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                                                                                                adore the name Jesus, they claim, because He makes  us
             MEDITATION                                                                         better men and women, not only by his profound instruc-
                                                                                                tion, but also by His heroic example; and they just love
                                                                                                to follow in His steps. And there are even, that find
                                 J E S U S                                                      sweet music in the name Jesus, because it is their convic-
                                                                                                tion that He saves from hell eternal, and that because of
                         .  ~  .  . and thou ahalt call his name Jesus;                         His coming all men might now safely lay down their
                      for  H e   s h a l l  sax-c  H i s   p e o p l e   f r o m   t h e i r    head in the hour of death, knowing that all is well . . . .
                      sins.                                                                         But these all are strangers to the real charm of the
   Jesus, Jehovah-Saviour !                                                                     name. He is no world-reformer, He does not merely
                                                                                                teach  us  how to live, He is not pleased with our preten-
   What a delightful charm, what sweet loveliness, what                                         sion that we will walk in His steps, He does not make us
soul-enchanting delectableness there is in that Name !                                          mere better men and women. . .  _  .
   Do you know its fascination, its depth of riches. its                                           rind surely, He saves from hell . . . . .
amazing mystery of love, its peace-affording power?                                                But only, because `He saves us from the hell of hell,
   In the name Jesus, the God of your salvation stands                                          the death of death, the misery of misery: sin. He does
before you in all the attractiveness of His covenant-love.                                      not improve, but radically change: He does not make  us
   For the name means : Jehovah-Saviour.                                                        better, but  other  men and women. He will and  surely
   -4 common enough name it used to be among the olcl-                                          shall snatch His people from that deepest of all evils: He
covenant-people. Joshua, the Captain, appointed to lead                                         is called Jesus, because He shall save His people from
the people of the Lord into the promised  rest? and                                             their sins !
Joshua, the high-priest, were types and shadows of the                                             Are  you  acquainted with the misery of that evil?
Captain and Finisher of our faith. But among them all
Jesus stands alone and unique.  No one ever bore that                                              Then  you  may know the charming loveliness of that
Name as He. All the Joshua's and  Jesuses  that were                                            Name.
before Him could be called by that Name only in a very                                             Jesus, Jehovah-Saviour !
remote sense of the word. But  Immanuel  ir Jesus. He
is in His very Person the God of our salvation, come to
save His people from their sins. His Name is Jesus,
because Jesus He is; because He can stand before us in                                             From what horrible evil He saves!
all the beauty of His grace and say:  I am  Jehovah-                                               For He saves His people from their sins.
Saviour.                                                                                           This, surely, deprives Him of His attractiveness for
   And as He is, so is His work and the purpose of His                                          the natural man, whose carnal mind is enmity against
coming.     For the angel. is dispatched from heaven to                                         God. As soon as he but correctly understands the true
Joseph, who is worrying about his espoused wife, to                                             significance of the Name Jesus, to him it loses all its
deliver the message: and thou shalt call His name Jesus,                                        beauty and charm. He  may sing of the lovely Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins!                                                   and appear to be devoted to His Name, he may vie with
   To many in the world of today, the name Jesus pos-                                           the people of God to burn incense of adoration for the
sesses a charm, they say, because He came to reform, Man of Galilee as long as he is left to his own fancy
to change conditions, to make this a better world to live                                       about Jesus. But the music of the name loses its charm
in. Others are under the spell of that name, they say,                                          for him the moment it begins to chant of sin and guilt
because He is such a wonderful teacher, and He left us                                          and deliverance from it. He desires to  he saved, but not
His marvelous instruction with respect `to right living                                         from sin. He wants a Jesus, but not the One in gar-
before God and before the neighbor. Still others just                                           ments sprinkled with the blood of the accursed tree. . . . .


2                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                   -                          _... "."-..-                                    -..... "-..-- --.-"---  __ -._
     The Jews sought after a sign, a sign of power and of         "Jesus, Jehovah-Saviour, from what awful misery
an arm of flesh. They knew that they were miserable,          Thou didst save me  !"
but the misery they felt was the humiliating and oppress-         "My Lord, and my God  l"
ing yoke of Roman bondage. And the Jesus they hoped
for was the Strong Man, that could blow the trumpet
from Mount Zion and lead the hosts of Israel to victori-
ous conflict with the Iegions  of the Emperor. . . . .            He  shall  save His people:
     And the Greek was in quest after wisdom. 13s nation          How certain is Jesus of His victory!
was conscious of misery, too.      And their great men            His is no doubtful contest, no mere earnest attempt
philosophized in search for the life of greatest possible     to save. The outcome is established from the beginning:
bliss. Rut the Sufferer of Golgotha was foolishness to        He shall save His people from their sins.
them.     Not the Suffering Servant but the brilliant             For He is not willing that any should be lost of those
thinker they followed to lead them through the dark           whom the Father hath given Him.
night of misery to the dawn of perpetual bliss. . . . .           And He is powerful to save them all.
     And the world of today seeks after both: power and           And He saves them completely. The work of  salvn-
wisdom. They will have a Jesus for they realize that          tion is entirely His. At no stage of this work is He
somehow the world is in misery. There is misery of            dependant on anything outside of Himself. When He
disease and suffering, misery of hunger and poverty,          approaches a sinner, wallowing in the mire of sin and
misery of war and conflict, hospitals, asylums, battle-       held in bonds of death and hell, He is sure to lift him out
fields. . . . .                                               of his misery and to save him till he is  pIaced safely in
     The deep groan of agony pressed from the world's         glory with the Father.
bosom they hear and seek to silence. . . . .                     Jesus, He is for His people.
     And they need a Jesus.                                       For them He willed to be Jesus in the eternal counsel
     A wise man, to solve the problem of this misery and      of redemption between the Three Persons of the Divine
show the way to deliverance and bliss, they need.             Family. For them He was ordained Mediator and Head.
     A strong man, to overcome this power of oppression       For them He was born of a woman and became like unto
and to lift the heavy hand of Death and Misery from the       His brethren in all things sin  escepted. For them He
human shoulder, they desire.                                  appeared in the form of a servant and deliberately chose
     And as long as they may fancy that Jesus of Naza-        the way of reproach and shame. For them he crawled
reth is this Wise and Strong Man of the world, they will      in the dust of Gethsemane's garden, His  soul  exceed-
unite to sing His praises, they will bow before Him in        ingly sorrowful even unto death.         For them He was
loving adoration and they are charmed by the loveliness       dumb as a sheep before its shearers when He was beaten,
of the Name. And they follow this fancied Jesus and           buffeted, filled with scorn and reproach, spit upon, cruelly
rally to His cause. But when the angelic messenger            scourged, crowned with thorns. For them He accepted
interprets the Name as signifying that He will save           the sentence of death without protest, dragged the
His people from their sins, their love is quenched, the       accursed tree to the Place of Skulls and became a spec-
tire of their devotion is extinguished and the same flame     tacle to all the world. For them He bore the wrath of
that burned incense for Him now kindles the fires of          God and entered into that amazing depth of dreadful
hatred and persecution against the Humble Nazarene.           suffering and darkest hell from where we hear Him cry:
     How  clifferent  this becomes when our eyes are          `My God, my God, why  hast thou forsaken me?' For
opened for the real and horrible character of our misery,     them Sheol is closed upon Him by the heavy stone in
sin! When in our deepest heart there is created the           front of  rhe  rock-hewn sepulchre in Joseph's garden.
realization that God is the Highest Good and that to          And for them He breaks the shackles of death and issues
live apart from God is death: when the earnest desire to forth from the  grave,victor over death and hell; ascends
dwell in God's covenant-communion is kindled in our to the Father and receives the Name above all other
soul; when we see in horror how waves of transgression        names. For them He intercedes and reigns. For them He
and streams of iniquity separate us from that  covenant-      sends His messengers into all the world with the glad tid-
friendship; when we have struggled with these waves ings of redemption and deliverance upon their lips. For
and battled with the flood till in despair we are over- them He comes again, to deliver them completely and
whelmed ; and when then through the dark night and            give them a place in His eternal Kingdom, in the new
over the turbulent sea that covenant-Jehovah comes heavens and the new earth in which righteousness shall
approaching us in human form, full of grace and beauty,       dwell.
and extending His strong hand to lift us from the deep           But this is not all.
whispers to us : I am Jesus, Jehovah-Saviour ! . . . .           He is also Jesus in them.
     How charming is then the Name  1                            Of little avail, indeed, would be all the work of Jesus
     And, clinging still to His mighty arm as He leads us     for us, were He not also Jesus within our hearts. For
to the Father, and looking back upon the black deep that      had he washed our guilt away by His blood, and had He
well-nigh swallowed us up into hell, how we stammer in        merited our righteousness by His obedience, and had He
gratitude :                                                   revealed His Name to us by proclaiming it through His


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D  .BEARER                                                         3
                                                                                .-._                      .-I
Word, thus presenting Himself to us in His fulness of own free-will we like to bring to Him as a condition of
grace and truth and calling us to come unto Him and to        acceptance with Him, now it is part of our own righteous-
believe in His Name and be saved; and did He not give         ness through which we desire to be saved. We are so
us eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to  obey,-        apt to decrease Jesus and to increase self.          We may
then the latter end of us would be worse than the first       perhaps in sorrow over the past join in with the song:
beginning. Never would we see our own misery, never
would we behold His beauty, never would we hear His                        "Oh, the bitter pain and sorrow,
voice and never would we obey His summons nor grasp                         That the time could ever be,
the hand extended for our salvation, except for the                          When I proudly said to Jesus:
gracious work of Jesus within us.  Holden by the dark-                      All of self and none of Thee."
ness of sin are our eyes so that they cannot see; stopped
by the filth of corruption are our ears so that they can-     But so often we do not advance beyond the stage of
not hear; enslaved by the foolishness of iniquity are our     spiritual development in which we confess :
minds so that they cannot understand; perverted by the
power of enmity are our wills so that they cannot will                     "Yet He found me ; I beheld Him
to obey. Obstinate perversion is our spiritual name and                     Bleeding on the accursed tree ;
we are lovers of the very misery from which Jesus came                      And my wistful heart said faintly :
to save. . . .  a                                                           `Some of self and some of Thee'."
   But He shall save His people from their sins!
   He is Jesus within us.                                         But in that spiritual attitude we do not experience
   For He became the quickening Spirit. And He knows          the full charm of the Name Jesus. For He is an only
how to enter into the heart of the most obdurate sinner.      Saviour and there  is  none besides Him. His is the only
He opens the eyes of the blind, He gives hearing ears to      Name given under heaven whereby men are saved. Xl
the spiritually deaf, He breaks the heart of the very         that is not of Him must  he cast away as a basis on which
hardest into shivers of contrition and humbles all our        we stand, as a ground on which we plead, as a comfort
pride; He establishes a living connection between Him-        in which we rest. All our own righteousnesses must be
self and our hearts, makes us lean on Him, comforts  US       cast away, all the little rocks of salvation of our own
by the assurance that our sins are forgiven, heals our        invention must be rolled from under our feet. And, thus,
broken heart and leads us into the light of God.              relying solely on Him in life and death, with all our heart
   And He is Jesus through us.                                and soul and mind and strength, for time and eternity,
   For He abides in us.                                       living because of Him, through Him, for Him,  \vc taste
   And when we? leaning on Him and saved by His               the deep love of that only Name and may sing:
Name, love Him and keep His commandments, confess
Him and walk in the light, it is Christ that lives in  US.                 "Higher than the highest heavens,
He works within us to will and to do of His  good                           Deeper than the deepest sea,
pleasure and thus we work out our own salvation. All                        Lord, Thy love at last has conquered :
glory solely to Him, who is Jesus for us, Jesus within us,                  `None of self and all of Thee'."
Jesus through us.
   That no flesh should glory in His presence.                   Thus we  shalI never be put to shame. For He shall
   He shall save His people.                                  surely save His people. Save them, He shall, till He
   Jehovah-Saviour.                                           shall have brought them all into God's eternal tabernacle,
                                                              where there shall be night no more.
                                                                 For His Name is Jesus, Jehovah-Saviour!
                                                                 Did you call Him thus?
   He shall surely save.                                                                                           H. H.
   We have His precious blood as a testimony of His
great love.
   And His resurrection speaks to us with undoubted                     DE NABIJHEID VAN  CHRISTUS
testimony of His almightly power.
   Shall we, then, not believe? Shall we not just simply         Velcn  mccnen,  dat zij nog beter christenen znuden
lean on  Him alone, and casting away all that is of self,     zijn, nls zij  maar gelecfd  hadden  in de  onmiddellijke  na-
of works, of men, of anything outside of Him, put all our     bijheid van Christus.
confidence in Him alone, in Him, so mighty, so full of           Hoe gebrekkig is hier de  kcnnis van den Bijbel! Hoe
love and grace, so sure to save, so unchangeable, yester- gebrekkig vooral de kennis van het eigen hart!
day and today and forever the same?                              Tot lieve jongeren, die later "pilaren" zouden  worden,
   Ah, our "wistful heart, so prone to wander, is so moest de Heere soms zeggen:  "Ga weg  achter Mij,  Sata-
inclined to divide the honors between Jesus and other nas, gij zijt Mij een  aanstoot."  DAT beteekende  soms
little jesuses of our own invention!  By nature we do         de nabijheid van Christus!
not want to be saved merely by grace. Now it is our.                                               Soren Kierkegaard.


t                                                                                         .
       de  .wet van het brood. Zie, zulks  &oet Eva zeker  toe-          -Doch ook daarmede is de antithetische  Zelf-openba-
       stemmen, de vrucht des boqms, waarvan God zeide, dat ring Gods nog niet roltooid. Deze   &lle Gods, van  ecu-
     de mensch niet zou eten, `is  goed tot spijze. Moet God wigheid voorgenomen, afgeschaduwd in de schepping, en
       nu  I&  aan den mensch  doen  toekomen, wat  goed  voor historisch in  Christus gerealiseerd, wordt vastgelegd in
       h'em is? Een God, die dat niet doet, is niet  goed,  niet de eeuwige antithese van  hemei  en hel.  Oak de  toekom-
       goed  voor den mensch.       De mensch moet  zichzelven stige wereld doet ons God kennen in zijne  onverander-
       zoeken, zijne verwachting hebben van het brood, en niet lijke eeuwige antithetische Zelf-openbaring. Zij doet ons
       taelaten,  dat God hem onthoude de goede spijze van de          Hem zien, gelijk Hij waarlijk is, in onderscheiding van
       vrucht van den boom der  ken&se  des goeds en des hetgeen Hj niet is.  Hemel en  he1 hebben de  reden van
       kwaads. Een  &d, die weigert den mensch te dienen, hun bestaan in God. De permanente wilsdaad van Gods
       moet als kwaad  worden  verworpen. Dus oordeelde de antithetische Zelf-openbaring is de oorzaak van hun  ontl-
      verleider, alle orde omkeerende.       En in dat gevoelen        staan, bestaan en eeuwig voortbestaan. God wordt er
       deelde de zondigende mensch. God is niet het eenigst            door geopenbaard en verheerlijkt in zijne eeuwige  onvei-
       goed,  God is niet in alles goed voor den mensch. Als God anderlijkheid.  Het heerlijk  licht en de buitenste  duister-
       zijn gehod plaatst tegenover  de-wet  van het brood dan is      nis, in hunne vastgelegde tegenstelling, zullen eeuwiglijk
       zulks voor den mensch niet  goed ; maar dan moet deze in antithetische klanken bevestigen het woord des  HEE-
       eigenmachtig de spijze verkiezen boven het  wosyd.  Want REN,  gesproken van den beginne door den mond Gods:
       de mensch  zal' alleen bij brood leven,  `en niet van alles,    "Ik formeer het licht, en schep de duisternis, Ik maak den
       wat uit des HEEREN mond uitgaat.                                vredq en schep het kwaad, Ik, de HEERE, doe al deze
           Naar dit zondig oordeel van  satan en mensch staat dingen."'
.      God niet alleen in zijne bejegening van  zijn schepsel,                                                          H .   D .
       maar ook in zijn karakter aangeklaagd. Daarfegen zal
_      God  zich hebben te rechtvaardigen. De  wereldgeschiede-          .
      -nis  ?a1 ons  moeten bieden de theodicea, de  zelfverdedi-
     ' ging Gods. De beschuldiging van den duivel moet  wor-                        THE COVENANT OF NATURE                     '
       den  weerlegd. De Mond der waarheid moet spreken.
       Satan heeft beweerd God  te kennen,  doch de  Eenigge-                            1. General or Common?
       borene, die in den  schoot  des  Vaders  is, die heeft Hem
       ons  recht verklaard. En dat behoort mede tot Gods  anti-              By those who hold to a common grace,  -with which
       thetische Zelf-openbaring. Want reeds van eeuwigheid            God blesses both the righteous and the wicked, those
       h-eeft  Hij zijnen Zoon gegenereerd en  Christus gezalfd        whom He loves and those whom He hates, the elect and
       tot Koning over Zion. Het Woord zal ons  derhalve!niet          the reprobate, appeal is made particularly to the cove-
       slechts van God spreken, maar het zal ons den Schepper          nant God established with Noah and his sons, immedi-
       doen kennen in Zijne relatie tot het creatuur. Hij, van         ately after the flood, as constituting the scriptural basis,
       wien geschreven is in de  rcil des boeks, draagt de heilige     with which this theory of a common grace either stands
       wet,  welke God den sterveling zet, in het  midden  zijns       or falls. The reader will understand that this does not
       ingewatids.  En tegen die wet Gods heeft Hij geen be-           hold for what the synod of Kalamazoo declared in its
     zwa&-.  Omgekeerd, Hij heeft lust om Gods welbehagen              first point of the now famous three. It expressed that
       te  doen. ,Ook dan is Hij  bereid te komen, als van Hem God reveals a certain common grace in the preaching of
       gevraagd  tiordt de volkomene vervulling van  alle  slacht-     the gospel to all that hear,  eleqt  and  &probate  alike,  iv
       offer en spijsoffer, en brandoffer en zondoffer. En Hij         other words, that God in the preaching of the gospel is
       bedwingt zijn tong en  lippen  niet. Zijn hart bedekt nooit     graciously  inclinecl  and actually gives grace to the repro-
     Gods gerechtigheid. Gods gerechtigheid wordt door                 bate as well as to the elect, even though this grace is not
       Hem  alom verbreid; Gods waarheid  doet' Hij hooren ;           saving in regard to the former. This doctrine could
       Gods heil, den mensch beschoren, vloeit dagelijks uit zijn      hardly find its basis in the covenant of Noah. It is sup-
       mond ; Gods gunst, Gods  trouw, Gods woord en Gods              posed to be founded on such texts as Ez.  33:1,1. To this
       geheimen- boodschapt Hij in  eene.  groote gemeente. DUS        entirely peculiar stand  6f the Christian Reformed
       staat-aan  het einde  d,er eeuwen God in-Christus  gerecht-     churches since the synod of 1924 we have no reference
       vaardigd ; en de Waarheid Gods heeft satans leugen gelo-        nowi at least, not directly. We have in. mind the theory,
       genstraft. Rarde, zee en eiland verheugen  zich in hun          thar for this present time and in the general things of
      ._, .Heiland..  Gods mogendheid heeft sterkte  willen gronden    this world as it is sustained by the Providence of God,
      * uit kinderen, ja uit den mond der  ziigelingen, om zijner in rain and sunshine, existence and position, eating and
       tegenpartijen wil. De hemelen  zingen  met vreugde, de          drinkiqg, etc., the Lord is. gracious and blesses in His
       benedenste  deelen  der aarde, de  bergen, de bdsschen, en      kindness all men, the wicked reprobate included. He
       alle geboomte,  maken  een groot gedreun met  vreugde-          gives the wicked no saving grace. It is admitted that He
       gezang; omdat de HEERE fakob verloste, en  Zich  heer-          does not love them, with the same love wherewith He
       lijk gemaakt heeft in  Isragl. Dus is Gods volk tot `s          loves His people. What is more, it is admitted that He
       HEEREN lbf op aarde, gelijk de Schepper het van  eeu-           hated them with sovereign hatred and He purposeth to
       wigheid gewild heeft.                                           form them as vessels unto  dishonoy ; that He fits  tfiem


                                                        THE  ST:1ND-&RD   B E A R E R                                                   11
___^_ _.._......,........ _ ..- -"-                                           ----..---  _~-.____-  ..-.._ -__.                 ~_-
unto destruction. But it is also  held:  that for this pres-                 particular covenant . . . . , but such a one as is common
ent time He is gracious unto them, intends to  do  them                      to all peoples, and which shall flourish through all' ages
good and blesses them in His lovingkindness. This gen-                       to the end of rhe world !' His expression  :  Foedus  omnibus
eral lovingkindness, it is alleged, is proved from the                       populis  commune, i. e., a covenant of grace common to all
covenant God established with Noah and his generations.                      peoples, decides here. From the choice of these words
God is not only gracious to the wicked and reprobate                         it is evident, that Calvin understands the covenant with
in this life, but this grace is based on and  flows  from                    Noah not as `saving,' but as having reference to a mercy
His covenant-relationship as revealed in Noah's time.                        of God, of which every son of man, of every nation. in
In this covenant God entered into a relation of friend-                      all ages? till the Second Advent. derives the benefit."
ship with all men, with sinful man as such, regardless of                       "We need not waste another word, therefore, to prove
and in spite of his spiritual-ethical position and attitude                  that we follow in the footsteps of Calvin."
to God. This general covenant, then, reveals that God                           Thus writes Dr. Kuyper. According to him it is
is able to be and actually is gracious to the naked sinner,                  Calvin's view that God established His covenant with
that He assumes an attitude of  favour and grace toward                      Noah also with the wicked unbeliever and  that' the
him with all the gifts He bestows upon him for this                          reprobate are included in it. We maintain. however, that
present time and that, therefore, there is such a thing as                   K.uyper's presentation of Calvin's view is not correct.
common grace.                                                                First of all, the English translation of Calvin's Com-
         It will, therefore, evidently be important to investi-              mentary upon Genesis gives the passage quoted by Dr.
gate the question: is the covenant of nature to be con-                      Kuyper as follows :
sidered particular or general, special or common? And                           "Moreover? there is no doubt that it was the design
it is, first of all, necessary thar the import of the question               of God to provide for all his post'erity. Tr was not, there-
he clearly and definitely understood. The question now                       fore, a private covenant confirmed with one family only,
before us is not, whether God established His covenant                       but one which is common to all people, and which shall
with every creature in the organic sense of the word. Tt                     flourish in all ages to the end of the world." There is
is quite impossible, in the face of the clear language of                    nothing in these sentences  ro  c:lecide for the view that
Scripture in this respect, to  clispute the universal impli-                 God established His covenant with every individual, the
cation of rhe covenant with Noah. It was not  a cove-                        wicked unbeliever included. The contrast in the quota-
nant which included merely men. It comprises earth                           tion is nor that between the righteous and the wicked,
and heaven, the sun and moon and stars, the clouds of                        but between the private family of Noah and the genera-
heaven, the sea and its fulness, the fowls of the air and                    tions that should follow.
the beasts of the field and every living thing, the sprout-                     Besides, Calvin continues.:
ing tree, the seeding herb, the ripening grain and the                          "Although the favor which God promises extends also
blooming flower. It includes all the groaning creature.                      to animals, yet it is not in vain that He acldresses  Himself
In this sense of the word this covenant  wirh Noah is                        only to men, who by the sense of faith are able to per-
surely universal. Neither is there anything strange in                       ceive this benefit. We enjoy  th-e heaven and the air in
this conception.                       For all things are ours and we are    common with the beasts, and draw the same vital brearh :
 Christ's and Christ is  God's It is nor an unscriptural                     but it is no common privilege that God directs His word
 idea that God establishes His covenant with His people                      to us; whence we may learn with what paternal love he
and for their sake with all creation, for all things must pursues us.  :\nd here three distinct steps  are  to be traced.
 work togerher for good to them that love God. This,                         First, God, as a matter of present concern, makes a cove-
 then, is not the question. Eut, specifically stated the                     nant with Noah and his family, lest they should be
 question involved is, whether God can enter into cove-                      afraid of a deluge for themselves. Secondly, he transmits
 nant-relationship with the sinner as such, still more par-                  his covenant to posterity, not only that, as by continual
 ticularly with the wicked reprobate, and whether He                         succession the effect may reach to other ages; but that
 actually did enter into such relation of covenant-friend-                   they who should afterwards be born might also appre-
 ship when He established His covenant with Noah?  As                        hend this testimony by faith, and might conclude that
 the synod of Kalamazoo discovered to their great  em-                       the same thing which had been promised to the sons of
 barassment, the problem, if there be any, is always ex-                     Noah was promised unto them. Thirdly, he declares that
 pressed in the perplexing question: does God love tem-                      he will be propitious also to brute animals, so that the
 porally whom He hates eternally?  ,4re His enemies His                      effect of the covenant towards them might be the preser-
friends?  ;4re,  in the covenant with Noah, the  ,wickcd                     vation of their lives only, without imparting to them
 reprobate to be viewed as friends of God?                                   sense and intelligence. . . . . For although this he an
          According  ro  `Dr.  A. Kuyper it was none other than              earthly promise, yet God designs the faith of his people
 John Calvin who first of all answered this question most                    to be exercised, in order that they may be assured that a
 positively in the affirmative. Writes Dr.  Kuypcr,  De                      certain  a,bode will, by his special goodness be provided
 Gemeene  Gratie, I. pp. 16, 17 (we translate) :                             for them on earth, until they shall be gathered together
          "Calvin says, in words which are not ambiguous:                    in heaven."    Calvin's Commentary on Genesis IX : 10.
 `Xt is  withour any doubt that in this case this grace of                      From these words of Calvin we draw the conclusion
 God is estended to all the descendants of Noah. It is no                    that his footsteps led in a direction quite different from


13                                      `I' I-I E S T A Ne D A R D n  E  ;\ R  E R
                                                                                 --- . ..."  --..._..........._--.-   l_l    -    -
that followed by  Dr. Kuyper.       Noah is presented by             "It is incompatible with the holiness of God, that He,
Calvin as the stipulator of the covenant at the head of a        Who is as we have described Him above, would enter
believi,ng  posterity. The design of the covenant is to          into a covenant-relation of friendship with man, who is
assure His people, even with regard to things earthly,           as we have pictured him a moment ago."
that a sure abode will be provided for them by His spe-              , . . . "Still further, how can it be in harmony with
cial goodness even to their being gathered up into               the veracity of God to maintain external friendship and
heaven.      :Znd in his commentary on the 12th verse he         internal and true hatred; to bless externally by  a cove-
explains the rainbow as a sacrament added to the                 nant, yet to condemn internally and truly  ; to he God's
promise, "in which the wonderful kindness of God is              property in friendship in the external sense, yet in the
exhibited, who for the purpose of confirming our faith           true sense be the people of His wrath? If men would
in his word, does not disdain to use such helps." Grant-         thus deal with men and thus would make covenants with
ing, therefore, that the question which Dr. Kuyper               one-another, would not the very wicked despise such
intended to answer in his "De Gemeene Gratie" was                dealings? Be such unrighteousness, then, far from the
surely not before the mind of John Calvin when he wrote          Almighty  !" (Redelijke Godsdienst, I, pp. 378. 379.)
his commentary, we maintain nevertheless that to him                 It is, however, Kuyper's conception that the covenant
the covenant with Noah was established with the                  with Noah is, truly, an act of God's friendship and
gracious design to comfort His people even unto the end          favour and condescending grace, but that it is established
of the world. It is general in that it is not confined to        with all men, with the naked sinner, God simply acting
one family but comprises all the families of the earth; it       as if His enemy were His friend. Writes he (we trans-
is general too in that it effects brute beasts and every         late) :
living thing; but it is not general in that it is established        "For God to enter into covenant-relationship with His
with wicked unbelievers, who derive its blessings from           creature is an act of favour, of condescending goodness,
God's covenant.                                                  of grace. Now, grace is inconceivable for the sinner
      It may be regarded as certain that no Reformed without the establishment of a covenant, simply because
                                                                 all the fundamental relations between God and men rest
theologian since the days of Calvin, until Kuyper devel-
oped his view, regarded the covenant of nature as a              upon the covenant of works, all sin is for that reason
                                                                 violation of the covenant, and healing of the breach is
relation of friendship between God and the naked sinner.
Even though the entire conception which Dr. A. Kuyper            impossible unless the violated covenant is replaced by
                                                                 another covenant." . . . .
attempts to develop and maintain was quite foreign to
our Reformed fathers and contrary to their fundametnal               "To conclude a covenant is an act of  friendship. If it
theological conceptions, and even though they did not            is plain, therefore, that the human race, by nature cor-
                                                                 rupt through  sin? stood in an attitude of enmity against
attach the importance to the covenant with Noah it
received in later days, the question was broached some-          God, it is very evident, that when God established His
times whether this covenant was to be considered as              covenant  after the flood, He did not figure with this
essentially the covenant of grace, and therefore, as hav-        enmity, He acted as if man were His friend instead of
ing been established with the people of God. And their           His enemy, and He allied Himself with man against a
answer was quite uniformly affirmative. Kuyper him-              thir'd, i. e., against the Evil One and the destruction he
self admits that men like  Pareus, Rivet, Perkins and            brought and is still busy to bring upon our race and
Maestricht  explained the covenant with Noah as having           upon the world, . . . .  "
an eternal significance, as being the covenant of grace              "God, therefore, comprises in the Covenant with Noah
and including not all men, but only the people of God.           our entire race and with the race the whole earth and all
(De Gemeene Gratie I, 16, 19.) Their entire conception of        of nature, in order to make of the very thing which
God's covenant was such that they could not conceive             Satan had chosen as an instrument against God a means
of its being established with the enemies of God. This           for Himself and against the devil. . . . .  "
                                                                     "
is evident, too, from our Baptism Form, according to                      . . . . Surely, the world lies in evil and the whole
which the flood is typical of baptism, and the people            world is under condemnation before God, but this does
being saved through the flood and with whom God estab-           not alter the fact that God, in the person of Noah after
lishes His covenant constitute the church. To them the           the Deluge, concluded a covenant with this our sinful
covenant-relation was essentially the relation of friend-        race  aud the corrupt world, and that this covenant is and
ship between God and His people, which by that very              remains a Covenant of grace." . . . . The covenant with
fact excluded the reprobate.                                     Noah is not established with the Church, but with our
                                                                 human race and with the natural world and this cove-
      This is evident also from Brakel's conception of the       nant continues to be of effect also in lands and among
covenant.      He does not specifically elaborate on the         nations where the Church of Christ is as yet  unknoiwn."
covenant of nature established with Noah. But when he            (De Gemeene Gratie, I, pp. 287-289.)
explains the covenant of grace he does ask the question,             "Surely, there is in the covenant with Noah nothing
whether God can stand in covenant-relationship to the            that deals intentionally or particularly of saving grace.
wicked sinner outside of Christ. And his language is There is no mention of remission  ofsin and guilt, neither
quite unequivocal. He writes (we translate} :                    of the promise of  sonship and eternal life. No benefits


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             13
             .._                                                                                              _-_._.
are promised to the few, but the promise of God in this                       ZEER ONCHRISTELIJK
covenant extends to all the children of men. . . . . I t
deals with tnan as man, with man in his relation to other         In "De Reformatie" schrijft Dr. V.  Hepp   een reeks
men on earth, with man in his relation to the animals         artikeien over  De Leergeschillen in de Chr.  Ceref.
and with man in his relation to the destructive elements      Kerk in Amerika. Wij zijn niet van, plan onze  lezers
of nature."  (Idem,  I, p. 10.)                               voortdurend te vermoeien door de aandacht te vestigen
    We conclude, therefore, on the basis of  Kuyper"s  own op hetgeen deze hoogleeraar  aan de Vrije `Universiteit te
statements, that the following elements are contained in      Amsterdam van onze toestanden denkt, en als zijn  oor-
his view of the covenant with Noah:                           deel over de jongste geschiedenis schrijft. In "De  Refor-
    1) It is essentially a relation of friendship between     matie"  van 10 Juli,  Ll.,  echter komt een artikel voor van
God and His creature.                                         de hand van Dr. Hepp, dat een oogenblik de aandacht
                                                              dubbel waardig is, omdat het een staaltje biedt van
    2) The act of establishing this relation of friendship    onkunde in betrekking tot de feiten, oppervlakkigheid in
is an act of grace, of condescending goodness and  loving-    het beoordeelen en van het pogen, om bij gebrek  aan
kindness.                                                     christelijker middel, heel de beweging van  onzen  kant
    3) It is established with all men alike, merely as verdacht te  maken  en uit zondige motieven te verklaren.
men. With the sinful human race and the corrupt world Door dit laatste geschrijf is Dr.  IIepp nog veel meer dan
as such God entered into a relation of friendship.            door zijn vroeger schrijven, uit weten'schappelijk,  zoowel
    4) It is established without any basis of atonement als uit ethisch oogpunt zeer in  onze   achting gedaald.
for sin, remission of sin and guilt and satisfaction of          In het bewuste artikel schrijft Dr. Hepp allereerst
God's righteousness. God merely treats His enemy as if over de meer genoemde gemeentevergadering, die in  bet
he were His friend.                                           najaar van 1924 in de Eastern Ave. kerk gchouden  w'erd,
    5) As a result of this general relation  uf friendship    om de gemeente gelegenheid te geven te protesteeren
the natural human race is now God's ally against the          tegen het besluit der  classis, waardoor  voor  leden  ver-
Devil and his wicked work.                                    vuld met bitteren haat den  toegang geopend zou worden
                                                              tot het heilig avondmaal des Heeren. Van deze  verga-
    In the main Dr. H.  Bavinck  coincides with this dering schrijft Dr. Hepp het volgende:
Kuyperian conception of the covenant with Noah. He               "Alsnu nam Ds. Hoeksema de toevlucht tot een eigen-
does not elaborate upon it and, for that reason. all the aardig middel. De kerkeraad riep een ledenvergadering
elements of Kuyper's view as mentioned above, are not         samen.  Daar zette Ds.  Hoeksema zijn standpunt uiteen.
present with him. But he agrees that the covenant with        `Daarna  moest er gestemd  worden.   Toen deze  vergade-
Noah is general in scope and is established with all men.     ring gehouden werd, vertoefde ik juist een paar dagen in
For he writes:                                                Grand Rapids. Heel  Gereformeerd Grand Rapids was er
    "This covenant with Noah, indeed, has its origin in       natuurlijk vol van en wachtte met groote spanning af,
God's grace; it is also most closely related to the cove- wat er geschieden zou. Men  gevoeide,  dat een scheuring
nant of grace proper, because the latter is borne and         zoo al niet zou plaats hebben, dan tech zou worden  voor-
prepared by it; but it is not identical with it. It is much bereid.  Na de uiteenzetting van Ds. Hoeksema moest er
rather a covenant of long  suff`ering, concluded by  God      gestemd  xyorden.  En hoewel Ds. Hoeksema een  vuri.g
with all men and even with all creatures." (Dogmatiek tegenstander van kerkelijk stemrecht voor de vrouw  -
III,  226.)  *                                                ook in Amerika een kwestie - is, stond hij als voorzitter
    Thus, then, is the situation. The Kuyperian concep- van den kerkeraad erop, dat ook de vrouwen in dit geding
tion of the covenant with Noah constitutes the main           haar stem zouden uitbrengen. Zelf heb ik zoo'n  stem-
foundation for the modern theory of common grace. This briefje gezien. Daarop  werd de  baag  gesteld, of Ds.
conception is that God established a covenant of friend-      Hoeksema  zich schuldig had gemaakt  aan "publieke"
ship with wicked  me'n. We deny that Calvin's concep- zonde,  gelijk de  classis had gekonstateerd. Het ging dus
tion is the same as Kuyper's or even that Kuyper follows tegen de classis. Men had een hokje "ja" of "neen"  zwart-
in the main Calvin's footsteps. The interpretation of te  maken.   Als ik me het cijfer  we1 herinner,  stemden
Kuyper is not old but new. We will investigate this           meer dan  750 belijdende  leden   "neen."  En een groote
sure foundation of the theory of common grace. The 50 "ja." Verreweg de meerderheid was dus op de hand
question is : Is the covenant of God with Noah general        van Ds. Hoeksema. De Chr. Geref. pers in Amerika liet
or particular? And this question we hope to answer by         niet na deze handelwijze als independentistisch te  ver-
an exegetical study of the passages in the Word of God oordeelen. En volkomen terecht. Want  we1  verdedig-
that speak of this covenant; by somewhat entering into de Ds. Hoeksema  zich, dat de kerkeraad niets anders  be-
the idea of God's covenant in general; and by searching doelde dan het gevoelen der gemeente te hooren en  aan
the Scriptures for light upon the question as to God's        de gemeente niet de regeermacht te geven. Maar zeer
attitude to wicked and reprobate men also in this pres- juist zag men hierin slechts een doekje voor het bloeden.
ent life.                                                     Want het  stemmen op een gemeentevergadering is  op
                                                H. H.         zichzelf  reeds  independentistisch. Welk  effekt  men  daar-


                   ,.                                         "~     ._.       ..,.           ,           ,_          i       -..            -,     _     I          -'
                                                  ..`-I,.'
                                             i  :  ,.                                   1           :           ,      `.             ,_            _
                         -.:     ..                      "I! H E " S T A N `D A R D _ .B E A R-E-R                                                                         d.
                                       j.                                                                                                                                             15

recht Iiefhebben boven alles en daarvoor alles  `willen  op-                                             met het bestrijden van een stroopop, die ze zelf hebben
geven? Welnu,, dit was-hier  we1 degelijk het geval.                                                     opgericht. Trots al hunne aanvallen staan de drie  punten
    `En uit ethisch oogpunt `is dit laag.  AIs kwajongens                                                daar nog ongerept en ongeschonden."
vroeger,  toen ik nog in Nederland was,  zich niet sterk                                                  This paragraph contains a couple of intensely interest-
genoeg gevoelden tot den strijd, gingen  ze op een afstand                                               ing figures, that of the gunner and that of the-  "stroo.-
staan te schelden. Is  u die schoenen nog niet ontgroeit,                                                pop." The two figures are pregnant with meaning. Bg
doctor? Of kan u ook maar  C&r woord'bewijzen van  het-                                                  means of them the professor, without realizing it, con-
geen u schrijft? U scheldt mijne gemeente, en zeker ook                                                  fesses that Revs. Danhof and Hoeksema were taken to
de  gemeenten te Kalamazoo, Hope, Hull, Waupun, Byron                                                    task, dragged before the broadest ecclesiastical body of
Center, en straks nog veel  meer,  als de kerk  zich  niet.be-                                           the Christian Ref. Church, and finally deposed because
                                                                                                                                                               .,
keert van hare ongerechtigheden, voor fanatiek? En. u                                                    of their attacks upon Pelagianism and Arminianism.
geeft te kennen, dat ik  bedwelmd  ben gewarden door den                                                         We shall make this clear. Recall how that synod
wierook, dien men voor mij brandde? Ik heb van dit made three declarations known as three points. These
alles nooit  iets gemerkt. Bewijs, please.  TJ spreekt van                                               three points so the professor informs his readers were
vreemde  beweringen, die ik voordroeg? Bewijs, please. made the butt of attack by those who deny the existence
    U heeft  mij nooit  ontmoet. U heeft mij nooit  gespro-                                              of common grace. Indeed it is so. Observe how that in
ken. Ik heb  u nooit gezien. Please, doctor, vanwaar the above quotation it is asserted by the professor that
-heeft u al die kennis omtrent mijn door fanatieke  volge-                                               thus far those who refused to subscribe to synod's deliv-
lingen op  ho1 gebrachte persoonlijkheid?                                                                erances failed to produce, from a Reformed point of view
    Dr. Hepp, de gemeene gratie laat  zich op grond van                                                  a  single.worth  while objection. In explaining the matter
Schrift  .en,  Belijdenis nooit verdedigen.                                                              the professor makes use of a figure. Notice how that he
    De drie punten  door de Synode van 1924 aangenomen                                                   thinks of us as gunners. Upon the horizon appear three
liggen op de lijn van het Pelagianisme en Arminianisme.                                                  points, we-take to be three Pelagian intruders. We see
    En de ongerechtigheden door Classes Grand Rapids                                                     red. We hurry about placing our guns in position. We
O&t en West bedreven laten  zich nooit  goed  praten.                                                    take careful  aim'and  necessarily  so, because our targets
    T3)eze  drie'stellingen biedt ik u  aan  ter bespreking in                                           are three points, and a point is a peculiar thing. Accord-
uw eigen blad, "De Reformatie." In eerlijk  debat.  Waar-                                                ing to  geometricians  it has neither length, breadth nor
in we op grond der beginselen en in het  licht der feiten                                                thickness, only position. We take careful aim therefore.
de  dingen  met elkander zullen  bespreken. Ceeft u mij de                                               The fuses are ignited, the cannons discharge and the
gelegenheid?                                                                                             bombardment begins, and is  prolonged.until  the gunmen
    Dan kan ieder oordeelen.                                                                             feel assured that the three points have been wiped from.
    Maar u is, als iemand, die gelooft in het komende oor-                                               the face of the earth. Our opponents report that it was
deel, waarover u hier gesproken hebt, verplicht het  schul-                                              a terrific attack. Says Prof.  Vanden Bosch, "further
dige en zondige en lichtzinnige van uw schrijven te                                                      more the recent terrific attack on the doctrine of Common
erkennen. En dan voorts niet meer zoo  te schrijven.                                                     Grace." (Reformed Herald, first number, p. 19.)  ..
                                                                             H. H.                              The roar of the cannons subsides. A season of tern-
            I                                                                                            porary quiet follows. Men begin to inquire about the
                                                                                                         damage done. Prof.  Vanden Bosch speaks of hearing
           PROF. BERKHOF'S BROCHURE                                                                      strange voices after the fray. Evidently he was.  shell-
                                                                                                         shocked. His report reads as follows: "We weathered
                 The Gunmen and the Stroopop                                                             the storm that overtook us, but what strange voices did
                                                                                                         we not hear? Was it not said that all philosophy `is out
    On page 63 of the professor's brochure is found the of the devil? And did not some of our pilots aver that
following paragraph : "De verdere bestudeering van deze                                                  the things cultural lie at best on the circumference of
punten,  en zelfs de argumenten, waarmede men ze  be-                                                    Christian interest?' The professor, mark you, calls these
strijdt, hebben ons gesterkt in de overtuiging, dat er uit                                               voices strange.                            However these voices. are not at all
gereformeerd oogpunt geen gegronde bezwaren tegen strange. The fact that they sound strange to him only
kunnen  worden ingebracht.  Indien dit mogelijke ware, goes to show that his condition must have been rather
en vooral als het zoo gemakkelijk ware als men het  soms                                                 critical. Permit me to remark in passing that we do
heeft voorgesteld, dan zou dit al lang geschied zijn; en                                                 believe in culture. Such culture, which is the expression
tech geschiedde het nog  niet.(  ?) De schoten, die er of a fire kindled in the soul by the Spirit of regeneration
oogenschijnlijk op gelost werden troffen in het geheel                                                   and sanctification. On the other hand, that culture which
geen doel. Zij  waren  feitelijk gericht gedeeltelijk tegen                                              they are pleased to call common grace we regard as a  y
de Arminiaansche leer van de algemeene voldoening, en child of hell.
gedeeltelijk tegen de Pelagiaansche beschouwing, dat ook                                                         Prof. Berkhof seems to have mace a rather remarkable
de natuurlijke mensch in staat is, om geestelijk  goed te                                                discovery. Notice once more the utterance, "Trots at
doen. Maar de drie  punten  hebben met deze ketterijen hunne aanvallen staan de drie  punten  daar nog ongerept
niets gemeen. De afwijkende broeders zijn feitelijk  hezig tin ongeschonden." The professor discovered that the


                                                                                      ~.-     -._-                      -- --.-.-_-    1

16                                        T H E   ST-1NDXRD   BE;`IRER
           -    -                                       ^.--,^^.l_"                      ______I_
three points were still there. Throughout the entire                ings and writings you went contrary to  the  three points
bombardment they remained. They  were not even dam-' and in the second place because  feou refused to desist
aged strange to say. Xnd why not? The reason is simple              from attacking them thus making yourself  bqilty of
enough, asserts the professor. Says he.  "De schoten, die insubordination.
er ougenschijnlijk op gelost werden,  t&fen  in het geheel             We heartily agree to the above contention of the
geen doel. Zij  waren  feitelijk gericht tegen de  nrmini-          opponent, yet we persist in maintaining that we  were
aansche leer van de algemeene voldocning, en gedeelte-              deposed solely because of our attacks upon Pelagianism.
lijk tegen de Pelagiaansche beschouwing, dat ook de  na-            This was the real cause of our deposition. Please con-
tuurlijke mensch in staat is om geestelijk  goed  te  doen."        sider the following. Prof. Berkhof assures us, and cor-
      It pleases us, by the way, to hear out of the mouth of        rectly so, that we were militating against Pelagian
the professor that we were engaged in doing nothing                 heresy.      He in conjunction with those with whom he
worse than attacking the heresies of Arminius and  Pela-            allied himself also maintains that our views and teachings
gius. We were not in mischief at any rate. We knew go contrary to the three points of synod. It follows,
all the time we were not and it heightens our joy to hear therefore, that the three points of synod are the embodi-
our opponents admit it so cheerfully.                               ment of Pelagianism. Hence whereas we were deposed
      What is more the professor maintains, as we saw, that         for attacking the three points and whereas the three
the' three points are still there.  They were not damaged points are the  embodiment of Pelagian  heresy it follows
in the least, and the reason is simple,  sa?;s  Betkhof. The        that we were deposed for refusing to  discontinue attack-
gunmen missed the mark. Our bombs failed to find the ing Pelagianism.
target. Says the professor: "De schoten die er  oogen-
schijnlijk op gelost werden  trofen in  `t  geheei  geen  docl."       Prof. Bcrkhof informs us that the three points are
And how did it happen that we missed the mark? The                  found in our confessional Standards.       Listen to him:
professor has the answer. Says he,  "Zij (de schoten)               "Sedert de laatste  synodc  tech  hceft  de  gemccne  gratic
waren feitelijk gericht gedecltelijk tegen, de  Arminiaan- controversy  zich op deze puntcn geconcentrecrcl. Ons
sche leer van de algemcene  voldoening en gedeeltelijk gereformeerd volk (2) in het  algemeen  zict daarin  een-
tegen de Pelagiaansche beschouwing dat ook de  natuur- voudig een  uitdrukking van wat zij altijd hebben geloofd
lijke mensch in  stxat is  om geestelijk  goed tc  doen."           op grond van Gods Woord en van onze  Bclijdenisschrif-
According to the professor, we missed the mark (the                 ten." And again: "Zij (de synode) heeft een drietal
three points) because we had our weapons pointing in a waarheden naar voren gebracht en geformuleerd. die dui-
direction away from the three points and toward  Armin-             delijk in onze confessioneele Standaards begrepen en
ian and Pelagian heresy. He intimates that we were in voor een gedeelte daarin zelfs uitdrukkelijk zijn  uitge-
the grip of an illusion. We imagined that we were empty-            sproken."                                     .1
ing our weapons on the three points. In reality,, how-                 We are now ready to draw another conclusion.
ever,, it was Arminian and Pelagian doctrine upon which             Whereas the three points of synod are three Pelagian
we were unloading our guns. Hence we were not actually propositions, and whereas said three points are based on
engaged in attacking synod's declarations. We merely Scripture and on our Standards it follows that God's
imagined we were. In reality it was Arminian and  Pela- word in part at least teaches and that our Standards are
gian heresy which we were bombarding.                               the formulations of Pelagian heresy. But you say this
      Recall now how that  classis requested us to discon- cannot be ! No, indeed not! However not so very long
tinue publishing our views and sentiments and keep quiet. ago one of our theological professors remarked that God's
Bear in mind how that Prof. Berkhof is assuring the word can be quoted in support of Pelagian lies. The
church public that we were attacking Pelagian and majority of us, I trust, all agree that it can't be done. If
Arminian heresy. The professor is correct. Hence  classis           not, it follows that the three points of synod are not
requested us to cease attacking Pelagianism. This, to be found in either the Scripture or in our Standards.  ,4nd
sure, we refused to do. Our deposition followed! And this I fear, Prof. Berkhof is not ready to admit. He will
why were we deposed? The answer you may find on staunchly maintain that synod's declarations are taught
page 63 of Prof. Berhokf's brochure. Says the professor : by Scripture and are found in our Standards. Very well
"Zij (de schoten)  waren feitelijk gericht gedeeltelijk but in that case the three points must be thoroughly
tegen de  -4rminiaansche leer van de algemeene  voldoe-             Reformed.  .4nd it is as if  I. hear the professor replying
ning en gedeeltelijk tegen de Pelagiaansche beschouwing "Just so." But now I in turn would ask him, "If it be
dat ook de natuurlijke mensch in staat is, om geestelijk true that the three points are Reformed and if it be true
goed  te  doen." According to the professor you  see? we that in our writings we were and are engaged in attacking
were deposed because of our attacks upon Arminian and Pelagianism (as the professor maintains) it follows that
Pelagian heresy.                                                    our views are in full harmony with the three points of
      Some may object and assert that I am misrepresent-            synod, and if so how was it possible for the professor to
ing the matter. Some may say, you err grievously when               recommend and urge our deposition? To this the pro-
you maintain that you were deposed for attacking  Pela- fessor will perhaps reply, "You did not study my figure
gian heresy, You were deposed because in your  teach-               properly. True I did assert that you were attacking


                                           T  I-I  E S T -1. S D Al R D B  E  .2 R E R                                                                  17
                                                                       -.l.ll ._.. -.^ _-.... "."."" ._-.-_........" .._ -"---__-  .._,_
                                                                                                               l
Pelagianisrn hut the  figure also tells you that in reality         following statement:  "Rrtikel 100. Het rapport der Com-
you were not at all unloading your weapons upon the                 missie van Prae-advies betreffende de zaak algemeene  gc-
three points,  you  simply imagined you were. In reality            nadc wordt  gelezen door den rapporteur Dr. C. Bouma.
your guns were pointed in a direction away from the                 Het  luidt  in  zijn  geheel   als volgt." The  Acta is not telling
three points toward Pelagian heresy. And this accounts the truth here. But the matter to which I wish to call
for it that you missed  the mark and that the three points attention is that Berkhof as a member of the committee,
were not in the least damaged.         And hence you were           discovered and maintained that the teachings and views
deposed not because you were  nctuaZZy   assailing synod's of Danhof and Hoeksema militate against our Standards.
deliverances but because you imagined you were.                     Now the professor maintains that the three points were
   To this  I answer,  Please recall the following, pro-            taken from the Standards. Hence to militate against  the
fessor. You were a member of  the committee appointed one means to attack the other. Therefore it is impossible
by synod to test the teachings and views of Revs. Danhof for Berkhof to maintain that Revs. Danhof and
and Hoeksema. `Let me quote to you from the Acta your Hoeksema were not in reality militating against
verdict, and the advice which you placed before the                 the three points but that, as his figure implies,
synod. It reads as follows:  Echter adviseert uwe  com- they simply imagined they were.                                                     W h a t   then?
missie der synode (including Berkhof)  om bij monde van             are the teachings of Danhof and Hoeksema in harmony
hare president:                                                     with the three points of synod? No, indeed not. Fact is
   1) "De broeders ernstig  te vermanen met het oog  op             that there is a glaring  contr&diction  between the report
hunne afwijkingen, cn van hen de belofte te  vragcn, dat which the professor submitted to synod and his brochure.
zij  zich in de toekomst  zullcn houden  aan hetgeen de             In a single statement the professor overthrows his  entire
synode in dc drie gcnocmdc  punten  heeft uitgesproken.             report, exonerates us, condemns himself and labels the
   2) Er  bij de broeders H. Danhof en H. Hockscma                  three points Pelagian. The professor, I suppose thought
met  allen ernst op  aan te dringen, dat zij  aflaten  van  alle    he was going to treat his readers on something  clever
pogingcn,  om hunne afwijkcndc heschouwingen  betref- when he wrote: "De schoten die er oogenschijnlijk  op ge-
fende  de drie  punten  in de kerk tc propageeren. (Rapport         lost werden,  troffen in  gcheel  gccn docl. Zij  warcn  feite-
der Comm. van  Prae-advies  betreficnde  zaak algemeene lijk gericht gedeeltelijk tegen de Arminiaansche  leer van
genade, p. 13.)                                                     de algemeene voldoening en  gedceltelijk   tegcn dc  Pela-
   And again: "Deze uitspraken  acht uwe commissie in giaansche  beschouwing dat ook de natuurlijke  mensch  in
strijd te zijn met de Heilige  Schrift en de  Belijdenis-           staat is  om geestelijk  goed te  doen." The professor  no
schriften, daar volgens  Schrift en Confessie het vast staat, doubt'thought he was writing something real witty, when
dat God gunstig is en genade bewijst  aan hen, die de               he turned out this phrase. Expensive wit I would say.
Schrift bestempelt  als  "goddeloozen"  en  "onrechtvaardi-         For in publishing it he was engaged in inflicting upon
gen"  waaronder natuurlijk ook de verworpenen begrepen              himself a fatal wound. The situation is simply this.  Berk-
zijn." (Rapport,  p. 7.)                                            hof, the author of "De Drie  Punten in  -4lle  Deelen   Gere-
   Once more: "Ook deze uitspraken  acht uwe  Cornmis-              Eormeerd" avers that the views of Danhof and Hoeksema
sie in strijd met de Heilige  Schrift en met uitspraken der         are to be regarded as an attack upon Pelagianism. Berk-
Belijdenisschriften." (Rapport,  p. 9.)                             hof, the committee member, reported that these same
   Finally:  "Evenals  de vorige,  acht uwe commissie ook views militated against the Standards. It is clear that
deze uitspraken in strijd te zijn met de Heilige  Schrift           both cannot be true. If the views of Danhof and  Hoek-
en met onze Belijdenisschriften." (Rapport, p.  I1  .)              sema are in conflict with our Standards they do not mili-
   The above quotations are an accurate reproduction                tate against Pelagianisrn. On the other hand. if these
of Prof. Berkhof's verdict relative to the views and teach- views are to be regarded as an attack upon  Pelagianism
ings of Revs. Danhof and Hoeksema. We should not fail it cannot be that they are in conflict with what our
to notice how that Berkhof as a member of the commit-               Standards and Scripture teach.
tee reported that the  views  and teachings of Danhof and               One'naturally asks, how is it to be explained that the
Hoeksema are an attack upon the truth embodied in our               a u t h o r   o f   " D e   D r i e  Punten  i n   Alle  Deelen  Gerefor-
Standards, For that reason he urged the synod to pro- meerd" in a single statement completely overthrows that
vide for censure. His recommendation reads as follows:              which Berkhof, the committee member, submitted to
"Er de broeders op te wijzen dat zoo het nu of in de synod relative to the teachings of Danhof and Hoeksema ?
naaste toekomst  mocht blijken, dat zij  zich niet  willen          It cannot be explained from  the fact that the professor is
houden  aan de besluiten der synode, deze dan, zeer tot a voluminous writer, producing volume after volume and
haar leedwezen, genoodzaakt  zal zijn,  om de zaak bij              that year in and year out. If this were true of him we
hunne  respectieve  kerkeraden aanhangig te  maken."  And           would not make so much of the matter. One who writes
as Rev. I-Ioeksema has already informed the readers of              exceedingly much is apt to contradict himself; Prof.
the Standard Bearer, this particular recommendation                 Berkhof, however, produces very little. Yet what hap-
together with two other clauses was rejected. Yet the pened? June, 1924, he composed a document of such vast
Acta asserts that it contains the report of the committee importance that its publication meant the deposition of
in full. On page 113 of the  Acta  Synodi is found the              three ministers.               Precisely one year and two months


     1 x                                                                     T H E   STAND.\RD  I3  E.\RER
     -_-..-" ..-....... "l"l---^"  ll........ll."  .------..  _ ._-.....-. --.."." ..-........._-    -.-. .--z...- -..... "."..    -.- ---..._ -".-^"..        .._
     &pSeS.            `The  professor publishes a small booklet of  64                              waged  between the tatter and the defenders of the "stroo-
     pages in which he completely breaks clown that which he                                         pop." The situation is this. That "stroopop" assumes
     as a committee member  erected. A strange phenomenon.                                           flesh and blood in its defenders. Thus it is. The defend-
     I-low is it to  bc explained? Thus: And now we are ready                                        ers of this  %troopop" and these others are engaged in a
     to make use of that other figure the  "stroopop." We can life and death struggle.
     use this figure to a pretty good  advantage. By the way,                                               Indeed we are assailing  the "stroopop" and we thank
     it is peculiar how the professor not  only furnishes us with                                    God that He deems us worthy.
     the weapon we need for fighting him, he even supplies us                                               But please notice how that the professor also informs
     with pretty good figures.                                                                       his readers that we erected that "stroopop." This is not
            Now then, the "stroopop," says the professor: "De at all true. That "stroopop" is not our creation. It is a
     afwijkende broeders  zijn feitelijk  bezig met het betrijden child of Pelagius. The fathers of Dordt, however, took
     van  ten `stroopop' die  ze  zelf hebben opgericht." Mark                                       that "stroopop" and stored it away in the'attic. June,
     you, first the professor informs us that we are attacking 1924,  Prof. Berkhof, Rev. Y. P. De Jong and Dr. C.  Bou-
     Pelagianism, a few sentences further  he.asserts that we                                        ma hauled the "stroopop" of the attic, dressed it in a
     are assailing a "stroopop."                              Hence, the professor com- brand new suit of reformed clothes and placed it in the
     pares  PelaGanism  to a "stroopop." Not at all a bad                                            temple. And they say: Behold fair TRUTH. Yet he
     comparison, because Pelagianism is a lie. To compare a who has his eyes open sees at once that it is the "stroo-
     lie to a stroopop is not so bad. The apostle Paul uses pup" of Pelagius. For that reformed suit is much too
     the same figure and that for the same purpose. Says the small and the straw is protruding here, there and every-
     apostle, "For we  *are laborers together with God ; ye are where. And there are those who say: it is the "stroo-
     God's husbandry,  J-C are God's building. According to pop."' Xnd the guardians of the "stroopop" say: Not so.
     the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise And woe unto him who dare assail the "stroopop." Y e t
     masterbuilder, 1 have laid the foundation, and another this very thing has happened. The "stroopop" has been
     buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he assailed and stripped of its garments. It stands there now
     buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man quite bare, a sorry spectacle. And in ever increasing
     lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if a man numbers men are shouting: The "stroopop." And Prof.
-    build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, Berkhof fears greatly. Likewise Dr. Bouma.  ilnd they
     wood, hay,  stubble.                       Every  man"s  work shall be made go through the land saying unto men: Be calm it is not
     manifest: for the day shall declare it because it shall be the  "stroopop." But ah, it is. And in his "De Drie  Pun-
     revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work ten in  A& Deelcn Gereformeerd" Berkhof addresses men
     of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abide which                                         in soothing words in the attempt to quiet their  feais. But
     he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward. If he makes one big blunder. .qccidently he confesses that
     any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss ; but it is indeed the "stroopop." This invariably happens when
     he himself shall be saved ; yet as by fire ; Cor. 3 :9-l 5. He he who has  been  engaged in some illegitimate business
     who hath ears let him hear, The apostle, we notice, also or other, attempts to wash his own slate clean, instead of
     compares the lie to straw. I repeat, not a bad comparison.                                      making a full, clean confession. Such a one wilj invariably
     An apt figure the professor uses. He also asserts that we contradict himself.
     a r e   assaiiing that  %troopop."                               Indeed, we are! We                   The professor might wish to defend himself. It is not
     would like to see that "stroopop" go up in smoke. Paul                                          at all difficult to surmise what that defense would be.
     assures us that some day it will, when the fire shall try                                       The professor would reply that his report and his bro-
     every man's work  opwhat sort it is. Now it may seem chure do not at all contain contradictory data. He would
     foolish to be assailing a "stroopop." The professor even want to tell us perhaps that when  he reported to synod
     ridicules us before the public for doing so. So be it. how that the views of Danhof and Hoeksema militated
     Evidently the professor is not assailing that "stroopop." against the Standards he was referring to  certain utter-
     If he was he would not be ridiculing us for doing so. I ances found in their (`Van  Zonde en Genade" and in their
     wish to assure him and Rev. Y.  I?. De Jong and Dr.  C.                                         "Niet Doop`ersch maar Gereformeerd" and in The Ban-
     Bouma as well that he who is engaged in attacking this ner. And that when he states in his brochure that  Dan-
     "stroopop" is not engaged in child's play. Be assured  that                                     hof and Hoeksema are assailing Pelagianism he has in
     it is a man's task. It's a tremendous task. It  means   a                                       mind certain articles contained in The Standard Bearer,
     hard battle. One must receive grace and much of it published after the synod. He might wish to reply in
     before he will venture to take up arms against this "stroo-                                     defense of himself that the teachings of Danhof and
     pop." To assail this "stroopop" means that you are cast                                         Hoeksema are in part sound,  -and that as a committee
     out of the synagogue. I realize that it sounds very                                             member he reported them to be sound in part when he
     strange for me to be talking in this manner about the                                           asserted : *`Omdat  niet kan worden  ontkend, dat zij (Dan-
     "stroopop."  You should know? however, that this "stroo- hof and Hoeksema) in de grondwaarheden, zooals die in
     pop" has numerous defenders. And the opposing forces are onze Belijdenisschriften geformuleerd zijn, gereformeerd
     not the stroopop as such versus those who would like to                                         zijn, al is het ook met een neiging tot eenzijdigheid."
     see the "stroopop" go up in smoke. No, but the battle is                                        (Report, p. 13.) Next he will tell us perhaps that the


                                        THE  STXXDARD  CE;1REK
__---.-                                                                                    .- ..__ -...-...- _-.........- _..__- -- .._. .--_....-~I'
teachings of Danhof and Hoeksema are in part erroneous.          Banen" and to what is being published from month to
and that insofar their views arc erroneous they go               month in "The Standard Bearer." The  cntirc output is
contrary to our standards, Scripture and the three points,       nothing else but a development and defense of the three
but that insofar as these views are sound they are in full       propositions enumerated  above. Of the entire output the
agreement with our confessional standards. To that above propositions are the very heart and soul. Hence.
extent then that the views of Danhof and Hoeksema                the entire output is one organical whole. Now a child
agree with our Standards to that extent should they  be          can see that if his heart is corrupt the entire organism
regarded as an attack upon pelagianism. Hence the pro- must be corrupt. In other words, if the three propositions
fessor will say, my report and my brochure agree.  NO            are corrupt the development and exposition and the
conflict there whatsoever. The statement:  "Zij (de  scho-       defense of the three propositions must be corrupt. On
ten)  waren feitelijk gericht gedecltelijk tegen de  Armini-     the other hand, if the development, exposition and defense
aansche leer van de algemeene voldoening, en gedeeltelijk        of the propositions in question are sound the propositions
tegen de Pelagiaansche beschouwing, dat ook de  natuur-          themselves must be sound.                    I   f e e l   a s s u r e d   t h a t
lijke mensch in staat is om geestelijk  goed te daen,"           the learned committee will grant me this.                                  Very
applies to the views of Danhof and Hoeksema insofar as well.             `Let us now point out how that the height
these views are sound. And when I contended as com-              of the ridiculous was again reached, June. 1924,
mittee member that their views militated against the             and that by the learned Dr. C. Bouma,  &-of.
standards I was referring to certain erroneous utterances        Rerkhof and Dr. Y. P. De Jong. This learned trio pro-
found in their publications. Therefore the professor may         nounced our three propositions corrupt but  the  csposi-
say, you are mistaken when you claim that I contradict tion, deveIopment  and defense of them sound. According
myself. Retract please, and apologize.                           to this learned trio the consistent  development  of a lie
   However, we are not ready to  retract and apologize.          gives you truth.
The above argumentation is fallacious. It proceeds from             The verdict of these men should not surprise us. These
an erroneous  premice. Namely : the views and teachings          men believe in common'grace. And according to com-
of Danhof and Hoeksema are in part reformed and in               mon grace the heart is corrupt, but the outgoings of the
part unreformed. They are in part  true and in part              heart, having once reached the circumference of our
false. This is the false premise from which Berkhof              e.xistence,  are pure, noble and good.  These men  have
would be proceeding if he would care to adopt the above          been  applying the principle of common grace to our writ-
defense as his own. It is not true that the views of  Dan-       ings. This is consistency all right. However.  WC don't
hof and Hoeksema are in part true and in part false.             like it. It cannot be that  the  development  of a lie gives
Prof. Berkhof will recall how that he informed Synod             truth. Hence, if the three propositions enumerated above
that this was the case. On the one hand he asserted that are corrupt, those sections of Danhof and  Hoeksema's
"Deze uitspraken (i. e. certain utterances found in  Dan-        publications which develop these propositions must bc
hof and  Hoeksema"s  publications)  acht uwe  comm. in corrupt. On the other hand, if the development of the
strijd te zijn met de Heilige  Schrift  en met onze  Belijde-    three propositions are reformed, the propositions must be
nisschriften."    On the other hand he concedes as com-          reformed.
mittee member that  "Het niet ontkend kan  worden dat                                 (To be Continued)
zij in de grondwaarheden, zooals die in onze  Belijdenis-                                                                      G. M. 0.
schriften geformuleerd zijn, gereformeerd zijn, al is het
ook met een neiging tot eenzijdigheid." Clear, is it not,                            K E N N I S G E V I N G
how that Berkhof as committee member reports that the
views of Danhof and Hoeksema are in part reformed and                  De gezamenlijke opbrengst van  Cantine en  Col-
in part unreformed? And this cannot possibly be true.              lecte op den 4den  Juli bedroeg de niet geringe som
If a part of what Danhof and Hoeksema teach and write              van $416.01  netto. Ten bate  van de  S. B.
is unreformed, all that these men teach and write is                   Wij betuigen bij dezen  onzen  dank  aan de milde
unreformed. On the other hand, if a part of what  Dan-             gevers en gewillige medewerkers.
hof and Hoeksema teach and write is reformed all that                                               - D E   C O M M I T T E E .
they teach and write is reformed. And this applies to all
that was written before and after the synod. And why?
Eecause  all that was written is an exposition, a develop-                           MARRIAGE NOTICE
ment and a defense of three propositions.         They are          Sieger  Ruimveld-Blanche   May  Bland.  Eialamazoo,   Mich.
a) God is gracious unto his people only ; b) Sin developes          Adrian De Moore-Cornelia  I'oot. Kalamazoo,  Mich.
organically unchecked; c) The natural man sins only.                Rev. H. Danhof, officiating.
All that was written before and after the synode revolves
about these three popositions. This applies to the con-                  Shrink not from the right strife unequal,
tents of "Van  Zonde  en Genade." It applies to  the con-                With the best is always hope:
tents of  "Niet Doopersch maar Gereformeerd." It applies                 But ever in the sequel,
to what was placed before the public in  "Langs  Zuivere                 God holds the right side up.


     24                                          T  I-1  E S T 21 N D .<I R D B E  -i  R.  E  `R
                              -                                           _ _.._ ". ".._ .._ ."".."  _._ t..    --_                   --_
     de zijne.  Deze  zake van den  Zoon van God is  oak de              explain that they recoil from such a hard doctrine and
     zake  van  degencn,  die door  den Vader  aan  Christus  ge-        that they do not believe that  they need preach the two
     geven zijn. Zij wnrden verwaardigt  vonr de zaak dcs                sides of the doctrine of prcdcstination. But they are not
     Heeren tc strijden. Wie daarin volhardt ten einde toe,              intellectually honest if they know that this doctrine with
     wordt straks met eere en heerlijkhcid gekroond. Wie                 its two sides of election and reprobation forms the  COT
     antithetisch  liefhebbend-hatend strijdt den strijd des             ecclesiae  of the Reformed Churches.
     Heeren, zooals  God  zelf, en  gelijk Christus, ziet straks                 Predestination is far  more than a hollow sound to the
     tot zijne blijdschap al zijne en Christus' vijanden in de           Reformed. This doctrine has always been the life-center
     eeuwige  xlerdoemenis  geworpen. en zichzelven met alle of the Reformed Church. Without this doctrine it would
     uitverkorenen ten eeuwigen leven in de hemelsche  blijd-            have  nu raison d'etre, no reason to exist. This great
     schap  en heerlijkheid opgenomen door den  Rechter van               truth has been called the mother-idea, which bears all the
     levenden en dooden.                                                 other truths  of the Reformed faith. Xnd all the other
           TIaarop  tioelt  Christus in de bergrecle.                    doctrines in our Confession are determined and receive
                                                            I.1. D.      explanation from this great central doctrine of predes-
                                                                         tination. Without it the Reformed church has no
                                                                         strength. !I.nd  only when we as Reformed see this truth
                                                                         in all its wide bearing upon life around us, are we in a
                          PREDESTINATION                                 position to rejuvenate and keep young the spirit of the
                                                                          Reformed fathers in the midst of a crooked and perverse
                           A  Minimized Truth                            generation.                                       .
                                                                                But the life of the Reformed Churches seems to be
           Do you profess to be a  Reformed  m&?                         passing! That is the case in the Netherlands as well
           Then  you  believe  in the  Reformed doctrine of  prcclcs-    as in  Limerica.   Why? you ask? Because the doctrine of
     tination.                                                           predestination no longer seems to be the foundation of
           But then  you  ha\-e no desire to minimize this truth, our world and life view. This central dogma of the
     either! Then  J'OU want to understand this truth in all             Reformed Confession no longer is in the foreground and
     its  wide significance. :Incl you will not bc satisfied with        the  car ecclesiae, the heart of the church, seems to be in
     yourself until  you  have made a diligent study of this             need of restoratives.
     doctrine. and derive the comfort therefrom which there                     Dr. Dyk says in his "Om  `t  Eeuwig Welbehagen":
     is in this truth for  ever>- child of God.                          "En  to& rijst hier en  claar  telkens de klacht, dat dit  kern-
           What  I am referring to,  you  ask?  `\`ery well,  I shall stuk van de gereformeerde waarheid niet zoo scherp op
     giyc  you as brief and complete a definition as  1 can. "Prc-       den  voorgrond staat als  vroeger, en dat de harteklop
     tlestination we call the eternal decree of  &d, by which            krachtiger en levendiger  ken en moest zijn.  - Is deze
     He has determined in Himself, what He would hare to                 klacht gegrond?  -  Volgens  de ouderen wel."
     become of every individual of mankind. For they are not                    There is thus a minimizing of the truth of predes-
     all created with a similar destiny; but eternal life is fore-       tination.
     ordained for some, and eternal damnation for others.                       One of the reasons for this minimizing we would find
     Every man, therefore, being  cieated  for one or the other in the attitude which the Reformed have assumed to-
     of these ends. we say, he is predestinated either to life or        wards Dogmatics. hfter two such powerful dogmaticians
     to death."                       i                                  as Dr.  L\. Kuyper, Sr. and Dr. H. Bavinck contributed
           I am glad that you believe  .this!                            their works on Gereformeerde Dogmatiek to the litera-
           But all men are not as you are !                              ture of the world, one idea seems to have struck root
           Yes, I know that there are infidels and unbelievers,          which must work disaster for Reformed Theology. That
     atheists and agnostics, Pelagians and Semi-pelagians who            idea is that there is very little more to be done by the
     deny this truth. Some distort this  trut,h. Rut there are           dogmatician after these two gaints of Reformed theology
     among Reformed men, at least they call themselves                   have had their say. No idea could be more deadly in its
     Reformed, who minimize this truth.  iInd that is dan-               effects for Reformed thought than this one. For the only
     gerous 1                                                            way in which to remain Reformed is to become still more
           Of late it has become evident that so-called Reformed `Reformed than the best Reformed have ever been. To
     men, pay very little attention to this doctrine. So-called          be sure? we should take diligent account of what Kuyper
     Reformed preachers very seldom preach on election and               and Bavinck have written. But if we do this without
     reprobation. Oh yes, some do preach that "eternal life the belief that there is room for progress at any and all
     is foreordained for some men," but they never preach that           times in Reformed theology, then we are destined to die.
.    eternal damnation is foreordained for  &hers.              Some     :Ind we put a strangle hold on Reformed truth. No, we
     refuse to preach this  trutJh. And still they call them-            have been called to more glorious work than mechanic-
     selves Reformed. But they are not! They certainly                   ally reproducing what former theologians have written.
     minimize the doctrine of  predectination. .Ind such men              Every Reformed theologian should strive after whole-
     are not strictly honest. Surely, they may hasten to some progress in the realm of Reformed truth. And if


                                        T H E   ST3NDA:RD   BE:1RER
                                                                               ~-._.-            -_._                      25
                                                                                                                 ..--__-
we do not see that this applies first of all to the  doctrine    receive its due emphasis, if such procedure invokes the
of predestination, we must inevitably lose our grip on           ridicule of others, then there will never be any doctrine
truth. For if no progress is possible here, Reformed or portion of Holy Writ which can receive a correct inter-
truth will come into a state of stagnation, wither and die.      pretation. If the impudence of some people must silence
   Such has not been the aim of Reformed theologians             us, all the principle articles of our faith will have to be
of the recent past. Even Dr. V. Hepp undoubtedly aims            hidden. For the doctrines of the Trinity, the  Sonship of
at teaching theology from the standpoint of Apologetics.         Christ, the Personality of the Spirit, the Creation of the
If not, what else did he mean when he delivered his              World, in fact all doctrines contained in the Bible have
inaugural address as the successor of Dr. Bavinck?               at one time or another met with their caricature. The
   To remain Reformed we must at all attempts try to             Christian should never be ashamed of the doctrines of
determine the wide significance of the doctrine of predes-       Holy Writ. And the contention of some  Chrisfians that
tination. We must determine from Scripture how God a discussion of doctrine is dangerous to pious minds,
realizes election and reprobation. We must see the rela-         because it is inconsistent with exhortations, shakes their
tion of predestination to God's Providence, to God's             faith, and disturbs and discourages the heart itself, is
`Being and to all of creation. This has certainly not been without any foundation. An open discussion of any
accomplished as yet.      For  esen  Kuyper and Bavinck          article of faith is desirable provided it does not go accom-
point out various problems which confronted them. Why panied with the desire to scrutinize those  thin+ which
rest we here idle?                                               God has left concealed. But we have no right to neglect
   A second reason lies in the attitude which so many those points of doctrine which are clearly revealed unto
Reformed people assume towards the doctrine of predes- US  in Scripture. And the contention that the doctrine of
tination itself. When predestination is mentioned, too           predestination is a secret with God with which we are
many people would like to murder and bury all mention            not concerned is untrue and by no means Reformed. It
of  if. Too many teach men to avoid every question con- certainly is clear from Scripture that God has chosen
cerning it. How often Deut.  29:29 is quoted by such             some unto eternal life, and that He has foreordained
people  : "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God ; others unto eternal damnation.
but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and             Those who minimize this truth should remember that
to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of        the preaching of this truth is productive of the most
this law  !" To such people we would like to give reply in       delightful benefit to the heart of the Christian. Ignorance
the words of Calvin: "Though their moderation is to be of this doctrine "must detract  from the Divine glory and
commended, in judging that mysteries ought to be han- diminishes real humility." They who shut the gates to
dled with such great sobriety, yet, as they descend too          prevent or discourage any one from presuming to
low, they have little influence on the mind of man, which        approach and understand this doctrine, do injury to  God
refuses to  s&nit to unreasonable restraints. To observe, as well as man. There is nothing like the truth of predes-
therefore, the legitimate boundary on this side also, we         tination which makes for the desired humility of man,
must recur to the word of the Lord, which affords a cer- and for deepening the sense of what we owe to our God.
tain rule for the understanding. For the Scripture is the        Nor is real confidence in the promises of God possible
school of the Holy Spirit, in which, as nothing necessary without knowledge of election. All those who minimize
and useful to be known is omitted, so nothing is taught          predestination can never produce a confidence equal to
which it is not beneficial to know. Whatever, therefore,         the one which proceeds from Paul's word to Timothy:
is declared in the Scripture concerning predestination,          "Nevertheless, the firm foun'iation of God standeth sure."
we must be cautious not to withhold from believers, Iest            Dr.  R. Dyk attributes the Christian's neglect and
we appear to defraud them of the favor of God, or to             minimizing of the doctrine of predestination to the force
reprove and censure the Holy Spirit for publishing what of circumstances. He writes that because of the devel-
it would be useful by any means to suppress. Let us, I opment in the science of theology, and in close connec-
say, permit the Christian man to open his heart and his tion with the cultural life of our days, numerous other.
ears to all the discourses addressed to him by God, only         questions have pressed themselves upon us which
with this moderation, that as soon as the Lord closes His        demand our study. New problems have arisen. Other
sacred mouth, he shall also desist from further inquiry."        doctrines more or less neglected have demanded their
(Calvin, Institutes, Book III, Chap. XXI,  III.)                 share of attention. "Waarheden, waarover te disputeeren
   Unquestionably much of the minimizing of the doc-             niet meer noodig  scheen, hebben vernieuwde bezinning
trine of predestination on the part of some Christian gevorderd, en de leer der verkiezing is waarlijk niet de
people springs forth from a fear which these people have         eenige quaestie, waarover met het ongeloof strijd moet
with them, that if emphasis is laid on this truth, all kinds gevoerd, of in eigen kring de  meeningen  zich  kruisen."
of arguments will be brought against this doctrine. But He mentions as remarkable that the Synod of  Leeuwar-
there have always been profane persons who lay hold of den did not instruct the committee which must labor for
something relating to the subject of predestination to the (uitbouw der belijdenis) extension of the confession
furnish occasion for objections, reproaches and ridicule. to make further study of predestination, which does not
But if we fallow the policy that no doctrine should              appear to be a point at issue, but to limit its study to the


articles of the  cc.,nfcasion   concerning   the Scripture,  the             AAN MIJN VRIEND IN HET  WESTEN
Church, and the relation to the State.
                                                                             Amicc  fraterquc  !
   Two points of considerable interest are well taken by
this author. One reason why the doctrine of  prcdestina-               Je  brief ontvangcn.  Hct  verheugt  mij natuurlijk, dat
tion is being minimized is that all kinds of other prob-            hct daar bij jullie onder den zcgen dcs  Heercn alles  naar
lems demand the attention of the Christian Church.  ,4nd,           wensch  gaat. Een  aangcnamen dag doorgebracht den
whereas, these other problems demanding  soldtion, espe-            vierden Juli,  hC? Nu, daar kunnen wij ook van  spreken.
cially with an eye to the raging of unbelief, the Reformed             Je weet natuurlijk,  dat we hier een Velddag gehouden
feel the need of concerted action with non-Reformed                 hebben van alle Protesteerende Rerken hier in den  om-
Christians, it stands to reason that where such concerted           trek.
action has been obtained, there will be no emphasis on
points of doctrine that all parties do not wholeheartedly              Het was in elk opzicht een hccrlijke dag.  Enkele
                                                                    dagen  tevoren was het snik heet geweest, zcodat de mus-
ascribe to. Now, there is no doctrine so specifically schen op de daken zaten te  gapen  van de hitte. En er
Reformed as the doctrine of predestination. And if the              was maar zeer weinig regen gevallen, zoodat de weiden
help of non-Reformed  peopIe is necessary to combat the
vioIent  waves of infidelity, then it is necessary, if all          kaal en  gee1   beg6nnen te  worden  van de droogte.  Doch
                                                                    in den  nacht van den derden op den vierden Juli gaf de
Christians shall present a united front, that emphasis be           :Heere ons een hccrlijken en  verkwikkenden  regcn,  waar-
laid on doctrines on which all Christians are agreed.               van  heel  de natuur verfrischte. En  schoon in den vroegen
   But we have considered whether the circumstances morgen  zich nog dreigende wolken  vcrtoonden.  brak  tech
which Dr. Dyk mentions do not manifest a specious                   spoedig de zon door de wolkcn en bleven we  voor  ver-
world-conformity.     True,  ,he does mention that the dere  b&en bewaard. Onder het dichte  lommer  van een
Reformed do not wish to relinguish any of the specifically schoon  bosch in de nabijheid van Jenison,  Mich..  verga-
Reformed truths. But he does admit that there is a very             derden we. Een groote  schare stroomde  samcn.  Ik  heb
strong desire for concerted action against infidelity. And          mcnschen ontmoet dien dag van  ccle plaatsen.  Ze  kwa-
this spirit alone is sufficient to cause men to  itiscuss doc-      men van  Comstock, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids.  K\-ran
trines which are generally admitted by all Christians.              Center, Hudsonville,  Beax-erdam,  Holland.  Zecland   (~1
Xnd such a spirit must mean a minimizing, if not a                  Muskegon. 11~  wil niet zcggcn,  op hoeveel  men  dc  scharc
gradual but soon total neglect of the central doctrine of           daar tegenwoordig wcl heeft geschat, maar  zekcr  warcn
the  Reformed  confession. That spirit certainly tends in er enkele duizenden bijeen.
the wrong direction.                                                   En wat  hcerschte er  ten aangcname gctst !  U'ij  waren
                                                                    blijde in den Heere, die alles zoo  we1  maakt.   Er  werd
   .Must we than not combat infidelity? By all means.               met  elkander  gezongen  en gebedcn cn  qcsproken,  gcge-
.But no Reformed man has a right to  catei to a spirit              ten en gespeeld. En de leeraren der gemeenten.  alsmedc
which is detrimental to the core and kernel of his own Candidaat R. Danhof hebben ons toegesproken tot  onder-
cc'nfcssion.    Tf  possible.  hc must combat infidelity  b>        wijzing en bemoediging. We  waren  welgemoed in de
developing and making progress in the doctrines speci-              overtuiging, dat de Heere met ons is. En dankbaar en
fically Reformed. The first duty for every Reformed man blijde keerden we in den avond wederom huiswaarts.
is to preserve what he has obtained from the Scripture                 Ik  verneem,  dat jullie daar in het  Westen  straks ook
by adding to it.                                                    zulk een dag hopen te vieren. AIs ik eenigszins kan hoop
   And Dr. Dyk himself strengthens us in the conviction             ik  aan jullie  verzoek te voldoen en tegenwoordig te ziju.
that the much-sought-for-concerted-action is a specious                Wat moet men anders al wat'hooren  tegenwoordig.
world-conformity when he writes : "Over het religieuse              als men niet doof is, hC? Ik las kort geleden  een brief van
leven in den engen zin des woords valt niet te juichen. Pekelder  aan een mijner vrienden, waarin hij ons  allen
Deze periode is innerlijk, geestelijk laag gestemd. De brandmerkt als de Danhof-en-Hoekscma-Sccte, onze  vol-
heroische bezieling wordt gemist. De blijmoedigheid des gelingen "fanatics,' noemt en mij uitscheldt voor Pope
geloofs bloeit niet in volle kracht, en er is  we1 ernst en         en Bull-dog! Is het niet erg, amice? Wat kan een mensch
zoeken en vragen, maar het blijft te veel bij vragen, en            tech ver afdwalen als hij eenmaal zijn voet  op het  ver-
tot  zekerheid  en  geloo~.rvustheid  komt men niet.  Overal        keerde pad zet, niet waar ? Hij schijnt  zich  vooral te
kan men de klacht beluisteren, dat er zooveel gebrek stooten  aan de brieven, die ik  aan je schrijf. Hij leest ze
heerscht  aan oprechte geestelijke blijdschap en de roem bepaald ook en heeft  zich er  aan geirgerd. Dat is wcl
der zekerheid wordt al te weinig gehoord. En bij zulk jammer, want ik heb  tech niets geschreven dan de  waar-
een geestelijke gedruktheid  verheft het hart  zich niet  ge-       heid,  niet waar? En als men  zich  aan de waarheid stoot
makkelijk tot den jubel in Gods welbehagen."                        en ergert, dan is het al ver gekomen met een mensch. I k
    HOW to act to relieve such spiritual pressure? Preach hoop van harte, dat broeder Pekeider  zich nog eens. snag
the doctrine of predestination and study it more than bekeeren,  en dat de verantwoordelijkheid voor alle  onge-
ever !                                                              rechtigheid, die de  keik jegens ons  heeft  bedreven, hem
                                                    B. J. D.        nog eens te zwaar moge  worden. Het is anders niet erg


