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  Vol. II, No. 3                                              DECEMBER,  1925                                            Subscription Price $1.50

                                                                            tion, of glory and shame, of dominion and subjection,
             MEDITATION                                                5' of grace and sin. From it rises the loud and accusing
                                                                            wail of the blood of all the prophets together with the
                                                                            prayer of the oppressed: How long, Lord? And clearly
                    HEAVENLY PRAISE                                         ringing through the night, above the din of all these
                                                                            voices is heard the, victorious cry of the king of the
                         Glory to God in the highest and on earth           prophets : "Awake, awake, put on thy strength,  0 Zion;
                       peace, good will toward men.                         put on thy beautiful `garments, 0 Jerusalem, the  hoi)
                                                         Luke 2:14.         city: for henceforth there shall no more come. into thee
                                                                            the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from
     Night in the fields of Ephrata!
     And what a night this, when in the fulness of time                     the dust; arise, sit on thy throne  0 Jerusalem; loose`
                                                                            thyself from the bonds of thy neck,  0 captive daughter
  the shepherds were keeping watch over their flock!                        of Zion !"
     A  night full of voices pouring their still speech into                    Night in the fields of Ephrata!
  the hearts of the meditating shepherds, wonderful,  mys-
.*. terious, creating a hush of expectancy. . . .                               And what a night! A night pouring forth speech.
     hbove shone the stars, with playful twinkle, pouring                       And showing knowledge to the shepherds abiding
  their',siIent  testimony into  the deep darkness. Orion,                  by their  Aocks.
  bound by flaming bands, witnessed of the inseparable                          Night of nights!
  unity of Three ; the Pleiades, closely hugging in Taurus'
  neck!  kindly twinkled of the sweet harmony of Six;                           Then . . . . the heavens break!
  Arcturus, proudly leading `its stately train  ui+h wide                       The dark curtain of the night seems suddenly pushed
  sweep through the north, displayed the perfection of                      aside by unseen hand and a dazziing shaft of  heavenI>
  Seven in its communion of Three and Four; and  al1 the                    light swiftly travels to the earth and encloses the
  wide and star-studded dome of heaven witnessed  of the                    astounded shepherds in a circle of glory from the highest
  promise of  Eljon that like these millions upon millions                  heavens.                                                       *
  of flashing night-beauties the seed of Abraham would                          A4nd  with the heavenly light-shaft there descends a
  be in countless numbers. . . .                                            messenger, arrayed in a brightness as radiates  from the
      Below,  in  Ephrata's fields, voices from the past                    very face of God. . . .
  crowded the night with their mysterious whisperings.                          The night has faded. . . .
 Near was Bethlehem. It moaned of Jacob's grief when                            Hushed into silence are all the voices of the night.
  he buried his beloved Rachel there. It complained of                      Expectant  stands the earth to hear i&at message heaven
  Naomi's  Mara,  because the Almighty had dealt bitterly                   may bring to the world.
  with her. It sang of Ruth's wedding,, when  Eoaz  pur-                        And with trembling joy the shepherds eagerly listen
  chased her to be his wife. It poured forth the  sweet                     to the angel's gospel:
  melody of David's psalms, when he tuned his harp to                           "Fear not !
  accompany with its thin music his praises to Jehovah.                         "For, lo, tidings of great joy T bring, which shall be
  And distinctly it spoke of  its  own future renown and                    to all people.
  greatness when from it would proceed He that  would                           "For  unto you is born this  clay in the City of David
  be a ruler  in Israel. . . .                                              a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord.
      Then, yonder to the north, still not very distant, was                     ".4nd this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find
  Zion's chief joy, Jerusalem, the City of the  &eat  King.                 the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in  a
  Many voices and contradictory testimony it poured into                    tnanger  !"
  the silent night. It witnessed of greatness and  humilia-                      Then  message  is  delivered, The angel ceases from


                                                                  -  ,e
_.         tid                                                      THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
           ___""" ^ -.._....^--.---.-..... .-    -" ..____.." __ ___ ..-.         -_ "" ._ -l_ll -....- -                                --.-...p--u-

           speaking.            `Yet, still lingers the light, and through' it                feet the heritage of Jehovah. The very name of the
           angels come now descending in countless throng and in' seed of the woman was no more! And, surely, a rem-
           heavenly strains, from hearts long restrained with                                 nant had returned but only to see its former history
           expectation, they sing : "Glory to God in the highest,                             repeated in a more amazing form. A plaything of the
           and on earth peace, good will toward men  !"                                       nations Israel had been, a sorry spectacle, a reproach
                  The light fades and the night returns and silence                           to all the world. And especially when that  viIe  Old-
           reigns once more. .  ,.  .                                                         Testament type of Antichrist, Antiochus Epiphanes, had
                  Agaiq  .the stars twinkle.                                                  defiled the temple  and mocked at things most sacred,
                  rind the voices whisper.                                                    the groan of oppression rising from the bosom  o.f God's
                  Wonderful night !                                        _a.                people had made the very  angel!-  in heaven to tremble
                                                                                              at the awful ways of God. . . .
                  How brief, yet how pregnant with significance is                                 The woman's seed had almost succumbed.
           that song of the  heavenly  host in that night of nights !                               Thk sceptre seemed departed from Judah; the tree
                  Glory  t.o God in  the.  highest!                                           of Jesse was leveled to the ground; the cause of  God's
                  It is a shout of triumphant praise from heaven.                             people seemed hopeless; and darker than the night in
      *           For what happened that night in Bethlehem's stable,                         which the shepherds kept watch over their Hocks in the
           where a Saviour lies wrapped in  sivaddling  clothes,                              fields of' Ephrata was the night that had fallen over the
           marks the victory of God's Word and Satan's defeat,                                history of the people of God's covenant.          Almost it
           the fulfillment of God's promises,  the realization  of                            seemed as if presently defeat would have to be admitted
           Israel's hope.                                                                     to the devil and the outcome would be: Glory to the
                  Ah, what years  of bitter  `-
                                                       struggle and thick darkness            Serpent.! . . . ,
           had preceded this night of joy! How often it had                                         Then. . . .
           appeared as if God had forgotten His promise and                                         The root out of a dry ground sprouts. Gabriel  ma!
           rejected His people and as if the devil were to have all                           announce the tidings of Messiah's approach. Presentl?
           the glory! Anxiously the saints had often inquired and                             in the manger of Bethlehem is born the Lion of Judah's
           eagerly the  angeis  in heaven had often stared upon the                           tribe, that shall  surely crush the head of the dreadful
           deep ways of God, when it seemed as if `the Promise                                Serpent and deliver His people.
           would fail of fulfillment and the Seed of the Woman                                      There is joy in heaven. Eagerly the angels -look  upon
           would never come!                                                                  the face of Him that  sittcth upon the throne.  an-siting
                  God had spoken at the very dawn  of history : "I                            the word from His mouth that will give them leave -to
           will put enmity between thee and the woman and                                     descend and announce this thing to the world.
           between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head                                  Glory to God in the highest!
           and thou shalt bruise its heel." And the Devil had heard                                 He hath done ,whatsoe\-er  pleased Him!
           and understood this announcement of his final defeat                                     I-Eallelujah  !
           and had from that very tnoment entered upon a  life-
           and-death struggle to crush the very head of the                                         Wonderful song- of comfort!
           woman's seed.                  And in the sign of that struggle had                      Peace on earth and good will toward men!
           stood the entire old dispensation. It was the sign of the                                Of peace it sings for  in  the  manger of Bethlehem
           terrible Dragon standing before the woman with child,                              lies the Prince of Peace. And surely He  tiill bring
           ready to swallow up her babe. . . .                                                peace to the world.
                  Tn  that  struggle Abel had lost his life-blood  and                              No,  not as  the  world  desires peace does He desire
           even then the victory of the serpent's seed seemed  cer-                           it; not as the world seeks peace does He promise it  :
           t&n. In that struggle the sops of God before the flood                             not as the world gives peace does He leave it.
           suffered from the children of men, and had  .well-nigh                                   For the  wotld seeks a peace that is impossible. It
           been swallowed up of them till God sent the Deluge to                              seeks the peace among men. while maintaining its atti-
           the rescue of His people. Tn that struggle the seed of                             tude of hatred and continuing to carry on war against
           the woman had been oppressed in Egypt, till its groan,, the living God. Peace it seeks with the fire of sin and
            was heard by Jehovah Zabaoth and He delivered His                                 enmity against the Most High burning in its very bosom.
           beloved through the waters of the Red Sea. Oppressed                                Peace it seeks from without, by restraint, agreement,
           by the very wrath of God the people had wandered in                                counsels,  federaiions,  courts, police. , . ,
           the terrible desert and countless numbers  of them had                                   And the Prince of Peace raises a warning finger in
           fallen in .the wilderness, while it seemed as if never                             the face of thisworld thus seeking peace and announces :
           they would enter into the promised rest. And having                                 Ye shall hear of wars and of rumors of war for peace
           entered how brief had been the rest! The seed of the                               among men at enmity with My God may never be! . . .
           serpent had continually harassed them. From within it                                    Peace  Fk shall surely bring. But not as the Devil
           had had its representatives in carnal Israel, from  Xth-                           promises peace will He have it. Satan also `speaks of
           out it distressed the woman's seed by. the power  of. the                          peace. He will lay-down the sword and beat the spear
           nations, till Babylon had been completely victorious,                              into a pruning-hook and gladly give up all the kingdoms
           Jerusalem lay in ruins, and the heathen trampled under                             of this world, on condition of his own lasting supremacy


                                                                                                                                1
                           Y.                                      %`Hti  -S&DA-RDBEARER                                                              67
                                 .a.>._",                                                      -    -                                     -              -
                  and the dethronement of God.                     Presently He will         VERONDERSTELLING OF OPENBARING
                  approach the Prince of Peace with terms of peace com-
                  posed in hell and offer Him all the kingdoms of the .                     In den loop aller eeuwen gaat het natuurlijk zaad v&n
                  -world if only He will kneel down and worship the devil!               Adam geestelijk in  tweeen  uiteen. Die  schifting is van
                    . `But in the face of all such peace with the devil the              God. Gods verkiezende genade raakt slechts de  organi-
                  `Prince of Peace warns: I  Bm not come to bring peace                 sche kern van ons  gesIacht  ; en hare antithetische werking
                  to the world but a sword!                   .                          scheidt  de  kinderen   ,der  -menschen   vaneen,  als kaf en
                   ' Nay, but He does bring the peace. that passeth all                 g-man.  Bij de voortschrijding van de ontwikkeling der
                  understanding. He is the Prince,of  that. Peace which is               dingen  wordt daardoor in de  e&e natuurlijke  mensch-
                  at once the outflow of the Father's good will toward `His             heid openbaar tweeCrlei  geestelijk zaad. Reageerende op
                  people and the basis of all His lovingkindness with                   de antithetisch vaneenscheidende en tegenover-elkander
                  respec.t to them.          He brings peace because He tights stellende werking van Gods Geest en Woord, onderschei-
                  Zion's foe, all the dreadful power of the devil and sin               den de  menschenkinde?en  dan ook zichzelven in eene
                 -and. guilt and shame and death and the world. He                      uiterst bange en immeimeer  zich verbijzonderende  wor-
                  knows of no agreement, He thinks of no truce, He will steling in het leven. der geslachten, volkeren, huisgezin-
                  no terms of peace with that power of darkness; He will                nen en nabestaanden, naar de rijke verscheidenheid hun-
                  battle till the end, until the enemy of "God and His ' ner gemeenschappelijke tijden,  plaatsen,  gelegenheden,
                  people has been completely vanquished. He battles not                 levenssferen, middelen en veelvoudige historische  ver-
-                 with sword or spear. The roar of cannon is not heard                  houdingen-  En  aan die `openbaar makende  zelf-onder-
                  when He attacks the foe. But in obedience and humilia-                scheiding van het  tweezrlei  geestelijk zaad in  de.$`CCne
                  tion he battles  His way to the cross, and through the                natuurlijke menschheid zijn wij in onze beoordeeling van
                  cross to righteousness and through righteousness to the ons zelven en onze medemenschen gebonden. De boom
                . victory of the open grave and appears as the Victor                   wordt uit zijne vrucht gekend.
           .      over all His foes, over sin and guilt and death and hell                  Evenwel is de vrucht uit den boom.
                  ,-the Prince of Peace !                +                                                                           De boom bepaalt
                                                                                        ' de vrucht, en niet omgekeerd, de vrucht den boom.
                      Peace He brings -to the troubled soul of all His                                                                             Al is
                                                                                        het dan ook, dat het bijzonder kenmerkende  *van een
                  people. When floods of iniquity overwhelm the soul. boom voor ons speciaal openbaar wordt in zijne vrucht;
      _           by the wrath of God it is oppressed, by bonds of death                daarom  `is die boom zelf  tech in zijn  waren Ievensaard
                  it is held and afflicted, He, the Prince of Peace, enters             en tot in den diepsten wortel van zijn bestaan van God
                  into their hearts and speaks of peace, peace through for-             gekend, ook  ' eer hij vruchten voortbrengt.
                  giveness and righteousness in the blood He shed on  -the                                                                     Gods wil
                                                                                        bepaalt' zelfs dien `boom en zijne vrucht. Daarom kan
                  accursed tree ; and He breaks the bonds of sin anddeath               dan ook  gezegd   worden,  dat het vaste fondament Gods
                  and fills the heart with the life of God, spreading abroad            staat,.  hebbe,nde  dezen zegel : De Heere kent degenen, die
                  in it the love in which there is no fear. . . .                       de zijne zijn ; en : Een iegelijk, die den naam van  Christus
                      Peace He brings ultimately, when  ,He shall  come                 noemt, sta af van ongerechtigheid. Het kenmerkende
                  again. For then He shall cast all the power of darkness-              van de uitverkorenen ten eeuwigen leven voor ons is, dat
                  and oppression into the fiery furnace, where there shall              zij,  als zij in den  tijd den naam van  Christus belijden,
                  be wailing and gnashing of teeth and He shall separate                afstand  doen  van ongerechtigheid; maar God heeft  de-
                  from among His people all that offends and loves                      zulken liefhebbend en verkiezend gekend,  15% nog de
                  iniquity and He shall establish forever the new heavens
                  and the new. earth in which righteousness-shall `dwell                wereld was. I&j heeft hen liefgehad met  eene,  eeuwige
                                                                                        liefde, en daarom trok Hij hen in den tijd met koorden
                  and the peace of GodTs eternal covenant. . . .                        van goedertierenheid. En als Hij hen  getrokken   heeft
                      Then God shall spread His tabernacle over all.                    uit de  macht der duistemis, en overgezet  heel3 in het
                      And the word of Christ shall be' fully realized:  "I              koninkrijk van den Zoon zijner liefde, zoo doet Hij hen
                  in them and thou in me that we may be perfect in one !"               voorts ook wandelen in de goede werken, welke Hij van
                      Eternal peace and Good wili.                                      eeuwigheid voor hen verordineerd heeft.
                      And the heavenly song of the angels in the fields of                                                            Die goede wer-
                                                                                        ken zijn dus, als vruchten  van Gods verkiezing, de open-
                  ,Ephrata  shall then enter upon its perfect fulfillment!              baar makende kenmerken der verkorenen. Daarom kun-
.a                    Glory to God in the highest! Who through the deep                 ne'n  euii de  verkieiing  der uitverkorenen kennen  aan
                  way of sin and death and grace led His people on to                   hunne vruchten.
                  highest glory.
                      Peace on ,earth !             -                                       Wij  zijn  voor'onze   kennis van de menschen  aange-
                      Good will toward men!                                             wezen  op hunne werken. Inzooverre iemand zich in zijne
                      Wonderful song`of comfort !                          H. H.  -     werken   aan ons openbaart, kunnen wij een geestelijk
                                                                                        `oordeel over hem vellen in  `t  licht van Gods Woord.
                      An atonement that is part Iiberalistic and part "&an-             Da&-toe rekent de Schrift ons bekwaam, wekt zij ons op,
                  gelical belongs neither to the New Testament nor to a                 en  bepe+t  ze ons. De valsche profeten, die in  schaaps-
                  system of theology. (Creighton,  Caw and the Cross,                   vellen tot ons komen, maar van binnen grijpende  wolven
                 _ p. 25.)  -                                                           zijn,  moeten wij kennen  aan hunne vruchten. Naar den
                                                                                                                    i


T2                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE.R
                               -.-               -
      Evidently, Dr. Owen, a Calvinistic writer of the 17th    save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,
century, sees in the saving of Noah and his family only        but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by
the salvation and preservation of the church for the           the resurrection of Jesus Christ." It is not the question
principal purpose of continuing God's covenant in the          about the preaching of Christ to the spirits in prison
world.  Ana with regard to the text itself, Heb.  11:7, we     chat calls our attention in this connection. The point
may note the following facts:                                  that interests us now is the comparison of the waters
      1. God warns Noah as His covenant-friend con-            of the Flood and Baptism as type and antitype. Such is
cerning things to come as He always does His people.           evidently the point of comparison to which the apostle
      2. Noah responds by an act of faith in building          calls attention here. Noah and his family were saved
the ark. The building of the ark was an act of obedi-          by water, and so doth the like figure thereunto, even
ence proceeding from the faith which the saints  possess5      baptism, save God's people. This does not alter the
by which aiso he was righteous before God a&through            fact. of course, that they were saved in the Ark, and that
which he clung to the promises of his -covenant God in         as such the Ark is a type of Christ. Interesting is from
the midst of an apostatizing world.                            this point of view what Dr. Robert Leighton has to say
      3. Noah condemned the world.  .He did so by his          in connection with this passage from First Peter:
very building of the ark as well as by his preaching,                 "You who are indeed seeking the way of life, be not
he being the preacher of righteousness in the midst of         discouraged by your fewness. It hath always been so.
his generation. But the very act is a covenant deed of         You see here, how few of the whole world were saved.
friendship, such  a.$ is the calling of all that are of the    And is it not better to be of the few in the Ark than
party of the living God in the world.                          of the multitude in the waters? Let them fret, as  '
      4. Noah became the heir of the righted'usness  which     ordinarily they do, to see so few more diligent for
is by faith. This does not mean that he inherited that         Heaven  ; as no doubt they did in the case of Noah. -4nd
righteousness. This he possessed by the very faith             this is what galls them, that any should have  higher-
through which he also prepared the ark and became a            names and surer hopes this way. What! are none but
preacher of righteousness.  No; but the righteousness          such as you going to heaven? Think you all of us
which is by faith has an inheritance, a reward for those       damned? What can we say, but that there is a flood
that partake of it. Into that inheritance Noah entered.        of wrath awaiting many, and certainly all that are out
He became through the righteousness which is by faith          of the Ark shall perish in it.
heir of the second world. The wicked were disinherited                "This is that main truth that I would leave with you:
in and by the flood. The righteous Noah inherited the          look  on Jesus Christ as the  :\rk, cf whom this was a
world. And in this he is a type of all the people of           figure, and believe it, out of Him there is nothing but
God. For however things may seem against them in               certain destruction. a deluge of wrath,. all the world
this dispensation, and however all things may bear the         over. on those who are out of Christ. Oh! it is  OUT
appearance that. the wicked are in possession of the           life, our only safety, to be in Him. But these things
world, the righteous shall inherit all things through          are not believed. Men think they believe them and do
Christ. By faith they are the only rightful possessors         not. Were it believed that we are under the sentence
of all things and in the day of Christ they shall be put       of eternal death in our natural state, and that there is
into actual possession of their inheritance,  whiIe the        no escape but by removing out of ourselves unto Christ,
wicked shall be disinherited.                                  Oh, what thronging there would be to Him ! Noah
      5. But then it must be evident to all who can read, believed the Lord's word of judgment against the world,
that after the flood God makes His covenant with Noah,         believed His promise made to him, and prepared an ark.
not simply as a new  .progenitor  of the human race, as        Is it not a high sign of unbelief, that, there being an
the physical father of righteous and wicked alike, but         ark of everlasting salvation ready prepared to our hand,
as the heir of the righteousness which is by faith. As         we  .will not so much as come to it?' The First Epistle
such God had transacted with His friend Noah through-          of Peter, IT, pp. 232, 243.
out. As such He also deals with him after the flood                   Also to Dr. Leighton the salvation of Noah and' his
and gives him all things for a possession. While, there-       family was the saving of the people of God and as such
fore, in this Biblical commentary upon a certain phase         type of the salvation of the Church in Christ Jesus.
of the event of the Flood there is nothing to comfort          There is nothing common in his conception of the mat-
those who prefer to make God's covenant a common               ter. But it must not be forgotten that the point of com-
thing, everything points to our view as the correct            parison is slightly different in the text quoted. The
interpretation of Gen. 6-9.                                    point is not that Noah was saved from the waters of the
      The second  passage  to which we wish to refer in        flood in the Ark, but that he was saved by the very
this connection is I Peter 3 :19-Z : "By which healso  went    waters of the flood. In what, then, did his salvation
and preached unto the spirits in prison: which sometime        consist?      Evidently, in that he and his family as the
were disobedient. when once the longsuffering of God           remnant according to the election were  saved  from the
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing        wicked world, and separated from the ungodly genera-
wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water.          tion of their time by the waters of the flood. As such
                                                                 .
The  Iike figure whereunto even baptism doth also now          is the flood a type of baptism. By baptism God's people.


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D  &XRER
                                                                               "---                       _-.----
                11"-
For thus He spake, both  .according to Matth.  24:37-39                    VAN DE STUITING DER  ZONDE
and according to Luke  17:26,  27: "But as the days of
Noe were, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.             In onze behandeling van de drie Synodale  uitspraken
For as in the days that were before the  flood they were          in re de algemeene genade zijn we thans genlderd tot het
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, tweede punt.  .Daarin  gewaagt de Synode van "de beteu-
until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and. knew            geling der zonde in het leven van den enkelen mensch, en
tiot until the flood came and took them all away; so              in de samenleving,"  - door de algemeene werking van
shall also the coming of the Son of man be." What  hap-           Gods Gee&, en - waardoor de menschelijke samenleving
p,ened  in the flood and the salvation of Noah is  typici         mogelijk is gebleven, tegenover onze ontkenning van
of what shall take place in the day of the coming of              eene eigenlijke "stuiting van het  proces  der  zonde." In
the Son of man. Suddenly destruction shall come upon              zijn geheel luidt punt B als volgt :
all  the wicked, but the righteous shall be delivered from          "Rangaande het  t;weede  punt, rakende  de  beteugeling
all temptation and eternally dwell in God's everlasting           der  sonde in het  /even  van den  enkelen  mensch, en in de
covenant-communion.                                               sanzenleving,   verklaart de Synode dat er  volgens  Schrift
   Overwhelming is the testimony of Scripture to prove            en Confessie zulk eene beteugeling der zonde is.         Dit
that the covenant established with Noah cannot have               blijkt uit de aangehaalde Schriftuurplaatsen en uit de           -
been a common covenant, in which God is the friend of             Nederlandsche Geloofsbelijdenis, Artt. 13 en 36, waar ge-
the wicked and righteous alike, but that it was a revela- leerd wordt dat God door de algemeene werkingen Zijns
tion of His covenant with His people in Christ. It was            Geestes, zonder het hart te vernieuwen, de zonde in haar
a covenant made with righteous Noah, who walked with              onverhinderd   uitbreken   beteugelt,  waardoor  de  mensche-
God, found grace in the eyes of the Lord and condemned            lijke samenleving mogelijk is geble-lren;  terwijl het uit de
the world; who became heir of the righteousness which             aangehaalde uitspraken van Gereformeerde schrijvers uit
is by faith and with his family is type of the remnant            den bloeitijd der Gereformeerde theologie bovendien
of the godly elect of all ages even to the end of all the         blijkt, dat onze Gereformeerde  vaderen  van oudsher dit
"vorld. The waters of the flood are typical of baptism,           gevdelen hebben voorgestaan."
                                  .
the Ark is a figure of the  Christ and the whole event               Deze uitspraak staat in zeer nauw  verband  met de
IS typical of the end of all things.    And how  againSt  this    soorafgaande en de  volgende.  De beteugeling der zonde
overwhelming testimony of the Word of God it could is de negatieve   vruc,ht van Gods genade-werking, terwijl
still be maintained that the covenant of nature was               het werken van het goede voor God er de positieve vrucht
common, and that by it God entered  in& a relation of             van' is. Strikt genomen, zijn  punten twee en drie dan
friendship with the righteous and wicked alike, may well          ook reeds in het eerste punt begrepen. Waar God  ge-
be called baffling to an amazing degree. MJe claim that           nade werkt, daar kan de vrucht niet uitblijven. Zulks
we have all the Word of God to prove, that it was God's           wordt door allen  verstaan en door allen  toegestemd. Ook
covenant of grace with His own people. There is noth-             de  Synodale  commissie in zake de kwestie der  gemeFne
ing common in it. There is never anything common                  gratie oordeelde, hat het eerste punt, namelijk de  gun-
of Gods' favor, for the  si%nple  reason that God is not          stige gezindheid  ,Gods  jegens  alle  menschen,  "van  cen-
common. He is a light and there is no darkness in Him.            trale beteekenis" is, en dat "de twee volgende  punten
                                                   H. H.          daarmede ten nauwste samenhangen en er zelfs min of
                                                                  meer in begrepen zijn." De kwestie eener gemeene gra-
                                                                  tie, inzooverre die  op de, Synode van Kalamazoo ter
M E D E D E E L I N G   D E R   R E D A K T I E   BETREKKE-       sprake  kwam,  hangt derhalve naar aller overtuiging af
           LI JK INGEZONDEN STUKKEN                               van de vraag, `of God genade bewijst  aan verworpenen,
                                                                  ja dar? neen. En die vraag hebben we zeker we1 afdoende
   De Redaktie-Commissie heeft gemeend het volgende beantwoord in onze behandeling van bet eerste punt. Wij
c-rnder  de aandacht der  lezers te  moeten  brengen:             zouden het hierbij dus we1 kunnen laten; want is er geen
   ;%an Qezonden St&ken kan voortaan slechts een be-              genade  voor.  verworpenen, dan is `er evenmin "stuiting
paalde ruimte in ons blad worden toegekend.                       van het proces  der zonde," en dan kan ook de onbegena-
   iille Ingezonden Stukken,  aan  &ne zijde van het  pa-         digde zondaar niet het goede werken voor God. Evenwel,
pier beschreven en liefst in machineschrift, zijn  aan het        na hare eerste uitspraak, voer de Synode van 1324 nog
oordeel der Kedaktie onderworpen, en blijven, ook als zij         voort te spreken, en  steIde  zij ook  punten  twee en drie
worden   geplaatst,  wat vorm en  iqhoud  betrefien,  geheel      \:ast. En aangezien dit haar  doen ongetwijfeld  we1 eenig
voor rekening van de inzenders.                                   verband  houdt met de geschiedenis van de laatste kwart-
    De redaktie kan iich niet belasten met overschrijving,        eeuw, zoo  willen  we onzerzijds thans ook eenigen tijd
omwerking, of verbetering van het toegezondene.                   onze aandacht wijden  aan het gevoelen der Synode, dat
    Alle ingezonden stukken  moeten   worden gericht  aan         God de zonde beteugelt in het leven van den enkelen
het adres der redaktie: Ds. H. Hoeksema, 524 Eastern              mensch, en in de samenleving.  "
Avenue, S. E.; Grand Rapids,  Mich.                                   Letten  we allereerst nog even nader op den  samen-
    Niet-geplaatste stukken  worden  niet teruggezonden.          hang van de drie  Synodale  uitspraken. In hare eerste  uit-
                                        DE REDAKTIE.              spraak-  houdt de Synbde staande, dat God aan de'trerwor-


                                                         THE.   S T A N D A R D   $EARER                                                   73
                                                    l
                    ..l"_".._~"."-_-  .._ -" ..^               _-..----           _...__.  - -                      _-____ "-." ..--
are separated from the wicked world under condemna-                        in the clouds of heaven, be possibly any cotnfort to the
tion and wrath, in order to be God's covenant people.                      world of the ungodly. Not only do they not take com-
His peculiar possession. Through the water of baptism                      fort from this sign of God's covenant in the firmament
they pass as it were into God's covenant-communion.                        because they do nut believe, but there is also a very
Noah, therefore, and his- family, that is the church,                      disquieting testimony for them in the present world ; a
passed through the waters of the Flood in order to be                      continual rumbling  of the distant thunder of judgment,
God's covenant-people in the world, after they had been                    of final judgment accompanies the sweet music of God's
separated from the ungodly by the Deluge. But if this                      eternal promises to His people. The apostle                  Peter
is the fact, as it is, and if there surely must be connec-                 speaks of this also in his  ,second epistle 3  :j-7: "For
tion between type and antitype, how foolish seems the                      this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the Word of
notion, that Noah and his family, passing through such                     God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing
a separating process in the tlood, entered into a common out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world
covenant which God should have established with the that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
wicked world as such outside of Christ! Evidently, such                    But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the
a conception can never be harmonized with the idea in                      same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against
I Peter  321, 22.          Nor was this in the mind of our                 the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly tnen."
Reformed fathers when they composed the Baptism The apostle is in this connection speaking of scoffers,
Form still in use in our Churches. There the salvation                     who. mockingly intimate that the day of the Lord will
of Noah from the world through the flood and the pas-                      never  cotne and that the earth stands as `firm as ever.
sage  of  Israel through the Red Sea are mentioned in How foolish such mockery is in the light of the facts he
one breath, and both are referred to as types of baptism.                  points out in the verses quoted. He points to the  pre-
Even as Israel was baptized in the Red Sea to be God's                     diluvian world, and shows that it was quite differently
covenant-people, so Noah was  ba>tized  in the flood to                    constituted "than the world of our own time.            It was
be God's covenant-party in the second world. But the                       practically made of water, and preserved, stored in the
notion of a common covenant is foreign to the Word                         water. On' all sides the prediluvian wicked race was
of God also in this passage from First Peter.                       b      surrounded by the very element that would destroy
    No different impression we receive from the third                      them. Yet, also they mocked at the prt:aching of Noah
passage we had in mind, II Peter  2:s. The apostle in                      and undoubtedly argued  that there  ,would be no such
the chapter is dealing with the false teachers who privily                 thing as a general catastrophe. But, the* water which
shall bring in damnable heresies, or, in general with `the                 they had always seen simply overtlowed them and
wicked among the righteous. And he comforts the                            choked their foolish mockery. Some such testimony
church with the thought that God knows how to pre-                         there is also in the present world for the wicked in the
serve the wicked unto the day of judgment to be                            world, this time not in the element of water, but in
punished., and to deliver the godly out of temptations.                    that of fire. "You fools," the apostle means to say, "as
As an illustration of this truth from history he refers to                 the prediluvian race mockingly walked and lived right
Noah in the midst of the wicked world of his day. He                       in the midst of the  threateiiing  element that  w,ould
caused the righteous Noah to live in the very tnidst of                    destroy them until they were swallowed up, so you
ungodly men. Yet the former was delivered out of all                       tread on the very fire that is destined to burn all the
temptations while the latter were merely reserved until                    wicked in the day of wrath, yet you are willingly
the day of judgment and wrath arrived in the Deluge.                       ignorant and mocking!" And thus it is, indeed. The
With that righteous man and his family, the church                         present world by the Word is kept in store, reserved
delivered from the world of the ungodly, God established                   unto fire. The fire by which it is to be burned, so even
His covenant, both before and after the flood. What                        that the very elements shall melt with fervent heat, is
strange feat of imagination can make of Noah after the                     present. On all sides the-wicked are surrounded by it
flood suddenly the representative of a wicked world,                       in God's creation. It threatens from  .the heavens and
Fith  w h i c h   G o d   e n t e r s    into covenant-friendship  ?       its rumbling is heard from the bowels of the earth. It
According to this passage from the Word of God Noah                        is the continual testimony to  the wicked. that the  da?
leaving the ark is a living illustration of the truth that                 of wrath and vengeance is approaching. Little comfort
`the wicked and the righteous may be allowed to dwell                      to them is the stretching of a rainbow over such a world.
together in the earth, yet that God knows how  to-deal                     But it is a sign of God's everlasting covenant with `the
with them according to their wickedness  or righteous-                     righteous. For as God knew "how to preserve the right-
ness, preserving and delivering the  rigfiteous,  while                    eous Noah through the  floo~d  and to make him heir
reserving the wicked for the day of vengeance. How,                        of the new world, emerging from the raging waters, so
then, can he at the same time be the one great historic                    God shall know how, from the melting and burning ele-
illustration and proof of the alleged fact, that God deals                 ments, to form the new heavens and the new earth in
commonly with the wicked and the righteous, and that                       which righteousness only shall dwell.
He establishes a covenant of friendship with all the                          And thus, finally, we can understand how the Lord
world of men ?                                                             can refer to the days of Noah  as+ typical of the days
    Neither could the sign of this covenant, the rainbow                   shortly preceding the coming again of the Son of Man.


                                          T H E   STANDAR.D   B E A R E R                                                     81
            ..__--                                                                                          ___I_"----__

 geformuleerd staat, en dat dit ook alle Gereformeerde                           PROF. BERKHOF'S PELAGIANISM
 grondwaarhtiden  insluit.  Alleen  maar heeft de synode in
 de Drie  Punten,  naar haar eigen oordeel enkele bijkom-                                  ( C o n t i n u e d )
 stige  dingen  uitgesproken, die  niet  in de Belijdenis  ge-
 formuleerd stonden. En in betrekking tot deze bijkom-                 The opening paragraph of my previous article is  ;I
 stige  zaketi  hebben de  broedeis Danhof en Hoeksema              quotation taken from Berkhofs brochure. It  reads thus:
 "afwijkende gevoelens" en zijn  onderscheidene   uitdruk-          "Eer we dit punt in bijzonderheden bespreken, willen we
 kingen  in hunne geschriften "niet we1 te rijmen."                 op enkele wanbegrippen wijzen, die in verband  daarmede
    Zoo is dus de  slotsom bereikt. Het is niet  gemakke-           iti omloop zijn. Sommige  menschen,  schijnen behept te
 lijk, om uit den onzin der  synodale  besluiten  ,een  ver-        zijn met de gedachte, dat dit punt de Arminiaansche leer
 staanbaren zin te  halen. Doch enkele feiten zijn dan tech         van een algemeene voldoening (verzoening)  bevat, en
 we1 duidelijk geworden. Duidelijk is, dat de synode ner-           dus inhoudt, dat  Christus  werkelijk voor alle zondaren.
 gens uitspreekt, dat genoemde Ieeraren niet gereformeerd           hoofd voor hoofd, gestorven is ;  we1 niet in den zin, dat
 zijn. Duidelijk is ook, dat de synode we1 in verstaanbare          hij hen allen  effectief zalig maakt, maar tech zoo, dat hij
 taal gezegd heeft, dat de broeders D. en H.  we1  gerefor-         de-.deur  voor  allen  wijd geopend heeft, en het nu maar
 meerd zijn en in overeenstemming met de belijdenis heb-            van hunne persoonlijke keuze afhangt, of zij zullen  bin-
 ben geleeraard in hunne geschriften. En voorts is  dui-            nentreden of niet. Het is echter volkomen duidelijk voor
 delijk, dat de synode haar eigen Drie  Punten  heeft  ge-          ieder, die gewoon Nederlandsch lezen kan, dat er geen
 bracht  onder het hoofd : "Niet Gefotiuleerde  Bijkomstig-         schijn van die leer in dit punt te vinden is. Indien die
 heden."                                                            ketterij uit dit punt gedistilleerd kan worden,  dan kan zij
    De berg had lang gelaboreerd. Hij had vreeselijk, ook uit de Schrift  bewezen worden. Onze kerk staat nog
 geschud in  barensweesn.   Doch de berg had een  muis              even vast dan ooit in de overtuiging, dat  ,..Ghristus   ge-
 gebaard. Hoe de classes van dit muisje weer een berg               storven is met de bedoeling, om alleen de uitverkorenen
 wisten te maken is een vraag voor latere bespreking. Als           te redden, al erkent zij terzelfder tijd de oneindige waar-
 het thans  maar. duidelijk is, dat we de  besluiten.  der          dij van Christus' offer als een offer genoegzaam voor de
 synode, voorzoover als  ze voor verklaring vatbaar  \zijn,         zonde der geheele wereld. Hij die beweert, dat de Synode
 zuiver hebben trachten te vertolken.                               hier op slinksche wijze de Arminiaansche leer  deralge-
    De lezer begrijpt, dat we niets anders gedaan hebben,           meene voldoening zoekt in te voeren, maakt zich schuldig
 dan de bedoeling der synode weergeven. Zij sprak feite-            aan het geven van valsche voorstellingen. Dit zal uit de
 IiJk uit, dat ze in de Drie Punten  drie bijkomstige waar-         volgende bespreking  we1 nader blijken."  - So far  Berk-
 heden  had geformuleerd, die eerder niet met zoovele               hof. The above quotation is found on page eight of the
 woorden in de Belijdenis stonden, maar er  tech uit  kun-          professor's brochure. In my former article  1 commented
 nen worden  afgeleid. Natuuriijk gaan wij in deze opinie           upon the above quotation as follows: "It should be
van de synode niet mede. De synode heeft zich niet  bezig           noticed (so  I wrote) how that the professor differs with
 gehouden  met bijkomstigheden. maar met  grondbegin-               those who claim that point one is the embodiment of the
 selen.   Als de grondbeginselen in de Drie  Punten   aan-          Arminian doctrine of general atonement, and implies
 geroerd en uitgesproken  werkelijk in de Belijdenis  ston-         therefore that Jesus died for all. The professor assures
 den, weken  de broeders D. en H. we1 terdege af in grond-          his readers that no trace of this heresy is to be found in
 waarheden en had de synode nooit kunnen  zeggen,   d& het          the first of the three poihts  of Synod. He maintains that
 niet kon  worden   `ontkend,  dat ze in de grondwaarheden          point one is as sound as ,tie very word of God, and that
 gereformeerd zijn, zij het dan ook met een neiging tot             the conviction of the'church to the effect that Jesus died
eenzijdigheid. Het geldt  we1 terdege grondwaarheden                for his people only, remains unshaken. And finally,
 der  Gereformeerde  waarheid. En ook gaan we niet                  acc6rding to the professor, he who maintains that Synod
 accoord met de gedachte der synode, dat deze Drie. Pun-            inculcsted  upon the church Arminius' doctrine of general
 ten we1 uit de Belijdenis kunnen w&-den afgeleid, schoon           atonement is beside the truth." Thus we wrote.
 ze er niet in geformuleerd liggen. Ze zijn met den grond-             Let me repeat that I shall prove that point one is
.%lag der Belijdenis in flagranten strijd. De synode heeft          indeed a formulation of what may be styled the very
 de Belijdenis verknoeid, niet verklaard. Het schrikkelijk          heart and soul of Arminius' doctrine.
 oneerlijk geknoei van Prof. Berkhof, dat hij  blijkbaai               That desired proof is found in the professor's bro-
 noodig a&& ter verklaring van de Drie Punten,  met name            chure and in'his articles which appear from month to
 van het eerste, is verder bewijs voor het feit, dat de             month in "The Reformed  &erald.,, It shall be proven
 synode de Belijdenis heeft verkracht.  Doch daarover               that the brochure of -the professor as Well as his articles
 ging het in dit artikel niet.  Formeel veroordeelde de             turn out to be a defense of the tenets of the Pelagian
 synode ons niet. Ze zond ons en onze vijanden naar huis            and Arminian doctrine of salvation. It shall be made
 met het  schoone getuigschrift, dat ze in de  Acta heeft           clear, how that  the.professor  is cutting the very heart and
 laten afdrukken: het kan niet worden  ontkend, dat ze in           soul out of the reformed or biblical conception of Chris-
 de grondwaarheden, zooals die in de belijdenis`geformu:            tian religion.
 leerd zijn,  gereformeerd  zijn,  al  fs het  oak met een  nei-       These are severe  statements. Yet nof too severe as
 ging tot eenzijdigheid!                              H. H.         the& is an objective reality corresponding.
                                                                           x.


82           .-     "                         `L' H E S T A N-D A R D B E A R E R
.__-__.._                    .            .~--.                                                                         -           -
       Let us begin with the title of Berkhof's brochure, "De       cerning the reprobate. My answer is ready: these utter-
Drie  Punten  In  Alle  Deelen  Gereformeerd." This title           ances were  .taken  from Scripture : "For the Scripture
is an announcement of the task  to  which the professor saith.  unto Pharaoh  : even for this same purpose have I
sets himself.            He will prove that the three points are    raised thee up, that 1 might shew my power in thee, and
reformed. What is found on pages eight and nine of the              that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
professor's brochure indicates that he is conscious of the          Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy,
meaning and -import of his title. For these particular              and whom he will he har.deneth. Thou wilt say then unto
pages contain Berkhof's rule or standard for measuring              me, why cloth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his
the three points. Berkhof does well. For, as the title              will? Nay, but 0 man, who art thou that repliest against
indicates, the professor will make plain unto us  that the          God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it,
three points are reformed. Hence, he is in the need of              why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter power
such a standard or measure. I learn my length when I                over the clay; of the same lump, to make one vessel unto
compare myself with the measuring rod; and by means                 honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God willing to
of the scales I may learn to know my weight. Berkhof                shew his wrath, and to make his power known endureth
will measure the three points. And he wishes to con-                with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
vince us that the length or weight or quality of the three          destruction, and that he might made known the riches of
points (i.e. if one may speak of the weight or length or            his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath before
quality of a point) is such as gives him the right to de-           prepared unto glory. Even us, whom he hath called, not
nominate them reformed.                                             of the Jews only, but also of the gentiles.,' Rom.  9:17-331
       Berkhof, therefore, is in the need of a standard. And           We commented upon this passage in the June number
he supplies himself with one. It is found, as  I said, on           of The Standard Bearer. The comment reads as follows :
pages eight and nine of the professor's brochure. Now "The above scripture (we said) contains elements which
that standard. in order to be effective, should comprise            should not escape our notice. Of Pharaoh it is asserted:                       E
those very elements of which the Pelagian doctrine of               Even for this same purpose have I (God} raised thee up,
God and of man's salvation is a negation. Such a stand-             that  I might show my power in thee, and that my name
ard. in  order,to be of value, should be constituted of the         might be declared throughout the earth.`"
following elements: a) God's will is the efficient and                _ What is the meaning of the term "raise up" ? Some                     -
effective cause of the elect as they appear before the foun-        claim that the apostle merely meant to say: I (God) pro-
dation of the world in God's eternal plan of redemption,            longed Pharaoh's life, I placed him upon the throne, or I
as they appear in time, and finally as they shall appear in         caused him to arise from a sick bed. However, if the
glory, redeemed and saved to the uttermost. b) God's                expression "raised up" has this meaning the objection
will is the only necessity of the reprobate as he appears           raised by the Pelagian in verses 19 and 20, namely, "who
before the foundation of the world in the eternal plan of           hath resisted his will" and "why hast thou made me                   '
God, as he exists in time, as he shall esist eternally in           thus?" do not follow logically. The term "raised up"
hell. God's council is the.only necessity of the reprobate.         refers to the historical Pharaoh, his station, power, tal-
As he exists in time he comes forth out of the womb of              ents. character and evil conduct and hard heart.  God's
God's providence. He is being prepared unto destruction. council and providence is the necessity of the historical
c) God purposed and wills the salvation of the elect. He Pharaoh. To this Calvin and Dr. G. Vos of Princeton
purposed and wills the destruction of the reprobate.                agrCe.    Says Calvin : "Waaruit   volgt dat men nu  tever-
       Further, that standard of the professor should com-          geefs met hem (nameiijk God) kijft, gelijk of Hij  verbon-
prise the tenets of the Pelagian doctrine of God and                den ware rekenschap te geven, daar zeggende (i.e. God
man,s salvation. Pelagius  taught the following: a) The             says so) dat de verworpenen uit de verborgen  schoot
will of the elect is the sufficient and effective cause of zijner voorzienigheid komen in dewelke Hij wil zijnen
himself as he exists before the foundation of the world in          naam geprezen hebben." And Dr. Vos expresses himself
the plan of salvation, as he exists in time, as he exists in        as follows : "Dat  God-Far-a0  op den troon gezet, of in het
glory saved to the uttermost by his own efforts. b) The             Ieven behouden, of van het ziekbed opgericht heeft, levert
will of the reprobate is the efficient and .effective  cause of     zulk een conclusie  niet (namely, why hast thou made me
himself as he exists before the foundation of the world             thus?)  we1  dat Hij (God) hem naar geheel  zijn  persoon-
in the council of God, as he exists in time and as he shall         lijkheid gewekt  heeft." And again:  "In elk geval is
exist in hell. c) God desires to save all men including             Farao er toe gewekt om een toonbeeld te zijn van Gods
those who perish. Man is the cause of' it that God does             macht.  Hij is  daarom  geschapen. En dat was de  hoofd-
not realize his desires. d) Man is supreme, he rules, not           bedoeling.  Juist  daartoe."
God.                                                                   "Raise up' means to erect, to make, according to Cal-
    These are the propositions which should comprise                vin and Vos.  I repeat, according to Vos and Calvin,
B e r k h o f ' s   s t a n d a r d .                               God's council and His providence  is  the necessity of the
    The above standard if applied to the three points of            entire historical Pharaoh.
Synod would reveal. if said points are reformed or                     The expression "and whom He will He hardeneth" is
Pelagian. But perhaps the professor objects to the above            dsO  important.    Also the image contained in verse 21.
standard. .He may find fault with what is asserted con-             ".Hath  not the potter power over the clay ; of the same


                                                     .       ,.
.,..
.'                                                   .
                                                  T H E   -STAND-ARD B E A R E R                                                   83

        lump to make one vessel unto  `honor,`and  another unto         ture God determined and predestined the destruction of
        dishonor." The illustration makes mention of "the  xes-         the vessels'of wrath.
        sels made unto honor" and "the vessels  Imade  unto dis-           The question arises whether the inner corruption of
        honor."                                                         the vessels of wrath influenced God when He predestined
           Now the following verse makes mention of "vessels            unto destruction. In other words, was it the corruption
        of wrath fitted to'destruction"  and "vessels of mercy pre-     of the vessel of wrath which induced God to  determine
        pared unto glory." It is evident that the "vessel made          to destroy him? Not so. According to the apostle sin
        unto honor" is representative of the "vessel of mercy           was not the determining factor. He was moved by no&
        made unto glory," and the "vessels made unto dishonor"          ing in man. "For the children being not yet born, neither
        is representative of the "vessels of wrath fitted to de-        having done any  good.or  evil, that the purpose of God,
        struction."                                                     according to election, might stand."        In determining
            Now the figure asserts that the potter determines the       man's destiny God was moved by no one or nothing out-
        destiny of the vessel. The one vessel is made for honor-        side of himself. I repeat, God's free sovereign will is the
        able, the other for dishonorable use. In the following the      only determining factor.
        figure is dropped and the thought repeated. The vessels            But the figure of the potter teaches even more. It
        of-wrath are fitted for destruction. The vessels of mercy       teaches that the Lord God not only assigned to. man his
        are prepared unto glory. Hence, God, so the apostle             place, appointed his lot, and determined his destiny, but
        teaches, predestines unto- destruction and glory. God,          the figure .also teaches that God determined man's con-
        therefore, in the silence of eternity determined, willed the    dition. God decided that  the vessel of wrath should be
        destruction .of the' vessels of wrath.                          a vessel of wrath. God decided and willed that there
           Says Calvin : "Bovenal  moet bij ons vaststaan hetgeen should be vessels of wrath. Therefore these vessels say,
        Salomo  zegt   CSpr;  16:14)  dat God  alles gewrocht heeft     "why hast thou made me thus?" And the utterance
        om zijns zelfs wil, ja ook den goddelooze, tot den dag des      "vessels of  wrath"`impIies  that these vessels are depraved,
        kwaads. Ziet hier : dewijl de beschikking van alle dingen       corrupt. God, therefore, determined the-fall of the human
        in Gods hand is, naardien  bij Hem de  macht   berust ter       race. Even more, God willed that they should be vessels
        zaligheid en ten doode,  zoo verordent Hij het door Zijnen      of wrath, because He had fitted them for destruction.
        raad en wil zoo, .dat er onder de menschen geboren wor-         God, therefore, determined that the vessels of  .wrath
        den die van den  schoot af eenen gewissen dood zijn  toe-       should be what they are. So Calvin understands  God's
        gegigend,   om door hun verderf te dienen tot  verheerlij-      Word.
        king van Zijnen naam. Zoo iemand hierop zegt, dat hun              Says Calvin : "Zij ontkennen, dat het met  uitdrukke-
        door de voorzienigheid  God+'  geene noodzakelijkheid           lijke woorden staat uitgedrukt, dat het door God is  be-
        wordt opgelegd,' maar dat zij  veeleer  onder die  voor-        sloten  geweest dat Adam door  zijnen  afval  zou  omko-
        waarde door Hem geschapen zijn, omdat Hij hunne toe-            men. Alzoo diezelfde God, van Wien de Schrift  getuigt,
        komstige boosheid voorzien heeft,  zoo'zegt hij we1 iets,       dat Hij doet wat Hij wil, het edelste  Zijner  schepselen
        maar niet de.zaak  geheel. Indien God alleen te voren de        tot een twijfelachtig einde geschapen had. Zij  zeggen
        uitkomsten zag van der menschen  handel,.zonder  die naar       dat hij eenen vrijen  wil had  om  zich  eepen  staat te ver-
        Zijn goedvinden te besturen en te regelen, dan  zou met         krijgen zooals hij  goed,vond;  maar dat God niet anders
        zbnder  reden  de vraag in het  midden   worden   gebracht;     bepaald heeft dan met hem te handelen  naar verdienste.
        of zijne voorwetenschap  iets vermocht' tot de  noodzake-       Indien  men  zulk een smakeloos verdichtsel voor  waar
        lijkheid van denzelven.  Maar  naardien Hij de  toekom-         aanneemt, waar zal dan blijven die almacht Gods  waar-
        stige dingen  om geene andere oorzaak te voren ziet,  d&n       door  Hij  naar Zijnen verborgen raad, die geene oorzaak
        omdat Hij besloten heeft dat zij alzoo geschieden zouden,       buiten Hem heeft, alle dingen  bestuurt. De Schrift  roept
        zoo is het tevergeefs  .dat men twist over de  voorweten-       luide dat  alle  menschen in den persobn van eenen mensch
        schap, wanneer het bekend is dat alle  dingen.  veeleer vol-    aan den eeuwigen dood zijn onderworpen, en dat dit aan
        gens Zijne bepaling  en naar zijn believen plaats hebben."      de natuur niet kan  worden  toegeschreven, zoo is het
        @lst., Vol. II, p.  520.)                                       geenszins duister dat het voortgekomen is vati den won-
            Now Dr. Vos:  "Waar  van den pottenbakker gezegd            derlijkeh  raad Gods. Het is al te  ongerijmdd  dat die
        wordt. dat hij het eeneivat  maakt ter cere,  het andere tot goede  voorspnders  van de rechtvaardigheid Gods  voor
        dneere.    Dat ziet op de bestemming die de vaten kebben.       een strootje blijven steken, en nochtans over hooge  bal-
        ,, Het eene dient voor een edel, het andere vqor een schan-     ken.  heen  springen. Ik vraag wederom: waardoor het
        delijk  gebruik  Zoo warden de menschen bestemd voor geschied is dat zoovele volken met hunne onmondige
        een edel en  v&r ekn onedel gebruik. De  apostel heeft          kinderen  door Adam's val  tot den eeuwigen dood verval-
        dezen trek zelfs overgebracht op de menschen zooals zij         len zijn zonder eenig hulpmiddel, zoo het niet is- omdat
        objecten van de praedestinatie Gods zijn. Hij  zegt dat         God  zulks goedgevonden heeft? Hier  moeten  de  anders
         sommige menschen zijn  `vaten  des  toorns' toebereid tot      zooveel praats hebbende tongen  verstommen,       Het is we1
        het verderf. Gelijk de pottenbakker praedestineert tot          een vreeselijk  besluit, ik  beken het; nochtans zal  nie-
        oneer, zoo praedestineert  .God tot verderf." (G. Vos,          mand ontkennen, dat God te  voren eer Hij den mensch
        Theologie, page 193.)                                           schiep,  geheten heeft  welken  uitgang hij hebben zal, en
            Calvin and Vos are agreed that according to  Scrip-         dat Hij het daarom  te voren heeft geweten dewijl Hij


i  .&                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D '   B E A R E R

  het door Zijn besluit in dier voege bepaald had. Zoo             yet I loved Jacob'and I hated  Esaix and laid his moun-
  iemand hier de voorwetenschap Gods vijandig  aanvalt,            tains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wil-
  zoo  handelt  hij lichtvaardig en onberaden. Want  we&e          derness. Wheieas Edom saith, we are impoverished, but
  reden  is er, bid ik u, waarom de  Hemelsche   Rechter   zou     will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the
  worden beschuldigd omdat Hij geweten  heeft wat in  bet          Lord of hosts : They  shal1 build, but I will throw down  ;
  toekomstige stond p1aat.s te hebben? Zoo er eenige recht-        and they shall call them, the border of. wickedness, ahd
  ,.matige  of schijnreden is om te klagen. dan komt die alleen    the people against whom the Lord hath indignation for-
  ten opzichte vati de voorverordineering  t'e pas. Hetgeen ever." Malachi 1:2-4,
  ik  u zeg, t. w., dat God niet alleen den' vai van den  eer-        This passage is sign&ant. Esau was one whom .the,
  sten mensch, en daarin het verderf zijner nakomelingen           Lord rejected. The passage teaches that God's hatred is
  te voren gezien, maar voigens Zijn  welbehaken  bepaald          not a mere dislike, a less ardent love but a great indigna-
  he&t, moet oak den schijn niet hebben ongerijmd te zijn.         tion, a power effecting the reprobate in this life as well as
  Hier nemen zij nu hunne toevlucht tot de onderscheiding in the life hereafter. The divine hatred was impoverish-
  van  i;ods wil  e-n Zijne toelating, volgens welke  onder-       ing and striking down the Edomites wasting their herit-
  scheiding zij  willen  staande  houden  dat de  goddeloozen      age.  .Further, the prbphet asserts that the Lord hath
 alleen door de toelating  Go.ds  verloren  gaan en niet door indignation against Edom forever.               .
  Zijnen wil.  Doch  waarom  zullen  wij zeggen dat Hij               In fine, my remarks concerning the reprobate are sub-
  zulks toelaat, dan alleen omdat Hij dat zoo wil?  Schoon         stantiated by Scripture and by such men as  Crjvin .and
  ook dit op zichzelf niet aannemelijk is, dat de mensch zich vos.
  het verderf heeft op den  hals  gehaald  door de bloote toe-        Now it is a matter of history that Esau showed a
  Iating, en niet door de beschikking Gods. Even  aIsof            profane' spirit,  H;e sold  ,his birthright. To the people
  God niet bepaald had hoedanigen staat  Hij,  Wilde  dat de       who sprung from Esau  was assigned a dwelling' place
  voornaamste van Zijne schepselen hebben zoude.  Ik zal           outs/de of the promised land. They were submissive to
  dus niet aarzelen eenvoudig met Augustinus te belijden,          Israel under David. In Malachi's day Edom was plunged
  dat de wil van God de noodzakelijkheid  der dingen  is, en       into desolation"by  easterli  conquerers  and *there after in-
  dat hetgeen Hij wil noodzakelijk mdet geschieden; gelijk         corporated With the Jewish state under John Hyrcanus
  de dingen,  die Hij te voren gezien heeft  waarlijk  geschie- and finally obliterated from the number of nations.
  den zulien."
         The question arises, How is it possible- for God to          The history of Edom indicates, does it not, that God's
  realize His eternal plan with man, in particular with the        hatred' for the reprobate is not a mere dislike, a less
  reprobate? The ethical creature moves and has his being ardent love or a passive energy in God but as I said, a
  in God. God's almighty will envelopes and penetrates             great indignation, an  actiire  power in God effecting the
  the will of the moral creature, sustaining, controlling and      reprobate in this life as well as in the life hereafter.
  governing that.  v& Man in desiring, willing, thinking              Let us now scrutinize Berkhof's standard which he
  and acting is  absoluteIy  dependent upon his maker and          applies to ,the first of the three points of Synod. Doing
  sustainer. Thus the Lord God is capable of realizing His         so, we are surprised to discover that Berkhof's standard
  eternal degrees. God's counsel and His providence are            makes very little  mention._of  the reprobate. Astounding!
  the necessity of man's being, state, condition and destiny.      For please bear in  Gnd..that  point one revolves around
  This was true of Pharaoh. Said the Lord: "I have raised          the reprobate. The proposition is meant to assert that
  thee up." And again: "And whom He will He  hard-                 God is gracious unto the reprobate  when He has the
  eneth." We need not discuss, at this juncture,  whether          g&p&l preached unto him1 Berkhofwill prove to us that
  God hardens the heart by a positive or by a negative act.        the fist of the three points of Synod in "alle deeien Gere-
  The fact remains that God's  will is the necessity for           formeerd is." Berkhof reaIizes  that he needs a staridard,
  Pharaoh's hard heart.  God hardened Pharaoh's  he&t              a measuring rod. And he supplies himself with one and
  and He did so by means of His word which was preached applies it to the first point. But if the application-of that
  to the  kinglby Moses. Then, as ever, the word was a standard to the first point is to tell us anything at all,
  savor of life unto life and a savor of death unto death          should it not contain those passages of Scripture which
         Now let  US  quote  .Psalm 73: "Surely thou didst set supply information  conc&ning  the reprobate?  Sound
  them in slippery places; thou casteth  the&  down into logic demands it. If I wish to know to what degree a
 `- destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in certain animal. measures up to a- horse I must compare
  a moment! They are utterly consumed with terror."                that animal to a horse. This seems to me is plain horse
         Here the psalmist teaches that the good which the         sense. Very- well. Berkhpf will prove unto us that Synod's
  reprobate receives from the Lord are unto them a slippery        declaration concerning the reprobate is Biblical and
  path. +nd it is the Lord who places them upon the siip-          Reformed. . Does not common sense require that Berkhof
  pery way. And  He  does  -so by bestowing upon them should  bornpare  Synod's reprobate with the reprobate
  "good things," such as prosperity, health .and happiness. found  in  Scripture? Indeed, Berkhof neglected to do so.
         And then the passage in Malachi. It reads:  9 have        And, therefore, he did not learn to know whether point
  loved thee,  saith the Lord, yet ye say,  wherein'hast  thou one-is Biblical and Reformed or not, yiXthe professor had
  loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith t+e Lord ; the audacity to publish a booklet bearing the title, "De


Drie  Punten  in Alle  Deelen  Gereformeerd."  , HOW schol- So far Berkhof. I wish to say that I heartily agree with
arly! How honest!                                              him. If God calls in an earnest .-manner  and means not
    There is a reason why Berkhof failed to do the proper      what he says, he is contradicting himself, is he not?
..thing.  For he who compares Synod's reprobate with the       Such a conduct would be contradictor-v and for that very
one found in Scripture sees at  once that Synod's reprobate    reason wicked. Says Dr. Abraham Kuyper:  "Daarom
is the product of Berkhof's and Bouma's imagination.           hebben onze  vaderen  er zooveel nadruk op gelegd, dat wie
   The reprobate of Scripture is .a vessel of wrath fitted     in God de omnipotentie voor het contradictoire stelt, den
to destruction. He is one against whom the Lord has            leugen  in Hem aanbrengt."      (Dictaten Dogmatiek van
indignation forever. He is one whom' the Lord places on        Kuyper, Vol. I,  p. 413.)
slippery places, and casts into eternal destruction. The          Berkhof rejects a conduct on the part of God imply-
reprobate of Scripture is the result of God's counsel and      ing conflict and involving God in a  .contradiction.    Yet
he comes forth out of the womb of providence. His con-         the first point of Synod involves God in  a  contradiction.
dition and destiny have as their necessity God's eternal       It asserts that God loves and hates, curses and blesses,
counsel and God's will. He is formed by God. Being a           wills and not wills to save the reprobate and that first
vessel of wrath, he is fitted to destruction by God; And       point is Berkhof's production. He embraces and  d&nds
God hardens him through the preaching of His word and          it. It was he who urged and secured our deposition for
in  .that way is preparing him for destruction. In it all      refusing to subscribe to the first point of Synod. It
God is motivated by a desire to display His virtues.           appears that Berkhof believes'in the nonsensical and the
   This is the reprobate of Scripture. The reprobate of contradictory when it suites him.
Synod is the object of God's love, even to that degree          _ But let us return to Berkhof's standard which he
that he receives from God numerous blessings, including applied `to the -three points of  Syqod.  That standard of
the gospel. To compare the reprobate of Synod with the' his does contain a certain number of elements which can
reprobate of Scripture would perhaps open men's eyes; serve him.'  -The professor exposes to us the tenets of
since Berkhof fails to do the proper thing:    .               Pela&s' doctrine of salvation of man. He further exposes
   Rev. H. J. Kuiper also realizes that Scripture does not. to us the errors of Pelagius' doctrine of  dection.
tolerate the reprobate which is the product of Berkhof's          We shall now inquire if Berkhof put his standard to a
and Bouma's imagination. Therefore Kuiper does not good use. We have a right to expect that Berkhof will
recoil from altering the description of the reprobate found    apply his standard to the three points. His standard con-
in Scripture. On page 13 of Kuiper's "The Three Points         tains  a  sufficient number of elements to expose when
of Common Grace" one happens unto the foilowing par-           applied the fallacies of the first point. Upon  mvestiga-
agraph  : "This view is in conflict with Scripture. It is      tion it appears that Berkhof failed to apply his standard.
true that, according to Scripture. prosperities are slip-      He does not attempt to make clear the first point of
pery places for the wicked,.from  which they pitch forward Synod agrees with the doctrine of election as found in
head&g  jnto destruction."  So far, Kuiper.  .Notice the       Scripture. He does take the pains to tell us on page  9
assertion, "from which they pitch forward headlong into        that Synod did not openly declare itself  .for Pelagius'
destruction."    In Scripture I read, however: "Thou doctrine of the free will of man. As if a Synod which
 (namely God) casteth them down into destruction."             regarded itself as the embodiment of Reformed doctrine
Kuiper substitutes God for man and quotes  ?he wicked would openly declare itself for the free will of man as
pitch themselves forward -headlong into destruction." ,taught-by Pelagius. On that same page he assures his
`Why mutilate Scripture in behalf of your theory,Kuiper? readers that "De Synode het eerste punt  be&t met de
.And that you ! The man who helped depose Dr. Janssen erkenning van een zaligmakende genade Gods bewezen
for his attacks-upon God's word.                               alleen  aan de uitverkorenen ten eeuwigen leven." Further,
   `It is evident Kuiper and Berkhof fear `to  dispIay  the "dat daarmede zij zich verre plaatst van `het Arn&iaan-
picture of the reprobate found in  .God's word. This sche kamp, door een breede en diepe klove er van  geschei-'
accounts for  Kuiper's mutilation of Scripture. It also den? We  wish  to remind the professor of it that the
accounts for Berkhof's conduct.                                Arminian also speaks of a "zaligmakende genade Gods
The -reprobate of Synod and the reprobate of Scrip- bewezen  aileen   aan de uitverkorenen ten eeuwigen  Ieven."
ture  -are contradictions. `God curses and  bIesses,  hates The "klove" may not be as broad as the professor ,would
and loves, wills to save and wills not to save the same        like to have his readers believe. Thereupon the professor
object at the same time. Berkhof, however, embraces the fills, eight pages, of his brochure in explaining to his
contradiction. He accepts  `tie reprobate of Synod and readers that the conditional promise to the effect tiat all
the reprobate of Scripture. Strange it is and that in view who believe are saved must be sincerely proclaimed unto
of the fact that Berkhof shuns, as a rule, the nonsensical all without distinction including the reprobate. Let me
and the contradictory. For on page 18 of the professor's       say that nobody among us denies it. But I repeat the
brochure I read: "Het  gaat  ook in het geheel niet  aan,      professor neglects to do the proper thing. He should
om uit te gaan van de gedachte, dat God  we1 met  allen        have applied his standard This standard of his, although
ernst, d. i., op emstige wijze, roept.  doch dat het Hem very defective, contains certain elements which disclose
met zijne roeping geen ernst is. Dan stellen we veinzerij      the fallacies of point one. The professor should have
en onoprechtheid in God, en dit te doen  is Godslasterlijk." given an. exposition of point one in the light *of election


                                     -.

                                1
86                                            T,HE  S T A N D A R D  EEARER.

and reprobation. This he fails to do. He refuses to                                               PREDESTINATION
apply his standard which means that he failed to keep the
promise contained in the title, "De Drie  Punten  in  Alle  -                                          -p&*1
Deelen  Gereformeerd."                                                                                                                            Ip
           Let us attend to the proposition which the professor                      All Pelagians are Deists. Deism is a philosophy of
is attempting to prove. Now it is a fact that it is. the                       the universe, which fails to take proper notice of God's
duty of the messenger of the gospel to announce unto immanence. We, as reformed people; confess that God
all and hence unto the reprobate that eternal  ,life is his                    is  in  the world as well as above, beyond and outside of
if he believes, but also that if he fails to believe he will                   the created world. The universe `owes its continued
be damned. The reprobate does not believe nor will he.                         existence, such as it is, to the Providence *of God, which
Hence the messenger of the gospl is continually announc-                       is the omnipresent and almighty power of God by which
ing unto him that he will be damned forever because of                         He upholds and rules the universe as by His hand. NOW
his unbelief. True, the reprobate is not aware of it that                      to express the presence of God in` the world we make
he is a reprobate, nor does the  messengei of the gospel                       use of the word immanence,! and to express that He is
know who the reprobate is. However, God knows and not limited to the created world, we make use of the
the fact that the reprobate is not aware of it that he is a                    word  t ranscend e n c e . Theists confess the immanence
reprobate does not mean that he ceases to be one. There-                       and transcendence of God. The Reformed are Theists
fore it is continually being announced to h&n that he will                     in distinction from Pelagians who are Deists. And
be damned forever because of his unbelief. Now Berkhof t ese both are again distinguished from Pantheists. The
                                                                                h
attempts to Prove from Scripture that God is showing                           Pantheists fail to-take proper notice of the transcendence
grace unto  .the reprobate and blessing him when He, of God. However, the confession of God's transcendency
God, ZlUIlOUllCeS  Unto him through the inStmmentali~  Of by  the  DeiStS  iS  SOmething  different   from  the  theistic
the messenger of the gospel that he, the reprobate, will                       conception of God's transcendency, and likewise, the con-
perish because of his unbelief. Does Berkhof succeed in                        fession  of God's immanency by the Pantheists is far  dif-
proving his proposition? Indeed, not. He merely proves \ ferent from the immanency of God confessed by the
that the believers are saved.                                 I                ' Theists. For the Theist explains God's transcendency
           The fact that Berkhof maintains that the reprobate is               in the light of and in harmony with God's immanency,
being favored and blessed when it is announced unto him                        while both the Pantheists and the Deists have no more
that he will perish because of his unbelief goes to show                       than a one-sided God who is no God.
that Berkhof has indorsed the Pelagian doctrine of man's
salvation.                                                                           That the Pelagians are Deists  is very evident from
                                                                                                                                     ,
           This will be made plain in a following essay.                       their conception of God's predestination. Also from their
                                                            G.  M., 0.         conception of the-Providence of God. We are  intr_ested
                                                                   .            for the present only in the former  of these two, but they
                                                                                have clearly cut the heart out of both these terms. They
                         P I E T Y   I S   B E A U T Y                          found or ground their doctrine of predestination upon
                                                                                prescience (voorkennis) upon the foreknowledge  of God,
           -"What is beauty? Not the show                                       as to who would make themselves  wwthy  . or unworthy
            Of shapely form and features. No!                                   of  sdvation.  As we shall show more fully later on in
                These are but flowers                                           this article, they do not allow God the sway of His
                That have their dated hours                                     almighty sbvereign power, by which He determines the
            To breathe their momentary sweets, then go.                         course in life and death which each man is to .have.  They
              - `Tis the stainless soul within                                  admit that there is such  ;I thing as predestination, but
                That outshines the fairest. skin."                              their confession of this doctrine is really a  .denial  of the
                                                 -Sir A. Hunt.                  biblical teaching of it.. For they practically exclude the
                   5.                                                           reality of fore-ordination (voorbeschikking), and though
                                                                                they claim to confess the fore-knowledge of God, they in
                          EQUIVOCATION               1       -          .       their theology have separated it from the biblical view
                                                                                of God's fore-ordination. In plainer terms: they forget
                "The man of pure and simple heart                               "dat de mensch wikt, maar God beschikt." They forget
                 Through life disdains a. double part;                          that ultimately God determines while man-acts, and this
               . He never needs the screen of lies                              while the Almighty One remains far  .from evil and
      /          His inward bosom to disguise.",                                unrighteousness. This point also shall receive fuller
                                                              - G a y .   :     treatment later on. First of all we wish to make the
                                                                                following Dutch quotation,  "Volgens de Pelagiaansche
                                                                                richtingen  is de praedestinatie het besluit Gods, waarbij
                "The good are better made by ill,                               Hij eeuwige zaligheid of straf  he&  bepaald  voor hen
                 As odours crushed are sweeter still."                          wier volhardend geloof of ongeloof Hij te voren had
                                                           - R o g e r s .      gezien. Praedestinatie ha praescientia."


                                           -  ,'
                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           s7
.-_--                     _-                ._.^_._I___-.          --"__.
         Over against the Augustinian conception of pre-         &(I, but that God's decree is the decreeing  God Himself
destination-the Pelagians formulated the follo,wing  griev-      so as His understanding and will and wisdom operate in
ances. First of all, they considered the -4ugustinian  con-      determining  .matters outside of His own being, or in
ception  of predestination to be in conflict with the gen-       other words, the created things. To forget this is to cater
eral  oft'er  of grace., Secondly, they considered this con-     to the deistic philosophy of the world in practical life.
ception to be inconsistent with the free agency of man.          And into this fatal error Pelagians have fallen.
`Thirdly, they believed that any other conception but               There is undoubtedly an explanation for this error on
their own would take away all motives for human                  the part of Pelagians insofar as there were Pelagians
endeavour or exertion.          Lastly that the Augustinian before the historical Pelagius lived-though this sounds
conception made God the author of sin. And often  ,a somewhat paradoxical-the explanation must be sought
practical argument was hailed as conclusive, namely,             in the ignorance and short-sightedness of men, but not
that in actual life no believer is assured of his salvation.     least in the Pelagianistic tendencies of the human heart.
         In answer to these Pelagian arguments we would first And as far as Pelagius and his followers are concerned
of all bring to your attention that the Pelagians come we would  offer  the following. Pelagius-let us call him
to these arguments because  they  start from radically           for the present the father of Pelagian  predestination-
wrong premises. It is not true, for example, that man            was a thoroughly practical man. In order to determine
is a free agent next to God and that man is in his willing       matters of knowledge he acted similarly to the men of the
absolutely independent of his Creator. In these `tenets exact sciences in the present day.                Pelagius did not
alone sufficient of the deistic philosophy of the Pelagians      always and in the first place go to Scripture to find out
comes to light. "Predestination, in general, is a neces-         what it had to say concerning predestination. By no
sary attribute of the divine will, as foreknowledge is an        means. His theology betrays an entirely different method
attribute of the divine intelligence; though, strictly speak- of procedure. He went on observation outings. He went
ing, we cannot predicate of God either a  before  or an to mankind and drew his conclusions from his observa-
after,  and with Him all is eternal present. It is absolutely    tions of humankind. Hence, he could not believe that
inconceivable that God created the world or man blindly,         man was thoroughly corrupt from his youth up when he
without a fixed plan, or that this plan can be disturbed         saw men building the bridges of Rome for the conveni-
or hindered in any way by his creatures. Besides, there ence of other men, when he saw one man aiding his
prevails everywhere, even in the natural life, of man, in        injured fellow-laborer, saw another poor man aiding the
the distribution of mental gifts and earthly blessings, starving family of a neighbor. And perhaps his soul was
and yet much more in the realm of grace, a higher g-uid-         too delicate-we shall be charitable-to believe that God
ante which is wholly independent of our will or act."            could be stern enough to reprobate the bulk of mankind
         And though God's decree of predestination- with its     and be ready to condemn these reprobates and reward
two parts of election and reprobation, be a decree from          them with eternal punishment for their sins. To Pelagius-
eternity,. nevertheless, the Pelagian makes a mistake            the visible, voluntary actions of men determined what
when he considers this decree exclusively `as an eternal         lived in the hearts of men. But he failed to discern
decree, forgetting meanwhile that this decree of predes-         underlying  ,principles  working in this world, just as real
tination is eternally present with God, which by the             and perhaps more real than the perception of the visible
Providence of God is an over-working and ever-influenc-          deeds of men by Pelagius. And if in this connection we
ing reality in time. Right at this juncture many erron-          remember that most of the early church fathers before
eous opinions of predestination are born. Truly God is           Pelagius and Augustine laid undue stress on the doctrine
by many conceived of as a God who has freely and                 of the responsibility of man, and that most of them, like
according to His good pleasure determined the destiny            Pelagius, founded predestination upon prescience and
of all things, but at the same time he is viewed too much        had taught a conditional predestination, according to
as being Himself dependent on  .the willingness of man           which these fathers also had formulated opinions concern-
and the machinery of creation in order to realize those          ing sin, free-will, grace, faith, good works, the cleansing
determined destinies. While the truth is that God holds          power of baptism, and the value of external rites of peni-
His creation in His own hand. It is as it is solely              tence..and other things, then surely, it is not surprising
because God is the ever-sustaining, upholding and ruling         to find so practical a man as Pelagius was, formulating a
force and First Cause in that same creation. Everything conception of predestination which is at variance with
in creation is as it is by God alone. For God is in His          Scripture and which robs men of their  ..4lmighty, Sover-
 creation, working in it, shaping things and men in it,          eign, Omniscient, Unchangeable God. Pelagius had, of
 ruling all things in it, all according to His eternal good      course, never heard of the Dutch proverb: Schijn  be-
pleasure and counsel of His unchangeable wisdom  an,d            driegt. For he firmly believed in determining the real
 will. Too often, however, the immanence of God as a             nature and character of things and events  ny means of
 working reality in this. present  world is overlooked. observation. But what the eyes give us to see does not
 God's decree of predestination is made altogether separate      determine the exact nature and reality of things and hap-
-from the essence of God and often it is not understood          penings. Man is altogether too blind to proceed in  this
 that God's decree of predestination is not separate from        way. Our understanding has been darkened by sin and


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 88                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 --.__   -  - __ --I_LI,"Y.. _I"~.~II_~----."..."---l-.- __------"-_ll- --_                              - - - -             -
 is not the perfect standard which we need to have cer-              1. I Peter  2:7,8: "Unto you therefore which believe
 tainty of the things in life.                                                            he is precious; but unto them which
       ,\nd the traditions of the early Church spoke volumes                              be disobedient, the stone which the
 to  Pelagius  and his followers. There certainly was some                                builders : disallowed, the same is
 truth  in' the contention  of the  Massilians  who affirmed                              made the head of the corner; and a
 that not Pelagius's view but Augustine's view of predes-                                 stone of stumbling, and a rock of
 tination was at variance with the tradition of the early                                 offense, even to them which stumble
 Church. They claimed that Augustine's doctrine of pre-                                   at the word, being disobedient ;
 destination was opposed to the opinion of the fathers and                                whereunto also they were appointed."
 the'sense of the church, and that no ecclesiastical author          2. Rom. S :29 :      "For whom he did foreknoeo,  he also
 had ever yet esplained the Epistle to the  Remans  as                                    did  predestinute   to be conformed to
 Augustine  did, or in such a way as to derive from it a                                  the image of His Son? that he' might
 grace that had no respect to the merits of the elect. And                                be the firstborn among many breth-
 Philip  Schaff  contends that "it was only by  a doubtful                                ren."
 inference that Augustine endeavoured to prove that                  3. Rom.  ll:%:       "God hath riot cast away his people
 Cyprian, Ambrose and Gregory Nazianzen had known                                         which He  foreknew  . . .  "                  ,.
 and received his view of predestination, by appealing to            4. Rom. 9 :18 :      "Therefore hath he mercy on whom
 the agreement between this doctrine and their theory of                                  he will have, mercy and whom he ~.~ill
 grace."        '                                                                         he hardeneth."
       But after all is said and writteri,  Augustine was right      5. I Peter 1 i3:     "Elect  according to the foreknowl-
 and Pelagius and his followers were wrong. And many                                      edge of God the Father, through
 of their predecessors were wrong. Yet there are always                                   sanctification of the Spirit, unto
 many people who follow the crowd. What holds for the                                     obedience. and sprinkling of the
 crowd or the majority holds for them. Hundreds there                                     blood of Christ."
 are today in the denomination which we have left who                6. Phil. 1 :29:      "For unto you it is given  in tb behali
 follow just this policy. And there also are many in that                                 of Chnkt, not only to believe on him,
 same denomination who are still more charitable than                                     but also to suffer for his sake."
 Pelagius was allowed to be, who know that they cannot               7. I Cor. 2 :14 :    *`But the natural man  receivetth not
 prove a single point against us, neither from Scripture nor                              the things of the Spirit of God: for
 from our Confessional Standards, who still persist in fol-                               they are foolishness  _ unto him  ;
 lowing the majority because they cherish and harbor such                                 neither can he know them because
 charitable feelings for the honor and esteem of their own                                they are spiritually discerned."
 persons. Men who in times past emphasized God's posi-               S. Eph. 1:4,5 :      "According (blessed us with all
 tive reprobation of persons today act the part of cowards                                spiritual blessings in h e a v e n 1 j'
 in preaching God's willingness to save all individual men,                               places) as he hath chosen us in Him
 simply because they must be charitable to themselves and                                 before the foundation of the world,
 follow -the m&jority.                                                                    that we should be holy and unblam-
       These men are forgetting as Pelagius did that much                                 aljle  before Him in love:  having  pe-
 of what the majority say is decidedly untrue. -Besides                                   destimed us unto the the adoption
 they fail to notice that much of the tradition of the                                    of children by Jesus Christ to Him-
 Church does not rest upon profound study of Scripture                                    self,  according  to the good `pleasure
 but upon mere superficial observation. Pelagius, at any                                  of his VF%"
 rate, failed to notice that in the tradition  of- the early         9. Acts 13 :48:      "And when the Gentiles heard this,                  .
 Church, before the time of Augustine, the doctrine of                                    they were glad, and glorified the
 predestination had received only passing attention. It                                   word of the Lord: and as many  as-
 had never -been an abject of profound inquiry, and had,                                  were ordained to eternal life, be-
therefore, never been precisely defined.  ,4nd he should                                  lieved."
 have observed that even the Greek fathers, Tertullian,               From  these texts it is evident that God according to
 Jerome. and Ambrose, who taught conditional predestina-           His good pleasure determines who shall believe and who
 tion had only very superficially and casually touched this        shall not; that faith cannot proceed. from man, since it is
doctrine. "Hence Pelagius arrived at his conception of a           God's gift; that faith  is'the fruit of election; that. elec-
 conditional predestination which he made dependent on tion brings eternal life.
 the foreknowledge of the free acts of man.                           But the Pelagians have an entirely wrong conception
       Scripture teaches that faith and unbelief, salvation and of the foreknowledge of God, which has kept them from
 damnation are not merely the object of God's foreknowl'-          reading the true meaning of these  textss  They speak of                        _
 edge (voorwetenschap) but also are the object of God's            divine foreknowledge as if it can be no more than the
 will and decree. This Pelagians fail to see. A few texts          mere seeing of things before they happen, and then they                              -
  from Scripture can settle this point for them. We refer          wish to present things as if God thereby determines sal-                   .
 you to:                                                           vation  for some and damnation for others.             It is true


             .                             T H E   S T A N D A R D ,   B E A R E R                                            s9
 .-"..                          --                _ll_l                                            ~._____
  that God in this  way does have the freedom to decide                 Tn the light of these facts the so-called general offer
 to  g;ve salvation to believers and to give damnation to            of grace in the Pelagian sense is sheer nonsense. It is,
  unbelievers. But it is an impossibility for God to deter-          of course, necessary, to have a general offer of grace if
  mine this without first looking to the merits of believers man himself determines whether or not he shall believe.
  and the demerits of unbelievers. In a similar manner There is room for a general offer of grace to men only
  the degree and measure of salvation must be determined             then if the Pelagian view of predestination is correct.
  by, God. No, this is impossible. This robs us  of  our             And this view is wrong. And that there is no such thing
  Sovereign God.                                                     as a general offer of grace history renders abundant proof
          Moreover  Divine  foreknowledge implies fixity, and        for. Millions die and have died that never heard of the
  fixity implies decree.      "Praescientia moet het object blessed Evangel, that never heard of the depth of wicked-
  vooruit  zeker  weten,  en dan is zij gelijk  aan  praedestina-    ness into which they have fallen, that never heard of the
  tie, en anders is zij geen praescientia (voorkennis), maar         measure of iniquity which they have filled to the brim.
  een bloote  wensch,  en dan moet God lijdelijk toezien en          And many of those that do hear of this Evangel, it is
* is afhankelijk van den mensch, hetwelk in strijd is met a particular Gospel, coming to them, with a condition
  Ram.  8 :29." From eternity God foresaw all the events             which man in his own power and of his own will can
  of the universe as fixed and certain. This  tixity and cer- never fulfill, it being a condition which God alone can
  tainty could not have had its ground either in blind fate          enable them to fulfill and which ability he alone grants
  or in the variable wills of men, since neither of them had         to His elect.
  an existence. It could have had its ground in nothing                 The Pelagian idea which is usually associated with
  outside the Divine mind, for in eternity nothing existed           their idea of a general offer of grace is also sheer non-
  besides the Divine mind. But for this fixity there must            sense. They reason as follows: God's demand for faith
  have been a divine cause; if anything of the future was            in the Gospel implies ability on man's part to believe.
  fixed, something must have fixed it. This fixity could             But this would preclude the plain teaching of uncondi-
  have had its ground only in the plan and purpose of God.           tional predestination in Scripture.     And this opinion
  In fine, if God foresaw the future as certain, it must have        springs from a wrong conception of the effects of man's
  been because there was something in Himself which made fall into sin and from a wrong conception of man's moral
  is certain; or, in other words, because He had decreed it. `ability. Man is dead in sin and trespasses. He does not
          Decreeing creation implies decreeing the foreseen          and will not and cannot hear the knocking of Christ Jesus
  results of creation.      To meet the objection that God           on the door of his heart. Man by nature is thoroughly
  might have foreseen the events of the  .universe  not because perverse. All men that hear the gospel truly do have the
  He had decreed each one, but only, because He had                  duty to believe, but this duty does not imply the ability
  decreed to create the universe and to institute its laws,          to fulfill this duty. We challenge anyone to prove this
  we put the argument in another form. In eternity there             from Scripture or from our Confessions.
  could have been no cause of the future existence of the               `The Pelagians make so much of this implied ability
  universe. outside of God himself, since no being existed           of man because they have an erroneous conception of
  but God himself. In eternity God foresaw that the crea-            what they call the free agency in man. If man is actually
  tion of the world and the institution of the laws--if you          free as they consider man to be then our conception of
  still chose to believe in natural laws-would make certain          predestination is wrong. But here again, we can  chal-.
  its actual history even to the most insignificant details. lenge anyone to prove from Scripture or our Confession
  God decreed to predestinate, to create, to provide. But in         that man is free in the sense in which they believe him
  so decreeing he necessarily decreed all that was to come.          to be free. Scripture plainly teaches that God is Sover-
  In fine, God foresaw the future events of the universe as          eign. While man is a slave of sin and subject to the
  certain, because He had  decreed  to predestinate, to create,      deceiving powers of darkness. The Pelagian emphasizes
  to provide. And this determination to predestinate and             the absolute freedom of man in the face of these facts.
  to create  involved also a determination of all the actual         The Pelagian needs this freedom in man in order to be
  results of that predestinating and creating. God decreed           able to- cling to his conception of predestination. For the
  the results. Still He is not chargeable with sin.            -     doctrine of predestination and the conception thereof
          Still more. No undecreed event can be foreseen. God        determines what conception one must hold of God's
  decrees primarily His own acts of predestination, crea-            Sovereignty, of man's ability to good and evil, of our con-
  tion and providence: but this also involves a secondary ception of the mystical union with Christ, and also our
  and indirect decreeing of the acts of free creatures which         conception of the merits of God. If man is absolutely
   He foresees will result therefrom. There is, therefore,           free in, the Pelagian sense, to such an extent that the will
  no such thing with  God'as mediate knowledge  (middel-             of man is free to determine itself without being deter-
  lijke kennis) or knowledge of an event that is to be, with- mined by the character or nature of man, then God is
  out it entering into the Divine Plan, as the Pelagians             no longer Sovereign. If man is so free then he can also
  would like to have us believe. For to say that God fore-           determine his own salvation and faith, this implies that
   sees an undecreed event  ; is to say that He views as future       there is something good in man, which enables him to
   an event that is merely possible ; or, in other words, that        choose for the good. .4nd herewith the doctrine of the
   He views an event not as it is.                                    total depravity of man is cast to the winds. We claim


90                                     Tj?I_E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                     .--                      -                              ___  --.-.--
that the body of Christ is brought together into a beau-        this time. Next time we shall see what is true of  the
tiful harmony and unity because of God's predestination.        Pelagian arguments against the Augustinian conception
but on  jthe Pelagian side it is wholly a-matter of chance      of predestination.  Just'at this juncture we wish to say
who shall belong to the mystical body of Christ, and who        that it is not trtie that only the Pelagian view of predes-
as believers shall enjoy the mystical union with him.           tination leaves sufficient room for human exertion.
And if, as the Pelagians believe, man determines to give        Neither is it true that God is made the.  author of sin by
himself faith, then Christ cannot possibly have  merited- the Augustinian conception of predestination. And it is
faith for the believers.    And if `Christ has not merited      a lie that in actual life no believer is assured of his salva-
faith for the believers then Christ has done nothing for- tion. We shall see more of this in the future.
them by means of his actual obedience and then also all                                                           B. J. D.
the gifts of grace which follow upon faith or come with
faith neither have been merited by Christ. As Pelagians                          BEAUTIFUL ANGELS
see it, a man's coming unto grace and persevering in it
is wholly dependent on the will of man. In this Gay God           Beautiful angels are guarding us ever,
is thrust from His throne and man is placed thereon.              Sent by our Saviour  ab%ve;
The Pelagian in this way takes away every ground for              Beckoning earnestly  t"wards  the bright  river,
belief in any kind of Divine decree. Everything is hung           Sweet guiding angels of love.
up on the changeable hook of man's will; no certainty             Guarding us ever as onward we struggle,
whatever is possible. And what disastrous results this            Over life's  qcean so broad ;
has for the Biblical view of prophecy is seen at a glance.        Vi&s they're keeping thro'  joy and thro' trouble,
      With respect to this argument af the Pelagians that         Beautiful angels of God.
the decree of predestination is inconsistent with the free
agency of man we offer the following ideas. God's decree          Coming with heavenly mercies abounding,
of predestination, like foreknowledge, is an eternal act to       Coming on missions of joy;
the divine nature, and is no more inconsistent with the           Life's flitting journey with brightness surrounding.
free agency of man than foreknowledge is. And we                  Coming its griefs to destroy.
should bear in mind, that God's decree is executed by             And as we pass from its changes  foreve;,
means of the causal efficiency  of his creatures. God has         Leaving its glitter and gloss;
certainly decreed what should be the cause of man's fall          When we arrive at the beautiful  rivet,
into sin. The power in the cause is certainly from God            i\ngels  will guide us across.        _
but the character of the use of that cause is  f&m man.                ""
And the result has been an eternal certainty `and fixity          .\ngels  will strengthen our faltering foo&eps,
with  G-od. "De materia is van God, maar de forma is van          If their still voices we heed;
den mensch." Secondly, Pelagians have a false theory of         Sweetly they'll teach us the Lord's holy precepts,
free agency-namely, that free agency implies indeter-             Unto his kingdom they lead ;
minateness or uncertainty  ; in other  words?  that free          And when at last we, through portals of brightness,
agency cannot co-exist'with certainty as to the results of        Enter His mansions above,
its exercise. Man is free to choose between motives and           There we shall see in their heavenly whiteness.
to act according to the motive which he has chosen. But           Beautiful angels of love.
man after the Fall always chooses the wrong motive. And                                                 Frank Howard.
even in the Fall Adam choose  tile wrong motive. Man
does not act without motive or contrary to all motives.                              WOODEN LEGS
Otherwise he would not prove to be rational. Man ma)i
influence man but influencing other men does not take              "Wicked men may supply the needs of an office, as
away their freedom to act. God may also influence man Judas for a while did duty as an apostle. A wooden leg
by divinely foreseen motives, knowing  iYhat  the result        may be a stay to the body, thou&h  it be not a true mem-
will be without injuring the free agency of man. God's          her."-Thomas   Manton.
decree of predestination is  .undoubtedly  executed by             Quaint, but true. It is to be feared fiat our churches
man's free causation, and God who has decreed this free have many wooden legs, in the form of lifeless ministers,
causation of man, in decreeing to create a universe of          unregenerate elders, and graceless deacons. The" body
which he foresees that  this, causation will be a part, in      may move with these, but her walk must be limping,
no way interferes with the freedom of such causation, but       painful, slow, and ungainly. As for the wooden limb to
rather secures and establishes it. "Free will is not a state    turn itself, its end is to be burned. It will be a fearful
of moral indeterminateness, nor the independence of the         thing to turn out to be a dead member of a living body-
creature, but is rather  his  self-realization- in perfect      a false arm, or a glass eye. Such shams  c&n never be part
dependence."                                                    of the body of Clirist.
      The other arguments which I mentioned at the begin-                          C. H. Spurgeon, Illustrations and Medi-
ning of this article, I shall not be allowed to answer at                     tations, 1883.


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                                                                                           But you cannot stay and you must not tarry.
                 MEDITATION                                                            ' No city here has foundations.
                                                                                          No dwelling-place here is continuing.
  I'                                                                             t,       The goal lies yonder, at the very end of your earthly
                     THE PILGRIM'S GOAL                                                way, where time is no more and the heavenly light of
                                                                                       eternity's morn beckons you.
                                                                                          The light of the heavenly Jerusalem.
                               For here we  have no continuing city, but
                             we seek one to come---He.  13:14.                            Thither you must press.
                                                                                          On, Christian, on1              .L
         Christian, press on !
         There is, at the end of your way,  a city to come.                               Oh, Zion eternal !
         The City that hath foundations, prepared for  you,                               Glorious City of God!
  from before the foundations of the world, by your God.                                  How thou art the chief joy, indeed, of all that have             ,
         It is your goal.                                                              their garments washed in the blood of the Lamb and that                  :
         Till it is reached and yo$have entered into its pearIy                        love  th,e light!
  ga$es, you may not, you cannot, you must not tarry.                                     Surely, I know that I know but little of the glory
  Onward you must go, ever onward you must press, never and beauty and heavenly joy and eternal pleasures of that
  once tarrying or abiding, nor ever fearfully or hesitantly                           City. But even the little I  ,know  of the final goal is
  clinging  to the things you might meet  pn. your pilgrim's                           abundant comfort in the narrow way.
  journey.                                                                                I know that of its heavenly beauty I can"but  stammer
         Does not the pilgrim dwell in a tent? ~                                       in' earthly language and of its glorious reality I can but
         He has no city.                                                               conceive in earthly images. But even the partial and
         In a city one abides, digs foundations; builds firmly                         earthly image of that eternal city so sets my ,heart aglow
  to erect a lasting and permanent dwelling-place, a con-                              with joy and hope and so fills it with earnest  expecta-
  tinuing home. There are,the ties that bind, the treas,ures                           tion and yearning, that for the glory of it, I am gladly
  one loves, the joys one seeks. There is one's life. In a                             willing to sacrifice every ,earthly joy and pass outside of
  tent, however, one tarries but for a night, to rest and                              the gate of every earthly city.. . . .
  recuperate, in order to pull up the stakes at daybreak and                              For I do know that it is the City of God !
 press forward and travel onward, till the final goal is                                  God is the chief joy of the heavenly Jerusalem. His
  reached.. . .                                                                        presence fills the City. His blessed covenant-friendship
         And the Christian's  lifk is not like the continuing                          perfected is the very essence of all its bliss and rejoicing.
  citizen,' but like the passing stranger, pitching his tent                           For unlike the earthly Jerusalem, built of wood and
  by the wayside to tarry but for a night. Onward, ever                                stone, it has no temple. If you entered the gates of Jeru-
  onward points the way, now rugged and steep, now, for                                salem that once was, you would inquire as to the dwell-
  a while on the level and even, but mostly narrow and                                 ing-place of the Most High ; and, they would point you to
  rough. At sundry stations you may stop long enough                                   a building made with lands. And if, approaching the
  to put up your Ebenezers and pray over them, gratefully                              temple, and entering through its outer gate, you would
  acknowledging the Lord Jehovah's help in the past and                                repeat your query, they would direct your gaze to the
  hopefully imploring His care and -guidance and protec-                               Sanctuary proper, at the same time warning you that you
  tion all the rest of the way. Sometimes' the way may lead                            could not enter there to see the face of God. It was all
  you through the midst of a city, fair and beautiful, steal- so imperfect, earthly, prophetical of things to come ! But
` ing the love of your heart and tempting you to abide and                              when you enter the Heavenly City through its pearly
  bid farewell to the pilgrim's life.. . . .                                           gates, you need not inquire, for there is no temple there.


 God Himself and the Lamb are the temple of that  Cit\           always moving,- always disappearing behind the. veil of
 and its p&eminent joy and glory is, that there the taber-       death. hnd as we are so are all things. Nothing is
 nacle of God is with men and `He will dwell with them,          stable, all things move. A stream is life, and all things
 and they shall be His people, and God Wimself shall be          drift along with it. For the world passeth away and the
 with them and be their God!                                     lust thereof, and there is in all that world nothing to
     He fills the City !                                         which our soul can cling.. . -. .
     I know that it is the City of all the saints perfected,        In this sense it id true for all men: we have no con-
 the Bride, the Lamb's wife. And they walk there in gar-         tinuing City here. And  al1 things loudly preach: Pre-
  ments white, for they had them washed in the blood of pare thy house, for thou shalt die.1
 their Redeemer, the Mighty Lamb of God. There shall                The man of the world, the inhabitant of proud Baby-
 be no sin there, no corruption, no stain of defilement and      lon, may dig deeply and lay his foundations firmly, and
  pollution left on the robes of its elect inhabitants. And      raise his dwelling-place in the midst of this world proud
  wreaths of victory they wear on their heads, for the bat- and beautiful. He may close his eyes for the reality of
  tle is ended and won through Him that loved them even          fleeting things and say to his soul: my house shall stand
  unto death. I know that there shall be no enemy there          for aye!
  to harass and attack and inspire with fear, for the fearful       But he is a fool.. . . .
  and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and                  Yet a little while and the world shall be no more.' And
  whoremongers and all sorcerers and idolaters and'liars         every home, and every city, and every proud structure
  and dogs.. . . . these shall not enter in any wise into that that is built upon the foundation of this world shall perish
  City, but shall have their part with the Old Serpent in with the world.. .
  the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is           But for the Christian this is not all.
  the second death.. . . .                                          He has no continuing city here in still another sense,
     I know that there shall be no shadow of death there,        in the sense, namely, that wherever he looks, and in
  no pain or sorrow, no trouble and affliction, no fear or       whichever direction he may turn his seeking gaze, no-
  distress, for God shall Himself dry the tear-stained faces     where in the world does. he find a place that his  soul
  of His weary pilgrim-children and fill their hearts with       can satisfy and where he would build his permanent
  everlasting joy.                                               home. He is a pilgrim, not only because all things pass
     I know that there shall be neither hunger nor thirst.       away. but because of the very state and condition of his
  for the inhabitants shall drink of the fountain of eternal own heart and soul.
  life and eat of the fruit of the tree of life and be abund-       He is a stranger here. , . .
  antly satisfied with the goodness of their God.                   For he was born from above. By nature he is from
     And His face they shall see.. . .                           below and an inhabitant of this world, seeking the things
     And in His light they shall walk.                           below. But he received new life, through the resurrec-
     Xnd His name shall be in their foreheads.                   tion of the Lord Jesus. And that new life is from above,
     And they shall have put off all imperfection and all        not from below. That new life is the life of the City that
  that is of the earth earthy, and they shall know as they hath' foundations, whose builder and  artificer  is God.
  are known and forever and ever behold the beauty of the        That new life stands antithetically against the old, for the
  :I.ord their God.                                              &d was of darkness, the new is of the light, the old was
     And there shall be no night there.                          of the Father the Devil, the new is of God through
     ,411 the weary night shall be past  to be changed into      Christ, the old loved that which, was evil, the new I&S
  eternal day !                                                  that which is good and pleasing to God; the old life was
     And there shall be perfect peace there.                     of the earth earthy, the new life is of the Lord from
     Glorious City of God!                                       heaven......
     Chief joy of all God's children !                              He has become a citizen of that New City and he
                                                                 walks-here with the life of that City in his breast.. . .
     Press forward, Christian, you must!.                           And he can find no continuing city here, no  pIace
     For here we have no continuing city.                        where he would care to build and to abide forever.. .
     Not only because here there is nothing that abides,            He longs and hopes and yearns and presses forward.
  though this is also true.                                         Till through the gate he will enter into the City.
     Nothing is permanent in this world. There is no city           Christian, here you have no continuing city.
  here that can boast of lasting fame. For the world is a           Press forward, you must.
  child of time and chance and change are busy ever. W e
  are like the grass that flourishefh in  .fhe morning and          Seek that City !
withereth before the sun goes down. Like the delicate               Seek it, you must, not as one that gropes in darkness
  flower of the field,  that  blooms but for a moment and        and knows not the way, neither is certain whether he
  soon dies and is past, even so that its place knoweth her will ever enter. . . .
  no more, are we. :4nd the life of generation after genera-        The way is certain.
  tion is like a passing show, a pageant, always coming.            And you need not doubt as to the direction.


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                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 99

     It always starts outside of the gate.                               EENE  PROEVE  VAN  GELOOFSVE&KLARING
    There is, outside of the gate, erected on a little hill,
 a cross, an accursed tree. And on the tree there is the                   Het kan  onzen  lezers bekend zijn, dat Prof.  Dr.  V.
 Man of Sorrows. The world would Him not. Jerusalem                     Hepp, Amsterdam, Nederland,  toen  hij in het najaar
 loved `Him not. As a thing abominable and a reproach                   van 1924 ons land bezocht,  in onderscheidene redevoerin-
he was cast out to suffer without the camp. Neither will                gen zijn  Gereformeerd  gehoor ook heeft aangeboden
 that world ever let Him in again. ?he sign of that cross ' eene "proeve van geloofsverklaring," bestemd  "orn  als
 remains the symbol of  Hi% relation to the world, and of               grondslag te dienen voor de Internationale  CaIvinistische
the attitude of Jerusalem, whose,spiritual  name is Sodom               organisatie." Thans biedt hij deze  proeve  aan in "DE
 and Gomorrha. But on that accursed tree this Man of                    REFORMATIE" van 4 Dec. "2.5. En hij voegt er in het-
Sorrows shed His life-blood, that you might have prop-                  zelfde nommer  aan toe, dat hij het zeer op prijs  zal  stel-
 erly washed garments to enter the City of Eternal Light                len, wanneer hij vooral van Calvinisten uit het\buitenland
 +nd Joy. . . .                                                         opmerkingen over zijne  proeve  mag vernemen.           Mede
     Over that hill and by that cross,  qgtside  of the gate            mkt het oog op dit laatste, maar tech Bllereerst  vanwege
 leads the way.                                                         het uniek karakter en de groote belangrijkheid dezer
    One cannot miss it.                                                 proeve  meenen wij ons de vrijheid te mogen veroorloven
     Go out of the gate, therefore.. . . .                              om onze lezers te dienen met eene korte beoordeeling van
     Have your garments washed in His blood.                            dezen door Dr. Hepp voorgestelden grondslag voor de
     And bear His reproach. For this you cannot escape                  internationale  Calvinistische  organisatie.
 on the way to the eternal City. Washed by Him you are                     Volge  hier allereerst een getrouw afschrift van  xieze
 one with Him and one with Him you will share  H.is                     proeve.
 reproach. For the servant is not greater than his Master.                 "I.  15rij   gelooven, dat wij de openbaring Gods in
 If they have hated Him they will also hate you. The                    Christus   alleeti  kunnen kennen door de  Heilige  Schrift,
 way, then, is unmistakably certain.                                    welke van het begin tot bet' einde op organische wijze is
     But seek the City. Know that it is more precious                   gelnspireerd en we1 a.lz66, dat zij niet slechts in sommige
 than all the pleasures and treasures -of the world. Set                deelen,   weike godsdienstige en  zedelijke waarheden zqu-
 your heart on it. Long for it.  I-Iope  for it. Strive for             den betreffen,  maar in alle deelen  o. a. ook de historische,
 it. Fight for it. Suffer for it. Bear the cross and the                onfeilbaar is.
 reproach of Him that suffered outside of the  ,@e for  it..               "II: Wij gelooven in den  DrieEenigen  God, Vader,
 Press on and on, till you may enter into its gates and `Zoon en Heiligen Geest, die geen  deelen  zijn van het
 have  the victory forever.. . .                                        Goddelijke Wezen, maar het Goddelijke Wezen zelf; die
     It is to come ! .                                                  door geen orde van oorsprong of rang van elkander  on-
 It is not yet. Its glory is not  yet revealed. For  we                 derscheiden zijn, maar alleen door onderlinge betrekkin-
 are saved in hope and hope that is seen is not hope.. .                *gen, waarom Hun gelijkelijk toekomt eer, heerlijkheid en
     But it is certain in its coming. God prepared it for               aanbidding tot in eeuwigheid.
 you  .in `His eternal and immutable counsel. It cannot                    "III. Wij  gelooven, dat de  DrieEenige  God  Zich in
 fail. The end of the pilgrim's journey that starts outside             een  onnaspgurlijken  rijkdom van volmaaktheden heeft
 of the gate and on the which you are called to bear the                doen  kennen, als daar zijn : `Zelfgenoegzaamheid ; Onaf-
 reproach of the Sufferer of Goigotha,  is the beautiful City . hankelijkheid ; Onveranderlijkheid;  Eenheid ; Eenigheid
 of God.                                                                en Eenvoudigheid ; Geestelijkheid ; Onzienlijkheid ; Eeu-
     And it is about to come.. . .                                      wigheid ; Alomtegenwoordigheid ;  Alwetendheid  ;  Wijs-
     Yet a littie patience ,and a little suffering, yet a little        heid  ; Waarheid  ; Waarachtigheid ; Goedheid  ; Liefde  ;
 struggle and a little battle and the  end of your journey              BaGmhartigheid  ; Lankmoedigheid ; CJenade  ; Heiligheid ;
 shall have been reached.                                               Rechtvaardigheid ; Almacht ; yrij'macht ; Eer   ; Heerlijk-
     ii very light  affliction2   QuickIy passing.                      heid ; Zaligheid.
     And then eternal joy!                                                 "IV. Wij  gelooven, dat de  Driezenige  God, zonder
     Seek that City!  b                                                 eenige noodzaak,  alleen  uit  souverein  welbehagen,  Zich
     Press on !                                                H. H.    van eeuwigheid een Raad heeft gesticbt, waarin Hij  be-
                                                         .H             paalde al wat er met en in het  heela geschieden zou;
              "Only the actions of the just                             waarin  Hij de zonde niet slechts voorzag of toetiet, maar
                   Smel! sweet and blossom in the dust."                Wilde; waarin Hij bepaalde personen  ten eeuwigen leven
                                                      -Shirley.         verkoos en anderen tot eeuwige afgrijzing bestemde, zon-
                                                                        der  Zich te  Iaten  leiden door wat in den tijd de mensch
              "If souls be made of earthly mould                        zou  doen.
                      Let them love gold;                                  "V. Wij gelooven, dat de  Driesenige  God, wederom
                      If born on high,                                  zonder eenige noodzaak, het gansch  heelal  in  &n oogen-
                   Let them unto their kindred fly."                    blik door Zijn machtwoord in het aanzijn heeft geroepen
                                                      -Herbert.         en daarna de aarde door Zijn telkens herhaald  macht-


                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             101
-__-I____                     -_                    ....I__                           -_
en zij na hun dood of in zaligheid bij  Christus  zijn  ge-               "OP GROND VAN HET GENADEVERBOND"
weest of in rampzaligheid hebben gezucht, het openlijke
oordeel over hen zoowel  als over degenen, die dan nog                     In zijne proeve  van geloofsverklaring, welke Prof. Dr.
leven zullen  zal wot-den afgekondigci, hetzij tot vrijspraak,          `V. Hepp in den zomer van 1924 in onze kringen  voor-
hetzij tot verdoemenis; dat voor hen, die ongehoorzaam                  droeg en thans in "De Reformatie" in Nederland gepubli-
waren,  dan geen mogelijkheid tot bekeering meer  open-                 teerd heeft, om  `als grondslag te dienen voor de interna-
staat, dat zij ook niet vernietigd zullen worden,  maar ein-            tionale Calvinistische organisatie,  zegt hij  o.m., dat
deloos zullen voortbestaan en de onuitsprekelijke smarten "Christus aan Zijn kerk twee Sacramenten heeft gegeven,
zullen  dragen  van den rechtvaardigen toorn Gods; dat                  den  `L~oo~,  die op grond van het genadeverbond ook  aan
djarentegen de rechtvaardigen eeuwig zullen leven in                    de  kinderen  der geloovigen moet  worden  bediend en het
den nieuwen hemel en op de nieuwe aarde, waar God zijn                  Avondmaal, waarbij het vleesch en bloed van  onzen
zal alles in allen.                                                     `Heere in het geloof geestelijk worden  genoten." `Volgens
   "XVII.     Wij  gelooven,  dat wij  als geloovigen ook een           Dr.  Hepp's  eigen woorden zijn in deze  proeve   "veie uit-
kultuurroeping hebben; dat wij de geheele  kultuur voor drukkingen  opzettelijk z6b gekozen, dat de meeningsver-
Christus  hebben op te eischen en onder de keur van Zijn                schillen van ondergeschikten aard, welke men onder de
Woord te stellen; dat de eeuwige beginselen, die wij  be-               Calvinisten aantreft. onaangeroerd gebleven"  ; zij biedt
leden, ook de terreinen van zedelijkheid, wetenschap, slechts eene algemeene voorstelling van het ongetwijfeld
kunst, gezin, staat, maatschappij en waarheen  zich oak en  voor  allen  vaststaand geloofsgevoelen der  Gerefor-
het menschelijk leven uitstrekt, moeten  beheerschen, op-               meerden. En daartoe behoort dan ook, volgens Hepp, dat
dat niet de mensch, maar God alleen sta in het centrum                  de Gereformeerden gelooven, dat het Sacrament van den
van het menschelijke weten,  willen  en handelen."'                     Doop  ook  aan de  kinderen   der geloovigen  maet  worden   be-
   De volgende  maal enkele woorden van toelichting en diend op  grand  van het  genadezzcrbond.
beoordeeling van bovenstaande geloofsverklaring, aange-                    Nu zal zeker  moeten   worden  toegestemd, dat het
boden door Dr. Hepp, urn als grondslag tc dienen voor de                generale Gereformeerde belijden  betreffende  den doop
internationale  Calvinistische organisatie.                             der kleine kinderen  in de gekozen bewoordingen vrijwel
                                                                        volledige uitdrukking vindt.  Het  `begrip   genadeverbond,
                                                               H. D.    zonder nadere bepaling. dekt ongetwijfeld alles, wat de
                         I          -    -    -                         Belijdenisschriften  leeren  van den kinderdoop. De  Drie
                                                               *        Formulieren  van Eenigheid, alsmede Het KOTC Begrip, bren-
               THE GOSPEL A MAGNET                                      gen gelijkelijk het doopen  van de kinderen der geloovigen
                                                                        in  verband  met Gods genadeverbond. In art. 34 van de
   "The unique character of the gospel of Christ pre- Relijdenis des Geloofs heet het: "Hierom verwerpen wij
sents both qualities of a magnet: It attracts and it de  dwaling  der  Wederdoopers,   die niet tevreden zijn met
repels. Commanding our faith and obedience on the                       een eenig doopsel, dat zij eens ontvangen hebben, en
ground of authority, it is but natural that it awakens                  daarenboven verdoemen den doop van de kinderkens der "
protest. Not only is the human heart disposed to be geloovigen; dewelke wij gelooven, dat men behoort te
released from moral obligations, but the mind elects to                 doopen  en met het merkteeken des verbonds te verzege-
challenge truth before the judgment is surrendered to len, gelijk de kinderkens in  Is'ra~l besneden werden op
its claims : IIence Gospel truth is subjected to greater dezelfde  b&often,  die  onzen   kinderen  gedaan zijn. En
tests and provokes keener criticism than either truth in * voorwaar, Christus heeft zijn bleed  niet minder vergoten
the abstract or truth systematized in scientific form. The om de kinder-kens der gelaovigen te wasschen, dan Hij
historic basis, the facts, the doctrines, and the moral                 gedaan heeft om de solwassenen. En daarom behooren
precepts of Christianity have provoked the most  violent                zij het  teeken  te ontvangen en het Sacrament van  het-
protests. It has been said that the cross found an enemy geen  Christus  voor hen gedaan heeft; gelijk de Heere in
in every human- heart. It has been subjected to the                     de wet  beval, hun mede te  deelen  het Sacrament des
assaults of learning and wit and ridicule and depravity                 lijdens en stervens van Christus, kort nadat zij geboren
from age to age. After all, the only way that Chris- waren, offerende  voor hen een lammeken, hetwelk was
tianity has ever been hurt has been by means of substi-                 een Sacrament van  Jezus  Christus. Daarenboven, het- .
tution. The most destructive method, both yesterday geen de `Besnijdenis  deed aan het Joodsche volk, hetzelfde
and today, and perhaps forever, is one that assumes to                  doet de  Doop  aan onze kinderen, welke de oorzaak is,
speak in its name and then, substitutes something so waarom de heilige Paulus den Doop noemt de bernijdenis
much better  (?) that it is really something else." (Dr. F:ratz  Christus."  En op de 74ste vraag van den  Catechis-
C. F. Creighton, Law and the Cross, N. Y. 1911, pp.                     mus : "Zal men ook de jonge kinderen  doopen?' wordt ge-
a, 19.)                                                                 antwoord : "Ja; want mitsdien zij alzoowel als de volwas-
                                                                        senen in het verbond Gods en in zijne gemeente  begre-
    A theology that partakes of both Liberalism and pen z'ijn, en dat hun door Christus' bloed de verzoening
Orthodoxy is a psychological wonder.  ._Creighton,  Law van de zonden en de Heilige Geest, die het geloof werkt,
and the Cross, p. 24.                                                   niet minder dan den volwassenen  toegezcgd  wordt, zoo


110                                       T 13 E S  T A S  D  X  K  11) .u E ii R E R
-_^                                                           ._lll.--                           .--           -----  ..-
onder  de  hoorders  des Woords. Om daartoe te h-omen.                 If anyone should object that the  above  quotation
meet gij  eerst,aan  den zondaar een vrijen wil ten  gocde         applies, not to  the above proposition,  ,but to the three
toekennen  ; zoodat  deze, buiten de wedergeboorte  om,            points, my answer is ready: What applies to the three or
Gods genade kan aannemen. En dan zijt gij  "De For-                rather to  the first point applies to the proposition. in  qucs-
mula Concordiae," en Ds. Diermanse, en Dr.  Kuyper                 tion as it is made to serve as proof for  the  first point.
reeds  lang   vocn-bij.    Dan zijt ge bij Pelagius  aangeko-      This is clear from the following: "De Synode heeft het
men.                                                               niet bij bloote uitspraak gelaten,  doch  heeft bewijs zoeken
       Dat  Wilde de Synode van 1924 natuurlijk  niet.  Maar       te leveren  voor de stelling, dat God ook aan anderen dan
juist daarom heeft zij ook onmogelijk kunnen bewijzen, de uitverkorenen een zekere gunst of genade botoont. Het
dat God genade bewijst  aan  verwprpenen,  de zonde  be-           bewijs  aan onze Confessioneele Standaards  ontleend  is
teugelt  en de menschelijke samenleving bestendigt, uit            in `t  kort  als volgt: De  Canones  van Dordt  leeren   duide-
teksten, die als om strijd leeren,  dat de mrste wereld,  Ismel lijk in III, 5, en III en IV, 8, dat er een algemeen en wel-
en.  dc H&denen  zich van God afkeerden  en afgoden dien-          gemeend aanbod komt tot allen,  die onder het Evangelie
den, en daarom van God werden overgegeven in een ver-              leven; terwijl  u'it II, 6, en III en IV, 9, tevens blijkt dat
keerden zin, om te doen  dingen,  die niet betamen, tot hun        sommigen der geroepenen het Evangelie  niet  aanvaarden,
eigen verderf en verstoring der samenleving. Hare rede-            en dus  n&t tot de uitverkorenen behooren." Brochure,
neering ligt geheel op de  Pelagiaansche  lijn; stellende  `s p. 12.
menschen wil naast en tegenpver  Gods wil. Doch de wil                 Berkhof, then, would have  his readers understand that
des rnenschen vindt immer zijne bepaling  in den wil des           his proposition is covered bi our Confessional Standards,
HEEREN. God doet  ai,  wat Hem behaagt.                            and  has-the backing of Scripture, and  is  in full accord
       Dat is  hugustiniaansch,  Gereformeerd. Paulinisch.         with the teachings of foremost Reformed theologians. I
Bijbelsch.                                                         desire to prove that Berkhof, in saying so, is engaged in
                                                     H. D.         deceiving those who acknowledge and receive him as
                                                                   their leader and instructor.
                                                                    We shall set out by inquiring how Berkhof would
        PROFESSOR BERKHOF'S PELAGIANISM                            make it appear that his proposition. is in line with
                                                                   `Reformed thought. He does so by informing his readers
       We shall now  analyse the pabulum which  Berkhof  is        that recognized Rcformcd theofogians  also taught a `<weI-
feeding his readers.       Doing  SC.) it' will appear that the    gemeend en algemeen aanbod van  genade?  Says  Berk-
liquid-food is not of the kind upon which men will thrive          hoi: "L&en  we nu het oordeel van enkele Gereformeerde
spiritually.                                                       theologen beluisteren betreffende de waarheid in het
       Let us attend to a proposition which must be regarded       eerste punt der Synode beleden, en  we1 vooral met be-,
as the very core of the pernicious views which Berkhof             trekking tot de algemeene  aanbiedrng  des  Evangelies."
is propagating.        It reads thus: God offers the grace         Berkhof's brochure, p. 28.
merited by Christ to all men. The professor attempts                   Is the professor correct ? Do our recognized Reformed
to substantiate the proposition and to prove that it is            theologians of the past teach a welmeaning offer of salva-
found in our  Standarris  and has the backing of Scrip-            tion unto all men including the reprobate?  To this I
ture. He does this in a brochure and in a series -of eight         answer: Berkhof did succeed in locating the assertion in
articles.       The attempt ends in a dismal failure. That         the works of a few recognized Reformed theologians. The
brochure and  these articles reflect  the mental processes         professor shows how that Dr. Dijk, Brakcl, Smejton,  Dr.
of a mind proceeding from premises which are distinct-             C. Hedge and Dr. A. Hodge use the term "offer of salva-
ively  Pelagian.                                                   tion" and apply it to the reprobate. (See Berkhof's bro-
   The professor, I know, does not agree to this. He               chure,  p.  29-35.)    Rerkhof proves that Dr. Crawford also
insists that he is in line with Reformed thought when              employs the term "offer of salvation." It is nor evident,
espousing his, "Welgemeend  en algemeen aanbod des                 however, from the passage which  Berkhof  quotes that
hcils." Says Berkhof: "We hebben  in het voorafgaande              Dr. Crawfbrd  has in mind the reprobate when using the
zoeken   aan  te toonen. dat de Drie  Punten  door onze            term.       ,,
Synode aangenomen geheel  in overeenstemming zijn met                  But the above list of theologians which Berkhof calls
de Heilige  Schrift, met  onze  Belijdenisschriften. en met        upon to support his proposition is not complete. To that
de Gereformeerde theologie. Zij bcvattcn gecn  Pelagia-            list should bc added the names Van  Mastricht,  Witius,
r&me en geen  Arminianisme,   maar brengen slechts drie            Bavinck,  Kuypcr  and Cunningham. From the works of
punten  uitdrukkelijk naar voren, die altijd een deel ran          these  men  the professor freely quotes. But strange to
onze geloofsinhoud hebben gevormd." And again: "De                 say, in these passages the expression "offer of salvation"
verdere  bestudeering van deze  punten,  en zelfs de  argu-        does not at  all appear. The authors last named merely
menten, waarmede men ze bestrijdt, hebben ons gesterkt             assert that the gospel should be preached to all without
in de overtuiging, dat er  uit Gereformeerd oogpunt  geen          distinction. Dr. Cunningham asserts : "Calvinists admit
gegronde bezwaren tegen kunnen  worden   ingebracht."              that  all  to whom the Gospel is preached, are called or
Brochure, p. 63.                                                   invited to come to Christ and to embrace' Him; but they


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                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D B E A K E R                                                    111

deny that this flows from, or indicates on God's part, a        say now that we are unfair in dealing with Berkhof in
design or purpose to  &ve them all; and they deny that          that we purposely conceal the views of certain Reformed
grace or gracious assistance, sufficient to enable them to      theologians relative the matter of common  graye.  We
repent and believe, is communicated to them all.. . . .         have nothing to conceal. We gratefully accept the sys-
The'call or invitation is seriously or honestly addressed       temization, formulation and exposition of Scriptural
to them all." So far Cunningham. It is obvious that the         truth by theologians of the past. However, Van  Mas-
passage contains nothing which may  he regarded as a            tricht,  Grakel,  Bavinck, etc., were not infallible. What
confirmation  of Bcrkhof's proposition to the effect that       these men  gave  is not  r.cceived  by us uncritically.
God offers salvation to all. And the same must be said          Neither that which the Synod of 1924 inculcated upon the
of the passages taken from the works of Van Mastricht,          church.      Anything which" cannot stand the acid test of
Witius, Bavinck, Kuyper. The passages contain nothing           Scripture should be placed  on exhibition and exposed by
which strengthens Bcrkhof's position.                           the watchman on Zion's walls, even though it does mean
   How is it to he accounted for that Berkhof discovered        the loss of his`position in the church and the loss of costly
in passages as the above certain  da!a which, he thinks,        property.
can be profitably adduced in support of the contention             True, Calvin, Van Mastricht,  Urakel,  Vos, Dijk,  Ba-
that God offers Christ to all including the reprobate. Tt       \-inck, Kuyper, etc., taught a grace common to all men.
is because Berkhof fails to distinguish between such            Scripture compelled us to differ with them in the matter
terms as "calling" and "offer." This is one of the great        of common grace. And we  made no secret  of.our  differ-
weaknesses of- the brochure and of the articles as well.        ences. We wanted the church to know. And we were
The professor fails to define, to distinguish, to weigh.        prepared to prove that the theory of common grace
He is constantly confusing terms. Consequently, his             militated against the plain teachings of Scripture. But
brochure is. a highly superficial and `deceptive piece of they refused to listen. They set us naked on the street.
work. "Een  gekn.oei  van  belang." And the fact that Ruyper and Pelagius were enthroned. Christ was de-
Berkhof appeals to those to whom he has no right to             throned. This is history.
appeal only indicates how that the professor attempts .to          But I wish to repeat that we have nothing to conceal.
make his case appear stronger than it actually is.              We make no secret of our differences. Berkhof ddes. He
   It is true, however, that several of the theologians,        disagrees with what Calvin and recognized Reformed
mentioned above do regard the preaching of the Word a theologians in general wrote and taught coticdrning  elec-
manifestation of Gbd's grace unto all to whom that Word         tion, reprobation, the council of God and providen&e.,,The
is preached. Says Van Mastricht: "Daar is een gemeene           professor broke with election and reprobation as  taught
genade. waardoor God de zedelijke goederen $edeeIt   aan        by Calvin and  the.Scriptures.   That he did `so his bro-
de menschen in `t bijzonder ;  doch zonder onderscheidt chure and his articles indicate. But the profess&-  fails to
aan uitverkorenen en verworpenen . . . . . Waartoe  001~        admit his departure from the truth. `Likewise Dr. Beets.
behoort de uitwendige  ro'eping  tot de gemeenschap van         Let me say that what this gentleman publicly denounced
Christus, door de verkondiging des  Woords."  Godge-            and ridiculed as Hyper-Calvinism is literally found in
leerdheid. II, 17, 15, 16. Brake1 expresses.himself  as fol-    Calvin's Institutes.    Berkhof and those whom he rep-
lows: "Tot deze (namely the algemeene genade) behoort           resents go on insisting that they are Reformed. Fact is
CNAC het goed,  dat God allen  geroepenen doet, hun gcven-      that they have broken with some of the fundamental doc-
tie het woord, het  middel  tot' bekeering en zaligheid."       trines of Reformed theology. This is the thing which
Redelijke Godsdienst, I, p. 729. Dr. Bavinck asserts:           T promised to prove.  Xrrd it shall be done, now.        9
"Maar ook omgekeerd  deelen  de reprobati  (verworpelin-           And we begin by stating that Berkhof  succeeded
genj in, vele zegeningen, die niet als zoodanig uit het be-     pretty well in making it appear that the Pelagian con-
sluit der  verwerping,  maar uit de goedheid en genade          tents of his brochure and his eight articles are Reformed.
Gods hun toevloeien.  Ze ontvangen vele natuurlijke  ga-        His  sw.xcss   is  due to his tactics. The professor discards
ven. leven, gezondheid, kracht, spijze, drank, vroolijkheid, the Biblical and Confessional term Culling (roeping) for
cnz.. . . . . God laat  zich hun niet onbetuigd.  Hij  ver- the  term   Ogler   of  Grace (aanbod van genadej. The term
draagt  hun met  l-eel   lankmoedigheid.  Hij laat hun hct      Aatzbod   van  Ge~rmde   is made to serve as the title of the
Evangelie zijner gcnade verkondigen en heeft gecn lust first chapter of the brochure and of his eight articles ab-
in hun dood." Geref.  Dogm. II, p. 416.  And `Dr.  Dijk         pearing  in the "Reformed Herald." A clever move on the
maintains that "De roeping  der zaligheid nimmer zonder part of `Berkhof. For  the term  rlanbod  vun  Genude   and
beteekenis is.  Zij heeft waardij ook  voor hen, die haar the Pelagian contents of his brochure go well together.
verwerpen, want zij is voor hen het bewijs van Gods lief-       This is by no means the case with the term. Calling  (roe-           t
de, en de bron van  allerlei zegeningen. Om  `t Eeuwig ping). On the other hand the contents of the first chap-
Welbehagcn, p. 510.                                             ter of the brochure.as well as the contents of the articles
   Berkhof  -is correct when he maintains that foremost         flow forth out of the propasition  that. God sincerely offers
Reformed theologians acknowledged and taught a favor-           the grace in Christ  fo all. Thereupon the professor  sue-
able attitude of*God toward the reprobate. Therefore we         cessfully  proves,  as  I already pointed out, that certain
admitted the above passages in this article. No one can recognized Reformed theologians of the past also use the


term Otfpr o,/ Salvation and that in reference to.the repro-     and.belie\-c  thatiwhosoever  belicveth  shall not perish but
bate. And the al'eragc reader (the clergy of the Christian       have  eternal            life.     .
Reformed Church) concludes that the thoroughly  Pela-               Let ug now incluirc  how Reformed theologians in gen-
gian contents of the brochure and of the articles are thor-      eral construe the term  Otfer  of  Salvation.     Dr. Charles
oughly Keformed.       The average reader  reasons  thus:        Hodge makes tnention of the following elements : "(i) A
Whereas the contents of the brochure and the contents            declaration of the plan of salvation; (2) The promise  of
of the eight articles are contained in the term                  God to save all who  accede to the tertns of that plan;
                                                    Aanbod
TMZ Genade, and whereas the term                                 (3) Command, exhortation, and. invitation to all to accept
                                       danbod   sun  Gmade       the offered mercy; (4) An exhibition of thk reasons which
is used and applied to the reprobate by recognized Re-           should constrain men to repent and believe, and thus
formed theologians of the past it follows that the contents      escape from the wrath to come." (Systematic Theology,
of the brochure and of  ,the articles are  Refortned."   It      II, p. 643.)
does  `not seem to occur to the divines in the Christian            Dr. G. 
Reformed Church that two persons may be using the                                Vos  &es the term  Ofer of Grace in respect to
                                                                 the reprobate.        This. is evident from the  follotiing   :
same term in a  wideIy  different sense. Yet this is exactly     "Waarop  beroepen  zich voornamelijk de tegcnstanders
the case with Berkhof and the Reformed theologians to            van de bizondere voldoening?            `Voornamelijk op drie
whom he appeals. Certain Reformed theologians, it is             dingen: Op het algemeen aanbod des Evangelies, ten OP-
true, use the term Aaxbod van Genade in reference to the         zichte waarvan  allen  overeenstemmen.         Hoe moet over
reprobate. However, the fact  .that certain Reformed             het `eerste  (het algemeene aanbod des Evangelies) geoor-
theologians of the past used the term  Oter  of  Sulvation deeld  worden? Men werpt ons tegen dat de aanbieding
and applied it to the reprobate, and the fact that the term      des Evangelies een zinledige vorm  wordt-voor  diegenen
is found in our Standards  sa~ys very little. The question       die niet in de voldoening van  Christus   deelen."  Accord-
is: What meaning did these theologians and our Stand- ing to Dr. Vos, too, the Gospel is offered`to the reprobate.
ards attach to the term, how did they use the term, what, This, I repeat, means very little. It  should be determined
according to them, are the elements which the term               what the term meant to Dr. Vos. Let us hear him on
stands for, what does the term imply? And then: What             the tnatter. Asserts Vos : "De boodschap des Evange-
meaning does Berkhof attach to the term? What, accord- lies houdt niet in dat men iedereen,  man voor man:  ver-
ing to him, are the elements which the term stands for?          zekert, God wil uwe persoonlijke zaligheid met den wil
What. according to Berkhof, does the term  Aanbod  van           des besluits. Dan zou men eene onwaarheid  v'erkondi-
Genadc  imply ? Comparing the meaning which Berkhof gen. Zij houdt veel meer in : (1) Eene uiteenzetting van
attaches to the term  O@er of Salvation  with the meaning        de eischen Gods  aan iederen zondaar en het werk van
which the Reformed theologians and our Standards                 Christus  als intrinsiek toereikend en gepast om voor iede-
attach to the term it appears at once that Berkhof is giv- ren zondaar te voldoen; (2)  -Eene ontvouwing van den
ing to the term a meaning and content which, according aard -der boetvaardigheid en des geloofs als welke noodig
to the theologians in question and according to-our Stand- om de persoonlijke toepassing der verdiensten van Chris-
ards it does not halie."  There is a certain element inserted tus te  verkrijgen-; (3) Eenc stellige verzekering dat  ten
by Berkhof in the term  Ofer of Salvation  which, accord-        iegelijk die aldus schuld beseffend en gelopvig tot Jezus
 ing to Reformed theologians in general, must not be komt al de weldadcn dcs Genadeverbonds als zijn  per-
 inserted. This element which Reformed  thccIogians  are         soonlijk bezit  zich mag  toeEigenen;  (4)  .Overmits God
 very carefully to thrust out, may be called the very core       zijn Evangelie door menschen heeft willen doen  bedienen
of Berkhof's Pelagianism. We shall project and single en  aan de menschen geen inzicht van te voren in  zijb
out this Pelagian element by comparing the meaning and           verborgen raad  heeft-  willen  `geven,  zoo is hct alleszins
 wl~   which Reformed theologians in general ascribed            verstaanbaar   waarom  het Evangelie  aan  allen moet  ver-
 to the term O,fer of Salvation and the meaning nnd value        kondigd worden. Onder die allen,c;ijn  de ,uitverkorenen  wer-
 which Berkhof applied to the same term.                         scholen.    De algemeene prediking is mede eel1  middel om de
   What, then, according to our Standards and accord-             bizondere voorwerpen der voldoening te bereiken; (5)  Oak
 ing to Reformed theologians in general is the meaning mag niet  worden   vergeten   `dat het Evangelie niet  spoor-
 and implication of the term  Offer of Salvation.  M'e shall, ioos  aan de ongeloovigen  voorbijgaat. Het wordt hun
 turn first of all to our Standards. Article 5 of the second eene reuke  deg doods ten  doode.  Zijne prediking is een
 chapter of the Canons of Dordt reads as follows: "More- crisis, waarin  zich al de verdorvenheid des  harten  tot
 over, the promise of the gospel is, that whosoever  be-         voile  rijpheid ontwikkelt, en waardoor dc mate des toorns
 lieveth in Christ crucified, shall not perish, but have ever- tegen  den  dag der vergelding Gods  woidt vol gemaakt."
 lasting life. This promise, together with thk cotnmand              Before commenting on the above passages let us listen
 to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published        to Dr. Bavinck. Dr. Bavinck retained the term  danbod
 to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and with- van Genade. He applies the term to the reprobate, as is
 out distinction, to whom God out of His good pleasure            evident from the following: "Hoezeer het ook schijnen
 sends the gospel."     The article asserts, it  shoutd be kon, dat de belijdenis van verkiezing en particuliere vol-
 noticed, that every sinner should  be  requested  to  repent     doening iets snders  vcarderde,   tech hebben de  Gerefor-


                                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         113
     -"-"" .--." ^ .._ ^..^--- .._ --_ -.....---  -- .----  -
     mecrden  in den  regel  hct  algemeene  aanbod der genade          phatically assert that God  -is unchangeable. Likewise
     Sehandhaafd."        (Bavinck,  Dogm. IV,  I+ 4,  5.) However,     does God's word declare that hell is a realm of utter dark-
      the mere. fact that Bavinck speaks of an offer of grace           ness. If so, God's love and grace is not present there.
     made to the reprobate means very little. We must know                 Further, Bavinck and Vos and most dogmaticians
     what, according to Bavinck the term embraces. On page              identify  the terms "calling" and "offer of salvation." This
     five of the second volume of his Dogmatics one happens             cannot be done. For the concept "calling" differs in mean-
     upon the following : "De prediking van dat Evangelie               ing from the `concept "offer of salvation."        Nay, two
     luidt niet tot elk mensch, hoofd voor hoofd:  Christus  is         things which are different cannot be identical. It can be
     in  .uwe  plaats  gestorven, al  uwe.zonden zijn verzoend en said that c&kg implies offer but not that the offer is the
     vergeven.      Want, al meencn de universalisten dit te            calling. The latter implies a denial of the offer of salva-
     ` kunnen en te mogen zeggen tot ieder mensch zonder tion. But what of that? For the action which  the term
     eenige nadere bepaling,  tech blijkt bij eenig nadenken,           "offer of salvation" stands for is not applicable to God in
     dat  oak op het standpunt der universalisten dit  geens-           virtue of the fact that God is God.
     zins het  geval  is.      Immers  heeft  Christus volgens hen         Again, according to the. theologians quoted.above the
     slechts de mogelijkheid der vergeving en der zaligheid             term "offer of salvation" is a misnomer. The term and
     verworven  ; werkelijkheid wordt die vergeving en zalig-           most pf the elements which the theologians quoted above
     heid eerst, als de mensch gelooft en gelooven blijft. Ook          place under the term do not go well together.
     zij kunnen dus alleen  als inhoud des Evangelies prediken : .         One more, we do not agree with Dr. Vos' explanation
     gelooft in den Heere Jezus, en gij zult vergeving van              of the so-called conditional promise. The promise "be-
     zonden en het eeuwige leven ontvangen. Dit nu'zeggen               lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" can
     dc Gereformeerden  evenzoo;  ook zij bieden het  Evange-           only mean that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and salva-
     lie  aan  alle menschen  aan en kunnen, mogen en  moeten           tion or eternal life go together.
     het doen. De vergeving der zonden en de eeuwige zalig-                Finally, passages were again quoted by us which do
     heid  zijn er, maar zij worden  ons deel slechts in den weg not support our views. Yet we quoted them. We did so
     des gd&ds. (2) Daarom is die aanbieding van Gods zijde because we loathe the practice of purposely avoiding
      ook ernstig  gemeenben  oprecht. Want Hi) zegt in die             such passages as testify against us. I repeat, we desire
     aanbieding niet wat Hij zelf zal  doen, of Hij het geloof          to conceal nothing.  ,,Our aim is to reveal and denounce
     zal schenken of niet. Dat heeft Hij  zich zelf  voorbehou-         when we must. That Berkhof and those whom he  rep-
      den en ons niet geopenbaard. Hij verklaart alleen, wat            resents;would  do likewise. There would be some startling
      Hij wil, dat wij zullen  doen,  dat wij ons verootmoedigen        revelations made. But these are all matters to which we
      zullen en ons heil zoeken.in  Christus  alleen. (3) Al wordt      shall attend in separate articles. We are engaged in dis-
      dan  oak door de  roeping de zaligheid slechts het deel           playing Berkhofs Pelagianism.
     van weinigen, gelijk ieder erkennen moet, zij houdt daar-             And then our  next, move must be to single out the
,     om  tech  oak  voor hen, die haar verwerpen, hare groote          various elements which Hodge, Vos and Bavinck place
      waarde en beteekenis. Zij is voor  allen  zonder  onder-          under the term "offer of salvation." He who  carefulIy
     scheid hct bewijs van Gods oneindige liefde en bezegclt            reads  th.e passages, quoted above, discovers that these
     het woord, dat Hij geen lust heeft in den dood des  zon-           three theologians are agreed that the so-called "offer of
      daars  `maar daarin, dat hij  zich bekeere en feve ; . . . . .    salvation" amounts'to a declaration of the command that
      Zelfs is zij ook voor hen, die  zich verharden in hun  on-        the sinner must repent and believe in the Lord Jesus
     geloof. de bron van allerlei zegeningen. (4) In de roeping         Christ together with the promise that he who believes
      door wet en Evangelie handhaaft God zijn  recht op zijn           will be saved. According to Bavinck, Vos and Hodge the
      schepsel." Bavinck, Dog. Vol. IV, p. 7, S,  9.                    command and the promise must be regarded as the very
         In regard to the passages quoted above we wish to              core of the offer. Let us listen to Bavinck once more:
      say that we do not indorse all that is asserted there.            "Daarom is die aanbieding van. Gods zijde oak ernstig
      Bavinck, it should be noticed, maintains that the  otit-          gemeend en oprecht. Want Hij  zegt  in die aanbieding
     ward calling is an indication of God's eternal love for the        niet wat Hij zelf doen  zal . . . . Hij verklaart  alleen,  wat
      reprobate. We deny, on the basis of Scripture that God            Hij wil dat wij  zuilen  doen,  dat wij ons verootmoedigen
     loves him at all, much less eternally. He who claitns that         zullen en ons  heil zoeken in  Christus  alleen." To the
     the love, of God for the reprobate is eternal is projecting        elements mentioned above Hodge adds two more. They
     God's love and grace into hell. Bavinck does so. And               are: (1)  '  A declaration of the plan of salvation ; (2) An
     he is careful. For it is nothing short of blashphemy to            exhibition of the reasons which should constrain men to
      maintain that the love of God for the reprobate grows             believe. Dr. Vos, it was shown, has these three: (1) An
     cold when that reprobate reaches the grave and is trans-           exposition of the commands of God and the mediatorial
     ported into the realms of eternal night. If that were true         labors of Christ. (2) An exposition of the nature of peni-
      God would ,be changing. The exponents of the theory of tence and faith, the means by which the sinner secures
     common grace must agree with Bavinck that God's love               the application of the benefits gained by the death of
     estends beyond the grave and is present,, yonder in hell           Christ. (3) The assurance that those who believe will be
     or confess a changeable God. Now the Scriptures  em-               saved. Vos adds that the word of God is the means by.

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

  which the elect are gathered `into the fold. `But unto the           The prvfessor asserts in the above passage that the
  unbelievers that same word is a savor of death unto              offer of satvation implies : (1) The command to believe
  death. The passage from Bavinck's Dogmatics indicates            and repent; (2) An exposition of the nature of faith and
  that he is pretty well agreed that the offer of salvation penitence; (3) The assurance that those who believe are
  comprises the elements enumerated by Vos and Hodge.              saved':
  Dr. Bavinck adds, however; that the Lord God is being                Passages as the above are interspersed throughout
  actuated by "love when He brings the reprobate in con-           the brochure and the eight articles of the professor. Their
  tact with the Gospel. We maintain that an assertion of           presence it is which help to make the brochure and the
  this kind militates against Scripture.                           articles very misleading compositions. When the profes-
     Thus we have shown how three recognized Reformed              sor wrote them he happened to be reasoning like a true
  theologians interpret the term  Ogler  of Salvation.  And        Calvinist.      And therefore these passages are like. the .
  now I am sure that Berkhof and those whom he repre-              sugar-coating of a poisonous pill. The Pelagianism of
  sents will concede that Bavinck, Vos and Hodge may be            the professor's composition is the poison. And the aver-
  regarded as a fair representation of the Reformed, group         age reader (the divines in the Christian Reformed
  of theologians. and that in the main their views and con-        Church) swallows the pill and with the pill the poison.
  ceptions are those of the group to which they belonged.          0 that these  div5nes  would bite through  Berkho+s  pill
  :!nd this would mean that Vos, Bavinck and Hodge con-            and permit the contents to dissolve in their mouths. The
  strue the term  Offer  of Salvation as did the group of which    clergymen, sad to say, are not inclined to bite through
  they were members. We  may  say, therefore, that we              things and to  .chew their food. They are requested to
  have learned what meaning Reformed theologians in gen-           close their eyes and to open their mouths and to just
  eral gave and do give to the term  Ofm  of  Saluaton.            swallow the food prepared for them by the doctors.. And
     We shall now turn to the brochure and to the articles         lo and behold, they do so. What can be the trouble?
  of -Prof. Berkhof. It is now time to investigate what,           Have they lost their teeth, or their gumption or their
  according to Berkhof, the term Offer of Salvation implies.       nerve? It may be, too, that they like the food. Perhaps
  Thereupon we shall compare Berkhof's deliverances with           they are rolling it around in  their mouths like a sweet
  those of the theologians quoted above. Having done so-it         morsel.
  shall have become plain that Berkhof and his fellows are             Berkhof,, then also places under the term  OrJey   of
  members of thafgroup of theologians known in history Salvation the elements mentioned by Vos, Hodge and Ba-
  as Pelagian.                                                     \-ipck. However, the professor avers that these elements
     Berkhof also places under the term  08~~ of Salvation         are not'the offer proper. Says Berkhof : "De belofte des
  the elements mentioned by Vos. Bavinck and Hodge.                Evangelies is, dat een ieder die in den gekruisigden
  `Read carefully the following paragraph : "Bij het aanbod        Christus   gelooft (let er  we1  op, dat hier geenerlei  be-
  des heils hebben wij te doen  met den arbeid dien de Be-         perking voorkomt) niet zal verderven, maar het eeuwige
  dienaar des Woords verrichten meet ten opzichte  van on-         leven deelachtig zal  worden.   Nu  zehdt  Go-d, naar  zijn
  bekeerden hetzij in de gemeente of daarbuiten. Hij moet          welbehagen. naar zijn eeuwigen raad, het Evangeiie aan
  alle onbekeerden, die onder zijn bereik komen, roepen  tot       zckere volkeren en menschen. :2an die  allen   nu zonder
geloof en bekeering. Dit  roepen  is geen  verklaring,van          onderscheid moet de belofte  des Evangelies  worden   ver-
  wat God met den zondaar doen zat . . . . . Wij hebben in         kondigd  en voorgesteld.       Dit mag niet eenvoudig zoo
  die roeping  een .eisch, die God den mknsch stelt, n.l., dat     worden   opgcvat,  alsof het louter de taak van den  predi-
  hij  zich bekeere en geloove in den Heerg Jezus tot zalig-       ker ware, om  allen  menschen  bek&nd  te  maken  met het
  heid . . . . . Het is echter niet voldoende, dat de prediker feit- dat zii. die in Christus  gelooven zalig zullen  worden.
  de  roeping  Gods tot den mensch doe uitgaan. Eiij moet          Xj moet hun de belofte, meet hun bet heil in Christus  aan-
  tevens  een uiteenzetting geven van den aard der  boet-          bieden."      "Reformed Herald," Vol. I, No. 2, p. 28.
  I-aardigheid  en des geloofs. De zondaar moet  zich niet           ' In the above paragraph the professor asseits that the
  vergissen in den aard van het  komcn, dat van hem  ge-           Ila&ieciir,g  proper is not the command to believe and to
  vraagd wordt. Dit mag niet in Methodistischen zin wor-           repent, is not the promise to the effect that those who
  den opgevat  als de vrucht van een plotseling oywellende,        believe  are  saved.    Read again the passages taken from
  feitelijk ongemotiveerde wilskeuze. Het  inoet de vrucht         the works of  ,Vos, Hodge and Bavinck and inserted in
 I zijn van een waaradhtig zondebesef. van een recht inzicht       this essay. Read them again and be convinced anew
  des zondaars in zijn verloren toestand, en van een diep          how that, according to there three theologians, these very
  gevoelde behoefte  aan Christus. Hij moet komen in de            elements must be regarded as forming the very core of
  .tollenaars-gestalte en met de tollenaars-bede :  `0 God, the so-called Aanbieding des He& or the Oger of Salvation.
  w.ees mij, zondaar, genadig.'                                       It appears, does it not, that the term  `ganbieding   de.r
     "Ten slotte moet de roeping  gepaard gaan met de be-          Ueils   or  Offer of Salvation  means something different to
  lofte des heils in Christus. Daarin verklaart God dan            Berkhof than it did to Vos, Hodge and Bavinck, and
  van zijnk zijde, wat Hij doen  zal. .Deze belofte is echter      hence to Reformed theologians in general. I repeat, one
  gebondcn  aan de voorwaarden van gcloof en bekeering."           can be using a term in  a  widely different sense  .than
  Brochure, p. 13.                                                 ahother.


                                        T H E   STANDAR'D B E A R E R                                                     115

   This is exactly the case with Berkhof versus the Re-,             It is plain that  the term offer of salvation means
formed,group  of theologians in respect to the term  Aan-        something quite different to Berkhof than it does `to the
bod  vun  Gmzade   or Offer of Salvation.  There is a radical    Reformed group of theologians. Berkhof admits an
and essential difference in meaning between the term             element which they  were very careful to keep  out,
Aanbod  van Genade  as used by Rerkhof and as used by            namely, a design or purpose on God's part to save the
Reformed theologians in general. Berkhof inserts an              reprobate and hence all.
element which, according to Vos, Hodge and Bavinck,                 According to Berkhof the calling or the so-called offer
must not be admitted. And it is this veri element which          of salvation flows from or indicates on God's part a
constitutes Berkhof's Pelagianism.                      0        design or purpdse to save all. Exactly this the Reformed
   What is that element? It is embodied in a certain theologian has always denied. Let me  provelit. Says
paragraph found in one of Berkhof's articles. The pass- Bavinck : "Want Hij zegt in die aanbieding niet wat Hij
age reads: "Zij (het aanbod des  he&) is in de  eerste           zal  doen, of Hij het geloof zal schenken of niet.      Dat
plaats  een openbiring  van Gods Iiefde tot zondaren, van        heeft Hij zichzelf voorbehouden eh ons niet geopenbaard.
zijn rijke gunst zelfs over degenen, die Hem tegenstaan,         Hij  verklaart  alleen wat wij zullen  doen." Bavinck,
cn van zijn behagen in hun redden van den dood. Zij is           Dogm., Vol. IV. p. 7, 8, 9. And again : "En omgekeerd
dit voor  alle zondaren. ook voor de verworpenen. Dit wil Hij (God) evenmin naar de  voluntas   signi (de wil
wordt in den laatsten tijd ontkend door hen die de alge-         des bevels) als naar de voluntas beneplacit (wil des  be-
meene genade loochenen. Zij zien in de prediking des             sluits) dat alle menschen, hoofd voor hoofd, zalig  wor-
Woords  voor de verworpenen, die er onder verkeeren,             den; dat kan met het oog op de historie.door niemand in
niets dan vloek. God  haat hen,  IJij  wil hen niet redden;      ernst warden geleerd." Bavinck, Dogm. Vol. II. p. 247.
Tiij heeft geen lust in hun  redding; Hij zoekt' hen door            Dr. Vos expresses himself as follows : "Dat de aanbie-
de prediking slechts dieper  neer te storten in het verderf.     ding van het Evangelie niet is en  zich niet uitgeeft voor
Hij heeft daarmede, wat hun betreft, geen enkel ander eene openbaring van Gods verborgen wil of van den wil
doel. Dit is  echter   we1 zeer zeker een onschriftuurlijke      zijns besluits. Indien dit zoo ware zou metterdaad eene
voorstelling, en een voorstelling, die te kort doet aan Gods     tegenstrijdigheid bestaan die  aan Gods waarheidsliefde
zondaarsmin."      "Reformed Herald," Vol. I, No. 7, p. 118.     te  kort deed, wanneer het aldus moest  vastgesteld   wor-
   In the above passage the professor informs his read-          den.: God is stellig van `Goornemen  ze persoonlijk tot `de
ers, and correctly so, how that we maintain that God             zaligheid  te brengen en nu hangt het van  A of B af of
hates the reprobate, that He, God, does not will to save         gij Gods bedoeling  zult tegemoetkomen of Hem eene
them; the professor informs his readers, and correctly so,       teleurstelling bereiden.    Wanneer dit de  inlroud  des
how that we maintain that the preaching of the word is           Evangelies was zoo zou metterdaad eene particuliere ver-
the means by which God hardens the reprobate and casts           kiezing  en voldoening daardoor uitgesloten zijn. Dit is
him deeper into destruction. Berkhof gives his readers to echter de inhoud van ons Evangelie en het Evangelie der
understand how that we claim that God has no other               Schrift niet.  IXt  tpch laat  zich niet uit aangaande Gods
purpose in placing the reprobate in contact with the             verborgcn wil, maar spreekt van +jn geopenbaarden wil.
Christ.                                                          En onder dezen geopenbaarden wil verstaan wij het bevel
   We are ever ready to admit that these are indeed our          Gods dat tot de  menschen  komt." Vos, Dogm.,  Dee1 III,
views. We found them in God's word. These views are              p. 261.  .,
not Berkhof's.      He ridicules and denounces them as               Vos maintains that the offer of salvation is not sup-
unscriptural.     According to the professor God has still       posed to be a revelation.of the purposes and the designs
another purpose in delivering the word to the reprobate. of God in respect to the individual sinner.
That other design and purpose of God is the salvition of             Berkhof, on the other hand, claims that the offer of the
the reprobate. We maintain, says Berkhof, that God               Gospel is exactly that. I%-. Cunningham tells his readers
does not will to save the reprobate. This, says he, is not-in    that  Calvinists  atlmit that all to whom the Gospel is
agreement with Scripture. Berkhof has it that God wills          preached, are called or invited to come to Christ ind to
to save the reprobate.. The preaching  of the Gospel is          embrace him; but they deny that this flows from, or
the means by which God seeks to achieve His aim.                 indicates on God's part, a design or purpose to save
   Berkhof  asserts.elsewhere  that "de raad Gods omvat          them all.
niet' alleen de verkiezing en verwerping,. en de  particu-           Strange to  say? I was quoting from Berkhof's bro-
liere voldoening door Christus,  maar.ook  de algemeene          chure. The professor actually asserted the words of Cun-
aanbieding des heils,  waarin God zijn welbehagen in het         ningham in his brochure.       He even remarks that the
redden van  zondaars  openbaart."       "Reformed Herald,        doctor is a true Calvinist. Berkhof agrees that it is not
Vol. I, No. 2, p. 28. Now the term  "welbehagen"  is an-         the purpose and design of God to save all. He also
other word for God's eternal council, plan, purpose,             insists that it is the purpose and design of God to save all.
design, will. According to Berkhof then, God's purpose, We are confronted here with a strange psychological
aim, design, plan, will. is to save `the reprobate. The          phenomenon. One of  JWO things must be true. Either
so-called offer of salvation contains the revelation of this     Berkhof admitted in his compositions passages as the
will, plan. purpose, design.                                     above for the purpose of neutralizing his Pelagianism or


  116                                        T H E   S T A N D ' A R D   B E A R E R
 _"." .__. ---.._-         -.-...._         -.---           .._II__-.~-"--~                                        -_
  he does not grasp the implications of passages as the            hcerlijken  Gods, gehandeld  werd,,'  Kuyper,  Da,t de  Ge-
 above. If the latter is true the professor does not begin         nadc Particulier Is, p. 312.
 to understand his own Reformed theology. It may be                    And now `Dr. Vos: "God is stellig van voornemen ze
  that both are true. I rather think so. For a careful             persoonlijk tot de zalig.heid te brengen . . . . . Wanneer dit
 study  of the brochure and the-articles will convince one         de inhoud des Evangelies was zoo zou metterdaad eene
 that these compositions must be .regarded  as an exposi-          particuliere verkiezing en  voldoening daardoor  uitgeslo-
 tion of the proposition that the offer of salvation implies       ten zijn."        *
 a revelation of the design or purpose on the part of God              In fine, Berkhof uses the term offer of salvation as
  to save all.                                                     the Pelagians used it. According to Berkhof the purpose
         Berkhof has involved God in a contradiction.              of God is to save-all.
                                                         And he                              This means that Christ died for ail.
 realizes it. Says <Berkhof  : "We staan hier voor Fen moci-       The proposition that the design of God is to save must go
 iijkheid, waarvoor .we telkens staan als wij den wil des hand in hand with the proposition that the will of man
 besluits in overeenstemming zoeken te brengen met den             is free. And in this case the sovereignty of God is mere
 wil des bevels. In den wil des bevels zegt God: `Gij zult         fiction. We did not say too much when we said that Berk-
 niet doodslaan, en  tech stelde Hij in  z'ijn  raad,vast,  dat    hof broke with the fundamental doctrines of Reformed
 velen  diefstal zouden bedrijven. Zullen we nu zeggen dat         theology. And Berkhof is not alone. He  rep'resents   a
 de wil des bevels in strijd is  &et den wil des besluits?         large group in the Christian Reformed Church, as for
  Dit kan niet zoo zijn, omdat beide in God  CCn zijn, ook         example:  Dr: Bouma, H. J. Kuiper, G. Hoeksema, Van
 al  kunnen  wij de harmonie niet ontdekken." "Reformed            Baalen,  Y.  `P. De Jong, etc. etc.
  Herald," Vol. I, No. 4, p. 62.                                       One  more thing. We have been taken severely to
                                                                   task for insisting that God is. not in conflict with
     `I repeat, Berkhof realizes that he has involved God in       Himself. We were ridiculed, mocked, branded rational-
a contradiction. But he would have his readers under-              ists, deposed and set on the street naked because we could
 stand that the two elements of his contradiction are              not subscribe to Berkhof's contradiction contained in the
 "Gods wil des bevels" and "Gods wil des besluits.`" Not first point of Synod. .%nd the leaders of the church are
 so. however. Berkhofs contradiction must be confined              saying that it is very pious to believe in Berkhof's con-
 to "Gods wil des besluits." Berkhof insists, does he not,         tradiction to the effect that God wills and does ndt will
 that it is the purpose, the will of God to save the repro-        to save all. I wonder if these same leaders are now will-
 bate. He also agrees that it is the purpose, the will of          ing to confess that they are engaged in proclamating
 ,God not to save the reprobate. Now the terms wili, `pur-         "klakkelooze onzin."
 pose, pertain, not to "Gods wil des bevels', but to "Gods            We shall continue our analysis  oi` Berkhof's  pmduc-
 wil des besluits." Now, we have insisted Tight along that         tions. We wish to prove that the professor has risen to
 it is-nothing short of blasphemy to place God in conflict         the defense of the important tenets of Pelagius.
 with himself. To do so means to destroy God. And we                                                                     G. M. 0.
 have simply been repeating what  t&e Reformed theo-                                      (To be Continued)  "
 logians have been saying from the days of Paul on. I will
 show what the Reformed group of theologians think of
Berkhof's contradiction.               .
     Dr.  :1. Kuyper has this to say: "En zie terwijl dit nu                     P E R S O N A L   ACCOmTABILITY
 zoo klaar als de dag is, begingen onze  bestrijders desniet-
 temin de volstrekt onverklaarbare  fout, om van twee reek-           God has written His existence on all His works, and
- sen in God zelf te gaan spreken.  (Kuyper is aiming at the       likewisk  has written personal  acco_untability  to moral
 Pelagians  j. Er zou niet iets anders in den mensch en            law upon fhe hearts of .a11 His intelligent creatures. It
 iets anders in God zijn. Neen, maar iets anders in Gods           was a great thinker who said, `The greatest thought I
 cene en iets anders in Gods andere  intentie..  Want, let         ever had was in the contemplation of endless space and
 wel. zelfs van de tegenstelling tusschen den besluitenden         my personal accountability  ta God.' A thought which
 en den bevelenden wil Gods was hier geen sprake.  Het             belongs to the humblest stevedore and to the greatest
 bleef alles in den cirkelloop van het goddelijk bedoelen          statesman; and without which anarchy `would usurp the
 zich bewegen. En daarin ligt dus de zwakheid der andere           place of government. It is this sense of personal account-
 broeders, dat ze een onderscheid, dat anders  zeer zeker          ability which secures life and property, and when it
 moet open  blijven, te pas brengen waar het niet bij hoort.       ceases to reign in any political division' of the world a
 Maar daarin is dan ook de gevaarlijke zijde van hun dwa-          "reign of terror" follows. All the bulwarks of civil and
 ling, dat ze  op den klank  af, tot instemming met hun            religious liberty, such as constitutions and statutes,
 voorgeven  lieden bewegen,  aan wie de bedekte fout van           would be as powerless to stem the tide as the thin cur-
 hun betoog ontsnapt. o, Ja, denkt de lezer dan van twee           tain that hides the sanctity of private life and domestic
 reeksen.  Ja, dat is  .ook zoo, en ze zien niet  in; dat  we1     virtue.    It only needs to be associated with ideals of
 die twee  reeksen  waar zijn; maar dat hier slechts van           socialism and democracy to render it perilous." (Dr. C.
 eene dier beide reeksen  van het doen en bedoelen des vol-        F. Creighton, Law and the Cross, N. Y. 1911, pp. 28, 29.)


118                                             7'  H E S T A N D A R D 13 E A R E R
--  ..---  --__llll_-   .._..  -^_lll_   .._ --  -.._  ll__ll._.- l--.~.-~                      ~-_..-_- -_l--                                                        ----_
komen en in blijde stemming den Heere mochten dienen.                         law of the church, except in so far as it may be necessary
Ieder was opgewekt en blijde. En het getuigenis uit heel                      10  (10  SO in determining whether the  classis  had jurisdic-
de groote  schare was, dat  ze nog nooit zulk een blijden                     tion of the matter, whether the act is that of the society
Iierstdag  hadden   gekend   als dezen. Zoo gebruikt de                       itself.  Borgman  v. Bultema,  213 Mich. 684.
 Heere de vijanden van zijn  volk  als een herder zijn                             There are two principal questions for determinations :
bond,  om de schapen bij  elkaar  te houden. En  ,in de                            i  1)  Did  t h e   classis   h a v e   j u r i s d i c t i o n   t o   malie  the
                                                                              deci'sion?
tweede  plaats,  amice,  hebben  ze nu  tech ook  getoond,                          (2) Granting, for the purposes of this opinion only,
voor  ieder weldenkend mensch, wat ze eigenlijk zijn. %e                      that {lefendants  had right of appeal, and that it has been
zijn daardoor  zeer in de  achting  van velen gedaald. Zoo                    claimed, does the claiming of appeal operate to stay exc-
doet de wereld zelfs niet. Die kan in elk geval haar fat-                     rution of the decision of the classis?
soen   nag hehouden, want immers daar is in de wereld                              `From a study of the record and briefs, a perusal of
nltijd nog een betrachtiq  tot de deugd en uiterlijke tucht.                  the long and carefully perpared  opinion of the trial judge,
niet waar?                                                                    a reading of  ~orgman   v. Eultema,  szbpra,  a like case
                                                                              which arose within the same denomination, we conctude
       %e hebben tot op dezen dag toe dan ook nog altijd                      that the following are correct expositions  of applicable
politic  in de kerk gehad.  Ze zijn bepaald  bevreesd,  d&t                   church laws :
wij ten eenenmale zoo zijn  als zij, en dat er nog onder                           Rev.  Henry Beets, a clergyman of the denomination,
ens zijn, die op wraak bedacht zijn. En daarin vergissen                      at one time secretary of its missions, had attended gen-
ze  zich zeer.  Er is onder  ens een andere  geest..  Een                     eral synods in `Holland, editor ,of the weekly organ of the
geest  der liefde, waarin we van harte kunnen bidden, dat                     church in America, author of church histories and since
                                                                              1902  stated clergy of the synod, testified :
de Heere  ze nog eens de oogen mag  openen  voor den
gruwel van hunnen weg.                                                             "Herman Roeksema is obligated to comply with the three
                                                                              points because synod laid down these three points as our official
       Intusschen,  amice,  hebben we reeds een plaats, waar                  doctrinal interpretation."
we geregeld kunnen  vergaderen en we zijn ook reeds aan                            "Aiter  synod has spoken and Herman Hoeksema says that
het bouwen. Op een  mans-leden  vergadering, zoo groot                        he  disagrees with the three points, he then becomes subject to
                                                                              discipline."
als we in  her1  de geschiedenis nooit hebben gehad,  wer-                         "Under our church law, that order" (of  classis) "went into
 den plannen  voor een nieuw  kerkgebouw  goedgekeurd,                        effect  immediately. With reference to the claim of  Rermal?
                                                                              Hoeksema that he 
 en  den volgenden dag  waren  we reeds  aan het graven                                                       has  taken an appeal and that the consistory
                                                                              has taken an appeal from the decision of  classis in the session
 voor een fundament. l3innen  enkele  weken hopen we ens                      of December, 1924, wherein he was suspended, it is his claim that
basement gereed  te hebben, zoodat iYe er in kunnen ver-                      during the  peudency  of this appeal to the synod, he has a right
                                                                              to exercise its office, I deny that they have such rights because
gaderen. en  clan kunnen we ondertusschen  rustig  voot-t-                    the formula of subscription says that until a decision made upon
 bouwen,  tot het kerkgebouw gereed is.                                       such an appeal we are to acquiesce in the determination and
                                                                              j u d g m e n t   a l r e a d y   p a s s e d .   W e   a g r e e   t o   t h a t   w h e n   w e   a r e
       Maar ik moet eindigen,  amice,  anders wordt deze brief                ordained or when we go into a new  classis or when we become
 to& nog te lang. Ik moest dit even schrijven, oin je ge-                     a local pastor.  If a man could, `during his. appeal,  do as  he
                                                                              pleases, that would be inviting anarchy and chaos."
 rust  te stellen en te verzekeren, dat bij ons alles  we1 is                      "The order of suspension made by  classis in December took
 `De Heere heeft groote  dingen  bij ons gedaan, dies zijn wij                effect immediately and from  ttit time on Herman Hoeksema
                                                                              had no power or authority to act as minister in any of the Chris-
 verblijd.                                                                    tian Reformed Churches nor had his consistory any power to do
       Van harte Gode bevolen.                                                act, pending an appeal to synod."
                      Je vriend en broeder,                                        Rev. Tdzerd  VanDellen,  a clergyman of the  denom-
                                             H.  HOEKSEMA.                    ina'tion,  author of books, including an exposition of the
                                                                              church order, several times president and vice-president
                                                                              of the synod, testified:  '
                                                                                   "After Herman Hoeksema and others had started the publi-
                OPINION OF SUPREME COURT.                                     cation of the Standard Bearer and that together  wiih other  stare-
                                                                              ments on the part of Herman Hoeksema caused another protest
                                                                              to be submitted to the  classis, and  classis made an order suspend-
       Most of our readers are, no doubt, by this time                        ing Herman Hoekema and determining that the ecclesiastical
                                                                              relationship  of. the consistory had been broken off, it then
 acquainted with the fact that the long expected deci&on                      became the duty immediately upon the making of the order of
 of the Supreme Court  of Michigan in re the property of                      the  co'nsistory  and Herman Hoeksema to submit to the  decisiou
 the Eastern Ave. Church was rendered.  `To many it                           of the  classis. There is nothing in our church order that when
                                                                              a decision is made by  classis suspending a minister and finding
 will also be of interest to read the opinion of the court                    that the ecclesiastical relationship is broken upon the part of
 in the matter and become  acqurrinted  with the grounds                      the consistory, that the consistory and minister can continue  to
                                                                              function as such officers in a church pending an appeal to synod.
 on which the opinion is based. For that reason we  here                      The  reason for this is that they promised in signing the formula
 publish it.                                                                  of subscription to acquiesce in the decision of the  classis and
                                                                              other bodies, even pending their appeal."
       The first part is  a  mere  rehearsal of the case and its                    Dr. Samuel Vnlbeda, educated at Free `University of
 history. We may omit it here. Then follows the opinion                       ,Amsterdam  and at Calvin College, now and for 11 years
 ljroper  which here follows in full :                                        teacher  of theology in Calvin College, and occupying the
                                                                              chair of church history and missions, testified :
       Whether the decision of the classis, excluding defend-
 `ants, was prudent or imprudent, right or wrong, we have                          "Rev. Hoeksema could not lawfully in our church make
 no right to inquire. Nor w'ill we undertake to determine                     statements that he  ,could not subscribe to the three points and
                                                                              that he did not agree with synod and that the synod of 1924  was
 whether the  clscision  was in accordance with the canon                     wrong and the synod of 1618 and 1619 was correct, after synod


                                                                          THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                    119
                        _-.. ".._^^.l.-lll_ll "l.lll_.".                                                  "...~"__                                                                            __.......  - . ..__ --
had spoken on these matters. Such statements indicate that                                                                                             PREDESTINATION
Rev. Hoeksema is disloyal to the church body."
     "After decision is  mgde by the  classis and an appeal is taken                                                                                                Pelagian
to the synod by one of the parties, during the meantime that
party is required to submit to the decision. After  classis  on
December 12, 1924, made an order suspending Herman. Hoeksema                                                                                                           II
and' declaring that the consistory had broken its ecclesiastical                                                                                .
relationship with the church, it then became the duty of Herman
Hoeksema and his consistory to abide by the decision of  classis.                                                             In the previous issue we discussed the Pclagian view
It became the duty of Kerman Hoeksema to at once cease
activities in that church as its minister and for the consistory                                                     of Predestination and found that Pelagians are Deists
to do the same. In our church organization there is no such a                                                        who suppose that God's decree to save some individuals
thing as a stay of proceedings after an order is once made by
classis  which would permit Herman Hoeksema to continue  on                                                          for eternal life and others for eternal damnation without
and act as the minister of that church."                                                                             any regard to their personal merits or demerits, is in
      Prof. Clarence  Bourna? "-4 professor of systematic                                                            conflict with the so-called  weIl-meant  general offer of
theology at the  seminary  of the Chiistian Reformed                                                                 grace. we found this so-called well-meant of?er  of grace
Church  ____._  .__._______-_ graduate of the Calvin College .and                                                    untenable in the light of the correct conception'of God's
Theological Seminary of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Prince-                                                              foreknowledge. The Pelagian makes Gods foreknowl-
ton Theological Semmary,  Princeton University, Harvard
University, " testified :                                                                                            edge a-mere-knowing-before-hand of what shall take
                                                                                                                     place in the lives of man, while the Bible presents Divine
     "Synod, in passing upon these three points, made an  inter-
`pretation of the confessional standards and after this interpre-                                                    foreknowledge as being a knowledge which is linked with
t a t i o n   i t   b e c a m e   t h e   d u t y   o f   a l l   m e m b e r s   o f   t h e   C h r i s t i a n    God's decree of  predestinat;on,  implying  fixity and cer-
Reformed  Cliurch  to submit to  them.ipso facto."
     "If the Rev. Hoeksema does not submit to these  interpke-                                                       t a i n t y   f o r   a l l   t h i n g s .    Otherwise foreknowledge is no
tations, he lays  himself open to be deposed in the proper  way."                                                    knowledge ! The Pelagian view of Divine foreknowledge
      The  deLision  of the trial judge is that the  classis                                                         springs from an anti-theistic conception of God, man ant1
had Jurisdiction to act, did act, that defendants were                                                               the world. Only then is it possible to speak of a  well-
bound by its decision, and without right of stay of pro-                                                             meant general offer of grace if all men hear the Gospel
ceedings. We agree with  him. Question (1) is answered                                                               and when all men have a freedom next to and inde-
in the affirmative, question (2) in the negative.                                                                    pendent from  God's  freedom. This not being the case
      Again we call attention to the rule of Fuchs v.`Meisel,
102 Mich.  357, quoted in Borgman  case:                                                                             we defined the free agency of mankind as not being a
                                                                                                                     state of indeterminateness, nor the independence  o,f  the-
     "In the freedom of conscience and thd right to worship
allowed in this country, the defendants and the members of this                                                      creature, but rather the creature's self-realization in per-
church undoubtedly  cossessed  the right to withdraw from it,                                                        fect dependence.
with or without reason. Hut they could not take with them for                                                                 But last time we failed  td answer three other  Pelagian
their own purposes, or transfer to any other religious body, the
property dedicated to and conveyed for the worship of God                                                            arguments brought against the  Xugustinian  conception
under the discipline of this religious association; nor could they                                                   of predestination. These arguments were that  A.u.gus-
prevent its use by those who choose to remain in the church,
and who represent the regular church organization.                                                 If com-           tine's conception of predestination removes all motive for
plainants maintain the allegations of their bill-that they repre-                                                    human exertion, makes God the author of sin, and finally,
sent the regularly organized body of the church, and are its
regular appointees-they are entitled  t`o the  relief  prayed."                                                      has no reality in actual life since no man is assured of
      The decree further provides:                                                                                   his salvation.
                                                                                                                              In this article we  plan. to consider the first of these
     "It is further ordered, adjudged and decreed that defendants
pay to the plaintiffs herein as damages for the wrongful detention                                                   three arguments, namely, that the  r2ugustinian  concep-
and possession of said church property, the sum of one hundred                                                       tion of predestination  leaves no  .motive for human  exer-
ninety-two  i$192.00) dollars per week, commencing on the  31st
day of December, 1924, and continuing so long as defendants                                                          tioz.       ` T h e   r e m a i n i n g   t w o   a r g u m e n t s   w i l l   b e   cliscusscd
shall occupy and possess said church property, and that plaintiffs                                                   in a future paper.
may have execution against these defendants for the collection                                                                By this time, the Augustinian view of predestination
of said damages."                                                                                                    is well known. It is that view of predestination which
      This feature of the decree must rest on evidence                                                               we call unconditional, whereby the end and destiny of
received of fair  rentai  value of the property. If defend-
ants wrongfully have held possession of the property,                                                                all men are fixed with God, even before men have been
who, if any one, may ask recovery of damages on the                                                                  born, and in  order to realize this end God creates and
measure of rental value? Clearly, it must be the corpora-                                                            provides and guards the destinies of all men. In a previ-
tion itself, East Street Christian Reformed Church. It has                                                           0~1s  article we have seen how the decree   of predestination
power to sue. 3 Comp. Laws 1915, S. 11034. Plaintiffs is  all embracing, and, therefore, demands all that  ,is
filed this bill individually, alleging in a paragraph that                                                           implied in the Rkformed conception of Providence. God
they are  the.consistorv  of the church. The corporation
is not a party. But it-is, .on this point, the real party in                                                         by His Providence must provide, as historical realities,
interest, and is the proper and necessary party to such                                                              material and spiritual means through which God realizes
recovery.`  12,4 C. J. 798. Whether any such recovery                                                                the predestined end and destiny of every human being.
can be had, it is unnecessary to determine, and we do not                                                                     Before we answer the Pelagians that this view of pre-
determine.                                                                                                           destination does not remove all motive for human exer-
       Other rluestions  have been considered, but require no                                                        tion we desire to clarify this view of Gods" decree by a
 discussion.
       So modified, the decree is affirmed. Defendants will                                                          rather lengthy quotation from a recent Dutch' author.
 have costs in this court.                                                                                           tYe quote from  I\`.  Fernhout,  De Leer der Uitverkiezing:
                                                                                                                         B


     120                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
     ___.-_.--                        l_____l______ll_._.--.~-                           - _-_-..-_                       1__1_~
     ".De Souvereiniteit Gods: Gods vrije en oppermachtige              van af, of we geboren werden in een christenland of onder
     beschikking over zijne schepselen, ook over  zijn  men-            de heidenen; binnen de gemeente des Heeren of daarbui-
     schenkinderen, ligt waarlijk niet  alleen  voor ons  als           ten; in een gezin waar God gevreesd werd of waar de
     een deel der openbaring en als een stuk der rechtzinnige           wereld werd gediend. Hoeveel van  onze  opvoeding, van
     leer. Ze wordt ook tastbaar in de  wereld.  Ze leeft en            de school die we bezochten, van  - maar waar is hct
     werkt voor onze oogen,  elken  dag en  overal.                     einde?
            "Want er is  overal  een onderscheid  maken  tusschen          "Zie, deze feiten kunt ge niet in de gevplgen die  ze
     het eene schepsel en het andere;  tusschen  den eenen              meebrengen onder de oogen zieq'of  ge voelt  en tast dat
     mensch en den anderen. Er zijn sterken en zwakken,                 hier een goddelijke verkiezing, dat hier een vrijmachtige
     zicken  en gezonden, rijken en  armen,  ongelukkigen die           onderscheiding is, die niet  achter  den mensch  aan komt,
     door iedereen beklaagd, en voorspoedigen die door elk              maar die hem vooruit is; die zich niet door hem  last  be-
     henijd  worden.  De  verscheidenheid,  is eindeloos, en de         palen,  maar die  zelf voor  hem  bepaalt."  (Fernhout,  De
     tegenstellingen zijn niet te tellen.                               Leer der Uitverkiezing, p.  85 ff.)
            "En, zeker, nu laten een deel dier verscheidenheden            bver against this  @ngthy quotation we wish to pre-
     en tegenstellingen  zich verklaren uit het leven en  doen          sent the Pelagian argument that God's decree of pre-
     der menschen zelven.  Zooals  menigeen zijn kracht en              destination leaves no motive for human exertion. What
     gezondheid  middellijk  dankt  aan  zijn zalig en ingetogen        is the meaning of this statement? The meaning is this
     leven,  haalden   tal van anderen door verwaarloozing van          that as soon as we believe in the above quotation, and
     hun lichaam en allerlei uitspattingen zich ziekte en zwak-         as soon as we posit that the end and destiny of all men
     heid  op den hals. Terwijl de een door ijver en  nauwge-           is firmly decreed without respect to the merits or
     zetheid vooruit  kwam in de wereld, was  Be ander door             demerits of  meri in this life, that then there is no man
     luiheid of slordigheid de bewerker van eigen  achteruit-           1.&ft who has any reason for acting as he chooses. For if
     gang en  arnioe, enz.                                              his end is fixed and his environment is ready for him at
            "Tech  hoeft  ge nog geen leven als dat van  Methusa-       birth, that it then makes no difference how he  choose>
     lem   achter  den rug te hebben,  om'te  weten,  dat oorzaak       for good or evil, his actions  ivill in no wise  be able to
     en gevolg hier lang niet altoos met ijzeren schakels  aan          affect God's fixed end and destiny for him.
     elkaar verbonden zijn. Van twee menschen, die hetzelfde               It is to be seen at a glance `that this kind of argu-
     `en die het ook precies eender  doen,(  ?) is bij den  een de      mentation is based upon a Pelagian view of the  free
     uitkomst slag op  slag geheel anders en soms een  vlak             agency of man, has no regard for the organic solidarity
     tegenovergestelde dan bij den ander. Daar .merkt  ge dan           of the human race, is a product of the Pelagian's deistic
     een goddelijke verkiezing : een vrijmachtige goddelijke            view of God., man, the world and life, and proceeds from
     onderscheiding in, die bij den een beschikt wat ze bij den         an erroneous view of the effects of Adam's fall into sin.
     ander onthoudt, die bij den  een  afwendt wat ze  _bij den            It is nonsensical to make the statement that man's
     ander doet komen.                                                  choosing does not stand connected with  his  end and
            "Denk b.v. eens  aan allerlei verschil  d&  sarhenhangt     destiny. This is what the  Pelagian  argument virtually
     met onze geboorte.                                                 amounts to. For  it3n  princ:ple  means to say that man,
            "Of we geboren zouden  worden' uit deze of uit die          act as he will, really need not weigh motives and proceed
     ouders, in dezen-  of in dien levenskring, in een hoogeren         cautiously, since this acting of his does not in any way .
     of in een  lager& stand, in rijkdom of in armoe. Of we             stand related to the end which he shall reach.
     geboren zouden worden  als jongen of als meisje, met een              How often have we not heard this  old Pelagian  argu-
     sterk of met een zwak gestel, met rijke talenten  van ver-         ment uttered in the past few months by so-called Re-
     stand en gemoed, of met een armelijken'geestesaanleg;              formed people ? If everything is fixed anyway, what is
     met normale  vermogens, of als idioot ; met kostelijke nei-        the use of preaching and teaching and of church-services
     gingen en karakter eigenschappen, of met een zwarc                 and Christian instruction and a thousand other things?
     erfelijke belasting  -`- het  zijn altemaal  dingen  waarin        Then it does not matter whether I murder or  eat -or
     wijzelven in  geen  enkel opzicht ook  maar iets beslissen,        whether I help the needy s:nce the end is fixed anyway!
     maar waarin onze God vrijmachtig besliste over ons.                Thus we hear many speak over and over again.
            "En  nu  weten  we wel, dat al wat we daar noemden             -Such language. means nothing else than a denial  of
     nog niet beslist over de uitkomst van  ens leven.  Of-             the Biblical view of predestination. And those who speak
     schoon,  bij hoe menigeen deed het dat  wel.  Voor hoe             this language are free-will-drivers, usually dressed in  a
     menigeen werd zijn bloedsmenging, zijn temperament, de             Reformed garb and bearing a Reformed name.
*    een of  ander  aangeboren sterke neiging, werden  zelfs               Odd it is, they say, that we cannot see that we are
     bloat  uitwendigc  dingen, als gezondheid of ziekelijkheid,        taking  &ay all motive for human exertion and that
     rijkdom  of armoede, de strik ten verderve.                        God's decree and man's free will are like a double-track
            "T>och daar zijn nog  ander6  verschillen, en  die, naar    railway.  \Vhy, their argument is so axiomatic, so  self,
     den samenhang tusschen oorzaak en  gevolg,  we1  dege-             evident that he who runs may read it!
     lijk rechtstreeks samenhangcn met onze lotsbestcmming.                 Hut their argument proceeds from the PelagIan  view
      Hoeveel   hangt  er middellijk  voor onze bchbudenis niet         of the free agency of man. Only by such people is the


                                          T H E - S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                         .. .              121

   argument presented. So many people are possessed by            never loses his free will nor his, reasons for choosing
   this Pelagian idea that they are ready to call us blind        and acting as he does, bur while he chooses and acts he
   leaders of the blind, unworthy to fill the offices of the      is acting in perfect self-dependence, and wirhout being
   Church, thoroughly bigoted and preachers of monstrous          the victim of Fate.
   conceptions of God. Do they really think us so incon-             Further, the Pelagian should remember that God is
   sistent that we preach one thing and live another? Do just and  sccure'Ips  the' rational and  morrJ   charac.teristics of
   they not see that even when matters of earthly life are        ~nun when he treats mankind as one grand organic whole
   concerned we certainly act as people having motives for        upon which He visits the sin of  mankmd and punishes
   our human exertions and activities? For God's pre-, mankind with temporal punishment in the historical devel-
   destination certainly touches our earthly life as well  as     opment through which it passes.  adam was under the un-
' theirs. And we are charitable enough to allow that they         changeable decree of God, yet God proceeds to teach men
   know that our whole earthly existence is undeniably            in the punishments which He sends to the whole human
   linked up with God's decree.  And-we  beg to have it race, that there is every reason in the world.for well-moti-
   known once for all that we too realize that in earthly         sated human exertion. Every temporal punishment is a
   and natural matters as well as in matters of religion it       sermon from God Himself that Adam had the wrong mo-
   is God's guarding and controlling hand which regulates tive when he ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of
   and determines all. But we hope that they realize that good and' evil. The very fact that some men are born in
   God by His Providence provides the means for the reali-        poor circumstances and others in wealth is a silent lesson
   zation of His eternal unchangeable decree. And not from God that man has every reason to choose for the
   only does He provide the means, but He also supplies           good and to reject the evil. For God not only treats man-
   the directive force which these means shall have in the        kind to His covenant love, but he also allows it to share in
   lives of men. And onescategory  of means which must be         His covenant curse. The very environment in which men
   mentioned  .here is the sum total of all human motives         are born is a preaching of God that men have every rca-
   which exert  infiuence  in the life of mankind. No we are      son in the world for God-glorifying service. Even the
   not such people who claim that only' in matters of             lazy man who wanders about in poverty, in sickness and
   religion and salvation God's decree is operative. We           distress, has in his very poverty and sickness a Divine
   assert equally strong that in business enterprises God's       warning that God treats and deals with men according to
   decree is operative using our motives, for engaging in         the rule which He has laid down for rhe life of men.
   business enterprises which have our hopes and interests        And that transgressing of that rule means ruin. God
   enlisted, for the realization of His decree.                   thus deals with mankind because in His decree it was
      No, only free-will people object to the Biblical uncon-     fixed that there should be a covenant relationship between
   ditional predestination. They would  make it appear as         God and man.
   if we teach that if men walk on the ocean steamer of              The situation is really the very opposite from the
   life, that men-have no ability, at least no good reasons,      Pelagian's view of the matter. Not God's decree removes
   for walking to the starboard and larboard side, since after    all motive from human exertion but God's decree encour-
   all, men are being carried to their destination by forces      ages effort instead of discouraging motivated human
   beyond their control. As if we teach that when the ship        exertion. The fact that in God's decree a responsible
   catches fire, men have no good reason for fleeing from         mankind is  ro be dealt with precludes the now' oft
    destruction, since the vessel is doomed for destruction       repeated Pelagian argument. Belief in God's plan that
    anyway and all men crowded on her decks with her. -           faith shall bring eternal life incites to courageous and
       Who ever heard us say, teach or act as if God's decree     persevering effort. And when God's Word is heeded no
    of predestination makes men like unto a vase of gold-         earnest faith seeking soul need hesitate about what kind
    fish which God carries about and because of His decree         of effort to bring forth. God's Word will in this prove
    restrains the fish from moving about unrestrainedly?           to be a lamp unto his feet and a light upon his pathway.
       Our globe takes us with it, as it rushes around the            Even the elect may come to realize the importance
    sun, yet have we taught and does the Bible teach us that       of human exertion. Our Confessional Standards cer-
    this fact should stop us from our ordinary work?  No,*         tainly make it clear thar man is not-saved as an irra-
    we confess that God's plan and man's effort are equally        tional block of wood or stone. Nor is it immaterial to
    in harmony.    But these must be correctly related and         God how the elect live in this life. Every elect person
    understood.    God's plan is not coordinate with human         is cautioned to-show his light unro men, that men may
    motives for  activi6es, but the latter are subordinate to      see his good works. Nor are the elect saved against their
    the former. The latter are a category of means for the         will. By no means ! But God inff uences the will, so that
    accomplishinent  of the former. Let it be understood           through the willing of the elect persons God brings sal-
    once for all that human motives are only a small part of       vation. Nor is it a matter of indifference as to how the
    the various means by which God realizes his eternal            elect live. The law of human responsibility shall even
    decree. Then it will be understood that man's free will        have its say when in the future God distributes the
    is  ,not next to God's good pleasure, but under the latter     inheritances of glory to His own.
    and entirely under its Divine and just control. And man           The idea so often mentioned of late that some men


            122                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  .I
            -___ ^--.                                   .._ _llll_l".---                                                              -_._
            are willing ro be saved and nevertheless must be lost and        fied by the doctrine of reprobation, who, though they
            be punished as a reprobate is preposterous. This is              seriously desire to be turned to God, to please him only,
            really a devilish  .idea.                                        and to be delivered from the body of death, cannot yet
                   kZnd the Scriptures likewise teach us the diligent use    reach that measure of holiness and faith to which they
            of means. Yes, even in  &is the  decree  of God is the           aspire; since a merciful God has promised that He-will
     I      foundation upon which such amexhortation  can be based. not quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed.
            For if it were not firmly decreed rhat by means of this          But this doctrine is justly terrible to rhose, who, regard-
            exhortation God shall realize this decree there would be         less of God and the Savior Jesus Christ, have wholly
          * no motive for  hum,an  exertion. If all men knew whether         given themselves  up- to the cares of the world, and  the
            they were elect or reprobate this would be different. Rut        pleasures of the flesh, so long as they are not-seriously
            rhis is not known. The hardesr  heai-t is sometimes broken       converted to God."
            in the hour of death. No, man  have not God's decree                                                                  B. J.  1).
            for their rule unto life, but God's clearly revealed law.
           i1nd that revealed law is a rule for life only because God           " `Tis Thine alone to calm the pious breast
            has decreed it to be such for those who do the things                With silent confidence and holy rest;
           of fhe law, and has determined eternal punishment who                From Thee, great God.! we spring-to Thee we tend,
            make the existence of Gods' decree a reason for their               Path, Motive, Guide, Original, and End."
           sloth and indolence.                                                                                             - J o h n s o n .
                   Paul makes a brilliant declaration of  &d's purpose
           and human motives when in  -4cts   27~22, 21 and 31 he
           says : "There shall be no life among you, . . . . for God
           hath granted thee all them thar sail with thee.. . .  (hut                         HUN  WELBEHAGEN
            with) . . except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be
           saved."       Likewise his statement  ,in Phil.  2:13, 13 is        Dat God de HEERE `t welbehagen doet,
           significant : "work out your own salvation with fear and .- Den wensch vervult,  dergenen die Hem vreezen,
           trembling, for it is,God  that worketh in you both to will                                                   r ( P s .  
                                                                                                                                         145:19aj
           and to work, for His good pleasure." Another significant            Is immer  - zelfs in (schijnb'ren) tegenspoed  -
           text is  E$h.   2:lO: `%Ve are His workmanship, created in        .\l d' eeuwen door  op  `t luisterrijkst bewezcn;
           Christ Jesus for good works, which God  afore prepared              Zij die hun God geloofden op Zijn woord -
           that we should ~a-% in them."'                                      Zij  bonden  Hem daaraan, en bouwden  voort.
               This whole argument of the' Pelagians rests upon
           their theory that the decree of God depends upon the ful-           Jeruzalems ommuring, - in verval  ;            '  -
           fillment or non-fulfillment of  a certain condition. This         Gebeukt door  stormrammei  van  `s  vijands   benden   ----?
           condition is that those men who qse the light from nature           Wordt door Gods volk - schoon  zwak, e; klein in tal-
           aright, are pious, humble, meek, and fit for eternal life         Hersteld, en  "t volk ontheven van ellenden:
           are elected by God unto eternal life. No, election is not           God brengt den wensch  Nehefiia's tot stand.
           dependent  bn these works but produces- them. And if a              Koe Eel de vijand  zich daartegen,  kant.
           man does not use the light of  nat&e  aright  and is not
           pious, humble, meek and unfit for eternal life he  shaI1            En  zouden  wij dan vreezen, als Gods  Recht
           be reprobated unto eternal damnation.  .4s though repro-          En Vrijmacht wordt verkleind ; Zijn woord verwrongcn :
           bation in God's decree is dependent upon these condi-               Men `t hier besnoeit, - en daar wat tusschen hecht,
           tions? No, the non-fulfillment of the condition is a means Tot gansch de Schrift  van leugen blijkt doordrongen  . . i!
           whereby reprobation becomes evident,                      II        Neen,  driewerf neen ! : dan bidden wij, dat God
               ,And who would think of claiming that the Reformed              `De werkers van die gruweldaan bcspott'!
           view of predestination excludes all motive for human
           efiort  when he reads such a testimony as  t-he following           Als "valschelijk-genaamde wetenschap"
           one from the First Head of Doctrine in the Canons of C>ns bant, - van daar ons Christus, onzen  Kcining,
           Dordt,  .4rt.  16? "Those who do not yet experience a               `Bevestigd had -, opdat voorts zotteklap
           liv<ly faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, `pence Weergalm' door  d'-eertijds-God-gewijde woning,
           of conscience, an earnest endeavor after filial obedience,          `Dan bidden wij, dat God, zoo Trouw als  Goed,
           and glorying in God rhrough Christ, efficaciously wrought           Het welbehagen Zijner Rnechten doet.
i          in them, and do nevertheless persist in the use of the
           means which God hath appointed for working these                    Zoo  baden wij. Zoo hebt ook gij gedaan;
           graces in us, ought not to be alarmed at the .mention of          En nu  -? gij  allen  moet, met ons, getuigen
           reprobation, nor ro rank themselves among the reprobate,            Dat God ons welbehagen heeft verstaan:
           but diligently to persevere in the use of means, and with "Een Huis waarin w' aanbiddend voor Hem buigen"
           ardent desires, devoutly and humbly to wait for a season            Was aller wensch;  - de HEERE heeft verhoord,
           of richer  `grace. Much less cause have  they to be  terri-         En  - naar ZIJN WIL - heeft niemand ons gestoord!


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            123
_-                  ..-
      Want God is Isr'el  Goed, -- in al Zijn Werk!                  a new parsonage was ready for occupancy hnd eight
Wanneer HIJ' Werkt  - wie is `t die Hem zal keeren . . ?!            months after organization a church building  was ready
      De HEE,RE  stelt die spotters paal  en perk                    to be used for God's cause.
En laat niet toe dat zij ons overheeren !                               From March to Thanksgiving Day in November, 1925
      Looft, Prijst, Aanbidt en Dankt dan Gods Gena                  services had been held in the Town Hall of Hull. Rut
      In dit Zijn Huis, met blij Hallelujah!                         such a hall does not create the  correct  atmosphere for
                                                                     services of  Crod and the congregation rejoiced when she
      Versaagt niet, als de weerpartij u hoont,                      could have services in a church building.
Doch bidt voor haar ! Met God kan niets  u deren.                       On  Th`anskgiving  Day the pastor of Hull's congrega-
      Gedenkt, dat God "naar werken" straft, en  loont,              tion, therefore, had a double duty to perform. First of  i
En, dat Zijn woord nooit ledig weer zal keeren!                      all, preach a sermon appropriate for the expression of
      Schdon  zich de  zor~ verberge voor  een wijl'  -              the congregation's gratitude for the abundance of crops
      Treedt  moedig voort, en ziet des HEEREN Heil!                 and secondly, for rhe privilege which the congregation
                                                                     had in being seated in a splendid new church building.
      Bidt  voor Gods Knecht, dien  Hij u, op uw  wensch,            For this occasion the pastor used as his text, Ps.  50:14,
Gezonden heeft in dit uw Kerkgenootschap!                            23: "Sacrifice to God thanksgiving, and so pay unto the
      Schoon  Dienstknecht Gods  - hij is (als gij) een              Most High thy vows.  Whoso  offereth praise shall  hon-
                                                    "mensch"  ;      our  M$e, and prepare a way that I may shew- him rhe
Beveelt hem God, opdat hij u de Boodschap                            salvation of God."
      Met blijdschap breng': dat daar vergiffenis                       But at that time it was already announced that the
      In het Verzoenend Bloed van  Christus is!                      actual dedicatory services were to be held later on. For
                                                                     that purpose the Revs. H. `Danhof, H. Hoeksema and G.
      .En voorts, Gemeente ! onderzoekt  gestaag                     M. Ophoff were invited. Wednesday, December 3, 1925.
En biddend `s Heeren woord ! Dat zal u baten                         was set aside  as the day on which these services should
      Tot eigen-zielevrees, en ook: wat laag                         be held. Because of various and manifold duties it was
U wordt gelegd  do&- snoode onverlaten  -                            doubtful whether these pastors would be able to come,
      `Het geeft u, door des Heeren Geest geleerd,                   but they agreeably surprised the congregation of Hull
      Zelfs  macht  dat gij des duivels pijlen weert!                by sending a telegram to  Hull announcing that they
                                *****                                would make the trip to Hull by automobile and expected
      Eerlang, bij `t slaan der  laatste  Godsbazuin,                to start on their trip on the morning of  D-ecember   1,
- Als Christus alle dingen Nieuw zal maken -,                        1925.    Revs. Hoeksema and Ophoff and Mr.  `S.  G.
      Wordt  obk dit Huis verbrand, en valt in puin;                 Schaafsma boarded the latter's automobile at 7 A. M. on
Maar zij, die hier  voor d' Eer' des HEEREN waken,                   Monday morning and traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan,
      Betrekken dan hun Huis, door God gemaakt,                      where they were to meet Rev.  H. Danhof. The weather
      Waar eeuwig Zijn nabijheid w.ordt,  gesmaakt ! -               was excellent and the roads  were good on that first lap
                                                  B .   A .   H .    of their trip to Hull for they arrived at Freeport, Illi-
                                                                     nois, on Monday evening, and that withotit  any mishap.
                                                                     At  Freeport  they stopped for the night and after obtain-
            DEDICATORY SERVICES AT HULL                              ing lodging quarters. they slumbered peacefully. The
                                                                     next morning they left Freeport, hoping to reach Hull
                           -December 3,  1925-                       before midnight. But they encountered some bad roads
                                                                     near `Galena, Illinois, and some very high hills around
       On Thanksgiving Day afternoon of the past yeai, the           Dubuque,  Iowa.  However, Mr. Schaafsma proved to be
 members of the newly organized Protesting Christian                 a good driver when at 6 P. M. he rolled his ministers qf
 Reformed Church at Hull,  Iowa,  held services for the              Protesting congregations onto the paved streets of Mason
 first time in their new church building.  Wifhout  ques-            City, Iowa, about 150 miles east of Hull. From Mason
 tion, every member had abundant reasons for grateful-               City Rev. Hoeksema notified Hull's pastor that they  ex-'
 ness on that day. For God had not only returned pros- petted  to arrive in Hull about midnight. But in this they
 perity to them gradually in a material way, but He had              failed, for they did not reach Hull until 2:30 A. M. Wed-
 also given them the privilege of sitting under their own            nesday morning. Here they found'Mr. and Mrs. Brummel
 church roof and that a new one. In fact the  congrcga-              waiting to provide lodgirig  fotRev:  Hoeksema and Mr.
 tion revealed eagerness  to thank the Lord.                         Schaafsma while Rev. H. Danhof and Rev. Ophoff soon
        For  what had happened?                                      slumbered in dreamland in the new parsonage in Hull.
       This had happened.         In March, 1925, thirty-seven           On Wednesday afternoon at 1 o'clock all three were
 families had left the Christian Reformed congregation at            ready to take their part in the dedicatory services. Rev.
 Hull and were organized by the Rev. Herman Hoeksema                 H. Danhof.was asked to preach the dedicatory sermon in
 of Grand Rapids, Michigan, into a Protesting Christian              the Holland language. He was, for that reason, the first
 Reformed Church. .4nd after the passing of five months              speaker. He preached an excellent  sermbn on the words


                                   .
  124                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R              .._
  from Revelation 21: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is know that the church building is 76 feet long and 443 feet
  with man." For fully ninety minutes this text was             wide, (having a tower 12 feet long and 12 feet wide and
  expounded, clarified and applied. Thereupon Rev. Ophoff 60 feet high) having a seating capacity of  350. And
 addressed the audience in the English language, urging         although the congregation does not need all this seating
 th"e audience to act as God's party in the world, to use       room at the present time, it is hoped that in a very short
 the new church building to reflect that the congregation       time all the available space will be needed. And there
 of Jesus Christ is the light of the world and the salt of      are many reasons for believing that that day is not far
 the earth, showing the audience that such is covenant          hence. The congregation began with 37 families and 187
  calling. It was  ,5 P. M. when Rev. Ophoff finished his souls and today numbers 50 families and 260 souls. The
 lecture and time was given the audience until 7:30 P. M.       day will not be far in the future if by God's grace and
`Refreshments were provided in the basement of the              blessing, Hull has an annual remembrance of December
 church.                                                        3: 192.5.
    At  7:30 P. M. the services were continued. After the               But only when God's cause remains at stake for the
 usual -opening ceremonies Hull's pastor used a few             congregation and His Name receives the praise.
 moments to thank all those who-had labored diligently in          Soli Deo Gloria !
 the speedy erection of the parsonage and church building.              But,next  to God such men as Revs. Danhof,  Hoek-
 Hereupon Rev. Hoeksema was given the floor. He                 sema and Ophoff deserve thanks. Their interest in Hull  '
 addressed the audience for ninety minutes on Classical         was clearly shown in their willingness to come and go
 Hierarchy in the HolIand  language, pointing out that the      from Hull under trying conditions, especially on their
 new church building served as a protest against the hier-      return to Michigan, when for the sake of good roads they
 archical activities of Classes, Grand Rapids East and          were forced to pass from Waterloo, Iowa, to Madison,
 West. Furthermore he pointed out in his own masterful          Wisconsin, and thdn preach for their own congregations'
 and spirited manner that  Jesus  Christ sets in office and     on Sunday, one, two, and at least one, four  times?  after
 expels from  &ice in the Christian Churches. The action        they have arrived home on Saturday evening at 11 P. M.              '
 of the Synod of 1924 was briefly reviewed and compared            Many thanks, brethren ! It shall not be forgotten!
 with the ousting proceedings of the two afore mentioned                                                           B. J. D.
 Classes.    Further, Rev. Hoeksema begged anyone to
 notify the professors Berkhof, Volbeda and Bouma that
 he was willing to debate with all three of them on such          HOE VER DE GEREFORMEERDE HERAUT
 matters as  be had presented to the audience. Further,                              VERPOLITIEKTE
 he asked whether anyone in the audience had questions
 to ask or remarks to make upon any utterance or idea of           De "Heraut voor de Gereformeerde Kerken  in Neder-
 his lecture. No one responded. Then Rev. Hoeksema              land" had in haar nummer van Zondag, 25 October.l 1925,
' asked whether silence on the part of the audience meant       een artikel yan de hand des hoofdredakteurs Prof. Dr. 11.
 agreement with him  ?. Then he stated that he would            H.  Kuyper,  dat op ontwijfelbare wijze voor ieder, die  de
 take such for granted.                                         Heilige  Schrift  eenigszins heeft  leeren  verstaan, in haar
    Rev. Hoeksema had every reason to make these last           Goddelijke leering en wijsheid; en die iets afweet door
 statements for some of his avowed enemies were in the          bladen van verschillende  richting  en uit verschillende
 audience which in the evening filled the  ,new  church         landcn van de politieke en diplomatieke valschheden der
 building. There were representatives from many sur-            Europeesche  en  Internationale  staatsliedeh, het bewijs
 rounding towns, such as Sibley,  Doon, Rock Valley, gaf, hoezeer o. i.  bet-lijfblad van wijlen Dr. A. Kuyper
 Sioux Center, Sheldon,  Boyden and Middelburg.                 verpolitiekt is geworden en kleurenblind voor de  lijnen
    Hull's pastor thanked the audiehce  for the interest  it    en lessen der  Schriftuur,.die voor de  daden van de  ge-
 had revealed in the new congregation after Rev.  Hoek-         weldhebbers dezer wereld en dezer eeuw minder amikaal
 sema had finished his `spirited lecture, also thanked the      en waardeerend "uitgestippeld"  zijn dan de editorials
 three  speakers for their interest and work. These three       van de "leidende'" bladen der Gereformeerden die aange-
 ministers certainly made the dedicatory services of Hull's     ven.
 new church building a marked success. .4nd the congre-            Het artikel van Dr.  -H.  H.  K. behelsde een  hoogge-
 gation of Hull has  secfetly and silently thanked God for      stemd  loflied  op de  - eenigen tijd  nu  geleden   - te
 such men. The question is.asked very often now : Did           Locarnb  in Z,witserland  tot stand gekomen schikking tus-
 such men have to be ousted  ?  *And  not only members          schen de Geallieerden van de oorlogsrampjaren  1914
 from Hull's church ask this question, but many others          1918 en hun overwonnen doch nog steeds, door Frankrijk             I.
 who still belong to the Christian Reformed Church have         vooral, gevreesde vijand Duitschland  ; welke  overeen-
 revealed that they do not understand why these men had         komst;  die de beveiliging van Frankrijk tegen een  Duit-
 to be ousted and then in such a manner as  Rev.  Hoek-         schen aanval en de rust van West-Europa tot doelwit had,
 sema explained to the audience on that evening.                zoo het heette, door de Mammonistische wereldpers  uit-
    Very many visitors expressed surprise at the size and       bundig  werd geprezen.
 construction of the new building. They were eager to .            Prof.  II. II. K. schreef Ietterlijk:  "Onze  Hciland  heeft


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                                                                                                             `;,- ;:y :.     `. .I
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               128                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D B E A R E R
               ____--  .-.._ -_-- ..-                             -.-                                                                                                     -
                                   AN INTRODUCTION                              the Lily of the valley;" the animal kingdom shows forth
                                                   .                            His strength and sacrifice, for "He is the Lion of the
                      A distinctive feature of our present age is the love      tribe of Judah, and the Lamb of God which taketh away
               for a grand and beautiful scenery. All the world enjoys          the sin of the  worId." The Sun declares His glory, for
               to see a  beautiful  landscape. Nature is loved for her          "He is the Sun of Righteousness;" the stars proclaim
               !!I? sake, apart from all her uses to man.         Not only      His effulgence, for "He is the bright and morning Star."
               artist;  atid.  painters, but society as a whole, recognizes
         .f..'  ,,                                                                     The writers of the Word of God possessed an open
               the picturesqueness of its waste places. A  moun@in is           eye for the greatness of God in nature. Animals and
               tie more a huge lump of earth, stone or rock-water is           plants, stars and the open sea, are used by them to por-
               no longer a means to satisfy the thirst of man and beast.        tray the way of salvation which is in Jesus Christ. The
               These things are beginning to display to the  human              types of the 0. T. are abundant revelations of God also
               mind the greatness of the Divine Creator. The volcano           in the world of nature. They were all used to portray
               is  no longer considered only terrible, but displays the        a spiritual lesson unto the Covenant people of God. Jesus
               wisdom and greatness of God below `the earth's surface          shed light not only upon the Bible, but also upon nature;
               upon which we as -human beings tread.                           He proved that every natural fact is a  symbol of some
         eI           Nature is attaining a wide-spread appreciation. It is spiritual fact; that every object of creation is the shadow
               considered no Ionger as a mere frame-work of circum-            of some important moral truth. May we also as His
               stances which, are uncontrolable,  but forms a system `of       followqrs  make an attempt to magnify God in Creation,
               types and symbols for the education of the mind of man.         and may we use to that end the Word of God as our
               Religion has a great role to fulfill. For'  cknturies this      source book.                                                 _
               field of Christian theology has been neglected.  - The                                                                 R A L P H   D A N H O F .
               mighty parable of  t&e earth  was not investigated, but
               was relegated to the unknown. The manifold forms and
               h&%  Of the creation of God were not means to magnify                                  POR THE NEW  `YEAR  1                           +*-,-  .:,  -.:
               the greatness of the divine Creator. It was  forgoLten                                 ,`.
               that the Word of God speaks to us of the tree, the beast,:: "I see not a step before me as I tread the days of the year,
  . .          the flower, and the dew-drop. Nothing of the greatness* But the past is still in God's keeping,  the  future  Ifis
-21 7," of God in nature was made known unto the mind of rnw.                            mercy shall clear;                                                         .~
                                                                                                                                                               .,::.-$
,- :,;-,li,`r!&e. image of God in the green herb and in the d&p &nd what looks dark in the distance may brighte$&  I
                                                                               "  1
                                                                                 .I
         :' `&sources of the earth and-sea were never spoken of.                         draw  hear."
               The  ckIestica1  types and hieroglyphics with which the
               face of the earth is covered were no longer read.  `Khe         "For "perhaps the dreaded future has less bitterness than
               Bible discloses all this to us, and a study of these maiii-               I think;
               festations of God in nature and their symbolical meaning        The Lord may sweeten the water before I shall stoop to
               will not be fruitless. The Wprd of God is irideed great                   drink,
               as a teacher for the children of God to make them  wis,e Or if  Marah must be  Marah,  He  -will'stand  beside its
               unto salvation, but it also reveals unto us the spiritual                 brink."
               source of the physical world which the author of divine                                       so****
               word made. The miracles of the Bible, and they  tie             "So I go on not knowing, I would not if I might;
               many, are not only emblems of power in the spiritual            I would  ratler walk-on in the dark with God, than go  *'
               world, but also exponents of the miracles of nature. All                  alone in the light;
               creation is a wonder; but it needs other wonders to             I would rather walk with Him by faith than walk alone
               reveal it to our careless eyes and insensible hearts. We                  by sight."  '
               are in need' bf the multiplication of the loaves and fishes
               at  Capernaum,  to  explain to us the inystery'of the har-      "My heart shrinks back from trials, which the future may
               vest of the land and's'ea. W'e are in need of the calming                 disclose,
               of the stormy waters of Gennesaret to satisfy its  &at          Yet I never had a sorrow, but what the dear Lord chose;
               the powers  of- nature-which seem so arbitrary  and             So I send the coming tears back, with the whispered
               destructive and so purely physical-are held in leash by                   word, `He  knows.`.->'
               Him who maintains the circulation of the elements of
               nature.
                      The world is full of types and symbols to portray                   "The good man suffers but to gain,
                 e greatness of God. In the small blade  of grass, in                      And every virtue springs from pain ;
                 e smallest insect that lives the  magnificance  of God                   As aromatic plants bestow
               is displayed. The mineral kingdom reveals the stability                     No spicy fragrance while they grow;
               of our God, for  `<He is  our Rock of salvation,"-the                       But crushed or trodden to the ground,
               Foundation of our Hope ;-the vegetable kingdom.                             DlTfuse  their balmy sweets around."
               exhibits His beauty, for, "He is the Rose of Sharon and                                                                           --Goldsmith.


