      EDITORIAL STAFF                                    REFORMED MONTHLY ~~i~~~aar::~~~
 H. Danhof                                                                                                                        Vander   Vennen,  858  Kalamizod
      H. Hoeksema                                   P U B L I S H E D   B Y   T H E   R E F O R M E D   F R E E                   Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids,  Mich.
                                                                                                                                  Communications relative to  con-
            G. M. Ophoff                                            PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION                                        tents of Magazine should be
                B. J. Danhof                                             GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.                                      addressed to Rev. H. Hoeksema,
                                                                                                                                  524 Eastern Ave., S.E., Grand
                       G. Van Beek                                                                                                Rapids,  Mich.
                                              f          Entered as second class mail matter at Grand Rapids,  Mich.

Vol. I, No. 12                                                                  SEPTEMBER, 1925                                        Subscription Price $1.50
              __..-____1__                                                                                       _..                                _-_-_~-
                                                                                                         These are scarcely saved.
             MEI>ITATION                                                                                 God, indeed, provided the prize for all: everlasting
                                                                                                      glory in the eternal kingdom. He opened wide the gates
                                                                                                      of the City Eternal for all to enter that will. He also
                       SCARCELY SAVED                                                                 devised the way that leadeth into the City and provided
                          And if the righteous scarcely be saved, a never deceiving road-guide in the Word of His testi-
                       w h e r e   s h a l l   t h e   u n g o d l y   a n d   t h e   s i n n e r    mony. He even stands with open arms in the gate of the
                       appear? 1 Peter 1:18.                                                          City at the end of the road, lovingly beckoning all to
   Scarcely saved?                                                                                    choose the way of the righteous and encouraging those
                                                                                                      that so did choose to persevere until the end.
   Can it he, perchance, that the whole precious matter
of the salvation of the righteous be a matter of uncer-                                                  But  the,choice and the running is for man's free-will.
tainty ?                                                                                                 ,Many disdain the well-meaning call of the King of
                                                                                                      that City, because the road thither is steep and well-nigh
   `5id God provide but a mere chance of salvation, leav-                                             impassable and they prefer the wide and evenly paved
ing it  to the freedom of our frail and whimsical and road of the world. These are the ungodly and the  sin-
unstable wills to  rmbracc  the opportunity and to cling nrr,-and where shall they appear? Others choose the
to it till the end?                                                                                   way of righteousness but for  n little while and perish.
   To some the words of the apostle Peter seem to  con- Still other righteous struggle up the steep road till  the)
ye\* such thoughts. The righteous, then, are scarcely, consumed all their strength and perish. Some, too, per-
that is, but  rarely saved. Many they are, indeed, that set sist till they well-nigh set their feet within the gate of
their feet  on the path of the righteous and that com- the heavenly Jerusalem, but the gate is closed at that
mence with all the righteous to strive for the crown and very moment and they perish. Few,  very rew  persevere
to seek the City that hath foundations; but rarely it hap- to the end and obtain the crown.. . .
pens that the goal is reached. The vast majority of them                                                 For scarcely are the righteous saved. . . .
fall by the wayside, perish in the way as Israel of old
was struck down in the wilderness by the fierce and                                                      Can it be?....
consuming wrath of God. For also in this respect the
way of salvation is like the ancient race-track and the                                                  God forbid !
righteous are like the runners. Many would participate                                                   For a thousand reasons that cannot be!
in such races, filled with hope and zeal to reach the much                                               Or, if that could be, if it were possible, that many of
desired prize and feeling fully competent to attain to the the righteous should perish in the way, where would be
goal. But for a majority of these their hope ended in                                                 the boast of the apostle: `;For I am persuaded that
bitter disappointment. The crown was scarcely won.. . . neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor
    A number of the runners would see their hope vanish                                               powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height,
like a dream when scarcely the race had begun; others                                                 nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to sepa-
would persevere till in pitiful exhaustion and gasping for rate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
hreath, they would fall down in prostration, a sorry spec-                                            Lord"? Rom.  8:38, 39.
tacle for the lookers-on ; still others would continue in the                                            Or, if that could be the meaning of the words: "if
course till with hopefully beating hearts they could almost the righteous are scarcely saved," where would be the
lap their hand on the prize, but only in order to be firm assurance of the hope concerning which the very
defeated in the face of victory ; and few, very few, indeed, author of these words writes to the elect strangers, when
possessed the strength of body and steadiness of deter- he says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
mination to reach the goal.. . . .                                                                    Jesus  Christ, which according to his. abundant mercy
    So, they  say, it is with salvation and the righteous.                                            hath begotten us again unto  a lively hope  hp the  resur-


2                                               TT-TE  ST:IND~~RD   BEARER
                               "._           ___.._    ___-_"-. .._ --..-" _                                  "-..l"l-.-l_ll.   ---.-      _-  -_".  _
rection  of  j'cts~rs Christ  from the dead, to an inheritance                     I-Tnrdl\-   thc>y  a r e   xavcri.
incorruptible. and undefiled and that fadeth not away,                             The way is narrow.
reserved in heaven for  J'OU, who are kept by the power                            And leads thru tribulation.
of  God thru faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in                          Thru fire and  flood and blood, thru darkness and fear
the last time"?  1:  Pk.  12-5.                                                 :Ind trouble, thru pain and agony and death, thru shame
       But no, most emphatically no, that cannot be.                            and contempt and reproach, thru the deep  way of  the
       Tt cannot be, because the righteous are God's  own                       cross, the righteous are saved. , . .
elect. In unfathomable and most  sovcreigniy  free  love,                          It  is  a  cross  that  is laid upon their shoulders, which
for His own Name's sake, He knew them, loved them,                              they must carry on the way ;  a cross, sometimes  SO  heavy
chose them, ordained that they should be made like unto                         that it would seem they can scarcely drag it to  the gates
the  image  of His Son that  He might bc the first-born                         nf Jerusalem in glory . . . .
among brethren. .4nd as unchangeably firm as God's                                 They are scarcely saved!
own gracious will over them, so  immo\-ably  certain is                            Do you not perceive this element in the very way  of
the  salvation of the righteous . . . .                                         the Captain of our salvation? `He paved  the way to Zion
        It cannot be, because the righteous are the  boughten                   for all the righteous. But, oh, how terrible was that
ones not with gold or silver but with the precious blood                             ! Listen to His own estimate of the  way He must
of Christ. God gave His only Beloved for them. Christ way
                                                                                travel to accomplish the salvation of the rightebus, when
walked the way of grief for them. He that knew no sin                           with a  view to it, a few days before he enters into  it2
became  sin  for  them that they might be made  righteous-                      darkest stretch, he groans: "Now is my soul troubled  !"
ness  of God thru Him.                For them Christ lived thru Or. follow Him to the garden where the blood-sweat  of
all  the dark agony of His death.  -%nd  with His eyes on                       profoundest grief stands upon His brow, and let Him tell
them, at the moment when the glad light of victory and                          you in His own words how hardly His people are saved
glorv  alreadv began to pierce the black night of His                           by Him: "My  soul is exceedingly sorrowful  even unto
suffering, He announced with dying lips : "It is finished."                     death." How He groaned, was unspeakably sorrowful,
        l`t cannot be because the righteous are those that because He, the Sinless One was made sin, because He.
have eternal life, and they can never perish.  It was not the Son, must  finallv crv out:  "h/Iy God, my God, why
by an act  of their own changeable free-will. but by an                         hast  thou  forsalrcn   me,,;
                                                                                                                .        If  you will follow Him from
operation  of boundless and irresistible grace, that  they                      the Roman hall of judgment to the Place of the Skull,
became righteous and were moved to set their feet on                            you will on that way find the symbol of the measure of
the way to Zion. They are begotten again unto a lively                          His awful suffering, for well-nigh He succumbs under
hope by the resurrection of the Lord.  ;ilready they walk                       the  heasy tree: hardly can He drag the cross to the place
in the world with the life of the  heal-enly  City in their of execution : He suRered according to the full capacity of
hearts. That life is imperishable because of their living                       His strength. Hardly are the righteous saved thru Him.
connection with the Quickening Spirit.                                              And as it is with the Lord so it is with the righteous:
        Tt cannot because they are in  Christ?s  hand. He  iS They are saved thru tribulation, they are hardly  saved.
their  T.nrd, their Owner thru deepest  love, responsible                           How could it be otherwise?
for them in life and death.  T-Iis hand is holding theirs.                          The servant is not greater than his Lord.
     And His hand is Almighty. No one can pluck them out of                         Zf they hated the Lord they will hate His servants, if
that mighty hand.                                                               true servants they be.
        NO,  it cannot be, for a thousand reasons it cannot bc,                     How could anyone imagine that behind such a  sor-
     that the righteous are  e\`er lost.                                        rowful  Lord, with the blood of grief upon  His,face, hated
        Somehow they may be scarcely saved.                                     and despised,  th&-e would follow a crowd of servants,
     But saved they are surely.                                                 hilarious and gleeful in the midst of the same world that
        .lnd nn the  way to Zion they may sing:                                 so hated Him and still hates `Him so? Can you conceive
              "Salvation is from God alone,                                     of a more horrible disharmony than the Man of sorrows,
              Whom as their covert saints have known                            crucified by the world because it hated the Light,  suc-
              When  by sore troubles tried  ;                                   rounded by a crowd of professed servants and friends,
              The Lord Who helped in troubles past                              dancing and drinking and playing and singing with high
              Will save them to the very last,                                  priests and elders and all the dark devildom that would
              For they in Him confide."                                         empty the vials of their hatred upon Him?
                                                                                    I tell you nay, this dancing and pleasure-drunken, and
        Yet. truly, the righteous are scarcely saved.                           worldly-treasure-insane crowd of friends of the world,
        The salvation of the righteous is very glorious  and profess they what they will, do not  belong  to the  fol-
     greatly to be desired.  But the way is difficult. Accord- lowers of the Man of Sorrows. They are the ungodly and
     ing to the standard  of the world you cannot dance to                      the sinners, even though they say : Lord, Lord !
     glor>-.  So tremendous is this divine work of salvation,                       Neither are the righteous in their way thru the world
     and so hard the way that leads to the  final  gIory  of  the to glory ever pictured in this fashion in the Word that
     saints. that we would say: they can hardly make it.                        can  never  lie.


                                            T II E s T A N D
-_. ,. .--. --.- _ ^ _.... -_.-.-.    _^.._  -  ^ . ..."  - ..._" .&RD  B E A R E R                                                 3
                                                                                         l___- -.-._..-  "..----. .-...... ..."lll_ll

    On the contrary, they are hardly saved.                      way to their salvation! rind how necessary the way of
    For, though the life, the perfect, eternal life of their tribulation must be to lead us to that final glory if
risen  %ord is in them, they are still in the flesh and  they    Father's boundless love chose it! r2nd, after all, how safe
have a hard battle to fight against their former Lord,           and comforted we may be in the way, be it ever so dark,
the Prince of `Darkness. They know of sin and guilt, of          in the knowledge that Father's hand holds  oui-s and that,
sorrow and repentance, of the temptations of the flesh           even though we may be scarcely saved, we shall be saved
and of the world. Besides, they are in the world, being indeed !
in the  Aesh, and they let their light shine in darkness             He shall lead us by His counsel and afterward receive
and the darkness hateth the light. The world hates them          us in glory.
as they do hate their Lord. Reproach and shame and con-             Soon, very soon, for tribulation is but for a little while,
tempt, suffering for His  narne*s  sake is their lot. Killed all the weary night is past and the eternal day shall dawn
they are all the day long. Thru a thousand dangers, gloriously.                  hnd standing in the glorious light of that
temptations, tribulations and persecutions they must eternal day, and glancing back upon the finished course
travel to final salvation . . . .      .                         in wonderment and adoration we shall give praise to
    And, surely, they are saved.                                 Father and perfect thanks for all the riches of His inherit-
    But the way is hard.                                         ance and for the wondrous -ways thru which He led us
    Saved, they are, with extreme difficulty.                    thither.
    Scarcely.                                                       Then, then we shall be satisfied. Satisfied because of
                                                                 the full and rich and deep enjoyment of God's perfected
    Shill we, then, envy the way of the foolish?                 covenant-communion. Satisfied also with the way that
    Shall we call the broad way of the ungodly and sin- had to be traveled to make us partakers of such bliss.
ner grace ?                                                         For we shall then experience what we now know  by
    Shall we be filled with chagrin and discontent, shall faith, that the suffering of this present time is not  worth!
our  soul  grow uneasy when we see the prosperity of             to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed
wicked men?                                                      in us.
    Surely, their way is wide and smooth. A?1 the world             Saved, the righteous are, scarcely.
seems theirs, with its power and treasure, its ease and its         But saved surely.
splendor, its honor and its pleasure. iind they are not             .4nd saved to untold glory!
in  sutiering as other men are. They turn in wicked pride                                                                1% H.
against the righteous, yet their prosperity has  apparentI)
no-end.. . .
    But mark, now, their end.                                                     MINISTERING ANGELS
    Where shall they appear?
    If the way to glory is so narrow that the righteous arc They are  e\-ermore  around us, though unseen to mortai
scarcely, that is with difficulty saved; if God leads His            sight,
beloved children thru so awful a way of agony and trib-          In the golden hour of sunshine and in sorrow's starless
ulation; and if this dark way is indispensable, as you may            night,
be sure it is, to lead the beloved of God to the glory He        Deepening earth's most sacred pleasures with the peace
preserves in heaven for them.. . .                                   of sin forgiven,
    What,. then,  .will' become of the wicked, all the           Whispering to the lonely mourner of the painless joys of
tendency of whose heart is toward iniquity, if God gives              heaven.
him the rein and allows his wicked nature full sway,
provides for him all the necessary means to manifest  and' Seeing all  `our guilt and weakness, looking down with
develop corrupt nature, smooths for him the way. . . .                piteous eyes,
    Surely, God  doth, set them in slippery places, on the       For the foolish things we cling to and the  heaven,that
which they sing and dance and rejoice in drunken revelry             we despise ;
and rush headlong into destruction !                             They have been our guardian angels since  the weary
    Where  shall  they appear? In desolation deep and                world began,
dark in proportion to the measure of iniquity they were          :Ind they still are watching o'er us for His sake who died
permitted to fill in the days of their earthly prosperity.           for man.
    How foolish, then, to be envious with the wicked!                                                                 --Anon.
    And what abundant reason have the children of God
to be reconciled with and comforted in the narrow way
in the which they are scarcely saved! For how great                 A great English statesman  *estimated  that when a
must be the glory, how rich the inheritance, how unspeak-        tnissionary had been twenty years on the field, he is
ably blessed the eternal victory of the righteous, if God,       worth, in his indirect expansion of trade and commerce,
who loves them as a father loves his children, does not          10,000 pounds per year to British commerce.
hesitate to lead them thru so deep and dark and awful  a                                                      The Instructor.


6                                          `I` Ii E S `I. A N D A R D B E  ~1 R E R
                                                 -..___ --"" .._.....              -" .._.. - ..__-..._-_  -.-- .._.    -_-.-....    _-
I I _ _ -
ook weer niet met Dr. Dijk zekerc terreinen  verlatcn,                             PROF. BERKHOF'S BROCHURE
Neen, gij zijt het met ons  eens.  Indien niet, zeg het vrij
uit in ons blad. zoodat onze  Iczers, zij.  die ons volgen,                                            (Continued)
het lezcn kunnen.                     t
                                                                            Let us now pbint out what this learned committee did.
      En ook stemt ge ons toe, dat we gedurendc de laatste               The committee pronounced the three propositions cor-
jaren  voor dit beginsel, en voor  Gets  a,nders,   geijvcrd  heb-       rupt. I shall quote from their report. In "The Banner"
ben, met inspanning van onze beste  krachten. Wij  wil-                  Hoeksema asserted the following (Our Doctrine, Art. 29)
len uit  f&n beginsel leven. Voor de waarachtigheid van                  "The fact remains that, in some way, to a certain extent,
dit woord verwijzen we naar  alles, wat we in de laatste in a certain measure all men partake of grace, and hence,
jaren  gepubliceerd hebben. En wij  tarten hiermede Ds.                  God must be graciously inclined to all. We deny that in
Manni om in "The Standard Bearer," indien hem zulks                      any way or to any extent for time or eternity God
lust, te bewijzen, op objectieve gronden, dat dit ons  zeg-              assumes an attitude of positive favor or grace- over
gen niet waarachtig en getrouw is.                                       inclined to the reprobate but to His people only. Con-
      Doch gij vraagt misschien, of de Christelijke  Gere-               against the reprobate." The above quotation is a nega-
formecrde Kerk ons daarom buiten hare gemecnschap                        tive statement of the matter. God is not graciously
sloot; omdat we die  vnorstelling  van de ding-en  gcven.                cerning this proposition the committee reported: "Deze
Natuurlijk,  waarom  anders?        De Christelijke  Gerefor-            uitspraken  acht uwe  comm.  in strijd te zijn met de Heili-
meerde  Kerk  wil  twee  genaden :  troee  lcvensbeginselen ; ge  Schrift en de Belijdenisschriften." (Rapport der  com-
wij maar dfn. Behalve  de zaligmakendc genade, welke                     missie van  Prac-advies  bctreffende zaak-Algemecne
`God  aan de uitverkorenen schenkt, bewijst Hij,  volgens                Genade, p. 7.)
Synodale uitspraak, ook nog  ecne  zekeie   gunst of genade                 Punt 2.
aan verworpenen ,* die krachtens die hun bewezen genadc                     Met betrekking tot het  tweedc punt wordt hct volgen-
nog het goede  doen voor God. Omdat wij dat  onmoge-                     de gezegd door de broeders Danhof en Hoeksema:
Iijk  266 kunnen zien, en derhalve met een gerust geweten                   (Niet Doopersch maar Gereformeerd, bldz. 22) : "Wij
kunnen verkondigen  aan de gemeenten;  dg5rorn"  en  daar-               verstaan zecr  we1 dat de zonde nog niet tot volle rijpheid
otn  allem,   staan we thans  buit.en  de gemcenschap der                is gekomen. Maar wij verklaren dit niet uit een zekere
Christelijkc Gcreformecrde kerkcn. De kerkrcchtelijkc                    stuitende werking Gods, waarvan noch in de Schrift noch
zijdc dcr kwestie laten we  nu nog  rustcn. En wij  tartcn               in de Belijdenis ooit  sprake  is, maar eenvoudig uit de
u, Ds.  Manni,  om  op  objectieve  gronden in "The Standard             organische ontwikkeling der  dingen."  (Bladz. 49.)
 Be&e?  tc bewijzen, dat dit zeggen niet waarachtig en                      In the above quotation it is asserted, we should notice,
getrouw is.                                                              that sin developes organically and unchecked. Also this
                                                             E-1.  D.    proposition the  comm. pronounced unreformed. Said the
                                                                         comm.:  "Ook deze uitspraken  acht uwc Comm. in strijd
                                                                         met de Heilige  Schrift en met uitspraken dcr  Belijdenis-
                      KENNISGEVING                                       schriften." (Report, p. 9.)
                                                                            Punt 3.
      De jaarvcrgadering van de ledcn  dcr "Reformed  Free                  Met betrekking tot punt  dric spreken de broeders
 Publishing Association" staat gehouden te  worden,  D.  V.,             Danhof  en  Hoeksema  zich aldus uit: (Niet Doopersch
 Dinsdagavond den 22sten September. 1925, om half  acht                  maar  Gereformeerd;  bladz. 32) "Het is uwe beschouwing
 in de basement van de Protesteerende Chr.  Gereformeer-                 dat de mensch  we1 van nature zoo bedorven is, dat hij
 de Kerk  aan Eastern  ,4ve., Grand Rapids,.  Mich.                      ganschelijk onbekwaam is tot eenig  goed en geneigd tot
       Daar er belangrijke  zaken   zullen  bcsproken wordcn. alle kwaad. maar die bedorven natuur door Gods  alge-
 worden   allc lcden dringend  verzocht tegenwoordig te                  meene  genade  tech weer bekwaam wordt om positief
 zijn.                                                                   goed te  doen.  En wij spreken het met  alle  vrijmoedig-
                                                                         heid uit, dat dit laatste  noch naar Belijdenis  noch  naar'
       Degenen die lid dezer Verecniging wcnschen  tc  w'or- de Schrift is."
 den, zal  dicn arond gelegenheid wordcn gegeven.                           In the above quotation Dahhof and Hoeksema main-
      Vijf bestuursledcn zullen  worden  gckozen uit de  vol-            tain that natural man is capable of sinning only. This is
 gendc nominatie :                                                       the third of the three propositions to which they, and  WC
       P. Alpenaar, Kalamazoo ; P. Dijksterhuis, Kalamazoo  ; adhere.
 J. Doezema, Grand Rapids  ; D.  Londen, Grand Rapids;                      The idea embodied in this proposition was condemned
 R. Newhouse, Hope Church; F. La Grange, Grand Rap- by the  comm.: "Evenals de vorige,  acht uwe  comm. ook
 ids; J. Rust, Kalamazoo  ; R. Timmer, Grand Rapids; deze uitspraken in strijd te zijn met Gods Woord en met
 R. Wolthuis, Grand Rapids; A. Wijma, Grand Rapids. onze Belijdenisschriften." (Report, p. 11.)
                              Namcns hct Bestuur,                           The three propositions in question were condemned
                                ARTHUR  WSIM.:l,   Seer.                 by the comm.


    The  comm. also reported that Danhof and Hoeksema admitted that our views are an attack upon  Pclagianism
 arc reformed in truths fundamental.                            he annihilated the contents of those sections of his bro-
    We are now ready to draw a few conclusions.                 chure and of his report which asserts that our views are
    1) Whereas any  three propositions must he sound            unreformed and that for the above named reasons. These
 if the exposition of them is sound;                            things are so, irrespective of what the professor may have
    2)     Mrhercas  the exposition of any  three propositions to offer in defense of himself .
 must  hc corrupt if the propositions themselves are cor-          The question arises : when was the professor speaking
 rupt ;                                                         the truth? when he pronounced our views unreformed,
    3) Whereas the propositions together with  their or when he asserted as a  comm. member that our views
 exposition must be sound if either are sound.                  militated against the confessions? It is evident that he
    4) Whereas Synod pronounced  the  three proposi-            cannot be right both times. It is quite impossible for our
 tions corrupt and the exposition of them sound, it fol- views to be at once reformed and unreformed. We our-
 lows, according to the  comm.:                                 selves are best able to determine what is what.
    a>     that the three propositions are corrupt;                The professor spoke the truth when he admitted that
    b) that the three propositions are sound;                   our views were reformed. He erred, however, when he
    c)     that the exposition of them is corrupt;              contended that these views militate against our confes-
    (1)    that the  exposition of them is sound;               sional standards. That he erred then, I shall prove now.
    e) that the three propositions together with their             The first proposition asserts that God is gracious unto
 csposition is sound  ;                                         His people only and not unto the reprobate. Do our con-
    f)  that  the  three propositions  together with their fessional standards teach the reverse?  The professor
 exposition are corrupt.                                        himself most emphatically maintains that no one has a
    LKOW if someone exclaims that  the above conclusions        right to assert that our confessional standards teach that
 taken together form a hopeless jungle of contradictory         God is gracious to the reprobate. We dwelt upon this
 statements I would answer: just so.                            matter at length in our previous art. (See previous num-
    `But, mark you, they follow logically from the above        ber of The Standard Bearer.) Berkhof concedes, does he
 premises. And these premises are found in the report of not? that point one is at best implied in the Standards.
 the  comm. And this means that the report which that Says he:  "Zij (de Synode) heeft  alleen  een drietal  waar-
learned   comm. submitted to synod is one of the most heden  naar  voren gebracht en geformuleerd, die duidelijk
 ridiculous documents that ever saw light. And Oh, how in onze  confessioneele Standaards  begrepen  en voor een
 the learned Dr. C. Rouma pleaded for the adoption of gcdeelte daarin zelfs  uitdrukkelink zijn  uitgedrukt."
 this superb piece of nonsense. I can still see him there       According to the professor his first point is a conclusion.
 rln the rostrum, swinging his arms wildly, causing the         Now, the Standards of the church `are a human produc-
 auditorium, where  we were. to reverberate with his            tion we saw. Let us quote Bavinck once more: "De  Be-
 escited oratory in the attempt to induce synod to accept tijdenis verdient alleen  geloof,  omdat en in  zoover   zij
 a document which is destined to become proverbial for          met  de Schrift overeenkomt en blijft,  als feilbaar  men-
 its meaningless content.  -And  that the learned Bouma.        schenwerk, revisibel en examinabel  aan de Schrift."
    That report of the  comm. annihilates itself. Again,        (Bavinck, Dog., Vol. I', p. 73.) Dr. Bavinck denominates
 that report is a testimony to the fact that the  comm.  did    the church confession a human production, the work of
 not begin to understand the Danhof and Hoeksema's              man, liable to revision and examination. Berkhof con-
 "Van Zonde en  Genade."         The three propositions of cedes that his first point is a conclusion. It is a conclu-
 which that book is an exposition are the embodiment of sion, therefore, drawn from a human production. The
 most fundamental thought. The thought contained in             professor insists that a conclusion of this kind has no
 the three propositions revolve about such matters  as          value.    Listen to him once more:  `<Wat  menschelijke
 God's righteousness, His holiness, omnipotence, love and schrijvers uitdrukkelijk zeggen,  is  natuurlijk in den  regel
 grace, God's  eternal counsel, election, providence and        hetgeen zij bedoelen. Wat men daaruit door de eene
 man's total depravity. And  the  comm. condemned the uitdrukking met de andere te vergelijken, enz. kan aflciden
 three propositions of Danhof and Hoeksema but con- en meent te moeten afleiden, kan we1 geheel buiten hunne
 ceded that they were reformed in truth fundamental.            bedoeling liggen, ja  zelfs tegen hunne bedoeling zijn."'
 Which goes to show that the  comm. does not understand         (Berkhof, Bijbelsche Hermeneutiek, p. 199, 200.)
 reformed  theology. And that  the learned  comm.                  Berkhof makes it very plain that the confessional
     And what was said of the report of the  comm.  also value and binding power  of his first point  is zero. And
 applies to the professor's brochure. The assertion that this means that, according to the professor, one has abso-
 our views must be regarded as an  attrack upon Pelagian-       lutely no right whatsoever to maintain that the first of
 ism  amcunts to a confession on the part of the professor      the three propositions of Danhof and Hoeksema militate
 that our views in their entirety are reformed, for they against our  confessidnal Standards. Yet Berkhof, as a
 form one organic whole and must be regarded as the             member of the  comm. reports that Danhof and  Hoek-
 exposition of three propositions. Hence, what applies to sema's first proposition does militate against our Stand-
 a part applies to the  whole.   -%gain,  when  the professor ards. Ans he urges synod to see to it that we are  cen-


8                                       T E I E   SThNDARD   B E A R E R
- - -                                                             - - -   ..-----...........  -"-....._" .._... "_
sured  in case we refuse to retract. Prof. Berkhof, I ask         version, that he is incapable of using  it  aright  even  in
you, why don't you give an account of yourself. Explain           things natural and civil. Nay further this light, such as
the situation please. You owe it to us, to yourself, to           it is, man in various ways renders  &Z&Y  polluted  and
the churches and to your God.                                     holds it in unrighteousness, by doing which he becomes
     Now the second of the three propositions of Danhof           inexcusable before God.
and Hoeksema.  It reads, "Sin develops organically and                This article, we should notice, calls the virtue of the
unchecked." Berkhof, the  comm. member, in the report             natural man  si.7~ Hence, the third proposition of the
which he submitted to synod asserted that also this prop- brethren Danhof and  .Hoeksema  are in full agreement
osition militates against the Standards. But does it? Do with our Standards. And this holds true of the first two
the Standards teach that "God de zonde in  zijne  ontwik-         as well.
keling stuit," i. e. that God checks the development of               And finally, we also maintain that God does not  offer
sin? No, indeed. The Standards do teach, "dat God de the grace which there is in Christ to the reprobate. This
duivelen in toom houdt, en al onze vijanden, die ons, zon-        follows from the first of the three propositions of Danhof
der zijne toelating en wil niet beschadigen kunnen." This,        and Hoeksema. Again I ask, do the Standards teach the
to be sure, we must heartily indorse. For it means that           reverse? No, indeed. Our Standards do teach, however,
God reigns, not the Devil neither our enemies, no, but that this promise, together with the command, to repeat
God. What a great comfort that is. And should we not in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life,
believe it? If I could not believe that God ruled and con-        that this promise, together with the command to repent
trolled all things I would be without comfort. Does the and believe, ought to be declared and published to all
professor mean to say that I do not believe that God nations and to all persons  promiscously and without dis-
reigns? It seems so. For he reported to synod that the tinction, and further that as many as are called are
second of the three propositions of Danhof and  Hoek-             unfeignedly called, and that all who are called should
scma militates against that article of our confessions            comply with the invitation, and further that God
which is a formulation of the doctrine of God's prov-             seriously promises eternal life and rest, to as many as
idence. But if the professor was actually convinced that          shall come to Him and believe in Him. (Can. of Dordt.,
we denied God's providence how was it possible for him            chapter II, art. 5; chapters III, IV, rat.  8.) What is
to report to synod that we are sound in the fundamental           taught in the above articles we believe with all our heart.
truth as formulated in our confession? Prof. Berkhof will         But we reject that God offers the grace which there is in
you  please answer this question? We have a right to              Christ to the reprobate. This the above articles do not
your answer.                                                      ieach. Our standards nowhere teach such a thing. To
     Indeed, we do believe that God controls and restrains the contrary our Standards teach the very reverse, as we
the Devil and all our enemies. And the proposition that shall point out and make plain in due time.
sin  developes  organically and unchecked is no denial of              Prof. Berkhof himself assures us that the proposition,
that precious truth. There is a vast difference between           "God offers the grace which there is in Christ to the
the statement, "God controls and restrains the Devil and reprobate" is nowhere found in the Standards. He
all our enemies" and. the statement, "Sin developes admits it in that he concedes that the idea embodied in
organically and unchecked."                                       the proposition is implied in the confession. Listen to
     The proposition does not militate against our Stand- him : "Nu zendt God naar zijn  welbehagen, naar zijn
ards. No one has ever proved that it does.  ShouId                eeuwigen raad het  Evangelic  aan zekere volken en  men-
they not have done so before deposing us?                         schen. Aan die allen nu zonder onderscheid moet de be-
     And the third proposition. We maintain that natural lofte des Evangelies  worden  verkondigd en voorgesteld.
man is capable of sinning only. Do our Standards teach            Dit mag eenvoudig niet zoo  worden  opgevat,  alsof het
the reverse? Indeed, they do not. The confession does louter de taak van den prediker ware, om allen menschen
teach that there remains in man, since the fall, the glim-        bekend te  maken  met het feit, dat zij, die in  Christus  ge-
merings of natural light, whereby he retains some knowl-          looven,  zalig  zullen   worden. Hij moet hun de belofte,
edge of God, of natural things and of the difference              moet hun het  heil in  Christus  aanbieden.  Zegt  ge dat  dit
between good and evil, and discovers some regard for              hier niet  staut, dan antwoorden we, dat  dt  tech  ieker  wel
virtue, good order in society, and for maintaining an             bedoeld  is. Het ligt imm?rs  duidelijk  in dit article cpgeslo-
orderly external deportment." (Canons of Dordt, chap- ten . . . . :" (Reformed  HeraId,  Vol. I, No. 2,  p. 28.)
ter III, IV, art. 4.)                                                  We see how that the professor admits that the prop-
     The above we indorse, we believe it with all our osition in question is an implication, a conclusion drawn
hearts. ,%nd our assertion that natural man sins only, from our Standards. And this amounts  to an  admission
does not militate against the truth contained in the above        on his part that he has 710 right to maintain that the prop-
article.    To the contrary, the proposition that natural osluon is found in the Standards.
man sins only, is in full agreement with the article                   Berkhof himself admits that when we teach that God
quoted above. Let me quote the remainder of it. "But does  7tot offer the grace  ,which there is in Christ to the
SO  far is this light of nature from being sufficient to bring    reprobate we are  not  teaching anything contrary to the
him to a saving knowledge of God, and to true con- confession.


   In fine, Cerkhof admits.  yea  WC may  even say that he                  DE JONGSTE KERKELIJKE STRI JD
insists that  the  three propositions  of  Danhof and  Hoek-
serna do not  militate  against our Standards.  He admits                     III. Voor de Breedere Vergaderingen.
it in his Hermeneutics, he admits it in the Reformed                                 C.  Voor de Synode, 1924
Herald. And in his brochure the professor is even telling
the public that the  three propositions of Danhof and                   Het ligt niet op mijn weg, om den leerstelligen inhoud
Hoekscma are in full harmony with our confession when                der drie door de synode van Kalamazoo  aangenomen
he asserts: "De schoten, die  cr'oogenschijnlijk   op gelost stellingen te bespreken. Dit te  doen behoort tot de taak,
werden,  troffen in het gcheel geen doel. Zij  waren   feitc- die,  bii verdeeling van arbeid,  aan Ds.  1-T.  Danhof werd
lijk gericht gedeeltelijk tcgen dc  Arminiaansche  leer van opgedragen. We zullen ons  daarvan  dan  oak onthouden,
de algemeene valdoening,en gedeeltelijk tegen de  Pela-              behalve voorzoover het noodig zou zijn  op den inhoud
giaansche beschouwing, dat ook de natuurlijke mensch                 der "Drie  Punten" in te gaan tot  recht verstand van de
in staat is,  om  geestelijk  gocd te  doen." And yet, as a          kerkrechtelijke zijde der  zaak.   Het ligt in den aard der
comm.  member Berkhof reported to synod that the three zaak, dat bij de bespreking van de rechtskwestie in deze
propositions of Danhof and Hoeksema militated against                zaak,  de vraag niet geheel en  al achterwege kan blijven:
our Standards and subsequently recommends our depo-                  wat sprak de synode eigenlijk uit in betrekking tot ons
sition. Professor, will you explain this please?  1: repeat,         en onze beschouwing?  Heeft ze ons  op al de  beschuldi-
you owe this  esplanation  to us, to yourself, to the                gingen, die tegen ons  waren  ingebracht, vcroordeeld?
churches and to your God.                                            Heeft ze uitgesproken, dat we dwaalden? Of, om de zaak
   Our views are not in  conflect with the confession.               aanstonds in  kerkrechtelijk   licht te bezien, heeft ze den
They are in  full harmony with the confession. This will             Classes Grand Rapids Oost en West voldoenden grond
become apparent  as we go on dissecting  Berkhof's  bro-             gegeven.   om tot onze schorsing en afzetting  over  te gaan?
chure. It will also become apparent that the brochure is                We  zagen  reeds, dat de synode geen nctie wilde. Ze
one grand appeal for Pelagianism and  Arminianism. It                had van de commissie ad hoc een  voorstel voor  zich,  om
shall also become apparent that what is found on page                ons te vermanen; om ons te cloen  beloven,  dat we ons
64 of the brochure to the elect that we an "vooropgezette            zouden neerleggen bij en houden  aan den inhoud der
idee  aan  Schrift en  Eelijdenis  opdringen" applies to the         drie punten   ; om ons te behandelen, door de zaak  aan-
professor in  a surperb sense.                                       hangig te  maken  bij de kerkeraden. De synode heeft dit
   We feel assured that we have proved our contention                soorstel der commissie niet aangenomen. Eehandeling
to the effect that we were deposed solely because of our             wilde men dus niet.
attacks on Pelagianism.        I invite anyone to discover              Doch. het  Iaat  zich  denken,  dat de synode ons zeer
another reason. Danhof and Hoeksema were assailed,                   welwillend gezind was, en dat ze zachtkens met ons wilde
dragged before the synod and finally deposed because of              handelen. Er was dan  we1 voldoende grond, in  leerstel-
their attacks on Pelagianism.                                        ligen zin, om tot behandeling onzer  personen  over te
   In conclusion this advise: the professor should exer-             gaan. Maar de synode.was lankmoedig. Men was het er
cise more care in the choice  of his figure.                         dan over eens, dat, wat onze dwalingen betrof, we noodig
                     (To  be  Continued)                             behandeld moesten  worden.   Doch men  Wilde de  zaak
                                                   G. M. 0.          nog eens aanzien en ons tijd geven,  om ons van de  dwn-
                         - - - - - -                                 ling onzes wegs te bekeeren. Natuurlijk gold dit  clan
         WHAT  GOD  LOVES  AND  HATES                                tech in geen geval van de commissie, die feitelijk bestond
                                                                     uit Berkhof,  Bouma en De Jong. Zij gedoogden geen
   Cod  stands between the right and the wrong, not                  uitstel. Zij stelden der synode voor,  om aanstonds tot
looking pleasant  on the  one and  equally  pleasant on the          het uiterste toe door te  gaan.  Want  we1 trachtten ze
0ther : not looking as  the  bun  Iooks, with a  brnignant           den schijn hiervan te ontgaan, door eerst uit te  spreken.
face  tin  the evil  and  on the good;  anti not  as  man  looks.    dat ze  onmiddellijke behandeling  nie.t  menschelijk  acht-
with  only  a less benignant face  upon the  evil. He stands ten.  Doch  onmiddellijk daarop  geven  ze der synode in
Tvith  all the  fcrvour  of His  iniinite love and all the maj-      hun rapport dan tech advies,  om we1 tot behandeling over
esty of  .His unlimited power, approving  good> and legis-           te gaan,  en dat we1 tot zoover als de spnode maar  eenigs-
lating for it  c.,n, the one side; and disapproving evil. and        zins gaan kon. Neen, de commissie was niet  lankmoe-
abhorring it, and legislating it down to the dust. and               dig. Door hen was ons lot beslist: de drie  punten   onder-
beneath the dust, into infamy and eternal penalty on  the            teekenen of behandeld worden. Maar stond de zaak dan
other side.  And if there be one truth that speaks through-          zoo, dat de synode ons gunstiger gestemd was en dat.
out the Bible like the voice of God, and resounds with all schoon men het  goed eens was over de  vraag of we  ens
the grandeur of Divine intonation, it is the truth that              ook der afzetting  waardig  hadden   gemaakt, tnen  Iank-
C';I~  tloes not look with an  equal  eye upon the  evil and         moedig  over ons is geweest?
the good, that He is  a discriminator of character,  a  lovet           Zoo heeft men het van de zijde  onzcr vijanden  we1
off that which is right,  and  a hater  of that which is  wron%g.    voorgesteld. De synode was  ens  o. zoo gunstig  gestemd
                                     ---FI.  `Ward Eeecher.          geweest; had ons  op het allerzachtst behandeld. Ze had


                                        TH'E  STAND?LRD   EErllRER-                                                        15
                                                                                         ~--
            THE COVENANT OF NATURE.                             :Xnd for that  reason we  will  quote them from their  own
                                                                writings in as far as we have access to them.
                1. Particular or  Comnion?                          Protagonists of a common grace base their  conten-
                                                                * tions chiefly on the covenant with Noah. With it  their.
    The question  before us is  yhcthcr  the  covenant which     view either stands or falls.- This covenant, they claim, is
God established with Noah is to be regarded as partic-          not particular but  general  ; it deals not with heavenly but
ular or common. In other words. the question  is? whether with earthly things; it speaks of temporal not of eternal
this covenant is the covenant of  grace,  estab'lishcd  in      blessings; it is established not with the Church but with
Christ with the people of God,; or whether it is a common       the world as' such, not with the elect but with man as
covenant  established with all men. without Christ as man, with the naked  sinner outside of Christ  J'esus. We
the Mediator of Redemption. The question is admittedly showed  that Kuyper claimed that his view was  identibal
an important one, for those who  defend   a common grace with Calvin's; and we also showed  that this  .contention
which God shows- to all men in  general in the present is false. Kuyper wrests a single expression from its con-
time, contend that the covenant established with `Noah          text in Calvin's Commentaries, to give. his contention  a
is the Scriptural basis  for. their view.                       semblance of truth. Calvin, however, presents  the  cove-
    We cannot refrain from quoting  once more from the -nant with Noah as adapted to the faith of the people of
$d theological fathers writing at a time when Reformed          G&d and the rainbow is to him a sacrament, designed for
Theology was  effiorescent according  to` the last  S_vnod.     the strengthening of their faith. We also called attention
This time we will quote from the author that is also            to the fact that our Baptism Form proceeds in the prayer
frequently quoted as an authority by the synod of  19%          before baptism? from  the assumption that the covenant
in defense of its erroneous three points.        We have        with Noah is established with the Church. hnd finally,
reference to  Petrus Van Mastricht, Doctor Theologiae           we quoted from Brake1 in proof .of the fact that he could
and Professor of Theology in Utrecht in the, latter part        not conceive of a covenant God would establish with the
of the seventeenth century.                                     &probate.  The very notion of a covenant God should,
  The reason why we wish to quote from him is partic-           establish with those whom He hates is to him -absurd,
ularly the fact,  that he is admitted to be an authority in     for the simple reason that a covenant is a relation  of
matters dogmatical by synod: and generally the attempt          iriendship.
to prove,  ur at least to make the impression upon the              We will now quote on this same subject from  PetruS
people. that our denial of a common grace, our conten- Van Mastricht, Godgeleerdheid,  Dee1  IV. Boek  YJX,
tion that grace is always particular and that also the p. 737-740.  We will translate freely, but as literally as
covenant with Noah is the covenant of grace proper, is          possible, the rather heavy Dutch..
out of harmony with the historical  line' of Reformed               "Now, therefore, follows the second part of the
Theolo,& and that the modern conception of a common patriarchal period, covering the time from the deluge to
grace  and a common covenant with all men is  historicall!      Abraham, a period of about  3.52'  years, according to
Reformed. From the confession it was quite impossible Hebrew chronology. With regard to this period we must
to prove our alleged error. They know only of one kind consider first of all a twofold renewal of the Covenant  ni
of grace, the grace which God shows to His people.. But Grace, (we underscore). The  first'renewal  of the  cdve-
the Reformed fathers, it is alleged, coritended for such a      nant took place before the Flood, and, therefore, properly
common grace to all men. Dr.  -4. Kuyper, Sr. frequently belongs to the  predcluvian  period; but in order that we
informs us that he follows in the beaten path of Reformed       may obtain a correct understanding of the entire history
Theology, merely developing and  advancing along the            of Noah we shall not thus divide and separate it.
same  line as was developed by the fathers. And of late             "Regarding this  (first renewal of the covenant of
we have become accustomed to very emphatic declara- grace) we remark the following:
tions on the part of professors and ministers? notably Van          "(1) First of all that its basis is the divine grace.
Baalen, asserting that the idea of common grace is thor-  + Gen.  6:8. His distinguishing love  nvcr the world.  It is
ou*ghly historically Reformed.-  ,4nd  WC on our part deny God's absolutely gracious and unmerited love, whereby
this.    Most  emphatically  WC maintain, that under  the       He  elected without any  merit or preconceived worthiness
leadership of  Dr.  A.. Kuyper, and  the influence of his       thru works, those whom He would grant His covenant of
views as set forth in De Gemecnc  Gratie, as well as under grace in distinction from others; yea, with whom, while
the influence of the general spirit of the times and of         passing  by  others. He would establish that covenant,,  vs%.
our country which is  Arminian doctrinally and  worldly-        18; thru which Noah and his family should be saved from
minded practically, the church gradually departed from          the  destruciion  of the deluge, both temporally and spirit-
the Reformed path till it had departed sufficiently to          ually.
,embody  its errors in a  few  official declarations.    Our        "(2)    Secondly, that the parties of the covenant are
Reformed fathers, whatever may be quoted from their God and Noah. God,  I say, not only as  party, but also as
writings with a semblance of justice, surely were not of        the Author of the covenant, reason why it is called  ,&Iy
the spirit of Kalamazoo,  1924,  neither of that expressed covenant. And Noah and his family arc the other party,
in  Kuyper's Gemeene Gratie. This- is our contention. not only themselves but also with a view to their  poster-


it\., at  least with  rcslxct to  the  famil?-   of  Shcm and  later    not  tlclinitcly  ~xprcssc~l  in  the  test. but  the>. arc  clcarll-
also with that  of  Japheth  whom  Efe  WlJdd  draw into the            presupposed as  WC  showed   bct'orc in  regard  to the  COVC'-
tents  of  s11c111.                                                     nant  of wcxks and the first IS\-angelical  covenant. in c_n-dcr
    " ( 3 )   The  contents   of  the  cc,\-cnant   a n d   the  matter that out of this mutual  agrccmcnt  and harmony a  cove-
transacted. This includes first the promise  to save him                nant might develop and be confirmed by  the sacrament
and his family (for his sake as a  type  of Christ) from the            c.~f the rainbow.
destruction  of the Hood. both temporal and spiritual J and                 "The  m a i n   objection   raised   a g a i n s t   t h i s   view  i s
~cc~ndly in  the requirement  that  in and'thru faith he was            cxpresscd in the question : was this twofold establishment
to prepare the Ark, and that, with his entire family, which             of the covenant a renewal  of  the covenant of grace as
at that time constituted  the Church, he was to enter into              rooted  in  C:`hrist?  Thcrc arc  s(lme that deny this and
the  ;1rk, which was a picture of Christ, thru whose instru-            would consider this a mere temporal covenant. But  there
mentality and  help  trnly the church was to be  preserved              are  others who  affirm this, as  Rivet,  Pareus?  l'erkins and
and saved, I  Peter 3  :20.                                             Hcnr.  ,Ainsworth.  With  the  latter   11 agree and that for
    "(4)     :\s to the occasion for the establishment of this          the following reasons  :
covenant we  remark that it was the utter corruption of                    "(1)     &cause all  the  promises  of God are in Christ
the world and  conseclucntly, the  impending  misery and                j-ca  and  amen.   I I   Car.  i:19. 20; I Tim.  4%. Gal.  3:17
destruction, both natural and spiritual, Gen.  6  :3 ff. Hcncc,         and He. 13 5.
a manifestation of grace and mercy.                                        "(2)     Because the  apostle ascribes to Noah  the  faith
    "(5)     We must consider the parties as  they  are  dcal-          whereby he became an  h&r of righteousness, He. 11 :7.
ing in his covenant. God demands that the Ark be built,                     "(3)    &cause the apostle applies  the salvation in  the
and that Noah enter into it,  ha\-ing provided for a suffi-             ark from  the flood in a typical sense to Christ and spirit-
cient supply for  the inhabitants of the Ark; and Hc                    ual things, I PC.  3:18, 22.
promises salvation from  the destruction of  the fload.  0n                "(4) Bccausc  the  very  nature of things seems to
the  other hand, man, Noah and his family, that is, the                 suggest this. For:
Church. promises  to fulfill and to accomplish what was                    "(a) Noah,  ,acrording  to Scripture. was a  t\-pe  c.~f
demanded,  Gcn. 7 5 ; and Hc asks for the promised Sal\-a-              Christ, Matt.  24337-39;  IA.  17:21,,   27; I  PC.  3:18-22.
tion.                                                                      "(1,)  The  ark was an image  of  the church, as  Pctcr
    "The promise of this covenant was first of all to pro-              explains.  I Pe. 3  :20, 21.
tect Noah and his family (that is the Church. both pre-                    "cc)     Salvation from the natural flood was typical of
sent and future) against the  destruction  of the  flood,  both         salvation from the spiritual flood. I  Pe.  3:20. 21.
as to  their'physical  and spiritual existence; and to  save               "(d) The sacrifice of  N<.,ah was  tl-pica1  of the sacri-
them  alive,  not only temporally but also spiritually arid             fice of Christ, Gen.  8  :20. 21, cf.  Eph.  5 :2."
eternally. This was the more immediate purpose. And
the  more  remote purpose was the manifestation of grace                   Thcsc  wrx-ds of  P&t-us  `iran Mastricht  need no  furthcl
to Noah and his own. that is the Church.                                commentary. Plainly, according to him the  co\-cnant  with
    "Concerning the second renewal  of the  co\-cnant,                  Noah is the covenant of grace. Noah and his family arc
which followed upon the Deluge,  Gen.   9:9. we note:                   to him the Church, and as  such  the  covenant is estab-
    "(1) The occasion and motive  of this  col*enant,                   lished with  them.  The- stand in  the  co\-cnant  as  rcp-
namely? the protection of  the world and of the Church as               resentatives of  the church of all  ages. Ant1 the salvation
it was  saved  from  the deluge. against another flood; fur-            of Noah and his family does not only have  temporal signi-
ther their t-e-establishment (of the church and the warld),             ficance, but spiritual significance as  well. Here, there:
the motive of which was the same as that of the first fore, we have a theologian of admitted authority. living
renewal  of the covenant, namely, the grace whereby he                  in  a period when Reformed Theology was still at its best.
blessed Noah and his family.  Gen.  9:l.                                who  consciousl>- rejects the idea of some as if the  COve-
    " (2  j  The parties concluding the covenant. God                   nant with Noah was general and of mere temporary signi-
established the covenant with Noah and his family, both                 ficance.
as they then  existed and with a view to their posterity in                 Neither is hc the only vnc. Van Mastricht in the
the future. that is, with the Church and for her sake with              above  rluotation  mentions other theologians  of strong
the world. God now demanded that man should multiply,                   Calvinistic  t-pc and great scholarship, with whom he
(ren. 9 :1-T; that he refrain from murder, vs. 5, 6 : and from          agrees in respect to the covenant with Noah. David
eating  crf flesh with the life  thereof, vs. 4; faith in and           .Pareus.  professor at Heidelberg, who forsook  Luther-
faithfulness with  regard  to `His promises for the con-                anism in order to become a most ardent disciple of the
firmation of which He gave man a special sacrament,  VS.                great theologian of Geneva. wrote most of his works
12-19; and He promised that no destruction by a flood                   during the latter part of the sixteenth and the very first
would come upon the world anymore,  VS. 11. On the part of the seventeenth century, the periodwhen Reformed
other hand, man tacitly promised what was required of                   Theology was  efflorescent. And his works were held in
him and asked that the promise might be fulfilled to him.               great esteem.  .EIc followed in  the footsteps of John  Cai-
True, these things arc, as far as man is concerned at least,            l-in. But to him the covenant with Noah was the  CCJVV-


                                                     `I'HE  5;:\ND:-\Rl,   RE:\RER                                                                    17
_..........._ -.--^                                       _ll-_-                             -.                -........__........-. ~-    -"-~.--
nant   c,f  xracc,  a n d  not  a  temporal.  gcncral  c o v e n a n t .             nant of  nature  or of  Comnlcm   Cirace; but  i?hcn   the  l:ntirc
Henry   i\insworth.  the  cclchratctl   nonconformist, was  a' work of  Dr.  .Kuypcr  entitlccl   DC  C&rne~?n~   Gratic is  ;tn
man  of profound  learning, famous particularly  for his                             error. For all that follows is built on the foundation  of
knowlcclgc  of Hebrew. He was a man  of  Calvinistic   type,                         the  covenant with Noah,  conceived, not as a covenant of
>.ct  he  believed  that  the covenant established with  Noah                        particular but of common grace." *
was the covenant of grace. Wm. Perkins was an eminent                                    With  the  above  we heartily agree. But we do not
t-ii\-ine   elf the church of England, and  he is  noted as  one                     agree with  Dr. A.  Ruyper,   neither with Van  Eaalcn,
of the best esponcnts of Calvinism. "`The  works of Perk- when  they  try  tomakc us  bclicve, without  any proof. that
ins," says  one  writer, "are  distinguished for  their  piet!~.                     the  Common-C;race-line  is historically Reformed and that
learning.  estcnsi\-e  knowledge  (32 the Scriptures and
            -. . . .                                                                 the denial of  common  grace is historically to  be  traced to
strong  Lalvmlstic   arguillcntation."                His  w o r k   ,4r&ln          :Znabaptism.
uzlrea,  published  in  1590  stung  -4rminius  to the quick and                         Van  Baalen  writes :
had a  great deal to do in stirring  up  the  .\rniinian   UJn-                          "Here in  .America  our Holland  communities are still
troversy. If any  indictment was brought against him it \-cry much leavened with the leaven  of Anabaptism. And
was that he was too consistent a Calvinist and that hc                               there are of our leaders who zealously unite in despising
carried  the  fdoctrinc  c.Jf reprobation too far. Yet, also to                      God's Common Grace. In that respect we  arc half a cen-
him the  covenant with Noah was the covenant of  grace                               tury behind  the  times. The  stream of renewed and
and had eternal significance.                 Andrd  Rivet,  t h e   well- healthy  Rcformcd   lift did hut little cleanse  US  from our
known and distinguished French theologian, who in the                                .\nabaptistic stains."  `s
carI\- part  (Jf  the  scycntccnth  centurl-  occupied  a chair  of                      And again :
theology at  Leydcn. was a  firm  Calvinist.   But  the  CCJV~'-                         "We now wish to show  bricfl>;  how  `Rel-.  Danhof and
nant of  nature he  eqlaincd  as being essentially the  $ovc-                        .Rex-.  Hoeksema  depart  from the unanimous  testitnony  nf.
nant of  grace.                                                                      the Reformed theologians. `Here,  howe\-cr,   M'C meet with
                                                                                     such a wide field that we shaII limit ourselves to the theo-
                                                                                     logians  (.)f  the last  haIf  century."  *
pan!-.    Kuypcr's contention that hc follows in  Calvin's                              This is but  idle boast. Dr.  Kuyprr  dots not  mention
steps is untenable as we showed from Calvin's own  corn-                             a  single theologian of  name that agrees with him.  71'rue,
mcntary.       .4nd  :I brilliant host of theologians, distin-                       hc  refers to Calvin, but as we showed, to Calvin the co\-e-
guished for their learning and known to  bc  followers  (it'                         nant of nature is  the  covenant  rrf  grace  cstablishecl  with
Calvin  disagree  with  Kuypet's  exposition. To them it                             and for believers and  the  `rainbow is its sacrament  t1.1
was. from a principal point of  view. absurd to maintain strengthen  the faith of  the  pcoplc  of  God. Van  Baalen
that  God would establish a  covenant of friendship with                             speaks  of a wide field but does not mention a single clog-
his  &ernal enemies and that He would temporally  10x-c                              matician of the Reformed  type that explains  the  co\-e-
those  whom  Hc  ctcrnally hatccl. To them it was in the                             nant with Noah in the  Iiuypcrian   wa>-. He claims that
light of Scripture  untenable that  the covenant with  Noah                          the  ficltl is  so vast that intentionally hc must limit him-
be  prcscnted a-s essentially different from the  cc.)\-cnant                        self to theologians of the last half  century. But there
of grace. "ro them Noah and his family were  the church                              was no question about  the fact that during  the last half
c~f that  time and representatives of the church  of future                          century there were theologians that introduced the  theory
ages; and as such God established His covenant with                                  of common grace in the  Kuyperian  scnsc. \;CTc  were all
them. Plainly. therefore,  WC are in the historically agreed  in that respect. ;`\nd,  surely, a theory that is not
Reformed path if we maintain that the covenant of                                    even half a century old is not historically  Keformcd;  we
nature is but another stage in  the revelation of the cove- can also agree on that.
nant  of grace.                                                                          Over against this idle claim  WC  rcferrcd to  the period
    Now we must once more remember that it isxonccded                                when, as the last synod had it, Reformed theology was
b\- those that believe in a common grace that this theory cfflorescent. We referred to such  men as  `Rivet,  Ains-
stands  fJr  falls with the exposition of  the covenant with                         worth.  Fareus. Perkins, men of renowned learning and of
Noah  as  being  a  covenant of common  grace.  Already strong Reformed type, as all admit. They arc unanimous
WC pointed out that this is Dr.  Kuypcr's  contention.                     P,ut      in  their exposition of  the covenant with Noah as being
W C   alsO   Wish   t0  qUOtC   `Van   EadCn  Once   IIlOrC  i n   t h i s  CcJn-    the covenant of grace.  established with the elect, not with
nection. Writes he :                                                                 mere men outside of Christ. And in this essay we quoted
    "It is,  therefore,  c,)f  the  greatest  importance that  WC                    at length from a theologian whose undoubted authority
know who is right in this respect, Dr.  :X.  Kuypcr  or Rev.                         in matters pertaining to Reformed truth was established
II. Hoeksema. If the former is right then God's cove- by the last Synod, Petrus Van  Maestricht,  to show that
nant with `Noah was truly a covenant of Common Grace.. he also conceives of the covenant of nature as being estab-
.4nd in that case there is, therefore, Common Grace. But lished with the Church, and, therefore, as being the one
if the latter has a correct understanding  of the matter,                            c!:)renant  of grace that is always revealed in Scripture.
then Dr.  Kuyper not only made a tremendous mistake by                               We referred to our Baptism Form which places the flood
conceiving of the  co\-enant   uf particular grace as a  cuve-                       on a par with  the passage of  the children  of Israel thru


the  l&xl  &\a and  prcscnts  it  as a  type   of baptism. We ;hcid  gctuigt)  `s  1~\`ucnscla gs cn  uw  I-ricnd.  de  onrlcrgctee-
add that in the  Reformctl  !5tandardst   ccxuposed in  the kcndc, onclcrwijst  tics  Maantlags.                   `WC  gescn lcs in  dc
period when  Reformed  Theology  was at its best,  thcrc Nedcrlandschc.  En~clsc~e,
                                                                                              ".         Grickschc   cn  Hcbrccuwschc
is no trace of a common grace. We quoted  Brake!  to                   talcn. (Dit laatste  vnk  mocst Dr. Y. P. DC  -Tong  cigcn-
show that he cannot  conceive of a covenant of friendship              lijk hcbbcn. Hij  hceft'verlcdcn  jaar ecrlijk op  dc  Synode
cstablishcd with any but the elect.                                    bckcnd, dat  hij  ten grootc nciging had  vonr dc Scmitischc
    On this basis we draw the conclusion that  the  thco-              talcn. DC  speech,   waarin  hij dat zridc. hcb ik  zelf  gc-
Iopv
  _  of the last decades  under   the leadership of Dr.  :4.           hoortl en zal  ik ran  l'ijn  lc\-cn  nict  SVCCP   vcrgctcn.   Sprc-
Kuypcr actually did depart  from the historical line of                ker  zeitlc  o. a. dat hij ook doctor was,  clat hij nog wcl  ccn
.Rcformcd  truth.                                                      doctorsgraad  zou hebben kunncn  bchnlent  als hij  nict zulk
    ;4nd until our  opponents  make good their claim by                ten drukkc gcmccntc had gehad cn dat hij een groote nei-
sound historical proof we wi!! maintain that it is false.              ging had  voor de Hcbrecuwsche taal.  Dit alles bekcndc
                                                           H. H.       hij ronduit. En de speech was zoo trcffcnd,  omdat   bet
.---                                                                   ,geval  zich  juist  vonrdccd,  dat  men  een professor  voor  tic
   * DC LoochelCn;S Der Gcmccne Gratie, g. 12, p. 7.
                                         "-                            0.  T.-vakken  op school hebbcn moest! Het is dan ook
                                                                       merkwaardig, dat hij bij de tcrstond  op  die  redc  I-olgen-
        AAN MIJN VRIEND IN HET  WESTEN                                 de stemming dc  mecrderheid   nict kreeg.  Enfin,  dc  doctor
                                                                       had zijn gewetcn ontlast.  Dat  men  hem niet  hecft  bc-
                                                Grand Rapids,          nocmd   ligt  nict op zijn vcrantwoording.  Doch dit  tus-
                                                1 Sept. 192.5          schen twee haakjes.) Ook  gcven we Its in  Nieuw  Testa-
                                                                       mcntisch Grieksch, de Uitlegging der Hciligc  Schrift,  de
        ;Imicc  fraterque  :.---.---                                   Enq-clopaedie  (dat woord moet jc maar opzoeken in jc
                                                                       woordenboek), de  Dogmatiek, de  Gewijde Geschiedcnis,
   Jc  weet.   dat het  tegcnwoordig de komkommertijd is de Predikkundc en  andere   Praktische  Vakken. Dat is
en dan is er  gcwoonlijk  niet  veel nieuws,  dat  merkwaar-           dus al heel  wat. Tech zal hierin  ten  solgcnd  jaar heel
dig  genveg  is. om er melding \-an te maken  in mijn brief wat  moeten   wordcn  toegcvocgd.  \\iant  we willcn  goct!
aan jc. \`c.roral  is dat zoo in de kerkclijke  wereld, cn daar onderlegdc prcdikers hebbcn.  nict  wax? Maar  hct  noo-
heb je  tech  maar  het  mecste  belang bij. De heeren  pre-           digste  moct eerst. En dan leggcn  WC  ens cr  vooral  013
tlikantcn  zijn mccstal weg  meet  \-acantic   (of reeds weg  gc-      toe, dat de studenten den Bijbcl lcercn  kcnncn in de  oor-
xecst, en dan  wachten gewoonlijk alle merkwaardige en                 spronkelijke  talen, en dat zc goed onderlegd  wordcn in dc
gewichtige  dingen  tot die  wecr eenigszins uitgerust  zijn           Gereformeerde waarheid.
\-an dc  vermoeicnisscn  t-an hunnen zwaren arbeid. El1                   Van `t eenvp  `t ander (dat had ten  buurvrouw  van 011s
zoo  staat alles dan een beetje stil. %elfs  met het oog  op           vroeger altijd voor `n spreekwijze),  icmand zci `n paar cla-
den strijd is dat zoo.  F,r schijnt een soort wapenstilstand gen geleden  tegen mij : "DC hond is  c:ok  weer  tot  zijn  uit-
te zijn in  de  iaatstc   weken.   l'k hoop maar dat  tiit niet        braaksel teruggckeerd,  hc?" Ik keek ten bcetjc*g:k, want
lang   duurt.  Berkhof  en Volbcda en Bouma  moeten  maar ik wist niet welkcn honcl hij q> het c!( bg had en vrocg hem
.i;pocdig  weer   beginnen   om hier in den omtrek weer  rccle-        wat hij bedoclde. "We1 man," gaf hij ten antwoorcl,
voeringen   tc houden  over hun onmogelijk standpunt.                  "R. B. Kuipdr  is immers wccr tcruggckeerd  in de Christc-
Dan komt er wccr wat  leven in de brouwerij.  ~41s  het lijke Gereformeerde  Kerk!"  p\`u had  ik er nog  niet  aan
altijd komkommertijd was. zou ik nog  we1 wat uit mijn                 gedacht om dat  spreekwoord   van dien hond en zijn  uit-
duim   moctcn zuigen.  om  aan  je te  schrijven.                      hraaksel  op dat  geval met  Kuiper toe te  passen.   `Mis-
   Doch zoo erg is het gelukkig nog  niet. Want al is de schien is de uitdrukking ook  we1  een beetje sterk.  dacht
tegenstand  oak  een beetje verslapt in den laatsten  tijd:            ik zco. De  Synode van 1924 zou  we1  zeggen:  "Er  komen
\-an  onze'zijde hebben we  tech niet stil gezeten dezen               cnkele  sterke uitdrukkingen in  t.oor." Ook heb  ik niet
zomer.  Van  T-acantie  is niets gekomen met ons en dat is             goed  gevat of de spreker  met den hond hct oog  had  op
oak nog wcl zoo gocd  voor  een mensch. Hij  vcrlcert dan Kuiper of  op de  kcrk. Maar als men  gocd  o\:cr  dc  zaak
h e t   wcrkcn  oak  nict. Maar het is  tach  een tamelijk nadenkt is er  tech  T.CCI waars in  dc  roorstclling  van  dicn
drulil~c  zc.Jmer  voor  ens  gewccst,  zooals jc  zekcr  je  we1      man, hetzij dan dat gc zijn zcggcn in  den  cencn  of in  den
vnorstcllen knnt. Bchalve hct  werk  in eigen gcmcenten andercn zin  opvat. In bcidc  gc\-allcn  is  cr wcl waarhcid
en het schrijvcn  voor  ens blad. wax-en  WC immers ook in  2x11~ zeggcn. Zic  je,  Kuiper is  ccn  volslagcn  Janssen-
bcgonnen met  de  opleiding   \-an jonge  mannen   voor den            man, open  cn  eerlijk. Hij is niet een \-an  die  Jansscn-
dienst des Woords. WC hebben sedert  `juni geregeld les                manncn, die in de schulp  kropen  tocn er gevaar scheen  tc
gegeven.      En het gaat  goed. We hebben in het geheel               dreigen en die weer voor den dag komen als hct ergstc
tien studenten, waarvan vier  reeds   ren jaar of vijf of  zes         gevaar voorbij is, maar hij is  ten verklaard voorstander
opleiding  genoten  hebbcn.             Deze  laatsten  kunnen   m e t van  Jansscn. Hij ging  nag  slechts  korten  tijd  geleden
`s Heeren  zcgen  straks  we.1  eens uitgaan te prediken. naar  de Reformed  Churchl  zooals je  weet. En wat  heeft
Ds. H. Danhof gecft  elken  Vrijdag  les, Ds.  Ophof  doceert          de  kerk  niet  allcs  gedaaq,   om hem  wcer  terug  te krijgen.
(om nu ook eens een woord tc gebruiken, dat van geleerd-               Beroep kwam op  beroep. `En  nu heeft hij dan  l;a  Grave


                      PREDESTINATION                                natc  ic7r  the  cfcct and  the  term  fc>r-cordainctl  for  rcprolxi-
                                                                    tion. Since  the  age  of'  :1ugustinc  objections have  been
                        All Embracing                               raised  against  the  idea that  some  men and angels should
                                                                    bc predestinated unto eternal damnation. `Usually  the
   So,  you  object to  the  definition  which was  gi\-en of       objections simmer down to this one that  praedestinati  UC
predestination  in the last issue of this monthly.  YOU             intcritum  seems to  impose upon men  the.  ncccssity of
would make the term to  embrace more than as  stated at             perishing. To clarify what is  really  meant  by this  objcc-
that time. :4nd  you  ask whether  WC cannot  agree,   n.1. in      tion I  rluotc from  one who  does  not hesitate to  use the
making  the  term one of very great latitude.                       terms praedestinati ad interitum ; prcdestinatc   t o   death,
   Yes, I sincerely  believe that we shall have to  improve         but hc says concerning this csprcssion:  "If  by  predcs-
on the last defnition.  However,  before we go any fur-             tinating to death we understand the causing and  cffec-
ther, let us understand  that  the definition quoted in  the        tual working of any man's  destruction. God cannot  bc
last issue was from  none   other than John Calvin. Yes,            said to predestinate to death; but if we  onIy understand
wc are aware of the fact that hc limited  predestination,           the foreordaining of those to damnation whom God fore-
and saw in this term no  more than the decree by which              saw  deserving and working the  same,  we neither think
men are  dcstincd  either to  cvcrlasting happiness or to           nor  speak   othcrwisc  than the orthodos  Fathers did."
eternal  r&cry. Sometimes,  however,  the term is  used                But, dear  reader,  let us be warned at this juncture!
with  cscessive strictness to  denote only predestination           We do not at this time wish to  deny that God works out
to life or election.                                                reprobation in a  different  manner  than clcction. WC do
   But we need not  use  pr~&stination  in a  restricted            believe that  (:%>d is the sole and ultimately efficacious
sense. It is true, that all  the  Keformcrs  did not use it         cause of election. That God, and  God alone is  the  sole
with great Iatitude to denote the decree or purpose oj God author of election to life  ctcrna1.  That he alone without
by which He has  from eternity immutably determined  what-          any aid or help from  an-v  other  source  achieves  the sail-a-
e'ircr  comes to pass.  But  sc)me  ha\-e used  the word in  the    tion for His olcct.  Neither do  WC deny that  Gd alone is
past in this way.                                                   the sole author of the dccrce of reprobation. .ind wc affirm
   As was stated,  all the Reformers did not use the  term          that `He also  achieves destruction for  the rcprobatcd. But
so as to include all that exists or  whatc\-er  comes to pass.      we do not affirm that Hc achieves both salvation for  the
`Let  us  briefly look into history for some light respecting elect. and damnation for  the  reprobates,  in  the  identical
this. Then we find that the Lutherans used the term to              sanze way. The  way in which  thcsc two arc reached must
denote the  decree  of election unto life.  The  Westminster        be  csplained in a manner whcrcbp God is not  made  the
Confession  seems to incline to restrict the  USC  of  the word author of sin. Neither may  Hc bc charged with  unright-
"predestinate" to the decree which  JecGres  to some men            cousness of  aiip kind in achieving  the destruction of  the
life eternal. while for  the obverse r-rf that decree. by which     rcprobatcd.  ??e\,cr did it  enter  our mind  to  make  Gud
the rest of men are consign4  to  elpcrlasting   death,  it pre-    the author of  grievous  crimes. M'e all  wort;hip  the  I&r-
fers the term "foreordained."       Let me quote its signifi-       nal, Righteous God, Who  forever  loathes sin.
cant words for  vou. Its words arc:  "By  the  decree  of              But what  WC do wish to  afrirm is that both  clcction
God. for the manifestation  of  His glory,  some men and            and reprobation are  eclually   sure and  dctcrmincd. Eler-
angels arc predestinated unto everlasting  lift and others tion is just as certain  of realization as reprobation. But
foreordained to  everlasting  death. These men and angels,          the dccrce of reprobation is just as certain of  realization
thus predestinated and foreordained" etc. Concerning as is the  decree  nE election. Man alone  dots not  detcr-
this distinction! Dr. Cunningham tells us that the distinc- mine the fulfillment of the decree of reprobation. Chd
tion is not grounded either on etymology or on  the usage determines this! Also  the means which God uses to real-
of theologians, but he adds: "Calvinists, in general, have ize His decree of reprobation are fixed and determined.
held that there is an important difference between the              `Likewise the means which God uses to realize His decree
way and manner in which the decree of election bears and of election are named, fixed and determined. But the
operates upon the  condi&n  and fate of those who are               fixed, named and determined means for, both  the  rcaliza-
saved, and that in which  the decree of reprobation, as it          tion of the  decree  of  election and  reprobation,  may  ha\.c
is often  called,  bears or  cqerates  upon the condition of a diverse manner of working. It is  c\`cn  conccivallc  that
those who  perish   ; and  the  existence  of this  difference.     the means have both a positix  and a ncgatii-c result. Eut
though without any  exact specification of its nature, the          Ict these things rest for the  present.
compilers of the  Confession  seem to have intended to                 The point which should not pass our  notice  is that
indicate, by restricting the word `predestinate' to  the both the decree of election as  well as  the  decree  of  rcpro-
elect, the saved; and using the word `foreordained' in              bation.belong  to predestination. Predestination includes
regard to the rest." (`Cunningham, Historical Theology, far more than the decree of election unto life eternal for
`Vol. II, p. 422).                                                  some men. Predestination is that decree  of  (2x1 which
    `Perhaps, however, a persistent tendency in history to also includes the decree of reprobation whereby some
deny or cover up the truth which is confessed in the men are certain to receive everlasting death. When this
decree of reprobation  better  csplains  why the compilers          is granted, we assert no more than any of our Reformed
of the  Westminster Confession  used  the term  predesti-           Fathers  have asserted. Even by admitting this we assert


                                            TITE  ST.-\ND.ARD   B E A R E R                                                                      21
I.. ,_II__ -____--_  ~. _l__,ll,,.          --.--".-  ..--........   -..-.- - .   _-_ _ __-               --_  - - - - -         --II____  "" I . .-
no  Marc  than John  Calvin  tlid.      .P,ut the  ~~ncstion  now            and natural things,  WC  need  not hesitate to assert that
WIIICS :  R/la\- we  ;rsscrt  that  prcdcstination   inclutlcs  mwe          the  decree  of providcncc GLII only be fully realized by the
than what is  admittccl   abo\,e?   Or is it thus: That  prc- c(  mpletc  realization  of the dccrcc of predestination. The
clestination does not stand related to  the material things                  natural things have no predetermined end apart from man.
of the universe? May we say that in the decree of pre-                       The created universe comes to its Divine purpose in and
destination there is the decree of God to create and                         through mankind.                 Consequently the  decree  of provi-
uphold angels, earth, sun,  I'W~Jll  and stars, the myriads                  dence can only reach its  .Divine  purpose in the Divine
of insects, plants and animals? Was God determined the                       realization of the decree of predestination. When God
existence of all things ? Has God determined all the  hap-                   realizes His decree of predestination, then  first He has
IJcllings   in  His universe?  Has  God determined the ori-                  fully realized His decree of providence. And the fulfill-
gin, the manner of existence, and the end of all things or                   ment of the decree of providence added to the fulfillment
of whatever comes to pass, was, is, and shall be? Allow                      of the decree of predestination spells the fulfillment of
your Reformed conception of God to answer these ques-                        the Counsel or Plan of God. We must thus realize that
tions for  you. Do not allow your definition of election                     the decree of providence is subordinate to the decree of
or of reprobation or of predestination to determine your                     predestination. Conceived of in this way, we affirm the
answer.  `For then, I fear, we are bound to come to dis-                     decree of predestination to be all-embracing. For it pre-
agreement. `For man-made definitions are so imperfect,                       supposes the decree of providence, and without the decree
even though  12eformed  theologians have made the defini-                    (:Jf  predestination and its fulfillment the  (7cJUnSel  of God
tions, that much of the wrangling amongst the Reformed                       tloes not reach fulfillment.
today can directly be charged to them. $0 often have we                           With respect to the doctrine of predestination and its
fecund  this to be the case that when we now read the                        all-embracing significance, the orthodox  Mohammeclans
works of  c~rr best  Reformed theologians we always  ask can teach some  of  us  a valuable lesson.                                    Al-Eerkevi
<ourselves  the question how these men use various theo-                     writes : "It is necessary to confess that good and evil
logical terms. And predestination is one of  .the most take place by the predestination and predetermination of
important of theological terms. Often divergent views                        Grxl, that all that has been and all that w-21 be was decreed
of  election and reprobation are directly traceable to var-                  in eternity and written on the  preserved  table; that the
iant uses of these respective terms. This is one of the faith of the believer, the piety of the pious, and their good
reasons why predestination as a subject of discussion                        actions are foreseen, willed, predestinated, decreed by the
must be treated with so much delicacy.                                        writing on the preserved table produced and approved by
    In attempting  to answer the above stated questions.                      God; that the unbelief  of the unbeliever, the impiety of
\ve beg to have you bear in mind that predestination is a                     the impious, and bad actions come to pass with fore-
Divine decree touching all men. In that sense predes-                         knowledge, will, predestination, and decree of God. but
tination certainly is all embracing. For it stands related                    not with His satisfaction and approval."
tt~  every  man. woman or child.                                                   I. Concerning the decree of predestination we affirm
    But  wc may  attirm still more. The  decree of predes-                    that it embraces:
tination (as  Cal\.in  saw it), is only one aspect  of  011C                            a. God's determination to save certain men, and to
Divine decree. The Reformed usually call this one                                              reprobate others  ;
Divine decree the Counsel or Plan of God. By mention-                                   b. His determination to create both those who are
ing the Counsel or  Piall  of God, the Reformed assert the                                     to be saved and those who are to be reprobated,
determination  of all that  e.xists and shall happen. And                                      as well as the universe  on which men were to
usually this  .Divine  Counsel or Plan of God is looked at                                     dwell ;
from two different  viewpoints. From the  Iviewpoint  of                                c. His decree to permit both the former and the
the existence and predetermined end of natural, irrational                                     latter to fall;         .
and material things. -And  from the viewpoint of the                                    d. His determination to provide salvation for the
existence and predetermined end  cJf  all rational beings.                                     former, that is, for the elect, and condetnnation
In this connection we may affirm the existence of God's                                        for the latter, that is, the reprobates.
tlecree  of Providence which stands as the origin of the                           II. Others conceive differently of the order of these
existence and end of natural things, and we have the                          Divine determinations and specify the following:
decree of Predestination which stands as the origin of                                  a. His determination to create;
the existence and end  of all rational beings. But these                                1~. His will to permit the Fall;
two decrees are one decree with God. And the decree                                     c. His will to provide a salvation in Christ suffi-
of providence  and the  ckxree  !rf predestination are only                                    cient fnr the needs  cif all ;
two different aspects of the one Divine Counsel or Plan                                 d. His will to secure the actual acceptance of this
of God. All the decrees of God are various aspects of                                          salvation on the part of only some,---or, in other
the Divine Counsel of God. Man stands just as intimately                                       words, the decree of Election.
connected to the decree of providence as he does to the                            TII. Still others have clung to the order which Anselm
decree of predestination. For man's body certainly be-                        advanced. This order included the following :
longs to the realm of natural things.  .And whereas we                                  a. God's decree to create  ;
know  from Scripture that man is the King of all created                                b. The will of God to permit the Fall ;


         c.  ~`ir~l's  clctcrlninaticm   t-cl  l>rovitlc   i11 Christ  ;I  sxl-                          "WELMEENEND"
            \`ation  :itlrFiric:n  t for  thr  c:lcc  t  ;
         cl.  Ckod's will to  save a  certain  number   of  nlcn   ;d                    On&r bovcnstaand  opschrift  gcwcrd  ens ecn  schrij-
            to pass  cn%crs  bv--+r,  in  other words,  Electior:                  vcn van  `Ds. A. M. Diermanse,  Ede,  i<elderlandt   Ncdcr-
            and Reprobation.                                                       land,  dat wij hier  laten volgen:
   Personally we  prefer the  order  mcntionerl under 1.                                 "Welmecncnd. d. i. naar Van Dalcn's  Woorclcnbock  :
And the  order in III we  bcIic\,e  to  be better than the                         met goede bedoeling,  oprccht.  Z&Y>  is  dc boo&chap, de
rrrder in II.                                                                      rocpstcm dcs Evangelies, jegens iedcr mensch,  wien ook.
   Affirming what is listed under  `I, we believe that we                          Oak de  Leerregels,  III en IV, 8.  9  onderschrijven  dit:
honor God by thus acknowledging Him as the absolute                                `zoo  velen   als  er door het  Evangelic geroepen  worden.
Sovereign without whose will no individual thing exists,                           die  worden   ernstigtijk   geroepen.' Wat met dit  `ernstig-
and without which no single, individual act act is done. lijk' bcdoeld wordt, blijkt uit het  volgencle:  `Want het is
God is thereby affirmed to  br in all things by His essence                        God  aangenaam,  dat de geroepenen tot Hem komcn.'
and will. Calvin, himself, argued:  "If  God has not abso-                         Daarop wordt nog bevestigd, dat,  oak ten  opzichte  van
lutely decreed all things, then what will become of God's hen die niet komen, God het is die  door het Evangelie
omnipotence, by which He governs all things according roept,  niemand  anders, en dat dezen daarin  Chrihus  door
tli  `EIiS secret  CcJLlnsel,  independently  of  `?very  person  or               het  Eaangelie   aangebodew   uordt.   Christus  dus.   001~ niet
thing  besides?-Tt  is an awful decree,  I confess; but no                         ccn halve Christus, maar: Christus.  11. i.:  allcs wat tot
cme can deny that God  foreknew the future final fate of                           de zaligheid van een mensch, wien ook, van noode is. Ze
man before He created him, and that He did foreknow it worden  tot de zaligheid  geroepen. Een  volkomen  verlos-
because it was appointed by His own decree. If any one                             sing wordt hun  aangeboden.  Minder zit in Christus,  -
here attacks  (211~`s foreknowledge, he rashly and incon-                          zullen  wij Hem niet eigenmachtig  verkleinen.  .......- niet in.
siderately stumbles. For what ground  oi accusation is                                   Weik bezwaar heeft men hiertegen?  In `The  Stnncl-
there against the heavenly Judge for not being ignorant                            ard Bearer,'  sari Febr..  1925.  pag. 10, lees ik  hiervan:
of futurity? If there is  any just or plausible complaint, it                      `Men stelt God  afhankelijk  van het schepsel, of men laat
lies against  predestination. n'or should it be thought God in  tegenspraak  komen met zichzelven. en laat Hem
absurd to affirm. that  C;c-xl not only foresaw the fall of the                    willen, dat Hij  tech ook weer niet wil.' Wat het cerste
first man. and the ruin  of his posterity in him, but also bezwaar  betreft. dit  is  tcrstond uitgesloten.  Althans
arranged all by CILP determination  of his own will. For as it                     onder Cereformeerden. God is de  Souvereine.  `Waar  zou
belongs to  his wisdom to  fcxxknow   everything  future,  YU                      cjnzc rust  blijvcn.  indien hier  icts  aan  mankcercle,   indicn
it  belungs  to His power to rule and  govern all things  by                       wij in iets het met ons  zelven   moesten  doen. h'ecn,   Cod
His hand." {Institutes, Book III, Chapter  XXIII, 7).                              is CJnZC  rust en kracht in hllcs ; tenzij dat iemand daar nog
    Man fell.  says  Cal\?n,  according to the appointment nict  innerlijk   gekomen  is.
(of  `Divine   Pro\-idence.                                                              Maar dat anclere. Daar zit het  op.  God wil dus. en
    Still we must affirm that the freedom of the human                             Hij wil  tech niet.  Tk  nanvaard   tlit. Gods  l%roord   leert
will in  -ldam before  the fall was more than a freedom in                         bet ; hoewel God een licht is? en gansch gcen duisternis in
name.      Never should  wc go to the  extreme  of the Phari-                      Hem is. Hier is een diepte,  waarvoor wij  moeten   blijvcn
sees who left no place for human freedom. The  decree                              staan
                                                                                   .         en in niets de waarheid
                                                                                            f                             (3;ods  aanranden.
of  Predestination  does not  reduc.e  the world of human                                De wanrheid Gods!  I.,aat ons  er iets  van hooren.  In
thought  and action to  a mere  play  nf puppets. It is more                       Ez. 18 23 spreekt dc God der waarheid : Zou Ik ernigszias
than a pantheistic sham. Unquestionably  &d's will has lust  hebben  aan den dood des goddcloozen, sprcckt de
determined all that is to be. but this does not mean that                          Heere;  is het niet als hij  zich bekeert van zijne  wcgcn.
absolutely no power  of origination has  e'i*cr been with                          dat hij  leve? Zoo  oak  vers 32. In 33  :11  zwcert  tic  Hccre
man.  Yet. the all important confession to make is that met een eed; waarop  volgt  de hartdoordringende  roep-
God who has determined all  the  e\-cnts sets in operation                         stem  des  Hcercn :  KPkeer   u, bekeer  LI van  uwe  booze   wc-
such causes as will produce them, and  Hc is in all the                            gcn, want waarom zoudt gij  sterven, o huis  IsraPls?   Ret
proper  efticient  cause. Still the universe is more than                          is  geheel  hetzeifdc wat we lezen in Matt. 23 :37:  3X : Hoe
God evolving Himself.                                                              menigmaal heb  Ik uwe  kinderen   willen bijeenvergaderen
                                                                                   gelijkerwijs een hen hare kiekens . . . . en dan oak hier de
                                                                                   bittere  klacht des Heeren:  cn  gijlieden hebt niet gewild.
                    LOW RELIGIOUS LIFE                                             Jaq de Heiland weende over  het  afvalligc Jeruzalem,  Luk.
    *..*. The fact that in these  days.  our  Calvinistic                          19:41. Geheel  hetzelfde rindt men oak in 1%. 81 53, 11, 14.
churches are  deem&i  cold and  "unhcimisch," and a  re-in-                        En deze  klacht en  deze dringende roep  om het behoud
troduction  of the symbolical in our places of worship is                          hunner zielen,  oni hen indien het  mocht  zijn, nog tot
longed for, we  owe  to the said reality that the pulse  beat                      inkeer te brengen, en te redden, vindt men eigenlijk de
of the religious life in  our times  is so much fainter than                       gansche profetische  Schrift door. En omhelst de Heerc.
it was in the  davs  of  our  martyrs.                                             Mark.  10:16, niet de  kinderen  Zijns  volks,  zooals Hij  oak
                      `Dr.  A.  Kuvpe; in "Six Stone  `laecttires."                vtrcjrheen   Zijn volk. Zijn kinderen, en clies heilig heette?


