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i  ..vol.  III No. 1                                                       O&OBER,  1925                                           Subscription Price $1.50
i:t
                                                                                               Be an earthly edifice ever so rich, be its design ever
                         MEDITATION                                                       so clear a testimony of the builder's ingenuity, be it ever
                                                                                          so royally furnished, without father and mother it is
t                                                                                         devoid of the warm attraction there is in that one word:
i-                              F A T H E R ' S   H O U S E                               Home. And be it ever so humble, to the child the place
j -                                                                                       where father's embrace is awaiting, and mother's love is
I                                    In my Father's house are many mansions.
                                                                 -John  I4:Za.            caring, is home, the dearest spot in all the world.. . .
t-id                                                                                           No different it is with regard to the heavenly home.
ti "             Father's house !                                                              Its essence, the heart of all its joy is Father's
                                                                                          embrace.
*                Mow sweet the thought, how blessed the assurance,                                        He is there and in the house of many mansions
i             how peace-affording the comfort for the weary sojourner,                    there is the perfect communion with Him. Here, on our
 the struggling pilgrim that at the end of the rugged road                                pilgrim's journey, He is with us, indeed, and the blessed-
 j  `, stands Father's house ! What all-sufficient comfort for                            ness of His communion we taste. We know Him and
 _-the homesick child when the night grows dark and fear                                  believe in Him and love Him and trust in Him. We eat
I:":. creeps about the heart, when the path of iife grows steep                           with Him and drink  w-ith  ,Him and walk with Him and
 .i'and  the weary feet,  o, so heavy, that in the distance thru                          talk with Him. And He holds our right hand in His
 ' .I the black night beckons the kindly light of the house of                            strong one and guides us by His counsel. But it is al1 so
:`;, Father!                                                                             in part, so imperfect, so distant, so earthy. Sometimes
f  .:            Father's house it is.                                                    He seems to approach so closely, then again darkness
t                And it isn"t the house but it is Father that is the cen-                seems to hides His face. And at very best we see but in
!.:, ter of attraction of the house of many mansions.                                    a glass darkly. But there, in Father's house is Father  and
  rt  `. Beautiful, surely, is the house! For a house it is, not I: shall see Him, face to face and  knoy* Him as I am
  1 `.a mere dream or phantom-place as some would inform us.                             known and in Iove perfected I Shall draw very near never
 [  `IThe Lord did not speak about a mere condition or state,                            to pa*  again.  * .  *
 I  lvague,  indefinite, dream-like, airy and shadowy and                                     In Father's house is Father !
  :!  ..,;,eluding  evermore our approach like the touch of heaven>5                          .%nd at the end of our earthly pilgrimage is Father's
 ;  ,:"ome in the ever distant horizon ; but of a house, of man-                         house.. . .
             -sions, of a place which He would prepare for us and                             Blessed hope !
  b `whither, soon as the place is ready, He would lead us,
 i `there to abide forever.               And how could the house be                          Father's house !
  :otherwise  than beautiful, seeing it is Father's house,                                    What boundless oceans of joy and gladness there are
             which  He  designed, from before the world's foundation,                    in store, laid up for them that fear the Lord, ready to be
  ;for His children? Father is rich and He loves His  chil-                              revealed to them to whom it is given of mere grace not
       !  .dren.
  /                  He need not spare expense and' the impulse of                       only to believe in Christ the Lord but also with Him to
  1  ; His love is to give His children all things freely. Well                          suffer. For it is the house of that Father, Who in  sov-
  ! `may  370~  speak of streets of  &old and pearly gates, of                           ereign love and boundless grace ordained that His chil-
  i perpetual light and festive song and believe that ,half was                          dren should be made like unto the image of His Son, that
  !  ;-not  told you of the place and that you have but  stam-                           Ke might be the First-born among many brethren.
             mered in earthly language of heavenly realities.
  p.                                                                     Father's             There, in Father's house is our oldest Brother!
             IS a splendid house!                                                             But for Him there would be no place, no mansion for
  ! 1           But  the essence of its joy is Father.                                   you,  no room for me in Father's house.                     But for His
       /'       Without Him the place would be spoiled of its beauty.                    presence  tliere,  the house of Father would be shut and
       /:       But for Him the House would lose its attraction.                         v,-e would have to remain outside in eternal  darkness.
1;
:...a<.


                                                                                                                                                 1
                                                     T H E   ST:\XD;?\   RD  BE.tRER
"" -       .- __I ...-.-.."  ..." ..__....._  - -                                           -....    ._---  -.........                -.  ._-

Bt+t for His gracious Person we  could not be,  Eve  would              There shall we see Him face to face.
not,feel at home in Father's house . . . .                              And Father's house lies, at the end of our earthly pil-
        For it is' Father's house.                                   grimage.                                                    I
        `-And Father's house is light.                                  Glorious assurance !
         For Father is a light and there is no darkness in Him.
         And where He dwells there is the light, the pure, the          Father's house !
shadowless, the eternal Iight of truth and righteousness                It is the children's home.
and holiness and love. No darkness of the lie and                       It is the gathering of all children, as children of one
unrighteousness and corruption and hatred can linger in              .Father,  as brethren and sisters of one Brother, united in
that perfect and spotlessly pure light-sphere of Father's            perfected love, dwelling together in unity of the Spirit.
house but for a fleeting moment. . . .                                  For many mansions there are in Father's house.
        But we were darkness, guilty and defiled, corrupt to            iNot, indeed, as if Father's house were imaged by so
the very innermost recesses of our heart and nature, lover           many a so-called Home on earth, where the aged and
of the lie and of unrighteousness, haters of God and of              feeble are housed and cared for-and where each inmate
one another, fleeing from the light and seeking the dark-            enjoys his own little room to live as much as possible in
ness because our works were evil. And being darkness                 isolation from his fellow-inmates.                   Thus it is but too
our proper place was not in Father's house of eternal                often with God's children as they are in the world. There
light but in the realm of darkness' Prince, where there is           is the inevitable separation between  .groups  of brethren
wailing and gnashing of teeth. .4nd hating the light and             because of earthly limitations of distance and tongue; and
seeking  the darkness, while our works were evil and we              there is the deplorable isolation because of sin and imper-
dreaded to be exposed in the light, our longing was not              fection that remains against our will within us. And
for the Light-home of Father.. . .                    ~              there are those of God's children upon earth that feel
        But in Father's house is our oldest Brother!                 inclined to withdraw from the communion of the brethren
         He is the eternal Son and He took upon Himself the          in Father's house into the private recess of their own
fresh and blood of the children. hnd in that  fIesh  a$d             separate mansion. . . _
blood He fought the powers of darkness and vanquished                   Nut so it will be in the house of many mansions.
them. Over the way of the cross and thru the deep valley                For it is the embodiment of the unity of perfect and
of Hisamazing suffering, passing even thru the depth of              heavenly love.
hell's agony, `He led the way into the house of Father.                 All that here separates there shall be no more.  PLll
There He prepares the place and thence He prepares His               sinful barriers, restraining love's communion between
brethren for the place. For He removed the handwriting               Father and children.. between the Son and His brethren,
of our sin, witnessing against us.  l)y His suffering in             and between the brethren mutually,  shah be removed
fathomless love. ;Ynd by His Spirit He, came again to                and demolished forever. All earthly limitations of nation
deliver us from the-bonds of darkness and death, from the            and tongue and distance and time somehow shall there
power of sin and hatred against Father, and to till us with          be obliterated, never to cause separation anymore. It
His own life from above. the life of love and light, the             shall be one Father and one Lord and one Spirit dwelling
life of the sons of God. By virtue of that new and glorious          in one Body. uniting  all the children in perfect brother-
life of Father within us we have become strangers to the             hood.
darkness and lovers of the perfect light, pilgrims in the               But many shall be there.
earth and Father's children, seeking the eternal Home,                  For many are the mansions in Father's house.
where Father is and where is also the First-`Born among                 rind many mansions the Lord doth prepare.
brethren, our oldest Brother. . . .                                     How little seemeth the flock of the Good Shepherd
        There we shall,  see Him !                                   often in the world! How few there would seem to belong
         Face to face !                                              to the family of God ! How overpowering in majority
         Yes, we know that He is with us now. His Spirit and         seem the powers of darkness, the haters of God, the chil-
grace never fail. His Name we know, His love we taste,               dren of the devil! How sparsely inhabited, it would seem,
His presence we experience, He watches and keeps and                 must be the City of God, the H.eavenly  Jerusalem! How
leads the way and fights the battle. He is precious to us            hardly  c>ccupied  will be Father's Light-home of glory!
above thousand. . . .                                                   Yet, Father's, house has many mansions.
         But this is the more reason why we long to see Him,            .4nd they all shall be filled.
who loved us so deeply, who suffered for us so amazingly,               When the last one of the many brethren shall have
who delivered us so powerfully, who guides us so faith-              been prepared and all God's children  shali  have entered
fully, who exalts us so gloriously; to look upon Him eye             into Father"s  house, there shall be a veritable multitude,
in eye, to speak to him mouth to month, to commune                   which no man can number, joining in with the festive
with Him heart to heart, to bring him our eternal thanks             song of glory to the Father and to the Lamb and Father's
and adoration for the incomparable love wherewith He                 house shall rebound with praise from the mouths of many
loved us. . . .                                                      millions.
         In Father's house. There is He.                                All shall be there.


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   EE.%RER                                                                       3
~~."-0-----                                      _l_l_--                                 -._".                                     -._-...._ -_
   The Church that was, and the Church that now is and              Father's warm embrace. and of untold joy in eternal man-
the Church that is still to come. And with all the saints           sions !
that have gone before and that have left their bloody                   Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, !
trail in the world because of the testimony of Jesus and                In His eternal home . . .f .
the covenant of the living God, and with all the saints                 Father's house !                             .
that are still to be born and must still finish the good                                                                        H.  I-I.'
fight, we shall rejoice in the harmony of the heavenly                                                                    ",
love in Father's House.
   And all shall have their appointed place. Not an                                               T E R U G B L I K   t
endless monotony of identical individuals, not a weari-
some sameness of personalities shal1 be in Father's house,             "Happy is that people, whose annals are brief,",  zegt
but the beauty of diversity shall there be displayed upoh           een zeker geschiedschrijvkr. Of dit altijd .opgaat, staat
the pleasant background of unity, We all shall receive              te betwijfelen.       Veelbewogen tijden zijn niet zelden,
our new name.         And every name shall spell Father's           vooral in meer geestelijken  zin des woords, zoowel voor
name, yet with a  difEerence  in sound. We shall receive            volken   als personen, tevens de  gelukkigste.  Daarvoor
our new tongue.  &d every tongue shall sing Father's                zouden uit de geschiedenis der Kerk vooral; overvloedige
praise yet with harmonious diversity of tone. We shall              bewijzen zijn  aan te voeren. Uit een zeker oogpunt  be-
receive our new and glorified appearance, and every face            zien, mag men zelfs zeggen, dat rust roest,  doch dat de
shall reflect Father's face, yet  ,with endless variety of          drukking der melk boter voortbrengt. Een broeder wordt
glory. For He will be the Unity in the- diversity of all . . . .    in benauwdheid geboren. Evenwel, dok deze spreuken
   The perfect image of the Son will be mirrored in manyl           zijn waarachtig : "de drukking van den neus brengt bloed
brethren.                                                           voort, en de drukking des toorns brengt twist voott." En
  Glorious House of many mansions !                                 ook is de vrede te verkiezen boven den oorlog. Wij, bid-
   Oceans of joy !                     I  *                         den.om den vrede van Jeruzalem ; we1 moeten  zij varen, _
                                                                    die haar beminnen. Het is goed en liefelijk, dat broeders
   Father's house !                                                 ook samenwonen. Alles  `ha@' maar af van onze  ver-
   Brother, does the way lead thither?                              houding tot God, zoowel in voorspoed als in tegenspoed,
   It does not if you care not for Father, for perfected            in  alle  lijden  en.verblijden. Want dit is zeker:  weIgelitk-
communion with  Eim is the essence of the `joy of the               xalig is het  aolk,   ~wiens   God de  HErERE is.                        I
house of many mansions. And why, pray, should you                      Terugziende, zouden we gewag kunnen  maken, beide
care to enter into Father's house above if you care not             van korte  annalen,  en veelbewogen dagen. "The Stand-
for His communion here? It does not if you care not for             ard. Bearer" heeft niet te klagen. Een vol jaar heeft hij
our oldest Brother for His love is the unity of ours. And           ongestoord de rondte mogen  dden. En op elke rondreis
why should you desire to be with Him in glory there if              vie1  op te merken, dat de.kring van vrienden  aanmerke-
you care not to be with Him in suffering here  7 It does            lijk grooter was geworden. Zonder  introducties en brie-
not if you love not the brethren. For the house of many             ven van aanbeveling  gingen immer meer deuren voor hem
mansions is the realization of the perfect brotherhood of           open. Wet aantal  abonne's  sfeeg boven alle verwachting.
the sons of God. And why, pray, should you prize the                Op de tweede jaarvergadering traden  ettelijke   tientallen
company of those in the heavenly home, whom you                     van nieuwe  leden  toe tot "The Reformed Free Publish-
despise and fill with reproach here? It does not if you             ing Association." En het financieel boekjaar sloot met een
love the darkness rather than. light. For Father's house            uitstekend batig saldo.
is light. And how, pray, could you, a child of darkness,                Schoon  siechts  z e s t i e n   bladzijden   b e l o o f d   waren,
be or even desire to be in that eternal light-sphere of             brachten elf van de' twaalf nommers elk 32 bladzijden
Father's house above?                                               druks, groot formaat, en zonder advertenties. De  redac-
   But, brother, does the way lead thither?                         tie ondervond veel bemoediging en steun. Sommige van
   Does the kindly light of Father's house beckon  you              de bijdragers werden feitelijk vaste medewerkers, zoodat
from the distance at the end of life's path?                        we goede hope koesteren, dat we in de naaste toekomst
   Why care, then, if the road be rugged and steep?                 zullen  kunnen voldoea aan de telkens geuite  begeerte, dat
Why complain if suffering is our lot for a while? Why               ons blad tweemaal per maand verschijne, alsmede aan de
be discouraged if the battle rages fiercely? Why fear, if           behoefte  aan  geschikte  lectuur voor iedereen, klein en
the night grows dark and the storms of life wildly howl             groot. Wij vertrouwen, dat  geschikte  gaven en  talenten
about our heads ?                                                   niet al te lang op  zich  zuIlen   Iaten  wachten; en dat  tijd
   0, why art thou cast down my soul ?                              en krachten  cons bij den  voortduur   zullen geschonken
   Yonder is the light, sparkling kindly thru the black of          worden.
night. It is the light of Father's house, gleaming and                  De redactie meent getrouw gearbeid te hebben  aan
glimmering and glittering, now shining brightly in the              haar programma: Lange artikelenreeksen over een en
still night, now growing faint thru the mist of my earthly          hetzelfde onderwerp kwamen in ons maandblad  niet voor.
way, but shining still and assuring me of heavenly rest in          Ook deelden  we niet alles in in vaste rubrieken. Doch we1


 1CJ                                       T H E   S T X N D A R D   B E A R E R
 ,........ II    _--"^.-    "I.                      - -   .  --l.l______-_l_.~._ll_..-.."...-__-_ .-.-. "."."~_-. .-_l_-."ll-.--_ "...  .--,..1.

Ham and Japheth and their descendants." De Gemeenc                  breathes." Idcm, I,  15. The argument is plain: because
Gratie,  I; 17. The argument, therefore, is, that because           in the passage that speaks of the establishment of this
God addresses Himself to all the male members of the                covenant the name God and not the name Jehovah is
family of Noah and includes their descendants, therefore            employed we are bound to explain this covenant as bear-
all the individual members of the human race are included           ing a general not a particular character.
in this covenant of common grace.                                       Lastly, it is argued that the promise of the covenant
        In the second place, it is pointed out, that this cov-      is earthly, pertains to this present life and contains noth-
enant is even established with the animals and with every           ing spiritual. That promise is simply that the waters of
living soul. Writes Dr. Kuyper:  `*AS  if God had fore-             a flood shall no more destroy the earth. This promise
seen, that this would nevertheless be misunderstood He              does not concern the spiritual life of the soul, but the
further defines and adds literally: `And with every living          external life of all men in the world. Hencej  it is plain
creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of       that the covenant of grace cannot be meant but a general
every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of          covenant is referred to, established with the world as such
the ark, to every beast of the earth.' And this is repeated         and with the whole human race.  Idem, p. 19.
in vs. 12 in this fashion: `the covenant which I make                   Van  Baalen:  who in  "De Luochening der Gemeene
between me and you and every living creature that is                Gratie, etc."' also wrote about this matter, presents us
with you, for perpetual generations.' Yea, as if for the            with nothing new. He merely defends every argument
purpose of  espressing  this still more concretely and to           Dr. Kuyper brought forward and accepts them as his
bring out clearly that this covenant does indeed concern            own. He also mentions  the.argument  based upon the dis-
our human life on earth, it is said in vs. 13: `a covenant          tinction between the divine names, only he went just  n
between me and the earth.' As often as six times, there-            step too far in his argument.               He maintained that the
fore, it is expressed in this brief passage, that we have to        name Jehovah was not revealed till Moses' time. The
do here with a covenant not of particular, but of common            people before Moses did not know that name.  ,4nd the
grace ; and is well nigh incomprehensible, how in con-              Lord never introduced Himself to anyone before the
flict with this, and disregarding this definite sixfold dec-        Mosaic period as Jehovah. But Moses knew the different
laration, some reasoned away and practically denied the             names of God and he employed these names in such a
general  character  of this covenant.." Idem, I, p. 17,  18.        way that the difference in significance was brought out
The argument here plainly is, that the covenant of grace           and maintained. He wrote the name Jehovah wherever
in Christ cannot comprehend creation and the things c.on-          the covenant of grace was referred to and the name God
cerning this present life. In the historical development           in connection with the common covenant and a common
and revelation of the covenant of grace established with           grace. .!Je Loochening der Gemeene Cratie,  pp. 16, 17. He
God's people in Christ the things of this present life could       also rehearses the argument that God in Gen.  9 addresses
not be of concern. k-et this covenant with Noah does               Noah and his sons. Only he adds the remark, that while,
include animals and all the earth and concerns itself with         when God establishes his covenant of grace with Abra-
things temporal. -Hence, it must be general and cannot             ham and his seed, this seed is expressly limited to Isaac
be the covenant of grace.                                          while Ishmael is excluded: this is not done in case of the
        The third Scriptural ground for this view of the cov-      covenant with Noah. The seed of Noah and his sons
enant with Noah is the peculiar use of the divine names            with whom God establishes His covenant is left unlimited
God and Jehovah. It is alleged that Jehovah is God's               and without exception. For the rest Van  Baalen  offers
covenant-name and that it would have been employed in              nothing new. He merely reiterates what Dr. Kuyper
this instance had the covenant of grace been meant. But            had expressed in. De Gemeene Gratie.
since not the name Jehovah, but thruout the name God is               The question now is: how must we judge of these
employed, it is deduced that a covenant with all men is            alleged Scriptural grounds ? And our answer is: they
revealed in Gen. 9. Writes Dr. Kuyper: "Even the use               are altogether untenable as a little investigation will
of the name with which the Most High who concludes                 show.      Even when these arguments are considered by
the covenant is here called, forbids any other conception          themselves, apart from the fact that the testimony of
of the matter. Where the saving covenant of particular             Scripture is otherwise overwhelmingly opposed to such
grace is referred to in Gen. 3 the name Jehovah  is                a generalization of the covenant with Noah, they cannct
employed, and also in the passage that speaks of the               stand.
blessing of the Messiah upon Shem, we find in Gen,                      With regard to the first alleged ground, that God
9526 the name Jehovah. But here, in connection with the            speaks to Noah and to his sons, and that he establishes
covenant with Noah as well as in vs. `27 where mention is          His covenant with them and with their seed, we answer
made of the blessing upon Japheth; the covenant-name               that  the,:fact  as such must, of course, be admitted. God
Jehovah is uniformly eliminated and we find everywhere             does, indeed, speak to all of them and with them and
the name God only. It is here not Jehovah, but the God             their seed He does establish His covenant. But the con-
of all flesh, who establishes His covenant with all flesh          elusion drawn from this fact, that therefore the covenant
and who in that covenant promises with an oath a  prom-            of nature is established with all the world and not  with'
ise that indeed pertains to all flesh equally and to all that      the church is false. Tn the first place, it must be remem-


                                                    `I' EI E S T it N D A I? D                                     B E .A R E R,
" ._-..-.-.. -"..--..^---.-L-l_    ."."... ." ..---- .--... .._-........ ""  ^  .-........-....-...-..   -..^-  _--.  -^"-  -.^-_                                                                                   I1
                                                                                                                                     - - - _." ."    .^ _ .._ 1"" .._" .._ -.....-.-... ^ ..." "." ..." .._.. ""_-.^----
bered that Noah and his family were at t,hat moment the                                               lis'hcs  His covenant. with Noah and his' three sons and
church in the world. The wicked  world had perished in                                                their seed, all the physical descendants must be idcludcd.
the flood. His Church God had saved from the destruc-                                                 But Scripture expressly teaches that this is not the case.
tion of the deluge. It is,  of course, true that they are                                             Sot all the children according to the flesh are also chil-
also the progenitors of the new human race that is to be                                              dren according to the promise. Not in  Jjbraham's  case
born from them. The church and the human race are at                                                  but neither in  Noah's.  This soon becomes evident,  when
that moment, as far as the members are concerned, iden-                                               one of the sons of Ham is cursed. `We must not .make a
tical, for the simple reason that there is no human family                                            mistake here. The general impression is that Ham is
living outside of the church when Noah and his sons leave                                            cursed. But this is  not the truth. Ham sins and he is
the ark. But this does not alter the fact, that Noah and                                             punished in the curse pronounced upon one of his sons,
his family stand there, not as the representatives of the                                             Canaan. Not Ham personally, nor yet the entire tribe of
whole human race or of the world as such, but as the                                                  Ham receives the curse, but one of his sons is cursed in
church. As the church they had found grace in the eyes                                               generations, an important difference which is often over-
of the Lord. As the church God had commanded them                                                    looked. But even so it becomes evident soon after the
to build the ark. As the church they had obeyed and had                                              covenant has been established with  Ndah and his three
entered into the ark separating themselves from the                                                  sons together with their seed, that not all the descendants
wicked world. As the church they had been separated                                                  of Noah are included in this covenant. God established
from the world by the flood as a type of baptism.  As                                                 His covenant with Noah and his sons .as the representa-
His own people God had dealt with them all the time.                                                 tives of the Church of all ages and tribes and nations and,
And as His people He deals with them after they have                                                 therefore, with their spiritual seed. Kuyper's argument
left the ark and makes His covenant with them. It makes                                              on this matter is untenable in the light of Scripture.
no particle of difference whether God addresses Noah                                                        Weaker still, if possible, is the argument that is based
alone or speaks to his sons also. He speaks to the Church                                            upon the distinction between the names God and Jehovah.
and addresses His own people and none other.                                         And             This argument might, indeed,  ha\-e   s?me semblance of
standing before God as the Church, just emerged from                                                 strength if it were true that in Scripture the names God
the waters of the Hood, they must also be viewed as the                                              and Jehovah were rather uniformly employed so as to
progenitors of the Church of the future. And it is even                                              maintain the alleged distinction. If it were true that the
as we Gould  expect  it at that period of history. that God.                                         name Jehovah in Scripture or in the books written by
establishing His covenant, does not address  HimseIf  to                                             Moses. or even in Genesis only, was employed when the
Noah only or even to  ShemA particularly but to all the                                              covenant of grace is mentioned and the name God in a
sons of Noah. For that covenant of grace is to  etnbracc more general sense, there would be some sense to such
all nations and tribes even though it is not to include, reasoning. But this is not the case. The names are, from
every  individual  c.>f the race. and of these nations and'                                          this point of view at least, used quite promiscuously. Now
tribes Noah  and his sons are the progenitors. Not Ku?--                                             the name God, now the name Jehovah is employed where
per but Van  iMastricht  is right in this matter. Kuyper                                             according to Kuyper we would have to expect the name
makes the mistake of viewing Noah and his suns mereI>                                                that is not used. We called attention to this fact in "Niet
as the human race. Van Mastricht  correctly saw that the-" Doopersch Maar Gereformeerd"  and we will not quote the
family that left the ark was the Church of the living God                                            texts again in proof of our contention here. We refer the
in the world. In the second place, it must be remarked                                               reader to the following passages:  ,Gen.  46; 4  :9;  4:13  ;
that there is nothing unusual or strange in the fact that                                            4:13 where the name Jehovah (Lord) is employed when
God establishes His covenant with Noah and his three                                                 God deals with Cain; Gen.  6:3  ;  6:5,  6, where the name
sons and their  se5d, leaving the impression as if  all the                                          Jehovah is employed when God deals with the godless
descendants of Noah,  Shem, Ham and Japheth are meant,                                               world; Gen. 4:8 ; 7 :l, 5, 9, 16; Gen. 8 :1 ; 20, 21, where the
while yet none other but the spiritual seed, the children                                            names God and Jehovah are used quite promiscuously;
of the promise are referred to. This is general in the                                               Grn . 5 :24; 0:9: 17 ~3, 9, where the name God is employed
Word of God, When God establishes His covenant with                                                  while plainly the covenant of grace is referred to in the
Abraham He says: "And I will establish my covenant                                                   context.               And we feel. convinced, that the reader" will
between me and thee and thy seed after' thee in their                                                admit that this argument is hopelessly without any value
generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto                                             to prove that the covenant with Noah was a general
thee and to thy seed after thee," Gen.  17:7. The impres-                                            covenant  and not the covenant of grace. We will not
sion seems to be left that  all the physical seed of Abra-                                           again stress Van Baalen's fatal addition to this argument
ham is meant. Yet Scripture plainly teaches that this is                                             of Kuyper's, namely that the people before Moses' time
not the meaning, for only the children of the promise are                                            did not know the name Jehovah and that God never
implied. And all the history of Israel is there to prove                                             introduced Himself by tliat name to His people before the
that in a majority of the seed of Abraham or even of                                                 Mosaic period. We refer the reader to Gen. 14 :22 ; 15 :2 :
Jacob according to the  flesh God had no pleasure. The                                               15  :7, S: 22 :14;  24:2, 3, 12, 27, etc., in order to convince
whole argument of the protagonists of a common grace is.                                             himself how hopelessly mistaken the brother was. But
false in this respect. They argue, that when God  estab-                                             as we said we shall not stress this point. Van  Baalen


        12                                                       T E-1 E S T A N D A R ;` :B E A R E R
        -__l__l__  . ..__ ___I ..--""..""  ..-......._  - - -                                                           -- __....."  ..-.__ -__-_--.-  ..-.......  "". .."."".."... .  ..-..-...  ".".."..
        himself  cvidcntly noticed his  mist&c and made  an                                                  DE `JONGSTE KERKELIJKE STRIJD
       attempt to retract in his later production : IViezlwigheid  cn
       Dwuling; a title, by the way, that fully covers the contents                                               C. Voor de Synode, 1924
;      of the book. It is here only our purpose to show that the
i       arguments put forth to prove from Scripture that the                                         Eioe  de synode van  1924 langs den  weg van  veel
       covenant with Noah is to be viewed as general and estab-                                  moeite ed geharrewar tech eindelijk tot het besluit kwam,
~ lished with the world as such are untenable. i\nd the one                                      dat ze in zake de Gcmcene Gratie kwestie  genomen heeft,
~ deduced from the use of the divine names is a fable.                                           hebben we de vorige  maal  beschreven. Het  substituut-
               The last argument that must support this theory that                              voorstel Van  Dellen  werd met cenige geringe  wijzigin-
       the  cov.enant  with Noah is a general covenant, established                              gen door de synode aangenomen.
       with a godless world as such and not with the church, is                                     Wat nu heeft de synode daarmede eigenlijk besloten?
       that it includes all creation and that it promises temporal                                  Dat is de  vraag, die we in de twcede plaats  zullen
       blessings. It is no more in style as it was a while ago to                                hebben te beantwoorden, voorzoover het in onze beschrij-
       speak. of Anabaptism.                   Our opponents have tacitly                        ving der geschiedenis van deze zaak te pas komt, dat we
       admitted though never nobly confessed that this  accusa-                                  in hct licht stellen en een oordeel vellen over den inhoud
     tion was false and could not be proven. Rut this last                                       der besluiten door de synode genomen. De leerstellige
       argument for the generality of the covenant with Noah                                     bespreking  der thans  befaamde   "Drie   Punten" ligt niet
       is as near akin to the Anabaptistic conception of the sep:                                op  onzen  weg, daar deze  taa,k  aan Ds. H. Danhof werd
       aration  of nature and grace as any I have read. It cannot                                opgedragen.  Doch het ligt in den aard der  zaak,  dat in
       conceive of the plainly taught Scriptural truth, that the                                 eene beschrijving der geschiedenis als waaraan'  we thans
       covenant and kingdom of God are all-embracing, that the                                   bezig  zijn, het al of niet wettige en geoorloofde `van de
       covenant-God for his covenant's sake temporarily bears                                    handelingen der kerk ten opzichte van de afgezette predi-
       and sustains all things and that the groaning creature                                    kanten  en kerkeraden in het  licht behoort  te  worden
       shaI1   yltimately  participate in the liberty of the children                            gesteld.     Daarom kunnen en mogen we ons niet geheel
       of God. It separates nature and grace only in this respect                                en al onthouden van eene bespreking van den inhoud der
       differently from the way of the  Anabaptists?  that in dis-                               besluiten, die genomen zijn. Men begint thans de schare
       tinction from these it invents a second grace to make                                     wijs te  maken,  dat we eigenlijk door een soort  stijfkop-
       nature good. This, however, is contrary to Scripture.                                     perij onzerzijds uit de kerk geraakt zijn.  Hadden  we
       rU1 things are Christ's and we belong to Him with body                                    slechts een weinig toegegeven, iets dat ons anders zoo
       and soul for time and eternity and with  all that  kc                                     gemakkelijk  gemaakt  werd, we  waren   we1 voor de kerk
                                                                                                                                           *
       possess:        All things are one in Him and  ,the groaning                              bewaard gebleven. lMaar we  wilden  nu eenmaal eigkn
       creation is subjected to the bondage of corruption in hope.                               zin doordrijven en  alle  goede bedoelingen dergenen, die
       It is this truth which is beautifully revealed in the coy-                                ons zoo gaarne  voor  de kerk  wilden  behouden,  leden   op
     enant   w i t h   N o a h   w h i c h   f r o m   t h a t   v i e w p o i n t   ma?  b e    deze eigenzinnigheid schipbreuk. De vraag is derhalve
       denominated The Covenant of Nature.  -And  it is this truth                               of we ons konden en mochten onderwerpen  aan hetgeen
       which must be remembered would we avoid the dualism                                       ons van  classis wege werd opgelegd. En dat hangt af
       which Kuyper created when he invented his second grace.                                   van de andere vraag of hetgeen men van ons eischte in
       And if this is remembered we will find npthing strange in                                 overeenstemming was met  Schrift  en Belijdenis.  Onder
       the fact that God establishes His covenant with the fowls                                 de Gereformeerde Belijdenis hebben we onzen  naam  ge-
       of the air and the cattle and the beasts of the field and                                 zet. En we hebben ook beloofd, dat we de gereformeerde
       that it is as all-enfolding as the rainbow in the expanse of                              waarheid zouden verdedigen en alle ketterijen daartegen
       the heavens which is its sign.                                                            strijdende zouden verwerpen. Het was, ons dus mogeIijk
                                                                          _  `13. H.             noch  geoorloofd ons te onderwerpen aan of neer te leggen
                                                                                                 bij  besluiten,  die ons zouden dwingen ketterijen te  aan-                                                  '
                                                                                                 vaarden  of  oak in betrekking tot die ketterijen het  stil-
                                                                                                 zwijgen te bewaren. We zullen dus ook in deze geschie-
                                    IN MEMORIAM                                                  denis  kortelijk onze bezwaren hebben  samen  te  vatten
                 Het behaagde den Heere op 1.5 Sept. 1.1. op treurige en                         tegen den  1eerstelIigen  inhoud der besluiten door de
              rampspoedige wijze door den dood uit ons  midden  wez te                           synode genomen, om duidelijk te maken,  dat we voor Got!
              nemen                   JAMES KNOL,                                                en de kerken niet anders  handelen  konden  nf mochten,
              in  cien ouderdom van 28  jaren.                                                   dan we deden.
                 De slag trof ons diep en onze smart is groot. Geve de
              Heere ons te berusten in Zijnen wil en spore het ons  allen                           Daarbij komt in de tweede plaats',  dat de synode niet
              aan tot een  leven in Zijnen dienst.                                               alleen enkele leerstellingen heeft aangenomen, maar  zich
                                       De bedroefde familie,
                                          Mrs. James  Knol                                       ook heeft uitgesproken ten opzichte van  onze   beschou-
                                                              en kinderen.                       wingen  en personen. De vraag was ,wel degelijk voor de
                                          M r s .   P .   J.  Knol-Borduin                       synodc  of wij met onze beschouwingen en  d.e  uiteenzet-
                                          Mrs. Hoving--Peterson.
                                          Broeders en  Zusters  van  den  over-                  ting  daarvan  in geschrift en prediking ons der kerkelijke
                                             ledene  en hunne kinderen.                          behandeling  :hadden  waardig gemaakt. Ook  heeft  de


                                                 T H E   STXNDA.RD   B E A R E R                                                                                                 1.5
-_^ -........ ".I-..-               -- .__.. ---^ .-._--.- -_"                             ---.-.-."--              ...__..." -.-. """-." _.-.............................. ^    ..--

niet, laat Prof. Berkhof  eens eene gereformeerde  om-                                    PROF. BERKHOF'S BROCHURE
schrijving geven van de leer der verwerping en dan een
antwoord geven op de vraag  hem  nu zoo  herhaaidelijk                           Before I proceed to adduce proof for the statement to
gedaan door Ds. Danhof: wat genade-ontvangt een  ver-                        the effect that Prof. Berkhof's brochure is a clever and
worpene in de prediking des Evangelies? En laat hem                          cunning defense of the heresy of Pelagius  and Arminius,
tevens eens uiteenzetten zijn beschouwing van de  gere-                      I wish to call attention to another matter.
formeerde waarheid inzake de totale  onmacht des natuur-                        On page five of the Professor's brochure is found a
iijken menschen om  aan te nemen, wat in het Evangelie                       statement upon which I wish to dwell for a little. The
aangeboden wordt en dan eens duidelijk  maken  wat  ge-                      assertion to which I refer reads as follows:  "Ofize  twee-
nade die prediking  omit kan zijn voor een verworpene.                       de algemeene opmerking ligt feitelijk reeds in de
Maak u er niet  langer  van af, professor.  .U sijt  verant-                 cerste      opgesldten,      maar    dient            uitdrukkelijk onder
woordelijk  als medeopsteller en ontwerper van Punt I.                       de aandacht  tc  worden  gebiacht. Zij is meer  specifiek
Deze  dingcn  zijn veel te ernstig, om er mede te  spelen.                   dan de `eerste. `De Synode heeft volstrekt niet bedoeld,
U is ook voor de kerken verantwoordelijk, om duidelijk te                    om in de drie  punten  een formulatie te g-even van het
maken,  met degelijke argumenten, dat Punt I we1 in har-                     leerstuk der gemeene gratie. En het is natuurlijk de
monie is te brengen met de gereformeerde waarheid der                        dwaasheid gckroond,  om  te mcenen, dat zij daarmede
verwerping en der totale onmacht des natuurlijken men-                       heel de theorie van Dr.  A. Kuyper tot in alle bijzonder-
schen. Als u het niet  doet, dan is het umdat u het niet                     heden  heeft aanvaard. Niets is verder van de waarheid.
kunt. En als u het niet kunt, dan is het omdat de waar-                      De drie punten  spreken zelfs niet uitdrukkelijk  van de ge-
heid alzoo  niet is, als ze in Punt 1 offlcieel  door de kerken              meene gratie.        Maar door  ze  aan te nemen heeft de
werd voorgesteld.                                                            Synode het we1 als haar overtuiging uitgesproken, dat er
    Zeg  oak niet, dat dit verborgen dingen  zijn. Dat zijn                  zoo iets als gemecbne  gratie bestaat."'
ze  niet., De  dingen  zijn glashelder. God is in de  predi-                    The above quotation contains a statement which I
king  des Evangelies niet genadig  aan  alle menschen of                     wish to single out. It is this:  "En het is  natuurlijk  de
Hij' is dit wel.  Beide kan niet. God wil in tijd  noch                      dwaasheid gekroond, om te meenen, dat zij  daarmCde
reuwigheid dat alle menschen zalig worden  of Hij wil dit                    heel de theorie van Dr. A. Kuyper tot in alle bijzonder-
wel.     Beide te zeggen is  onzin. Dit te zeggen  is  oak niet              heden  hecft  aanvaard. Niets is verder van de waarheid."
eerlijk. Want gclooven vermag niemand  (lat.  Welnu:                            Notice, how that Berkhof negatively admits that
het eene is Gereformeerd, het andere is Remonstrantsch.                      Synod adopted Dr. A. Kuyper's theory of common grace.
`Een mpsterie bestaat hier niet.                                             The professor informs his readers that the theory was
    En de  r;ynode   koos in Punt  T  vc)or  puur  Remon-                    not adopted in its entirety and in all its details. An asser-
strantisme.                                                                  tion  of this kind ought to mean that Synod did accept
                                                                  IX H.      a part of Kuyper's theory together with some of the
                                                                             details.
                                                                                Rev. Zwicr makes a similar confession. Says  Zwier:
                                                                             "De Synode heeft niet vastgesteld al wat door Dr.
        THE DOCTRINE OF THE FALL UNDER                                       Bavinck en Dr.  Kuypcr over het leerstuk der gemeenc
                         SUSPICION                                           gratie geschreven is." According to Zwier also Synod
                                                                             did not adopt all that was written by Kuyper about the
    "Moreover.  Pelagius,  who was led by his special                        matter of common grace. `The assertion implies, does it
theory of Human Nature to reject the doctrine of the                         not, that Synod did place its stamp of approval on a part
Fall, has clearly more claim to consideration now that the                   of what Kuyper wrote about common grace.
fact  of the  Fall'  rtandi under suspicion.                Indeed, if we       `Then again, Dr.  Bouma  is assuring the public (he  is
escept his exaggerated view of free-will and his assertion                   doing so as a lecturer, I heard him) that he who embraces
of the possibility of  sinlessness  in man,  -WC can hardly                  the three points need not fear that he unawares is indors-
help admitting that intellectually at any  rate Pelagius                     ing Dr.  Kuyper's theory of common grace. It appears,
had often the better of Augustine.--It is quite possible to                  does it not, that Bouma disagrees with Berkhof and
hold that Augustine was logically justified in his infer-                    Zwier  when  the latter contends that the three points of
ences, but unfortunately he argued from insufficient and                     Synod are, to a certain degree, a formulation of Dr. Kuy-
inaccurate premises.       I'elagius   rcfuscd for the sake of               per's theory of common grace. Bouma maintains that
logic to give the lie to universal experience. Augustine                     the three points dnd Dr. Kuyper's theory have very little,
argued that logically man was totally corrupt. Pelagius,                     if anything, in common. On the other hand Berkhof and
looking around him, saw too many proofs of goodness to                       Zwier concede that the three declarations of Synod
allow the inference. Pelagius has been justified,  .4ugust-                  actually are to a certain extent a restatement of Kuyper's
ine condemned." (R. S. Moxon, The Doctrine of Sin. pp.                       theory  of common grace.
12, 13.)                                                                         One is wont to ask, who is correct? Let us see.  AS
    In de  Gemeene   G&e, Dr.  Kuyper has argued just                        often as Dr. C. Bouma, the lecturer, asserts that the three
exactly like Pclagius of old.                                                points of Synod and Dr. Kuyper's theory of common


  1L--e--                                    T  I-I  E S T .\ N D A R D    E %: .\ R E R
                                                                              -.-.-- ..__ -.".^".- __.... "".".l.-...^  .._. "-~__

  grace have  vcrp nearly nothing in common he is giving            Vol. 57, No. 53, p. 2.) Rev. Zwier, we have not accused
 utterance to a startling untruth.         `How can Bouma say       Synod of indorsing nil that Kuyper wrote about common
  this, for nothing is further from the truth.  It must be          grace but of accepting Kuyper's theory as such. And then.
  that Dr. Bouma never read Dr. Kuyper's work on the                it follows that Synod indorsed as much of what Kuyper
  "Gemeene Gratie." Or, if he read Kuyper, it must be that          wrote as is an organical development of his theory. Rev.
  he. Bouma, failed to grasp him. If Dr. Bouma both read            Zwier, dare you publicly face this charge? If  you have
  and understood Kuyper he is giving utterarice to a black          made a study of Kuyper's  "Gemeenc  Grati:"  you shall
  lie as often as he informs an audience that the three             have to admit that the charge is true.
  points of Synod and Kuyper's theory of  comm?n  grace                We shall now proceed to prove our charges. Kuyper's
  have very little in common. The very opposite from what           theory of common grace concisely stated is this: The
  Bouma asserts is true. The last two points of Synod are           Holy Sprit operates in the heart of the reprobate. chcck-
  indeed a formulation of Dr. Kuyper's theory of common             ing in him the development of sin and impowering  him
' grace. And we guarantee to prove it.                              to perform positively good works having real ethical
     When Prof. Berkhof informs his readers "dat het  na-           value before God. I shall now quote from Dr. Kuyper's
  tuurlijk  de dwaasheid gekroond is  om, te meenen dat zij         "Gemeene Gratie" such passages which  embo.dy  the
  (de Synode) heel de theorie Fan Dr. A. Kuyper tot in alle         above propdsition.
  bijzonderheden aanvaard heeft," he, the professor, is                We find in the "Gemeene Gratie," vol. I,  p.  i' a para-
 ' again engaged in evading the issue and in drawing the            graph which reads as follows:  "Aan het doodelijk  karak-
  fleece over the eyes of those who accept him as their             ter der zonde hebben onze gereformeerde vaderen  steeds
  leader and instructor.      .                                     vast gehouden, van nature dood door de zonde en de mis-
     The situation is this. We insisted all along that when         daden   bleek   aller  getuigenis. Maar schijnbaar klopte dit
  Synod established the three points it at once indorsed            niet op de werkelijkheid. Er was in die zondige  wereld
  and added to our Standards Dr. Kuyper's theory of com-            ook buiten de kerk zooveel schoons,  zooveel  eerbiedwaar-
  mon grace. .4nd that because the three points are a con-          digs, zooveel dat tot jaloerschheid verwekte. Dit stelde
  cise and brief formulation of Kuyper's theory.           Pr6f.    voor de keus om of al dit goed en tegcn beter weten in te
  Berkhof in his "De Drie  Punten  in  Alle  Deelen   Gerefor-      loochenen en met de doopers af te dwalen  of we1 om den
  meerd"  responds to the above charge. .4nd the professor          gevallen mensch niet zoo diep gevallen  vour te stellen  en ,
  asserts that Synod did not indorse the whpie  theory in all       alzoo  te verdolen in  de Arminiaansche ketterij. En voor
  its details. As we pointed out the above assertion implies        die tweesprong geplaatst heeft nu de Gereformeerdc be-
  that Synod did accept a  part  of the theory with some of         lijdenis geweigerd een dier wegen in te slaan. Voor het
 the details.    However, that part of the theory which             goede  en schoone buiten de kerk onder ongeloovigen in de
  Synod subscribed to and added to our Standards happens            wereld  mochten wij het oog niet sluiten. Dit goede was
  to be the very heart and soul of the theory. Bouma and            er, en moest  erkend.  En evenmin  mocht  ook iets  afge-
  Rerkhof shall have to admit that it can make very little          dongen op de volstrekte verdorvenheid der  znndige  na-
  difference indeed whether one' accepts or rejects the             ture.  Doch hierin lag de oplossing van deze  schijnbare
  details of a theory if the heart and soul of that theory be       tegenstrijdigheid, dat er ook huiten de kerk.  ondcr   .de
  indorsed and embraced. `I?:) accept the heart nf a theor>-        heidenen,  midden in de  wcreld,  genade  we&e. genadc
  is equal to accepting the theory. Eerkhof's response to           niet eeuwig noch  tot zaligheid, maar tijdelijk  en tot stui-
  the effect that Synod did not accept the whole of  Kuy-           ting van het verderf dat'in de zonde school."
  per's theory with ail its details is without meaning. Fur-           It should be noticed how that Kuyper distinguishes  s
t thermore, the response is misleading and deceptive. It            between  natural  and  spiritual  good. The unregenerated,
  gives the impression that the real charge, which is actu-         according to Kuyper, perform by means of common
  ally evaded, is being faced.                                      grace, natural good. The spiritual good' is performed by
     And finally, in responding as he does the professor is         the regenerated only. But this distinction does not mili-
  not honest with his readers. HeYinforms  them that Synod          tate against my assertion that Dr. Kuyper regards civic-
did not  accept the  whole  theory with  all its details. Berk-     righteous works as actually,. positively good works. There
  hof fails to tell his readers how that Synod did indorse the      is,  ho;wever,  this difference: The real, genuine  good,.
  very  heart  and soul of that theory.                             which the natural man performs is natural genuine good
     Someone may ask: supposing Synod did accept  Kuy-              and the genuine good which the regererate performs is
  per's theory of common grace what of that? Our answer             spiritual genuine good. According to Kuyper the adverbs
  is ready. Kupper's theory of common grace is a .modified          tsctual  and real must be applied to the good performed by
  pelagianism. That Synod indorsed and added to  our                the natural man as well as to the good performed by the
  Standards that theory is nothing short of a calamity.             regenerate. The point is this : The civic-righteous works
  The above assertion I shall prove presently.                      of the natural man  are not sin. This appears from the
     Our remarks concerning Berkhof's response also apply           following statement.: "Dit stelde voor de keus of om al dit
  to that of Zwier which reads : "De Synode heeft niet vast-        goed en  tegen  beter  weten  in te loochenen en met de
  gesteld alwat door  Dr. Bavinck en Dr. Kuyper over het            donpersen af te dwalen of  we1  om  `cien  gevallea   mensch
  stuk der gemeene  gratie  geschreven   is." (De Wachter.          niet zoo diep gevallen  voor te stellen en alzoo  te vcrdolcn


                                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARER   .
            -....... -lllll._--             -                                                                                                                                                17
                                                                              -..-----^l_l.-_ll_.l_l_...._.........._................  Illl_l_-   ..-_....._......................_ .._ "^ ..-___
            in de Arminiaansche ketterij." And again: "De  Gercfor-                  lichtelijk, `dat al wat de mensch overlegt en verricht,  eer
            meerde kerken belijden conform de  H: Schrift dat door                   hij met God verzoend wordt door het geloof, vervloekt
            hetgeen voorviel in het nu verloren Paradijs  onze natuur                is,  en niet slechts van geene waarde is tot  rechtvaardig-
            alzoo  is verdorven geworden  .dat wij  allen in zonde  ont-             heid, maar ook gewis de verdoemenis verdient." (Calvin's
     *      vangen en gcboren  worden  en zulks  we1 in  dicn zin dat                Institutes, Book three, chapter 14.)
            wij ganschelijk onbekwaam zijn tot cenig  goed en  gc-                         John Calvin denominates civic-righteous works sin
           neigd tot  alle kwaad. Een staat waarin geen keer kan                     and cursed by God. Hence he did not. teach that common
            komen tenzij wij door den Geest Gods wedergeboren                        grace found in Kuyperls  "Gemeene  Gratie" and embodied
            worden.       Van deze belijdenis nu  kan niet- gezegd, dat              in the last two points of Synod. According to  Kuyper
           ze accordeert met onze persnonlijke ervaring  noch  oak                   Calvin is an anabaptist. It appears. does it not, that there
            met  veei dat we elders in de Schrift   lezen(  ?)I Met met              is a radical difference between the teachings of Kuyper
           onze persoonlijke ervaring, want ook bij van  alle geloof                 and the teachings of Calvin relative the civic-righteous
            vervreemde menschen bij wien wij met geen  wederge-                      works of the natural man. Calvin's views concerning
           boorte rekenen mogen,  ontmoeten  wij  velerlei   levens-                 civic-righteous works are not Kuyper's.                                            Consequently
            uiting die  Iiefelijk  aandoet, en  we1 verre van tot  R~uad             Kuyper's theory of common grace was unknown to Cal-
                                                 `D
            te  neigen   er  aef&cr  tegrn  ingmt.                                   vin. Calvin had no need of Kuyper's theory and that for
                Kuyper maintains, does he not, that our fathers erred                the simple reason that to Calvin civic-righteous works
            when they maintained that man was totally depraved.                      are sin.
            Further, the above quotations show how that  Kuyper                            We shall now listen to Voetius. His "`Catechism"
           arrayed total depravity and civic-righteousness over                      contains the following: "Hoe zijn het (i. e. the  civic-
           against each  ot.her.  The two are opposites. They ex-                    righteous works of the natural man) quade  werken? Niet
           clude each other. According to Kuyper civic-righteous                     ten aanzien van de materie  ofte het werk zelf, maar ten
            works are not what the natural man is i. e. these  civic-                aanzien van de  forme  ende maniere; omdat ze niet  ge-
           righteous works are not sin.               Kuyper plainly says so.        schieden op zoodanige wijze,  als God belast heeft,  name-
            `Listen to him: "Dit stelde  voor de keus om al dit  goed                lijk  uiteden  geloove, ende ter eere Gods." (Catechisatie,
            te loochenen en met de doopers  af te dwalen." Accord-                   I, p. 168-172.)  Voetius we should notice, pronounces civic-
           ing to Kuyper he who denominates the civic-righteous                      righteous works sin.
           works of the natural man sin is an anabaptist. The natural                      He also had no need of Dr. Kuyper's theory of Com-
           good which the natural man performs is good even to that                  mon Grace.
           extent that Kuyper needs the doctrine of common grace                           We shall now hear what Ursinius has to say. He
           to make it possible for himself to cling to the doctrine                  declares that "de onwedergeborenen en geveinsden alleen
           of total depravity. Says  he.:  "Doch hierin  iag de  oplos-              de uiterlijke gehoorzaamheid, en niet de innerlijke  be-
          sing van deze schijnbare tegenstrijdigheid, dat  cr buiten                 trachten" . . . . that "de deugden der onwedergeborehen,
           de kerk, midden in de wereld  genade werktc, genade niet                  schoon  dat ze op zichzelfs aangemerkt goed  zijn, nogtans
           eeuwig,  noch tot zaligheid, maar tijdelijk en tot stuiting               zijn ze om de  toevallende  zaken zonde, en mishagen
           van het verderf dat in de zonde school." (Gemeene  Gra-                   Godt." (Schatboek, Zondag II, Van de  Zonde  V.) Also
           tie, Vol. 2,  p. 49.)                                                     Ursinius, the composer of our Catechism, pronounced
                Let us keep in mind that Kuypcr regarded  civic-                     civic-righteous works  sin.                            According to- Kuyper. Van
            righteous works as positive good works i. e. not sin.                    Baalen,   Bouma,  etc., Calvin and Ursinius were  rZnabap-
                Let us now inquire how the fathers regard the civic-                 tists. Also Voetius.
            righteous works of the natural man.                                            It appears, does `it not, that Kuyper broke with the
                Calvin declares himself as follows: "Naardien dan                    plain teachings of men like Calvin, Voetius and Ursinus
            hunne werken (the good works of the unregenerate) van                    when he asserted that the cisic-righteous works of the
            de onzuiverheid des  harten  als van derzelver oorsprong                 natural man are not sin but positively good. Kuyper's
            af bedorven zijn zoo mogen zij met geen mecr recht onder                 theory of Common Grace actually implies that the rep-
            de deugden  worden  gesteld dan de ondeugden, die,  wc-                  robate is sanctified, made holy by the Spirit of  God.
            gens hare gelijkheid en overeenkomst met de deugd ple-                   Kuyper himself admits this. Asks Kuyper:  "Wie zijn
            gen te misleiden.       Eindelijk, dewijl wij  weten dat het             de voorwerpen van deze genadedaad Gods  ?' And his
            onveranderlijk einde des rechts is dat God gediend wordt                 answer: "Tot op zekere hoogte gaat er eene heiligende
            dat al wat tot iets anders strekt terecht den naam van                   werking Gods uit op alle menschen, n.1. in de algemeene
            recht  verliest. Dewijl zij dus niet zien op het  doe1 dat               genade." (Dictations, Locus de Salute, p. 145.)  '
+           de wijsheid Gods hun voorstelt zoo is hetgeen zij  doen,                        Having set forth Dr. Kuyper's views in respect to
            schoon  het ten aanzien van het uitwendig bedrijf  Koed                  natural man and his good works which views comprise
            schijnt (niet,  goed  is) nochtans ten  opziche  van  het  ver-          his theory of common grace, we are now ready  $0 deter-
            kcerde   doe1  zonde."  Again: "Zij (the good works of the               mine whether or not it is this theory which Berkhof and
            reprobate) mogen dan  we1  schoone  en op het  oog  koste-               Bouma etc., induced Synod to indorse  atid add to our
            lijke en voor den smaak  aangename   vruchten   kunnen                   confession.
            voortbrengen, goede cchter  g-eenszins.           Hieruit  zien  wij            In his "De Drie Punten  in  Xlle  Deelen  Gereformeerd"


         12                                      THti  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                           .     -"".                                                                ..-.-....  ~  ..^..  - .  ..-  "-"--."  ..-....."

         the professor is  interpreting  Synods deliverances and         defending and advocating the theory which Kuyper
         informing his readers what Synod did or rather what the         broached. And this means that Synod under the instiga-
         committee accotnplished through the instrumentality  of         tion of the learned committee indorsed and added that
         Synod.  1t should also he born in mind  th,at Berkhof, in       theory to our Standards. My assertion is substantiated
       : all fairness may be regarded as the mouth of the commit-        by certain data found in the  acta.  On page 131 of the
  ; tee and of Synod. His views are their views.                         acta is found a paragraph taken from Danhof and Hoek-
               On page 52 of Berkhof's brochure  I read: "Indien wij    sema's  "Niet Doopersch maar Gereformeerd." The pas-
  .j de werking van Gods algemeene genade loochenen,  clan              sage reads as follows: "Het is uwe beschouwing, dat de
       j  mocten  wij noodwendig  .tot de  conclusie komen, dat de       mensch  we1 van nature zoo bedorven is, dat hij gansche-
       mensch dat uitwendig  goed uit zichzclf verricht. en dan         lijk onbckwaam is tot  ecnig  goed en geneigd tot alle
       loopen  we  zcer zeker gevaar, dat wij de  totale  bedorven-     kwaad. Maar die bedorven natuur  door? Gods algemecne
        heid des menschen loochenen.  Immers  dat goede is er;          genade  tech weer bekwaam.wordt om positief  goed te
        het kan niet  worden  ontkend.  We  vinden  menigmaal           doen.    En wij  sprekcn-het met alle vrijmoedigheid uit.
       onder de onwedergcborenen vriendelijke. liefhebbende. en         dat  juist dit laatste.  noch  naar belijdenis,  noch naar de
 welwillende menschen die groote gehechtheid betooncn                   Schrift  is. Het is juist deze beschouwing, die de oogen
O' aan hunne gezinnen, een geest van hulpvaardigheid open-              sluit  voor de  Schrift."
`I`,  baren  ten opzichte  sari hunne naasten, overvloedig  zijn            We should notice  how that in the above passage Dan-
       in werken van liefdadigheid, en ijveren  voor reine zeden        hoi' and Hoeksema arc denouncing Kuyper's theory of
,: en burgerlijke  gerechtigheid.  Het gebeurt niet zelden,             common  pace. ~ The comment of the committee reads as
`: dat zij in dezen Gods  kinderen beschaamd  maken."                   follows : "Evenals de  vorige,   acht uwe  comm. ook  deze
.if            We shall now hear Kuyper once more:  "ijan het  doo-     uitspraken in strijd te zijn met de Heilige Schrift  en met
 `, delijk karakter der zonde hebben  onze  gereformeerde               onze belijdenisschriften, daar het volgens Schrift  en Con-
  i  vaderen  steeds vastgehouden, van nature  dood  door de            fessie vaststaat, dat God, zonder het hart te vernieuweq
,, zonde en de misdaden bleek aller getuigenis. Maar schijn-            zoodanigen invlocd op den mcnsch  oefent,`dat   dczc in
i, baar klopte dit niet op de werkelijkheid. Er was in die              staat gesteld wordt burgerlijk  goed  te  doen."                     (Acta
,I zondige wereld ook buiten de kerk zooveel  schoons,  zoo-            Synodi,   p. 131-132.) Notice how that the committee
  !  veel eerbiedwaardigs, zooveel dat tot jaloerschheid  ver-          denounced Danhof and Hoeksema's  denunciation of Kuy-
        wekte. Dit stelde voor de keus om of al dit goed en tegen       per's theory of common grace. .And this means that the
 ; beter weten  in te loochenen en met de doopers af te dwalen          learned committee indorsed that theory and urged Synod
j' of  we1 om den geyallen  mensc.h niet zoo  cliep gevallen            to  di likewise. Synod did so. The report of the commit-
voor te stellen en  alzoo te verdolen in de Arminiaansche               tee was adopted and with it Kuyper's theory.
 :  kett_erij.  En voor die tweesprong geplaatst heeft nu de               Further, Berkhof is writing and teaching in the capa:
        gereformeerde belijdenis geweigerd ecn dier wegen in te         city of a defender of Synod's deliverances. His plea for
 slaan.           Voor het goede en  schoone buiten de  kc.rk onder     Kuyper's theory is a part of his defense. And as a
        ongeloovigen in de wereld mochten wij  bet oog niet  slui-      defender and advocate and expositor of Synod's declara-
        ten. Dit goede was er, en moest erkend. En evenmin              tions Berkhof can be relied upon for the three points are
        mocht iets afgedongen op de volstrekte verdorvenheid der        his productions.
 ; zondige natuur.  Doch hierin lag de oplossing van deze                  In respect to their views Kuyper and Berkhof agree.
        schijnbare tegenstrijdigheid, dat er  oak buiten de kerk,       Yet there is a difference between these two men. But this
        onder de heidenen,  midden in de wereld, genade werkte,         difference pertains to ethics.  As an expositor of  th6
        genade niet eeuwig en tot zaligheid,  maar tijdelijk en tot     theory of common grace Kuyper is honest, even though it
1 stuiting van het verderf dat in de zonde school."            (Ge-     be true that his theory is altogether impossible. Berkhof
        meene Gratie, Vol. 1,  p. 7.)  e                                is not honest. The  professor.does not recoil from telling
           If we compare the above paragraphs we detect at once         his readers that one must either accept the theory of
a startling similarity  ih `respect to thought.            Berkhof      common grace or reject the doctrine of total depravity.
`; asserts that he .who denies common grace must conclude               Says Berkhof : "Indien wij de werking van Gods  alge-
i that the civic-righteous works are out of man, and that               meene genade loochenen, dan  moeten  wij noodwendig
; man for that very reason is not totally depraved.  -4                 tot de conclusie komen, dat de mensch dat uitwendig
        statement of this kind implies that total depravity and         goed uit zichzelf verricht, en  dan  loopen   we  zee; zeker
; civic-righteousness are contrasts. Both Kuyper and Berk-              gevaar,  dat wij de  totale verdorvenheid des menschen
        hof array civic-righteousness and total depravity over          loochenen." Berkhof is giving utterance to a lie. He
against each other. Both maintain that civic-righteous                  knows'better.  There is another possibility namely that
1 works and not what depraved man is, i. e. civic-righteous             th,e civic-righteous deeds of the natural man be pro-
works are not sin.                                                      nounced sin.    If this be done common grace is super-
           Both need common grace to make it possible for them-         fluous for no one would wish to maintain that God is the
       selves to adhere to the doctrine of man's total "depravity.      author of sinful deeds. Kuyper is honest enough to admit
           Anybody honest enough to admit that twice two is             this other possibility. Says  Kuyper:   "Dit stelde  voor  de
        four will agree with me  when,1 say that `Berkhof is            keus of om al dit goed  en tegen beter weten in te looche-


                    ,

                                                                   T H E   STi\XDDXRD   BE:lRF:R                                                        19
   _-. -.-___1_.                111,-........................ ^ ".._    A __..._ -                            _.-- _..._ -- . . . . ---L"- ..-.- ----

   nen en met de doopers af te dwalen of  we1 om den  ge-                             ous works of the natural man  uit  formeel oogpunt pos-
   vallen mensch niet zoo diep gevallen voor te  stellcn en                           itively good or sinful. Kuyper and Berkhof reply: "Due
   alzoo  te verdolen in de Arminiaansche ketterij." Kuyper                           to common grace the civic-righteous works of the natural
   admits that the righteous deeds of the natural man may                             man are  uit  formeel   oogplnt   positively good."
   be pronounced sin. True, if I do so I  am.an  anabaptist,                             Berkhof would have us believe that his theory of com-
   according to Kuyper. Yet he is honest enough to admit                              mon grace is in line with reformed thought.  I--Ie  refers
   that it can be done.                                                               us to the utterances of such men as Voetius, Brakel,
      On the other hand both Kuyper and Berkhof are                                   Ursinus. However, these  theoIogians  condemn the very
   inconsistent.         Both maintain that civic-righteous works                     theory which Berkhof is defending and advocating and
   are positively good works.                    .Having  indorsed Kuyper's           that in the very passages which Berkhof quotes. These
   theory the professor must maintain, and so he does, that                           m6n maintain that the civic-righteous deeds of the natural
   civic-righteous works are not sin. But the professor also                          man are corrupt  uit een  formeei   oogpu.nt.  Berkhof main-
   maintains that the civic-righteous works performed by                              tains the very reverse. His theory compels him to do so
   the natural  ma"n are altogether sinful. Says Berkhof:                                That the professoi actually regards the civic-righte-
   "Zelfs de beste  daden der goddeloozen  zijn  uit  formeel   oog-                  ous deeds performed by the natural man as being pos-
   punt, in betrekking tot de  wijze  maurop   w gedaan  worden                       itively good,  app.ears  from  the following statement:
   geheel  zondig."       (Brochure,  p. 63.) ,4ccording to the pro-                  "Hier wordt dus des onwedergeborenen bekwaamheid
  fessor  the civic-righteous works of the natural man are                            om burgerlijk  goed te  doen,  uitdrukkelijk  verklaard, al
   not sin. On the other hand he maintains that these same                            wordt er ook  aan toegevoegd, dat ook dit goede met
   works are  geheel zondig.  What would you think of one                             zonde besmet  is."    (Brochure, p.  5.)    According to the
   who insisted that snow is white and that the same snow                             professor the good works of the natural man are polluted
   at the same time is black; that the Grand River is short                           with sin. This can only be possible if these good works
   and that this same river is long; that the whole sun is                            themselves are positively good and clean. Only that
   hot and at once cold. You would question the sanity of                             which in itself is clean can be polluted.  Xn apple which
   that one asserting these  thirqgs if you were convinced                            is; thoroughly rotten cannot be polluted.              T h e   civiq-
   that he meant what he said. l?rof.  .Berkhof  would have                           righteous works of the natural man could not be polluted
   us understand that the civic-righteous works of the                                if it were not for the fact that these works in themselves
   natural man are positively good, that is such works are                            are good, clean and holy.
   not sin. And then he goes on to inform us that these                                  Berkhof claims that the last two points are found in
   same works are  $eheeZ   nondig..                    Is the professor insane?      the Confession. This is a lie. The professor knows bet-
   Indeed not. And therefore he himself does not believe                              ter. The last two points are a formulation of Kuyper's
   what he says.                                                                      theory of common grace. They are a strange mixture of
      The professor may complain that I am misrepresent-                              Pelagianism and Determinism. Pelagius taught that
   ing him.. He may say that I refuse to take notice of his                           natural man can perform positively good works. He also
   distinctions. I wish to assure him that I am aware of                              maintained that the will of natural man can  60 in two
   them. I shall comment upon them now. Says the pro-                                 different directions. That will aspires after the good.
   fessor : "Zelfs de beste  daden  der goddeloozen zijn uit                          Then again that same will goes out to that which is sin-
   formeel  oogpunt geheel zondig." The distinction in  mate-                         ful. These are also the tenets of Kuyper, Berkhof,  Bou-
   rieelen zin and  zrit  formae  oogpzdnt  should be singled                         ma, `De Jong, Van  Baalen,  Zwier, Synod, Christian
   out.    "Uit  formeel   oogpuntl" says the professor, the                          Reformed Church. Last winter I attended one of Dr.
   civic-righteous deeds of the natural man are wholly sin-                           Bouma*s  lectures. In the course of his lecture he put
   ful. In "materieelen  zin" these same civic-righteous                              this question to his audience: If a-n unregenerated person
   deeds are good.                                                                    gives money to the poor is he sinning? Answered Dr.
      The above distinction,  1 would say, is out  cJf place.                         Bouma: "Curse the idea." To Dr. Bouma the doctrine
   It befogs the real issue which is: what is the ethical                             that natural man sins when performing civic-righteous
   value of a civic-righteous work. Prof. Berkhof's answer                            works is a cursed doctrine. Bear in mind that Dr. Bouma
   is ready: "The civic-righteous works of the natural man                            was interpreting for his audience the last two points.
   are ethically good." On the other hand the answer of the                           According to Bouma the doctrine of total depravity is a
   reformed theologian has always been the  very reverse.                             cursed doctrine. Yet it is a doctrine found in  Scripture
   The reformed theologian has always insisted that the                               and in our Confession. It is a doctrine which Calvin,
   civic-righteous deeds of the natural man are from an                               Voetius, Ursinus and Brake1 adhered to. Bouma- and
   ethical point  of view thoroughly corrupt.                                         Berkhof do not. They are repudiating this doctrine. The
       But let us for the sake of argument, recognize the dis-                        last two points of Synod and the first one also for that
   tinction "materieel" and "formeel." And again I say that                           matter, are  a  repudiatioriof that doctrine. Notwithstand-
   the professor is evading the issue. The question is not                            ing, Berkhof and Bouma  gp about assuring the public
   whether the good works of natural man are sinful  "uit                             that the last two points of Synod are reformed. And
I"formeel  oogpunt" and whether these works are good "in that we, who refuse to subscribe to them, are unreformed.
   materieelen zin." This is the issue: are the  civic-righte-                            What an amazing lie'. We were deposed because we


        20                                                    T H E S T ii N D A R D B .E i% R E R
        - .____ "" _.....  1"1 ..__.  --                                                    ~ _                --__----               .-., _l_ll" ._.^."_
        refused to indorse Berkhof and Bouma's Pelagianism.                         voorviel in het nu verloren Paradijs onze tiatuur  alzoo is
        What astonishing injustice.-We have one consolation.                        verdorven geworden  dat wij  allen in zonden ontvangen
        Our God is one who sees, hears and remembers.                               en geboren worden  . , . . van deze belijdenis nu kan niet
              I asserted that  the last two points arc a xtrange mis-               gezegd, dat ze accordeert met veel dat we elders in de
        ture of Pelagianism and  Determinisq.  It is  `the truth.                   :`lchrift  lezen."
        .For, according to the theory of common grace the Holy                                                                                G. M.  0.
       Spirit functions in the heart of the  riatural man causing                                         (To  bd Continued)
       `, him to perform good works in which that sinner, accord-
i ing to his ego, is not. The Spirit  compels  natural man
        to perform certain deeds which arc in conflict with  the                      HEERE! GIJ DOORGRONDT EN KENT MIJ
       sinner's will, nature and character. This is determinism.                                                    (Ps. 139 :lb)
            Herkhof's theory of common grace is not found in our
       Confess;bn.                   Our Standards even condemn his theory.                                 Uwe oogen hebben mijnen  ongeformeer-
                                                                                                          den  klomp  gezien,  en  alle deze  dingen  waren
        Listen once more to the language of our Confession:                                               in Uw boek geschreven, de dagen  als  zij  ge-
      " "But so far is this light of nature from being sufficient to                                      Eormeerd  zouden   worden,  toen er  nag gecn
                                                                                                          van die was.
      `i bring him to saving knowledge of God, and to true con-                                             Daarom, hoe  kostelijk   zijn  mij, o God!
        version, that he is incapable of using it  aright  even in                                        uwe gedachten. hoe machtig  vele  zijn hare
                                                                                                          sommen;
 ,, things natural and civil.. Nay further, this light such as                                              Zoude  ik  ze  tellen, harer is mcer  din des
       it is, man in various ways  renders   rctholly  polluted, and                                      zands; word ik wakker, zoo ben ik nog bij U.
                                                                                                            0 God! dat Gij den  goddelooze  ombiacht:
        holds it in  uhrighteousness,  by doing which he becomes                                          en  gij,  mannen des bloeds, wijkt van mij:
      inexcusable before God."                     (Canons of  Dordt,  third and                            Die van  U schandeliik  soreken. en Uwe
                                                                                                          vijanden ijdelijk verheffen.  _
      i; forth head, Art. 4.1)
8)                                                                                                                                    -Ps.  1$9:16-20.
              Man in various ways renders  who[Ly  polluted. Prof.
        Berkhof, the Standards declare that the civic-righteous                     "DAAROM" : omdat Gij mij zoo wonderbaarlijk
;`I; deeds of the natural man,. uit een formeel  oogpultt  are sin.                                                                          m a a k t e t ,
,i, And this is what you deny.                                                        Op vreeselijke  wijz!;  (ook weet  `t mijn'  ziel' zeer wel!)
.,;           prof. Berkhof, strange to say. quotes this very Art. in               Naar `t Plan, `t welk  G' U ontwierpt en voorts met zorg
      " defense of his theory.  In commenting upon that  partic-                                                                               bewaaktet
/,  ular section of the art. which we  q'uote  the professor                          -41s d' appel  van Uw oog en naar Uw wijs Bestel -:
      I/1 says.. "Hier wordt dus des onwedergeborenen bekwaam-
;,I;  heid,  om burgerlijk  goed  te  doen. uitdrukkelijk  `c-er-                   DAAROM   - hoe  kost'lijk  zijn  m", o HEERE!  Uw'  ge-
,1,  klaard,  al wordt er ook aan toegevoegd. dat ook dit goede                                                                                  dachten !
      met zonde besmet is.. . .  "                  (Brochure,  p.  5.1               I-Ice  machtig.  haar  getal!  - veel meer dan `t zand der
              The professor is misrepresenting things again. The                                                                                        zee !
        art. does not state that the civic-righteous works of the                   Gij zaagt voor het Begin de mensch'lijke geslachten
                                                                                      -
      natural man are merely polluted with sin. The art. insists                           Eer een nog was  van die --  als Uw Gewrocht
 that these works are                                                                                                                        alree. . . . . .II
                                            wholly  polluted. Professor, why are
      you not honest?                                                               DAAROM  --: wanneer ik rust op mijne legerstede
              The theory of Berkhof is denounced by our Standards.                    Gedenkt  mijn           I_
                                                                                                          vluggcn  g e e s t   d e   Wond'ren   U w e r
        Indeed, for it is a strange mixture of .Pelagianism and                                                                                    Macht  !
        Determinism. It is this theory which  Berkhoi,  Bouma,                      %elfs in  den   d;oom,   o God, bcpeinst mijn gecst  almede
      etc., succeeded in pers'uading Synod to adopt and to add                        Uw `Wijsheid zonder  grcns  en onverklaarb're Kracht!
      ; to our Standards. Because we protested we were deposed.
       : Berkhof and Bouma go about telling men that their
      _ theory is reformed. And Berkhof publishes a brochure                        Mijn zitten en mijn  staan; mijn  slapen  en  mijn waken;
       . m which he attempts to prove his assertion. Btit that                        Mi-jn  overdenkingen  ; mijn spreken en  mijn  doen   -
brochure of his is one of the most brilliant examples of                            `t Was  alles  voor Uw  oog;  zelfs   d' allerkleinste zaken
        nonsense and fraud that has ever seen light. And Bouma                        Zaagt  Gij  --.als-reeds-voltooid  -, in  d' eeuwigheid,  -
 does not recoil from assuring the public that the three                                                                                          ja toen!
      ;i points and Kuyper's theory have very little in common.
              It was said we  miIitated  against  (:;ur Standards.                  Waar  zoud'  ik henengaan voor Uwen Geest,  d HEERE,
        Therefore we were deposed. Yet that very theory which                         Of vlieden voor Uw oog?  Schoon  `k opvoer naar de
        the learned committee inculcated upon the church is                                                                                          Woon
        declared to be in conflict with the Standards by him who                    Waar G' op TJw Rijkstroon zit, of m' in de he1 verneere -
        broached it: Says Kuyper: "De Gereformeerde kerken                            Uw  c~bog  zag  voor den tijd  mijn beeld reeds  in  d' Aeon!
      ' belijden conform de Keilige  Schrift  dat door hetgeen                                              (spreek  uit :  ;2joon  :  `I'ijdperio'de).


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                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D  BE.%RE'R                               ._.                 27

                       DIVINE REVELATION?                                hadden  te wachten tot den  voigenden  morgcn.   Ik'vind
                                                                         dat eigenlijk  we1 een beetje een primitieve boel  daar  bij
          Revelations come from God to men through Divinely              de groote rivier van ons land. Bij Dubuque,  waar we op
      appointed agents and agencies. They are chosen in order            onze heenreis door zijn gekomen, moesten we vijftig cent
      to secure adaptation. They are arranged in a progres-              tol betalen, om over de brug te komen met onze auto ; en
      sive order, which we can'more or less recognize. "It has,          bij  :McGregor  .is er niet eens een brug en als je dan
      never been God's method to reveal all His relations to             'S  avonds na zessen  in het  stadj.6  aankomt, kan je ,maar
      mankind at once. He revealed Himself `in many por-                 wachten tot den volgenden morgen. En was er dan nog
      tions.' He lifted the veil fold by fold. First came the            maar een fatsoenlijk  hotel.  waar je zonder  vrees voor al
      Adamic dispensation; then the Noachic; then the  Abra-             te veel  en ongewenscht bed-gezelschap je oogen kan slui-
      hamic ; then the Mosaic  ; then the prophetic  ; then the          ten, dan zou een mensch zich nog stil houden. Maar dat
       Ezraic ; then the Christian." The.first  great truth which        liet ook we1 iets te wenschen over. Enfin. we zijn er levend
       God prominently revealed was His Unity; then came the             afgekomen en den volgenden morgen  maar  weer vroeg
      earliest germ of the Messianic hope ; then came the, Moral         op reis gegaan en met de eerste veerboot de rivier over-
      Law ; then the development of Messianism and the belief            ,gestoken.    We  hadden  den tijd ook  wel, want we  be:
     in Immortality; then the mission of the Son. Diversity,             hoefden niet eerder dan dien Vrijdagavond in  Waupun
      both in substance and in form, marks all first stages of           te zijn en van McGregor naar Waupun  is slechts een
      Divine revelation ; but the advancing tendency is towards          goede honderd en vijftig mijlen. Het weer was ook niet
      unity. When preparatory revelations do their appointed             zoo heet  als op onze heenreis.  Toen was het, vooral in
      work, they make a final and universal revelation possible.         de  Mississippi-vallei  snikheet. Maar op de terugreis was
      The highest revelation only removes the lower and earlier          het bepaald  keel. We hebben dien dag maar een beetje
      by bringing fully out their best. There is a sense in which.       op ons gemak gereden, hebben nog een poosje  doorge-
      Judaism is abrogated ; there is a fuller sense in which it         bracht  in Madison en daar het gouvernements-gebouw  be-
      lives again in Christianity. There is a direct connection          zichtigd, dat we1 der moeite waard is om te zien, en kwa-
      and relation between all revelations that are Divine.              men om een uur of vijf te Waupun aan.
      There never has been and there never can be such a thing               Er is in Waupun een gemeente tot stand gekomen en
      as an isolated Divine revelation. Everything God does              ze heeft een. aardig begin met een goede twintig  huisge-
      and everything God says fits harmoniously into a  &ok              zinnen.  als ik me  we1 herinner. Het zijn  daar flinke en
      of gracious `Divine purpose. This is true of God's revela-         godvreezende menschen. die de waarheid Iiefhebben,  ZOO-
       tions in all lands and in all times.                              als we die van kindsbeen af hebben geleerd en die ook
                                                          B. J. D.       mee kunnen spreken van de liefde Gods in hunne harten
                                                                         uitgestort. Tk schrijf dit met opzet, omdat men die men-
                                                                         schen  we1 eens anders heeft geschilderd. Hun vroegere
             AAN  MIJN VRIEND IN HET  WESTEN                             leeraar  teekende ze in een brief aan mij, toen  hij vernam.
                                                                         dat ik daar zou komen spreken de  eerste   keer,   als  ten
                                               Grand Rapids.             groep van lastige en ziekelijke menschen, ,waarmede  niets
                                                 1  03..  1925           te beginnen was. En zoo worden  menschen, die de Gere-
                                                                         iormeerde waarheid liefhebben en de vreeze Gods kennen
              -Amice  fraterque  1                                       bij ervaring. we1 eens meer beoordeeld in onzen  tijd. Doch
                                                                         zulk een oordeel is  besbst onwaar. De gemeente heeft
          Het wordt hoog tijd, dat ik weer eens een lettertje            een zeer goed begin en heeft ook we1 toekomst. Toen ik
       schrijf,. want je zult we1 verlangend wezen,  om te verne-        daar  `s Zondags  preekte,  had ik in den avonddienst een
       men hoe'het mij vergaan is. nadat ik jullie verliet  de Iaat-     Presbyterisch predikant in de kerk. Hij had dien dag het
       ste keer ; en ik heb zooveel te schrijven. dat het een ware       Woord bediend voor de  Hollandsch-Presbyterische  ge-
       verlichting voor  me  wezen  zal  als ik mijn hart  eens even     meente;  die daar in Waupun is: Hij had van ens gehoord
       weer heb mogen ontlasten.                                         en was nieuwsgierig om eens te  vernemen  welkc  kette-
          Laat me je dan maar eerst vertellen.  dat Mr. Griffioen        rijen we tech we1 verkondigden. Na den dienst kwam hij
I      (je weet  wel, de broeder, die zoo vrienddijk was, om met         naar mij toe en maakte `zich bekend.           Met verwondering
       zijn automobiel met mij mede te gaan naar `t Westen)  en          in zijn stem gaf  jnij mij te kennen, dat hij in de preek
       ik door  `s Heeren goedheid over ons  goed en  we1 weer           niets  verkeerds had opgemerkt. Ik zag een weinig vreemd
       thuis gekomen zijn. We  veriieten,   zooals  je zeker je  ,wel    op. dat een predikant ook nog naar. de prediking kwam
       zult herinneren, op Donderdagmorgen Hull en zijn  maar            luisteren. om te zien of hij ook iets verkeerds kon opmcr-
       recht  het Oosten ingegaan tot  aan de Mississippi toe.           ken. En  toen vertelde hij mij dan, dat hij  er van  ge-
       We waren  eigenlijk van plan. om de rivier  dien avond nog        hoord had, hoe men ons  .de kerk had uitgeworpen en
       over te gaan en rijden nog wat verder. Max, jawel, dat            sprak zijn bevreemding daarover uit. Tevens zeide hij,
       was buiten den  waard,gerekend.   Toen we in McGregor,            dat er van die Presbyterische gemeente daar van plan
       het stadje aan de Mississippi, aankwamen,  vernamen  we,          waren om  zich bij de pas tot  st`and  gekomene  gemeente
       clat cr gcen  veerboot meer \-oer  dien avond:  en dat we dus     van ons aan te sluiten  en beloofde. dat, indien ze de waar-


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  Vol. II, No. 2                                              NOVEMBER, 1925                                  -"_    Subscription Price $1.50

                                                                                 riticed  by the boundless love of God, we are righteous
                  MEDITATION                                                     perfectly and righteous forever. It is finished.
                                                                                     Does not the  1 question seem proper and inexorably
                                                                                 logical : shall we continue in sin ?
                            DEAD TO SIN                                              Nothing could possibly be gained for our rightousness        _
                                                                                 by a lifelong struggle to keep the path of God's com-
                           What shall we say then? Shall we con-, mandments.
                         tinue in sin?                                                           Our righteousness is  completk. Our sins
                           God forbid! How shall we: that are dead               are forgiven. No. matter how mountain-high may rise
                         to sin, live any longer' therem?                        the burden of our sin in the past the power of God's
                                                                                 marvellous grace is strong-to remove it into the ocean
      Shall we continue in sin?                                                  of obliteration  and,pblivion. The greater our sins, the
      How devilishly logical seems the question  !.                              more gloriously the power of that grace becomes  mani-
     And with what same devilish logic the answer would                          fest.
  seem inevitable ; we shall; in order that grace may                                How appropriate,` then, the. question: shall we now
  abound !                                                                  continue in sin?
      The works of the law can justify no man before God.                   1       ,And  ho.w  logical seems the answer: we shall.  .-
      They are vain. All our good works are but filthy rags                          Let us sin, that grace may abound !
  in the sight of God. The very imaginationbf man, that
  his works can gain for him the righteousness that is valid
  before the Holy One, is abominable in. the sight of the                         . Shall we abide in sin?
..  L o r d .                                                                        How spiritually repulsive is the question to the heart
      The very law even provokes to sin. It entered for the                 of the redeemed Christian !
purpose that sin might abound. And thru the law it                                   And how impossible to him is the answer: we shall,
  actually did abound,' in order that grace" might abound                   that grace may abound! Spontaneously, without giving
  much more. Was it not the purpose of the Most High                        the question a moment's thought, without even consider-
  to reveal sin in all its hideousness and corruption, in                   ing anything else  a  possibility, he expresses what lives
  order that He might make manifest the glorious power of                        in his deepest soul in the words of the apostle: God
  His redeeming grace ? Does not sin in .God's very inten-                       forbid !
  tion serve as the horribly dark background upon which                              He may not be able to analyze the logic of the con-
  God displays in marvellous contrast the beauty of His                          trary view; he may feel himself incapable of detecting its
  redemption  ?                                                             fallacy ; he may have to admit that it seems logical to say
      Besides, we are justified.                                            that our sin makes grace abound and that, therefore, we
      From before the foundation of the world God Himself                   should abound in sin to the enhancement,of the glory of
  conceived of a righteousness that would be freely given                        God's grace. . . .  -
  His children of mere grace, without any work on their                             All this does not alter the fact, that from the depth of
  part. And He realized-this gift of His righteousness in                   his redeemed heart spontaneously rises the answer: God
  the sacrifice of. His only Begotten, a manifestation of' forbid !
  unfathomable love. He came and trod the path of obe-                               Abide in sin ?
  dience in our stead. He humbled Himself into the form                              Ah, but that is  -w,hat we did before we ever knew by
  of a servant. And in that form of a servant He suffered                        experience the wondrous power of the cross, the justify-
  deepest shame and reproach and the agony of hell and                           ing strength of Jesus' blood, the peace-affording sweet-
  death. He accomplished all things. And having accom-                           ness of Jehovah's forgiving grace.. . .
  plished all righteousness He freely clothes us in its white                        That is what we do by virtue of our sinful nature.
  robe. Only for the sake of the agony of the Saviour, sac-
                                 _ .                                             apart from Christ and His precious redemption.


      34                                         T H E   STANDARP  B E A R E R
                                                _ _   ._  ^                                                                       ~-
            We abode and continued in sin once. We dwelled with            with her abominable presence? Ah, how radically op-
      her under one roof and she was our welcome guest. We                 posed to this is all the life of the Christian's actual experi-
b had friendly intercourse with her and never a word of                    ence! Sin was dead once. I did not know  hRr. I was
      strife.    There was. soul harmony between her and us.               not aware of her presence. Never I groaned under her
      Our deepest heart operated according to her precepts;                oppressing power ; never  I heard her enticing voice  ;
      our every thought moved in her direction; our inmost                 never she poured her intoxicating drink. Never, it seemed,
      desire was to follow where she led. We loved her,                    she demanded obedience and never she strove to take me
      em,braced  her, pressed her to our bosotn.               When she    by force into her beguiling paths. Sin seemed to sleep
      nodded we obeyed. When she spoke we acted. Her law                   the sleep, of death . . . .
      was our principle. Her desire was our law. Where she                     But the law came. Sternly she commanded: "Thou
      went;we went. In the sphere she created we felt our-                 shalt not." Inexorably she ordered : "Love."  Mercilessrq
      selves at home.  ,Her lawlessness was our freedom. And               she held her sword over  me and thundered: "Ohey or be
      never there was disagreement between her wishes and                  cursed." Then sin stirred into life in me. Boldly she
      our desires. . . .                                                   responded to the law's stern prohibition : "I shall." Hiss-
            So it was once. . . .                                          ing like a serpent in answer to the  faw's command of
      '     So is the tendency of our sinful nature. . . .                 love she snapped: "I hate." And over against the  law's  '
            So it is apart from the cross !                                threat she enticed: "Thou shalt not surely be cursed in
            But since we came into living contact with the power the way of my service." Then I noticed her power over
      of the cross  ?                                                      me. I realized that she was enthroned in my heart, that
            How different it all became !                                  she swayed her sceptre over the domain of all my think-:
            .Since we took the burden of our guilt and sin to the          ing and willing and speaking and acting, that I was her
      foot of the accursed tree;  Lsince, in true contrition and           servant. I struggled to liberate myself from her power
      broken-heartedness we there uttered the prayer of the                but in vain. I appealed to the law for aid, but she con-
      Publican: "0, God be merciful to me, a smner"; since we              demned and cursed me. In soul-horror I realized what
      heard from His lips the peace-instilling assurance : "Your           terrible, living power sin was within and over ine . . . .
      sins are forgiven" ; in a word, since $Ie redeemed us, the              Then the cross appeared.  -And with unchallenged
j spell of sin is broken; As lovely as she seemed formerly,                authority the Man of Sorrows appeared upon the scene.
      so detestable and abhorrent she appears now. As deeply               With a glance of His eye, filled with forgiving love, He
      as we desired her presence then, so thoroughly do we                 silenced the cursing  voTce  of the law and with one con-
      loath her communion now. Her beauty is turned into                   demning gesture of His powerful hand He ordered sin
 abhorrence; her loveliness into abomination.                   Much as    from the throne of my heart and dedicated it to the law
      we loved her we now hate her. Deep as was the harmony                of the Spirit of Life. Sin sneaked into oblivion and it
      between us and her, we no,w  strive with her. Faithfully seemed to me that she was dead. I was free, liberated
      as we obeyed her we now fight her.                                   from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of
 _          Shall we, then, continue in sin? Shall we still agree          life in Christ Jesus. And in joyful gratitude I sang:
      to dwell with her? Shall we continue the former rela-
                                                                  I
      tions ?                                                                        "Before my Saviour I will live,
            How impossible ! How repulsive the very suggestion !                       From death He saved my soul,                           `
            God forbid !                                                             My eyes .from  tears, my feet from falls,
                                                                                       And He has made me whole."
            But is there no further answer?
            Is the exclamation on the part of the child of God,               Shall we continue in sin?
      expressing his spontaneous feeling of,abhorrence, the last              How shall we ? said I.
      that can be said to deny that he who is justified by faith              Sin is dead!
      now ought to sin that grace may abound?
            Is there no explanation for this spiritual aversion to            Sin dead?
      what once we loved?                                                     Alas! how soon it proved to be different!
            There is, for the apostle explains that we are dead to            Sin was not dead. For a moment she had crept into
      s i n .                                                              the shades of oblivion only to gather new life and new
            Mark you wel1:  sin is not dead.                               strength.. More than she ever hared  the voice of the law
            How little the explanation would befit  our'condition,         in the days when herself occupied the throne in my heart,
      had the apostle written: "How shall we, in whom sin is               she now hated the enthronement of the Law of the Spirit
      dead, continue in sin."                                              of Life. And she entered upon a -life-and-death struggle
            The answer of our experience would be: if it is char-          to regain her former position.
      acteristic of a Christian life and spiritual condition, that            She reminds me of the sweetness of her service and
      sin is dead`in him, then we cannot class ourselves with              tempts to abjure my present Lord and return to her obe-
 those that call themselves children of God thru the grace                 dience. She assures me-of her wealth, and displays before
      that is in Christ'.Jesus.                                            me her treasures. "All the world is mine," says she, "and I
            Sin dead  ? Buried? Gone, never to harass us again             I have power to clothe thee in rich apparel and to give
                  .


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
  - ---l.^-^-..-._-..ll.-...I"                                                                                                               3.5
                                       -                 _-.-.- - ._-- _^___                                                           -..-I
  thee name and position and crown thee with glory and                   members to the  obedience'of unrighteousness, does not
  honor."                                                                know  the'power  of the cross, his pretended faith is vain
         She pictures my present Master with features forbid-            and he is still in his sin and under his condemnation . . . .
  ding and hard. "He is a Lord of the Cross," says she,                         One plant with Him who shed His precious life-blood
  "without treasures and pleasures; and in His service He                for His people, the old man of sin is crucified, dead and
_ will demand that you bear His cross behind Him. While                  buried with Him. One plant with Him who arose from
  treasures and pleasures, ease and splendor are with me,                Joseph's grave, the new man of righteousness and holi-
  reproach and shame and self-denial are with Him."                      ness thru Christ Jesus has arisen also in our hearts. . . .
         Or, she argues, that she, roe, will acquiesce in the rule              What shall we say, then?
  of my present Lord.             "Saved by grace you are," she                 Shall we continue in sin?
  entices, "works have no bearing upon your salvation. Do                       God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin  live
  not try to work out your own salvation. To the glory of                any longer therein? Nay, but we shall fight, thru the
  your present Lord it is that you serve me, in  order.that              grace that justified us and delivered us, the good fight,
  the power of His redeeming grace may rhe more shine                    as long as sin remains. . . .                 -
  forth. Continue in sin that grace may abound !" . . . .                       Even unto the end.
         And often she invades the domain of my thinking and                    That no one take our crown.
  willing and still seems to subject my life to her desires,                                                                    H .   H .
  so that I do not what I will but what I hate I do . . . .
         And the conclusion of the matter is that the cry is
  pressed from my lips: Who shall deliver me from the                                        WANDERING  HOMl$
  body of this death?             I
         Miserable man that I am!                                                  We are  x;andering  home, as time  gli_reth  by,  -
                                                                                   And weaveth its garland of years,
         Whar shall we say then?                                                   To a beautiful home, and better by far
         Shall we continue in sin?                                                 Than the one in this valley of tears.
         God forbid! For, though I now,,realize  that sin is not
  dead in me, yea, though I: am aware that sin is alive and                        We are wandering home by the same old way
  operative more than ever to regain her former dominion,                          Our fathers before us have trod,
  the fact remains that I am dead to sin . . . .                                   The shadow of death and the city beyond: j
          Formerly, she appeared dead, only because I lived to                     The glorious city of God.
  her. All my heart and mind and soul were in harmony
  with her precepts; all my life I willingly dedicated to her                      We are wandering home o'er a stormy plain
  service. She did not need to entice because I sought her ;                       Replete with temptation and sin,
  she did not have to command because I willed  her-; she                          To a beautiful fold, where wardens await
  did not find occasion to quarrel and strive because I was                        To welcome each wanderer in.
  in harmony with her. . . .
          But sin was condemned in the flesh. The Man of                           We are wandering home, yes wandering home,
  Sorrows took.my  sin and guilt and all my condemnation.                          -But  soon we shall wander no more;
  by reason  of.which  I was consigned to the very slavery                         And, oh, may we meet each other at last,
  of sin and death, and upon the accursed tree He bore it                          At home on "rhe heavenly shore."
  all till it was no more. My sentence of condemnation He \
  removed. And-He came by His Spirit and brought me                                Wandering home, wandering home,                "
  into living connection with that power of His blood,                             Soon  we shall wander no more;
  justified me, liberated me, removed my bonds. . . .                              And, oh, may we meet each other at last,
          And now I realize, that while formerly I lived unto.                     At home on the heavenly shore.
  sin, and the relation between sin and my inmost heart                                                             -E.  A.  Barnes.
  was one of harmony and unity ;. now I am dead unto sin
   and the relation is one of irreconcilable hatred and                                                TIME
" antithesis.
          Sin is not dead, but I am dead to her.. . .                            The moving linger writes ; and, having writ,
          The old man, that Ioved  sin, embraced her, welcomed                   Moves on ; nor  al1 thy piety nor wit
   her and communed with her in friendIy  intimacy, is dead.                     Shall lure it back to  cance1  half a Iine,
   He is dead forever, I know, because he is crucified with                      Nor al1 thy tears wash out a word of it.
   Christ and buried, never to appear again. And the new
   man has arisen with Christ, who hates sin, loaths her                         Tomorrow's fate, though thou be wise,
   presence, despises her treasures and pleasures, and has a                     niOU  canst not tell nor yet surmise;
   profound delight in the law of the Lord. How, then, shall              .      Pass, therefore, not today in vain,
   we say that we will continue in sin? He who still wallows                     For it will never come again.
in the mire of sin's service, and willingly consecrates his                                                                     Selected.


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              41
                            -..-_I_                      -.-                                               ______"..         - . - -

van bet  tweecrlei  geestelijk  zaad  zijn wij in onze  beoor-                    THE COVENANT OF NATURE
deeling van het zaad des menschen gebonden; beide in
betrekking tot onszelven en snderen. De  mogelijkheid.                               4. Not Common but Cosmic
bestaat, dat  k'ain zichzelven godvruchtig  waande,   v&jr-
dat God in het  openbaar  weigerde hem en zijn  oder  aan                 The view that the covenant as it was revealed after,
te zien. Zeker  is, dat velen zullen meenen in te gaan, en             the  flood  and established `with Noah is a common cove-
,niet  zullen  kunnen.  Uit  ens zelven  h:bben   wij geene            nant* embracing men regardless of their spiritual-ethical
ware zelfkennis. `En zeer gemakkelijk bedricgen we ons                 conditiomand  relation to God, wicked and righteous alike,
in den eigenlijken aard van onze werken.  Doch als Gods                can surely not be called historically Reformed, as we
Woord ons  omstraalt  en God Geest op ons inwerkt, dan showed .by abundant testimony. The opposite view, that
openbaren we dns, zooals we geestelijk zijn, ook voor it is the covenant of grace, is set forth by eminent theolo-
eigen bewustzijn. En zulks  geldt ook van anderen.  Na-                gians of strong Reformed type of the period when Re-
tuurlijk gaat deze onze kennis van den mensch slechts                  formed Theology was  efilorescent.  We further showed,
zoover,   als de mensch zichzelven openbaart onder de that the grounds from Scripture, adduced to defend this
inwerking en in het licht van Gods Geest en Woord. Maar                notion of a common covenant  swith all men, are unten-
wij kunnen er tech door beoordeelen het geestelijk karak-              able. The fact, that the covenant is  establishecl  with
ter van het natuurlijk zaad van Adams  geslacht;  zij het Noah and his three sons proves nothing. for they were
ook slechts in zeer betrekkelijken zin. En daaraan zijn                at the time the Church just saved from the destruction
we tevens gebonden, in ons prediken van het Evangelie, of the world.  .The alleged ground deduced from the use
de gemeentelijke bediening van Woord en Sacramenten.                   of the divine names, God and Jehovah, cannot stand for
de opvoeding onzer kinderen, de tucht, en de hope bij het              the simple reason that these names, from this point of
graf onzer dierbaren en kinderen. En wij mogen niet ver-               view are used promiscuously in Scripture.          That the
onderstellen, dat ons  natuurlijk  zaad geestelijk is naar covenant is established with every living creature does
aanleiding van c:ie eene of andere uitwendige bijkomstig-              not prove the point, for it does not show that it is com-
heid, zooals: geboorte uit geloovige ouders, het  dragen               mon but that it is cosmic. And this last term expresses
van het uitwendig  teeken  van Gods verbond in hun                     our conception of the covenant with Noah. It is not com-
vleesch  cjf  aan hun voorhoofd, vroegtijdig  sterven, of iets         mon but  cdsmic.      It is not established with all men
dergelijks. Want daaraan is Gods onderscheiding van                    regardless of their spiritual-ethical relation, to God, but it
het geestelijk zaad der vrouw niet gebonden. De  schif'                is established with God's covenant-people, with the
ting Gods geschiedt naar den raad zijns  willens.                      Church, with the elect and for their sake and in them
   Hoe dat er bij deze beschouwing tech we1 sprake kan                 with every living creature Nothing is excluded for ail  '
zijn van verbondsopvoeding en van een doop der kleine                  things are for and of God's people in Christ. In them and
kinderen, zien we den volienden  keer.                                 with them and for them a remnant of all creatures is
                                                         H. D.         saved in the ark. For their sake only God determines
                                                                       that the ground shall not be cursed anymore and  that
                                         "..                           seedtime  and harvest shall no more be interrupted as in
VOOR EEN UURTJE ONTSPANNING MET ONZE the deluge. For their sake God also establishes His cove-
                      KINDERT JES !                                    nant with them and blessed them. It is not the elect and
                                                                       the reprobate that are included in this covenant with
   "Neemt somtijdts een uur om haar de dwaiingen van                   Noah, but it is the Church and the creature in the cosmic
het Pausdom voor oogen te stellen op het  haatelijkste,                sense of the word that are party in that covenant.
gelijk zij  zijn; en dan ook de groove dwalingen van  JOO-                That  this is, indeed, the truth as presented to us in
den, Socinianen, Arminianen, Mennisten en Lutherschen.                 Scripture now remains to be `proven.
    Doch maakt daar uw breede werk niet van; leert  haar                  Naturally we turn our attention first of all to the
de gronden der waarheyt en noemt bij elcke  grondt-                    passage of Scripture that speaks of the destruction of
waarheyt de snoode dwalingen van de geene die buyten                   the First World and the salvation of Noah and ,his fam-
zijn,  en wijst haar af op de grondt  .van de  texten, die de          ily from that destruction, Gen. 6-9.
waarheyt bevestigen."                                             \       And, then, we may notice  in the first place, that Noah
                     XJit:  lrDe   p&ten der ouders om hare            before the flood appears as God's covenant-friend and that
                     kinderen  voor Godt op te  v&eden"                God deals  wyth him as such, in distinction from the
                     door Ds.  Jacobus  Koelman. 1679.  '              wicked world. It must be conceded, that there is nothing
                                                                       common in  Gmd's dealing with Noah before the deluge.
                                                                       Noah is presented as the sole remnant of God's covenant-
                        IN MEMORIAM                                    people in the midst of a wicked world and all God's deal-
        Den  23sten  Augustus  behaagde het den Heere uit  011s
      tnidden weg te nemen  onze  geliefde Moeder, Grootmoeder         ing with him is based on this fact. We understand, of
     en Overgrootmoeder,                                               course, when we read in this passage that God will estab-
                    P I E T E R K E   TOP----Rillema,
     in den ouderdom van 73 jaar en ruim  ii maanden.                  lish His covenant wirh Noah, that this does not imply
         De  zekerheid  dat  ze ontslapen is in haren Heere en         that now for the first time in history God establishes His
      Heiland is voor ons een heerlijke vertroosting.
                                       Namens de Kinderen.             covenant of grace in the world. The covenant aIways is.


42                                                             1'HE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-- -.....-.. "- -.--                   ...__ll........l.._"  .._.._..._"  --_-....._                              " .-......_..__ l_l             --.....-
It existed as the-relation between God and Adam in para-                                All the world is wicked. It repented the Lord that He
dise before the fall. It is maintained by God thru  .the                                made man  on the earth.          He purposes to destroy all
fall,  in Christ Jesus, and revealed immediately after, even                            things.    But  i\;:oah  finds grace in the eyes of the  Lord.
though we do not reacl in so many words that God estab-                                 It must be admitted by all that this grace is distinctive,
lishes His co;enant. It is in the world all thru the period                             that not one in the \vorId  has part with it, that it is the
before the flood and finds its representatives in Abel and                              grace of God's covenant-friendship., The world is the
Seth and Enoch and Lamech and in the entire line of the                                 object of God's wrath, Noah is the friend of God. Nor,
Sons of God. The covenant always is. For the covenant                                   in the second place, can it be denied that this one sentence
is not a contract, even though man in the covenant is of                                states the basis of all Gbd's transactions with Noah and
the party of the living God. Neither is the  co.venant   a                              with the world of creatures. The world, as having cor-
certain promise or number of promises, though in the                                    rupted its ways before the Lord of all the earth, Go'd will
historical realization of the covenant many promises arc                                destroy. Xn$ it must not escape our attention that in this
given God's covenant-people. Nor is the covenant a way                                  destruction every creature from the beast of the field to
of salvation, though it is, of course,  true, that God saves                            the fowl of the  air.perishes  with wicked men. For this
and, glorifies His elect covenant-people.  All these  m,ay                              will throw light upoti  the fact that presently in Noah God
be phases of the covenant-relation, the coveinant  itself is                            establishes His covenant of grace with the earth and
always `more than any one phase of it. It is living and                                 every living creature.  Kuyper.  finds this strange. One of
most intimate fellowship Between  God and man. It is ~,IUZ                              the reasons why the coveriant of nature must be a com-
relation of friendship in which God makes Himself known                                 mon covenant is for him that  it is established not only                   `,
to man,. reveals to him His  secrers,  walks with him and                               with' men but with every living-creature. But there is
talks with him, eats and drinks with him, loves him and                                 nothing strange in the fact. For as with sinful man the
blesses him with His own favor which is better than life;                               world perishes, so with God's covenant-people all the
and places him as  %Iis party in the midst of the world.                                world is saved and  blessed. When Adam, the king of                   -
And on the other hand, in that covenant-relation man                                    the world, falls, the earth is cursed for his sake and all
knows.his God-with that knowledge which is eternal life,                                creation groans. When the human race filled the meas-
loves and adores, Him, dwells in His presence and inquires                              ure-of iniquity before the flood, not only the race but the
in His temple to behold the beauty of the Lord, is His                                  world perishes for man's sake. iNothing  strange there
friend-servant. His party in the world, His prophet over                                can he in the fact, therefore, that when God establishes
against the'false prophet, His prie.st over against the false                           His covenant with His people saved from  the flood, it
priest, `His king over against the Prince of &is world and                              embraces every living` creature. However, the fact
his power. That is God's covenant with His people in                                    remains, that as the corruption of the human race and
the world                   And essentially it is always the same. Now                  the wrath of  God. over men, constitute the basis of all
one phase of it, now another is revealed according to the                               God's dealings with the wicked world; so the grace which
historical circumstances and the development of its rev-                                Noah found in  the eyes of the  Lord is the ground-upon
elation, but the covenant itself is always the same rela-                               which all that follows in this passage must be explained.
tion of friendship between God and His  peopl&                                             In this light all the passage states can easily be
       Now?  the first fact we wish to emphasize in this con- . ..explained. For this grace of God's covenant-friendship is
nection is that in all we read in the passage that treats of                            the one line,that runs thru the whole of God's dealing
the flood, Noah appears as God's covenant-friend a'nd                                   with Noah and his seed.
God is dealing with him as such. He is not dealing with                                    First of  all, in this light only can we understand
men promiscuously, but with Noah distinctively and                                      properly what the passage states of Noah's attitude to
separately. He does not  deal with elect and reprobate                                  God. We read: `(These are  the" generations of Noah:
alike, but with His covenant-friend.  There is nothing                                  Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and
common in the entire history.                          Let us prove this from           Noah walked with God." Gen.  69. Once before we read
the passage itself.                                                                     in Scripture that  a man walks with God,  ndmely in the
       We read: "Xnd God saw that the wickedness of man                                 case of Enoch. And it `is striking  that also Enoch appears
was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the                               as a strong and bold witness of God in the midst of a
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it wicked world. Jude  14, 15. The world even in his day
repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth                                     corrupted  its way before the Lord and spoke ungodly
and it  <grieved  him at his heart.  *And the Lord said, I                              things against the Lord of heaven and earth. And Enoch
will destroy man whom I have created from the face of                                   appears as of the party of the living God  `xvitnessing
the earth; both man  and.  beast and the creeping  fhing,
                                                                                -       against the ungodly deeds and speeches of the generation
and the fowls of the %ir, for it  .repenteth  me that I have                            of his day. Re walked with &d. Of Noah we read the
made them.                    But Noah found grace in  rhe  eyer  of  the               same testimony. He walked with God. And this implies
Lord."                  Gen. 6:5-X.                                                     no doubt positively, that Noah lived in communion with
       Notice, in the first place, that there can be positively                         God and that he enjoyed the fellowship of Jehovah. But
nothing common in this grace which Noah found in the                                    no less does it express, that in'speech and walk he mani-
eyes of the Lord                  The statement that Noah  found grace                  fested himself as God's friend in the world, and that in
with Jehovah stands in strong antithesis to the  tireceding.                            antithesis with the world about  .him.           The walk of the


                                    `b.    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
             --_-I__                                                                                                               45
                                            .- ...---           --..-_-  ...-." ..---                                   --.-  .___-_._

  world was not with but against and away from the living              in the world shall have attained to its purpose and until
  Ctid. "The earth was filled with  vioIence." Gen. 6:ll.              it shall have been perfected thru Christ Jesus. In the
  And in the midst of that world filled with violence,  car-          flood the prophecy of Gen.  3:15 cannot be cut off. The
  rupting its way before God, Noah took God's part, con-              power of that word extends far beyond the deluge. And,
  demned the world and walked as the just man in his                  therefore, the end of. God's counsel is not reached with
  generations in the way of- Jehovah's, precepts, defending           the destruction of the first world. Hence, God will estab-
  the honor of His Name.                                              lish His covenant with  ,Noah, continue it in the world,
     But, secondly, in this light we can also understand              even after the waters of the flood shall have subsided.
  the dealings of Jehovah with His friend Noah.               God     Such is undoubtedly the meaning of the words "But with
 speaks with Noah as a friend with-his friend. He com-                thee I will establish my covenant.,' The very definite
 plains to him about the corruption of the world and the              expression "my covenant" shows that nothing else is
  violence that is in the earth.    Re reveals to him His             intended. It is not a certain particular and special agree-
 intention to visit the world with his judgments. "And                ment to which the Lord refers, but His covenant, that
 God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before              always is and must be in the world, till it shall have
 me  ; for the earth is tilled with violence through them ;           reached its perfection in Christ. And for this purpose
 and behold, I will destroy them with the earth." Gen.                Noah is saved. For this covenant's sake his family are
 6:13. He takes Noah into His .Secret  counsel and reveals            saved, his wife and sons and son's wives. And for this
 to him the manner in which this destruction of all flesh             covenant's sake animals of every kind are saved in  rhe
 is to be brought about. And He shows him His gracious                ark. Just as for the sake of the wicked world every living
 intention to save him from the impending destruction and             creature is destroyed with the wicked race, so for the
 instructs him with regard to the building of the ark. He sake of God's covenant everi living crature is saved from
 also explains the reason why and the purpose for the                 the flood.. Not  onIy does the elect remnant enter into
 which He will save Noah and his family from the com- the ark in Noah and his family,, but with them there enters
 ing catastrophe: "But with thee will I establish my cove-            the remnant of all that lives. And all this for the sake
 nant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy                 of the one  covenant  of grace. And lastly, there can be  I
 sons and thy wife-and thy sons' wives  wi-th  thee." Gen.            no questi,on  about the fact, which Dr. Ruyper and others
,~6:18..  Now, there can be no question about it, and as far          after him so strenuously denied, that these words, spoken
 as we know there is no question, that there is nothing               at the eve of Noah's entering into the ark, point to the
 common about the covenant mentioned in this connec- very establishment of the covenant  revealed`hfter the
 tion. The "but" that introduces this declaration on the              flood.
 part of God stands in direct contrast and opposition to                 How could it be different? How could it possibly
 what.,precedes. The Lord shall bring the flood of waters             be maintained, that of a sudden God establishes a com-
 upon the earth and all that is in the earth shall die, but           mon covenant with the righteous and wicked alike, after
 with Noah He will establish His covenant. It is  a cove-             He had just destroyed the wicked and saved the right-
 nant as He does not and cannot e,stablish with the wicked            eous? Exegetically everything militates against this
 world. It is the covenant of gra'ce  and friendship always           view. God's covenant-people had found grace in the eyes
 referred to in Scripture to which the Lord also here has             of the Lord. With them God had dealt and with them
 reference. Itis exclusive of all the wicked; for these shall         He had spoken., They had walked with Him and  srood
 be destroyed. Neither can there be any  ques$ion,  that              for His Name in the world. Them He had instructed to
the Lord here mention's  Ris covenant with Noah and his               build the ark and them He had saved.,They are separated
 sons as the reason why and the purpose for which they                from the wicked world by the waters of the flood. And
 are saved from the flood. The covenant is the reason and             they reveal themselves as such the moment they leave
 basis for the salvation of Noah from the destruction of the ark. For whar `is the first thing we read of Noah ?
 the first world, in as far as God will never destroy rhe             "And Noah  builded  an altar unto the Lord; and took of
 righteous with the wicked. . The righteous shall inherit every clean beast, and of every clean fowl and offered
 the earth. And even though all the wicked of the earth               burnt offerings on the altar." He, the heir of the world,
 are destroyed, God will remember His covenant with His               brings the sacrifice of thanksgiving and consecration to
 people and save them. Noah, rherefore, is saved from the the Lord of all. He immediately acts as God's covenant-                         '
 flood, not as mere man, or as a sort of Progenitor of a              friend. And it is in response to that act on the part of
 second human race, but as the just man in his genera-                Noah that we read that the Lord purposes in Himself not
 tions, as God's covenant-friend, that had found grace in to smite every living thing again for the wickedness of
 the eyes of the Lord. God will confirm His covenant                  man's sake. He will remember His covenant. Gen.
 with him. By virtue of that covenant God is the `Friend              8:-Z@22.  And it is, therefore, His covenant-people He
 of those that are His friends and He loveth the righteous.           blesses, according to Gen.  9:l. They that leave the ark
 Hence, on the basis-of the covenant of grace iNoah enters            are the party in the covenant God then establishes: ""4nd
 into the ark and is saved from the flood. But ir is also "`God spake' to Noah and to his sons with him saying:
 the purpose for the which Noah is saved. God intends to              And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with
 continue His covenant even after the flood.             I-Ie will    your seed after you. And with every living creature that
 have His covenant in the world until its being established           is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle and of every beast of


 44                                      .     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  -
          -.-                        __.__.._..  -~.- ..-.._.^                                               -.-         -_        _.--
  the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to                           PROF.  BERKHOFS  PELAGIANISM
  every beast of the earth. And I will establish my cove-
  nant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off anymore                   On page eight of the professor"s  brochure is found the
 by the tvaters of a flood ; neither shall there anymore be                following paragraph : "Eer we dit punt in bijzonderheden
 a flood to destroy the earth." There were none other                      bespreken willen  we op enkele wanbegrippen wijzen, die
  than His own covenant-people present. With them God                      in  verband  daarmede in omloop zijn. Sommige menschen
  establishes His covenant. That covenant is not exhausted                 schijnen behept te zijn met de gedachte, dat dit punt de
  by the promise that the,earth  shall not be destroyed any-               Arminiaansche leer van een algemeene voldoening  (ver-
m o r e . It is far greater and far more comprehensive. It zoening)  bevat, en dus inhoudt, dat  Christus  werkelijk
  implies all the blessings and bounties of salvation for                  voor alle zondaren, hoofd voor hoofd, gestorven is ;  we1
  God's people for time and eternity. But for the sake of                  niet in den zin, dat Hij hen  allen  effectief zalig maakt,
  that covenant, which God will establish in the earth in                  maar  tech zoo, dat Hij de deur voor  allen  wijd geopend
  future generations, and which He will perfect in Christ,                 heeft, en  bet nu maar van hunne persoonlijke keuze af-
  He gives His people the promise that He shall no more                    hangt, of zij  iullen binnentreden of niet. Het is  echter
  destroy the earth for the wickedness of the wicked. For                  volkomen duidelijk' voor ieder, die gewoon Nederlandsch
  His covenant's sake He will bear all things, without                     lezen kan, dat er geen schijn van die lees in dit punt te
  another interruption as just had occurred in the flood, in               vinden is. Indien die  ketterij  uit dit punt gedistilleerd
  order, in the end of time to destroy once more all things                kan worden,  dan kan zij ook uit de Schrift  bewezen wor-
  with the wicked, also then to save the groaning creature                 den. Onze kerk  staat nog  even  vast  ails ooit in de over-
  and give it a part with the glorious liberty of the children             tuiging,  dat  Christus  gestorven is met de bedoeling,  om.
  of God.  Of this particular aspect of God's "everlasting                 alleen de uitverkorenen ,te redden, al erkent zij terzelfder
  covenant" (Gen.  9:16) the rainbow is the token. As its                  tijd de oneindige waardij van Christus' offer als een offer
  bow spans the heavens, so God's covenant causes Him                      genoegzaam voor de zonde der geheele  wereld: Hij die
  to remember all things for His covenant's sake, until the                beweert, dat de Synode hier op slinksche wijze de Armi-
  present dispensation, the heavens and the earth shall pass               niaansche leer der algemeene voldoening zoekt in te voe-
  away and with it the rainbow. But although this partic-                  ren, maakt zich scliuldig aan het geven van valsche voor-
  ular aspect of the covenant with Noah may be temporal;                   stellingen. Dir`zal uit de volgende bespreking we1 nader
                                                                                                \
  the covenant  itsel,f  is eternal. When the present world                blijken."
  shall pass away, we still have the promise: Behold, I will                  It should be noticed how that the professor differs  ,,
  establish my covenant with you forever!                                  with those who claim that point one is the embodiment
                                                                  H. H.    of the Arminian doctrine of general atonement, and im-
                                                                           plies therefore that Jesus died for all. The professor
                                                                           assures his readers that no trace of this heresy is to be
                                                                           found  in the first of the three points of Synod. He main-
                                                                           tains that point one is as sound as the very word of God,
        INSPIRER AND HEARER OF PRAYER                                      and that the conviction of the church to the effect that
                                                                           Jesus died for his people only, `remains unshaken. And
                 Inspirer and hearer of prayer,                            finally, according to the professor, he who maintains that
                 Thou shepherd and guardian of thine,                      Synod inculcated, upon the church Arminius' doctrine of
                 My all to thy covenant care,                              general atonement is beside the truth.
                 I, sleeping or  waking,  resign.                             --However in this essay we shall prove that poinr one `I_
                 If thou art my shield and my sun,                 '       is indeed a formulation of what may be styled the very
                 The. night is no darkness to me  ;                        heart and soul of Arminius' doctrine. The desired proof
                 And, fast as my moments roll on,                          is found in the professor's brochure and in his articles
                 They bring me but nearer to thee.                         which appear from month to month in "The Reformed
                                                                           Herald." In his brochure land in his articles the profes- i
                 A sov'reign protector I have,                             sor confronts us as a defender and expositor of Synod's
                 Unseen, yet forever at hand ;                             deliverances.    As was said before as an expositor oi
                 Unchangeably faithful to save,                            Synod's declarations Berkhof can be relied upon for these
                 Almighty to rule and command.                             declarations are his productions.
                 `His smiles and his comforts abound,                         In that brochure Berkhof is interpreting Synod's
                 His grace, as the dew, shall descend;                     deliverances.    And I wish to repeat that the professor's
                 And walls of salvation surround,                          brochure is one grand appeal for the tenets of Arminius.
                 The soul he delights to defend.                           And we guarantee to prove it now. Not that the unre-
                                                                           formed and vicious premises of Berkhof and his kind
                 All praise to the  ,Father, the Son,                      have never been exposed. They have. Hoeksema and
                 And  Spirir  thrice holy and bless'd;                     Danhof have done so. We wish to expose them anew and
                 Th'eternal supreme Three in One,                          that in the light of Prof. Berkhof's writin,gs.  ,
                 Was, is, and shall still be address'd.                       Before we do so, however, we wish to attend, very


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             45

        briefly, to a few other matters. The latest number of             repent. Does Berkhof know better? Indeed, he does.
        "The Reformed Herald". contains a paragraph to which              In his brochure, written and published several months
        I desire ro call attention. It was written by Berkhof and         ago, he also accuses US of denying the outward or general
        reads as  folluws : "Arminianen beweren, dat het algemeen         calling. We corrected him in The Standard Bearer. In
        aanbod der genade niet bestaanbaar is met de  Gerefor-            the July number one may find the following assertion:
        meerde leer der verkiezing en der particuliere verzoening.        "Fact is that we (Danhof, Hoeksema, Ophoff, etc., hcart-
        En sommige Gereformeerden zeggen het hun na.  Doch                ily indorse every statement found in the articles (of our
        als zij nu de moeilijkheden willen  vermijden, die zich hier      Confession) referred to. We do believe that the promise
        voordoen, gaan hunne wegen  uiteen.          De Remonstranten of rhe gospel is that whosoever believeth in Christ cruci-
        loochenen de verkiezing en de  panticuliere  voldoening           fied shall not perish but have eternal life. We do believe
        door Christus, zooals die in de Gereformeerde kerken ge-          that as many as are called by the Gospel are unfeignedly
        leerd  worden;  en de Gereformeerden,  w'aarop  wij hier          called; we do believe that God most earnestly and truly
        doelen,  ontkennen de algemeene aanbieding door het               declared in His word what will be acceptable to Him,
        evangelie.  Zij zijn van oordeel, dat de algemeene  roe-          namely, that all who are called should comply with rhe
        ping door het Evangelie inhoudt, clat de mensch in eigen          invitation  ; we do believe that He moreover seriously             I*
        kracht zich kan bekeeren en gelooven in den Heere J&US.           promises eternal life and .rest to many as shall come to
        Wij kunnen niet anders zien, of zij gaan daarbij, bewust          Him and believe on Him; we do believe that it is not
        of onbewust, uit van de Pelagiaansche grondstellingen,            God's fault that those who are called do not come." And
        dat des menschen bekwaamheid de mate van zijn verant-             again : "And then (thus we wrote in the July number of
        woordelijkheid bepaald, en dat God niets van den mensch           The Standard Bearer) we wish to put the professor at
        vraagt,  dat  deze  niet verrichten kan.       En in dit geval    ease. We assure him that we preach as the `Standards
      zeilt men dus zelf in Pelagiaansche  wateren.             Verder bid us to preach. We do declare unto all persons wirhout
        oordeelen zij, dat de algemeene  belofre,  `dat een iegelijk      distinction that the promise of the Gospel is that whoso-
        die in den gekruisigden  Christus  gelooft, niet verderve,        ever believeth hath eternal life. We do declare that all
        maar het eeuwige leven hebbe," inhoudt, dat  Christus             must believe and repent. We do declare that ail are
,.      voor  allen,   hoofd voor hoofd,  voldaan  heeft.  Doch om unfeignedly called. Even though the professor informs
        die redeneering te handhaven, moet men alweer uitgaan             his readers otherwise."
        van de Pelagiaansche en Remonstrantsche gedachte, dat              Thus we wrote in the month of July. And yet, in the
        heti nu maar van den vrijen wil  des menschen afhangt,            October number of "The Reformed Herald" the professor
        of hij zich bekeeren en gelooven zal of niet. Dit bezwaar         is wicked enough to tell his readers how that we deny
        geldt in het  -geheel   niet, als wij  vasthouden,  dat God het just these things. Does the professor know better? He           *
        geloof en de bekeering ten leven in `den mensch moet              can and ought to know better: For he has the privilege
        werken." So far Berkhof.                                          (please notice, I say the privilege) of subscribing to and
           In the above paragraph Berkhof means to assail our             of reading The Standard Bearer. He would know our
        position. For reading on one happens upon this  utrer- views if he supplied himself with our paper. And he is
        ence : "In een breedvoerig verslag  van.Rev.  Hoeksema's          morally obliged to do so. For it was he who advocated
        rede over de Drie  Punten  in de `Holland City News'              and secured our deposition. And the professor continues
        vinden we de volgende verklaring : `That the contents of          to assail  us publicly. According to the Christian ethics
        the Gospel are always particular, never general. `Who- he should base his attacks upon such data as The Stand-
        soever believeth  shall  not perish, but have everlasting ard Bearer has to offer. For that is our organ. However,
        life.' The  Gtispel  promise is for believers. Thus we can        our voice he refuses to hear. He passes us by and turns
        also understand: b.  Canones III, IV, 8: Surely the               ro the newspaper and the man on the street instead to
        external calling is unfeigned. There is norhing deceiving avail himself of such information as they may have to
        in the Gospel.     But remember it is always particular. otier. The original sources are there,, `These, however,
        Those that believe have the promise. No one else.'  Hoe-          are ignored. The newspaper and the man on the street
        we1  - says Berkhof - dit slechts een couranten-rapport are consulted. They are more reliable ! How scholarly 1
        is,  ZOO  komt het mij  tech voor,  dat de gedachte van den       How Christian! Professor, from where your ethical
        spreker daarin zuiver wordt weergegeven."                         code? Surely not from above. Rather from below.
           Berkhof, ir is plain, is attacking us.                          L Prof. Berkhof, we challenge you to point out a single
          I wish to `comment upon the first of the above quota-           passage in "Van Zonde en Genade," in  "Niet Doopersch,
        tions.    The paragraph indicates that the professor per-         maar Gereformeerd," in  "Langs Zuivere  Banen,"  in any
        sists in misrepresenting us before the public. The asser-         of the numbers of The Standard Bearer where it is
        tion on his part, to rhe effect that zij (i.e. sommige Gere-      asserted that the minister of the gospel should not in the
        formeerden als Danhof en Hoeksema, etc.) van oordeel              name of God request all (including the reprobate) to
        zijn,  dat de algemeene  roeping door het Evangelie  in-          repent and believe. I assure you rhat you will look in
        houdt, dat de mensch in eigen kracht  zich  kan bekeeren          vain for an assertion of this kind. The man on the street
        en gelooven in den Heere Jezus amounts to a declaration           and the newspaper reporter may tell you what he hears.
        on his part that we deny that all who hear rhe Gospel             But you have no moral right to avail yourself of the data
        (including the reprobate) are  callea,  i.e. requested to         which they are pleased to furnish you with as a basis for


                        /
46                                         T H E '   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-__._.........__. -.                   l_."_.--"__-  .-.. -.                                            - .._ -_- "--."         -
 your attacks. You should supply yourself with first-hand           meene belofte,  `dat een iegelijk, die in den gckruisigden
 information which means that you should be reading The             Christus  gelooft, niet verderve, maar her eeuwige  leven
  Standard Bearer, which means that you yourself should             hebbe' inhoudt, dat Christus  voor allen, hoofd voor hoofd,
 be attending the fectures delivered by Danhof and Hoek-            voldaan heeft.  Doch om die redeneering te handhaven,
  sema. The data which the newspaper and the man  on                moeh men alweer uitgaan van de Pelagiaansche en  Re-
  the street are able to furnish you with should not be used        monstrantsche gedachte, clat het nu maar van den vrijen
  as you are pleased to use it. Especially not since you            wil des menschen afhangt, of hij zich bekeeren en geloo-
  may avail yourself of information which is first-hand.            ven  :zal of niet.`" "Reformed Herald," Vol. I, No.  5, p.  80.
       We deny the outward and general calling? No, indeed          Please notice how rhat the professor informs his readers
  How dare you tell the public so. Have you no conscience?          that'we (Danhof, Hoeksema, etc.) reject the proposition
  Are you not aware of it that there is a God-in heaven,,who        that those who believe will be saved. He does not say
  declares : "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy         it in so many words but the accusation is implied in the
  neighbor" ?                                                       assertion last quored. For the professor maintains  that
      % We do deny that God offers His Son to the reprobate.        we are of the opinion that the general promise to the
  This you  af$rm. You should know that there is a vast             effect that  all those who believe in the crucified Christ
  difference between the outward, and general calling and           have eternal life implies that Christ died for every individ-
 the general offer of salvation as you understand it. The           ual. Conclusion? We reject the conditionary promise
 ,issue in this present comroversy  is not whether God calls        to the effect that all those who believe are saved.  .Mar-
  or requests the reprobate to repent and believe. Indeed,          velous ! Astounding! Preposterous ! Think of it, accord-
  He does. This is rather the issue: does God offer the             ing to Berkhof we deny  that,  all those who believe arc
  grace which there is in Christ to the reprobate. Why do           saved. According to the professor, therefore, our view
  you not face the real issue like a man and a Christian?           is that either nobody is saved or those who do not believe
  Instead you avoid the issue. It is plain that you are bent        are saved. Professor, have you become vain in your
  on washing your own slate clean and misrepresenting and           imaginations  ? According to you, professor, we are in-
  maltreating us.                                                   ferior to the most radical modernist. Even the Pelagian
        After having informed his readers how that we deny          believes that all  those who believe are saved. And the
  that the reprobate should be requested to repent and              radical modernist believes thar somewhow all are saved.
  believe the professor discloses unto his readers the false        According to the professor, however, we maintain that
  premises from which those who deny the outward calling            those who believe are not saved or that nobody is saved.
  must be proceeding. Says the professor:  "Wij kunnen              If the professor is correct our views are of such a type as ~
  niets anders zien  of.zij (Danhof, Hoeksema, etc.) gaan           defy all classification.
  daarbij, bewust of onbewust, uit van de Pelagiaansche                 But this is not all. In that very article in which the
  grontlstelling,  dat  des menschen bekwaamheid de  mate- professor tells his readers how that we maintain that
  van zijn verantwoordelijkheid bepaalt; en  ,dat God niets those who do not believe are saved or that nobody is saved
  van den mensch vraagt, dat deze niet verrichten kan. En           he also informs his readers how that our view is that
  in dir geyal zeilt men dan zelf in Pelagiaansche wateren."        a& those who believe are saved. For he accepts a certain
        Is the professor correct? indeed. It is a fact that he      editor's report of Hoeksema's lecture delivered in the city
  who denies that the sinner is requested to repent and             of Holland. The report reads: "The contents of the Gos-
  believe is proceeding from the-false premise rhat the sin- pel are  always  particular never general, `whosoever  be-
  ner's ability to repent determines the measure of his             lieveth shall not perish but have eternal life.' The Gospel
  responsibility and that God has no right  ,to request the         promise is for believers."
  sinner to repent if he lacks the ability to  .do so. These           How should these monstrous blunders, made by Berk-
  are the false premises contained in the proposition that          hof be accounted for? There is only one solution,  Hi!:
  the sinner must not be requested to repent and believe.           intense desire to wash his own slate clean and to paint us
      But these godless premises are not ours and that for black is making it impossible for him to think straight.
  the very reason that we do nor .deny  the general calling.            But perhaps Berkhof may complain that I am mis-
  Berkhof, on the other hand, falsely accuses us of proceed-. representing him. He may wish to reply thatcit is not his
  ing from the corrupt  premices  disclosed above. He does          contention that we deny that all those who believe are
  so when he alleges that the outward calling is denied by          saved. He may Iwish  to reply that he merely meant that
  US.  - And the professor is aware of it that the, readers         `we deny thar the promise tb the effect that all those who
  accepting his false testimony to the effect that we deny          believe shall be saved may be declared unto all. We shall
  the general calling must be holding us accountable for            accept for a moment  rhat Berkhof meant just this and
  the implications. Such are the tactics to which the pro-          nothing else. But now we in turn have a right to demand
  fessor stoops in achieving his aim. And that aim is to            that Berkhof proves the accusation. And now the pro-
  provide the public with a dark and gruesome picture of            fessor may want to refer us to the testimony of the Hol-           ~
  the opponent.  ~                                                  land editor which testimony Berkhof inserted in his
       Let US go on. Notice again the assertion found in the        article.    However, he whose eyes are free from beams
  paragraph quoted above. It reads as follows: "Verder              sees at once that the quotation does not assert that  tJle
  oordeelen zij  (i.e.  Danhof,   IIoeksema: etc.) dat de  alge-    condifionary promise should not be proclamated  unto all


                                                                                                                                Y
                                                            T H E   STALNDARD   B E A R E R                                                        47
  -......." ._.._ ^.^____-" .-.-._.__.......__......  A^ - .._.-.._ ___.~-.--                             -- -... - ..__                  ----__ A-

  without distinction.              Hoeksema merely maintained that               for T shall see to it that he is supplied with rhis particular
  only those  who  b&eue   haee   &ernal   Life.  that eternal life               number of The Standard Bearer) he will `attempt to
  is promised only  unto those who believe. ,  Does  G'erkhof                     defend himself, I imagine, against the attacks of his con-
  care to-maintain the contrary? He who infers from the                           science. That defense will be this: I did not mean to
  above quotation that Hoeksema denies that the  con-                             accuse them for embracing the implication contained in
  ditionary promise should be announced to all without dis-                       the propositiofi  which they reject, I merely meant to say
  tinction . is giving evidence of a confused mind and a                          that they  deny that the conditional promise must be pro-
  perverse heart.                                                                 clamated unto all without distinction on the basis that
      The article of the professor which we arc dissecting is                     such a general  proclamation  of a conditional promise
  full of wild logic. Permit me to furnish. another sample                        implies a free will.
  of it.                                                                              To this I reply that a certain. word and a certain
      Wrbte Eerkhof : "Verder oordeelen zij, dat de  alge-                        phrase found in rhe  prof&sor's  article make it only too
  meene belofte, "dat een Ggelijk, die in den gekruisigden                        plain that the professor is accusing us of actually embrac-
  Christus  geloofit,  niet verderve  maar  het eeuwige leven                     ing the implications of the very proposition which we,are
  hebbel'  inhoudt, dat  `Christus  voor  allen,  hoofd voor supposed to be rejecting. That word is the word "alweer."
  hoofd, voldaan heeft.  Doch om die redeneering te  hand-                        And that phrase reads as follows: "En in dat geval zeilt
  haven, moet men alweer uitgaan van de Pelagiaansche en                          men dus  zelf in Pelagiaansche wateren."
  Remonstrantsche gedachte, dat het  nu maar  aan den                                 While we are at it we may as well adduce a few more
  vrijen wil des menschen afhangt, of hij  zich bekeeren of samples of wild logic.
  gelooven  zal of niet." We shall now dissect this asser-                           On page 19 of the professor's brochure one happens
  tion.                                                                  3        upon the following paragraph : "De uitspraak der Synode'
      The  aborve quotation asserts that he who denies (but betreffende het algemeen en welgemeend aanbod des
  we do not clenyj that the conditional  prom&e  should be                        heils, is in den laatsten tijd gebrandmerkt als  Armini-
  proclamated unto all without distinction believes in the                        aansch en Pelagiaansch.                   Maar bij deze beschuldiging
  free will of man. Such an one, maintains the prof,essor                         schuift men er stilzwijgend iets anders voor in de plaats,
  "gaat alweer uit van de Pelagiaansche gedachtie,  dat het                       n.1. de leer der algemeene voldoening, en van `S menschen
  nu maar van den vrijen wil des menschen afhangt, of hij                         bekwaamheid;om  zich in eigen kracht tot God te keeren.
  zich bekceren en gelooven zal of niet."                                         Dit blijkt  me1 uit de  gronden,  die men in zijne  bestrij-
      This is what should be denominsted  T?C:ild  and lawless                    ding bijbrengt. LMet een beroep op de Dordtsche Canones
  logic. It is sheer sophistry. Berkhof first gives his                           II, 6, van de Verwerping der Dwalingen,  w'ordt  geze'gd,
  readers to understand that we deny that the conditional                         dat de Synode van Dordt de gedachte van een algemeen
  promise to the effect that all who believe will be saved                        aanbod des heils juist verworpen heeft. Daar  tech wordt
  should be declared unto all without distinction. This is                        on_tkend,  `dat God zooveel hem  aangaat  allen  menschen
  the first lie. We do not deny this. We maintain, most                           die weldaden, die door den dood ,van Christus verkregen
  emphatically, that the conditional promise should be                            worden,  gelijkclijk heeft  willen  mededeelen.'  .5'laar deze
  declared unto all without distinction. Then the professor                       uitspraak raakt  h&t punt in het  geheel  niet. Het artikel
  goes on to tell his readers how that we maintain that the                       waaraan deze woorden ontleend zijn, bestrijdt de dwaling
  proposition to the effect that the conditional promise                          der Remonstranten dat, terwijl Christus.,de  zaligheid ver-
  should be declared  u`nto all men wirhout distinction im-                       diend heeft  voor  alle menschen, de  toecigening daarvan
  plies the free will of man. This is the second lie. We                          afhangt  van  dem  vrijen wil  des menschen. Deze ketterij
  do. not maintain such a thing. Finally, the professor                           wordt in het  eerste..punt  van de Synode niet gevonden.
  asserts that we embrace the implication of the proposi-                         Maar, zcgt de tegenstander, dit artikel ontkent  pertinen6
  tion which we reject. That is to say, according to  Berk-                       dat God de  weldaden  door den dood van  Christus  ver-
  hof we deny rhat the conditional promise should be pro-                         worven  aan  alle mensches gelijkeiijk heeft  willen   mede-
  clamated unto all men, and by that very act we are                              deelen.    Wat blijft er dan over van een welgemeend aan-
accepting the  implicatioris  involved.                        In other words.    hod des heils?  Doch de woorden in quaestie verwerpen
  according  ro Berkhof's logic he who rejects a certain                          alleen de gedachte dat God in zijn eeuwigcn raad  besloten
  proposition is accepting by that very act the implications                      heeft om. `zoovcel Hem aa`ngaat, allen  gelijkelijk .te doen
  contained in the proposition rejected. In other words,                          deelen  in de  .vruchten  van Christus'  werk;  Fn het  alge-
  according to the logic of the professor, he who rejects                         meen  aanbod des heils  bevat  geene verklaring van  bet
  evolution becomes by that very act an evolutionist him-                         tegendeel. Het roept zoridaars tot bekeering en belooft
  self. Grand logic, is it not?                       .                           slechts dat zij, die in den gekruisigden Christus  gelooven,
      It is a well known fact that we have been taken                             het eeuwige leven  deelachrig   ,zullen   worden."
  severely to task for adhering in our thinking to the laws                          In this particular Paragraph~Berkhof  is defending the
  of logic discovered by Aristotle. 0 ! that Berkhof would                        proposition that God offers the benefits gained by the
  adhere in his thinking to these laws. :Zs it is,, he adheres                    death of Christ to all hence to the reprobate. He surmises
  to no laws whatsoever when he thinks. Absolutely wild                           that the opponent inay object that the proposition cannot
  and lawless is he in his thinking.                                              be harmonized with article 6 of the second chapter of the
   When Berkhof reads this article (and he will read it,                          Canons of  Dordt. This particular  article teaches,  as


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48                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
_I.-__ .._..- "_ll              _ _ _ _ -          -    _            ------_^  .__.._.                              ___.~ .._ I_^_

Berkhof admits, that God determined not to apply to all                             CONFESSIONEEL BEWI JS
the benefits gained by the death of Christ.        This then is
the problem confronting Berkhof: If God determined to                 Voor de gedachte van het eigenlijke puntje in het eer-
give unto the elect only the benefits gained by the death          ste punt, namelijk, dat er  behalve  de zaligmakende  ge-
of Christ how can God be sincerely  otiering these same            nade Gods bewezen alleen aan de uitverkorenen ten eeu-
benefits to the reprobate? Let us now  attend once more wigen  leven, ook eene zekere gunst of genade Gods is, die
to Berkhof's answer. It is this:  "Doch de woorden in              Hij?  b&kens  de'  algemcene   aunbieding   des  Evan,&&es,  be-
quaestie verwerpen alleen de gedachte, dat God in zijn wijst  aan Zijrie schepselen in het algemeen,  m.a.w.  aan
eeuwigen raad besloten heeft om zooveel Hem aangaat de verworpenen, voert de Synode  &k eenig bewijs  aan
allen  gelijkelijk te doen  deelen  in de vruchten van- Chris-     uit de  Belijdenis,  nader gezegd, uit de Dordtsche  Leer-
tus' werk; en het algemeen aanbod des heils  bevat geen            regels II, 5 en III en IV, 8 en 9. Die plaatsen luiden ais
verklaring van het tegendeel. Het.roept zondaars tot be-- volgt :
keering en belooft slechts, dat zij, die in den  gekruisig-           "Voorts is de belofte des Evangelies, dat een iegelijk,
den  Christus  gelooven, het eeuwige leven deelachtig  zul- die in den gekruisigden  Christus gelooft, niet verderve,
len  worden."         The professor reasons as follows: "God maar het eeuwig  Ieven  hebbe, welke belofte  allen   volkeren
determined to give the benefits gained by the death of en menschen,  tot  welke God naar zijn welbehagen zijn
Christ unto his elect only.  14t the same time there is a          Evangelie zendt, zonder ,onderscheid  moet verkondigd en
general offer of salvation which means that this same              voorgesteld worden,  met bev$ van bekeering en gelooi" ;
God offers these same benefits unto the reprobate. There           hfdst. II, 5.
is no problem here, however, says Berkhof, -because the               "Doch zoo velen als er door het Evangelie geroepen
general offer of salvation merely means that God offers            worden,  die  worden  ernstiglijk geroepen. Want God  be-
the benefits gained by the death of Christ unto the                toont ernstiglijk en waarachtiglijk in zijn Woord, wat
believers i.e. unto the elect only." Grand logic, is it not? Hem aangenaam is  ; namelijk, dat de geroepenen tot Hem
How is it possible for a man who, is supposed to be both           komen. $-Iij" belooft ook mtt  -ernst   allen,  die tot Hem
sane and honest to reason as B'erkhof does?                        kom.en,  en gelooven, de rust der zielen en het eeuwige
      And Dr. Beets informed  +us in one  of+ his editorials       leven."
that Berkhof's brochure does him credit. The booklet                  "Dat er velen, door de bediening des Evangelies  ge-
shows, said Beets, that Berkhof is a good dogmaticus.              roepen  zijnde, niet komen en niet bekeerd worden,  daar-
0 mores, 0 tempora.                                                van is de schuld,niet in het Evangelie, noch in Christus,
      The title of this essay reads: Berkhof's Pelagianism. do&- het Evangelie aangeboden zijnde,  noch in God, die
.4nd it can be pointed out in a  few words. We refer               door  her  Evangelie roept, en zelfs ook dien Hij roept
you again to the newspaper report of Hoeksema's lecture. onderscheidene gaven mededeelt; maar in degenen, die
We refer you to that part of the report which Berkhof geroepen  worden   ; van dewelken sommigen, zorgeloos
quoted and inserted in his article. It reads: "The con-            zijnde, het woord des levens  q niet aannemen ; anderen
tents of the Gospel are always particular, nerer general,          nemen het we1 aan, maar niet in het binnenste huns har-
`whosoever believeth shall not perish but have everlasting ten, en daarom is het, dat zij, na eene kortstondige blijd-
life.' The Gospel promise is for believers. Surely the schap  van het tijdelijk geloof, wederom terugwijken;
external calling is unfeigned. There is nothing deceiving anderen verstikken het zaad des woords door de doornen
in the Gospel. But remember it is always particular.               der zorgvuldigheden der wereld, en brengen geene vruch-
Those that  beIieve  have the promise."                            ten voort; hetwelk onze Zaligmaker leert in de gelijkenis
      Thus spake Hoeksema. rZnd the report is correct. van het zaad (Matth.  XIsII)"; hfdst. III en IV, 8 en 9:
Berkhof's comment reads` as follows : "De roeping is dus              Deze plaatsen handelen, volgens de Synode van Kala-
altijd particulier, is beperkt  tot de uitverkorenen. Hun mazoo, van de algemeene  aanbieding des .Evangelies;  en
alleen wordt het heil in Christus  aangeboden, en niemand          kunnen daarom, naar haar oordeel,  als bewijs dienen voor
anders: Nu is het echter  tamelijk  duidelijk, dat het werk de bewering, dat God ook eene zekere gunst bewijst aan
van den prediker op deze wijze onmogelijk  wordt."  So verworpenen.                       Dar deze redeneering logisch niet opgaat,
`far Berkhof.                                                      zaken  we vroeger reeds. Mocht er al eene algemeene  aan-
                                                                   bieding des Evangelies zijn, dan zou daar, zonder meer,
      Berkhof denounces Hoeksema's position. According onmogelijk'uit afgeleid kunnen  worden,  dat God eene
to the professor therefore it is not true that the contents        zekere gunsr  of genade, die niet zaligmakend is, bewijst
of the Gospel are particular.          It is not true that the aan de verworpenen onder de hoorders  des Woords ; maar
benefits gained by the death of Christ are promised and            dan  zou  daarmede eenvoudig gezegd zijn, dat God zijne
offered only to those who believe. Berkhof's view is, zaligmakende genade in Christus, niet slechts bewijst  aan
must be that the benefits gained by the death of Christ            de uitverkorenen ten eeuwigen leven,  doch`  die ook  aan
are  offered  unto all whether they believe or not. And            verworpenen aanbiedt. Dat is dan ook het gevoelen  van
this is pure Pelagianism.                                          zeer velen. Het is het standpunt van de Semi-Pelagianen.
      In the following essay this matter will be fully ex- Niemand is echter van oordeel, dat er door de aanbieding
plained.                                                           des Evangelies  twee&lei  genade bewezen  wordr door
                                                    G. M. 0.       God: de Zaligmakende genade in Christus  aan de uitver-


24                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D  EEilRER
-1_^-.                  -  .._  -.__       - -   .._-  - - -  .._                              -         -      -        -        .-
nen, die eens verlicht zijn geweest, &z., niet wederom tot                              PREDESTINATION
bekeering gebracht  worden.  In hen heeft  het.werk van
den Geest in de verworpenen zijne grenzcn bereikt. En                                      Pre-Augustinian
daarmede  is dan ook de zonde in hen  voltobid.           Straks
zal hunne straf bepaald  worden,  niet enkel naar den objec-             `Predestination is  tis secret! That is to say, it is
tieven maatstaf der wet, maar ook naar deri subjectieven             revealed to us in God's Word. WC cannot say which per-
maatstaf van den aard en de mate der zondige daden,  de              sons arc elect and which are  ,reprobates.  But we know
kennis van het Evangelie en de verlichting des verstandc             from the Bible that some people are elect and some are
door de werkingen van Gods Geest.                                    net. Some people see the marks (kenmerken) of their
      En laat ons nu ten slotte niet zeggen. dat dit alles we1       election. "If this could not be true, there  w&id  be no
het finale resulraat zal worden;  maar dat zulks tech niet           sense to the admonition: Strive to make your calling and
geschiedt naar Gods bedoeling en Christus'  oognierk.                election sure. Some people are vessels of wrath. These
Want ofschoon wij ook  liier  zullen  hebben   te  onder-            vessels of wrath sin' wilfully, sin against the Holy Spirit,
scheiden tusschen de strekking van het Evangelie alszoo-             have been appointed by God unto the day of wrath.Blect
danig en Gods  wil en voornemen  betreffende  de verwor-             ceople can know whether they love God, lovi: His people,
penen onder de  hoorders  van het Woord; zoo mag  tech               love God's law, hate sin,.%tan and his whole dominion.
niet vergeten  worden,  dat Jezus zelf zegt : "Ik ben tar een        Reprobate  per:ons can know from their attitude to
oordeel in deze wereld gekomen, opdat degenen, die niet              Christ, from their hypocritical  pretenccs,  their lack of
zien, zien mogen, en die zien, blind  worden," Joh.  9:39.           sorrow for sin and from other things whether they shall
En  eeenmin  mogen we ons van dit  woord  van  paulus                be saved. Perhaps all reprobates do not reach this stage.
afmaken : "Gode zij dank, die ons  allen tijd doet  triom-           :Kut when Scripture in Hebrews 10 speaks of fiery indig-
feeren in Christus, en den reuk  zij,ner  kcnnis door ons            nation awaiting the wilful sinners, it seems to say that in
openbaar maakt in  alle plaatsen.       Want wij  zijn'   Gode       spite of the expectation of fiery indignation which shall
een goede reuk van Christus, in degenen, die zalig  wor-             consume the adversaries, such people have no remorse of
den, en in degenen, die verloren gaan; dezen  we1 een                conscience, and death,  natur'al  and eternal, does not
reuk des doods ten  doode:  maap  genen een reuk des                 frighten them. Such hypocrites can know whether they
levens ten leven." Oak aan dat woord hebben we in onze               are hypocrites if they call themselves Christians.
bediening van het Evangelie behoefte.  Xsmede  ook  aan                 !Ve are. therefore? thoroughly Reformed when we say
dit woord van Petrus:  "U dan, die  gdooft, is hij  clier-           that the decree of reprobation is revealed to us in God's               '
baar ; maar den ongehoorzamen wordt gezegd : De steen.               Word. The contention of some that  x&e can-know noth-
dien de bouwlieden verworpen hebben, deze is geworden                ing of this is wholly false. It is not Reformed to speak
tot  een  hoofd  des hoeks, en een steen des  aanstoots,  en         in that way.  CXr fathers certainly did  speak  of it. For
eene rots  der ergernis; dengenen namclijk, die  zich  aan           proof we cite the following from our Standards. "The
het woord stooten. ongehoorzaam zijnde, waartoe zij 001;             Synod rejects the errors of those  \yho teach: Thar God,
gezet zijn." En willen we getrouw zijn, dan moet het ten             simply by virtue of his righteous  willl  .did not decide
slotte  oak  gezegd  worrlen,  dat God zich "ontfermt, diens         either to leave anyone in the faI1 of I\dam  and in the com-
Hij wil, en  -verhardt,  dien Hij  wil."  Met de Dordtsche           mon state of sin and condemnation, or to pass anyone by
Leerregels   moeten  wij de  .Verkiezing  en de  .Verwerping         in the communication of grace  ,which is necessary  .for
beide toeschrijven aan het vrijmachtig welbehagen Gods.              faith  and conversion.         For rhis is firmly decreed: `He
Dat  moeten  wij  doen,  omdat Gods  ?voord het zoo  leert,          hath mercy & whom he will, and whom he will he hard-               ,
omdar  onze Belijdenis  het aldus belijdt, en  mede,  omdat          eneth,' Rom  9:18.  :\nd  nIso this: `Unto you it is given
wij anders  & Gereformeerde kerken geene plaats en                   to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
geen toekomst hebben.                                                them it is not given,' Matt.  1321. Likewise: `I thank
                                                       H. D.         thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst
                                                                     hide these things from the wise and understanding? and
      If in the Epistle to the Romans we  finh the fullest           didst reveal them unto babes; yea, Father, for so it was
statement  of the Gospel and in the First Epistle to  the            well-pleasing in thy sight,'  Matt.  11 25,  %."
Corinthians the most complete chapter  cm Church  disci-                Moreover, our  .%rt.  XVI of the Confession says that
pl:tie.  we have in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians            God manifests that he is just, in leaving others in the fall
the very mind of God with regard to the institution of the           and perdition wherein they. have involved themselves.
Christian ministry.                                                  iand in the First  .Hcad  of Doctrine we read that "he
                   %.  God,et,  Studies on the Epistles of St.       graciously softens the hearts of the elect, however ob-
                Paul, p. 129.                                        stinate, and' inclines them to believe ; while he leaves the
                                                                     non-elect in his just judgment to their  o&n wickedness
                                                                     and obduracy.     And herein is especially displayed the
      "When the `old man' assumes the part of the Christian          profound, the merciful, and at the same time the righteous
he becomes two-fold more the son of Gehenna. 1-t is not              discrimination between men, equally  in"volvFtd  in ruin;
enotigh for the old serpent to change his  skin--he must             or that decree of election and reprobation, revealed in the
needs die."                                                          Word  of Cud, which though men of perverse, impure


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              5.5

 and unstable minds wrest to their own destruction, yet          mental principles of Christianity. Gnosticism raised its
.to holy and pious souls affords unspeakable consolation."       wicked head and led mariy from the `ranks of Christen-
 (Art. 6.)  L                                                    dom. And such all-important issues as the Divinity of
    No wonder the Synod of Dordt took special measures           the Lord and the personality of the Holy Spirit were
 to reject  ihe teaching of those "iNho use the differences      absorbing the attention of the minds of the Christian
 betiween  meriting and appropriating, to the end that they      Church. Devastating wars  also made the time unsuit-
may instill into the minds of the imprudent and inexperi-        able for the quiet study of such a fundamental doctrine
enced this teaching that God, as far as he is concerned,         as predestination.
has been minded of applying to all equally the benefits             Yet, we believe that we say too much when we con-             .
gained by the -death of Christ; but that, while some             tend that the questions of election and reprobation could
obtain the pardon of sin and eternal life, and others  d_o       not have been in order in those times. It is true that the
not, this difference depends on their own free will, which       attention of the Church was centered on other issues.
*joins itself to the grace that is offered without exception,    And thar in spite of the fact that Judaistic Monotheism
and that it is not dependent on the special gift of mercy,       was  propagating  a Deistic conception of the independ-
which powerfully works in them; that they rather than            ence, individuality and freedom of tian, and in spite of a
others should appropriate unto themselves this grace.            very prevalent heathen and pantheistic determinism. Ill
For these, while they feign that they present this dis-          general, all the emphasis was laid on the necessity of
tinction in a sound sense, seek, to instill into the people      acknowledging the divinity of rhe Son of God; and unto
the destructive poison of the  Pelagian  errors."        (Cf.    Christians of that day the doctrine of the responsibility
Psalter, Part  II,  p. 16). Anyone acquainted with the           of man seemed all important.                  ,
import and wording of  the-first point of the Synod of              Not until the year  325 A.  D, did sufficient rest come
1924 finds in these lines a definite rejection in principle      for reflection upon predestination. And then not in the
of what that  I'alamazob Synod desired to affirm.                Eastern Church but in the Western Church. The Church
    But the decree of predestination has not always been         of the East  tvas largely under the sway of a pantheistic
so clear to the mind of the church as it was in the days         and pagan philosophy. Consequently the Eastern Church
of the Synod of Dordt.        For this reason, we quoted         did not feel the necessity of distinguishing between crea--
liberally from our Confession to show  that.clarity   ori the    tures  and Creator. In fact, as long as pantheistic philos-
points of election and reprobation. And no one who reads. ophy absorbed the leading minds of the Eastern Church,
these statements from our Confession has the right to            the issue of predestination was precluded as a topic for
label us as un-Reformed. Many of the errors, however,            fruitful reflection and advance  of the doctrines of the
which the Synod of Dordt has rejected, have again crept          Church. Pantheism has no room for election and reproba-
in among our people, which errors were very prevalent in         tioil  from before the foundation of the world.
the ages preceding the seventeenth century. Let us see              But in the Western Church the  situatioh was different.
how these early ages conceived of predestination and             The idea of the Sovereignty and Justice of God soon
which errors were especially  nour+hed by them.                  impressed the Western Church. And along with the con-
    <We could even refer to 0. T. times and see how such         fession of  God"s sovereignty and justice went the
divines as David and Isaiah cherished the begin'nings  or        acknowledgment of the absolute dependence of man and
first fruits of the doctrine of predestination, and it might     the corruption wrought in him by sin. More and more
be of interest to know that the Pharisees  ran into              the writings of  the. Western Churchmen assumed the
extremes with respect to this doctrine, and that the Sad-        character of apologetic  defences  of the above named
ducees cherished absolute' silence with respect to it, but ideas. And through various controversies these issues
we wish to trace the history of the doctrine of predestina-      were more and more brought to the front until August-,
tion in the Christian Church.                                    ine, the theological wizard of the Nicene Age, formulated
    It  iS true that before the age of Augustine there' was      much  of theological thought: into a well articulated SYS-
no de-finite doctrine of predestination. But we must be          tern of truth.
careful to leave room for  perso'nal  opinions concerning           During the first four centuries the doctrine of predes-
predestination previous to Augustine's day. There was            tination  was having an organic growth. Predestination
no formulated doctrine of predestination which was               truths have deep roots, and though the roots did not
binding upon all the members of the Church, but there            immediately come to the surface, men did  occasio,nally
were private opinions concerning the points now con- see the blades sticking through the top soil of the theolog-
fessed by our doctrine. Times and conditions were not            ical controversies, and under the  ,nurture and care of
favorable for a quiet and thorough study of the  mate-           Augustine, it was so well nurtured that soon it showed
rials which the Scripture contains respecting election and       forth some of its perennial blossoms and it has ever since,
reprobation.     First of all, the church was almost in a        even though wicked men have tried to uproot and to kill
continuous state of persecution.      The Roman empire           it. By the grace of God, they have never succeeded!
cherished no obedient worshipers of the Risen Redeemer.             But the growth of this plant of predestination was
And no less than ten persecutions were instrumental in           accompanied by the speedier growth of other plants in
causing the blood of martyrs to cry to.heaven. Heathen-          the garden of, God's Church. The whole Christian Church
ism also had its acute minds which attacked the  funda-          soori came to acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the  Medi-


           56                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R d-_.-.-._                        -___-I__

           ator between God and man, was the only ground and                   Justin Martyr finds in the doctrine of Jesus the restora-
           hope of salvation.' That Holy Child of God was con-             tion and cleansing of the human race. And then he
           fessed to be the Rock of Ages, the foundation and Corner-       makes room"for the idea that any one who is willing and
           stone of the exquisite edifice which God was building           actually follows the precepts of Christ, lives in the friend-
           throughout the ages of time. His divinity was not only          ship and communion of God.
           naively assumed, but also consciously announced.  .And              For many of the early fathers the rite of baptism
_          the personality of the Holy Spirit was likewise con-            imposed the forgiveness of sins.      But baptism did not
           fessed. The consciousness of the Sovereignty and Justice        forgive the sins performed after the administration of
           of God promoted faith and obedience to Holy Writ. The           baptism. It was deemed very difficult to have the sins
           workings* of God's grace were irresistible.      And from       committed after baptism forgiven.        Early church- dis-
           the beginning of the Christian Church the Holy Spirit did       cipline abundantly proves this. Great value was attached
           lead into all the truth.                                        to the external signs of repentance. A. well meant con-
                 And some plants in this same garden of God's Church       fession and sorrow for sins performed after baptism, if
           proved degenerate.,. Men firmly believed that the merits        attended with works of satisfaction for sin would bring
           of the suffering and death of Christ could only be securely     forgiveness for these sins. Origen mentions no less than
           appropriated by the continued action of the free will of        seven ways in which forgiveness for sins may be ob-
           men. Forgiveness of sins could be obtained only in the          tained. First of all he cites baptism  ; then the martyr's
_          tiay of well meant penitence and by the fulfillment of          death for which reason some early Christians sought the
           good works. Man appropriated Christ, man repented of            martyr's glory  ; by the giving of alms ; by forgiving or
           and by himself, and man also did the good works out of          rather cancelling debts which others owed to the for-
           the generosity of his own soul without any aid or guid-         giving one ; by abundance of love ; by penitence and sor-
           ance or power of the Holy Spirit.  Much  of the early           row. Almsgiving was thought by Polycarp to redeem
           teaching in the early church, therefore, was accompanied        from death, and the Pastor of Hermas clearly teaches the
           by the idea of: salvation by the good works of man. The         superabundance of good works.
           necessity of faith also was taught, but faith was hardly           A few ideas concerning faith ought to prove welcome.
           anymore than  fidfJ   ,K.rtc&u,  historical faith. This his-    Faith was conceived of as historical-dogmatical faith..
           torical faith was deemed to be the absolute requisite of        The knowledge of'things concerning God was part of rhe
           salvation. And men in general believed that man is free ,justification  of the sinner. If this knowledge was lacking,'
           in his willing, even unto good.                                 people were invariably lost. Salvation was made depend-
                                                                           ent on historical faith.    However, Clement of Rome
                 But this teaching of the free will of man was always      seems to have pierced somewhat into the Pauline teaching
     ,~    a matter of darkness. Absolute freedom of will was not          of justification by faith. Iranaeus made the distinction
           unhesitatingly taught. Men seemed to sense that more between the righteousness which is by the law and the
           than the freedom of the human will was necessary unto           new obedience which is rooted in faith and given with the
           the appropriating of the merits of  .Christ.  Some even         gift of faith. To him grace was similar to the dew of the
           expressed the necessity of a grace which strengthens the        heavens which descends upon the scorched field of human
           will of men unto the good. And in connection with this          hearts and brings fruitfulness. Clement of Alexandria
           necessary grace, the necessity of some decreein  the coun-      regarded faith as the key of knowledge through which the
           sel of God which provided for this grace, was at least          sonship~ of God was obtained. And he also made a dis-
           sensed. The necessity of it was felt: But many a theo-          tinction between theoretical and practical unbelief. This
           logical battle had to be  ,waged  before we as Reformed         last kind of unbelief he ascribed to inability to receive
           Churches obtained the glorious heritage which the               impressions of rhe divine, to the strong influence of the
           Fathers of Dordt received from God.                             flesh. But Origen affirmed: Impossibile est salvari sine
           *     For the purpose of clarifying what the condition of       fide (It is impossible to be saved without faith), and he
           the early church was we bring before your attention cer-        seems to have seen thar works must proceed from God's
           tain opinions of some of the early fathers concerning the       justification of us, not our works justifying us before
           points of doctrine which we have briefly mentioned.             God.
           Hermas, for example, could not perceive how that in any            The workings. of God's grace and the operations of
           event in the life of Jesus Christ, the penalty for the sin      the free will of man were wrongly conceived of. Most
           of man was paid. The redeeming work of Christ, `how- of the early fathers were synergists. That is to say, the
           ever, was affirmed.    In what manner he conceived of this      free will of man took the initial step towards the appro-
           redeeming work, will undoubtedly be discussed in the            priating of the merits of Christ and grace was conceived
           future. However,"we may say at this stage that Hermas of as an external aid unto man.
           nowhere makes mention of the death of Jesus, and he                Especially the synergistic propensities or tendencies
           seems to have held the opinion that the work of Jesus           of the early fathers determined their conception of pre-
           was fully completed in the work that Jesus did in His life      destination.    Hermas made predestination dependent on
           upon earth. And then he even includes in this work of           divine foreknowledge. Because God foresaw the faith of
           Jesus, the keeping of the chosen people of God, and the         some God chose unto everlasting life. The non-elect are
           sanctifying of God's people.         _                          responsible for their reprobation or non-election. Cyprian


                                                            T H E S T A N D A R D            B E A R E R                                          57
-. -.             II___              ^^^ ..- ^-...._-.--                  -.---                   -                                  - - -..__--
rejected the idea of an irressistible  grace flowing from the                                DE JONGSTE KERKELIJKE STRIJD
counsel of Cod's good pleasure without respect of persons
or works.                                                                                     III. Voor de Breedere Vergaderingen

         Origen  definitely meant to reject a predestination unto                                      C. Voor. de Synode,  1924
evil. The case of hardened Pharaoh he tries to ma-ke clear
by several analogies from everyday life. He pointed to                                Daar we de behandeling  der Drie Punten  door Ds. H.
the sun which hardens clay and melts wax. He pointed                               Danhof niet vooruit willen  loopen,  zullen  we slechts zeer
to the influence of rain upon various kinds of soil and                            kort ens bezwaar hier uitspreken tegen Punten  II en III,
how rain made both the wheat and the weeds to grow.                                of B en C. We kunnen deze gevoegelijk  samen   nemen,
Reprobation he conceived of as the withholding of grace                            daar ze ten nauwste met elkander in verbancl staan. Punt
for a time, whereby he conceives of God as using reme-                             B spreekt van eene beteugeling der zonde door eene alge-
dies for the restoration of a soul which at first seem to                          meene werking des Heiligen Geestes; Punt C van het
make a sinner more evil but which in time will drive out                           doen van burgerlijke goede werken door den natuurlijken
evil with all its roots. Anyone feels that- this idea of                           mensch krachtens een invloed Gods op hem.
reprobation is impossible. God's longsuffering herewith
becomes a long waiting for the renewal-of a sinner, be-                               Ons bezwaar is dit:
cause He has applied remedies which do not cure quickly                               Punten B en  C  zijn  ee-ne  ontkenning  gan de  zeer  duide-
but efficiently.                                                                   lijke  leer  uitgedrukt in  onze  Belijdenisschriften, dat de  RU-
                                                                                   tuurlijke mensch  onbekwaczm  is tot  eenig   goed   en geneigd
         Practically all the church fathers were Pelagian in                       tot alle kwadd, tertZij  h.ij door den Geest  Gods wedergeboren
their idea of predestination. Nearly all made-foreordina-                          mordt.
tion (voorbeschikking) dependent on foreknowledge                                     Toelichting :
 (voorwetenschap).               lr  needed Augustine himself to                       a)     We zijn het er in den laatsten tijd tamelijk  we1
 change this wrong idea. But let us see this next time.                            over eens kunnen worden,  dat deze beide punten  metter-
                                                                   B.  J. D.       daad bedoelen uit te spreken, dat de natuurlijke mensch
                                                                                   niet altijd zondigt.
                                                                                       b)     Het is ons ook goed duidelijk, dat de synode niet
                                                                                   heeft uitgesproken, dar de goede werken van den natuur-
                                                                                   lijken mensch niet uit hemzelf zijn, maar vrucht-van een
                           GOD'S TRUE CHURCH                                       werking des Heiligen Geestes. De Remonstranten zeiden
                    *                                                              ook niet, dat de-natuurlijke  mensch van zichzelf in staat
                   The Church's one foundation                            ,        was om iets goeds te willen of te denken.        Ze spraken van
                           IS Jesus Christ her f.ord,                              een eerste genade Gods, die gelegen was in her licht  der
                    She is his new creation                                        natuur.
                           By water and the word ;                                     Dat het werkelijk de leer der kerken geworden is, dat
                 From heaven he came and sought her                                de natuurlijke mensch voor God goede werken kan doen
                           TO be his holy bride,                                   en niet altijd zondigt blijkt uit alles,  wat ter toelichting
                 With his own blood he bought her,                                 geboden  -is door voorstanders der Drie  Punten.   Dar
                           And for her life he died.                               blijkt ten duidelijkste uit de drie preeken in het  licht
                                                                                   gegeven door Ds. H. J. Kuiper. Dat blijkt ook uit- het-
                    Elect from every nation,                                       geen in dit  verband  getuigd werd voor het gerecht in
                           Yet one o'er all the earth,                             Graid Rapids. Dr. Beets getuigde  b.`v.  als volgt:  (ver-
                    Her charter of salvation                                       taling van ons)
                           One Lord, one faith, one birth;                                   "Vraag : Zondigen de onwedergeborenen altijd
                    One holy name she blesses,                                         voor God?
                           Partakes one holy food,                   '                       "Antw.:  Neen, mijnheer, ze zondigen niet altijd,
                    And to one hope she  ,presses,                                     maar ze zijn altijd zondig, zooals ook al de uitverko-
                           With every grace endued.                                    renen. We zijn altijd zondige schepselen,  zooals  we
                                                                                       hier  beneden  leven.
                    `Mid toil and tribulation,                                                `(Yraag,:   Zondigen  de uitverkorenen altijd voor
                           And tumult of her war,                                      G o d ?
                    She -waits the consummation
                           Of peace for evermore,                                             "antw.:  Ze zijn altijd zondig.
                    Till with the vision glorious                                             "Vraag :  Doen  ze altijd zonde voor God?
                           Her longing eyes are  blest,                                       "Antw. : Altijd zonde? Neen, mijnheer, dat  zou
                    And the great Church victorious                                    duivelsch zijn.
                           Shall be the Church at rest.                                       "Vraag  : Maar de onwedergeborenen zondigen  al-
                                                                    Selected.           tijd voor God?


