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Vol. I, No. 2.                                                  NOVEMBER, 1924                                              Subscription Price $1.50

                                                                           renewal, they became citizens of another country.  ,4nd
                                                                           thus they became strangers and sojourners on the earth,
                                                                           pilgrims with their faces set toward the City that hath
                                                                           foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
                                                                              Of these strangers on the earth the author of Ps.  105
                          He  suffered   no  man  to  do  them  wrong.     a@irms that  in  their earthly  pilgrima,? they always were
                                                           Ps.  rog:r4a    well protected and safely guarded. For God "suffered no
     Sojourners in the world are the people of God. Pil-                   man to do them wrong". And as it was in days of hoary
grims and strangers in the earth God makes them                            antiquity and of  patriarcha  fame thus it is with these
&cording to a figure of which the Bible is fond. God's                     pilgrims thruout the epochs of history and thus it will
children dwell in tents. An abiding dwellingplace, a per-                  be till the last one of them shall have appeared in Zion
manent home they neither possess nor desire here below.                    before God.
.4.s they cast their eyes about them on the  things that are                  Sojourners they are, travelling safely !
on earth they unite in  sing-ing  with the inspired poet of
1's. 39  :                                                                    How wonderful is this safety of God's children in
                "I am a stranger here,                                     the world.
                 Dependant on Thy grace,                                           For, first, there is no strength in their number. They
                 A pilgrim, as my fathers were,                            are but few, yea, very few, indeed, at any given moment
                 With no abiding place."                                   of history. How few were the sojourners that travelled
                                                                           with the father of believers when he was called to leave
     Then, again, lifting up their heads and the light of a                his father's house and kin and became a  stran:ger in the
Xew City reflecting in their longing eyes, they travel                     earth! How small was the number of them when as
onward,  repeatin g after the poet of Ps. 17:                              tentdwellers they sojourned with Isaac and Jacob in the
                "When  I in righteousness at last                          Land of Promise as in a strange country! How small a
                 Thy glorious face shall see,                              band they were when they bent their necks under the cruel
                 When all the weary night is past,                         yoke of Egypt's bondage! How  insi,Tificant  proportion-
                 Xnd  I awake with thee                                    ally appeared their number when they inhabit the land
                 To view the glories that abide,                           flowing with milk and honey in the midst of the mightiest
                 Then, then I shall be satisfied."                         nations of the earth! And even when finally the gates
                                                                           of Jerusalem are thrown open to all the nations of the
     The reason for this sojourner-attitude and  pilgrim-                  earth and many tribes turn their faces toward Zion to
spirit is that they are citizens of another country, the                   learn the will of Jehovah, their number is comparatively
heal-en!y.  For they are born from above, they have been                   small, especially when counted according to the election
begotten again unto a lively hope thru the resurrection                    of grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
of Jesus from the dead. Of the life of the `Risen Lord
they partake. That new life is not of this world. Neither                     Surely, counted by themselves, apart from any  cotn-
     it a resuscitation  of a life  ia days of yore, in Paradise           parison  with the world, they are a great throng. And
,-xt. But it is the life of a New City, of the heavenly                    once, when all the weary night is past for these pilgrims
J'erusalem?  of the eternal Kingdom, still to be revealed                  and time shall be no more? they shall constitute a multitude
in the full splendor. of its beauty. It is a life,  Not from               the symbol of whose number is in the firmament's count-
below but from above, not earthy but heavenly. It is not                   less stars and in the sand that is on the seashore.  Tn-
mournfullv  glancin g back upon a lost estate, but hope-                   numerable shall be their host when the last one of them
fully looking forward to an eternal inheritance. It is                     shall have buried the pilgrim's staff in the Valley of Death
decidedly other-worldlv. Not  by any external method of                    and, bearing the palm-branch of victory and wearing the
*~aturaJimtioz2   hut  by  the  inner  process  o          f          spiritual
                                                                           glorious crown of life and the spotlessly white robe of

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

righteousness, shall sing with all the redeemed of God              made all things with a view to their glorification ; He
eternal Hallelujah's before the throne of God and the               moves   and directs all things with a view to the realization
Lamb. Then they shall be a multitude which no man can               of their eternal inheritance. And without Him no creature
number. . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                   moves. Without Him no hateful heart registers another
     But now, in the days of their sojourn and pilgrimage?          beat; without Him no malicious mind contrives a single
their number is quickly expressed. For they are few,                plan; without Him  no  reviling  tomgue utters another
very few, indeed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                       syllable. No murderous sword strikes a blow, no human
     What hinders the enemy to be upon these few strangers          power condemns, no human army moves, no devil stirs
and to swallow them up alive?                                       in the darkness of the abyss, but by His will. No lion
     Considering the smallness of their number the safety           roars, no serpent sneaks, no pestilence stalks, no fire
of their sojourn is a marvel!                                       burns, no water drowns, no death lurks, but when He
                                                                    allows. If  IIe does not suffer, nothing in all the wide
     Then, how perilous is the road they are called to travel!      creation stirs.
     For they are in the world, yet they are not of the world.        Still more.
The road of their pilgrimage leads directly thru the world            When they do move, beat, contrive, speak, strike, sneak,
and the world hates them. Under the leadership of and               lurk. they do so to serve His purpose. He it is, the
in alliance with the Prince of Darkness that world is filled        Almighty, that suffers no man to do these sojourners
with enmity and raves with furious hatred  a%gainst  these          wrong !
pilgrims to the heavenly Jerusalem. For the life of their             How safe they are!
Risen Lord they strive to live and their conversation and             Peace, be still!
walk are not according to the fashion of this world. The
world's song they do not sing ; the world's dance they do             -4nd  how could He allow any creature to harm His
not dance ; the world's treasure they do not treasure  ; in         people ?
the world's pleasure they have no pleasure; in the world's            They are dear to Him as the life of His Son! To turn
glory they do not glory. And they decline to worship the            them is to touch the apple of His eye. For He is not only
world's god. Of the City that hath foundations is their             the Almighty, but the God who loved these sojourners
song, in the Lord they rejoice and in  Him is all their             from before the foundation of the world. He knew them
glory. For anointed of the Lord they are, a holy nation             in eternal love. And knowing them He chose them. And
of royal priests and they show forth the praises of Him             choosing them He ordained that they should be made
that called them from darkness into His marvellous                  like unto the image of His Son, that He might have many
light !                                                             children and His Son many brethren. And ordaining
     And the world they condemn. . . . . . . .                      them He revealed to them the greatness of His love by
                                                                    sacrificing His most Beloved for their ransom, and
     Small wonder that the world hates them and is enraged          having shed the blood of His Son in their stead He
against them with the same fury that made them nail the             redeems them to His praise by the power of His grace!
Lord of glory to the accursed tree. For a united power                His love is in them. His Name is in them. His glory
of darkness are the world and its Prince. And they lurk             is connected inseparably with their salvation. The price
in secret places, and they conspire in the dark, and they           of the precious blood of His Son is paid for them. . . . . .
marshall all their strength to harm these few wayfarers               How could He?. . . . . . . .
and strangers and to blot out their existence in the earth            No more than He can deny Himself, no more than He
or to prevent them from entering into the promised                  can surrender the glory of His own name, no more than
inheritance.                                                        He can make void the power of His own Son's blood,
     How defenseless seems the position of these sojourners         aher His counsel or change Himself,-no more can He
on the earth!                                                       suffer any man or devil, or any other creature to harm
                                                                    His beloved, His anointed prophets, sojourning in the
     Yet, in spite of their smallness in number, in spite of        world.
their perilous path and hateful enemies, in spite, too, of            A mother may forget her sucking-babe.
the fact that the power and authority and wealth of this              But the Almighty forsakes His people never! He
world  ,generally  are not on their side,-how perfect is            suffers no man to do them harm !
their safety as they journey onward to the City of their              MY soul shall not be greatly moved!
hope 1
     For: "He suffered no man to do them wrong!"                      But does not this firm confidence and comforting
     He was Abraham's Shield, Isaac's Protector, Jacob's            assurance appear idle and without sufficient ground in the
Guide, Israel's Deliverer. He is the Refuge and High                light of actual history?
Tower of all His people, thruout their earthly sojourn                Superficially considered it would seem so.
and He never fails nor forsakes them.                                 Ah! how these sojourners suffered in the world! How
     And this is quite  sufficient.                                 large  a measure of the suffering of this present time was
     For He is God Almighty. He ordained all things with            meted out to them! How they were reviled, how  they
a view to the salvation of these sojourning strangers; He           suffered reproach and were made a sorry spectacle in the


                                                                                                                                          ,


                                                                 THE                  STA.NbAR$                     BEAR.ER

      world! How they were persecuted, chased over the earth,                                                  "TWIST  TE'GEN  XJLIEDER   ,MOEDER"
      subjected to poverty and misery, shut up in dungeons and                                          Pas  t&is van. zijn eerste &is,  ,heeft "The Standard
      holes of horror I How they were tortured without mercy,                                      Bearer" heel wat te vertellen. Hij zal echter  wat,  op  adem
      cruelly sawn asunder or burnt at the stake amid the                                          moeten  komen; om ons zijne geschiedenis in orde te kun-
      mocking shrieks of the enemy! History rather depicts                                         nen verhalen.  Ditmaal wil hij  zich  `t liefst beperken tot
      these sojourners as a small band of silent sufferers,  w-i@                                  het aanstippen van slechts enkele bijzonderheden. Hij
      marred visages, utter amazement in their looks,  well-mgh                                    heeft  *allerlei   e&ringen  opgedan  ;  zoo&  trouwens  te
      succumbing, like their Master, under the, crosses  as they                                   verwachten was. ,En niet alle waren  van de aangenaamste
      are driven to the place of slaughter, and moaning: "For                                      soort. Ook dit zal  we1  niemand  verwonderen. Het reizen
      Thy sake we are killed all the day long!" The trail these                                    zelf leverde nog al moeilijkheden op. Niet iedereen  was-
      wayfarers leave is a bloody trail!. . . . . . . .                                            den vreemdeling even behulpzaam ; `zoodat deze af en toe
                                                                                                   nog al eens een trein miste. Daardoor werd zijne  aan-.
             Yes, but:  "He suffers no man to do them wrong."                                      komst op sommige  plaatsen vertraagd, en het  geduld van
             The.enemy  may devise mischief, may touch you, make                                   hen, die reeds op zijne komst  hadden staan  wachten,   we1
      you suffer for a time, rave against  you'in bitter hatred                                    wat op de proef gesteld. Bij. dezulken was de ontvangst
      and kill the body. . . . . . . . . . . .                                                     er echter  niet  minder hartelijk om. Men  Wilde wel, dat
a            God is for us. Therefore all things are for us and  h'  *
                                                                                                    IJ  vaker  kwam,  of zoo  zulks direct niet  mocht gaan,
      work together for our good. Heaven and earth and hell                                        althans meer koopwaar, van dezelfde soort,  medebracht.
      move only at the bidding of our Lord and therefore, at - Wij  zullen  eens  zien.  _ Anderen  ontvinvn hem
      the bidding of that same love that was manifested on , minder welwillend. Sommigen fronsten reeds de  wenk-
      Golgotha's hill. Gold is tried by fire, God's  peep le by brauwen,  toen men hem in de  verte zag  naderen.  Een
      suffering and tribulations, inflicted by raving enemies                                      enkele  schold hem zelfs voor een ongehoorzaam kind.
      and furious devils. These all are our servants. And we                                       Hij moest maar meer  gezeglijk   wezen. Als Moeder sprak,
      are more than conquerors thru Him that loved us!                                             paste het hem te zwijgen. In elk  geval  moest hij niet
                                                                                                   onder het ouderlijke dak  willen  blijven  vertoeven, indien
             Ue of good cheer, pilgrim on the way to Zion! Thru                                    hi.J voornemens was voor eigene zienswijze uit te komen.
      suffering the way leads to glory. Presently the Lord will                                    W      t
                                                                                                        an een huis, dat tegen  zich zelf verdeeld is, kan  im-
      give thee beauty for ashes, oil of joy for  mourni.nq  and                                   mers  niet   bestaan?
      tl:e garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness!                                               Aldus moet de man tot hem ,gesproken hebben.
             The crown for the cross!                                                                                                                             .-
                                                                                       H. H. .          In  zulk spreken schuilt een element van waarheid. Een
                                                                                                   koninkrijk, dat tegen  zich zelf verdeeld is, wordt  ver-
                SYMBOEEN VAN  HEILGEI&JXEN  GODS                                                   woest. Dat is zeker ! En die waarheid is ook van  toe-
                                    IN DE SCHEPPING                                                passing op de gemeente des Heeren. De Kerk van  Chris-
                                                                                                  ' tus moet hare  PCnheid  bewaren. Geen worm mag knagen
             (Da Costa zong daarvan in een klein dankvers na `t                                    aan haren geestelijken levenswortel. In haar his moet
     T ontvangen van een vriendschapsgeschenk, in heerlijke                                        alles   worden  ingericht naar de  ,wet van haren  Koning.
      druiven bestaande, aldus :                                                                   Anders kwijnt hare gezondheid, en kan zij niet  wezen-
               Neen ! den  d&if van Ipenrode                                                       li jk voorspoedig zi jn. Is er nu een vijand, door welke
                      streeft  %geen moerbij van het  Y. . . . . . op zij.                        ' poort ook, haar veste binnengedrongen, dan moet zij
        i       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    ' dien ioeken uit te werpen. Zij vermag  geen kwartier te
                                                                                                   verleenen. Dat  we1 te doen,  zou doodehjk kunnen  worden
               Maar geen kampstrijd, zelfs van heuschheid,                                         voor haar  zelve.  Evenwel, in het  uitwerpen  van ketters
                      werd van weerszij ook bedoeld.                                               zij zij zeker van hare zaak. Dat kan maar niet  geschie-
               Slechts bij  `t  t&en van een vriendschap,                                          den in eene dommeling. Tn  .oorlogstijd  zijn vriend en
                      vast  gegrond en diep gevoeld,                                               vijand dikwijls moeili jk te onderscheiden. Men weet  zich'
               `t zaam  genieten  van den rijkdom                                                  wonderlij,k te verkleeden. En de vijand binnen de poor-                    -
                      van eens Scheppers heerlijkheid,                                             te is bijna  altijd vermomd. Wordt er dus "kameraad"
               `t Zaam verheffen van de liefde                                                     .geroepen,  of ook  "spion".  "the  f& within the gate" ! dan
                      van een Heiland, neergeleid                                                  wriive  men  zich eerst terdege de oogen uit, om klaarlijk
               in  `t omhulsel van den  wijngaard,                                                 fe kunnen onderkennen, den  roeper  zoowel als den  na-
                 van den wijnstok, van den wijn,                                                   Fewezene.  Meer dan eens  tech heeft de historische kerk
               die van hooge heilgeheimen                                                          hare trouwste dieqaren  uitgeworpen; zoo zelfs. dat  bij
                      teedre zinnebeelden zijn.  -                                                 ti  jden  Ketter en  ?n~urtelnar feiteli jk identische  be,arippen
                                                                                                   waren   ; en het  bIoed  van  zulke ketters-martelaren is  tel-
         , (En in het befaamde Achttiende Amendement op onze                                       kens geworden het zaad eener zuiverder  kerk. Ook zii.                '
       fandsconstitutie werd, dwaas genoeg, de wijn verworpea                                      die zich Gods guns&enooten waanden, hebben menivaal
       als kwaad en het  gebruik  ervan als uit den Booze  aan-                                    Eemeend Gode een dienst te doen met het ait de synag-oge
      gemerkt. )
                .b                                                                                 -wet-pen en dooden van de  discipelen  des Heeren. Ook


 afdruk van het oorspronkelijke  ---+ en in de zedelijke  .- kander  zullen zien van  aangezicht  tot aangezicht in den
 keuze zijns harten omslaat in zijn eigen tegendeel, zoodat        Middelaar Jezus Christus, dan zal die zalige gemeenschap
 hi j  gaat liefhebben,  wat hij moest  haten, en  haten,  het-    der  vriendschap  openbaren de  volmaakt  zuivere  weder-
 &en hij moest beminnen : dus zondigt,. doende de begeer-          `keerige  werking van het oorspronkelijke beeld en zijne
 teii van zijnen vader den duivel ; dan brengt dit God niet        gelijkenis. En op het gezicht van  dat voltooide beeld
 in verlegenheid, en wordt daardoor Gods eeuwig voor- Gods zal al  wat  adem heeft voor God nederzinken in
 nemen niet verijdeld. Gods vrijmachtig  welbehagen   tech         bewondering en aanbidding, en den naam des HEEREN
 greep  dieper.   Naar Zijn  mad wil God, dat de gekochten prijzen, eeuwiglijk en  altoos;  en. in immer klimmende
 met het bloed des kruises, uit alle  geslacht, en  taal, en       mate. De  Iof  des HEEREN  zal groot zijn.
 volk, en  natie,  den beelde Zijns Zoons gelijkvormig  zul-                                     I*                              El. D.
 len  zijn; opdat Deze zij de eerstgeborene onder vele broe-
 deren. De eerste Adam, wiens beeld wfij gedragen hebben,
 moet  plaats   maken  voor den Heere uit den  hemel. Het                        THE LIE AND ITS FATHER
 meerdere doet het mindere wijken. De  laatste Adam                                        And the serpent said unto the woman,
 maakt de zijnen tot koningen en priesters Gode en Zi jnen - _                            Ye  shall   not   surely   die.   -  Gen.  3:4.
 en hurmen Vader in  batten-aardschen  zin. Gods  kinderen           There can be no question about the fact, that it was
 zullen het beeld des hemelschen  dragen.                          the temptation by the Devil that completed the antithesis
                 .                                                 before the mind and consciousness of our first parents.
    De  hemelsche  volmaking van Gods beeld grijpt  plaats         There..must  have been: indeed, a certain silent language
 naar het eeuwig welbehagen des HEEREN in Christus.                proceeding from the tree of knowledge of good and evil
 In Gods onveranderlijk voornemen hebben de  mysterien             itself.  #For the tree was beautiful to behold and its fruit
 in het vleeschgeworden  Wo&d hun  vasten grond. God appeared good to eat. In the tree itself there was,  there-
 heeft  gewild,  dat de gelijkenis Zijns beelds in het schepsel    fore, an appeal to the senses which was apparently in
 gelijlcvormig zou zi jn  aan het afschijnsel Zijner  heerlijk-    conflict with the Word of God that to eat of the tree
 heid in den ongeschapen-Eeniggeborene, die in den schoot          meant certain death. The antithesis between good and'
 des Vaders is. De Maker en het  maaksei  ontmoeten el-            evil, righteousness and unrighteousness, light and dark-
kander in den Middelaar Gods en der menschen. In Hem               ness was, therefore, certainly present even apart from the
 legde God Zijne schepping  aan Zichzelven vast. Hij  tech         temptation by the Serpent. But the fact remains that this
 -is  het beeld des onzienlijken Gods en tevens de  eerst-         antithesis is not complete until the Devil offers his own
 geborene  aller creature. Door Hem zijn  alle  dingen   ge-       deceitful interpretation of the tree and places his word
 schapen ; en Hij is  v66r alle  dingen,  en alle  dingen   be-    of darkness over against God's Word of light and truth.
 staan te zarnen door Hem. Ook is Hij het hoofd der
 gemeente. En in de rol des boeks is van Hem geschreven.             Even though in the entire narrative of the temptation
 Hij is van eeuwigheid af gezalfd geweest. Daarom  kon-            and fall of our first parents in Paradise the devil is never
 den van de grondlegging der wereld af, ja,  zelfs v66r den        definitely mentioned, yet there never was any doubt in
 aanvang van de stofjes der wereld, zijne vermakingen              the mind of the Church that he is the Tempter embodied
 zijn met der menschen kinderen. En ook  heeft Hij lust            for the occasion in the serpent. And the Word  of-God
 om Gods  wtelbehagen  te doen  ; Gods wet is in  bet  midden      amply supports this conception of the Church. The curse
 zi  jns ingewands. Daarom kan God in de herschepping that is pronounced upon the serpent cannot be fully and
 de volle mogendheid zijner kracht openbaren. In den' satisfactorily explained if it is applied only to the serpent
 Zoon zijner liefde kan God de wereld weer met  Zich-              as such. Other passages of the Word of God plainly
 zelven verzoenen, en in de'volheid des ti jds onder Christus      ascribe the first temptation to Satan. Thus it. is with
 als Hoofd alles weer bijeenvergaderen; zoodat de  gansche         the word of Jesus so well-known and so frequently  quot-
 `verloste schepping Zijn volmaakt deugdenbeeld zal af- ed : "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts -of
 stralen in  hemelsche  heerlijkheid.                              your father will ye do. He was a murderer from the
   En dan zal er in den weg van zonde en genade, van               beginning, and abode not in the truth because there is.
 lijden en  doodm  en opstanding en vernieuwing eeuwige            no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of
 `winste zijn. De nieuwe menschheid,  .in  Christus  begena-       his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it." John  8:44.
 `digd, gewasschen in Zijn bloed, gereinigd en geheiligd en        It is evident that the description "murderer from the  be-
 verheerlijkt  door den Geest,  zal de uitstorting van Gods        ginning" can be understood only with reference to the
 liefde  opvangen  in een meer ontvankelijk  gemoed-  en first temptation in Paradise. Besides, in Rev. 12  :9 he
`~herkaatsen met  inniger  ritselingen  van-da&bare   weder-       is specifically called by the name of the animal that served
 liefde. De indruk van Gods beeld is dan verscherpt en             as his instrument in the temptation of the woman: "And
 de gelijkenis er van is voller, ri jker, meer sprekend, meer the great dragon was cast down, the  old.serpent, he that
 treffend,  meer. in bi jzonderheden overeenkomend. Als            is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole
 straks in de eeuwige hemelsche heerlijkheid de  genadige          world.`! And again the appellation "deceiver of the whole
 God in  toegenegene  goedertierenheid  Zich  zal  wenden  tot world" can  retain its full meaning only when it is  admit-
 den verlosten mensch en deze tot God  zal-naderen  met ted that the very beginning of this deception  procee?ded
 heilige  beving en kinderlijke vrijmoedigheid en zij  el- .. from him. Neither does the belief that the serpent of
                         ,+

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

Gen. 3 is the devil rest only on the basis of a few scattered    the Bible narrates rather in detail how in the beginning
passages in  HoIy Writ. On the contrary, all the subse-          the alliance was formed between men and the Father of
quent history as narrated in Scripture plainly refers to         the Lie.
the devil as the one who at the very beginning of the
world's course acquired a certain power and influence              Gathering the data we possess in the Bible concerning
over it. For the drama of sin on the stage of the world's        this Evil One, we find first of all that the names given
history is enacted nowhere by human agents alone ; always        him in Holy Writ are very significant. He is called Devil
there appears on the same stage, now in plain view of all        or Slanderer, Calumniator; and Satan or Opponent,
who will see, now retreating in the darker background.,          Adversary. These are his principal names. They repre-
now again darkly silhouetted upon the screen that sep-           sent him both in respect of his spiritual character as the
arates the mere earthly from the specifically hellish section    Liar, in whom there is no truth, and in his attitude against
of the stage, the Prince of the powers of the air, the Old       God. For he is principally an opponent of God and one
Serpent, that is called the Devil and Satan. All the history     who slanders Him. All his plans and schemes and works
of sin and death points to a certain moment in the past          have for their object opposition against the Almighty.
when an alliance was formed between earth and hell,              For he hates God above all that is to be hated and all
between man and the devil and corroborates the view              other things only in as far as they are with God. Names
that the serpent of First Paradise was none other than           of a similar report, merely expressing certain specific
Satan himself.                                                   aspects of his diabolical, God-opposing nature are such
                                                                 appellations  as Destroyer, Deceiver, Evil One, Murderer
  The Word of God deems it important for the Church              from the beginning, Tempter, Father of the Lie and of
in the world to understand this connection between the           the Liars. While other names are indicative of his great
darkness of this world and the Prince of the powers of           power and influence both in the realm of spirits and in the
the air, in order that she may be aware of the fact that         world of men. For he is called the Prince of Demons,
her battle is not against flesh and blood. It is  or&  in        the Prince of the Powers of the Air, the `Prince of this
periods that are characterized by little or no consciousness     World and the God of this World. Considering the
of sin, increasing worldly-mindedness and growing                import of these names in the light of all that Scripture
frivolity, that God's revelation concerning the Prince of        reveals to us about this Evil Spirit we may conclude first
this world is silenced into oblivion and that belief in a        of all that originally the Devil was one of the most
gersonal Devil is ridiculed and relegated to the realm of        glorious and powerful of angels, endowed with beautiful
superstition. It may be admitted, indeed, that the super-        gifts and talents and assigned a place of princely authority
stition of the  lMiddle Ages, that represented the Devil         and power among his fellow-angels. This may be gather-
with horns and hoofs and regarded him as living in               ed from the manifestation of his great power in his
witches and ghouls, deserves our whole-hearted condem-           present state; from the fact that he is prince over the
nation for the simple reason that it was  based on a wrong       angels that fell with him; and from the fact that in the
conception of the Prince of this world.  It may be granted       Word of God it is such a mighty and princely angel as
also, that a similar erroneous view of the devil lay at the      lMichae1  to whom seems to be assigned the special task
basis of Luther's imagined visions of him, when he               of combatting the Devil. Dan.  16  :13, Jude : 9, Rev. 12  :7.
relates : "I heard some one walking on the floor above           In the second place, it is at least suggested, that the
my head  ; but, as  1 knew it was  only the Devil, I went        Devil's first sin was pride and envy, dissatisfaction with
quietly to sleep"  ; or when he  imagines  to fight Satan        the position assigned to him and the glory given him by
effectively with an ink-bottle. It  is also true that the        God and the aspiration to the very throne of God.
serious-mindedness with which Luther and the Reformers           Martensen says : "He was Christ's younger brother, and
generally took the Devil and battled against him is far to       became God's adversary, because he was not content to
be preferred above the shallow rationalism of a later date       be second, but wanted to be first; because he was un-
that denies the existence of Satan as a mere superstition        willing to bear the light of an other and wanted to be the
and prefers to speak only of-a vague power of evil within        light itself ." And Jacob  BGhme wrote : "Lucifer envied
men. The folly of throwing ink-bottles at the devil is not       the Son his glory; his own beauty deceived him and he
quite as fatal as the utter foolishness of people that are       wanted to place himself on the throne of the Son." Cer-
characterized in the words of a certain German poet :            tain it is that he expresses the awful ambition of his own
      "The  peopie  would not suspect it was the devil,          devilish mind when the Tempter in Paradise assures man
        Even if he had them by the throat."                      that he shall be as God if he only eats of the tree of
                                                                 knowledge of good and evil. Certain is too that in
`However this may be, it cannot be denied that the Word          I Tim. 3  :6 the apostle Paul suggests that pride is the
of God takes pains to keep before the mind of the church         characteristic sin of the Devil. And Jude speaks of
this connection between the darkness of this world and           angels that kept not their first estate but left their own
the power of spiritual wickedness in high places, headed         habitation. In the third place it is evident, that because
by the Devil. And Scripture admonishes us that against           of his sin and rebellion he was accursed of God and,
it we shall put on the whole armour of God that we may           together with the spirits that rose with him in opposition
stand in the evil day. And it is for the same reason that        to God was cast  out? though neither he nor his  fellow-


1'&                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

devils have been  consitiFed  to their final place of punish-      Liar and the Father of the Lie. He lies slanderously
ment. And lastly, it is plain, that as far as his spiritual        about God, when he interprets God's commandment con-
character is concerned he is utterly and hopelessly dark-          cerning the tree as motivated on the part of  Gocl by the
ness, unrighteousness, corruption and the father  of the           evil desire to prevent man from attaining to the highest
lie, so that the origin of darkness must be traced to him.         possible and most glorious state. He lies about man and
                                                                   his relation to God when he upholds before the woman's
       In connection with the first temptation of man a couple     imagination as the highest conceivable ideal essential like-
.of questions present themselves to our mind. First of             ness to and equality with God. And he casts the darkness
all the question arises : why is it that the Tetnpter appears      of his lie over the tree when he interprets that it is, in-
thru the instrumentality of the serpent?  And the answer           deed, a means thru which man may attain this equality
seems twofold. It is evident that the devil was in need            with God if he only eats of it. Thus the. antithesis was
of some instrument in order to approach man in his state           sharply defined. The  De+il's temptation purposed to
of righteousness. Direct access to Adam's heart and mind           persuade man to abandon the truth of God and accept
he could not gain, for the simple reason that the avenues          the lie of the Murderer from the be-ginning. And it was
of Adam's heart  .and mind and will were opened only               man's calling, as God's covenant-friend to overcome the
toward God. With man in his state of sin and corruption            Devil and choose the light rather than darkness. But in
this is different. There can be no question that Satan             the light of history and from the point of view of God's
is able to tempt man directly, without any medium,                 counsel there is still another reason conceivable for this
approaching his mind and heart from within, after man              divine permission of the Devil's temptation. For thru it
once subjected himself in slavery to the Evil One. But             the power of darkness and of opposition becomes one
with Adam in his state of righteousness this is still              with the Devil as its Prince. There are no two domains
different, even as it is different again with the Second           of darkness and no two hosts of opposition, the one in
ridam. Surely, man was created with a free will. But               hell  and. the other on earth, the one having its origin in
this free will of man in the state of righteousness is not         Satanic pride and the other separately in human dis-
to be conceived as a certain neutrality  or equal receptivity      obedience, but these two are one. The Devil becomes
to the influence of both good and evil.  0~ the contrary.          temporarily the Prince of this world, and the wicked
man stood in positive knowledge of God, righteousness              world is for a time his own domain. He becomes the
and holiness, and while, therefore, all the avenues of             spiritual Father of a wicked seed, the Father of Liars.
approach of his mind and heart and will and his whole              But because of this unification of the powers of opposi-
nature were opened toward  God> they were closed to the            tion in hell and in the world, the battle is also one. And
devil, unless man by an act of his own free will would             the stage of this battle against the Adversary of God is
turn about. This he had the  power  to do. Facing God              the earth.  r?tnd again, thus it becomes also possible that
in his state of righteousness he had the power to turn             One stronger than the first Adam can lead the battle-host
about and face the devil. But before man had thus fallen           and gain the victory over this entire power of darkness.
a slave to the devil the latter had no direct access to his        On the battlefield of this world Christ crushes the head
:c>ul and needed an instrument thru which he would be              of the Serpent and overcomes all his seed.
able to approach him objectively. And, secondly, the                                                                  H. H.
reason for his choice of the serpent must undoubtedly
be sought in the peculiar nature of  .the serpent before
she was cursed. Scripture suggests the reason by in-                                         cm  Y O U ?
forming us that "the serpent was more subtle than any              Can you put the spider's  tieb back in its place that once
beast of the field." This, at least, suggests a certain                 has been swept away?
peculiar fitness of the serpent to serve as an instrument          Can you put the apple again on the bough which fell
for the devil's purpose. If we recall the effect of the evil            at your feet today?
spirits upon the herd. of swine we probably have some              Can you put the lily-cup back on the stem and cause it
suggestion as to the reason why Satan in Paradise could                 to live and grow?
not reach his purpose thru the instrumentality of any              Can you mend the butterfly's broken wing that crushed
animal, but that the subtle nature of the serpent lent itself           with a hasty blow?
in a peculiar manner to this object. j                             Can you put the petals back on the rose? If you could,
       And the second question that presents itself is:  it  hy         would it smell as sweet  1
was the Devil permitted to enter into Paradise  2s the             Can you put the flour again in the husk and show me
Tempter? One reason we already suggested at the  bc-                    the ripened wheat  ?
ginning of this article : the temptation of the n&l served         Can you put the kernel back in the nut, or the broken
to complete and to make more definite the antithesis                    egg in its shell?
before the mind of man. For over against God's Word                Can you put the honey back in the comb, and cover with
of truth the Devil places his own lie. What the devil                   wax each cell?
really does in tempting man is drawing before his imagin-          Can your life return to its pure estate, when once it is
ation a false conception of God. of man's relation to Him               cursed  w$th sin?
and  of. the world.  ,He proves himself. immediately the                                                            Selected.


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     21

vacantie-Heraut meer een  beschoutiing  dan een  eenvou-                                     A DBCLARATION
clig  verslag van het gebeurde ter Synode betrekkelijk de                   And thus it happens that I, the undersigned, am of the
Gemeene Gratie kwestie, en komt,  madat  hij de lidmaten                  group editing this periodical. The fact that  I,, agree to
deer  Chr. Geref. Kerk in drie richtingen doet uiteen loopen,             serve upon the editorial staff of the "Standard Bearer"
tot het  besiuit,  dat in Juli 1.1. te Kalamazoo  aan het  licht          amounts to an admission on my part that I too reject
gekomen is, dat "de middelgroep, die wenschte vast te                     the views and conception of things which the term com-
houden zoowel  aan de leer der anti-these  als  aan die der               mon  grace stands for. For me it is quite impossible to
Gemeene  Gratie" den  toon heeft aangegeven ; alsmede                     adhere to the principles embedded in the term common
dat de beteekenis der laatstgehouden Synode ook hierin                    grace and remain on friendly terms with Scripture.
ligt, dat die kerkvergadering het standpunt van Dss. Dan-                   I am aware of it that he who has the audacity to deny
hof en Hoeksema heeft veroordeeld.                                        common grace is regarded as disgustingly dense, incon-
  Over die beschouwing van Prof. Van Andel  hopen we                      ceivably conceited and destructive. In the October issue
een volgend. maal  nog nader het onze  te zeggen.                         of "Religion and Culture", page 69, Prof.  VanAndel
  Zeker is het  noodig dat,  behalve  de eigen kring, ook                 writes : "And that now some young American ministers
het  buitenland  anders wordt ingelicht  clan de officieele               of Dutch descent contend that this doctrine of common
organen  der kerk en enkele correspondenten, bekende en                   ,Fce is not traditionally reformed. How little hold has
onbekende, hebben gedaan.                                                 the reformed truth had on some of us that they do not
                                                   G. V. B.               feel that they are undermining the very foundations of
                                                                          Christian that is Calvinistic Theology, ethics and philoso-
       TI-ZE  .CHRISTIAN  BEiFORMED   CBIURCH                             phy". You see, the' huge mental and spiritual denseness
                      WHOLLY SOUND                                        and the inconceivable conceit of the deniers of common
                                                                          grace staggers the brother. We are ramming in pieces
   In the November Issue of The New Reformation,                          the very foundations of Calvinistic theology, ethics and
continuing The  Minister"s  Monthly, (Editor in chief :                   philosophy.
Rev.  J. Clover Monsma, as the title-page runs), We find                    No doubt we should have trembled in our boots when
under the caption: "A Hasty Survey of our Positions                       this monstrous accusation was hurled our way, I suppose
in the Battle Area", (against Modernism, alias Liberal-                   for the purpose of terrifying our souls. And I suppose
ism, . . . * 1 . alias Infidelity') among a number of brief we ought to have blushed when our friend let us see
sketches . . . . . . " affording a glance at the general situa-           how blunted our receptive and assimilative faculties are.
tion", also the following :                                               Yet we did not blush, neither did we tremble. And why
                           Reformed                                       not? Because we are too hardened and insensible to
   Of the three bodies under this head, the "German",                     blush? No. Because our nerves are of steel so that
the "Dutch", and the "Christian", the first mentioned is                  nothing shocks us.? No. We were not disturbed because
in a rather precarious position. Modernism has gained                     we had no guarantee whether or not the professor was
a very solid foothold in some of its schools and churches.                simply seeing things again. This happened before with
But there is also an element? and undoubtedly the larger,                 him. History proves that the professor is subject to
which builds on the Rock of Ages. The "Dutch" Church                      hallucinations. According to Pillsbury, a hallucination
is also slipping, here and there, and especially in the East              does not arise from objective phenomenon.
the atmosphere is far from pure. The predominating                           In the year 1920 the professor, commenting upon the
`element, however, is positively sound. The "Christian"                   case of Dr. Janssen, wrote in the "Christian Journal"
:,group is small, and wholly sound.                                       that the objections raised against the instruction of Dr.
                                                                          Janssen, melted away, when subjected to an investigation
                                                                          as snow melts when the warm rays of the sun play upon
        A LESSON SOCIAL REFORMERS NEED                                    it. The professor related what he saw. And what did
   Many voices proclaim many gospels to-day. Culture,                     he see. He saw those objections melt away. He saw them
economical or social reconstruction, is trumpeted as the                  disappear. But what are the facts. History proves that
panacea. `But it matters comparatively little how society                 these objections did not melt. They remained, as Prof.
is organized. If its individual members retain their                      Van Andel admits today. He assures us in "Onze Toe-
 former natures, the former evils will come back, whatever                komst" of October 22 that "Dr. Janssen  zich meer en
its organization. The only thorough cure for social evils                 meer ontpopt heeft  als een man met ethische tendenzen
 is individual regeneration. Christ deals with men singly,                en met verkeerde kerkrechterli jke  begripper?`.  Indeed
and remoulds society by renewing the individual. The                      these objections remained. Evidently they were made of
 most elaborate machinery. may be used for filtering the                   sterner stuff than snow. And today, as ever, they are
 black waters. What will be the good of that if the foun-                 a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them
 tain of blackness is not sealed up, or rather purified, at                which stumble at the Word. Yet Professor  VanAndel
 its hidden source? Make the tree  good? and its fruit will                reported that he saw these rocks melt. He admits him-
 be good. To make the tree good, you must begin with                       self in  "Onze Toekomst" of Oct. 22 that his perception
 dealing with sin.                                                  .I     did not arise from  objective   phenomenon.  His perception
                                                     Selected.             was purely subjective,

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

            We are now in the year 1924. Again Prof. Van Andel               man with Paul's description of him found in Rom.
      reports that he sees "some young American ministers of                 3  :10-l&  The passage reads as follows: There is none
      Dutch descent hacking away at the very foundations of                  righteous, no, not one  ;
      Calvinistic Theology, philosophy and ethics". Since the                   There is none that understandeth, there is none that
      Prof. is subject to hallucinations, what guarantee do we               seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way,
      have that our friend is not merely seeing things again.                they are together become inprofitable;  them  is  aone  that
      Let the professor prove his charges. Then and not before               doeth   good,,  ~0,  not  one.
      will we blush and tremble, yea we will weep and wail                      Their throat is an open sepulchre  ; with their tongues
      and smite ourselves upon the breast and crawl in the                   they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their
      dust before our God pleading for mercy and pardon.                     lips ;
            -4nd then we are regarded as being conceited as appears             Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;
      from the phrase "young American ministers of Dutch                        Their feet are swift to shed blood;
      descent". American ministers challenging at least some                    Destruction and misery are in their ways ;
      of the thoughts of European theologians.                                  Xnd the way of peace have they not known;
            Preposterous ! How dare they! Indeed the height of                  There is no fear of God before their eyes.
      the ridiculous is reached, for can there any good thing                   Now listen to Paul in Titus 3  :3. The passage reads :
      come out of Nazareth? Strange that these young Amer-                   For we ourselves also were once foolish, disobedient,
      ican ministers are Dutchmen. The Dutchman, as a rule,                  deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in
      is a tolerably sensible sort of a person. But, then again.             malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another."
      there is always the black sheep.                                          Now it is true, as Rev. G.  DeJong  states in "De
            Then they are so young ! Just loosed from their                  Wachter" of Oct. 15, that it is but two years and a half
      mother's apron strings. Be it said, however that one of                ago that I entered upon my' ministerial career.
      these so called "young American ministers" is midway                      But. two years and a half is time enough to see that
      between forty and fifty years old. Does the Professor                  Prof. Stob's description and Paul's description of natural
      imagine that he is living in the age of Methuselah, when               man exclude each other. The assertion that man. dead
      men became 900 or more years old? In those days a man                  in trespasses and sin. has pure emotions, thinks good
      of 45 years old was regarded as being rather young.                    thoughts and performs noble deeds implies a  neetion of
            Well do we realize that among the adherents of the               Rom. 3  :lO-18 and Titus 3  :3.
      views which we reject is found the master mind. The
      chief exponent of the doctrine of Common Grace, the                       1: as a reformed preacher cannot and will not preach
      Iate Dr. A.  Kqyper, was a recognized genius. This man                 total depravity and in the next breath assure my hearers
      devoted time and energy to the development of the doc-                 that the depraved sinner, in his depraved state. performs
      trine of Common Grace. A work of three volumes was                     noble deeds, has pure emotions and thinks good thoughts.
      the result. Yet a careful study of Scripture and our                   Gods Word  uncloths  the sinner, strips him of every virtue
      standards on the one hand and the doctrine of common                   and sends him naked to Christ. God forbid that I stop
      grace on the other hand convinced me that the views and                that sinner on the way to cloth him in the beautiful gar-
      conception of things which the term "common grace"                     ments of common grace. T should fear less that sinner
      stands for, clash with Scripture. Therefore I could not                would no longer feel the need of Christ.
      do otherwise than break with the doctrine.                                The Professor tells us however that these pure emo-
            However it was not without considerable hesitancy                tions! good thoughts and noble deeds are not pure, good
      that I did so. It  is a difficult matter to part company with          and noble in the sight of God. The voice spake unto
      a great Christian thinker like Kuyper. One is constantly               Peter "what God has cleaned that call not thou common".
      haunted by the thought that it is one self who errs. What              There is but one standard of good, noble, pure, clean,
      is more, the  existance  of common grace is a settled thing.           and it is God, not man, who sets the standard. Should
      We have come to believe in it as a matter of course.                   we call pure, noble, and good that which in the sight of
      So be it. I cannot see it otherwise but that the doctrine              God is unclean, impure, ignoble and bad? Common grace
      of common grace clashes with Scripture.                                involves a double standard of morality.
                                                                                Such and  simular thoughts finding its way into this
,,          Let me show you how those who believe in common                  particular periodical did its share in opening my eyes to
      grace regard natural man dead in trespasses and sin                    the dangers and fallacies of common grace.
      The Feb. issue of "Religion and Culture" contains an
      article on the total depravity of man by Prof. R. Stob.                   There are other things which caused me to break with
      Tn this article the Professor assures us that common grace             common grace. The doctrine of common grace has its
      keeps this total depravity from totally expressing itself,             defenders and exponents among us. Especially have I in
      so that externally (not in the sight of God) there are                 mind the Rev. Jan  Rare1  Van Ealen and Prof. Van Andel.
      malzy  goad   thoughts,   ,noble  deeds  a n d   padre   etnotions.       These two men make a big noise. Reading their pro-
      According to Professor Stob natural man thinks many                    ductions uncritically, one receives the impression that
      good thoughts, performs noble deeds and has pure emo-                  these men are the incarnation of Reformed Theology.
      tions. Now compare Prof. Stob's description of natural                 For their writings contain damaging conclusions, bold


                                      T H E   STANDAR-D   B E A R E R                                                     2.3

assertions, outrageous accusations and when they write           the object of God's wrath, which implies that the absence
they are so sure of  themseives.                                 of grace means the absence of wrath and the presence of
  But where one analyses that these two men yielded, one         grace means the presence of wrath. However; the presence
discovers faulty thoughts and illogical  reasomng in their       of grace does not mean the presence of wrath but the
writings. Time and space is lacking to point out the weak        absence of wrath, and the absence of grace means the
spots in the thoughts of Rev. Jan  Rare1  Van  Balen.  A         presence of wrath. Grace and wrath exclude each other.
number of fallacies have already been exposed by the             Thus it turns out that not we but the professor himself
Revs. Danhof and Hoeksema and Dr. Hepp. The thought              denies the righteousness and holiness of God.
of Rev. Jan  Karel  Van Balen was  attimes so very faulty
that even Dr. Hepp felt constrained to reprove him. (See           But there is more. If it is true that a denial of common
Reformatie, Feb. 29, 1924).                                      grace implies a denial of God's righteousness and holiness
  Prof. Van  Andel  felt it his duty to set right "some          it must be that the righteousness and holiness of God
young American ministers of Dutch descent" for attacking         compel Him to be gracious unto every sinner without
common grace. He does so in the September and October distinction. *This is a brand new idea. I was always
issues of "Reli`gion  and Culture"  oft the year 1924. In the    taught that the free sovereign will of God was the fount
September issue the professor placed an article on com-          of his grace.
mon grace under the caption "Common Grace and God's                I know that the professor will resent my remarks. He
righteousness". This particular article contains a para-         will complain that I do not grasp him.  ,Allow me to say
graph which reads as follows: "But before we answer              that the wording of his thought permits no other inter-
such a question we must have an answer to this, why              pretation.
are some unwilling to speak of grace? Is it, perhaps,              However, it is plain from what precedes the conclusion
because grace implies something that love does not imply?        that the professor failed to express himself correctly.
And is not this something that grace presupposes that the        What the professor meant to say is this: Not, he who
object of grace is unworthy of it? God shows His good-           denies but, he who affirms common grace, apart from
ness and love towards. the good angels. Is this grace?           Christ, denies, not "that natural man is" but that natural
Not by any means. For they have not made themselves              man deserves to be the object of God's wrath, denies a
objects of God's wrath. But if man sins and yet receives part of the work of Christ and denies that God is holy
blessings, such is a particular kind of goodness, it is          and righteous. And here' we  agree   w$th the professor.
grace, be it general or particular. And this grace God           To be sure, he who maintains that God is gracious unto
can only show in Jesus Christ who is the Mediator of             the sinner apart from Christ, denies that man deserves
creation as well as of Regeneration.                             to be an object of God's wrath, denies the works of
  Conclusion: It is clear, then, that any one who denies         Christ, denies that God is holy and righteous.
common grace virtually denies that natural man is an               But now T ask, is it actually the contention of the
object of God's wrath, virtually denies part of the works        professor that we maintain that God shows grace unto
of Christ, and virtually denies that God is holy and             the sinner apart from Christ ? We have never maintained
righteous". Thus far Van Andel.                                  such a thing, never! Think of it, the professor not only
  A most remarkable paragraph to be sure. Remarkable             accuses us of helieving in common grace, but he even
for its unheard of and unproved premises, its implied            goes so far to accuse us of believing in common grace
false accusation, unexpressed, its false and irrational          apart from Christ! This is the false unexpressed accusa-
assertions. Notice that conclusion which, taken at its tion.. Since the opponents of common  -grace  assert no
face value may be compared to a gun with a bad kick,             such thing the triple accusation applies to those who
injuring, when discharged, not the target as much as the         believe in common grace, as they fail to provide a juridical
marksman. This becomes at once evident when we sub-              basis for the common grace which God shows unto all
stitute positive for negative statements.                        men. Did the professor actually think that he  tv',as facing
  Doing so we get: He who affirms common grace vir-              his opponents when he  was  hurling his bombs. If so,
tually affirms that natural man is the object of God's           it only goes to show that the professor is subject to
wrath, affirms further that Christ worked for him {lived,        illusions as well.
suffered and died for him), affirms finally that God is             How did. the professor arrive at the absurd conclusion
holy and righteous. Hence, according to Professor Van            that the opponents of common grace deny the righteous-
.4ndel,  the righteous and the holy God is wrathful with         ness and holiness of God? It is not at all  dif!Zcult  to
the natural man (including the reprobate) for whom               trace the steps in his process of reasoning. Let us do so.
Christ worked (lived, suffered and died). We ask, is it          The professor  postuIates  first of all that God is good to
true that God is wrathful with the sinner for whom               all. True He is. He next asserts that all goodness is
Christ worked. Would God be righteous if he would be             grace. He who believes that God is good to all must
wrathful with the natural man (also the reprobate) for           maintain whether he cares to or not, that God is gracious
whom Christ worked (lived, suffered and died)  ?                 to all. Now the opponents of common grace believe that
  An irrational assertion in the conclusion is causing the       God is good to all (true they do), therefore, so the pro-
professor all this trouble. The professor maintains that         fessor reasons,  they  nzust believe, they are compelled to
he who denies common grace denies that natural man is            believe. whether they wit! or not, that God is gracious


24                                     THE  STANRARD                      B E A R E R

to all, since all goodness is grace.  He&e, conclusive, the                             HISTORY  OF ~DO&IA
opponents of common grace believe in common grace.                   I/ztrodzrction.
      But  noq, so the professor continues to reason, the            The question which is astir in our church denomination
opponents of common b-race maintain that Christ worked,            may be viewed as one which entails a difference in valua-
(lived, suffered and died) only for his people. Con-               tion of  do,matical developments in the last quarter  oi
clusion : The opponents of common grace deny that                  the century. Many view the idea of common grace as
natural man deserves to be an object of God's wrath,               nothing more than a theory. Others would find it as a
they deny a part of Christ's work, they deny that God is           thread through our confessions out of which  our churches
holy and righteous. since they teach common grace  apart           must develop the dogma of common grace.
from Christ.                                                         Our last Synod has practically put a check to the views
                                                                   of this latter group by stipulating that many years are
      The professor, you see, reduces in his imagination, his      necessary before we can obtain unity in reference to our
opponents to puppets. He  then makes them say whatever             common grace squabble. At least these stipulations are in
he pleases, and in that way makes it possible for himself          favor of those who cannot see the trend.
to draw a damaging conclusion. But only in his imagina-              We remember from instruction  <given by  Pres.  Hiemen-
tion did he reduce his opponents to puppets, not in reality.       ga when we were privileged to attend his lectures on
No, they remained flesh and blood, and his puppets are             Calvinism that even our college president viewed common
facing him now in this paper to tell him that it ought             grace as a theory and not as a dogma. This is significant.
to be beneath the dignity of a Christian gentleman to              We could point out more significant statements made by
resort to such methods.                                            our president in his classes which would be of interest,
      And finally, as one traces the different steps in the        but we shall let these rest for more opportune mention
process of reasoning, one discovers two unproved propo-            at some future time.
sitions. They are:  (z. all God's goodness is grace.  b.  Jesus      Also from notes made in the  cIasses  in  qhich Prof.
Christ is the juridical basis for so called common grace.          Ten Hoar so ably vindicated his oftentimes peculiar views
Two unproved propositions. The idea contained in prop-             we gather that the question of common grace is a far
osition  b.  is brand new. If Jesus Christ is the juridical        more significant question than we may at first suppose.
ground for common grace. then the Christ lived, suffered           We know that our emeritus-professor repeatedly mention-
and died. merited something for the reprobate. Let the             ed that we as reformed denominations in the Netherlands
professor prove these propositions. And in doing so let            and  -America really do not yet know what content we
him not fail to take account of John 10  :lSb, "And  I             must give to the biblical term grace. Even then we were
lay  dew? my life for the sheep". The sheep, as the  sur-          not  allow+d  to stop. After this Stop, Look, Listen sign
roundin`gs  of the text plainly show, are God's people,            was met, we were urged to cross a dangerous crossing,
the elect.                                                         only to hear that more dangerous crossings were ahead.
      These methods of solMe of the exponents and defenders        `How repeatedly our inimitable and amiable Professor
of common grace, their faulty thoughts, illogical reason-          told us in his own slow but still interesting way that if
ings? their blunders, their noise, widened the breach be-          we felt inclined to study and wished to render our re-
tween me and common grace. I thought, it can not be                formed churches service  wie should study the relation
there is so very much to say in defense of common grace            there may be between so-called special grace and the `grace
after all.                                                         mentioned by the firm believers in common grace.  I
      Then too, it seems to me that the exponents of common        think my former classmates will vouch for the truth of
crrace
b          are bent on misunderstanding, misrepresenting and *these statements. True, the teacher of systematic theology
misinterpreting the opponents of common grace, as ap-              at our institution for almost twenty-five years did teach
pears again from the editorial of Dr. Beets in "The                that he believed that there was common grace, but he also
Banner". Perhaps Dr. Beets will give me a little space             told his students that he did not know what it was. These
to prove that a certain sharp rebuke he gives us is un-            statements are of the utmost importance.
deserved.
                                                                      The above clearly indicates that there is difference in
      All these different things taken together disengaged me      the value placed upon our latest developments in dogma.
%ft-om the doctrine of common grace. I regard the  doc-            From this point of view we demand that we be judged.
`trine dangerous, as  well as the views and conception of          Our whole church has practically sanctioned this  situation
things which the term stands for.  I shall use my talents          in the bosom of our churches. Our churches have tolerated
to  .help expose? in the light of God's Word, the  dan.gers        it, and we think we may contend that they could not act
and fallacies of common grace.                                     otherwise.
      The Synod of 1924 declared itself for common grace.
Yet the synod evaded the real issues. The synod failed                The above lines explain why the undersigned does not
to furnish proof. The existence of common grace has                hesitate to ally himself with the able editors of the
never been proven. The objections raised against it have           Standard Bearer. Even though one minister has had the
 never been removed.                                               courage to remark on the ability of its youngest editor,
                                         G. M. OPHOFF.             we trust that the misplaced statements will have their


  vengeance. It is a little. stick which,- if given to the  man             the dogmas- of-the Church of Christ need the revelation
  whose strength and courage are underrated,' may inflict of the Son of  Codas the Son of Man.
  very, very severe and just retribution. We have been                         The beginning  0: this revelation, however, had its
  taught never to underestimate the strength of our beginning in. 0. T. times. How the requisite for the
 enemies. In this way  we wish to pass the advice along.                    development of dogmas was given by the unfolding power
     Prof. Heyns has taught that real progress in the                       of God we shall briefly trace. But let us-do this the next
  Christian church has come through the medium of the                       time.
  average men of ability. This may undoubtedly be printed                                                                              B: J. DANHOF.
  as the rule in the history of the Christian church. Most
  likely it holds for all  sor& of progress of whatever nature
  this mav be.                                                                         HOE GODS WO0Ft.D  WOR.DT  AFGETAPT
    In  th: history of dogma there are many instances which                    In "Teekenen der Tijden" geeft Ds. J. H. Haarsma,
  show that the men who were considered to be of average                    van  Racine, Wisconsin,  wekelijks een soort Bijbelstudie
  ability were in God's Providence the instruments through                  of een  "Geschiedenis"  met verklarende opmerkingen ten
__ which the Church of Christ in the world made progress.                   heste.
  Our Ds. de Cock of Ulrum, our Ds. Scholten who became                        In het nummer van 16 October, 1.1. verscheen  `zoo'n'
  the founder of Pella  colony  are worthy of mention.                      "studie"  onder den titel van  `!Ezau, mijn zoon.. . . . . . . .
                                                                            Zie, hier ben ik". En ze bedoelde Ezau in  "bet  rechte
 The fundamental law by which real progress was                             lidht" te plaatsen voor de lezers, en, op diens  beleefdkeid
  secured in the past may be worded in the following:                       voor zijn  Vader  Izak te wijzen.
  "Hold fast that which ye have received by adding to it".
  God teaches us this lesson in Scripture. The unfolding  *                    De  Heilige  S&rift verhaalt ons van Ezau en  waar-
  of God's revelational purposes show how the above                         schuwt ons voor hem als  volgt (in Genesis) :
  quotation is not a mere fantasy, but  a* reality. The                        "Ezau werd een man verstandig op de  jacht, een  veld-
  promise of the Redeemer to Adam in Paradise, after the                    man ; maar Jakob werd een oprecht man  (dw.z.  een een-
  fall, God did not relinquish. He did not leave it go. Nay,                voudig man met. zachte manieren, en, - volgens de Ver-
  he unfolded it. He turned the pages of the Book of                        taling der Zeventigen  - "van bedrog afkeerig"),  wonen-   .
  Promise given to Adam and the fulness of the promise                      de in tenten.
  which it contained was not reached until the last page                       En Izak had Ezau lief, want het wildbraad was naar
  was turned and its contents noted.                                        zijn mond ; maar Rebekka had J,acob lief.. . . . . . . . . . . . .
    Likewise in the history  .of the Christian Church a                        En Ezau zeide: Laat mij  tech slorpen van dat roode,
  similar lesson is given. The Spirit of the Christ was                     dat roode daar, . . . .  - .L...............`...........
  given to lead our Savior's Church in all the truth. For                      Zie, ik  g-a  sterven  ; en waartoe dient. mij dan de eerst-'
  this reason, the Church of Christ always  bearsi  the mark `geboorte  7. r . , . . . . . . . _.. . . .en hij verkocht  aan Jakob  zijn
  of progress. She is at all times in  -the stage of develop-               eerstgeboorte. En Jakob  gaf  aan Ezau brood en het
  ment. In spite of heretical adversaries which to the                      linzenkooksel  ; en  hij (Ezau) at en dronk, en hij  stand
  human eye, seem almost to overwhelm and to crush her,                     op en ging heen; alzoo verachtte Ezau de eerstgeboorte.. .
  the church of the Redeemer goes on and on. She is                            En deze - (Judith en  -Basmath,  de Hethietische  vrou-
  keeping that which she has received by adding to it.                      wen van Ezau)  - waren  voor  f Izak en Rebekka een
    No wonder our little group of churches, holding fast bitterheid des geestes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  to the Reformed faith, also is troubled with the task of                     En Ezau haatte Jakob om dien zegen, waarmede zijn
  keeping that which it has received by adding  tolt. God's                 Vader hem gezegend had ; en Ezau zeide in zijn hart : De
  Spirit also wishes to lead us into all the truth.                         dagen van den rouw mijns vaders  naderen  en ik. zal mijn
                                                                            broeder Jakob dooden.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-. . . . . . . . . . . .
    Of course,  ws have our heretical tendencies and in-                       Als nu Ezau zag, dat Izak Jakob gezegend en hem naar
  fluences to fight. Heresies spring forth out of the old                   Paddan-Aram weggezonden had om  zich van daar een
  man and as long as he is not completely banished from                     vrouw te nemen ; en als hij hem  zegende,   dat hi j hem
  the bosom of our churches we,. too, will have our forces                  gehoden  had, zeggende : Neem geen vrouw van de dochte-
  in battle array. People who detest the sight of our army                  ren  Kansans   ; en dat Jakob iijn  Vader en zi jn moeder
  may well ask after the reason why. A desire for peace                     gehoorzaam geweest was  ; en naar  Paddan-Aram  getrok-
  when no peace may be had is not always the sign of                        ken was; en dat Ezau zag, dat de dochteren van  KanaPn
  health.                                                                   kwaad wart n in de oogen  van Izak, zijn  vader  ; zoo ging
     Not desiring peace when no peace may. be  had we                       Ezau tot  Ismael, en nam  zich tot een vrouw  boben zijne
  continue to explain what material the Christian Church                    vrouwen Mahalath, de dochter van  Ismacl. Dit  zijn nu
  was given to begin her development of dogma. Not until                    de  ggeboorten  van Ezau, welke is Edom : Ezau nam zijne
  God was revealed in. the flesh in our Christ Jesus could                  vrouweti  uit de dochteren.  van Rana%r..  . . . , . . . . . . . . . .
  ,the church make a beginning, Development of the dogmas                    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .;........  .   .   .   . . * . . . . . . . . . .
  of the Church -of Christ did not begin in the Old Testa-                     Vliedt, wendt  XJ, woont in diepe plaatsen, gij inwoners
  ment,. but in the New Testament. The  developmen:  of                     van- Dedan! Want ik heb Ezau's verderf over hem  ge-
                                                                 ..'  `.
                                                  -.._I                                                                                                         ..
                                                            -
                            _                              `,                    .^


i




          worden  onderzocht en nagegaan, en alle die sedert den                     A BEAUTIFUL,PiCTURE  OF A VERY Utiriv THING
          .oorlog onwettig zijn verrezen of hun ledental hebben ver-                   Says B.  R. Kuiper, A.B.,  B-D., in his  `~Hamilton's
          meerderd, gestraft naar behooren.                                         School Amendment - Exposited and Exposed", pp. 19
            "De Fransche regeering zou geen genade kennen voor                      a n d   20  : -            .  .-
          hen, die de godsdienstkwestie gebruikten voor politieke                      "To us Toleration may now seem homely and corn-                                           '
          doeleinden", vertelde Minister Chautemps den eersten                      monplace. If so, shame on us! Must be our vision
          Zondag der vorige  maand  te Tours.                                       blurred. In reality it is an exotic plant, exquisite and
            Gevolg van een en ander kan "oorlog" beteekenen voor                    rare. It is hardly of this earthly clime. It is from regions
          de Fransche regeering in den Elzas, daar zoowel de                        purer and ethereal. It is from heaven itself. Noble                                               .
          400,000 Protestanten als de talrijke  Rooms&e  bevolking,                 spirits were the men who first preached it. Men of
          die onder de Duitsche regeering godsdienstvrijheid  ge-                   vision were they. To put it, in this world chaotic `and
          noten,  niet van plan zijn, am maar zoo te bukken voor                    tumultuous, and rent and blighted with every  darksome
          Socialistisch-Fransche onverdraagzaamheid.                                and hidious shape of pestiferous error, into actual prac-
             Een Parijzer correspondent van een Nederlandsch blad,                  tice, was an act of highest courage. It was courage born
          (niet van Calvinistische  richting),  schreef onlangs met                 of faith. Faith in the invincibility of Truth. Of Truth
          betrekking tot den komenden schoolstrijd: Men kan                         unpropped. Of Truth unsupported. Of Truth unarmed.
          niet  zonder   b e k l e m m i n g   denken   aan het voor een            Of naked Truth. They had seen Truth, trampled time
          recht  Franschman verscheurende tooneel van een  .Elzas,                  and again into the dust, rise again unharmed and un-
          die  tcgen  Frankri jk zi jn godsdienstvrijheid verdedigen                sullied. They had seen Truth seemingly helpless and
          m o e t . "                                                               weak as water, and they had found it omnipotent. They
             D&s&land  had in Elzas-Lotharingen eenvoudig de                        had seen Truth seemingly on the verge of vanishing  a;t
          Fransche regeling van  v66r 1870 laten bestaan. De  scho-                 any moment forever, and they had found eternal. They
          ten  waren confessioneel : protestant in de  .protestantsche              had learned that Truth can sustain itself. That it must
          dorpen, roomsch in de roomsche plaatsen. Was de  be-                      sustain itself. That nothing else can sustain it.
          ltilking gemengd, dan  waren  er twee scholen. En op                          Much of what passes as Tolerance is but its base
          school Ieerde  .het kind bijbelsche  .geschiedenis  of den                counterfeit, Indifference. It's easy, nay, it is a matter
          catechismus.                                                              of course, to leave the other man alone as long as you  _
             Seder-t den  oorlog had Frankrijk een gezant bij het                   are indifferent. But to practice true tolerance is hard.
           Vatikaan, en in den Elzas was de Fransche regeering                       And  ..true tolerance  is  rare, because true faith is rare.
           aanvankeli jk op zeer liberale wijze te werk gegaan. Men                 Whose vision is never blurred? Who of us does not
           had  er na 1918 het concordaat en de confessioneele school               know his moments, aye, periods of doubts? We, all of
           behouden.                                                                 us, are forever edging the Slough of Despond. Not only
             Met het optreden van het Ministerie  Herriot  verander-                 is thy name, 0 Woman, Frailty. It is the name of our
           de  echter de zaak.  -                                                    common human nature. Not easy it is to look with
                                                                                     equanimity and folded arms upon the growth in power
             Het  socialisme is een . vijand van  allen  christelijken               of others. Green envy, yellow fear and red hatred are
           godsdienst, overal !                                                      forever crouching in every man's breast. Small wonder
             Waar het de macht verkreeg, herinnerde het zich steeds                  then, that ever and anon,  mikier or more ferocious-,
           het woord van zijn "kerkvader" Karl Marx, dat  "kritiek                   Intolerance again raises its ugly head. It need not surprise .
           op den godsdienst, tegenstand en afbreuk van alle christe-                or shock us over much. Let us not fool ourselves.
           lijk geloof, HET grondmerk moest zijn van  alle  socia-                   TntoIerance  is not merely of past ages and other countries.
           listisch streven"  !  -                                                   It is of every age and country. Not even fair Columbia
              En op de school wierp  zich  bet' liberalisme in  Neder-               is immune. Its tail may have been nipped  ; its ahead is
           land  ; stortte het .  zich hier  ; richtte  zich het  Socialisme   ;     not scorched It is not dead; Tt has not been cast out.
           en  hoopt  nu ook het Communisme!                                         It lurks in every human heart."
                                                                  G. V. B.              -4h, yes, all this is, but too true, and applicable to more
                                                                                     `than one thing.
                                                                                                                                                         H. D.
                                   SEMI-SCIENTIFIC
              There's an end to space. The universe is 228 million
           "light years'., in diameter  - a "light year" being an                                                   REMOEDIGING
           astronomical measurement six trillion miles long. Figures                                   Zocht  ge naar  waren,  eeuw'gen  ,vree,
           furnished by Prof. Silberstein.
     .                                                                                                   Naar ruste voor uw hart?-
          What's beyond the "end" of space? The scientific                                             De Heiland  deelt die gaarne mee,                                  .".
           answer is that space is curved or spherical. No one can                                       Als balsem voor uw smart.
           really comprehend it: Higher science blends into mysti-                                     De  zondelast  &j  hemelhoog,'
           cism. Man there approaches a comprehension of the                                             W a a r m e e   gi  j   z i j t   belaan   *              .
           spiritual that exists on the other side of the thin invisible                          Geen nood, want die  voor Jezus bdog,                           `=-.
           wall.                                                              "                          Bleef nimmer onvoldaan.


