la:11 our sins, even of the.sins            -with ,his divulgirig  to. her the answer to his riddle ; told
      in which we arle  conceived an'd born.           The Son of Go3        her that the eater in his parable was a lion th&  ,with

      in the flesh is the perfect High Priest,,  that is able to             no effort at all he had ,dispatched  by the power of his
      save to the uttermost all that through Him gd to God.                  own hand$.      If she told her countrymen., the treatment

     `By one sacrifice ,He has for ever perfected all His own!               that they .o:fforlded.  Samson on his marriage feast in
     , 1. .:                                                 H .  H:         the `matte? of his.. rid'dle  takes on. a new significance:
                                                                      :      Hearing of the incident, it must have occurred to them
                                                                             that. no man could,  ;do that miracle-and a mi.yacle  it

         A recent tarticle.  in The Bcmner,  signed A. H;, re-               was-except Israel's, Go& be with him, that .thus  this

      mindted  me once  more that when a small frog cannot,                  God-the God .sf, wonderkworking.  power, whose fame

     lbe a big frog i;n our pond, he changes  @is tune and is                had gone forth through all the earth, ha'd again risen

      welcome in ,our' neighbor's pond.                                      to scatter His enemies. and was 
i                                                                                                                .Z%LIS serving them notice
                .                                         - IT. H.           to cease oppredsing His peopleor  look forward to being
                                            7 .                              destroyed by .the strokes of the Almighty. But the
                               -                                             Philistines would not be in,structed.      They mocked God

           Almost the only similarity between ,Calvin  anid                  by. making ,sport' ,of Samsoh,  .H&  servant, Land by re-

     f mdern  Calvinism ia in the sound of the two names.                    taining their hold oh ,Gad'a  people. They refused  to
     I..1 I                                                  B, HI           perceive that the Lord &4@ spsken to them,

                                 E


                                             T : H  E :S'T!A  N,_D'A.R  D. .B E;A R E.R'                                         295..

     Then. the Lord spoke to them again.. Once more  IIe              the catastrophe in Samson, insisted that it  .had been

 put His Spirit upon Samson; under the.prompting of                   wrought by a mere man in a carnal rage that ha,d been

 the Spirit,, Samson went down to Ashkelon and slew                   kindled :by another injury done to his person.  To

 thirty men of them.             Those slailn  must have been to-     their quest$on,  "Who hath ,done this ?."" t&y  answeredi                .
 gether when `-surprised by Samson; They may have                     "Samson, the son-in-law of the .Timnite,  because he

 been thi,rty  groom's men, .gr,acing.  a nuptial,, plarty.           bath  taken his wife, and given her to his companion."

 That they were unable to stand *before  a lone Hebrew                Thus they insisted that in the ruin. of  thei.r  fields. of'

 was truly astounding.            The fame of Samson must have        grain, they had to do not with the anger of  `God but:.

 resoueded  through the land.' Why did the authorities                with the spite and malice, with the rage, of. 2 ,mere, '
 among the P.hilistines  take `no action?            The slaying      man, ~witli the injured feeling of a mere mo$al.         Thus,:
 of thirty Ashkeloaites for their clothing by a Hebrew                the situation was not one with `which they could not

w&s no small matter. Why did the Philistine princes                   cope.       All they haid to `do is. to appease the anger of a
not advance charges of murder and highway robbery                     mere man.        This could easily be done by punishing the,
 against .the  man?           Why tdid  they'refrain from notify-     Timnite.       And they thought. it wise to take recourse to.

 ing the smen  of Judah that, unless they track the crim-             the extremest measures in` dealing with that miscreant,
 inal down and make him atone for his crimes; there                   the father:&law  ,of Samson. In that way they would
 woul,d  be severe reprisals  ? Why ,did the Philistines              sliow Samson that they were as indignant about the,
 ignore the affair and leave the deed unpunished? What                vile treatment that had been afforded him in the mat-
 could have &been theI reason for this inaction,? The                 ter of h.is wife as was he. In that way they would-
 Philistine lords were afraid.  I' .Forthe  Lord shad laid            show him that they were as strong in their  ,denuncia-
 this stroke upon their. hearts.          They un'derstood  that,     tion of the foul deed qs any righteous man, could be
 whereas they had dominion. over. Israel, they were being             and that they were willing to go, to any length to make
 attacked not by a criminal to. be charged. with murder               amends. With the culprit having been made to atone

 and .robbery,  but lby a servant- of Jehovah raised up to            for hissins, Samson, they reasoned, would cause  them'
 deliver His people.          Yet; they repented tnot `but harden-    no more trouble. But in their hearts they knew dif-
 ed their hearts and r,etailned their hold on `God's  people.         ferent, kn.ew  that it was Israel's God with whom they
 Holding the truth in unrighteousness, they chose to                  had to ,do.     But in their perversity, they `were unwilling

 regard, the slaying in Ashkelon as the work of a Heb-                t,o face the truth about themselves, unwilling to  con;

 rew stung lay a, personal insult and out .for .gersonal              fess that they were ibeing  smitten not. by Samson but
 revenge ; they' lookeld  upon t,he occurrance  .as. a private        by (Samson  1a.s an agent of the Almighty and not be-
 affair between Samson  and some Philistines, thus as a.n             cause of th,e treachery of the Timnite but because of
 affair that did not concern them at all and about which              their ,own evil treatment of IGojdls  people;     Such  a con-
 they were obliged to do nothing. It means that they                  fession, backed up by fruits worthy of a true repent-'
 refused to see any connection, between the occurrance                ante,. would not be to their material advantage. So;
 and their oppressing God's people. It means,  i.n a                  passing by themselves, shutting their eyes to their  own'
 ,word,  that they refused to discern that they had been              (abominations as the (basic  reason of their present
 smitten ,by the rod of God's anger, by the outstretched              troubles, they'turned to the Timnite. The blame was
 arm of Jehovah.                                                      all his.     Coming up to Timnah, they burned Samso,n's
   ' So the Lord struck again, this time, much harder                 wife and her father.         And `they hoped that they had
 by far than b'efore.          Samson  set fire. to their standing    satisfied Samson's hostility.

 corn. The ,damage  done was great. As was saild, the.                    But to their dismay an'd consternation, Samson re-

 destruction of all that' grain was a calamity of the                 mained- hostile.      "And Samson said to -them,  Though

 first  magnitnde.  Also this evil had been wrought by                ye have done'this, be assured that I will be avenged of

 Samson, the lone hero, as assisted by no one. ._ What you, and after that I will cease."<  There is this in his
 other man with no ha.nds but his own could have con-                 reply.       T!hey  must not imagine!  that `he would cease

 stituted three hun'dred  jackals ,wiBd  ,beasts  ,of the             to make war,upon  them, just because they had put to

 `for,est,  his army in the way that it was done by him?'             death his ,wife and `her father.     For his conflict was not       .
 And how r,emarkable  that all those beasts to the very               personal but national.      ,tiis  great grievance was not the:

`last pair had run, swiftas the wind, through the stand-              treachery practised  against his person .,by a lone Tim-

 ing grain of the foe!          That.plainly  was the doing of the    nite but the great wrong done his people by them all.

 Lord, a visitation of Israel's ,God.          It formed the un-      They .were  oppressing his brethren. And"fo2 this

 mistakeable evidence that once more they had been                    wrong, done also to him, he being a Hebrew, he must

 smitten by the rod of ,His anger. But did they now                   be avenged `of them  all.      This necessity had .been laid

 repent and release their hold on .God's  people ?'        To the     upon him by .his God.         H:ence,  the death,,of  the lone'
 contrary. Now Iagain. they hardened tliek hearts and                 Timnite could not appease his anger.         For all ,deserved:

 thus refused- to. give ,God  the.`glory.       They ended withi      to. die f&or  a sin.that  was national. And it .was on .ac-

                         I


r

                                                                                                       . -*, _
       296                                      T H E  S,TANDAR.D  B.E,AIt.ER.   I _ -

       oount of this sin-the sin of oppressing his  Ibrethren-          standing corn, they chose to as'cribe  thle deed to a Idesire

       that he was waging ,war  against them-waging that                for personal vengeance on his part,. $0 regard it as

       war as the servant of his God, raised up, sustained  sand        an .ouitburst  of anger that had been kindled by the

       inspired by Jehovah. Had he :been  desirous of personal          treaitment  afforded him ,by the Timnite.         But it Would
       vengeance on his ,wife's `family, he could have inflicted        be sheer folly to interpret the slaying ,of  thousands of

       .it himself.    But this must not be  trajken  to mean that      their number as a private quarrel between, himself and

       the `injuries #done  to his person left him uneffected,          at best a few Phi.listines.    It had become too plain that

       and had no <bearing  on his. hostile attitude toward the         the Hebrew had ,desig;ns  upon them all, that his real

       enemy in general. Such a view militates against his              grilevance  was the oppression of his brethren at their

       telling %hem$hat  he would be avenged of them  dl.       His     hands. Besides, it was time that they ,best,ired  th&-

       telling them this must mean that he smote  them alsb             selves, $ake  action against the man, or the Hebrews, as

       on account of the sins committed .di%ctly  against. his          inspired by hits  /audacity  and by his great successes in.

       person only. But, as already has been explained, the             his comb+ with them, and as .encouraged  by their re-

       basic reason of his attacking them was that, they had            verses anld inaction, might conclude that the time was

       dominion over his people. The injuries done to his.              at hanid  for them to break asunder the bands of their

       person formed  o:nly  the immediate instigating ~circum-         `oppressors land to cast away their cords from them.

       stances of the conflict, so that, in waging war with his         They must act instantly, lest the rebellion that how

       foe, he' was identifying himseif with his people and             slumbered in .the 8bosom  of the oppressed awaken and

       was regarding all the `injuries `done  to his brethren as        the opprmsors  `find themselves fighting for their very

       Ainjuries done to himself. That he mu&  be tavenged              .existence.  For the lesson of history was that the

       o$ them must not be taken to mean that he warred that            Hebrews, once aroused, were fierce men in. combat,

       warfar@  in love of self and not in  love of (God.    Being a    wa.rriors  invincible.    Let them then be' up and Idoing.

       true believer his love of self `wals at bottom love of.          delayed s-&ion.  might prove `disastrous. But their

       God ; and his avenging himself was at bottom his                 problem was &exactly Samson.. T.hey  stood in awe of
       avenging his God and the cause of his God.                       the man. They marvelled  at his strength. An'd they

              But the Philistines would not understan,!.  So the        knew in their hearts that the only explanation of his

       Lord again struck.     Samson smote them hip and thigh           wonderful achievements la>s a lcme warrior was that

       wi$h  a great slaughter. No figu.res  ar,e  given. But           his God wrought wonderfully in him. But  &his  they

       the number of slain must have run into the  thouswads.           ,woul#d  admit neibher to themselves nor to one another.

       The Philistines, whom h.e smote, in all likel,ihood,  were       For <God  hardened their hearts. And therefore  .God

       those .who  had burned the ,Timnite.  The expression,            was not in all their thoughts, in all their  conscious

       "He smote them hip and. thigh calls for some cotiment;           deliberations.     However strong, Samson was still a

       The English equivalent. for the Hebrew world  rendered           mortal m!an certainly. There must be a limit t,o his

       hip is shank.     In man,  the shcmlc  is the part between       power.    Iit must be that he could be overpowered and

       the knee and the alnkle..  The thigh is the segment of           rendered helpless and impotent in bonds.           So they rea-

       the leg between thle  knee and the trunk.        In the mind.    soned ,among  themselves, though they ,had  come into

       of the Hebrews, it was especilally  the shanks  and the          the  possession of the most. conclusive evidence that no

       thigh that represented the strength an,d stability of the        man or combination of tien  could overpower and. Fen-

       body.     "God", says the psalmist, "takes no delight in         der him impotent in ,bonds  against his will, in that,

       the shank of a man."      Ps. 47 :fO.    The phrase is there-    being of the party of his God,,  Gdd was His strength

       fore equivalent to, "He smote them upper and l,awer              anid the source of his power.      Had he not just recently

       leg," i.e., overturned, hewed them down completely, he,          smote them with a great slaughter?             But such is the
       the solitary warrior of Israel's IGod and they an army           amazing blindness and stubbornness of the unbelief
       whose number was great.           The Lo_rd  had wrought         of the `wicked.

       wondeZfully  in him and. through him.        A miracle again        Samson ,could  be overpowered. He;would  be help-

       had been performed.      ,The  Lord had once more exhibit-       less in bonds.     An'd they muted the Bebrew  not dead

     .ed his power through Hiis s,ervant,  this time to a degree        but alive in bonds. It w,buld  be soothing to their  `wound-

       so astounding as to render u$terly  senseless the denial         ,ed pride, somewhat compensate them for the deep

       that the Lord was with  the man and that in him the              humiliation that they had suffered at his hands, could

       Phi&tines had to do very actually with God. Yet                  they hold him `in derision, bury him with maledictions,

     both ehilistines  and  Israeli& continued unbelieving              shout their curses and mockery in his ears, with him

       As' to the Philistines, that latest exploit of Samson ,com-      alive and in bonds, helpless Iat their feet, under their

       pelled them to face the real issue  ,w.hich  thus far they       heel, utterly powerless )Lo avenge hitiself.  They could

       had been unwilling to do. When they had heard of the             always &ten&  to his death aft,erwands.          But  how `were
       .slayin,g of the thirty .Ashkelonites,  they  acted m if         they to get him'%n their power?           Wlho would  bind him?

       Dothing  had ta8en  place.    When he had set fire to their      Supposing the accumulative stu'ength.  of an army of ten


thousand was greater th.an  his, how could all_ that.               son to be colossal, knew that the only possible explana-

strengt+  be put to use at once in binding- the. man?               tion of the strength such as that y$th which he haa

 Only a 7limited  number of hands coulld  take part in the          `been  *endowed,  was that he was sent of God.        Thus it

 performance of the task.            How with the terrific was in deliberate defiance of God, in `willing ignorance

stren.gth  of the man could they hope to be succ`essful!            of what was known #of ldod and of his servant Samson

They knew not.          But rid themselves of. him they must        in Isurael, that they proceeded to  Eltam  to bind  the man,

at ali costs.    "Then lthe Philisltines  went up, and pi#i?ched    It w.as  in that same ignorance that they justified them-
in Judlalh,  and spread themselves in Lehi." Beholding              selves in the&,  doing and condemned Samson., Didn't

the maneuverings of the Philistines, the `men of Judah              the man know that ;the Philistiaes  had <domiriion over

were sorely afraild. ,They concluded that the Philis-               them? Assuredly he knew. But he behaved, they ,
tines had come ,with  warlike purposes aga,inst  them.              meant to tell him, as if he were totiajlly ignorant  of the

 "And ;the  men of Judah s'aid,  Why are ye come u p                fa'ct.    He, ignorant of thins fact? It was his great

against us ?"        Let us not f,ail to grasp the thrust of        grievance against the Philistines. It formed the very

thtit  terrible question, for .a terrible question it was.          reason of his attacking them. To free his brethren

"Why, o Philistines, are ye come up against us?           `What     from that dominion the Lord had raised him up!           This

is. our .offence?     Hdve  we not faithfully served thee all       they well knew. The evidence  was &here,  conclusive

these  years?     H,ave  we once given thee aa,use for com-         and uncolntrovertable.  Yet they insisted on interpret-

plaitit?'      The Phi&tines  iyeve  pleased. It was the            ing his iwarfare  wit&  the Philistinas as a private quar-

very question they wanted  t,o hear and ,also  had pur-             rel. The man was not called of God. But he was d

posely solicited by their sudjdenly  appearing on the soil f miserablje  upstart, a disturber ofi &he peace,  always
of Judah with lain  army. The question pleased them                 seeking and making trouble for himself and involving

immensely. It was revealing. `I'he  Hebrews were the                not only himself' but Ia11 his brethren, the whole tribe

same docile slaves. Samson had little influence with                of Judah. AnId they indignantly- ask, "What is  this,

them. .How fol_tnnate  for t,he Philistines. The coward-            that thou hast done un,to us?"      "Thou hast in thy folly

ice of the Hebrews could -&and them in good stead.                  provoked <against us the .fierce  wrath of the Philistines !
Perhaps they might even prove willing. to bind Sam-                 Miserable man! `Thou wretch ! It were better for thee
son for them.        M would Ihe the solution to their prob-        and for thy countrymen th& +hou  were in bonds tind

lem. So they replied, "To bind Z&~mson  are we come                 not free, (dead  instead of alive.' (Come  we will `(bind

up, to do to him as he h&h done to us." `Hearing, the               thee, that we may ideliver  thee into the hands of the

m'en  of Judah were tielieved.      They had seared  that  the      Philistines", that thou majrest  reap. the fruit of_  thy-

Philistines were holding them accountable for what                  folly and th& we perish not at the  -hands of those `whom

Samson"di#d  to them. But let them not lay his sins                 thou hast so needlessly and  ,tiithout  cause provoked

to their charge.        They were 8:s math  against the man         against us.    ",To  bin,d thee are we, come down."      And
.as were the Phillstines.      They, .too,  decried his works.      what had Samson to say to *hem in reply?           Only khis,
They deplored that he was a Hebrew.            Curse the man        for he wa,s a rntin  of few words, "As they `dild unto tie,

and his deeds.       `They stood seady  to help the Philistines     so have I done unto them;"       And though he could #have.

ri,d the earth of him. Indeed! The Philistines had                  smote them, then and there as he had smitten the,

already gathered that  muoh  from th.eir anxious inquir-            PhZstines with a great slfaughter, he forbears. For

ing, "Why are ye come up  agai:&  us?" They would                   they are his brethren.     He could not smite such whom

now show the Philistines how `they were `disposed .to               he h&l been sent to deliver;      For their sakes  he w.ould

Israel's ,deliverer.     LRight there and then they resolved        bear their reproach. &d f,or their  ,sakes  he would

to bin'd him and ito deliver him in ,bond.s to the adver-           allow them to bind him.      So he willingly delivered him-

sary. The Phi&tines,  with mali~cious cunncng,  had                 self into their hands.    For also now he sought occasion

probably  demanded  ithis ,a,s  the prioe of peace.   F o r         against &he  Phil&ties for tile  sake of h.is brethren,-

either S&mson would  resist .their  efforts and smite               the Philistines, who at Lehi were awaiting the outcome

them, which woulld  be gain to the Philistines, or  l@              of that perilous <expedition against the drmded  Hebrew.

woulld  ,be captured anId given over to them, in which              eats  .to Samson, 116 .had but one request, `Stiear u:nto me,"

case `,they would fill them, with wrath toward each                 he s&id unto 4them,  "that ye will not fall upon me your-

oither.      "Then three thousand men ,of Judah went to             selves+"    T,hey  were willing to oblige  him i-n this ane

the top of the rock Etam, and  salid to Samson, Knowest             thing. There was no need of them putting him to

thou not th&  the Philistines are rul,ers over us?        What      `deraith with their own hands. Besides, the Philistines,

is this that thou ,hast  done unto us." ,                           they knew, wanted the man not dead but alive and in
    Their very act of proceeding to Etam w-ith an army              bo:r&.  And they must please their masters. But there
of no less than 3000 men-3000 &gain&  the one-would                 must be an added reason why they refrained from                   _

testify, cry <out, against them in,the  lday of judemeat.           laying violent hands .on the man.  They knew his

The  Idoing indicated that they knew the m.ight  .of Sam-           strength and t,hey were afraid. ,Shoul'd he assert him-


  298                                      TH% .STANDA.RD  BEARER

  self in his full strength, they would al1 ,be dead  men;                  Want, let wel, de psalm begint: `"God staat in de

  It must have therefore been. a  great  relief  to them,            vergadering Godes".          0 ja, God is overal, doch Hjij is

  ito hear him say, "Swear  to me that ye wil1 not fa11 upon         niet overal gelijk. -In den hemel is Gold heerlijker dan

  me yourselves."       The man was thus of a mind to be             op ,de aarde. In de hel is  IGod  ook, doch hoe geheel

  docile and tractible, and to allow  them to bi:n,d him             anders vertoont Hij zich daar dan in den hemel. Zoo

  with their chords.       They were only to eager to pacify         ook hier : `de.vergedering  tGodes is een geheel bijzondere.
  him.     So they spake `unto him saying, "NO ; hut we wil1         vergadering.      ZGezien  het verband van ,deze woorden, is
  bind thee fiast,  and ,deliver  thee into their hand: but          dezevergadering ,de  plaats waar recht gesproken moet

  surely `we wil1 not kil1 thee."       "And.  they bound hirn       worden.      Het is het'gerechtshof  waar hier sprake van

  with two new ch~ords,  an,d brought him up from thc                is.     En da!a:r is ,God met Zijn .gestrengheid,  Zijn ont-

  rocks."     What a spectacle! Judah is not ashameld  to            kreukbare gerechtigheid.          Wee de rechter, ,die iin de

  drag its hero forward, bound .with strong chords.                  nabijheid IGod,s  in het gerechtshof de leugenspreekt.
                                                  G. M. 0.                  "Hij oordeelt in het midden der goden". Hebt ge

                                                                     gezien, dat het woord "goden" met een kleine letter ge-

                                                                     schreven is?      Nu moet ge weten, `dat dit niet zoo  is in

                                                                     `de Hebreeuwsche taal. Daar staat hetzelfde woord,

                                                                     ,hetwelk voor den Heere Gold gebezigd wordt. Die

                                                                     kleine 1,etter  is werkia&g  van ,de Bijbel-vertalers.     Dit
                   V a n  De  R e c h t e r s                        is `evenwel niet de eenige plaats waar de rechtens der
                                                                     aarde goden genoemd worden.              Het zelfde gebruik

                            (PISALM 32)                              vindt ge ook,in  Ede  volgende plaatsen : Exod. 21:6 ; 22 :8,
                                                                     28 en Joh. 10 :34, 35.        Bovendien ,zeide  `de Heere im-
         Daar is -*een soort menschen hdie zulk een hoogheer-        mers tot Mozes, dat Hij Mozes gezet had tot een God
  lijk ambt bekleden, clat als zij gesproken hebben men              over Farao en Aaron  zou zijn profeet zijn. Zoo zien
  eenvoudig .de hand op `den mond'te  leggen heeft. Om               we, dat `de rechters der aarde, als `t ware, mondstukkon
  Idit duidelijk aan te toonen  gedenke  men aan (de drie            van God behooren  te zijn. _ Zij moeten zoo rechtvaardig
  vertakkingen van het Amerikaansche gouvernement.                   zijn in hun oordeel als God rechtvaardig is. Wat een
  Eerst is er het Congress, !dat de wett,en  uitvaardigt;            verantwoordelijkheid!
  dan is .er de uitvoerende macht die in den President                      Beitdé uit het eerste en het zesde vers blijkt, dat we
  .zetelt:  hij moet de wetten uitvoeren; en, eindelijk, is          hier te ldoen  hebben met sen gerechtihof  in Israel ,én
  daar het hoogste gerechthof, hetwelk uitmaakt of  .een             niet onder ,de- heidenen.       In het eerste vers staat, dat
  zekere-wet al *dan niet deugt.       En als #dat hoogste ge-       (God  staat i:n de vergadering tGodes  en in het zesde vers
  rechthof  gesproken ,heeft  zwijgt men.      Dat is het einde      zegt God van Ideze  rechters, `dat Hij hen .&%nderen  cLes
  van alle tegenspreken. .                                           Allerhoogsten  noemtde.  DIeze  rechters hebben daarom
         Men gevoelt Idaar  iets van als men om de eene of           een dubbele openbaring.         #God staat ook in dse  vergade-
  andere reden gedagvaart wordt en in het gerechtshof                ring der heidenen, als dat volk moet spreken in hunne
  moet verschijnen.        Men kan het aanvoelen, dat de rech-       rechtbanken, ,doch hoeveel te meer ldaar  waar Zijn .bij-
  ter bekl,eed  is met een zekere majlesteit.  In dit land           zo:ndere  openbaring allas verlicht,!
  noemt men hem : "Y'our  Honor"; in het oude vader-                        En dat nu is `het opzet van vers een.       God walar-
 , land spreekt men hem aan door' Edelachtbare.                                            .,.
                                                                     schuwt deze rechters in Israel._  Hij herinnert hen er
     Ziet ge, alle zaken kunnen*  niet hchten  tot den
                                                                     aan, dat Hcij, dat is, God, vlak bij hen staat als de zaak
  oordeeIsdag.      Veile, zeer vele zaken. moet,en  hier ;alvast
                                                                     der weduwen en weezen  voor hen komt.
  behandeld *worden.        En zoo  brengt men duistere zaken
  voor den rechter. En die rechter moet in den naam                         En wat soort menschen  waren tdeze  rechters in
  van ,God recht ldoen;                                              Israel? Dat ,hooren  we iln het volgende vers. Daar
         Als we dit even indenken gaan ons de rillingen over         staat : "Hoe1an.g  zult gijlieden onr,echt  oordeelen, en
  den rug. Wat groote verantwoordilng  rust tot op een               `het aangezicht der goddeloozen aannemen?"
  rechter!     Hij, zit <daar op zijn rechterstoel in de plaats             Als dat geschiedt, dan wordt het benauwd op aarde.
  van God en wee,  hem als hij onreéht  spreekt.         Hij, de     Als men geen recht meer kan krijgen bij hen wiens
  rechter, is. een vooruitgrijpen van den  oord:eelsdag.      En     naam rechter is, <dan is er geen ontkomen meer op
  als IGod  nrag  hij het aangezicht des menschen niet aan-          aarde . En,. past op, murmureert niet! Als zij ge-
  Inemmen.    <Of.  de beklaagde arm of rijk is, invloedrijk         sproken hebben mogen we niets meer zeggen.             *A.nders
  of nietsbeduidend onder de .menschen                               komt `de bedreiging met het "cont,empt  of court".
                                              : het maakt niets
uit. Hij heeft slechts één ding voor zijn aandacht                    : Onrecht.oordeelen  is een verschrikkelijk ding. Er
  te houtden.  en ,dat  éene  is #dit : WAT IS .RECHT; ÌK is niets waar de Heere Zich meer over ver.toornt. H e t
  M O E T   D E - W A A R H E I D   S P R E K E N !                  ,beteekenf  dat men .eenvoudig  het licht duisternis noemt ;


                                                 T3IcE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                            299


       het gbede  noemde men kwaad en het kromme  heette                       der meer td!ie het voor hem op zouden nemen., Arm,

       m e n   r e c h t .                                           :. '      zw!ak, zonder vrienden staat hij daar. En  `de godde-
           E n   w a a r o m ,   w a a r o m   t o c h ?                       looze staat klaar om hem te verscheuren.                     *
           De tweede clausule van dit tweede vers geeft het                     Doch, wacht nog, wat:             er is een gerechtshof iu

       antwoofld,:    `(en het aangez'icht  der goddeloozen. aan-              Israel. We zullen het voor den rechter brengen. Hij

       ne@n?"                                                                  zij immers ,op ,de  plaats van God?

           Nu kunnen er vele reden wezen  waarom  men het                          Ziet ge niet, hoe hachelijk het wordt als tie.reehter

       aangezicht der godfdeloozen  aannam.                 Do!ch alle die     het vuile mngezicht  van den goddelooze aanneemt?

       reden ,zijn  gruwelijk.        Soms zag.  zulk een kwade                    En zoo  st;oad  het er bij in Israel, want vers vijf

     i rechter'zijn  vriend in het bankje der  .beklaagden.  En                zegt  ons het volgende:         "Zij weten niets en verstaan
       `toen het op rtech@preken  aankwam zag hij niets dan                    niets, zij .wandelen steeds in duisterni+  ; dies wankelen
       zijn vriend.      Hij vroeg niet : - Wat hebt gij gedaan?               alle fundamenten. Ider aarde."
       En : hetgeen gij deed,was het goed? Neén, hij zag zijn                      Het ha;rt  van dit vers is ,de zin : "zij wandelen steed.s
       vriend. en wilde zijn vriend niet verdóemen.               Daaronl      in duister&`,.        Duisternis is beeldspraak voor alles

      moest het recht `dan maar verkracl~t  worden.                  Soms      wat vuil, zondig, onrechtvaardig en kwaad is.           En een

       aajg  die rechter tusschen het aangezicht van  den ,be-                 mensch zijn wandel is zijn leven vanuit het hart.                 Zie-

       klaagde en zijn :eigen  aangezicht het geschenk ver-                    ,daaE  het beeld,  ,da,t,  IGod  van deze rechters geeft.         Men
       blindt het oordeel. I;k kan ts'ch niet den man ver-                     zag' iets monsterachtigs  als men dié menschen in de

       doemen die mij zulke schatt-  schonk? En men werd                       r?schterstoel  zag plaats nemen en  `den valsehen  mond

       omgekocht. En het rechk  struikelde op de stra,ten.                     opendoen. Monsterachtig, .want  zij openbaarden juist

       soms  is het eenvoedig  luiheid en vadsighei&  Men                      het. tegenovergeste!de  van een wssxachtigen  rechter

       wilde zich `d,e moleite  niet getroosten om de zaken te                 voor het aangezich.t  ~Gods.  Duister was het hart  en

       onderzoekefi  en lichtvaardiglijk sprak men zoogenaamd                  duister het verstand en Idaarom  wisten zij niets en .ver-

       recht. Doch het was krom. En de arme en  nood-                          stond&  zij niets. Dat wil neggen,  niets goeds, niets

       Idruftige  werd vkrtrapt  tegen alle  recht en billijkheid in.          lileflijks,  ni.ets  rechts.

           Zoo  ging het ten. tijsde van .dezen  Asaf.                             En het resultaat?

           Doch Go'd  stond te midden van de goden in al hun                       Het resul&arat  was, dat alle fundamenten ,der aarde

       geknoei. Hij getuigt ervan door Zijn knecht Asaf.                       wankelden. Ja; ,dat  is duidelijk. -Ik vraag U: hoe zal

       We weten niet welke Asalf het geweest is.                `t Zal wel     men bouwen, werken, .samenleven,  dlerlei werk .doen:

       niet dezelfde zijn Idie leef'de ten tij,de van David,`want              als er geen recht gesproken wordt? Dan wordt de

       toen struikele liet  recht zeker niet ,op de st&ten.                    samenleving e:en groote chaos!         Zoo wIa@ het in Israel
       David was een oprecht  koning in Israel. Dat  bewées                    ten tijde v2Ln:  dezen Asaf.

       tij, toen NatKan  zeide:  *Gij zijt `die man!          Toen is hij          Eno wee!

       ,bepouw  met stof en asch tot God gegaaln en voor ge-                       De volgende twee verien kondigen een oordeel aan,
       heel Israel in de schuld gekomen. Doch gedurende                        Idat zeer billijk en recht is.      Er ,staat  : "Ik (en dat is
       welken tijd het dan ook geweest mag  %jn;  .die kwade                   ,God! heb wel gezegd: Gij zijt goden, en gij  zijt allen

       rechte%  hebben d,ezen  psalm ontvangen als een beris-                  kinderen' des Allerhoogsten  ; nochtans zult gij sterven
       ping, als een beschuldiging ,als een vreeselijke waar-                  als een mensch, en &s eea. van de Vorsten .zult gij
       schuwing.                                                               v a l l e n . "

           Positief vind'en  we deze waarschuwing in het  jderde                   Gelukkig: er komt een einde aiL1z  het verkrachten

       en -vierde  vers: "Doet recht den arme ben  den wees,                   van het recht. 0 zeker, de rechters `zijn goden, zij

       rechtvaardigt den verdrukte en den arme,  verlost den                   zijn vorsten in Ju'da  en wij moeten hen gehoorzamen

       arme en.mden  behoeftige, rukt hem uit der  goddeloozeti                ,en den nek krommen oader  hun juk.~ Doch dit is ook

       hand".      ,Och,  als den schatrijke en  ,den  sterke onrecht          waar : er .kom;t  een tijd, d&t God zal zeggen : Uw nax!rn
       aangedaan wordt is het ook goddeloos en  zulleti  die                   was iwel god onder de menschen en gij zijt allen Mijn

       rechters hun rechtva!a.&ige  straf [niet  ontgaan. Doch.                mondstuk geweest op. aarde. Evenwel waar)t  gij niet

       veel erger wordt het als het Iden  arme geldt.            Tot #drie-    tdan bloot men.sch..  Welnu de tijld is aangebroken, dat

       maal toe wordt den verongelijkte geken,schetsi`,door                    gij voor Mijn.rechtbank  zult verschijnen.        Als Vorsten
       armoede; eigenlijk viermalen:  gant  er staat ook nog                   zult gij valljen. Uw naam was kind des Allerhoogsten,

       eenmaal de behoeftige, hetwelk ons dezelsde  .idee geeft.               ,doch  `dat heeft U geen vrijbrief gekregen om  godde-

       En het is waxx  : een arm mensch is er slecht aan toe als               1,oosheid  op aarde te bedrijven en Id:at nog wel in Mijn
       hij door lden goddelooze  aangevallen wordt. Hij kan                    lieflijken  naam. Zelfs 1a.l-s kind (des  Allerhoogsten zal

       zich geen voorspraak koopén!  en zijn getuigen' zijn                    Ik U in het verderf werpen.            .                :

       weinige.      Wie bekommert zich nu ook om den arme en                      Zoo  kun*  ge de moeilijkh&d-verklaren;  dat deze

       ellendige?     Ik denk, dat er `daarom ook van  .den weeq               vuile zondaren.  kinderen eGods genaamd werden. De

       gesproken wordt.       Een wees heeft geen vader en moc-                naam van den rijken man was zelfs in *de  hel nog ïXr&




L

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


  Abr&tis!  En. zegt Jezus  niet., dat sommige :der                         Common Grace in Schilder's -l?a~s.si~~
 .kinderen  des Koniekrijks  buiten geworpen zullen wor-

  dep?                                                                                                Trilogy
      Wat blijft er ,dan nog over'? D.e godldelooze  rech-

  ters hebben het recht  verkracht op aarde. Die arme
  en behoeftige, de wees en de  ell!endige  hebb'en  geschreifl                Whereas  the Passion  Trilogy of Dr. Schilder ha3
  $n hun bittere verdrukking vanwege het groote  on-                        had and stil1 enjoys wide publicity, we need not  ,dwell
  reiht,  dat hen aangedaan-werd.               Wond*  clat  ,dan  nooit    at length t.o acqnaitnt  the readers with ibis,  nature  and
  g e w r o k e n ?                                                         content!.  A few remarks wil1 suffice.
                         _                                                      In it the author considers  and contetnplates %.e
      Het laatste vers zal Uw en mijn ongeduldige vragen
                                                                            suffering  of. Christ's Ideath  in its threcfold stages.
  beantwoorden.               Er staat ten slotte  : "St?  op'. o God !     Volume  1 treats of Christ's ent&ng  into HIS sufferiog
  oordeel .het  la.ardrijk,  want ;Gij bezit alle naiiën".
                                                                            and brings the discussion up to Christ's being taken
         Dat vers, mijn broeder, is het roepen om het laatste               `captive  in Getlisemáne 
  oordeel. Niet alsof ,Go~d  niet, alle dagen geoordeeld                                                 ; in Volume 11 the aulihor con-
                                                                            ciders SCJhrist's passing  through His suffering. This
  heeft. 0 neen. Leest .dan  maar weer eens het eerste                      volu!rje  brings the discussion up to His being  condemn-
  vers.     Dáar  hebben  we.  toch gezien, dat `God  staalt te             ed by Pilate `t,o be crucified
  midden van  `Gobes vergadering? #God ,oordeelt  áltijd.                                                      ; and, finally, Volume 111
                                                                            treats <of Christ's crucifurion,  death and burial.
  Hij spreekt .eeuwiglijk  rechte; billijke woopden.                            In this article, as the title ishows,  we'are  interested
         Doch hier zi.t  het hem : Dat oordeel Gods wordt pas               in examing, determining  Dr. Schilder's  conception of
  geopenbaard in dan jdag  der ,dagen.              DIaIn  zal hemel en     `%ommon  Grabe"  as this appears in the pages of these
  aarde, engel en duivel, rechtvaandige  en onrezhtvaar-                    three  volumes.
  tdige  het vreeselijke,  ,doch  ,ook lieflijke oordeel Gods                The brilliant essays contained  in these volumes do
  zien.                                                                     liet purport to be scientific treatices  on dogmatic  sub-
      Daar wordt om geroepen in het lacatste  vers.                         jeéts  ; in vain <does one look for a dogmatic  system of
   En weet ge nu wie hlet ,hardste  geroepen heeft om                       doctrine.     But thah  is neither their aim or nature;
  #dat  eindelijke oordeel?           Ik zal het U zeggen: Jezus van        There  is, however,  a certain sequence of thought at-
  Nazareth heeft `dat  gedaan. Want {ds er een pp&  :ge-                    tempted and discernable.       The author repeatedly refers
  leden hee$t van'het goddelooze oordeel, Idan  is het Jezus                to other iessays in this Trilogy  ; the underlying organic
  geweest. ,Hij is ,de arme geweest bij uitn.emendheid,                     `unity of the Suffering of Ghrist i,s repéatedly  empha-
  de behoeftige, `de ellendige, `de verdrukte.  En Hij is                   sized..  *
  vertrapt. Judas sprak eindelijk de warg>rheid:  Ik heb                     ' But doctrine, pure and slmple,  we do not find. At
vergoten het Onschuldige Bloed ! Doch de zoogen8aam-                        best we receive  glimpses of the author'.a conceptioti  of
  1d.e  rechters ,z$den  :,Gij  moogt toezien!                              oertain dpctrina.1 phas,es  `of R,eformed  Theology. Dr.
         Jezus van Nazareth is voor vele rechters  geweest.:                Schilder has adefinite  doctrinal  presuppositions and

  het Sanhedrin,  Pilatus en Herodus. En het eindelijke                     M a s e s   f r o m  `whioh  he proceeda.  i;n. contemplating

  vonnis was: Des doods.schul,dig!  Het grootste onrecht                    XChrist's  suffering.

  .der  eeuwen.                                                                 One of these presuppositions  is what is commonly
         Daa`rom  : Sta op, ,o God !           Oordeel het aardrijk !       denominated `%ommon  Grace". Hence we cornie  upon
  Het Bloed van Uwen Zoon ligt :jnog ongewroken op                          passages in which he attemptxs.  to demoustrate  the bear-

  Hoofidschedelpltaats.                                                     i!ng. that this truth {as he understatids  it) has upon

         En Hij zal komen.           En `dan zal men het oordeel zien       the Passion  of Christ, ei$hhér in a given case; or in the

  ,der   w a a r h e i d .                                                  place that Common IGnace  .occupies  in relations,hip  to

         Dan zullen de onrechtváardige  rechters z.ich  krom-               Chriist and the whole history of the world.

  men in angst en smart, mitsgaders-alle god,deloozen.'                         With such passages we meet in each  of these thrce

         En (dan zullen, o wonder vzn.  genade, alle gekenden               books.

  huppelen van zielevreugd.                                                     In Volume  1, chapter  13, pages 220, 221, the autho-

  W,onder  van genade?                                                      treats John 13 :5-15 under the  heading, "Christ Was-

         0 ja, want zij kwamen in den hemel, omdat ,de  On-                 ing His Disciples's  Feet". Thte  point in this act? .of

  schuldige schuldig verkla!ard  is voor `t heiligst recht                  Christ, the lauthor  emphasizes, is not merely  an example

 .en naar Idat  zelfde recht `diep schukligen  rechtvaardig-                to mankind,  how they out  of their native strength  and

  heid ontvingen als ,de gave der.  genade.                                 good-wil1 should  behave $owárd  each other. It is far
         Wij zien het maar doorgronden het niet.                            m,ore  nat  only, but la&+0  :different.    Christ  here demon-
                                         _
         Da& aal voorts niets anders overblijven dan 6e aan-                strates  that  only by the' power-Dof  His obedience, ($he
                                                         -
bid,den,   t e  aanbidld.en,                                                Lord's .:S,upper)  Hi,s exaltation;`..sending  of the Spirit

                                                          G, v,             at Pentecost  (Regenerating  Spirit) is there  any power


                                             T H E  ` S T A N D A R D  .B%ARER                                                                96i


       of love and servi:oe.    For, eccording  to the author, the          line of D&d's  throne .is, seen realized in the Christ.

      native love of mankind is, "that which proceeds from                  An'd  in Caiaph,as' hall Christ, while being condemned                   ,
       Common Grace and i,s taken up in the circle-process-                 by the "vicious circle" conquers the vicious circle !
      activity j(Cirkelgangs-proces)  Iof our natwral  .lif e,              Vol. II, pages 119-130.

      <wherein  Iove and hate, sympathy and ,antipathy,  inclin:               There is another aspect of "Common  ,Graice" which

      a.tion  and repulsion, wed'ding-day  and .diay-of-battle              the author illucildates  upon in other connections of the

       constantly interchange and-balance ea'ch other without               suffering of Christ.          Her&  the idea of the "vicious

      end!, without endi without end. . . . ."         Here the author      circle" is not so n.pparent.        There are two fa&ors  em-
      suggests the "Vanity of vanities" of whi&the book of                  phasized here. 1.         The fact that irz this world  revela;
      Eoelesiastes  speaks.     This latter is the "Vicious [Circle"        tion is never fully adequate.         That whi'ch  is revealed is

      of all ?numan lalctivity  "under th,e sun".        Christ's wash-     always,greater  than the revelation of it.             2. The reality

      i.n.g of His `disciple's feet is, however, the "straight line"        that we are "not yet" in the full revelation of  .God's

     of the saving-hitsory (heiligs-geschiedenis) that will                 wrath. The author also speaks in this connection of'

      reach its ~Consummation  in the "Za.st,duy".                          the "not yet'? of the full revelation of  gnace.  And

          Here. Common Grace is viewed by the author ria                    grace also is always much greater than is revealed!
      contrast with Saving ,Gnalce, and, its poverty is  shown::              . rTQ begin with the first of these "f&tors",  we notice

     This is the lever-recurring theme of . . the author on                 that the author treats of this in Vol. III, pages 3-6.            He
     " "Common Grace" near to the cross "Common Grace"                      here treats of the `<curse"  in general' the curse -of the

     is not strong ,but  weak ; it cannot solve one of. the law under the $Iosaic institution. He tries to show how
      `world's prsoblems,  nor can it heal its ills.                        man cannot  really apply the full implication of the
          In keeping with this view Schilder writes, Vol. II,               curse a.nd  how this ,became  evident under the written

      -pagies  41-46,. that the history of the world, and of  mari-         law, the Word of God. He employs an illustration !to
      kilnd,  nature anjcl history apart from Ghrist's  Mediator-           clarify this point.      The earth  is surrounded by the *fog-

      i,al  work, apart from Gold's  special revelation nnd sav-.           atmosphere (damp-kring) and the rays of the sun are

      ing grace, is in the throes of a very vicious circle, an              thus moderated. On other planets this is not so. Thus

     endless cycle of ever-recurring woes.            This is the teach-    m'an lives in the "damp-kring  van ,Gemeene  .Gratie"  an&..

      ing of the <book  of E.cclesiastes.     We have, in the. case         the full nays of God's wrath do not strike him `down,.

      .of the H,ighpriest's,servant's  striking of Jesus' fiace,  a         although they do penetrate unto him.                 Wahen Dr. Schil-

      part,icular  instance of this universal evil and "z$&ous              #den would state this in plain terms he states this as

      circle".     And thus, this.  particular;-act of th,is servant        folls: 1. That the law, as Word of  `God,  cani never

      of Annas .demonsitrates  the poverty of Common Grace                  egress  His will to punish perfectly (volkomen). 2.

      and .General  revelation ! Christ's rebuking this servant. That, -here on earth, the law never lallows  itself to be
      is His drawing ,of the straight line of redemptive.                   isolated from the ,dispensation  and  purpose of the grace

      history.                                                              o f   G o d .                                           ,
          As can be expected, the. author also sees in the                      Olne again wonders just how. serious this must be

      Sanhedrin  and the .f.alse  witnesses -accusing Jesus a               taken.    For t,he  author wri!tes  on page `7, "Hell-that is

      personificati,on  of the ,"vicious  circle".      The title of the    that place where ,God  maintains the will of His punitive

      chapter treat,ing  thispra!rticular phase of CChrist's  suf-          justice in full .depth,  and where no semblance of com-

      fering is : "The vicious circle judges Jesus". One woi?-              gon:  grace moderates the unbroken rays of His wrath."
      dersl whether this is meant to be taken seriously, or                 (waar  ,geen  schijn  meer van gemeene gratie ooit  tegen-

      whethler  this is meant to be characterization  ; it may houdt `de ongebroken  uitstraling  van Zijn toorn). Is
      also be merely ,a flow,ery  term employed;.for  literary              common ,grace  then not real grace according to this                          ~
      effect. Vol. II, pages, 60-N:                                         r e m a r k ? ,  &Ierely   " s c h i j n " ?  ' -
          Should it be taken seriously, we would here have the                  As we  noticed above, there is also a second factor.  .
      presentation that it was the weakness of Common f It is the_ factor .of the "not yet". In connection with
      Grace and of general revelation judgmg @hrist  ! ,Cer-                the agonizing cry of Christ on the cross taken from
      tainly a paradox, but is it Scriptural, or merely  hum&r              Psalm 22, "&Iy.  *God,  my ,God.  . . .", Schilder makes
      fancy? !                                                              the observation that all, that `takes place in history of
      However- this may be, the author  again finds the?- the suffering of being foresaken  of .sGod  is "not yet"
     "Vicious Circle" .of Common ,Grace  in the. successive                 the full measure .of.. the wrath of God. For God's
      beasts coming                                                         chil~dren  the "foresakeness"  is purely subjective, it'is
                        up out of the sea las;s.eenby  Daniel in the

      night visions.     This is not only indicated, according to really !divine  pedagogy. of love ; for the wiccked  here
      the author, in the fact, that the one bea&.always  ,de-               then ,cgnnot  "yet" suffer the complete forecsakeness,
      vours  the preceding one, but also in the "restlessness of.           neither can the wicked in hell-not until after the re-
      the sea".     In Daniel `7 :13 in the vision of the Son of            surrection. unto rdamnlation.  Ar&ichrist  cannot be pun- _
      l&an, the ":vicious  circle'? is conqulersd,  and the straight        ished  as much here, as the one receiving the least stripes




L


       in hell! ,Of course, ,on ,Calvary  Christ suf%ered  the           hij het niet meer eens is  ; ik oak". This wasi in 1940.
      full meadure.       Vol. III, 381-383.                                I believe th!at  the reader will ,do  well to bear these
          In this connection we can aLso call attention t,o an           facts in mind in evaluating *this  data.
       observation in these volumes concerning the "Sign of                                             0                    G. L.

       Cain." In Vol. I, pages 418-421 the author is contem-

       plating the meaning of Jesus' res;toration  of Malchus,
                                                                                                    -
       ear in Gethsemany. He khiriks  t,o find here, among

       three other  matters of importance, that  ,Christ here

       nppties and fulfills the sign of ,Cain  instea'd of the            The Firstborn of Every Creature
       venge&ce of Abel's blood. (Gen.`4)  H'e applies it in

       not killing this Malcchus  and fulfills it in the  .positive                         (COLOSIANS  1:15)
       work on the cross. This "Kainsteeken" is common

       grace.      Christ applies *he common grace rule.                    If. we are to arrive `a$ the correct conception of the

           Many questions land ,dificulties present themselves           above Word .of ,God,  we will have to read it, not only

      s in this presentati,dn.  #Cain  is called  the reprobate seed     in the light of the text in which it occurs  bujt ialso in
       of the serpent `o,n  the one hanid,  killing Abel, the Church.    the light of the whole passage. Scripture is always
       Cain reci;ives  a Common Grace sign, an,d  Christ ful-            its own interpreter.    We must let it speak also in this

       fills it her,e and the sign to the reprobate spa&s  better        cormeotion.  The whole passage in this connection is

       things than A:bel's  blood? !                                     contained in the verses 13 to 20, "Who hath [delivered
           But this is noi meant to be a critique. Then we               us,from  the power ,of ,darkness,  and hath translated  us
       wou1.d  have designed our treatment `differently. Nei-            into the kingdom of His dear Son: Who is the image

      . ther wiil the space allotted us allow Zor any adequate           of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
       criticism. We feel, therefore, that we may conclude               Fur by him were all things created, &hat are ifi heaven,
       this article with the following remarks:                          and #that iare in earth, visible and invisible, whether

           1. It is very much to be  8doubted whether one is             they be thrones, or .dominion's,  or principalities, or
       able to construe an ,organic  system `of ;thought,  a con-        powers : all things were created by him, and for him:
       ception- of the whole from the data thus given above.             And he is before all. things, and by him all  t.hings
       The conception .of "Commbn  `Grace"  is not proven here,          consist.    AnId he is the head of the body, the church:
       it is rather assumed as being axiomatiaaiaaly  true.      But     who is ;the beginning, the fir,stborn  from the dead; that
       we are allowed at b.est  (only  gliqpses of it as applied         in all khings  he might have ;the: preeminence.         For it

      to "history' `and to the life of the indivi'dual.                  pleased tihe Father that in him should all fulness dwell  ;
           2. There fare,  however, certsin  impressions that I          And, having mhde  peace through the ,blood  of his
       received in this study  that. I here submit: a. That              cross, `by him to reconcile .a11  things unto himself; by
       "Common Grace" is here viewed Iby Dr. Bchilder  more              him, I say, whether they be things  in earth, or ;thin.gs
       negatively than positively.  W.e  `do not anywhere see            ,in heaven."
       common grace ,extolled  as a Calvinistic ,out,budlding  of           It will ,be evident, in the first place, that the apostle
       the human race.         Common IGrace  is poor (V'icious          is speaking h,ere abo,ut  the Christ, the ,Son  of God,

       Circle) ; it merely is "not yet" full wrath ! Nowhere             Whom he, calls, in&he 13th  verse, "his <dear  Son" pr as
       `does  the author speak of i;t as a positive attitu,de  of        it is literally, "the Son of his love".      It is this, Son of

       favor toward  the wicked. b. What Dr. Kuyper in his               God therefore Who is ."the image of the invisible  (God,
       *St,one-lectures  calls the positive ,development  in the         the fimtbmorn of every crea4ture".        In the second place,

`.     humari nace Egypt-Ba,byJun-Medes  and Persians-Greece             it is evident that he is speaking about the Son of God
       Rome, Sohilder  calls the "Vanity of Vanities", the               from la particular point #of view, viz., as the one  through
       vicious circle of the preacher. The great virtues  o'f            Whom the Father realizes His purpose an,d  accom-
       the heathen, so extolled by Dr. Kuyper, and by many               plishes all ,His good pleasure.
       ,i=ommon  Grace ,enthusiasts  of todtay, Schil,der  calls             It will abe :necessary  iti ,our Idiscussion  that we bear
        "Vicious Circle," in the place of justice  *here  is, un-        in `inind  this particular viewpoint of the Son of God

righteousness.                                                           if we are to understand what is meant by the  term

           3. Fin.ally, I'm ,not  too certain that Dr. Schil,der         "Firstborn of eyely  <creature".        To approach the term

       today `would -still  subscribe to all he wrote on this  sub-      in any pther  way can only head to great confusion be-

       jlect 15-16 years ago.    When one reads his "Hei,delberg         cause. ,of the many questions ;that will asise and' the

        Ctatechism"  (1940) we s,ee  quite a different conception,       result of our study will ,be_ at `best a product of some

        for instance, of "God's wrath" Vol. II, pages 86-102.            philosophy concerning Him, which will avail us noth-

        Her$e he no longer speaks of a `(Gemeene-Gratie-Damp-            ing at all as far as understanding the WovTd  of God

        kring".     Schilder, himstilf,  wrote in De Reformatie,         in this connection is concerned. And the llatter  must

        "Hoeksema heeft misschien dingen  geschreven  warmee             certainly be ou,r  purpose.         We are, not int,erested  in


       m:erely ldiscovering  some truths but in ascertaining                 boyn  of everzj  creature, must be explained. Beari.ng

       that particular truth which Scripture holds  ,before  us'             this in mind w:e can.arrive  at some definite conclusions

       as the W,ord  of God. in this co.nnection.                            in respect to this term.

              To establish this part,icular  point of view of  ;t;he                We have already stated .above  that this Firstborn

       Father's goo,d  pleasure BB realized in Christ, `we would             is the ,Christ,  the Son ,of God. That  it is truly the
       call attention to the following  :                                    eternal Son of God is evident from the fact  ;that not
              1. That the apostle presents all that, is contained in         only were all things made ,by  H.im  and for ,Hlirn  but
      the passages 13-20 as a work of the. Father through                    that He is also before all thin'gs,  vs. 17. The apostle
       the Son of His love. It is the Father who hais, made                  John ipeaks  of Him in, this  sense  as the Log:o,s,  the
              meet to ,be partakers of the inheritance of the saints         Word of God. He says, "In the ,beginning  was the
       us
       in .light,  vs. 12; Who has also delivered us from the                Word, and the Word was with God, and the W'ord was
       pow,er  of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom               )God.  The same was in the beginning with  ,Go~d.  All
       of His #dear  Son, vs. 13; Who in Christ, His  Idear Son,             things were made by him ; and wit,hout him was not
       hath given. us redemption through His blood even the                  any thing made that was made". J.ohn 1 :l-3.             At the
       forgiveness of sins, vs. 14.                                          e&me time however," it will also  -be clear that it is not
              2. Thrat it is the Father $0 Whom we must give                 the Son ,of IGod as such that Js meant here.           It is not,
       thanks, according to vs. 12, ,bacause .He is the One Who              merely the Logos as John speaks ,of Him in the verses
       has accomplished all these things for us.                             quoted above, but &he Logos 1a.s He speaks of Him in
              3. That, accor,ding  to vs. 19 all this work of the            verse 14 of that same chapter when he says, `!And  the
       Fat,her  is explained as the result of His good pleasure              Word was made flesh and ldwelt  among us. . . ." That
       width  B view to this Son through Whom He accom-                      this Fikstborn  coulvd  not very well signify the Son of
       plishes all th.ese  things.                                           God as &e secon,d  Person of the Trinity, is evident
              4. That this good pleaisure  of the Father with a              from the term itself.     For He is called the Firstborn of
       view -to Hi's dear Son consists in this, -"That in all                every creature.     In th:e first pliace,  a,s the second Person
       things he (the Son of God) might have the pre-                        in the (One Divine Essence, He is not  ,born but ,begotten.
       eminence", vs. 18,       "that in h.im should all fulness             He is as such the Only-begotten and not the Firstborn.
       dwell", vs. 19, and "by him to reconcile all things unto              In the secon,d  place, Hle is not merely called the First-
       himself", vs. 20.                                                     born but the Firstborn of every  creature.         As the Son

              There cnn be, no doubt but what vs. 20 gives us the            #of God in the Divine Nature He cannot be classed with
       purpose of this whole work ,of  God, when it declares,                the ,cr.eature  for He is God, co-eternal with the Father
       in the light of WI. 19,                                               and the Holy Ghost. It is therefore the Son of God
                                   "`For it pleased the Father.. . . .
       by Him to recolncile  all things unto himself".          Not only     las He came iInto the flesh, the Mediator, Jesus Christ,
       does this appear from the whole context in- this connec-              W&o  is the Firstborn of every creature.        As the Christ
       tion, but this is confirmed when wje  find this same                  He belongs with the Cresture.        He was a real man, like
       truth presented in Ephes.ians  1, where it is in so many              unto us in all things, sin excepted.      Through the incar-
       words declared. to be the eternal good pleasure and                   nation the Only-begotten Son of God became the First-.
       purpose of `God.  Having made plain that it was ac-                   born son of Mary.        "An,d she brought berth  her first-
       cording as He had ch.osen  us in C,hrist  before the                  born son", Luke 2 :7.      And this ,firstborn  son of Mary
       foundation of the wor1.d and predestinated us-unto the                is ,also  the Fimtborn  of every creatacre.     That it is the
      la,doption  of children by Jesus Christ to himself, accord-            Son of ,Gold  as the Mediator is established also in the
       ing to the goo,d  pleasure of His ,will,  that God redeems'           passage in which these words appear. e He is the one
       and blesses His people, the apostle shows                 the pur-    through Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
                                                          us
       pose of it all when he .declares to us in &he  verses. 19             of sins ; He is the Head of the Church, through-  the
       and 20, "Having made known unto us the mystery of                     blood of His cross [God  has made pea:ce and in Him
     his will, according to his good pleasure which he h&h                   He reconciles all things to Himself.

       purposied  in himself: That in the dispensation of the                       In respect to the question, how and in what sense
       fulness of times he might gather together in  ,one all                this MedSator  is the Firstborn-of all creatures, we may

      things in tChrist,  both which are ,i,n heaven an,d which              o,bserve  in the first place that this is not So be under-

       are .on earth".      W.hen  this purpose of (God  shall be            stood in a temporal or historic sense.         This fja,ct  is so
      fully realized, we shall dwell with. all the elect, redeem-            self-evi1de.m  that it requires no elucidation. The term
      led ,saints ta.nd  holy angels in a new heaven and earth  i.n          must undoubtedly be understood in the light of the
      which all things shall' be united under the one Lord                   purpose of'God with a view to the Christ as He has
      a& Head, Jesus `Christ, the Son `of the Father's love,                 determined it in His eternal counsel before the world

      to the leverlasting  praise and glory of God the Father.               was.      In this whole passage, as well as in the parallel
        -_ Now, it is in the light of  thi:s eternal purpose :and            passage in Ephesians 1, the apostle, is revealing t,o us
      good pleasure of God the Father that the term,  First-                         mystery of God's will and purpose ,with a view 53
                                                                             the
                                             `-



L


                                                                                                            '
304                                      T H E  STANDAA.D   B E A R E R  `.

all things ias concentrating  in Christ and as culminated,                                   . Pacifism
perfected and united in Him. That purpose of God

with a view to uniting all t$ings in Christ is logically

first in th,e counsel of ,God.    From all <eternity  God has        Pacifism, from the Latin ,pax (pea.ce)  and ficus

that one great purposle  in mind. AnId with .a view to            (to make), an "ism" w.h!ic:h has aas~er~ted  itself more

realizing that purpose He h;as `ordained all things as a          and more smce the turn of the century, is the doctrine

means.       We are-well aware of the fact t:hat this view        that ,opposes  war as inherently wrong, works for peace

is Contrary. to the popular view which makes of the               between the nations, iand  in many cases, with or with-

Christ a second or afterthought of God, an emergency`             out reservations, advocates, the refusal on the part of

measure on the part of God.       According to this popular       .the individual to actively parti,cipate  in any given con-
view, it was not the original purpose of IGod to send             flict between -,one's  own country and a.nother.  I say'

His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. God had an               "in many cases", because there is a form of .pacifism

entirely different purpose.        However sin came into          that would not su-bscribe  to the last part of the above

the worlld  and frustrated this original purp.os'e  of            definition and. does not advoc;ate  the right of the indi-

God land therefore the Lord by means of  t!he Christ              vidual to refuse ,active  participation in any `war. I

makes the best of the situation and `attempts through             added "with or without. reservation" in view of the

Him to salvage some of His original intentison.  Con-             `fact, that we must differentiate between those who

trary to this view, we maintain that it was the original          condemn participation in. any war, regardless of cir-

and only purpose. of God's eternal good pleasure to               cumstances, and those who believe that an individual

u.nite all things in ,Christ, according to the teaching           should refuse to ,take  part only if he is sincerely con-

of Scripture not only in this passage but also thrbugh-           vinced that a given war is an unjust one.                Both, of

out. To establish this fact, we may observe- in the               course, assume the erroneous position that  active

seconld  pl,ace that Christ, in this same connectio.n,  is        participation in war is invariably a matter of individual

called the F&rstbo;m  from the dead.       Christ is the first    r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .
purpose of G.od in the new creation. In that new                       Since the First World War the doetri.ne  of pacifi,sm.

creation, which God has purposed in His eternal good              has nasrowed  considerably. Perhaps it woulid  be more

pleasure, Christ is also the beginnin~g.  0,nly  i;n and          accurate to say, that pacifism, since that first global

th.rough  Him as the Fbstboy?  of the dead can and shall          conflict,  has ,branched  out into numerous1  types and

that new creation be realized. All things follow upon             shades.      Its general tendency, however, i;ls a specific

Him and follow with a view to Him.         And in Him they        philosophy and attitude, has been to become more and

shall all be united in order that in Him all the  fulness         more absolut,e,  extreme `and individualistic. Whereas

ma.y  dwell, to the praise and glory of Gold  the Father.         pacifism in its earlier form mainta.iaed  that very few
       Finally, therefore, we may say that He is the First-       wars are worth fighting, the same "ism" today is in-

born of all creatures because He  .is, the Firstborn from         clining more aed  more toward the absolute stand, that

the dead. As such He must be the Firstborn of all                 all wars stand condemned and that it is always wrong

creation in the counsel of God.       Because Hie stands as       to take.human  life.             While a few decades ago pacif?sm
the first purpose of God with ti view to the new crea-            was solely .a political question, conaerning  itself about ,
tion in `which all things will be united.in Him, He must          keeping the nation. as a whole ou*t of wa,r, it later be-

`of necessity also staed  as the first purpose .of God with       came for many people an individual matter.

a view to creation and all, that is involved: as a means

to-the realization of that eternal purpose of  `God.  There-

fore, when that purpose of God shall be finally realized,              Prior to aod  *during  the First  World War the word
we shall see all things reconciled unto God in aChrist,           "Pacifism" `was used to ,describe  the general doctrine
the image of:#the invisible God, the Firstborn of every           that the abolition of war is both ,desirable and possi!ble.
c r e a t u r e .                              H. D. W.           Men tdid'not  refuse flatly to heeld  their country's call

                                                                  to arms, but rather advocated joint action toward the

                                                                  eventual extermination of this `evil from human society.

                                                                  The radilcal  sta,nd -was not taken that all war, irre-
                          NOTICE                                  spective of circumstnces,  is evil t ' but the more con-
   In the past years Mr. R. Schaafsma  had Standard               servative position was assumed, that very few wars
Bearers bound fmor  Ministers and subscribers, so if you          are worth fightiing,  that the evils of war are nearly
usually received o.ne  will you contact Mrs. R. Schaafsma         always greater' than  might appear at first, and that

as to color, whether black or .ma,rroon,  and where to            th:erefore  the abolition of war in any f,orm  must be

send them. This notioe is `for Volume 20.                         sought. This t,ype  of pacifism, then and today,  Idoes

                                    Mrs. R. Schaafsmaj            not repudiate all force_  without reservation. In fact,
               ._     1011 Hazen  St., S. E., Grand Rapids.        force was sdvoeated;             War, it taught, can be,eliminated
       .-
                                                                                                     0


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D  B.EARER  \                                                  306


only by collective effort ,and peace can and- should be - plain predictions of God's own W,ord, that there .will
forced- and enf,orced.      Such &as  pacifism in the .ear!y        be wars and rumors of wars until the end of time and

part of this oent,ury,  in -the  days ,of Wooldrow  Wilson,         God Himself stamps out all that is of sin in the dia.y of

<e.g.,  who himself was often described ias a pacifist,             His. appearance. An,d  certainly, the pacifist has nq

especially by *his  opponents, in spite of the fact  tha?           eye  for either the need or the divine beauty of God's

at the time America entered  Worl'd  War I he did  ask              righteous judgments against an ungodly world. It

for "force to the uttermost."                                       would conti.nue  in its wray of &in and rebellion against

     This early form of pacifism was born largely out of            God and have peace nevertheless.

opposition to the extreme militarism of some Eur0pea.n                  Since World War I pacifism gradually came to have.

and Asiatic peoples.      Accorlding  to the I,atter,  war is in    a far narrower meaking,  until todiay it represents

itself good, inevitable and ld.esirable.    Peaoe  is not only      largely thle doctrine  of non-resistance or non-violence  ;
an empt,y  dream, bbut also an evil one. Lasting  peace             the  idoctrine  that all use of arms even for defense is

is as undesirable as it is  impossibl'e  .of realization.           unjustifiable; the doctrine of compllete  repudiation of

Militarism glorifies war ; makes war its business i views           all force as either ia. social  or political instrument; and
war as a necessary and healthy expresson of life itself.            the right of ,;the  individual to refuse to take up arms

This philosophy is well exemplified by what  the inow               a,nd actively participate in any givea  war.       The posi-

.deflated  Mu&soli;ni once. wrote "Fascism believes  neithter       tion is clearly stated by ia (certain A. J. Muste, Executive

in the possibility nor the  utility of perpetual peace.             Secretary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, "To

. . . .It repbdiaies  pacifism as an evil born of a re-             work and fight for the military victory of this state
nunciation of all `struggle and an act of cowardice in              means to hope that Americans may be able to destroy,

the face of sacrifice.     War alone brings up to its high-         maim, kill more cleverly, scie'ntific;a,lly  and effectively

est tension all human energy and  PUB, *he stamp of                 than'?ermansi  or Japanese. I do not feel any Idesir?

nobility upon the peoples who have the  cOupa.,ge  to meet          to lift a finger to bu'ing  about such a victory and I will

it. .I . . For fascism the gro,wth  of empire, that is,             eat knowingly and of my own will `lift a finger to
the Iexpansion  of the `nation, is an essential manifesta-          bring ii .about."

tion of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence.                 Actu;a.lly  it may be said also of this doctrine, that it

. . . .Peoples  which ase rising are always .imperial-              presents nothing new. Most ,of its basic principles
isti,c."    It is in .opposition  to such proud  glorification      will be found to permeate eyen the most ancient `pagan

of war that pacifism came to reject entirely the view               religions. Return good for evil, cultivate  .humility,  re-

that war is both inevitable and desirable in itself.                frain from asse&iveness,  and justice will have its way

    It stands to reason; that from la mere natural point            in the en,d.  From the beginning of its history the
of view, much can  be said in faVor  ,of this form ,of paci-        Quaker faith is best known for its  piScifistilc  leanings.

fism. It &rives  for peace rather than war: It does                 Hen=, the pacifism of today as described in the preced-

no& set the individual at variiance  with his ,own  govern-         ing paragraph may be more drastic, more absolute

ment as later pacifism {does.  It does not make the                 and individuali&&  in form, essentiia.lly  and.  principal!y
blanket denial  that no governme&  has t,he right to                it is nothing new.               .
wage war, nor does .it repudi;a.te  force altogether. It                POlitically  pacifism .is based on certai5  broad as-

simply sets itself against war, and w,hat man ,does, not            sumpti,ons  which are common to all its  ,expo.nents.  The

hate war as ,one. ,dreeds a fatal [disease?                         worst evil, they feel, which can befall human society, is

     This, ,does  not_ mean, however, that pacifism also            w!a.r.    Evils accruing from defeat or passive submission

in this form, did and  does,  not rest `on altogether false         to an invader  may be great, `but not as great as those

premises, viewed now `in the light of the Word of God.              resulting from war. To adopt violence as an instru-

I;t is pure humanism.. It does  not consider God, but               ment, against violence, they.say,  is to produce th,e  very

seeks .only the welfare of mere man.        When it preaches        condition we ;are  seeking so zealously  to avoid. The

that war is not i,nevitable  anId that its abolition is `en-        use of violence agai,nst  us, they teach, is usually prompt-

tirely possible in this ,worl#d  of sin it militates aganst         ed ,by the fear, $hat we ourselves might resort to vio-
all Scripture clearly teaches on this point. It plainly             lence. Therefore the best preventive is to make it

re$eals  that,  it does not /apprehend what real peace is.          entirely clear to the foe that we have no  ,sdeh  inten-

That peace is the fruit of l:ove,  that it is spiritual har-        tion.     "Tneqt  others well, and others will $reat  you

mony of thought and ,desire,  -purpose iand method, all             well."     An i#nva,der  will not likely indulge in cruelty
rooted in the love of God in Christ, pacifism does and              and butchery if not resisted. How shall `we appraise
will not see.     It rules out the element of sin altogether.       th.iQ  reasoning? Much of w.hat  they say ia, true, per-

It simply rejects the terriblre  truth,  thlat  all men.  are       haps.     The Netherlanids  r+igh't  have fia.red much better

enmity against God, that enmity  <against God is enmity             had they ldeclded  against meeting the Nlaai aggressor

againsit  ,one an&he?,  la:nd  that theresore  there can be no      with foroe. However : (1) It may be seriously question-
peace ia a world of sin. Besides, pacifism ignores the              ed w;h&her  -$ is really true, that the evil  of .wq ia in-

                                            \


 306                                         T H E  STA`NDARD   B E A R E R


 variia.bly  greater than that of defeat and passive sub-               The 0. T. is full of wars commanded by God- Himself
 mission.      That depensds greatly yen how individuals and            (2) That pacifism theref,ore  certainly is mistaken when
 nations may feel about their honor and self respect.                   it flatly assumes that the government has no right  a.t

p (2) Besides, from the viewpoint of actual  life,~such                 any time to w,age  war. Scripture clearly grants the
 pacifism w:ill defeat itself. "Treat others well,  anid                magistrate this right. (3) That pacifism errs seriously
 they will treat you well", certainly will not  ,apply  in all          when it maintains the individual's right to oppose its
.cases.     Moreover, pacifism also has its ways of antag-              government and refuse to participate actively in any'
 onizing the invader.      Yes, it may escape the immediate             given war.       This position is dangerous and revolution-
horrors that usually attend invasion. Eowever,  pro-                    ary.      It denies the plain teaching of Scripture, that as
longed moral resistance, the "non-violent non-coopera-                  long ias the government exercises its authority in its
tion" polilcy of a Gandhi, civil ,disob,edience  along with             own domain, the individual citizen is obliged to obey.
other elusive methods of frustrating the invader's                      In principle it is anarchy.        On the basis of such paci-
government will ultimately excite resentment iamd  forc-                fism one can as well refuse to  ,work in, defense factories,
ible suppressi0.n as well `as violence.        Much Id,epends  on       pay taxes or `do anything that in `any way tends to sup-
who is the #nation against which the "non-violent non-                  port a war in which the nation is involved,              Such a
cooperation" is practiced. It is `quite safe to assume,                 standpoint would certainly be consistent, would b,e

that if Gandhi had attempted his metho'ds  against thz                  carrying a principle `to its logical conclusion, but such

Nazi or Jap his head would have rolled in th$e  dust long               consistency should is.lso be more than sufficient to prove

before this. Then, too, there is always the inevitable                  the pacifistic position untenablje.               "
presence of minorities who refuse to accept the non-

violence cre,ed.  A ten percent or less offering an in

Vader  violent opposition                 certainly ,bring  ,dow.n             One comd  hardly consider the subject treated with-
                                wouBd
on the entire nation the ire and vengeance of the in-                   out a least a reference to the f,orm  of pacifism adiopted

vader.        Even from ma purely natural point of view                 by the Christian Reformed *Church in recent years,

pacifism asks too mulch of too many for too long.                       when it `officially adopted ;a "Testimony" wherein it

    Those `who urge pacifism ,on Christian&d religious                  maintains, that we must distinguish between just and

grounds like to appeal to such modernistic doctrines as                 unjust `wars, that no ,ChrisSian  can be justified in par-

the universal Fatherhood, of CGod and Brotherhood of                    ti'cipating  in a given war when convinced that his

man.       1Go1d  ,is the Father `of all men, also our enemies.         country is fightmg  for a wrong cause, and that the

Therefore they should be made to see their  f?nlts,  not                only course, open to such a Christian is that of passive

ruthlessly ,destroyed.  Especially do these Christian                   resistance and refusal to befar  arms `in that particular

pacifists like t% appeal to the teachings of Christ,                    war.

particularly the Sermon on the Mount, which to them                            Space (does  not permit an exhaustive .discussion  of

is little more than a repudiation of what they prefer                   this position.      It should be obvious, however, that this

to `call the eye-for-aneye  philosophy of `the 0. T. These              standpoint principally adopts the position of pacifism.

people forget, that Jesus is preaching to the subjects of               The o,ne may feel, thiat all wars ,as such are wrong and

the Kingdom ,of Heaven ; that .He means to teach them                   unjust; the other may maintain a ,distin.ction  between
that they must act from the principle ,of. true lava                    just and unjust wars; both leave the question of active

.and righteousness; but surely does not intend to teach,                participation in the given war to the individual con-

that i,n the New Dispensation there is no                   thing as    science.      And who -will say, that the Christian Re-
                                                   such 
sword-power which God has given to ,divinely  `appointed                formed brethren have any more right to their form of

magistrates, and that this sword-power ,does not imply                  pacifism and `doctrine of passive -resistance than the

the right to declare and wage war.                                      more Idrastic  pacifists have to theirs ?

    In addition to the objections already adlduced  a-                         I will ref.rain  from further comment. For a truly
gainst the political and religious assumptions of .paci-                masterful refutation of this entir.e  position I refer you
fism, I woul'd  urge all the arguments: presented above                        thte  ,article  of our ,editor-in-chief  in Vol. 16 of our
                                                                        to 
against the position of the more conservative pacifists.                Standard Bearer, "As to the Christian's Participation
The former, too, is pure humanism. It, too, revea!s                     in War.`,

plainly that it does not understand the true meaning

of pea.ce.     It also rules ,out the element of sin altogether.

And it, too, ignores, all God Himself predicts  .in_His                        There is one sense in which pacifism is wondlerful

`Word about. `wars and rumors of wars to the end of                     and exceedingly blessed.         That is the .Scriptural  sense.
time.      To all of which we still #desire  to iadd : (1) That         A"`pacifist" is !a "peacemaker", according to the literal
pacifism errs in as far as it takes the position that.                  meaning of the w'ord.        Taking the word in that strictly
all war is a-priori evil and contrary to  th'e living God,              literal sense Jesus: is the Great Pacifist of all time,

and that all $aking of human life is necessarily murder.                Who in His own blood merits for us eternal peace, Who


by His Spirit realizes that peace in the hearts of all the         food out of that business. Was it just for a man  t,o

elect, and Who thus "makes peace" forever between                  heal the afflicted free ,of  charge ,denying  the profess-

the living God and an innumerable host of elect. In                .ionals  there just business? No; it was no more just

Him we also become true  "pecifist$, who hat,e  all sin,           in those God-forsaken days for Jesus to do those things

hunger is.fter  all righteousness, seek peace and ensue it.        .than  it is today for a man to work for less than the

And  <doing  this `we are blessed forever, accordi4ng  to the      scale of m,ges  that the union specifies : or for competi-
word of the Lord Jjesus.:  "Blessed are the peacemakers,           tion to sell gooids sbelow the.market  value ,deman.ded  by

 (pacifists), for they shall be called thle  children of           the business combines.                Su.ch things rob us out of  ,OUF

God."                                                              just busi.ness  and we have the rights of enterpriie.

                                                   R. V.           `don't  we?    So argues the world, and they soon council

                                                                   among themselves to stamp out such competition and

                                                                   to "establish justice". 
                            -                                                                       '
                                                                       The C. L. A. hag  this same spirit. In my own

                                                                   fiersonal  experience as a board member we have had
                    Contribution                                   many men come into the board-meetings and  say,  "I
                                                                   demand that justilce be.ldone  ; Mr. so iand so is working
                                                                   for so much per hour.                 Another says, Mr. so and so
Dear Editor:                                                       works: all day Satur'day  and even overtime without

    At the lday  of my redlemption  as I' stood justified          getting time and one-half and I demand that justice

before God in Grace through our Lord and Saviour                   be done" . A Mr. X came in and said "My lempl,oyer
Jesus Christ; for so great a salvation I asked, "Lord,             owes me so many dollars for back wages and I demand

,what  wilt thou have me `do".        And the voice in the         that  the C. L. A. collect it so that justice may be done".

vision replied, "Go fight the evil in labor, for what they         Another Mr. Y says, Mr. W is a member of this organi-

do in labor, they do unto Me".       I answered, I have not        zation isn'the?. .What  does the C. L. A. mean by hav-

the Ieducation  nor ability to do so great a thing.         The    ing s:ech a man a member, he underbid me  shy so much

voice replied, "I will $e with you alway".                         on that j,ob. Do you call that justice?" And so we

    Since that ,day  I have sought to carry out the  com-          ,oaian  qu0t.e  ever so many cases that have been placed

missi.on  and hlave  trusted the covenant.                         before us in our 143. L. A. local wherein the mem,bership

    I immediately j,oin,ed  the C.L.A. whereupon I was             (many church  members) jdemand  that we, the ,C. L. A.

expelled from the A.F. of L.      I thought that the C.L.A.        establish justice.    Some of these casles  we have brought

was a Christian .organization.      However, I !s:oon  learned     to the attention of the National C.  Lt ,A. and they in-

that I was not at home.. I found the same spirit of re-            structed us that it was our  `duty  to see to it thut. justice

bellion  in its set-up of organization as is in the A.F.           be `established. This in itself `explains the steadfast-

of L.                                                              ness of the C. L. ,A. in its need for ;the strike weapon;

    These organizations are inspired into existence by             `to establish justice.     The C..L.  A. laook  upon itself as

the rebellious spirit "to establish justice"; It's the             a court to judge another, to condemn ,one and to exoner-

same spirit that prompted the children of Israel~to  rise          ate the other, 4% justify one a.nd to place the guilt upon

up iagainst  the prophets.        They repeatedly rose u.p         the other an.d demand and see to it that justice be estab-

agalnst  Moses i,n the wilderpeasl  f,or  want of things,          lished.    ,Herein  the C. L. A. stands as condemned before

they even despised their freedom-in the wilderness and             God as do the ,other  .worldly  organizations.

`desired the bondage of Egypt rather than to serve and                 For in Christ we are freemen, we are 1st liberty

trust the God who delivered them fro,m  ,oppression.               in Him to do'good.        We have the freedom to relileve  the

Yes, so great was their passion for want, that they                aeedy in labor, business and capital, and our freedom

threatened to stone Moses.        There are many such up-          and liberty is not to be used maliciously. If a man

risings recorded in the 101d Testament. In the New                 has biasgained  for employment, or another has sold

Testament we have that same sbi,rit that lead to the               his goods, what Godly right has another to set himself

cruci.flxion of Christ,.                                           up as judge lover  the bargain, and demand that he do

    .God wills it that His people live.in  love. Love God          otherwise? Is thlere  n.o other jusustbe  than the dollar

above all, and  your #neighbor  as: yourself is the com-           in ,Christian  living?     Is it the Christ,ian  calling to make

`mandment.     But the heart of natural man rebels kagainst        money, or is it the Christian calling to releve  the

it. As we see Jesus  ,walking  upon this earth ,d6ing              needy and to put ,on the righteousness of God .in so
good, we asn also see the rebellious mob  <girding  itself         doing?                      >
for action.    They reasoned among themselves concern-                 The righteousness of Go'd  !dema.ndl::  that I love my

i$ng ,the great injustice of Jesus turning water into  wi,ne       neighbor as myself.        1.t was in love that Christ turned

.a& cheating the wine merchant out of those sales.                 water i,nto wine, fed the multitude, healed the sick

The great `multitude that He fed cheated the dealers in            and afflicted, It wag none other than contempt for


                                                                                        -~-___~
 308                                                THli  STAMD_z+RD  `BE.AkER
                                                                                       _. .- _e,,_G               ,- ._~_

this love tha.t  the mob, (organization of self-rigliteoua                                                             IN MEMORIAM

man) sought to ,destroy.  And thebe  ia; one thing we

 can say, that today we are surrounded with  thes.e  mob                          ,     On Febr'uary  13, `1945, after a lingering illness of almost
 collspiracies  in labor, business :and capital, Land  the                        a year, it pleased the Lord to take unto  vimself  our dear
voice  `of freedom in enterprise is used for malicious-                           Husband, F&her,  Grandfather,
neiss .                                                                                                      1
                 Years ago enterprise was conducted on the free                                 MR. RALPH SCHAAF*SMA-age  55 years
market. The fa$mer  raised his crop and sold it for

 a price governerd  by that market.                  Busin.ess  price struc-      As a answer to Jesus prayer.

ture `~12s also governed by that same market price as                                   Father I will that they also, whom thou hast given me,

 established by freedom.                     Labor sought employment              be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which

 also  by that same value. (Our forefathers left their                            thou hast given me; for thou lovest  me before the foundation

fatherland for the U. S. -A. because  they  sought to be                          of' the world.

freemen in enterprise.                   It was to them a way of life ii?                                                                   Mrs. R. Schaafsma

which they lcould  plia,ce  their faith and trust in-  the                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Kuiper

living God. They knew  that. in free enterprise the                                                                               Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Schaafsma

 earth would :be ,replNenished  and that with B constant                                                                           Mr. and Mrs. John Vanden  Berg

free market enterprise the wealth of the nation  ~60~14                                                                            Mr. and Mrs. John Schaafsma

 constantly be r&stributed.  That, the poor h&d an                                                                                 `Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jelsma
 eqwad  chande  a!s dild the wealthy in economics, was to                                             :;                           Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Schaafsma
them of great inspiration. God has rewarded them                                                                                   Clarence Sachaaf  sma

 for their faith and trust, He has bllessed  them with                                                                             Nine grandchildren..               ..

many blessings.. That `was not enough, .the capitalist

merged with other capi+aJists  ; businazs  ,organized  busi-
ness; and.labor  ,organized  l,abor,  all for profits whi,ch

 seeks now to :dfevo,ur  every vestige of freedom for which

they ,died.  Of such is the_Godiforsaken  world. But

where  is the Christian world. ?  Has; it been devoured                                                                ANNIVERSARY

in. a si:niful passion for want of things?  n Or is it lack
of fundamental principles in freedom t.hat keeps us                                     Den loden  Maart,  1945, mochten onze geliefde ouders
 apart?                I have every reaion  to believe that if and when

lan `organization is established ZIISI. .a fDee ,orgnization,                                               JELLE REINDERT VANDER WAL
for the` purpose to propagate freedom in our social

order, that thousand,s  ,of Christians will support hits                                               KLASKE  VANDER WAL, geb. Visser                           -
movement.                   To that end, I ,soli.cit  the aid of the Stan-

ldard Bearer aJl,d  every freedom lovi4n,g  Cli&ian.                              hunne 45 _jarige  echtvereeniging gedenken. Dat de Heere die
                                                          Frank  Rtottier.        hun tot liefde nabij was liun ook verder wil  leiden,  is de wenssh

                                                                                  en bede van hunne dankbare  kinderen.

                                                                                                                                            M. Gaastra

                                                                                                                                            S. Gaastra-Vander Wal

                                                                                                                                            en 4 kleinkinderen.

                                                                                        1015 Ohib St.                        .
                                     IN MEMORIAM                                        Redlands,   C a l i f o r n i a .
                                                                                         .`(
                 The ,Consistosy  of the Protestant Reformed Church at Hull,                     :
:Ioea, herewith wishes to express its sincere sympathy to  deacon

, J. Karsemeper  and his family in the loss of `their son and
.bs&her:  _
      .a                    IEENRY.  KARSl+YER,  ACRM                                                       MZNIitiTERS"  CONFERENCE
     ./
., who was killed in servich  with the navy.                                                                           .
:                 May the: God of all grace comfort and  .sustain  them by His         -The  Protestant Rtiformed  Ministers' Confeyence
     Word and Spirit and cause them to believe and trust that  &he                will meet Tuesday;, April 3 at 9 ;30 A.M., in the First

_&ord  knoweth them that are His and dealeth faithfully and just.                 Protestan,t  Refornied  Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

                                          The Consistory,                         Program :- "The Inherently Modernistic World View
                   <i. ;                       _ A. Cammenga, Pres.               of Common Gxxxce"LJ.  A. Heys. "The Idea of Con-
           :.                                      E. Vander'verff,  Seer.        scinoe in the  Epistles of Paul"-H. Hoeksema.


