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      Vol. I, No. 4                                            JANUARY, 1925                                               Subscription Price. $1.50

`I                                                                             between Christ and Belial,.  the common yoke on the necks
                    MEDITATION                                                 of those that know the Lord and those that know Him
                                                                               not has been made so soft and easy, that it must appear
                    "SUFFEWXG  IN THE FLESH                                    too gloomy a conception that the Church in the flesh must
                                                                               suffer. The church even appears victorious in the world.
                            Forasmuch,  then, as Christ hath suffered
                          for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the         Room is made for her, homage is paid to her, appreciated
                          .same mind: for he that  bath suffered in the        and" prized very highly is the good will of the Church
                          flesh hath  cessed   from sin.-I. Peter  a:~.        in the world and by no `means without success does the
        Have you, dear brother and sister in Christ, suffered                  Church claim the whole world `for Christ! Even as on
 in the flesh?                                                                 the Mount of Temptation Satanshowed his willingness
        Then you have ceased from sin!                                         to surrender all his world-kingdom to the Servant of
        Not, you understand, if you merely are acquainted with                 Jehovah, so the world of to-day lays all her mighty king-
 that general suffering that is the lot of all mankind be-                     doms at the feet of the Church and the Devil seems ready
 cause of the withering breath of a holy and righteous God                     to  surrende.r  his bloody sceptre into the hands of the Lion
 passing over a sinful world. There is nothing special in                      of Judah's Tribe! Small wonder that many feel and
 that. All the world is writhing in agony and pain of body                     some openly express that the world is not so malevolent
 and mind and spirit.  :&ad the whole creation groaneth                        and hateful against the children of God. Suffering in
 and is travailing together. No one escaped the touch of                       the flesh seems a thing of the past.
 stalking pestilence or the cruelly impartial sword of him
 that rides on the pale horse and whose victims are                              Yes. but my fellow-pilgrim to the City that hath
 swallowed up by Hades. All are acquainted thru ex-                            Foundations, have you perhaps erred from the main road
 perience with the heart-rending cries of souls that part                      to Zion? If you experience the world as so lovely and
      forever as far as this present time is concerned, torn                   Belial as `such a peacemaker and suffering in the flesh
 asunder by the Hand of Death that knows no mercy.                             is foreign to your  life! then stop a moment and seriously
      Mere  suf%ering  in the flesh is no proof that                   have    consider the question : Have you lost the way? God's
                                                              you  
 ceased from sin.                                                              Word, surely, is with you no more. It speaks, read it
                                                                               where you will, of elect strangers, people in the world
        But are you also acquainted with that other suffering,                 but not of the world, marching onward, striving and
 that comes upon you because, while you are still living                       longing for  the, things that are above and accompanied
      in the  flesh, you have become a stranger to the life of                 bv the word of their Redeemer:  "In the world ye shall
 the flesh? `Then you have, in that very suffering, a proof                    have tribulation !". . . . . .
 that you have ceased from sin. And you have reason to                           You  say that you have not suffered in the flesh?
      rejoice in your suffering. For you suffer for righteous-                   Then either is true: You have never ceased from or
 ness' sake. And such suffering is thrice `blessed.                            you have returned to sin.
        What a stranger the church of to-day has become to                       Have you not lost the way?
      this very thought, and still more so to the actual ex-
 perience of suffering in the flesh because to that flesh                        Jn the flesh Christ was.
 we have become enemies ! The church  df to-day feels                             How rich in meaning is that"  simnle sentence!
      itself so well at home in the world and the latter assumes                 ft expresses that He became like unto His brethren in
 such a friendly, almost fraternal attitude to the people of                   all things. sin  excented.  He was man.  fullv man.  nar-
      God, that it sounds ridiculously pessimistic to even men-                takinm of the flesh and blood of the children.  livina the
 tion the possibility of suffering for righteousness' sake.                    full life of the human  hodv.  heinrr familiar  thru  actrral
 The line of demarcation is lost out of sight. There is such                   exnerience  with its needs. its desires. its  weaknesses.  its
 a gradual shading of darkness into light,  F there seems                      Trains; its  hunter and thirst, its limitations  and.we:,riness.
 established such a lovely truce, if not permanent, peace                      its labor and toil. He entered into and lived the full life


2                                        THE  STAND'ARD   B E A R E R

of the human soul, thought in human mind, willed with            publicans and sinners lived with Him in the same flesh
human will, longed with human heart, spoke with human            and were active in thought and speech and deed in the
tongue, was intimately acquainted with human ambitions           same spheres and relationships in which He also had
and aspirations, human joy and sorrow, and acted in all          entered.  Cont?ct with these others, living in the same
the wide domain of human activity.                               f-lesh  was unavoidable. . . . . .
     Neither is this all.
     Jesus entered into. all the hxman relationships involved      Shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow, Christ lived
in living in the flesh. He was a baby among other babies,        with Pharisees and Sadducees, with priests and elders and
a boy in the midst of contemfiorary boys, a young man in         scribes. with emperors and kings and governors and
relation to other young men, a Hebrew of the Hebrews.            jud-ges,  with soldiers and merchantmen and  publicans
a man among men. He lived as a son in relation to His            and sinners in the same flesh.
parents, He was a brother in the midst of His brothers,
a pupil of His teachers, a.citizen of Nazareth. Subject            And thus, in this inevitable contact with others in the
He was to Jewish law and to the jurisdiction of the              flesh, Christ suffered. These others inflicted His  su+Yering
Sanhedrim. He stood under the  don&ion  of  Herod, of            upon Him. They chased Him into Egypt by the cruel
Pilate, of Caesar, and he was within the wide reach' of          sword of merciless and madly ambitious  Herod. They
the terrible Roman sword. Because of His entering into           jeered at Him; in His home-town as He opened unto them
the flesh He stood in all the manifold relationships con-        the Scriptures concerning Himself and led  2$irn  to the
nected with life in the flesh.                                   precipice to cast Him down into certain death. They
                                                                 opposed His speech and made attempt after attempt to
     Into that  flesh He entered. Before the world was was       catch Him in His discourse.  *They  forsook Him in  Caper-
He, but not in the flesh. In the bosom of the Father,  co-       naum. hated Him, called Him an evil-doer in alliance
essential with Him and' the Holy Spirit, He lived in             with Beelzebub, the Prince of the devils. They captured
infinite divine glory, the life of the perfect  Covenant-        Him, accused Him as the vilest criminal, condemned Him,
friendship of-God-Triune. Nor did He partake of the              maltreated Him, spit their contempt upon Him, scourged
nature and life of the  amgels. But He entered into the          Him, pressed thorns on His brow, nailed Him to the
nature and lived the life of His brethren, that He might         accursed tree, cast Him out of the flesh. . . . . .
deliver them from the power of him that had the dominion           Living in the flesh, Christ suffered.
of death and bring them into the eternal light of liberty
of the children of God.
     Into the flesh; into all the life of human nature and         Why this suffering ?
earthly relationships Christ entered. For us  .,. . . . .          Briefly: because He did the will of His Father in the
     That God might have many children and Himself many          flesh, and that in opposition to those who in the same
brethren.                                                        flesh did the will of their father, the Devil.

     In the flesh Christ suffered.  '                              Christ had no sin, neither was guile found in His
     Others lived in the same flesh with Him. Brothers           mouth. Personally He  was God's Son. The common
and sisters, children with Him of the same mother, shared        guilt of all, imputed to all that are born of women, did
with  Him the same humble home, ate with Him at the              not touch Him. And prepared in Mary's womb thru the
same table, slept with Him under the same roof, were             power of the Holy Ghost, His human nature was without
subject with Him to the same parents,  LTeew up with             the stain of sin. He was positively holy. Neither was
Him and lived in daily contact with Him. Citizens, in-           sinful deed ever committed by Him. On the contrary, it
habitants of the same town, were His fellow-men, His             was His meat to do the Father's will. His mind was
neighbors; and they met Him daily, walking the same              completely subject to the will of Him who is a Light
streets with Him, and they dealt with Him, conversed             and in Whom there is no darkness. Never a thought
with Him and knew Him as the son of Joseph, the car-             arose in His mind, but it was of the Father; never a
penter. Priest and elders, Sadducees and Pharisees were          desire originated in His heart, but it had God for its
of His flesh and blood, Hebrews of the Hebrews, mem-             object; never a word passed from His lips but it was
bers with Him of the commonwealth of Israel, speaking            to glorify the  Holy~ One; never a deed by Him was
the same language, worshiping in the same temple, meet-          witnessed but it was in most perfect obedience to the
ing in the same synaqoguz,  searching the same Scriptures,       .Qm!ghty.  ,Challengingly  He could look in the faces of
possessing the same covenants, addressing the same mul-          His contemporaries, hostile though they might be, and
titude and pretendin,c'to be children of the same God.           without fear of indictment of contradiction ask the
In the same flesh lived  kincs and  mvernors. men royally        question: Which of you can convict me of sin? And
appareled, decked with purple and Fold and living in ease        because of this positive holiness and righteousness and
and splendor, wielding: with authority the terrible sword        perfect love of the Father, He that was the servant of
that is divinely institute& for the punishment of evil-          Jehovah pre-eminently and the Friend of God uniquely,
doers. Judges and  sold&s, kings and emperors,  business7        took issue with all sin and ungodliness.  He served the
men and wise men and leaders of the people as well as            One Master and rejected the other persistently. . . . . 1


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A K E R                                                     3

  But for this He suffered.                                     you in the same flesh, there would be no strife and no
  For there were others in the same flesh. Others with          battle and no suffering. But this is not the will of your
whom the Man Christ came into inevitable contact.               Father which is in heaven. You must fulfill the rest of
Others, that loved darkness rather than light and wished        your days in the flesh, now doing the will of your Father
to do and actually did perform the will of their father and Christ's Father.
the devil. These aspired after  eart'hly  things and things                                          a
of the world and things of the flesh and things of dark-          :Hence:, your suffering, if you have but ceased from sin.
ness  .and things  of hell. They hated the Father of our          Suffering within. because of the working of sin in your
Lord Jesus Christ and loved him that is a murderer from         mkmbers, causing you to cry out:  "0 wretched man that
the beginning. nn earthly name and earthly fame? earthly        T am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this
bread and earthly power, earthly glory and earthly riches       death ?" And suffering from without. For with you in
and earthly empires and power they sought and after             the same home, church, society, school, shop, office, city,
them they strove. They were and lived as children of            country. world, live those in the same flesh that intend
darkness. . . . . .                                             to do the will of their father, the devil, and that will not
                                                                tolerate any other will but his.
  PLnd thus the contact between Christ in the flesh and
these others in the flesh became conflict, battle and strug-      Arm yourselves with the same mind!. . . . . .
gle everywhere.  For in speech and in deed the Servant            There is joy in the very thought of this suffering.
of Jehovah, doing the will of His Father in the flesh,' painful though it may be to the flesh. For though it may
condemned these children of darkness and exposed their          be grievous to be despised of men, derided and mocked,
deeds ,as evil.                                                 presented  .as an evil-doer, cast out of the Church or out
  Xncl because of this antithesis the flesh could not           of society, fact is that you carry within your heart the
tolerate this Servant of Jehovah. They made Him suffer          sure conviction that it is because you have  cPased  from
in the flesh.                                                   sin. If you were of the world, the world would love its
   Suffer, till they had cast Him out of the  flesh.            own, but now you are not of yet in the world, therefore
                                                                the world hates you as they have hated  Hiti, whose life
                                                                is become yours.
   Fellow-pilgrim arm yourself with the same thought. . .
   If you suffer in the flesh it is because you have  cetied      Sweet peace! Free from sin. Soon free in judgment.
froni sin.                                                      Confidence with reprd to the day, when He that judqeth
   Formerly you obeyed with the world the lust of the           righteously shall judge both you and them that have
flesh. You  revelled  in sin. You walked in darkness. You       persecuted you !
performed the will of your father the devil. There was            Be of good cheer ! Christ hath overcome the world!
complete harmony between  sin, and you, between  the,
devil and your heart. Therefore, the world knew you and                                                             H .   H .
loved you as its own. With  ot,hei-s in the flesh you re-
joiced and danced and worshipped the world's god. The                                    VOORBIJ
things below constituted your treasure and  claimecl  all
the love of your heart.  -4nd suffering in the flesh  you                      13 t - de ont blaarde boomen
knew not, because the flesh was your proper abode.                             En de ontbloemde  zoomen
                                                                               Der bevrozen stroomen
   But the Risen Lord suffered for you.  iJLnd by His                          Klinkt de  toon : "voorbij  !"
suffering overcame for you him that  bath the power of                         Maar God blijft dezelfde;
death. He cleansed you in His precious blood. He cut                           Nooit verandert Hi j.
the shackles of sin that held you. He entered with His
own life into yours, turned your love of the devil into                        Uit de grauwe  resten
enmity, and your hatred of God into Iove. And with                             Van vergruisde  vesten,
that life of the Risen Lord in your inmost heart you                           Thans der uilen  nesten,
confess  that you are dead to the world and all the world                      Iilinkt de  toon : "voorbij  !"
is dead to you, that it is become your meat to do the will                 Maar God blijft dezelfde;
of the Father? and that you seek the things that are above,                    Nooit verandert Hij.
not the things that are on the earth. . . .  -. .
   E'ou have become of God's party.                                            Uit de kille zoden
                                                                               Boven de  asch der dooden
   But you are still living in the flesh. If only with your                    Die als schimmen vloden,
heavenly life your were immediately delivered completely,                      Rlinkt  de  toon :  "voorbi j  !"
delivered from your sinful heart and the temptations of                        Maar God blijft dezelfde  ;
the old  &an of sin, delivered from the intimate  contact                      Nooit verandert Hi j.
with the world and the children of darkness? living with                                  *                         Laurillard.


                       ADAIvDTES                                   not found in the  world! How often does the natural
                                                                   man, with his greater refinement, his larger  nu;mber of
              `2      Wherefore as by one man sin entered into
                    the world and death by sin; and so death ,good works, his  &autiful  character put to shame the
                    passed upon all men for that all have  sin-    child of God in the world, who claims that he lives from
                    ned.-Ram.   V:12,  .
   _-                                                              grace. Surely, letting our eyes roam over the world  of
  Undeniably sin and death are universal phenomena in              men; it would seem, that the picture which  Sc<ipture  and
the world.  All men sin. And death reigns over all with-           our Confessions have to offer us of the natural man is
out exception. Wherever eye may look in the world of               quite out of harmony with reality, and that reality in
men, and whichever page of history one may peruse,                 the world of mankind is not all darkness and sin and
everywhere and always men are met as sinful and under              death. Not all men are murderers and liars, not all men
death's power. Very graphically Scripture pictures this            are found in the mire of sin and corruption. M&y a
corruption of the whole human race and of every individ-           sweet and lovely character is found with whom to come
ual  df the race when it tells us: "The Lord looked down           into  daiIy contact is refreshing to the soul even of the'
from heaven upon the children of men to  see if there              child of God. Much nobility of mind and heart  and
were any that did understand and seek God. They are all            purpose we detect in the midst of human life.  And
gone aside, they are altogether become filthy; there is none       though it must, of  copse, be admitted that some men
that doeth good, no not one". Ps.  14: 2, 3; 53 :  2, 3;           sank below the level of the brute beast, yet on the other
Rom. 3:  G-18. Such is God's own  judgmknt of men,                 hand it cannot be denied that many a natural man evinces
of all men without a single exception. When His eye                a love and sympathy so truly and evidently unselfish, that
scans the earth, and searches the multitude of men,                it is hard, if not  impo'ssible  to maintain the estimate of
penetrating into the deepest recesses of their hearts,  IIe        Scripture : there is no one that doeth good, no not.one!
discovers not one good man among the entire multitude.                                                                    .
And in this judgment of God, revealed in the Word, we                Thus the problem was created: how to harmonize this
learn by grace to acquiesce, with it we learn to agree,            good of the natural man, which we discover so undeniably.
discovering first of all that it is applicable to our own          in the life of the world, with the judgment of the Word
heart and mind and life.                                           of God and of our Confessions that man is utterly  c&r-
                                                                   rupt, an enemy of God and of his neighbor and that
  It is true, that the natural eye detects much in the             no one doeth good. And the solution that Was offered
world that is good and noble and beautiful, and that               is as little founded on Scripture as in the supposed
according to our sinful and darkened understanding we              dilemma. It is, that by a certain operation of general or
would find much we would judge positively good. For . common grace on the  heaqs and minds of  *all  men God
we are deceived and blinded by sin. Neither do we                  causes every man to perform deeds that are positively
hesitate by nature to follow our own deceitful under-              good. He not only checks sin, so that the wicked nature
standing. By it we are in danger of being led astray.              fails to manifest itself  in/all  the hideousness of its
And before we are quite aware of it we oppose God's                iniquity, but He makes that wicked  ckeature  do things
estimate of the sinful world by our own. Thus it can               that are  posi&vely  good. Such is the supposed  soiution
also be explained, that of late in our own churches the            of the supposed problem. We say supposed, for the qhole'
truth of the utter and total and universal depravity of            thing is imaginary. The problem is created, not by Scrip-
the human nature is again denied under the new name                ture, for Scripture speaks nowhere of the good of the'
of "common  LTace". The origin of that false theory,               natural man. It speaks one language. It expresses  one.
so `deceitful because of its attractive name, is evidently         judgment. It offers only one estimate of the spiritual
in the fact, that human mind apart from the Word in                and ethical state of the natural  m,an. It always speaks
which  the*  jud,gment,  of the Divine Mind is  revealsd  to       of man as totally  borrupt  and as being wholly incapable
us, formed an estimate of the moral and spiritual con- .o f doing any good. Neither do our confessions speak
dition of the natural man. Dr.  Kuyper himself explains            &ith a double tongue. True, they speak of ciyil righteous-
in detail how he came to his  ,supposed  solution of a             ness and of a natural `light and of remnants, but  they
supposed problem. He  tell!! us, how on the one hand               never hesitate to pronounce -this civil righteousness sinful
Scripture and Confession depict the natural man as                 and  wholy polluted, and this natural light darkness, and
totally corrupt, dead in sin and misery, incapable of doing        these remnants the  "vestigia" of a righteousness that
any good and inclined to all evil. In the  stron,gest  terms       was once there but is no more. The dilemma is  -not
the Word of God, and on its basis the Confession, speaks           created by our Confessions, still less by God's Word.
                                                                           . . .
of it, that the carnal mind is enmity against God, and             But the problem was created, when the sinful mind
that blindness and hardness of heart,, obduracy and cor-           departed from the Word, and alongside of God's estimate
ruption took the place of an original knowledge, right-            of the naturai  man;attempted  to form its own judgment,
eousness and holiness.  Yet, so he continues, if we look           independently from the word of God. Instead of believ-
about us in the world, and do not wilfully close our eyes,         ing that God is true and that all men are liars, instead  '
we  -find ever so m&h that is noble and beautiful and              of allowing  God..to speak first  atid last and only, man
positively good. What a  !ove and charity, what a mercy            aIso spake and judged and  ~formed  an estimation of
and self-sacrifice, -what  TV refinement and civilization is       human life. And thus it happened, `that while God
                               .-     ,,.i'


witnessed that He looked  down upon the children of             can this be? Why is the entire human race involved in
men with the result that  FHe  found not one good, and          the sin of the first man? How is it, that when one man
not a single individual that did good, the sinful mind          sins an entire race is under the dominion of death and
of man found many a noble deed and much that was                corruption ? By virtue of what relationship can this
positively good. And thus the problem was created, a            possibly be explained? There is, in answer to these
product of the imagination.  And thus the problem will          questions, the Pelagian view of the matter.  AAdam  gave
always remain, neither will any supposed solution of a          us  an example of sin, and we are all his imitators. Taught
supposed general grace help Us, as long as we refuse to         by the example of the first Adam, and pressed from
submit our sinful judgment of a sinful worid to the             every side, moreover, by an evil environment, we all
judgment of God.                                                become sinful and corrupt. Born without sin, undefiled
  By g-ace, however, this is different.  :`or, by grace         as was Adam in his original state, every individual
we  III the first place accept unequivocally and uncondi-       actuall~~  and personally is confronted by the inevitable
tionally God's estimate of things as  the  only valid and       choice between good and evil; but surrounded by evil
reliable.  Htnce, even  though  it were true,  that to our      esamples. influenced by a corrupt education, and tempted
natural eye things might appear in a  uitierent iight from      by sinful surroundings his will and mind soon yield, and
that  whch the Word of God  otiers,  and though some            incline to wickedness. On this basis it is evident that
things might be hard to explain and to harmomze with            redemption must be expected along the line of gradual
God s jud,ment  of the natural man, we gladly and readily       development, improved surroundings, better  empIes  to
surrender our own view and believe that God is true             be followed and an improved education of the youth.
and ours is the lie. And after the eyes of the Lord have        Uut this Pelagian interpretation of universal sin and
                                                                corruption does not fit the facts in the case, neither does
passed over humanity with the result that Me found no
one that doeth good, no not one, we will by grace surely        it harmonize with what the Holy Scriptures teach us
                                                                concerning the state of the natural man.  E'or first, death
abandon  a11 attempts to find it different. And in spite
of deceiving appearance of things we will by faith repeat       rnakes no exception. It reigns over man regardless of
it after the Lord: "there is no one that doeth good, no         age. It waits for man at the moment of his birth. It
                                                                does not postpone its dominion till man may have been
not one". But this is not all.  By grace we have also           able to make his choice freely for evil, but it subjects to
learnt to obtain a true estimate in principle of our own        its terrible power the apparently innocent babe, smiling
heart. And we found that it is desperately sick, beyond         on its  Mother's breast. Death waits  for every  Adamite
human cure, and that the imaginations of our heart and          coming into the world, and death is the punishment of
lr;ind are at all times only evil. God's estimate of the        sin. Such is the universal fact. And Scripture has it:
natural man became an object of our own experience.             "I3ehold,  I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my
And in the light of this spiritual knowledge of self it         mother conceive me". And again: "By the offense of
is not at ail difficult to repeat it with Scripture: "there     one judgment came upon all men to condemnation".
is no one that  cloeth good, no not one". And if in that        Surely, the theory of imitation and yielding to the  in-
same light of grace, guided by the Word, we look about          Uuence of evil surroundings is at once too superficial
us in the world and are allowed to glance just a little         and too hopelessly in conflict with the Word  of God,
more deeply than the mere surface of things, we soon            to account for the universal reign of sin and death over
discover that appearance is deceiving, and that beneath         the natural man.
the veil of outward good and nobility of character and
purpose, there is at all times the heart that is desperately      As  Adamites our relation to our first father may be
sick and filled with corruption. Surely, it is not difficult    viewed from a threefold aspect. First, from a judicatory
in the light of grace to understand and accept the truth        viewpoint,  Adaa stood as our head,  Judi+lly  we are
of God's estimation of things: "there is no one that            in him by nature. There is a legal solidarity between
doeth good, no not one".                                        him and the entire human race. Such is the implication
                                                                of the words of Scripture: "by the offense of one judg-
  How to explain this universal corruption to which there       ment came upon all men to condemnation". In this
never was and nowhere is any exception?                         eighteenth verse of Romans V it is not the question of
  We are Adamites. This one expression implies the              personal corruption and personal, actual sin, which the
complete answer to the above question. For by one man           apostle touches upon. He is speaking of our guilt, of
sin entered into the world and death thru sin! That one         jud,gment that came upon all because of some offense.
man Adam was to all the human race the gateway thru             Condemnation is upon all men. And this judgment unto
which the awful flood of sin with death in its wake broke       condemnation has its basis of justice. not in the several
in upon the entire race. The fall of the first Adam is          oEenses  of all men, in the first place, but in the one
the opening of the gate for sin and death to enter and to       sEense of the first man Adam. It is first of all a question
establish their  clorr$nion  over every heart and life. Such    of imputation. The guilt cleaving to the offense of the
is, in general, evidently the meaning of Rom. V: 12.            one is the guilt of all mankind, of each  Adamite,  as
We are of the first man Adam. And because we are                unmistakably as if each one personally had committed
Adamites:  `we are under sin's domain.     -                    the particular offense of the one. Now, this is conceivable
  But the question must be  asked  more specifically: how       only on the basis of legal or judicial solidarity of the


  entire race in Adam as its representative head. In this           And lastly, it must also be remembered, that the human
  respect there is  evnlently  a dinerence between the world     race is an organism and that Adam was its root. Man-
  ot angels and  the human race. In the former it is possible    kind does not consist of thousands and millions of in-
  that a  certam  numoer  rise in rebellion and declare war      dividual human beings, resembling one another like drops
  upon the Holy One, each one  standmg and falling his           of water in a rainstorm or like pebbles on the beach,
  own master; in the latter all become  smful and stand in       It is a developing organism with Adam as its root. Unless
  ennnty against God when the one  lman, who represents          aiso this element is allowed its proper place you cannot
  an as  the  nead falls and declares war on the  rtimighty.     fully account for the phenomena of actual sin. But con-
  Even as in national life a people is legally represented       sidering the organic idea all is plain. Adam's sin is a
  by its government, so the human race was  judicialiy           root-sin, our actual sins are the several evil fruits
  represented before God in Adam. And even as no one             developing from this evil root. Thus it can also be
  deems it strange that every individual citizen of a country    explained, why, with the same human nature, corrupt
  is legally in war the moment the head of the nation            and wicked, utteriy dead by nature, there is still a wide
  declared war; so there is nothing strange in the fact, that    and  rr@nifold  variation of actual sins committed by each
  by virtue of the legal solidarity of the entire race in        individual separately. There is no difference in degree of
 Adam., judgment came upon all men to condemnation               corruption between the various members of the human
 because of the  offense of one. And the only question           family. For this corruption is utter and total in all alike
  that may still arise in our sinful heart and mind is: But      Judas' human nature is no more dead or corrupt than
  why did God establish such legal solidarity between the        was Adam's by nature immediately after the fall.
 mem$ers of the human race and its first father? And             Neither is the human nature of Antichrist to come to be
 to this we would answer, first: in as far as this question `conceived as essentially worse in this respect than was
 implies an element of sinful criticism and would deny the human nature of Judas. Yet, there is both develop-
 God the right to create the human race according to  His' ment as the human race develops and there is a wide
 sovereign good pleasure, "who art thou, o man, that             difference in actual sins between the various individual
 answerest against God? Shall the thing formed say unto          human beings. Adam does not and cannot commit the
 him that formed it : why hast thou made me thus  ?" But         actual sins that testify against Judas, and Babylon of the
 in as far as the question implies an anxious inquiry of         0. T. with all its iniquity did not wallow in iniquity as
  faith into the wisdom and purpose of God, it is plain,         will Babylon of the N. T. that is to be destroyed in the
 that God established such a legal relationship between          end of time. Sodom and Gomorrha are ripe for judg
 the human race and the first man Adam+ in order that            ment. They made the measure of iniquity full. Yet
 He might redeem His own from the race, by virtue of             Sodom and Gomorrha shall with Tyre and Sidon rise
 a similar relationship of legal solidarity between them         against Capernaum and Jerusalem in the day of judg-
 and the Second Adam who is the Lord from heaven.                ment. And as it is with regard to the historic and organic
    iNeither  is this the last word that must be said on the     development of sin thus it is also with regard to the
 subject. For, Adam also stands in relation  to the entire       various human individuals living in any given moment
 race as the first father. And the members of the race are       of history. All are corrupt, dead in sin and misery. But
 Adamites also in the sense, that they were in Adam's            not all are actual murderers, some cannot see blood. Not
 loins when he committed the first offense. The individual       all are adulterers, some cannot commit adultery. There
 forms and personal manifestations of the human nature           is difference between individuals and individuals, between
 that ever were or shall be are not new  and, separate           tribes and tribes, between nations and nations. Not every
 creations, but so many millions of  individualizations  of      branch of the corrupt organism bears  all the fruit that
 the one human nature born by the first man Adam. It             grows upon the root-sin of Adam. But each individual
 is Adam's human nature, it is the nature as he bore it,         bears that fruit which is in harmony with his place in
 that is imparted to the entire human race. Now, with            the organism, according to his character and individual
 Adam the case was thus, that the punishment of sin was          make-up, in harmony with his gifts and talents, according
 death, and that this death was inflicted upon him the           to his circumstances, means and place in history. Adam
 moment he committed the first offense. And this death,          cannot commit adultery in actual fact, as long as there
 inflicted on him as the punishment of sin, consisted of         is only one woman, he cannot steal for there  is nothing
 blindness and horrible darkness and a corruption of our         to steal, he cannot declare war, for there are no nations,
 whole nature. By his wilful disobedience he plunged him-        he cannot commit all the social crimes that are character-
 self into the darkness of this death. But as he did so          istic of a later date. Sodom and Gomorrha are ripe for
 as the father, the first father of the entire race, and,        judgment, but they did not reject the Lord of Glory and
 therefore, as the bearer of the human nature in general,        nail Him to the accursed tree. Sin develops organically
 he carried with him into that abyss of corruption and           from the common root of Adam's sin in paradise. And
 death all mankind, every Adamite that would ever receive        thus the time will come, that the measure of iniquity
. being. We sinned in him, we.are guilty in him, and we          is full for the entire human race, and that all shall be
 also died in him.  In paradise, on account of the fall          judged by Him that judgeth righteously, and every
 and disobedience of our first parents  ,our nature became       Adamite shall receive according to what was done in
 XI  ccn-rupt that we are conceived and born in sin.             the flesh.                                        H. H.


Kapids   \Vest besloot,  on1 eerst  alzoo te  doen, met  dezen       A BRIEF  SKETG:H   OF  TEE REVELATIONAL
verstande, dat  Ds.  .\/an  .Baalen,  bijaidien hij van Ds.              REQUBITE  FOR PROGRESS OF IXWkLA
Uanhof  geen bevrediging ontving,  zich tot de Classicale                                 (Continuation)
Commissle zou kunnen  wenden,  opdat deze dan, nog v&r              `I'o Adam God revealed Himself antithetically. Not as
de synode een speciale vergadering der Classis zou kunnen         in the Son of His love, not to the  sarqe  extent as in the
samenroepen, de zaak klaar zou  kunnen   maken  voor  de          Son, but Adam had an antithetical revelation of God
Synode!  iXt laatste werd al aanstonds besloten, nog eer          nevertheless. If he had  not> where would God's Divine
men het eens was over de  vraag of de  ciassis  we1 het           reveiation have been with the Trade-Mark of the Divine
recht  had, om op het protest van Ds. Van  Baalen in te           upon it? "Adam, eat of the tree of knowledge of good
gaan. Zeker,  de zaak moest naar de Synode, hoe dan               and evil, and you do evil. Eat not of the tree and you
ook! Als men daarvan slechts verzekerd was,  mocht er             do good." The probationary command has in it the
voor den vorm nog we1 een samenspreking plaats hebben,            elements of the antithetical revelation of God. "Die woor-
waarvan het vooraf  tech  imrriers vast stond, dat de             den `kennisse des goeds en des kwaads' onderstellen tech,
protestant geen  bevredigiqg  zou krijgen ! En zoo  gebeur-       clat er  goed en kwaad te onderkennen viel." (A.  Kuyper,
de het natuurlijk ook. De samenspreking van Van  Baalen           Sr.,  LJit het  Woord, V. p. 83). Let Adam choose to obey
met  Da&of had plaats in de pastorie van Kalamazoo I.             the probationary command and he chooses for the good
Us.  Danhof  verzekerde, dat Ds. Van  Baalen geen enkel           as well as for the friendship of His God. Likewise his
punt meer over had. En Ds. Van  Baalen beweerde juist             religion of God will find its climax in his fulfillment of
hei  tegendeel, ging nog eens weer naar den kerkeraad             the probationary command of the covenant. True, Adam
om behandeling te eischen, en vandaar weer naar de                had religion and could serve God because created in the
classis. En in begin Juni vergaderde  Classis Grand               image of God even without this probationary command
Rapids West no,m eens weer tot middernacht, om de zaak            of the covenant, but his religion would not be that exalted
voor de synode gereed te  maken! Is het ook wonder dat            and elevated and higher religion unto which God opened
de Synode harrewarde en met een zeer geleerde commissie           the way for Adam by giving him the probationary com-
aan het  hoofd ons  als kerken in het moeras  hielp?              mand. For God to do this was Divine gracious conde-
                                                                  scension. And it was God's purpose with the human race
  Intusschen had ook  Classis Grand Rapids  Oost  ver-            that it should have that self-conscious religion of a higher
gaderd en had Ds. J.  K. Van  Baalen ook daar zijn protest        order above that which was possible for Adam as a
ter tafel gebracht.  Doch hoe het eindelijk met de  pro-          creature formed in the image of the Triune Covenant
testen op de  Classis  .ging is een zaak voor latere  bespre'-    God. Prof. Ten  Hoor used to say with emphasis that
king.                                                             "Adam  we1  volmaakt  maar niet volkomen was  gescha-
                                                         H. H.    pen." That men has been set to reach this higher goal
                                                                  of religion by the way of voluntary obedience becomes
                        MSJN NAAM                                 very clear from the purpose which Christ came to fulfill.
         Ik schreef mijn  naam in `t oeverzand.                     Christ came to represent God. He came to do the will
         Het houdt, zoo  dacht ik  toen,   we1 stand;             nf His Father. Adam too was set to represent God. To
         De zee beukte echter  keer op keer het strand,           be on God's side, to be of God's party in the midst of the
         En,  ach? ik vond mijn  schrift niet weer.               world. And by Adam's choice for the friendship of God,
                                                                  he would be the father of a human race that would be
         `k Graveerde  toen mijn naam in `t hout                  of the party of the  livin,m God. He would not, strictly
         Van d'eikenstam van  `t  Iomm"rig woud.                  speaking, form God's  pnrty but he would by obedience
         Toen `k  nu na  jaren wederkwam,                         be  of the party of the living God.
         Vond ik geen spoor van naam of stam.
                                                                    God is strictly  His  ozmt   party.   He is the party of the
         Mijn naam, zoo peins ik, blijft  tech vast               good, the truth, the right, the just, of love, of Divine
         In  marmersteen onaangetast :                            perfection. He is not the party of evil, of untruth, of
         AMaar   toen een aardschok  `t marmer  trof,             unrighteousness, injustice, of hatred, of imperfection.
         Zag ik mijn naam verwaaid  als stof.                     God now, by establishing the probationary command,
                                                                  tvished to have Adam as the representative of the human
         `k Bevond in  `1: eind, dat steeds mislukt,              race by obedience to God's command become with God
         AI wat in `t stof is afgedrukt.                          who is the party, of  thnt  party  of the living God and
         Dies breng ik, met den blik omhoog,                      herewith of  the  ~artv  that is the party of good, of truth,
         Sinds troost, waar  `t leed terneder boog,               of righteousness, of  -justice,  of love and of perfection.
         En schaf `k, zoo moog'lijk, hulp en raad                   Thus was God's revelation to Adam. Adam and God
         Door vredewoord of liefdedaad,                           could not both be the party of God. God must Himself
         En sticht ik mij in `t menschenhart                      be His own party. Otherwise God could not be acknowl-
         ,Een naam, die de eindlooze eeuwen tart.                 edged as the Self-Existent and Self-Sufficient Covenant
                                                                  God. God is absolute. Man is  retative while created.


20                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEAKEli

Therefore man can only be of  the  party of the living God           being  a covenant whereby man can be eievated to a com-
and  not  the  party  as God is in Himself from everlasting          munion with God which would be of the  highest   order
to everlasting.                                                      atid of the most intimate love. In no other relation than
                                                                     as the friend of God would man be able to testify more
      If Adam now shall in his creaturely relative way share         perfectiy of the attributes and virtues of Him, who has
in the life of the Triune God, he must walk the path                 made all things for `His Name's sake.
pointed out by God. He must will what God wills. He
must love what God loves. `He must declare the Highest                 This covenant is, therefore, from God and is wanted
good what God declares the Highest Good. He must                     by God. Wanted by God for His own Name's sake. The
declare to be evil what God declares to be evil. In short,           covenant serves God in his highest revelation of Himself
he must call God the Highest Good, and the friendship                and in His highest glorification of Himself.             The
of the Persons of the Trinity which is a covenant friend-            covenant relationship is binding upon men because God
ship, rooted in the Being of the Godhead, as the never               has willed that relationship in His great love unto Him-
sufficiently exalted and praised virtue. To share in that            self. This covenant relationship is rooted in God's own
friendship of God in a creaturely way, according to the              being and it likewise is the fruit of God's will and love
measure of  man,  Adam  must willingly be of the party               for the life  of  mankind. This self-revelation of God by
of the living covenant God of friendship. And with his               way of this covenant relationship is on God's part a
obedient choice spurn the evil, unrighteousness, injustice,          willed revelation and glorification of the life of friend-
hatred and enmity.                                                   ship in the Triune and is embedded in the love of God
                                                                     for Himself.
      Lint0 this end Satan is permitted to bring  his  antithesis
before the attention of  Kaam.  God's  antltnesis  1s placed           This covenant relationship passes through various
betore the consciousness of Adam in the probationary                 covenant moulds in history. It must not be presented
command. Satan's antithesis is `placed before  his mind that God relinquished his idea  oi the covenant because
in the temptation to which he succumbed. Satan said that             of the fall of man. By no means. God knew all along
rioam should be as God, knowing good and evil, by                    that sin was coming and by sin death over ail men. God's
disobedience. That fruit of the tree of knowledge of good            covenant was estabiished and its various moulds or forms
and evil was not evil. That fruit was God's handiwork.               already determined by God. These covenant forms
God himself declared it good, yea, very good. As such it             determined by God also reckoned with the  clevelopment
was not evil to eat of the fruit of that tree  if  only  G'ud        of the relationships of mankind. All created things under
lzad  not  said so. But Satan says that it is good to eat of         the construction of the covenant relationship were or-
that fruit  even if God has forbidden it.  To eat of that            dained as ways and means by which God would come to
fruit was entirely in harmony with the religious capacities          the complete realization of his covenant idea. Man might
of Adam as the creature of God, being the image-bearer               fail into sin. But this did not necessitate an altering in
of God, but it was not in harmony with that religion of              the plans of God. Nay, all things prove to be means by
a higher order to which Adam could ascend by way of                  which God realizes his covenant wish in spite of all the
obedience to the probationary command of God. By onslaughts of man and Satan, God even uses all these
which also he would definitely choose to be of' the party            attacks upon His covenant for the realization of the
of the living God.                                                   covenant idea,
  Adam refused to be of the party of the living God.
loving darkness rather than light. (Even the heavenly                  It can hardly be true, therefore, that mans fall into
bodies bore the mark of the antithesis of God.) Adam                 sin necessitated the replacement of the so-called Covenant
did not choose for the God of light.  -4dam  chose for the           of Works by the Covenant of Grace. There is only a
Satan of darkness. Adam shows definitely that no man                 difference in these two mentioned covenants in mould or
can serve two masters. God placed him in this position.              form. Essentially they are the same. God's so-called
It was a question of  either,  or for Adam, God or Satan.            covenant of works must be thought of as passing over
For  the friendship of God  and  hostile to the friendship           into the form of the covenant of grace. The fall into sin
of Satan  or friendly with Satan  and  hostile to God.               is a link in this passing over. By sin the covenant idea
                                                                     and relationship received a deepening or a clarification
                                                                     which makes the covenant of God stand out in still greater
  With the giving of God's probationary command we                   lustre. God wanted this deepening way  b_v sin. for the
have the beginning of the revelation and the granting of             complete elucidation of his covenant idea. In order that
His friendship. We ordinarily call this the Covenant of              also with still greater glory the life of the friendship of
Works, (Dr. Kuyper by reasoning from a hypothesis,                   the Triune might stand out with greater clarity. Thus
just as the men of science do, has pictured the unshakable           the fall into sin is a means in God's hand for the exem-
reality of the covenant in his  Uit het Woord, Vol. V.               plification of all that God's covenant implied. This 
This little work is worthy of diligent study.} We call                                                                        tm-
                                                                     doubtedly is the reason why God wanted the fall into sin
this the covenant of God's friendship. It certainly must             to  be permitted.
be accounted as a deed of friendship on the part of God
to enter into covenant relation with man. Moreover, it                 And just as sin is.  a means in God's hand for the

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

clarification and realization of his Covenant idea, so           mountain and His high place. When other peoples have
all  ot!ler things on earth must serve. The curse on the         priests in the temple of their gods, then God has His
earth by reason of man's sin, the subjection of the animals      priests in His temple.
to the curse of sin, the angels, the earth, the clouds, the
stars. the rain, the sunshine, Satan, the fallen  amgels, the      Before these relationships are established, the form or
coming of cities, nations, peoples, kingdoms, sun, moon          mouIds of the covenant are not fully brought about either.
and stars, inventions of various kinds, all serve Gad in         We must well understand that these developments of the
his  reaiization of his covenant idea,  n.1. that man be his     human race are God-intended. We must never fall into
friend and show forth the praises of the glories. of the         that accommodation-theory by which God becomes depend-
Covenant God of Friendship. God's fruit of the ages              ent upon the developments of wicked men for the  exem
shall be an eternal revelation of God's love for truth,          plification of his Divine covenant idea. By no means.
righteousness, holiness, for good  ; as well as His hatred       The dependence is just exactly on the other side of the
for the lie, unrighteousness, unholiness, evil and  enmity.      fence. Not God is dependent on the human race, but the
&411 things are under the construction of God's covenant         human race dependent on God for  all the developments
relationship.                                                    of its relationships. Hence, we must take the various
                                                                 forms of the covenant as God-willed and God-given.
  This is very evident if we read in Scripture the names           Neither should we make the mistake of thinking that
with  xvhich Christ is named. Christ is named Light,             the covenant relationship introduced  by God unto His
Stone, Rock, King, Prince. All these are names which             creatures, or the fall into sin, or the passing of the
point back to things in God's creation. He is the Son,           covenant from one form or mould into another form or
King. Prophet, Priest, Anointed . ,411 names which point         mould causes an essential difference in the essential
to things after the development of the human race has            elements of man. Naturally and physically man is essen-
tome to have sons. princes, kings, prophets. etc.                tially the same before the construction of the covenant
                                                                 was laid upon him as after this was done. After the fall
  From the foregoing it is  not hard to understand how           into sin the natural and physical constituents of man are
God's unfolding of His covenant idea and His realization         esactly alike essentially. There is a curse upon him, but
of the same is  inte,Tally bound up with the development         this does not alter the nature or character of his physical
of things in creation and in the human race. With this           constituents. Even his soul  is  of the same essential
c!evelopment  the forms of the covenant are demanded.            "spirituous" matter before as after the fall into sin. But
iVith the establishment of relationships in the human            after the fall there is a spiritual-ethical difference. What
race the forms  or moulds of the covenant go hand in             we call in Dutch  gcest&jk-,x&Zijk.  (It is amusing that
hand. This is God's law for His creation. It was not             our last Synod adopted this terminology from the pastors
a!ways possible to speak  cJf  a covenant. Even the name         Rev.  H: Danhof and Rev. H.  Hoeksema:  Prof. Ten
of covenant is lacking when the first essential covenant         Hoor uses the expression  jrtridixh-ethisch  or in our
i;  made.  First the human race had to pass through the          language jwidzkzl-ethical) . After the  fall man  is juri-
phases of tribe. nations, and from people to peoples and         dically a debtor to God. There is guilt before God and a
amongst peoples a treaty of peace or that of a covenant          mmishment  is upon  PLdam' and the entire human race.
before God uses the actual term of covenant. Then God            Ethically the heart of man is in a hostile and  enstranced
could say to Abraham that he would establish a covenant          relation to God and His law. Spiritually there is enmity
with  him  and make him into a great people and make             in the heart of man for God, His covenant and its
his seed as the sand of the sea and that in his seed all the     demands.    SpirituaIlv-ethically sin made a difference.
nations of the earth would be blessed. (This idea Dr.            Juridically-ethically sin made a difference. But naturally,
Kuvper  makes very clear in his  UIT HET WOORD,                  physically man is what he was before. Otherwise man is
Vol.  Jr.) There must first he sickness and the existence        no  longer man. As to the substances out of which man
of physicians before the Lord points to His Christ as the        is made. be they material or spiritual, man is  stitl  afike
:x-eat  physician. There must first be cities before God         before as well as after the fall. Spiritually man is now,
calls his people a city. There must first be a city before       after the fall, at enmity with God, is guilty before Him.
it  can be said of Abraham that he sought for a city
whose Builder and Maker is God. The relationships of                Tn this light the development of the relationships of
human life serve to clarify the  mea&c  of the covenant          the human race and the passing of the covenant from one
~\f   God. When there are peoples in the earth, then God         mould into another must be viewed. Before the covenant
hr.  Otis  neovIe.  When   there are nations in the earth,       with Adam passes into the covenant mould of Noah.
then God has his nation. When there are cities on earth,         mankind must develop. In itself, mankind can only
then  God has His  citp. When there are tribes on the            develop naturally and physically under spiritual enmity
earth. then God has His tribe. When there are king-              against God. The various new relationships which come
doms of the earth, then God has His kingdom. And  all             to light by the development of the human race are under
these  thinys  shall have an eternal realization in the  holy     this sway of enmity and hatred toward God. The relation-
city, the New Jerusalem. When  other peoples  serve               ship of father and son is consequently  a  sinfullv con-
 gods on mountains and high places, then God has His              structed relationship. The relationship of brother to


22                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
brother is under the construction of hostility to God. And       EEN ONHOUDBARE  VERKLARING  VAN "QENADE"
so it is with the relationships of family and family, later                      IN "DE  BRIEF VAN  JUDAS"
with tribe and tribe, nation and nation, people and people.        Eenigen tijd  geleden  gaf de Bere-er Publication Com-
      God, however, also introduces this spiritual-ethical       mittee  te Muskegon,  Mich., een Studie uit door Ds. H.
difference in the various relationships of man. God shows        Bultema geschreven over "De Brief van `Judas".
in the history of man while it is passing from relationship        Onder het opschrift "Aanduiding van de Vijanden des
to relationship that He is the God of the antithesis. He         Geloofs" geeft Ds. Bultema daarin een verklaring van
does not leave all men to he alike in hatred toward God.         vers 4, die onzes inziens niet houdbaar is, omdat, ten
He makes  soIF$e  to love Him, to love  His  covenzant   com-    eerste, de Heilige Schrift geen  al<gemeene  genade kent  ;
m7lnioq   to also wish fur the realization  of God's covenant    en ten tweede, wanneer gelet wordt op den zin der woor-
idea.  God introduces the spiritual-ethical antithesis into      den van den  tekst,  op de zaak die het betreft, en op des
the organism of the human race passing from relation-            geachten Verklaarders eigen woorden ter  &legging voor
ship unto relationship, and likewise the covenant passes         en na in het hoofdstuk gegeven, onmogelijk  aan  "alge-
into different forms under the construction of this anti-        meene genade" gedacht kan  worden.
thesis. And as the covenant passes from one mould into             Schrijver  dezes  zeide met een enkel woord van deze
another the spiritual-ethical antithetical character of the      zijns inziens onhoudbare verklaring iets in De  Holland-
development of the human race becomes ever clearer.              sche  &4merikaan,   toen hij "De Brief van Judas" daar
                                                                 korteli jk besprak onder  "Boekaankondi~ging".
      We must not look upon this introduction of this  anti-            En daarna beloofden  wij Ds. Bultema, die ons nader
thesis as something specifically new, only possible after        Troeg omtrent  onze bezwaren  tegen   zijn verklaring van
the fall of man into sin. No, the history of the human           vers  4, om iets meer te zeggen van onze gedachten  aan-
race began with  this antithesis, and as the human race          ,gaande zi jn uitleggin,m van dit Schriftwoord.
develops. the character of the covenant of God, with its                Het  volge dan hier in dit meer passende orgaan  voor
spiritually-ethically to be conceived of antithesis. becomes     dergeli jke gedachtenwisselin,w dan in het hierboven  ge-
real, more clear and pronounced.                                 noemde hlad.
      Thus it is that Cain hated God while  Abei  loved `Him.
Thus Seth loves God. As the relationships of the human                  Judas, de schrijver van clezen brief, zond hem uit om
race increase there becomes a wicked human  Pace  but            zijn lezers, de Gemeente des Heeren te vermanen,  tech
whose kernel is God-loving. This continues until the             niet na te  laten  te strijden voor het  geloof  eenmaal  den
imaginations of the heart of man are only evil continually       heiligen overgeleverd.
to which Noah is an exception. From Adam to Noah                        En geeft in vers  -t vooreerst de  reden  aan voor de
God has provided a line of pious God's covenant-loving           noodzakelijkheid door hem in het voorgaande  vers  ge-
patriarchs. In the measure that these patriarchs love            noemd.
God's revelation, so in like measure the others have hatred             Er  waren  in de gemeente sommige insluipers.  inkrui-
and enmity for it. In the dispensation from Adam to              pers, gekomen; goddelooze menschen, clie de genade onzes
Noah God has His family, then tribe. Likewise Satan,             Gods veranderclen in ontuchtigheid. en den eenigen Heer-
ton. has his family and his tribe. One is pitted against         scher,  God, en  onzen Heere  Jezus  Christus  verloochen-
the other. Naturally and physically they have the same           den.
flesh and blood while born from the same human                          Ds. Bultema zegt omtrent die insluipers en die  godde-
organism, but spiritually and ethically they are at odds.        Ioozen  ware  dingen.  maar beweert  verder,  dat de genade
Their souls are constructed of the same, let me say?             waarvan in dit vers sprake  is? ALGEMEENE GENADE
spirituous matter. hut the spirit  uf those souls are            is.
different as light and darkness.                                        Wij meenen dat zulk een verklaring onaannemelijk,
                                                                 onhoudbaar is.
      When, therefore: the covenant with Adam passes over               Vooreerst weet de Heilige Schrift van een genade die
into the form of the covenant with Noah there is no allen gemeen is niet af, gelijk we boven reeds aanmerkten.
essential difference in these two covenants. Nor is there               Van  zoodanig  liefdebetoon Gods  aan alle menschen
an essential difference in any of the constituencies of the      wordt in Gods Woord niets  gezegd.  De geschiedenis der
human race. However, we might call the covenant with             menschheid en de ervaring van het  heden  doen ook  we1
 Noah a clearer revelation of the covenant God. The              zien, dat die  gunste  Gods om  Christus wil voor  alle  men-
covenant with Adam is a type or symbol of the covenant           schen, voor de menschheid in het algemeen. niet he&at.
 with Noah. The covenant with Noah is a fulfillment of                  We1  beweerde menig theoloog ter Synode van de Chr.
 what the covenant with Adam was a type of. Likewise             Geref.  Kerk, te Kalamazoo dit jaar gehouden, dat die
 again the covenant with Abraham is a fulfillment of              Qemeene  Genade, die Gemeene Gratie, er was, en ook
 what the covenant with Noah was a foreshadowing of.              werkte. maar  wat  ze was en  lzoe ze bestond, daarvan
 SO  also the covenant with Israel is a foreshadowing of         wisten zelfs  lange-jaren-gestudeerd-hebbende  professors
 what the covenant shall be in the N, T. dispensation.           geen  jota af. Dat verhinderde hen  echter  niet om er  har-
                                                  B.  J.  D .    telijk en hardnekkig in te  "gelooven".  Hoe dit  nu  moge-
                                                                 Ii jk is, verstaan wi j niet  ; daar met een  recht   geloof een


                                        `I'I-IE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             2.5

                   TOTAL DEPRAVITY                              the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.
  Dr. Abraham Huyper's  Defense of the Unscriptural             (Ram. 2-14: 15).
     Proposition That Natural  lVXan Performs Real                From our standards Kuyper quotes the following:
                Positive Genuine God Works                      "And being thus become wicked, perverse and corrupt in
                                                                all his ways, he hath lost  al1 his excellent gifts, which
  Scripture  abundantly testifies, so it appeared, that he had received from God, and only retained a few
natural man is totally depraved, that the civic good works      remains thereof"  jArt. 14 of the confession of faith).
which he  performs  are sin, that, therefore, the depraved        11nd again: There remains however in man since the
sinner sins  onlv. It was also shown how that St.  :%ugus-      fall, the glimmerings of natural light, whereby he retains
tine, John Cal&, and our Standards are in full agreement        some knowledge of God, of natural things and of the
with the scriptural teaching that man is totally depraved       difference between good and evil and discovers some
to the extent that he can do no good, whatsoever.               regarcl  for virtue, good order in society and for main-
  Thereupon I asserted and proved how that the late Dr.         taining an orderly external deportment. But so far  is
-Abraham  Kuyper taught in his "De gemeene gratie" that         this light of nature from being sufficient to bring him
the depraved sinner, even though he be dead in trespasses       to a saving knowledge of God and to true conversion
and sin, nevertheless performs real and genuine good            that he is incapable of using it  aright even in things
works. According to Kuyper the bad tree brings forth            natural and civil. (Canons of Dordrecht, chapter 3 and
good fruit.                                                     4? Art. 4).
  Over against the plain teaching of scripture to the             Not only does Kuyper quote scripture and our con-
effect that natural man sins only, that the bad tree brings     fessions in support  of  his unscriptural premise, but in
forth bad fruit, Kuyper placed the unscriptural proposi-        addition to this he attempts to bolster up his proposition
tion that natural man performs real genuine positive good       by a reasoning which. as was said, is purely a production
works, that the bad tree brings forth good fruit.               of his own imagination. The particular argument of his
  Kuyper realized that his theory of common grace               is without objective reality, has no scriptural basis. It is
would not be received by the group for which he wrote           a piece of psychological nonsense, a miserabile  dictu.
if he neglected to persuade his readers that the axioms           The argument to which I refer is found on pages
c!f his theorv are found in God's Word. Kuyper therefore        30.5,  306 of "De Gemeene Gratie", volume II. In the
attempts to convince his readers that his premises are          paragraph which I now quote Kuyper attempts to make
found in scripture. In this he was eminently successful         it appear psychologically plausible how that the reprobate,
as history proves. 3t least the Christian Reformed              the unregenerate with his corrupt will, wills to do and
Church of  Aaerica  is saturated with Ruyper's theory  or       actually performs real genuine positive good works. The
common grace. Our last  sqmod, either consciously  or           reprobate whose will is corrupt, nevertheless wills to
unconsciously elevated the theory to a church dogma.            perform genuine positive good works. This is the strange
  The proposition that natural man performs real genuine        phenomenon which  Ruyper now attempts to explain,
good works is one of the three premises or pillars sup-         psychologically.
porting the entire super-structure of  Kuyper's theory of         The paragraph reads as follows: "Immers het valt
common grace. Ruyper must prove therefore that these            niet te ontkennen. dat menig onbekeerde we1 terdege ook
three pillars have a scriptural basis.  If  he fails in this    tnet zijn wil velerlei goede  dingen  wil. Zeer dikwijls is
the entire superstructure collapses.                            het  zelfs  een ongemeene wilskracht waarmee ze een
  In this particular article it will be made clear that         goede zaak doorzetten. Daarom is het noodig hier tot
Kuyper did not succeed in proving that the proposition          een tweede onderscheiding te komen. Onze eerste onder-
"natural man;  perfoqms  positive good works"" has a            scheiding was, dat er in ons is een middelpunt waarvan
scriptural and confessional basis. His failure was in-          onze levenswerking  uitgaat> en een omtrek waarin die
evitable for the premise is unscriptural as we have already     lcvenswerking uitkomt. We stellen daarbij dien  &gang
seen. One cannot find in scripture proof for an unscript-       van deze levenswerking voor als het uitstralen van lijnen,
ural proposition. God's Word does not militate against          en oortleelden nu dat de zonde deze uitgaande  lijnen
itself. Yet Kuyper attempted to prove that his un-              afbuiCgt in  geheel verkeerde  richting,  maar dat de  ge-
scriptural and unconfessional  pren$se is nevertheless          meene gratie, van ter zijde in komende, deze afbuiging
scriptural and confessional.  :JLnd  he failed as will be       stuit, en zoo menige levenswerking in haar uitstralen tech
macle plain.                                                    nog op het goede punt  doet uitkomen. De lijnen zijn dan
  Kuyper's proof comprises a passage from the second            als kromme,  omgeboCvn  lijnen gedacht; als ze uit het
chapter of `Paul's epistle to the Remans,  a few quotations     middelpunt uitkomen, neigen ze alle naar links, maar
from our standards, and an argument which is purely             hooger of lager  op  buigt  de  gen&ene  gratie ze dan weer
a product of his own fertile imagination. The passage           naar  rechts  om. Fijner konden we aanvankelijk de onder-
from scripture reads as follows :-For when the gentiles,        scheiding niet nemen, zou niet alle helderheid en  door-
which have not the law, do  by nature the things of the         zichtigheid in de voorstelling teloor  gaan. Thans  echter
law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves :     rnoet  hier een tweede onderscheiding  aan  toegevoegd,
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts,         rakende dat middelpunt zelf.
their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts         Onder dat middelpunt verstonden we ons ik in het


centrum van ons  wezen,  en  tegenover   onze  levensuitingen                   kennen   ze  clus niet alleen,  maar  zij  doen ze  oc-ik?  en  juist
genomen, is  dat  dan een.  Masr heschouwen we  nu  tlat                        claaruit dat zij  ze  doen,  trekt  Paulus   tie  conclusie,   dat ze
micldelpunt  op  zichzelf, dan  springt  het in het  CX~~,  hoe                 er kennis van hebhen.  Dat  doen is  dus  zelfs  uitgangs-
ook hier weer te onderscheiden valt,  eenerzijds tusschen                       punt  voor het  apostologisch betoog.  Staat  bet  nu vast,
onze  neigingen,  ons verstand en  onzen  wil, en anderzijds                    dat zelfs  een kind van God  betuigt   "onbekwaam  te  zijn
tusschen ons ik, dat in deze drie werkt.  Ik neig, Ik denk,                     urn eenig  goed  als uit zichzelven te  tlenken, veel minder
Ik wil. `In het ik vindt en neiging en verstand en  wil                         te  doen", dan  volgt  hieruit  noodwendig,  dat ook  de  Hei-
het vereenigingspunt. Hieruit hlijkt, dat men ook in                            denen dit goede  cloen, niet uit  zichzelven  of uit  eige!l
het middelpunt zelf van ons wezen weer te onderscheiden                         kracht, maar alleen omdat de gemeene genade hen hiertoe
heeft:  (a)de kern er van in  ens ik en  (h) de  nnder-                         aandrijft  rn  hiertoe bekwaamt."
scheidene  bewegingen  of  functien van dat ik. En is dit                          From this quotation it appears that  Kuyper  regards
eenmaal   goed  gevat,  dan zal men terstond inzien, hoe                        this particular scriptural passage as proof for the propo-
alleen  dat ik, als binnenste kern, hlijft wat het is, maar                     sition that natural man performs positive  grood  works.
hoe daarentegen die neiging, die denkende en die willende                       Then too, the above quotations taken from "De  gemeene
beweginmb, bij weeromstoot, zekeren invloed van de  ge-                         gratie" again indicate  very clearly that  Kuyper  regarded
meene gratie ondergaan. Beproef  h e t  zelf  m,aar  d o o r                    outward conformity to  t-he law as having real ethical
tlrie,  vier  c:lunne  koperdraden te nemen, die  ge in  een                    value.
punt saam  vastlegt, en nu naar  verschillende   kanten   uit-                    The particular scriptural phrase which according to
Iegt. en  onderaan  het vereenigingspunt met  uw  linker-                       Kuyper  asserts that the reprobate performs real genuine
hand naar links afbuigt, onderwijl  ge  op  de  helft  van                      good works, is, "For when the gentiles. which have not
den draad  ze met  LIW  rechterhand ombuigt  naar   rechts.                     the I;L\I',  do by nature the things of t.he law?. . . , , , , . . . "
Dan  tech zult  ge zelf voelen, hoe de  tlruk door  II\;                        .1ccording to  Kuyper  the apostle is teaching that natural
rechterhand uitgeoefend niet alleen de  uiteinrlen  der  tlra-                  man performs positive good works when he declares that
clen naar rechts ombuig-t,  maar ook benedenwaarts zekeren                      the gentiles do hy nature  the things of the law. So
clruk  011  bet  benerlengedeelte  uitoefent, dien  ge  op de                   Kuyper  maintains,  notwithstanding the fact that the
vingers  van uw linkerhand  zeer  duidelijk  tyaarneemt.                        apostle in the following chapter asserts: "For we have
Ditzelfde nu  geldt natuurlijk ook van de  gemeene  gratie.                     proved both Jew and Gentiles that they are  all under sin;
;\ls  zij.  op welk  `gedeelte ran de lijn  oak. die lijn  aan-                 as it is written : There is not one righteous, no. not  one.
grijpt*  e n   i n   h aa r   v e r d e r  verloop   n a a r  rechts  buigt,    there is none that understandeth, there is none that
!;omt hieruit ook ern spanning, en druk naar  heneden                           seeketh after God. Thev are all gone out of the  way.
voort, die we1 nooit de kern van het ik kan aandoen, maar                       they are tog-ether  be&&e  unprofitable; there is none
we1  haar  uitwerking heeft,  op de neiging,  op het  hewust-                   that doeth good, no not  one'f.
zijn, en  op den wil. En hieruit  verklaart het  zich,  tlat de                    If  `&q-per's  exegesis of this  particu!ar passage is
onbekeerde  tot in  zijn  wil den invloed der  gemeene  gratie                  correct then Paul in this very letter is in conflict with
r&er,?an kan."                                                                  himself and defeats the very purpose of his epistle.
   In this way  Kuyper attempts to explain how it  i::                             Not  one of all the reformed commentators which I
possible for the spiritually dead sinner to perform positive                    consulted, uphold  Kuyper  in his exegesis of  Ram. 3  :
good works. It will be pointed out presently that his                           l-C,  15.  Kupper  stands alone. His exegesis of this par-
solution is psychologically impossible.                                         ticular passage is altogether  pelagianistic.  Commentators
   The above argument together ivith the above quotations                       do disagree as to whether the phrase "do  bp nature the
from scripture and the standards constitute  Ruyper's                           things of the law" should be interpreted in the sense of
proof for his premise.                                                          Lroutward conformity to the law as the heathen have it,
                                                                                or whether the sentence must he explained to mean that
   Kuyper's  Proof Imaginary? His Solution Untenable                            the heathen do the office of the law i.e. to command and
   Let us make this clear. We shall set out with an                             forbid. Granted that the former interpretation. is correct.
analysis of Kuyper's exegesis of  Remans  II; 14, 15,  "For                     even at that the text is no support for  Kuyper's premise.
when the gentiles, which have not the law, do  by nature                        .His proposition requires  a scriptural passage which as-
the things of the law, these having not the law, are  a  lan                    serts that the sinner who conforms outwardly to the  lag
unto themselves: who show the works of the law written                          is performing real genuine positive good works. And
in'their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness. and                     this the passage in no wise teaches. A careful analysis
their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing                          of the text reveals that the sentence "do by nature the
one another."                                                                   Ihings  of the law" may not even be explained in the sense
   Much of what Kuyper says about this passage we agree                         of  i'outward  conformity to the law", but that the phrase
with. But we are not at one with the following: "En                             m;eans  that the heathen do the office of the law  i.e. to
eindelijk in de vierde plaats  volgt  uit Romeinen II  ; 14, 15                 command and forbid. The apostle teaches in these two
. . . . . , * . dat  tieze  gemeene   genade  den  gevallen  zondaar            verses that the heathen do not have the law which  Got1
nag kracht  leent,   urn het  goede te  doen.  De Apostel  ze`gt                proclamated from Mt. Sinai and  in`graved  on tables of
tech : "Indien de heidenen die de wet van Sinai niet                            stone, but the heathetl,  so the apostle maintains, do never-
hebben van nature de  dingen   doen die der met zijn".  Zij                     theless have a law which they themselves dictate. For


                                             THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                27
that very reason the heathen are a law unto themselves.                    morality and rationality. Man even though he died spirit-
And the fact that they dictate to themselves a law implies                 ually remained nevertheless a rational moral being.
that sin did not destroy in man's soul his moral sense.                    i.ncleed and Satan likewise. The remnants, as is very
Man, even though he died morally and spiritually re-                       evident from what follows, do not at all imply that man
mained nevertheless an ethical being. Even though he be                    after the fall retained such gifts as would enable him to
dead in trespasses  and sin he nevertheless is sensible of                 perform real positive good works.  Iiuyper nevertheless
the fact that there is a right and a wrong,  Kuyper in                     would have it so.
commenting on the above scriptural passage says: "En                          It is clear that Art. XIV instead of supporting Kuy
dit nu is de  reden,  waarom,   Paulus, in zeker opzicht de                per's premise completely overthrows it. Kuyper fully
hesten der heidenen boven het gros der Joden verheffende,                  realized it. He was well aware of it that the Article as
speciaal  van de heidenen met zooveel nadruk zegt dat  zij                 a  who!e militates against his proposition. He could do no
het werk der wet nog in hun  harten geschreven  hebben".                   better than omit the damaging section. This he did.
Indeed if Kuyper's interpretation of the passage is correct                   In the class-room? in the presence of his students, Kuy-
then Paul is not `merely elevating the most noble of the                   per, the theologian, the professor in dogmatics? comment-
heathen above the mass of Jews but even placing them                       ed on this particular article. What he then had to  sav
in a class with the saints for, according to Kuyper, Paul                  was preserved by his students and is found in the
teaches in these particular verses that the heathen  63                    `Dictaten Dogmatiek" (page 84 Locus De Peccato  j.
,rzntlrre  perform positive good works.               According to         Kuyper on that occasion expressed himself as follows :
scripture, however, man by  ncltzire is  dcnd in trespasses                "Nu komen wij tot de vraag : Wat is er van de  rzrdeya
and sin. It is not at all true that Paul is teaching in this               (  rmlzwnts)   tanll? De mensch is in  al zijne wegen  ver-
chapter that the noblest of the heathen are more virtuous                  dorven  maar  behielcl,   gelijk  Art.  XIV der confessie het
than the mass of Jews. An assertion  of this kind  is                      leert, "Meine  overbli j fselen". I3e  Ethische>z   Sj/z het  O/I
nothing less then a lamentable and disgusting distortion                   dif  sfuk  verbmend met de confessie  celzs,  m-rar   vergeten
of Paul's words. The apostle argues with great vigor                       wnf i'?- op volgt : iioveruzits  al "t licht  ilz ens duisterrzis is."'
that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin.                                 Die overbli j fselen worden  uitgemeten, door een vergroot-
   In fine the passage in  nowise  supports Kuyper's                       glas bezien, en op  `t laatst zijn die kleine overbli jfselen
ljremise.                                                                  hijna de geheele mensch.
  Let us now  analyse  the proof which Kuyper adduces                         Daarente.gen  leert de confessie ten opzichte dezer rudera
from the standards. He quotes from Art. XIV of the                         (remnants ) : dat in de ~zcrtmrr  van den mensch nicts  goeds
confession of faith where it is stated as we have seen                     a~~erbtrcf,,   maar dat de mensch wat de natuur  betreft?   ge-
that  ntin lost all his excellent gifts, which he had received             heel  zonclig  is en  noch naar  zijn intellectueel,  noch naar
from God, and only retained a few remains thereof.                         aijn thelematisch  wezen  iets  telz goede  wertitag  ; dat deze
Kuyper regards this passage as furnishing the proof                        rudera  tlaarentegen  we1 ,gelden  ten opzichte der mbsfmztic.
which he needs. Perhaps the Art. would serve him if                        Satuur en suhstantie zijn zoo onderscheiden : dat de
it ended where Kuyper breaks  of?. Fact is. however that                   natuur is : id  quad nascitur, de werking; substantie  dat-
the article continues beyond the point where he ceased                     gene waaruit gewerkt  wordt. Dat de wil bedorven is.
to quote. That which follows Kuyper omits and one sees                     wil  dus niet zeggen,  clat de  voluntas  noluntas  werd; dan
at once why he did so when one acquaints himself with                      ivas de substantie gekrenkt  ; maar dat de werking der
the contents of the section omitted. It reads as fbllows :                 voluntas  alti jd in minus loopt, verkeerd  is bij de mensch."
"which however are  sufficient  to leave man without                         Lee us now listen to the author of the "De Gemeene
excuse; for  crll  the light which is  in  `us is  chmged  into            Gratie." We read on page  12 of "De Gemeene  Gratie".
d0rklres.s. as the scriptures teach us saying:  "the tight                 volume II, the following: "Er is dus in onze Belijdenis
shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth                     niet uitsluitend sprake van de volstrekte tegenstelling tus-
it not,  where  St.  John  calleth  ashen  darkness.  Therefore            schen  geloof en ongeloof. zonde en heiligheid, maar  uit-
we reject all that is taught repugnant to  this! concerning                clrukkelijk  wordt in onze helijdenis.  zoowel  aan de zijde
the free will of man,  since  wan  i.s  but  a slave to  siit; and         cles zondaars als  aan de zijde der geloovigen, zekere  oor-
has nothing of himself unless it is given him from heaven.                 zaak  aang-egeven.  waardoor het komt, dat er in de  geval-
For who may  presumk to boast,  f?ztnt  ke  uf  dzirlzself   cnpz  do      len  men&h  nog sekw goed overhleef, en in den geloovige
tllzj:  good  since Christ saith, no man can come to me                    nag zeker kwaacl nawerkt."
except the Father, which has sent me draw him?"                               TKuyper  places Art. 14 in conflict with itself. According
   it is very clear why Kuyper omitted this section of the                 to Kuyper, the professor in  drqrn!atics.  Art. 14 teaches
article. The very opposite from what Kuyper maintains                      "daf  in de  rrrrtuw  WIZ den  ntensch  niets goeds overbleef
in  the premise under discussion is taught here. Kuyper                    ulnar dot de  mcnsch   -mzt de  ?zatztzw  betreft  geheel  son&g
asserts that man performs real positive good works. In                     is  en  noch naar zijn intellectueel.  noch naar zijn  thelema-
the above quotation it is taught  that all  tize  Cght which               tisch wezen  iets ten goede vermag".  -4ccording to Kuyper.
i?;  izz  US  is  chntzged  zltzto  darkizess  ;  that  St.  J&n  c&led    the author of  "De Gemeene  Gratie".  -4rt. 14 teaches:
wert  darkness;  that  ~tatwral  man is  but  n  .&we  to  sin;  that      "dnt cr ia detz gcvallen mensch nog zckcr goed overbleef".
natural man, disconnected from Christ,  cct~  do  IZO  s/ood.              The term "zeker  goed" in the above quotation means
T,he remnants  of which the article speaks refer to  man's                 real genuine good, good in the ethical sense. This hecomes


I                                                                                                           ------I

     at  c~nce evident  when one turns to the  Sentence   in  "De            Paul? The Fathers of  L)ordt erred when they  c!eclat-cd
     Gemeene Gratie" in which the term appears and connects                  that "all the light in man is changed into darkness.
     that sentence with its surroundings. Then it becomes                      The other passage which Kuyper quotes in support  of
     clear that the term may not be taken  metaphisically  and               his proposition is taken as we have seen, from the Canons
     then be made to apply to the image of God in the wider                  of Dordt, chapter 3, 4, Art. 4. Here again Kuyper omits
     sense, to the substantia of the soul. To do this would be               that portion `of the Art. which militates against his
     misinterpreting  .Kuyper as appears from the following                  premise. The omitted section reads as follows :  "Nay
     phrase : "maar  oak dat de  aigemeene  genade de gevallen               further this light, such as it is, man renders  wholl)
     zondaar nog kracht  leent  om het  goede te  doen",  (page 17           polluted, and h 1 1 
                                                                                            o  c     t
                                                                                                s i in unrighteousness, by doing which
     of volume II De Gemeene Gratie).                                        he becomes unexcusable before God". The light of which
       How it is to be explained that Kuyper at one time                     this passage speaks is not of such  a quantity so as to
     made Art. 14 assert  "dat  cI in de  rzatwr   va~z.   den  nwmch        enable man to perform real genuine positive good works,
     jzicts  goeds   overblccf"'   and at another time  "dat  er  irt  de    having real ethical value as Kuyper would have it. From
     yevallcn   mwsclt  nag  mkcr gocd overbleef  ".                         what follows it appears that this is not the case. Also
       We are confronted here with a contradiction since the                 the light of which this article makes mention refers to
     term "good" both times has the same meaning i.e. ethical                mans rationality and morality. The term "light" means
     good.                                                                   as does the term "remnants" of  ;.irt. XIV  oE the con-
                                                                             fessions, that man after the fall remained a rational and
       There is only one possible explanation : The Ruyper                   moral being.  Tndeed and so did Satan. `This article too
     who makes Art. 14 say "clat  in de natuur van den mensch
     niets goeds overbleef" is Kuyper The Professor in dog-                  instead of supportin g Kuyper's  proposition completely
                                                                             overthrows it. That part which  Kuyper  omitted teaches
     matics. This Kuyper was not casting about in search of
     proof for a theory. The Kuyper who makes Art. 14 say                    that man is polluted and unrighteous in all his ways.
                                                                             Thus it appears how that  Iiuyper in his "De  Gemoene
     "tlat  er in den gevallen mensch nog zeker goed overbleef"
     is Kuyper the Author of "De Gemeene Gratie" in search                   Gratie" makes himself guilty of a miserable distortion
                                                                             of the truth in the attempt to place his theory on a
     of proof for a theory.                                                  scriptural and confessional basis.
       The vision of  liuyper  the Professor in dogmatics was                  Let us now notice how Kuyper explains psychologically
     not impaired by a theorie. This Kuyper therefore can                    the performance of real genuine positive good works by
     see and for that reason interprets  -Qt. 14 correctly.                  the natural man. The passage containing his solution of
     Kuyper The Author of `De Gemeene Gratie has a beam                      the matter is found above. Briefly  st.ated it is this : The
     in his eye. This beam is his theory. This accounts for his              will of man  emergin,u from the center of his being is
     misinterpretation of Art. 14.                                           headed in the wrong direction toward lawlessness. With-
        Ruyper the author of the "Gemeene Gratie" assures  us                out the gracious interference on the part of God that
     that the believer and the unbeliever, God's people and the              will would continue in the wrong direction and finally
     world do not stand opposed to each other as light and                   imbody itself in a lawless sinful evil act. God interferes.
     darkness. "This appears from the following:  "Er is  clus               God bends? curbs, deflects that corrupt will headed  as  it
     in onze belijdenis niet uitsluitend sprake van de volstrekte            emerbges  from the center of man's being (which center
     tegenstelling tusschen  geloof en  ongeloof, zonde en  hei-             Kuyper calls man's ego) in a direction toward lawless-
     ligheid . . . . . . . . dat er in den gevallen  WCK&  ~zog  zcksr       ness. God now bends that corrupt will in the opposite
     goed  oswblijft,   en  in den geloovige nog zeker kwaad                 direction with the result that this will terminates on the
     nawerkt." -\nd again  : "Dat de wereld meevalt is te                    shores of God's law. This according to  Supper  takes
     danken   aan het  licht der natuur, dat God nog in den                  place in the soul of the natural man performing positive
     gevallen zondaar brandende  houdt; en  evenzoo  dat de                  good works. In this way God causes natural man to will
     kerk tegenvalt, is  gevolg van het beleden  -feit dat de                and to perform positive good works. Common grace
     zonde nog in den geloovige nawerkt, . . . . . .  " We have              exerts an influence, a pressure on man's will without
     no objection to the second half of the above quotation.                 changing the center of man's being i.e. the ego. To this
     Indeed, it is a sad fact that the believer has only a small             Kuyper adds the illustration of the wires.
     beginning of true obedience. The above quotations have                    He bids us to put his explanation  of  the matter.. to a
     this significance: they clearly indicate how that to  Kuy-              test. We are bid to make fast 3 or 3 wires at point A.
     per's mind the b 1
                          e iever and the unbeliever, the church             Thereupon we are told to bend the wires to the left with
     and the world do not stand opposed to each other as light               the left hand. Then we are directed to bend the upper
     and darkness. There burns in the heart of the un-                       half of the wire to the right. We are told to do this
     regenerate, dead in trespasses and sin, a light, in the                 with the right hand. And Kuyper assures us that the
     ethical sense. Jesus words: "Thou art the light of the                  pressure exerted by the right hand extends to the lower
     world" applies, accordin,c to  Ku.yper,  to the world itself.           half of the wire as the sensation of pressure which the
     It is not true what the apostle Paul wrote to one of the                experimenter perceives upon his left hand indicates.  But.
     churches : "For ye were at one time darkness, but now                   and this is the point, the pressure exerted by the  right
     are ye light in the Lord". The group of Christians which                hand does not extend to point A.
     the apostle was addressing were always light. What ails                    Now before I proceed to criticise  the above esplanation


                                       T H E   STANDPLRD  B E A R E R                                                     29
1 wish to have it understood that I am a firm believer          cf the proposition to the effect that the natural man
in the providence of (God. Scripture teaches me that God        performs positive good is even more impossible than
maintains, cooperates with and governs all things. The          Rome's conception of the image of God. It is worse
will of the moral creature  forms no exception. The will        than fatalism.
of God is operatin,w in and through the will of every             Kuyper's solution involves that the natural man per-
moral creature, be he devil, angel, culprit or saint, in        forming positive good works is insane. For the will of
such a way that the moral creature wills and acts as the        man is a rational will and is defined as the striving of
Lord God determined and wills that he shall. Yet in and         the soul after that which it regards as good. The will
through it all man remains a free moral agent. And              of man is permeated, to express it this way, with thought,
although the action, the deed in its entirety is God's act      with an idea. This makes the human will rational.
and at the same time man's, man, not God, is the subject        Volition and thought can be separated in  abstract0 only.
of the deed. The thief steals. God operates in and through      Let us now return to Kuyper's illustration. The will
the will of the thief in such a way that he steals. Yet it      (wires in the illustration) emerges from the ego (point
is not God but the thief who steals. He who attempts            h in the illustration) as the starting point. But notice
to explain the operations of Gods will in and through the       how that the will is not changed but bent. The will is
will of man must take heed not to do violence to man            not changed therefore and consequently the idea per-
as a free moral  aLgent.                                        meating the will suffers no change. The sinner therefore
  Kuyper ascribes the positive good  ivorks performed by        is not at all aware of it that he is performing Gods  law.
`she unregenerate to the cooperation of the Divine will         He wills and thinks the very opposite from what he is
with the will of the doer. We have no objection. God's          tloing  as neither the volition or the thought were changed.
will operating with in and through the will of the moral        This now is insanity.
creature is a scriptural truth. God's providence implies          Further according to Ruyper's conception of the co-
exactly this. But according to Kuyper the will of God           operation between the Divine and the human will relative
is operating in with and through the will of the un-            the performance of positive good works by natural man,
regenerate in such a way that violence is done to him           God is the active and positive cause of the ego of the
as a free moral agent. Kuyper's illustration clearly indi-      sinner remaining sinful and spiritually dead. For it is
cates it. The wires are made fast at point  ii:%" which         the left hand of the experimenter which prevents his right
1:oint represents man's ego. The lower half of these wires      hand from exerting pressure on point A.
are deflected to the left by the left hand. The upper half        Fidl>-,  in a single volition the sinner's will proceeds
of the wires are deflected to the right  by means of the        in two opposite directions. The same wire is bent first
right hand. The hands  of the  rsperimenter  represent          to the left then to the right by the hands of the  experi-
God's wiil, the wires the will of man and point i`.LA" mans     inenter. The sinner in a single volition stands opposed to
ego. This should be kept in mind if one shall succeed in        himself. If this is not nonsense pray what is it?
grasping  the  iclea  imbodied  in the illustration.              To be sure I am not unmindful of the fact that we are
  I repeat, Kuyper, in his attempt to explain the coopera-      dealing with a  fi,gure. Fact is however  t.hat the illustra-
tion between the Divine and the human  wiI1  relative the       tion reflects perfectly Kuyper's conception of the coopera-
good works performed  by the reprobate. does violence           tion between the Divine and the human will relative the
to man as a free moral agent. The deflection of the wires       ljositive good works which the sinner performs. Bear in
is due  solelv  to the pressure which the hand of the  es-      mind that Kuyper cannot permit on his standpoint, the
perimenter exerts upon the wires. It is not point  "A"          ego of the sinner to deflect the will. He cannot, on his
deflecting the wires. The deflection is not the result of       standpoint, permit the will to emerge from its source
point "A" plus the wires cooperating with the hands of          (point  A the ego) in the  clirection  of God's law. He may
the experimenter. Yet this ought to be the case as point        not permit the influence which the will of God exerts
"A" represents the ego  of man and the wires his will.          upon  the will of man to effect the ego. This would mean
The deflection is solely the work of the esperimenter.          the regeneration of the reprobate.
Point  A and the wires are inactive, absolutely. Indeed            In fine, Kuyper's conception of the relation which the
how could it be otherwise. A%ccording  to this illustration     ego sustains to the will is untenable. He conceives of it
therefore the ego and the will of the natural man have          like unto the relation which the fountain sustains to the
nothing to do with the good works he performs. Accord-          water emitted. Only at one point do the will and the ego
ing to the illustration the bending  oE the corrupt will in     connect i.e. at the source. By far the greater part of a
the direction of God's law is solely the work of God.           single volition is disconnected from the ego. This would
The ego of the sinner together with his will are inactive       impiy that I, the ego, am responsible only to a very
relative the bending of his will and  conseyuently  the         limited degree for what the will wills and does. We may
nerformance of the good deed.  .According  to the illustra-     not therefore conceive of a separation between the will
tion the natural man performing good works is a mere            and the ego at a single point. On the other hand the
puppet in the hands  of God. The natural man ceases to           will and the ego must be conceived of as co-extensive
be a free moral  a&gent  and the subject of the deed which      and co-inciding at every point. According to scripture
he performs.                                                     the heart and not the ego is the source of my thoughts
   Kuyper's  c~sl~lanation  of the psychological implication     and volitions. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out


30                                      `L`  H  E S T  .2  N  D A R D        B E A R E R
tjf it. are the issues  of life."  `Prov. 4: 23.  "li'or out  0.f    we have been searching (i.e. the reprobate performs real
the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,                positive good works) is purely an imaginary one. In due
fornications,  thefts, false witness, blasphemies."  Matt.           time it will be made clear in this periodical that the
15 : 19.                                                             remaining pillars are also imaginary. This having  been
      Thus it appears that Kuyper's attempt to make ii:              done the theory of Kuyper's "Common Grace" will re-
seem psychologically possible for total  depravedness  and           main hanging in mid-air, a mere phantom.
genuine virtue to dwell together in one body ended in a                Thus far  ct has already been made clear  ill this and in
dismal failure. It could not be otherwise for, as  was               the preceding articles that the author of "De Gemeene
said, he attempted the impossible and in doing so attained           Genade"  injected into the organism! of the church a
to the height of the absurd.                                         deadly poison drying up the very life of the church.

      Let us now give a brief resumption of what thus  far             ;A few remarks in conclusion.
has been given disclosed or proved.                                    Several of the learned in our midst regard  "De  Ge-
      It was shown how that scripture teaches that man is            meene  Gratie" of Dr. A. Kuyper as a master piece, a
totally depraved to the extent that he can do no good                monumental work.
but sins only.                                                         They have been harassing for about a year and a  hali
      There upon it was disclosed how that Dr. A. Kuyper             now the Revs. I-I. Hoeksema and  H. Danhof because
in his "De Gemeene Gratie" overthrows the scriptural                 they refused to subscribe to the teachings of the author
and confessional doctrine of man's total clepravity. Proof           of the "Gemeene  Gratiej'.
was furnished for the fact that Kuyper denies the doc-                 Classis Grand Rapids East suspended Rev.  H.  Hoek-
trine outright and by implication in that he teaches that            sema because he refused to promise to discontinue ex-
natural man by means of common grace performs real                   posing the dangers and fallacies of Kuyper's theory of
genuine positive good works.                                         common grace. A  simular fate awaits us.
      We then considered the scriptural confessional pa&ages
which Kuyper regarded and quoted as a proof for his                    .Dr.  C. Bouma, professor of the chair of dogmatics at
unscriptural and unconfessional proposition that natural             our  Sen$nary  pleaded for four hours with the synod in
man dead in trespasses and sin performs real genuine                 his endeavor to persuade that body to adopt Kuyper's
kjositive  good works. A careful analysis of these passages          theory of common grace. He succeeded by holding up
brought to tight that they teach the very opposite from              hefore the eyes of the members of the synod the "schrik-
what  Kuyper attempts to make them teach. It appeared                heeld"  of anabaptism.
that in these particular passages it is maintained that man            -And so it happened that the last synod of the Christian
is totally corrupt and capable of sinning only. And thus             Reformed Church of America elevated to a church dogma
it was abundantly established that Ruyper's proposition              Dr. Kuyper's theory of common grace. I am convinced
is a negation of scripture and the confessions.                      that the synod did so unknowingly with the exception
      It also became evident that to Kuyper's mind the               of the learned committee on  corqmon  grace appointed by
church and the world do not stand opposed to each other              the synod. The duty of that committee was to serve the
as light and darkness. Contrary to the scriptures and the            synod with advice. I repeat with the  esception  of the
confessions Kuyper teaches that the spiritually dead sinner          committee and a few others, in the main Dr. Jan  Karel
is light as well as the believer.                                    Z-an  Baalen,  the synod unwittingly did what they did.
      Next we  criticised that particular passage of the             Members of the committee were Dr. Y. P. De  Jong,
i`Gemeene  Gratie" in which  Kuyper  attempts to justify             Dr.  C. Bouma, Rev. E. Van Halsema and others, with
his proposition psychologically. It appeared that Kuyper             Prof. L. Berkhof as adviser.
did not succeed in explainin,g satisfactorily the operation            A few more remarks.
between the Divine and the human  will relative his                    Dr.  C. Bouma declared on the floor of the synod that
proposition. The explanation turned out to be a startling            it was his aim to expound and to popularize the theology
piece of psychological nonsense. The subject of the sinner           of Dr.  -%. Kuyper.
is obliterated i.e. his ego, his  "I". The sinner is reduced           Relative the common grace of Dr. Kuyper Prof. L.
to a mere puppet. In a single volition he proceeds in two            `Berkhof wrote in "The Witness" as follows: "Wij  kun-
opposite directions and thereby stands in direct opposition          nen  ens over het  algemeen  heel  goed vinden in de groote
to himself. The sinner is doing the very opposite from               lijnen zooals die door Kuyper en Bavinck zijn  uitge-
what he thinks he is doing. and this is insanity. His                stippeld".
responsibility is reduced to a minimum in that the ego is                                                            G .   M.  0.
separated from the  will and  God, not the sinner himself,
is the positive and active cause of the fact that the sinner                 Be not too busy with thy work and care
is  and remains sinful in his  ego. God therefore is the                     To look to God, to clasp thy hand in His;
author  of sin, according to Kuyper's conception, as it is                   Miss thou all else, hut fail not thou in this.
God  and not man himself, i.e. the ego of man deflecting                     Thou  needst  not all alone thy burdens bear.
the will in the direction of lawlessness.                                    Listen and wait; obey and learn His will.
      And thus it turns out how that the pillar for which                    His love and service all thy life shall fill.


