342                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          s
               .-.-. ".." ...__."  ._____ "..___                         __-------  --.--.. -..- _.__-_
     Werkstaking, boycott, closed shop en wat dies meer                eral among them that call themselves the people  of
zij,  worden  in eene Christelijke werkliedenvereeniging God ; and that, the more worldly-minded people  become
zelfs niet genoemd.                                                    the more they indulge in card-playing, should be a
     Zeg niet, dat dit lijdelijk toezien beteekent.                    warning to us not too readily draw the conclusion that
     Het tegendeel is waar.                                            the card-game is not sinful.
     Het beteekent juist de allerhoogste inspanning des                   How.ever,  our young men desire  a motivated  an-
geloofs. Wet is u&e in den hoogsten zin des woords. wer.
     Het wil zeggen, dat we ook op het  terrein  van den                  The question is: why is the card-game either right
arbeid, in de zaak van Christus, niet alleen in Hem ge- or wrong? If it is to be condemned, which are the
loov.en,  maar uit genade ook met Hem willen lijden.                   grounds ? If it is to be justified, how can it be?
     Het is juist zulk een alles van ons eischende actie                  But in that form the question has been answered
des geloofs, dat ik  niet  ,verwacht,  dat in  onzen tijd in various ways.
velen zich zouden laten vinden voor zulk eene  vereeni-                   A very general answer has always been, that the
ging van werklieden.                                                   card-game is a game of chance, and that, on that
     En tech leeft men dan juist ter eere Gods en strijdt ground it is to be condemned.
men met de wapenrusting Gods.                                             Distinction is made between games of skill and
                                                             H. H.     games of chance. The former are justified, the latter
                                                                       are condemned. The reason why the latter are con-
                                                                       ceived of as sinful is that it involves an appeal to the
                                                                       providence of God in trivial matters, constitutes a
                          On Card Playing                              tempting of- God and is, therefore, profane.
                                                                          Thus Dr. A. Kuyper,  E Voto, I, 218, 219:
     From the Young Men's Society of the First Prot.                     "Hence, the licentious and unbridled lust that causes
Ref. Church of Grand Rapids the question came to us:                   man to become entangled in the meshes of the game.
"What should be the Christian's attitude toward card Courageously and with determination our fathers have
playing  ?"                                                            always opposed all games of chance. They had nothing
     The question  ,had been discussed in one of their against all such exercises that required mental  acumeu,
meetings, but no definite conclusion had been- reached. bodily strength and ability such as chess, checker, and
Hence, it was decided to send the question to the editor bowling; but especially against the card-game they set
of the Standard Bearer.                                                themselves implacably., And correctly so. Not, in-
     The Standard Bearer will gladly make an attempt deed, as if there were an evil element in the cards
to answer this question.                                               themselves. To imagine this were not faith but super-
     It is an old one.                                                 stition. No, but because man takes pleasure in blind
     Christians have frequently asked this question in chance, however the shaken cards chance to be dis-
the past.                                                              tributed, and rejoices in depending upon that blind
     And various answers have been given, although fate. If one allows his children to become accustomed
generally speaking free indulgence in the amusement to this and develops the habit himself, one strengthens
of card playing was usually condemned. God's people, thereby the sinful inclination of his heart and without
the more serious and spiritual among them, usually noticing it breaks down his own faith. The evil of the
shunned the cardtable. Even though they could not card-game, therefore, is not only to be sought in play-
always give account of their attitude toward the game ing for money, but emphatically in the fact that one
of cards in its various forms, yet they felt that a Chris-            causes his chance to depend on mere fate or fortune."
tian playing cards is a contradiction in terms. And not                   This was also the standpoint of the Committee on
a few evinced even a fear of the card-game which                       Worldly Amusements,  that reported on the Synod of
amounted to superstition.                                             the Christian Reformed Churches, Holland, 1928. We
     This general attitude of the people of God in the                r.ead,  Agenda, 1, 42, 43:
past, though it was often unmotivated, should have                        `That it is surely wrong for any player to admit
something to say to us, should warn us to be cautious the existence of chance, fortune or luck and to trust
not too easily to assume the attitude that card-playing in this nonentity, this imaginary power, for a decision
is to be justified.                                                   in his favor. For we know that as a matter of fact or
     The  v.ery  fact, that the more serious minded of the reality there is no such thing as chance. In the place
people of God were always averse to  this game, is signi- of what men call chance is the living God omnipresent
ficant.                                                                and omniscient. He who trusts in chance commits
s    And the equally evident fact, that in times like our idolatry ; he substitutes a false god for the only true
own, which is characterized by superficiality, lack of and living God.
spirituality, want of knowledge of the truth and                          "But suppose the player, instead of believing and
worldly-mindedness, card-playing becomes rather gen- trusting in chance, acknowledges that God in his


                                            ,,                  . . .           :                       .     .
                                                                                                   .

                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE'R                                                               $43
 I___ .--- --.- _.._....  "...                                           -.                                        --.-. -..-.."-.-...ll__
providence directs the course and outcome of the
 game ? We answer :                                                                  The Missionary Task Of Our
     `That it is sinful according to the teaching of God's                                      Churches
  Word to call in the special providence  of God for trivial
  reasom.     We do not say that the calling in of special                             II. Three Significant Passages
  divine providence, that is of divine direction apart from               When I wrote the first article of this series some
 the employment of our own ingenuity, for.ethought  or time ago I failed to mention that it was not my inten-
  effort, is always morally wrong. On the contrary, it          tion to publish these articles in immediately successive
 may be an act of faith, which glorifies God. The Bible issues of our  Standard  Bearer. Rather was it my in-
  speaks of it as a casting of the lot. `The lot is cast tention to occasionally write an article, but then so that
  into the lap, but the whole disposal thereof is of each article finally formed an integral part in the de-
 Jehovah'. (Pro. 16 :33). `The lot causeth contentions velopment of the main subject. Let this suffice as ex-
 to cease and parteth between the mighty' (18 :18). But planation for the, in a sense, late appearance of the
  this casting of lots as a solemn appeal to God's provi- second article.
 dence is wrong when done in unbelief or for  trivial
  causes. This is plain from the solemn manner in which
  it was used by the people of God ; plain also in the light              There are chiefly three passages which are fre-
  of a sound Scriptural conception of the connection be- quently quoted in connection with the missionary task
  tween God's providence and the use of means. We have of Christ's church in the midst of the world. Everyone
  no right to ask God to guide and direct or to help us         of us is in a sense very familiar with these quotations,
  by his providence apart from our use of the means or-         for they are often made - if not so often within the
 dnined by Him -- except in exceptiona  circumstances, circIe of our own churches, very often in the circle of
 when ordinary means fail us. If we do this, we are churches of some other denominations. Undoubtedly
 tempting God and abusing his providence."                      each one of these passages is but a separate version of
     It is indeed, worth while to investigate whether this the `same command, a command, however, which was
  ground wil stand and whether the general distinction very likely repeated on different occasions by Christ
will hold, that we are justified in playing games of skill during the forty day period of his appearance after
  and mental acumen, while games of chance must be his resurrection and prior to his ascension. Repeated,
 condemned.                                                     I should say, to emphasize the'task in the minds of the
     It may be remarked, that although this distinction eleven. The passages to which I refer are Matt. 28:
  is rather generally held by Reformed Theologians, yet 19, 20, which is also perhaps the most well-known, "Go
  there were some among them that did not consider this         ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
  distinction valid.                                            the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
                                                   H. H.        Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
                                                                I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway,
                                                                even unto the end of-the world. Amen"; Mark 16:15,
                                                                16, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world,
                                                                and preach the gospel unto every creature. He that be-
                        BEEENDMAKING                            lieveth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that  be-
     Het Curatorium der Theologische School onzer lieveth not shall be damned"; Luke 24 :45-47,  "Then
  Kerken hoopt,  D. V., te vergaderen in het Oskaloosa opened he their understanding, that they might under-
 Protestants&e Gereformeerde Kerkgebouw (515 Third stand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is
  Ave., East) den 5den Juni, 1934, om half vier des na- written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to
  middags.                                                      rise from the dead the third day ; and that repentance
     Op deze vergadering  zal  gelegenheid  bestaan om and  ltemission  of sins should be preached in his name
  zich aan te melden om opgenomen te worden  ds stu- among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." This triad
  dent aan onze School.                                         of passages is often quoted. And although there are
     Adspiranten  worden  er  aan herinnerd, dat men many others that could be used, perhaps these are the
  moet indienen  aan het Curatorium:                            clearest and most readily understood. No matter what
      1. Een bewijs van Iidmaatschap in een Protestant-         the reason may be, however, for their frequent citation,
  sche Gereformeerde Kerk.                                      in this article I wish to use them as the point of de-
     2. Een aanbeveling, eveneens van zijn kerkeraad, parture, being convinced of their weight and utmost
  hem aanbelevende  aan het Curatorium om als student importance for a correct understanding of the mission
  te worden  opgenomen.                                         task of the church in general, as well as of the Prot.
                                                                Ref. Churches in particular.
                   Namens het Curatorium,                                      Notice among other things especially the following
                                       L.  Vermeer,   Seer:     points :


344                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
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       1.  A Command.  Apart from the question what really "mission-work)`. Naturally we do not mean to
the content of the preaching must be, and apart from deny a place to this work on the mission-field. Chris-
the question whose duty it is to preach, it is impossible    tian charity must also be exercised there. But not food
to see ought else in this triad of passage but a com-        for the stomach but the proclamation of God's Word is
@nuti. Christ does not come with an "if you please"          mission-work.    The undue emphasis placed on the
or even with an urgent appeal, but as the Ring of the former often makes me ask whether even churches are
church with a very pointed demand. "Go ye." And              applying the advice given the young woman to gain the
although this "Go ye" is not imperative in the Greek,        love of her husband,  (`The way to a man's heart is
the sense is nevertheless quite clear, for literally trans- through his stomach". Do men actually believe that
lated  Matt.  23:19 reads, "Therefore going teach ye" the way to man's soul is through his stomach? Such
and Mark 16  :15, "Going into all the world preach ye",      seems to be the reason for much of such philanthropy.
which simply means that the going is subservient to To my mind the only reason for Christian philanthropy
the preaching and teaching. Exegetically, therefore, Can be a visible manifestation of the power of a living
we have simply to deal with a very clear injunction.         gospel, even as the miracles that Christ performed
Just as much as "Be ye holy, for I am holy" is of an served as an attestation to the fact that he was indeed
obligatory nature, just so much what is found in these Messiah, the Son of God in the flesh.
passages is of such a nature also. It is a "thou shalt",      s 3. To all creatures.  All these, "all nations",
it is a must. Disobedience to the command "Be ye holy,       `&every creature", "among all nations" give an answer
for I am holy" is personal, disobedience to this com-        to the question, To whom must the gospel be pro-
mand is congregational. But the local congregations claimed? First of all let me remark that these passages
response is therefore an either-or, obedience or dis-        clearly point out that the gospel must be proclaimed
obedience.                                                   promiscuously (although, of course, it is in a positive
    That the missionary task is of such a nature the sense only for the elect). Secondly, you have in the
Prot. Ref. Churches believe as well as any other. It is above named passages a pointed announcement that
sheer mudthrowing when outsiders cast in our teeth the gospel is not only to be proclaimed to the Jews but
that we deny this. As far as I know no Prot. Ref.            also to the Gentiles. The first time the disciples were
leader has ever in any way maintained the opposite.          sent out it had been specifically stated that they are
Besides the official stand of our denomination as ex- to limit themselves to the Jews. But whereas prophecy
pressed in the Mission Report accepted by our  classis       had been fuhilled and the Jews had rejected the Christ,
of Dec. 2 and 3, 1931, proves definitely that we adhere      this rejection of Israel was also according to the inten-
to the obligatory nature of the mission work. (In pass-      tion of God the means by which the wall of partition
ing let me remark that there will be occasion later to       between Jew and Gentile was forever removed. The
quote the entire report as accepted at that time.)           command of Christ made clear that the field of labor
    2. A command to preach the gospel k all its ful- extended further than Palestine proper  - it extended
mess. In the first place notice that the contents of the to the ends of the world. Now the children of the king-
preaching must be the gospel in the full sense of the dom should be gathered from all nations and all climes.
Word. Not a few bare facts, not several isolated mat- Thirdly, everyone must admit that the command of
ters, but the full gospel. This follows from the fact Christ must be conceived of organically. Preaching is
that Luke includes in the preaching "repentance and as a rule to a body of men, to groups, to an audience,
remission of sins", while Matthew further explains           although it also addresses itself to the individual. It
that this preaching is to be a "teaching", and further- is impossible to conclude from "all nations," "every
more a teaching of "all things whatsoever I have com-        creature", "among all nations" that it is God's inten-
manded you" ! That latter certainly is not a gospel on tion that every individual shall hear the gospel, but
a thumbnail, but includes all the teaching of Christ.        you must conclude that all men organically must hear
Besides  - and this must be said over against those the proclamation of this Word of God.
dispensationalists of the premillennial camp that make          4.  A  contir~ous  to&. What you have in these
of baptism an indifferent matter  - it includes the com- verses is not simply an injunction to the disciples, but
mand to baptize all that believe. In brief we have here rather a command to the church of the N. T. period, a
a command to preach, to baptize those that believe, and command that must be successively and continuously
to teach them to observe whatsoever Christ com- fulfilled yet will not be fully completed until the end of
manded. In the second place from these passages it           the world.
also follows that all emphasis in mission work must             There has been much argument about the question
be placed on the preaching and teaching. The task of whether these `passages teach a continued task or
missions is not the alleviation of poverty, of physical whether they teach a temporary duty. Let me say
suffering. It is not to clothe, to feed. All such things     this differently. The question is, Does this injunction
have, properly speaking, nothing to do with the task of Matt. 28  :19, 20 come to the church of Christ
itself. Such work may be "deacon-work", but is not throughout the ages or only to the church in the first


                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        345
---__ -~^--..-.-.--.... "-    -_--~ -.-..^ -"...-                               ..-.-..---.-..
centuries, or still more particularly to the apostles throughout the ages. This will take unto the end of
alone. For you must know that some have argued that the world. In the fuhXlment  thereof I, Christ, am with
the command came to the apostles and that they  ful-      YOU enabling you as a church to do this.    It means that
6JJed the missionary task of Christ's church. They Christ calls his ambassadors internally and externally,
once for all brought the Word to all peoples - we need and gives his church the grace that is necessary to
not do mission work. In this connection it should be      walk in obedience to his demand. Hence the only sen-
noted that Schaff-Herzog's  Encyclopedia of Religious sible conclusion of the matter is that the mission task
Knowledge,  vol. VII, page 404, accuses the Reformers is a continuous task, a task that is successively realized
of failing to understand the continuous missionary throughout the history of the ages. Toward the ful-
duty of the church. I quote, "the missionary idea fillment of that calling every local congregation in
(among the Reformers) was lacking because the com- every land, in every age, bears an obligation. The whole
prehension of a continuous missionary duty of the burden rests on no particular age, or no particular con-
church was limited among the Reformers and their gregation, but it does rest on them all in this sense that
successors by a narrow-minded dogmatism combined a particular portion of that one burden rests on each
with a lack of historical sense. They knew of the great manifestation of the body of Christ.
missions of the past, but according to their ideas the       5. A dmission  task. Perhaps it sounds strange that
apostles had already gone forth to the whole world we speak of a mission task as a sub-point. Upon second              '
and they and their disciples had essentially accom- thought it need not however, for the simple reason that
plished the missionary task. Christianity, therefore, we here are to conceive of the word `mission" in its
had already prov.ed  its universal vocation as a world etymological sense of being sent. In these passages it
religion and the missionary promises had been met." is Christ that is sending his church, sending her to
A little further on in the same article we read, "Even proclaim the gospel of Truth. Quite correctly there-
Zwingli and Butzer do not recognize continuous mis- fore the injunction of these passages is called "the
sion work as a duty of the church". And Beza, accord- great commission". Furthermore in these passages you
ing to this article, in a separate pamphlet even opposed have the one and only sending of the church, the com-
a certain Savaria who dared to maintain that con- mission to preach the gospel everywhere.' Usually by
tinuous mission work was the calling of the church. I "mission-work" is understood the preaching of the
must confess that I feel much  for.the Reformers in as gospel as it takes place among the heathen or thg dis-
far as their position was influenced by their emphasis persed ; at least, congregational preaching from week to
on the crying need of church reform. Today as well as week is not included. These passages, however, may
then there are far too many who forget the crying not be limited to mission-work in the proper sense of
need of the latter, and act as though mission work the word. The latter is included, but does not exhaust
among the heathen and dispersed alone were a cause the meaning. Remember the command is to proclaim
worthy of moral and  financial support. For such I the Word to  all creatures not only, but also to bring the
have no patience, neither for their so-called missionary church as institute to revelation by baptism. But this
activity. Such forget Christian instruction and other is not all. The Sender added, "Teaching them to ob-
home problems in favor of what has often become a serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you".
fanatic obsession. Nevertheless the emphasis of the This "then" certainly does not refer to "all nations'
leaders of the Reformation on church reform does not but to those that believe and are baptized. This cer-
justify their denial of the continuous mission task of    tainly means that when the church as an institute is
the church. For first of all, although Christ's com- brought to manifestation, the Word must still be
mand came to the disciples, it came to them as office- brought - the  behevers  must be taught to observe  all
bearers in the church institute. Not in their capacity things whatsoever I have commanded you. Naturally
of believers simply but as apostles in Christ's church. the latter is not the work of an isolated sermon, nor
This is evident from the fact that preaching is the       the work of sermonizing over a period of a year, but
work of a duly appointed office-bearer; especially from the continued preaching of the gospel. Besides, the
the fact that they were commanded to baptize  - and purpose of the preaching is not merely "the winning of
baptism is the work not of a believer but of an office- souls", but also the organization of churches, the
bearer in the church. Secondly, the command of Christ church institute. The kingdom of Christ must reveal
though directed to the disciples, comes to the church itself institutionally there where the Word is preached.
of the N. T. The latter cannot possibly be  gainsaid  in And so, finally,  conceived of as one great commission
the light of "and, IO, I am with you alway, even unto to preach and by means of the preaching under God's
the end of the world". Certainly the disciples did not blessing to bring to revelation the church as institute
live unto the end of the world ! In a sense they do still for the first time or ever anew, these passages cer-
preach through the Scriptures, but they certainly do tainly also mean that every official ambassador of the
not baptize. What then can this refer to? Nothing Word of God, duly appointed and qualified by the  Gr.eat
other than this:. the church must fulfill this one calling Sender, is busy in the fulfillment of that one calling


346                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                      -......._..  -___           .__.........  ^ .._ ~ .---_ -__~-       ---.-.. "___ - -...-.___I
which wiI1 not be completely fulfilIed  until the end of
the world. Whether a man is in the darkest regions                                       Book Review
of Africa among the heathen, or busy amongst the                       "The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination," by
dispersed, or even busy among  th? believers of a local Loraine Boettner.
congregation teaching them to observe all things what-
soever Christ has commanded, he is always busy in                      The professor is a strong infralapsarianist. It
that one task. In view of this I think it is very well could not very  well be otherwise, his conception of the
possible that a particular congregation  or  even denom- decrees  and providence of God in their bearing on sin
ination may be so active for a period of history in what           being what it is. This conception and the professor's
we call church-reform that Christ makes very plain in infraIapsarianism  certainly go hand in hand. The two
his providential guidance as well as by his Word and spring from the same sentiment, the same striving  -
Spirit that our sphere of  Iabor  for that  particuIar             the striving, namely, to mollify the severity of the
period does not lie amongst the heathen, but at home. sovereignty of God insofar as it turns on sin and rep-
Beginning at Jerusalem, that is, beginning in the robation.
decadent church institute. From there unto the ends                    According to the infralapsarian view, the order of
of the earth. Always so.                                           the decrees is as  foIIows : the decrees  (I) of creation ;
   It is these things that are of utmost importance for            (2) of the fall; (3) of election and reprobation. Ac-
a proper understanding of the church's calling.                    cording to the supralapsarian view, the order of these
Throughout the history of the ages this calling is  con-           same decrees is as follows: the decrees (1) of elec-
tinuously being fulfilled, but it will reach its final ful- tion and reprobation ; (2) of creation ; (3) of the fall.
fillment until just prior to the return of the Resur- The question then is whether the decree of election and
rected Lord when he shall appear on the clouds of reprobation are to be placed above or beneath the fall.
gIory to take us unto himself, and so glorify his church.              The professor is an avowed infralapsarian. On
                                                                   page 125, we come uhon  a statement that reads: "We
                                                    P. De Boer     are Calvinisists  strongly enough, but no `high CaIvin-
                                                                   ists.' By a `high Calvinist' we mean one who holds the
                                                                   supralapsarian view." About this supralapsarian view
                                                                   the professor reasons thus: "One of the leading mo-
       a                                                           tives in the supralapsarian scheme is to emphasize the
                   THE DAY OF GLORY                                idea of discrimination (election and reprobation, G.  8%.
       When my labors here on earth are o'er,                      0.) and to push this idea into the whole of God's  deaI-
       And I reach my home on that eternal shore,                  ing with men. We believe, however, that  supralap-
       With my Savior there forever more,                          sarianism over-emphasizes this idea.          In the very
              0 what a day of glory that will be !                 nature of the case this idea cannot be consistently car-
                                                                   ried out, e. g., in creation, and especially in the fall.
                                                                   It was not merely some of the members of the human
       No more sorrow there, no pain, no tears,                    race who were objects of the decree to create, but all
       No more anxious longing, no more haunting fears, mankind, and that with the same nature. And it was
       No more waiting thro' the lonely years -                    not merely some men, but the entire race, which was
              0 what a day of glory that will be !                 permitted to fall. Supralapsarianism goes to as great
                                                                   an extreme on the one side as does universalism  on the
       When the beauty of eternal skies                            other.    Only the infralapsarian scheme is self-con-
       Breaks in all its splendor on my op'ning eyes,              sistent with other facts."
       When the countless dead in Christ arise,                        Let me comment on this. To discriminate means
              0 what a day of glory that will be!                  to mark the difference between ; select ; to make a dif-
                                                                   ference or distinction so that the term "discrimination"
       Where a shadow nevermore is cast,                           in the above quotation stands for election and reproba-
       Where alI tears and trials are forever past,                tion. According to the professor, one of the leading
       As we sing together: "Home at last!"                        motives of the supralapsarian is to emphasize this
              0 what a day of glory that will be !                 "idea" and to push it into the whole of God's dealing
                                                                   with men. Is this "idea" (of election and reproba-
       The time will come !                                        tion) not of sufficient importance to receive this em-
       And when at last I reach my home                            phasis and to be pushed into the  whoIe  of these deal-
       I'll look into His face                                     ings? Are not the decrees of creation and of the fall
       And thank Him for the grace                                 subordinate to "this idea"? Are these decrees not re-
       That paid the price                                         lated to this "idea" as means? Does not this "idea"
       Of sin at such a sacrifice-                                 stand for an element in the counsel that is chief, ma&
              0 what a day of glory that will be                   and if so, is it, this `?dea", not representative of an
                   d


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       347
                          -            ..^^_--.-.--..                             --..---           ---_."---
eternal and chief purpose upon which the decrees of dealing with men which is in question, is, with respect
creation and fall turn? If this "idea" (of election and     to both classes alike, those who are elected and those
reprobation) is not chief, pray, what idea is? None         who are passed by, conditioned on sin ; we cannot speak
whatever? Are we then to conceive of the counsel of of salvation any more than of reprobation  withou:
God as a thought-structure comprised of a series of un-     positing sin." What is the meaning of this? It may
YeIated  elements of equal rank? Impossible!                be this : God (speaking now of reprobation) could not
   Supralapsarianism,  according to the professor, is resolve to condemn some unto eternal death  on account
but another extreme. What is this extreme? That of their sin without joining their sin to His sovereign
God wills to save some and condemn others to eternal        resolve as some kind of cause or reason. If this is the
damnation or perhaps the insistence that this "idea" thought that was meant to be conveyed, the professor
occupies chief  pIace in the counsel of God. I shall en- gave expression to  a thoroughly Arminian sentiment.
deavor to make plain, presently, that Scripture goes to That God in His sovereign good pleasure resolved to
this "extreme". It will also show that such statements hate some without any consideration to their sin is the
as, "In the very nature of the case this "idea" cannot      plain teaching of Scripture: "Therefore hath he mercy
be consistently carried out, e. g., in creation and espe- on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he
cially in the fall as it was not merely some of the mem- hardeneth." What leads me to think that I have laid
bers of the human race but the entire race, which was hold on the thought that was meant to be conveyed is
permitted to fall," are  silly. Let us first direct our the following statement from the professor's pen
attention to the other objections raised by the author      (found on page 128) : "It is of course true that  ir,
against the supralapsarian view. Attend once more to either system the sovereign choice of God in election
this from his pen: "Only he infralapsarian scheme is is stressed and salvation in its whole course is the work
self-consistent or consistent with other facts." coil- of God." Why did not the professor write: `It is of
sider that a reasoning or scheme is consistent when it course true that in either system the sovereign choice
is not contradictory. What the author here affirms of God in election and his sovereign good pleasure in
then is that there is no conflict between the various reprobation is stressed and salvation and reprobation
elements in the infralapsarian scheme and beween this as to their execution in time is in the whole course of
scheme, taken as a whole, and other facts. He lets the each the work of God.' Consider once more in this
late Dr. Warfield tell us what he (the author) means connection that, according to the professor, the coun-
by this statement: "In regard to this difference Dr. sel of God, insofar as it bears on sin and reprobation
Warfield  writes: `The mere putting of the question is permissive and negative, that is, `not positive and
seems to carry its answer with it. For the actual           effectual, and thus not, rightly considered, sovereign.
dealing with men which is the question, is, with respect       So on page 112 of the professor's work, one comes
to both classes alike, those who are elected and those      upon this statement: "He simply permits some men to
who are passed by, conditioned on sin ; we cannot           follow out the evil impulses which are already in their
speak of salvation anymore than of reprobation with-        hearts, so that as a result of their own choices, they
out positing sin.    Sin is necessarily precedent in become more and more calloused and obstinate. And
thought, not indeed to the abstract idea of discrimina;     while it is said, for instance, that God hardened th::
tion, but to the concrete instance of discrimination        heart of Pharaoh, it is also said that Pharaoh har-
which is in question, a discrimination with regard to       dened his own heart (Ex. 8 :I5 ; 8 32 ; 9 34). One de-
destiny which involves either salvation or punishment. scription is given from the divine view-point, the other
There must be sin in contemplation to ground a decree is given from the human view-point. God is ultimately
of salvation, as truly as a decree of punishment. We responsible for the hardening of the heart in that He
cannot speak of a decree discriminating between men permits it to occur, and the inspired writer in graphic
with reference to salvation and punishment, therefore, language simply says that God does it; but never are
without positing the contemplation of men as sinners we to understand that God is the immediate and effi-
as its logical prius" (p. 127).                             cient cause." I remark that if God is not the effectual
    Can it be that  Warfield  in the above reasoning at- cause of the hardening, the supreme and sole cause of
tacked the supralapsarian scheme? As the terms infr:t-      His eternal resolution to condemn some unto eternal
Iapsarianism and  supralapsarianism  do not appear death lies not in Himself but in the sinner, his sin, his
in the above excerpt, we will take Boettner's word          refusal to be saved. The selection from the professor"'
for it that he did. Whereas the professor (Boettner)        work last quoted agrees perfectly with the construction
makes the above reasoning his own, we can dismiss           I place upon the selection from Warfield's writing. Yet
Warfield, who is no longer with us, and briefly I am not criticising  as yet, that selection as such but
direct our remarks to the professor and appraise that that selection as it forms a part of the professor's
selection from  Warfield's  writing as forming an in- theology. I can't believe that  Warfield ever made a
tegral part of his (the professor's) thought-structure.      statement to the effect that the inspired writer in
Let us then consider the statement: "For the  acual          graphic language simply says that God does it while


348                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
L...-_IIIII--l.-_.l__                                             --.          .  .._                  --.-I_
what he meant to say is that God negatively permitted       man was created so that he could fall and whereas God
it. I feel certain that this negative-permissive concep- also decreed that he should fall, how could He first de-
tion of the counsel and providence of God in their terminately contemplate the creature man (infralap-
bearing on sin was not Warfield's. The question of sarianism) with the conception of sin still unformed
whether or no God in his sovereign good pleasure re- and thus absent from His mind? This, the infralap-
solved to condemn some unto eternal death without any sarian,  Boettner, will say, is not our view and cannot
thought to their sin is a question not of supralapsarian- be gotten from our scheme. I grant him this. But let
ism versus infralapsarianism but of Arminianism him then in turn also drop the nonsensical objections
versus true Reformed doctrine.                              that he raises against the supralapsarian scheme. It
       However, it is evident that War-field in the selec- can be shown that most all of these objections, if not
tion in question, voiced one of his main objections to      all, spring from his contemplating the supralapsariaa
the supralapsarian scheme. The objection may be for- scheme as though the elements in it have a chrono-
mulated thus: God could not contemplate His people Iogical  relation.          But aside' from this, consider that
as chosen in Christ Jesus unto eternal life nor resolve we speak now of the divine mind. In this mind events,
to condemn others to eternal death with the conception the events of creation, of the fall, of salvation and of
of sin still unformed and thus absent from His mind.        reprobation are not,  in  the professor's own words,
Yet the supralapsarian scheme represents God as doing "present as they are in our mind, by a succession of
this very thing as in this scheme the decrees of salva- acts, one after the other, but by one single act God has
tion and punishment precede the decree of the fall.         ordained all things. All the decrees are eternal." So
This scheme therefore must be set aside as impossible. it is indeed. But let the professor than consider that
So Warfield  reasoned. As Boettner made this reason-        God no more first resolved to create, then decreed the
ing his own, I want to say to him that he is not fair       fall and finally decided to condemn some and to save
as a critic of the supralapsarian scheme. Let him con- others (infralapsarianism) than that He first resolved
sider that the elements in both the supra- and the  in- to condemn some and to save others, thereupon decreed
fralapsarian schemes have a logical relationship, that the fall and finally resolved to create (supralapsarian-
the above objection will spring only from a mind that ism) . As viewed in the light of the reality of the
contemplates the supralapsarian scheme  as  though the eternal activity of the Divine mind and will, the infra-
relation between the elements in it were chronological. lapsarian scheme is exactly as faulty as the  supralap-
But I say again, the elements in both these schemes sarian  scheme. Why then, as does Boettner, expose  :L
have a logical relationship. It is for this reason that fault of the latter scheme and keep silent respecting
both the infralapsarian and the supralapsarian choose this same fault - same as to essential character - as
to be known not as an anti- {before) Iapsarian  (from discrediting the latter. Only a prejudiced mind will
lapsus, meaning fall) and as a post- (after) lapsarian;     do this.
but as an infra- (beneath) lapsarian and as a supra-           Let us trace the path of the professor's reasoning
(above) lapsarian. Yet it cannot be denied that the         to the end. Wrote the professor: "It is a clearly re-
element of time is also there in both these schemes. vealed Scriptural principle (the professor quotes Dr.
Supra and infra are not prepositions of pure logic but Charles Hodge here} that where there is no sin there
of place. Now place or space as carried into the coun- can be no condemnation . . . . He hath mercy upon
sel of God spells time. But for this very reason the one and not upon another, according to `His own
same objection  - same as to essential character - can pleasure, because all are equally unworthy and guilty. .
be raised against the infralapsarian scheme that Boett-     Everywhere, as in Romans  1:24, 26, 28, reprobation is
ner raised against the supralapsarian scheme. He declared to be judicial, founded upon the sinfulness of
ought to see this. This objection may be formulated its object. Otherwise it could not be a manifestation
thus: God could not resolve to create with the concep- of the justice of God." We remark, this is true onlv
tions of the fall, of salvation and of reprobation still    of the actual condemnation and salvation but not of
unformed and thus absent from His mind. Yet the the Divine  rcsolue  to condemn some and to save others.
infralapsarian scheme represents God as doing this It is the plain teaching of Scripture that this eternal
very thing as in this scheme the decree of creation pre- resolve was a matter of pure and absolute sovereignty
cedes the decrees of the fall, of salvation and of repro- and that it was made therefore with no consideration
bation. This scheme therefore must be set aside as to sin as a ground, cause or reason. To deny this is to
impossible.                                                 again, in the words of Calvin, tear God from His
       The point is that both schemes  are weighed down throne. The matter here touched upon is not a ques-
by like difficulties. Consider that in God's mind the tion of infralapsarianism versus supralapsarianism
counsel is a unite, that the one element in it is so inter- but of Arminianism verses true Scripture doctrine.
woven with and related to all the others that the one That the actual condemnation reposes upon sin as its
could not be determinately contemplated, except all ground or reason is very true. One should not insist,
were present to His mind. Let me illustrate. Whereas as does Boettner, that a contrary view can be gotten


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   FEARER                                              349
A-.__                 - .._ - ..-. "ll_._^- --___ll..lll --A.".".-  -......._. ~_~_.^ ~.
out of the supralapsarian scheme unless he be honest ondly, the question is not whether God actually pre-
enough to see in the infralapsarian scheme views            pared sinners  to eternal destruction. No one denies
equally as faulty.                                          this. But the question is whether in the counsel, His
   But aside from this, the question is not whether the resolution to fit, prepare, some to eternal destruction,
actual condemnation to eternal death is grounded upon is to be placed above or beneath the fall. Now to reject
the sin of the object. Both the infra- and the supralap-    this view because it is weighed down by an objection
sarian  are agreed that it is.    But  t,he question is     like as to character to an objection that weighs as
whether the decree of reprobation which is to be de- heavily on the opposite view is sheer folly, to say the
fined as the good pleasure of God to condemn some least.
unto eternal death on account of their sin is to be            The professor once more : "Suffering and death are
placed above or beneath the fall. The professor here        uniformly represented as the wages of sin." To be
reasons beside the point. He failed to get before his sure.        But who denies this? The supralapsarian ?
eye the real issue. The same must be said in respect Surely, no. The professor here again reasons beside
to all the objections he raised. Let the professor con- the point.
sider that even though it were true (but it is not true)       The professor : "The infralapsarian scheme natur-
that the decree of reprobation is grounded on sin as its ally commends itself to our ideas of justice and mercy."
cause, the issue would still be whether this decree pre-    I reply: Not if we have the honesty to face and set be-
cedes or follows the fall. And the reason for adopting fore our eye the real difficulties also inherent in the
the infralapsarian view could not be that the decree in     infralapsarian scheme and are willing to be fair in
question is grounded on sin. For the relationship of our appraisals of both schemes.' What is more, the
the elements in the schemes supra- and infralapsari'an,     question is not what appeals to our corrupt feelings but
is not chronological but purely logical and in addition what is truth. Consider further that God actually
all the decrees are eternal. This the professor lost created in time with an eternal counsel before His eye
sight of.                                                   in which according to His eternal, immutable and sov-
   Wrote Boettner : "It is not in harmony with the          ereign decrees man appeared as a creature fallen, and
Scriptural idea of God as a God of mercy and justice        some men as condemned to eternal misery on account
that innocent men, men who are not contemplated as          of their sins. What I mean to bring out is that if we
sinners, should be foreordained to eternal misery and reject the supralapsarian scheme solely for the reason
death."                                                     that it clashes with our feelings of justice there  ,is
   1 remark, the supralapsarian does not teach this         danger that we end in rejecting the God of Scripture
but teaches that not-fallen men were foreordained to for the same reason.
the fall and that some men who would fall were or-             Boettner : "And it (the infralapsarian scheme) is
dained to eternal misery. If it be considered that also at least free from the Arminian objection that God
according to the supralapsarian both in the counsel and simply (mark you, simply) creates some men in order
in time, the actual condemnation of some reposes upon       to damn them." We reply, if the professor had been
sin as its reason, this objection of the professor of a mind to be fair, he would never have written this.
vanishes into thin air.                                     For the supralapsarian scheme is -exactly  as free Yf!rom
   The professor once more: "Christians are said to         this objection. The truth of the matter is that, accord-
have been chosen out of the world, John 15 : 19, `If ye     ing to His eternal counsel, God created man with a
were of the world, the world would love his own: but view to actually preparing through their fall and sin
because ye are not of the world, but I (Christ) have some for eternal destruction unto His eternal glory.
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world Doesn't Boettner believe this? Consider that the above
hateth you.' " Let the professor consider that the ques- charge of the Ariminian is vile slander directed not
tion is not whether also in the counsel the elect were against the supralapsarian scheme but against the sov-
chosen out of the world. No one denies that they are. ereign God of Scripture, so that if Boettner is of a
But the question is whether this chasing  is to be placed mind to pacify the Arminian he should not end with
above or beneath the decree of the fall.                    rejecting the  supraIapsarian  scheme but should go the
   The professor again : "the potter has a right over whole length and end with rejecting the sovereign God
the clay," from the same lump, "to make one part a of Scripture ; because the Arminian will not shut his
vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor, Born. 9:      foul mouth until he sees that he has frightened you by
21; and the elect and the non-elect are regarded being his vile ravings into dethroning God. The idea of
in a common state of misery." We remark in the first catering to the Arminian!
place that in the text referred to above, the point of         Boettner : "There is no Reformed confession which
view is not that of the fall but of the sovereignty of teaches the supralapsarian view  ; but on the other hand
God. What the apostle desired to bind upon the hearts a considerable number do explicitly teach the infralap-
of his readers is that in the exercise of his prerogatives sarian  view, which th.us emerges as the typical form
God is, must and may be, absolutely sovereign. Sec-         of Calvinism." The professor should have ended this


350                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                  -_._.  ----..---  _._ ___  __..-._     -~
statement thus, `which thus emerges as the typical         together in Christ. First is God, from whom and to
form of a distorted Calvin's Calvinism.' True it is whom and unto whom all things are. Next is Christ iu
that our fathers produced infralapsarian creeds. That whom all the fulness dwells bodily. Third in order is
they did so finds its explanation in the circumstance His people whom He purchased with His own precious
that in their weakness they yielded to popular clamor.     blood and in whom He dwells by His Spirit. Of this
This is a matter of common knowledge.                      people, He is the head, and they His body. Fourth in
       So it appears that the objections which the pro- order are the angels and finally the redeemed and glori-
fessor raises against the supralapsarian scheme, fall,     fied creature that in its present state also groaneth,
as they are like as to essential character to the dif%     expecting and awaiting the manifestation of the sons
culties inherent in the infralapsarian scheme, to the of God. This oneness God eternally contemplated and
ground. What then can be the reason why he and the willed in all its heavenly perfection. He decreed to
others prefer the infralapsarian scheme? I will  dia- call it into being in time that it in and through the re-
close this reason presently.                               deemed as headed by Christ it might eternally cry out
   The professor once more : "The scriptures are prac- His praises, drink in His love, and be satisfied by His
tically infralapsarian." Let me show that nothing is glorious likeness. It is certainly the eternal resolve
farther from the truth, that of the two schemes in to call into being this world that takes chief place in
question the supralapsarian scheme comes much closer the counsel of God. Consider that this heavenly and
to the fundamental argument that runs through the this heavenly only, God 1ove.s with all the infinite in-
whole of Scripture. This argument is that God is God. tensity of His being. Upon the promise to bring in
Wrote the professor : "All the decrees are eternal. this heavenly all prophesy and the whole of the New
They have a logical, but not a chronological relation- Testament Scriptures turn. How God loves this
ship." Let me now do in respect to the supralapsarian heavenly, appears from this that He gave His only be-
scheme, what Boettner failed to do, to-wit, act upon gotten Son, that Whosoever believeth in Him should
this truth. Consider then that if it is a matter of not perish but have eternal life. Say not that the
pure logic, with which we here have to do, the question world loved is humanity at large, head for head, for it
may not be put, `What element is first or last or above is not; but say that it is the sons of God, by nature
or beneath in the counsel, in the two schemes under dead in sin, but, as reclaimed from death, believing in
consideration, but what is chief, main and what sub- Him; say that it is the creature now subject to vanity
ordinate to that which is main ; or, otherwise said,       but waiting for the glorious manifestations of these
what element stands for purpose and what for means, sons. Say, finally, that it is the heavenly that eternally
made to work for the attainment of purpose. The in- stands out before God's eye as the one grand purpose
fralapsarian says that the decree deserving chief place that as to all its parts is gathered together in Christ,
in the counsel is that of creation and thus subordinates as a world delivered in Him from the bondage of sin
to it the decree of the fall and to the latter in turn the and, corruption and elevated to the glorious heights of
decree of election. The latter, therefore, comes to stand the heavenly. In loving this world, He seeks and ends
for a means for the rehabilitation of a part of a fallen in Self and not in the creature. Doing the latter, His
humanity so that the fall takes on the aspect of a Iove would fall short of Himself and would thus be vile.
frustration of the decree of creation. In this scheme      How exclusively He seeks this other world, Zion, His
finally, the decree of reprobation is seen as reduced people, in all He does appears from all prophesy. For
to a superfluous adjunct.                                  Zion's sake He will not hold His peace, and for Jeru-
   According to the supralapsarian, on the other hand, salem's sake He will not rest, until the righteousness
the decrees that have the pre-eminence  are those of thereof goeth forth as brightness, and the salvation
election and reprobation. They are the decrees that thereof as a lamp that burneth, Isa.  62:1, 2. He will
stand for purpose and to them the decrees of the fall      not rest until Jerusalem hath form, bright as the new
and of creation are subordinate as means.                  day with the true beauty of her perfected righteous-
   Now the latter of these two conceptions certainly ness and salvation. This is the one goal toward which
comes closest to the truth. Let us show this. There He moves through all the history that He makes from
is, besides the first creation another world to which the beginning to the end of time; and He doeth  all
the heart of God goes out. What is this world? In things. The proof of this? To Zion, says the apostle,
brief, Christ, the new heavens and the new earth, all things work together for good ; and this good is
peopled by a chosen race of men cleansed from all Zion's appearance in glory with Christ - all things:
their sins by the blood of Christ, a race foreknown by creation, fall, death, life, angels, principalities, powers,
God, predestinated to be conformed to the image of things present, things to come, height, depth and every
His Son, called, justified and glorified, a race, there- other creature, event and phenomenon. How He seeks
fore, with whom the tabernacle of God is and eternally Zion ! For Zion He gives men, and people that she may
will be. This world, in a word, is all things, the things live,-  Isa. 43  :4. Over her He will joy with singing.
in heaven and the things on earth, which God gathers Zeph. 3 :17. How He loves Zion !


                                          ` T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  351
                  "_" __._ - _-...__ -                                                  ..__... _ -.- .__ - .__._- ^-~-
   Therefore His eternal resolve to call into being            idea into the whole of God's dealings with men." I
Zion, I say it again, takes chief place in the counsel of      remark that Scripture does indeed push this "idea'"
God. Bnd to this decree the decrees of creation and            into the whole of God's dealings with men. Consider
fall must certainly be subordinated as means. It was that Paul explicitly states that all things work together
for this that the supralapsarian had an eye. He there- for good to them that love God. Now whereas God
fore postulated first the decrees of election and repro-       doeth all things, it is indeed true that He pushes His
bation. It shows that he had caught a glimpse of the election into all His dealings with His people. And
reality eternally with God. What a despicable arrange- whereas all  thirigs  work together for evil to them  that
ment of elements the infralapsarian scheme turns out hate Gdd (the reprobate) and whereas He doeth all
to be, if viewed in the light of this reality.                 things, I say it again, it follows that He is only
   Why should men select this scheme and reject the            against the wicked and thus pushes His reprobation
other? Why? The only answer that I can find is that into all His dealings with them. Such is the  plaii:
it leaves God too absolutely sovereign. I invite you to teaching of Scripture. In this co&eption,  there is, nl
advance another reason.         I know that the  reason,       course, no place for the heresy of common grace. Bul
usually given is that the supralapsarian scheme brings this is a matter with which I hope to deal in a follow-
into jeopardy God's holiness. Strange how men are so ing writing.
concerned about the holiness of God, so concerned that            Wrote the professor: "We believe, however, that
they dare not even say of God what He in Scripture the supralapsarian over-emphasizes this idea. In the
says of Himself. God says of Himself, `I do all these very nature of the case this idea cannot be consistently
things.' Hearing this, that infinitesimally small man carried out, e. g., in creation." I characterized this
says to Him, Hush God. Refrain from speaking of statement as silly. Is it not true that when God created.
Thyself in this manner. Dost thou not realize that. He had before His eye a counsel in which according to
thou, thus claiming for thyself this might and right,          His sovereign decrees humanity appeared as divided
denieth thy holiness? Have mercy on Thyself. And into two classes, reprobate and elect and that in creat-
these same men that so reason with Him tear him from ing He consciously realized this counsel? It means that
Him throne, and that under the pretext of a deep con- rightly considered He, Himself, carried out this iden
cern for His holiness.                                         also in creatioh.
   Do not conclude that I have my heart so set on the             I have still more criticisms.
supralapsarian scheme. It is weighed down by too                                                                       G. ik 0.
many difficulties for this. Yet, if I were compelled to
choose between the infra- and supraiapsarian schemes,
I, without a moment's hesitation, would choose the.
latter. I am not apposed to being known as a supra-
lapsarian. What is so deplorable is the actual reason
why men reject this scheme, the reason, namely, that              On April ZSth,  our beloved parents,
it leaves God too absolutely sovereign. What the supra-                          GEORGE VANDER  WEIT
lapsarian scheme requires of us is that we say that                                              and
God is the primary cause of sin, that its entrance into
the world was due to His effectual will, so that all                            JOHANNA  VANDER  WEIT
things exist  for and turn on Him, He alone being God.                                                   (nee Vander Werff)
This the great majority of churchmen will no longer commemorated their 25th wedding anniversary.
say.                                                              We thank the Lord for the gracious care He has bestowed
    Wrote the professor: "At the present day it is upon them in the past and sincerely hope and pray that He may
probably safe to say that not more than one Calvinist spare them for each other and for us for many years to come.
in a hundred holds the supralapsarian view." I read-
ily believe this. It surprises me that the ratio is still,                             Their grateful children:
one to a hundred; for the fact is that the Reformed                                                     Catherine
world of today is fast sinking away into the mire of                                                    Abram
Arminianism. Some proof of this is that no less than                                                    Jeanette
twenty-five Reformed leaders of thought lauded the                                                      Gertrude
work I now criticise to the very heavens while they                                                     Fredericka Johanna
should have strongly advised the author to burn his                                                     Frederic
book.                                                                                                   Martha
    One more remark. The professor wrote : "One  .of                                                    Pearl
the leading motives in the supralapsarian scheme is to                                                  Alida Marie
emphasize the idea of discrimination (the idea of                                                       Georgia Wilma
election and reprobation, G. M. 0.) and to push this              Chicago, Illinois


356                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
--_^ ._..... "."..                _... ^ ..^. ---._-                _____-          __"._                  ---." ..__ -___
men zondigt staat men voor den weg die ten leven leidt hands of the ungodly, for he is corrupted and a child
en voor dien anderen weg die ten verderve leidt. V66r            of darkness.
ons staat Jezus ter eener zijde en de mensch en de                  You say that an attitude of fraternity will lead to a
en de menschheid ter anderer zijde.                E n   wat  i; covenant with the world. Does not common grace do
nu tech uw en mijn zonde anders dan dat we kiezen de this very same thing? Does it not go hand in hand
ongerechtigheid liever  dan Jezus en Zijne gerechtig-            with the world as far as the outward mode of living is
heid? Ge kunt tech nooit zondigen of eerst keert ge concerned?
uw rug naar de gerechtigheid henen ? En dat is prin-                Those who deny common grace believe, and  right15
cipieel dezelfde keuze die die  schare koos voor Pilatus. so, that the antithesis must be lived in every sphere
        Doch, o wonder, God kiest Bar-Abbas ook! Naar of life. Wherever a child of God is placed and what-
Zijn Raad.                                                       ever position he occupies, he must live to the glory of
        Want Jezus moet verworpen opdat wij aangenomen God and separate himself from iniquity and sin. But
wierden.  Hij naar de helsche smarten opdat wij de he will not be yoked with unbelievers, not even if the
znligheid van Vaders nabijheid zouden smaken.                    unbeliever takes on a form of godliness.
        God kiest Bar-Abbas ! Hij verkoor Bar-Abbassen              It may be that the deniers of common grace do not
van eeuwigheid en Hij wil die oproerlingen en moorde-            say: We want to win the whole world for Christ, but
naars juist door dien Jezus wasschen en reinigen, op- they do say: "Come ye out from among them and be
dat ze zonen van God mogen zijn tot in der eeuwigheid. ye separate." They do not run away, but they turn
        Weet gij, mijn broeder, weet gij de hoogte en de about and fight the unclean thing.
diepte, de breedte en de lengte van de liefde Gods?                 Not "world flight," but "world fight" is their motto.
        Als ge dat weet, weet ge ook de reden  voor die keuze    Pray, is this so mischievous?
van God.                                                                                                     J. Borst
        Het is de liefde van God.
        Opdat wij allen mochten zijn tot prijs Zijner heer-         The writer of the above epistle, mark you, notifies
lijkheid ! Looft  den Heere !                                    the editor of The Banner that he is in duty bound (and
                                                        G. v.    so he indeed is) to prove his charge, often and again
                                                                 recently made, that the deniers of the heresy of com-
                                                                 mon grace  are  contaminated with the contagion of
                                                                 Anabaptism. Did H. J. Kuiper properly respond by
                                                                 doing the rightful thing? Not so. Did he than do the
                Rev. H. J. Kuiper's Reply to                     manly thing, that is, did he retract and publicly
                           J. Borst                              tender us his apology? He did not. He merely in-
                                                                 formed his correspondent that he is not of a mind to
        In The Banner of April 6, 1934, I came upon a com- debate the matter with him in that the latter knows
munication of J. Borst to the editor (Rev. I-I. J. Kui-          where he (Kuiper) stands on these matters. His reply
per) of the aforesaid magazine that reads:                       reads :
Dear Mr. Editor:                                                    "Note-We do not intend to debate with brother
        In your editorial "The Antithesis is from God," Borst on this subject. He knows where we stand on
The Banner, Feb. 9, 1934, you write to the effect that these matters. We believe and preach the antithesis
the denial of Common Grace is Anabaptism, an imper-              because it is taught in the Bible. We believe and preach
feet from of Christianity, which means "world flight." common grace for the same reason. The writer stresses
        This is a bold statement to make and should be the fact that those who deny common grace do not say,
proved.                                                          `We want to win the whole world for Christ.' There
        It is quite evident that those who deny Common is a sense in which `the world' is our `field,' as Jesus
Grace do not wish to flee out of the world, rather, they         said ; and another in which the `world' will be won for
would condemn the world right in the midst of the                Christ. All kinds of men will be represented in the re-
world.                                                           deemer church, John  2  2.  - Editor."
        How can they be a light on a candlestick and the            II. J. Kuiper should know that his correspondent
salt of the earth if they shut themselves out of the expressed no desire for debate. Nor did he ask him
world?                                                           (Kuiper) for a statement of his views but to prove
        You may say: Yes, religiously they live the anti- the charge that the "denial of common grace is Ana-
thesis but in all other domains of. life they are anabap-        baptism, an imperfect form of Christianity." This,
tistic, for the anabaptist claims that things of the eart?l      Kuiper is in duty bound to do. Failing in this, he ought
as such are vile and corrupt and must be shunned. to retract. But he does neither. Instead, he again de-
But the deniers of common grace say: Business is not preciates the deniers of common grace by a subtle, in-
corrupt in itself, politics as such is not rotten, govern- direct, suggestion to the effect that according to their
ment is ordained by God. But they become such in the way of thinking, the whole "world" in a sense ,is loot
                                   *


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              357
. .                                                                                                  -."..." __-  --.-......   _
our field, as Jesus said; and that the "world" in a sense       an appeal to Scripture. Ris appeal reads: There is ;I
will not be  wo?z  for Christ. As if we deny that the           sense in which "the world" is our field cts desz~s ss~d.
gospel must be preached to ail creatures, that all kinds Kuiper, mark you, here engaged in debate. It appears
of people will be saved, that "the elect world" the world       even that he was full of debate. He came to the fo?2
that God so loved that He gave to it His Only Begotten,         with still another issue. It reads: "There is a sense
will be saved! As if we do not believe these things!            in which the world will be won for Christ." In his
As if these are the matters upon which the controversy reply he again took the affirmative and proved also this
turns ! What to think of a man who, to rehabilitate proposition by an appeal to John 2  2. Kuiper, it is
himself, and to discredit the opponent, will so over- plain, involved himself in debate. He should thereforr:
shadow the real issue, will resort to such distortion of have replied not, "We do not intend to debate with thr:
facts !                                                         brother on this subject," but, "We do intend to  debat?
         Kuiper is not consistent. He informs his corres- with the brother on this subject. However, we reserve
pondent that he does not intend to debate with him              for ourselves the right to select the issues." Indeed!
 "on this subject". Yet, in spite of himself, he does And how strangely he exercised this right. He dis-
this very thing, - he debates with his correspondent. allowed the real issue, which is, "The denial of com-
 In his letter the correspondent puts several pertinent mon grace is Anabaptism". The issues he selected
questions to him. These questions: How can they be a turn out to be truisms among us against which no one
 light on the candlestick and the salt of the earth if          can, yea, may have, anything to allege so that the
 they shut themselves out of the world? Does not                affirmative (and Kuiper chose to take the  atliirmative)
common grace do this (see the communication) very wins, must win.                    Kuiper reminds me of a certain
same thing? Does it not go hand in hand with the Roman emperor who for the amusement of his subjects
world as far as the outward mode of living is con- was wont to unsheath his sword against combatants
 cerned? Pray, is this (world fight, not world flight)          whom he had armed with no other weapons than
so mischievous  ?        The communication also contains sponges.          During a thunderstorm this hero crawled
several positive statements equally pertinent. Kuiper under his bed. Pray, who will, who can, debate with
 pondered these questions and these statements.  Bnd            Kuiper on the issue, "The world that God so loved that
 the onIy answer that would come to him is: True, I             He gave to it His son, will be saved." If Kuiper is so
 failed to reinforce my charge with proof. I must eager for debate, let him then debate with me in this
 provide proof or retract. The former I cannot do for magazine on the proposition, "The denial of common
 clearly the charge is false. The latter I will not do. grace is Anabaptism." I will take the negative. Such
 But what have I to say to my correspondent? I will a debate would afford him opportunity for proving his
 say to him: `Brother, I refuse to debate the matter            mettIe; as he would not find me armed with sponges.
 with you.' But I must not leave the impression that               I notice that my articles on "True Other-worldli-
 the reason I refuse to answer questions is that  I can't,      ness" and on "Discovered A Great Mind" together with
 and that the reason I refuse to debate with him is my          the communication of J. Borst, did have the elTe;t of
 fear of losing the argument. I must make it appear toning Kuiper down somewhat. For in his  recent
                                                                                              .._
 that the reason I refuse to answer questions is that           article on "The Antithesis in Public Life" he refrains
 doing so I would be wasting time, good paper and ink.          from laying anything to the charge of the deniers of
 How can I accomplish this ? Answer : (1) By replying common grace.                  He writes: "Nevertheless we  3150
  as briefly as possible ; (2) By simply affirming that         recognize the calling which Christians have, to be  the
 common grace is taught in Scripture, and that thus the salt of the earth. It is our duty to do what we can for
  deniers of common grace are at variance with Scrip- the amelioration of human ills and the removal of
  ture. And, Ah! here is a statement that can be made           social injustice. No Christian of Reformed persuasion
  to appear as constituting some evidence of this. Ac- will deny this; yet there is a strong and subtle tempta-
  cording to my correspondent, the deniers of common            t.ion to neglect our Christian calling in the sphere of
  grace do not say, "We want to win the whole world public life. This is true particularly of Evangelical
  for Christ". This is something! Jesus said that the Christians because they believe what the Scriptures
  world is our field and that the world will be saved.          teach concerning the desparate wickedness of human
          Let Kuiper publicly declare that this is not a true nature. In this hopelessly corrupt world the evils of
  record of his mental processes. But the point that I public life are so numerous, and often so overwhelm-
  want to make is that he in spite of himself entered into ingly popular and strongly entrenched, that it seems
  a debate with his correspondent. He actually invited wasted effort to fight them. Let us be satisfied  - so
       debate. Let me show this. d debate first of all calIs    many evangelical Christians reason - if we succeed
       for an issue. Kuiper provided this issue. He postu-      in keeping ourseives  and our chiIdren from all these
       lated that "In a sense, the world is our field." A debate contaminations."
       is in progress when an attempt is being made to prove        In the above excerpt, no mention is made of the
       or to disprove the issue. Kuiper proved the issue by     deniers of common grace.  It seems that the writer


                                       T H E    STANDARD   B E A R E R

thought it best for  a certain reason to keep himself to      of encompassing both of the "truths"  (?) He may say
the name "evangelical Christians."'                           that he referred not to his own mind but only to that
   Let us consider, more in particular, iinally, the first    of the late Dr. A. Kuyper. But this cannot be. Let it
section of his reply to his correspondent. This state-        be true that the mind of Dr. Kuyper was the first to
ment from his pen: "He (brother Borst) knows where            perform this fete. The fact remains that H. J. Kuiper
we stand on these matters. We believe and preach the          must have thought Kuyper's thoughts after him and
antithesis because it is taught in the Bible. We believe thus as assisted and led on by a great mind must also
and preach common grace for the same reason." There have succeeded in doing the impossible. If not, how
is something extremely unfair also about this section         does he know, how can he say, that Kuyper's attempt
of  `Kuiper's  reply. I must remind him of what he            ended in success? Fact is, that in this case he doesn't
wrote in The Banner of Feb. 9. This: "There is no con-        know. If he nevertheless maintains that the trick was
flict between the doctrine of the antithesis and that of      done, he is a blind follower of Kuyper. But this, cer-
common grace. Both are clearly taught in Scripture. tainly, he is not.
Small minds can encompass only one of the truths.                In fine, Kuiper is in duty bound to help these small
Great minds like Dr. A. Kuyper (and he might as well          minds out of their mental difficulties. I called.his  atten-
have added, like Rev. H. J. Kuiper. For he, too, re-          tion to  this.some  eight weeks ago now. Since then we
gards the heresy of common grace as true doctrine and         have been patiently waiting. For a long time Kuiper
is thus capable of envisaging both) envisage and de-          saw fit to maintain a profound silence. But finally he
velop both."                                                  replied, indirectly and as prompted by a communica-
   There is no conflict between the two, wrote Kuiper.        tion of J. Eorst. But how disappointing this reply!
But he must and does admit that apparently there is.          Instead of doing what he is in duty bound to do, to wit,
And OZLB contention is that the conflitit is not only ap-     reproduce in print for the benefit of the small minds
parent but real. According to the heresy of common his envisaging of "the two truths ( ?) " he informed his
grace  nil  wwn  UT~  light.  According to the doctrine of correspondent that he "believes and preaches the anti-
the antithesis some men are light (the regenerated            thesis because it is taught in the Bible" and that he
elect) and some men are darkness (the reprobates).            "believes and preaches common grace for the same
What we have to do with here are two contrary modes           reason." Again I must say, Now, now, brother Kuiper,
of thought. Now Kuiper maintains that the conflict            this, too, will not at all do. What will not do? Your
here. is only apparent, that the two contraries with sudden leap from your boasted capacity for recon-
which we here have to do at bottom spell harmony,             ciling contradiction, to Scripture without first publicly
that therefore his mind encompasses and envisages             acknowledging that your attempt to encompass and
both. If so, should he not under the impulse of Chris-        envisage the two "truths (  ?) " either by yourself or as
tian love, make this plain for the benefit of the small assisted and led on by Kuyper ended in dismal failure
minds? Who dare deny it? Yet in that article from and that thus all that talk of yours what great minds
which I last quoted, he explains nothing. Instead he          are capable of and about the limitations of those small
seats himself  on  a pedestral and from its heights calls     minds was thoroughly vain and unbecoming. To retreat
down to the small minds that dwell at the base of his         behind Scripture when we find ourselves unable to
elevation : "Small minds ! Hold attention ! There is          make good respecting some boast of ours, designed to
no conflict between the doctrines of the antithesis and depreciate others, is thoroughly unethical, especially so
of common grace. That you, small minds, are incap-            if we neglect to first publicly admit that we failed.
able of encompassing both finds its explanation in your       Here Kuiper reminds me of the small boy who with
small minds. Oh, that those minds of yours were big           his one hand on the doorknob of his home and with
as mine ! All your difEculies  would vanish into thin his one eye on mother whom he can see through the
air.' Now, now, brother Kuiper, this wont do at all!          window-pane calls names to a lad on the street, but
You claim to be endowed with a double portion of love,        who at the very moment the object of his scorn makes
do you not? With a love that is common (common for him, rushes indoors and there prolongs the assault
grace and with a love that is special (special grace).        by making faces at the vexed lad without. We should
Are you, as perched on that pedestral and with your           certainly refrain from making this use of the Holy
mouth filled with this kind of speech behaving as a           Scriptures.
man that loves? Leave those dizzy heights! Con-                   Preposterous!    Kuiper may say upon reading this.
descend to the level of those small minds and lead them Very well. But then let Kuiper help those small minds
out of the thickets into the open country of the bean-        out of their difficulties or admit his own limitations.
tiful harmony of two modes of thought that by no              Let him harmonize those "two truths." He may have
amount of mental exertion of the most powerful mind,          all the space he needs in The Standard Bearer. Come,
can be harmonized !                                           brother, let us hear from you.
    Kuiper may maintain that I do him an injustice by
saying that he, too, came to the fore as a man capable                                                       G. M. 0.


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                                                                                   the marsh, loses its force and singleness of direction to
             M E D I T A T I O N                                                   become a stagnant pool.
                                                                                        Rather it is to be compared to the impetuous  moun-
                                                                                   tain-stream, rushing onward and downward toward to
                       This One Thing                                              the wide ocean, widening and deepening its bed in its
                                                                                   course.
                              Brethren, I count not myself to have ap-                  Till the goal is reached !
                          prehended; but this one thing I do, forget-                   One thing I do !
                          ting those things which are behind, and                                                    I____
                          reaching forth unto those things which are                    The one mark !
                          before, I press toward the mark for the                       And the one prize !
                          prize of the high  calIing of God in Christ
                          Jesus.                                                        In a sense they are one and the same thing, yet,
                                                            Phil.  3:13,  14.      they consider that one thing, the end of the race, from
                                                                                   a different viewpoint.
      This one thing !                                                                  The mark is the goal, fixed by the arbiters of the
      These words, evidently, have the strong emphasis in games, that must be reached by the contestants, the
the text.                                                                          post marking the end of the race ; the prize is the re-
      Superficially considered it appears that these verses ward for the winners, the wreath of victory, the gar-
contain a mere repetition, somewhat elaborated, of the land of glory, dangling from the post.
thought in the preceding verse.                                                         Both mark the end of -the contest, the object in
      There the apostle stated: I have not already at- view, the much desired goal to be reached.
tained, neither am already perfect ; here : I count not                                 But the former, the mark, considers that goal from
myself to have apprehended. There he said: I follow the viewpoint of the test of strength and ability, of
after; here: I press toward the mark. There he spoke effort and endurance, the standard or criterion by
of the goal as that for which he had been apprehended which the contestants are to be judged, the attainment
of Christ Jesus ; here he speaks of the prize of the of which is to decide whether they are worthy of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus.                                               prize. The latter, the prize, considers the same object,
      And, truly, of the same matter he speaks.                                    the same goal, but now from the viewpoint of its preci-
      But with a new emphasis.                                                     ousness and blessedness and glory. It is the prize that
      Clearly now he has before his imagination the figure causes the mark to be desirable, that urges the con-
of the runner in the race, running for the prize. And testants to press on to the utmost of their power of
he stresses the singleness of aim, the singleness of endurance.
heart and mind as they are concentrated wholly on the                                   That goal is the resurrection from the dead !
prize, the singleness of effort in striving to reach the                                That resurrection, considered not merely as bodily
goal and to attain to the prize. This one thing! . . . glory and blessedness, but as the height of heavenly
      I have my eye on the one goal and my desire is fixed perfection, the perfect freedom; freedom from sin and
upon the one prize !                                                               death; freedom in the perfect likeness of God, in truth
      I forget and reach forth !                                                   and knowledge, in righteousness and holiness  ; freedom
      I press on with all that is within me !                                      in the bearing of the image of the heavenly ; freedom
      My life is not like a stream that divides itself into consisting in the perfect knowledge of God through
thousands of little currents and, spreading itself over Christ, so that we think God and will God and never


362                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
_-~  .-......___           ___---              ..^  _."  .               -"  -.._  -               - .._ "~._.--.---
think or will or desire anything eise ; so that we love            There is manifest in him a sanctifying of all life,
Him perfectly with all our heati  and mind and soul and         the making of all things subservient to the one pur-
strength in heavenly beauty and glory. The perfection pose, heavenly in origin and power: the perfection of
of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, his
Lord. Such is the resurrection from the dead. Such is Lord !
the blessed goal, the mark and the prize!                          A seeking of the Kingdom of God and His right-
       It is the prize of the high calling of God in Christ eousness, knowing that all things shal'. be added unto
Jesus  !                                                        him!
       The prize which is set before him that is called from       A life dominated by the desire to attain to the
above, by God, in Christ Jesus.                                 resurrection from the dead !
       There is `such a calling of God. A high calling, that       The one goal and the one prize !
is, a calling from above, a calling that is heavenly in            Singleness of object !
character, a calling unto heavenly things, even as it has
its origin and source in heaven. It is the calling of the          Pressing on !
gospel, the revelation of God as the God of our salva-             `Reaching forth unto these things which are before !
tion in Christ Jesus, the calling out of darkness into             The singleness of aim and object has a unifying
light, out of sin into righteousness, out of the fellow- effect upon the efforts that are put forth.
ship of a race that is lost and dead through trespasses            They are all bent upon the things that are before !
and sins, into the communion of the body of Christ, out            Beautiful picture of the  .hoping  Christian, sighing
of death into life, out of the power of things that are         within himself because he has the firstfruits of the
earthy into the enjo,yment  of things that are heaven-          Spirit and is saved in hope, waiting for the adoption,
ly, out of the bondage of the Prince of this world into         to wit the redemption of the body, the resurrection
the liberty -wherewith Christ hath made us free ; the from the dead !
saving calling, not by the impotent word of man, but               And distinctly his blessed privilege !
by the almighty Word of God: the calling of God, al-               To reach for the things that are before, always be-
ways powerful, always efficacious ; the calling by God,         fore!
of God, in Christ Jesus and all He is and accomplished,            To press on, ever onward ! In constant hope, with
in the sphere of `&is fellowship; the calling unto a high never a fear of disappointment! A hope that never
and heavenly obligation; be ye, therefore, holy, even as ceases, that always may look forward to things that
your Father which is in heaven is holy, perfect and are before !
blameiess in the midst of a crooked and perverse na-               Ah, even the world presses on and reaches evermore
tion, among whom ye shine as lights in the world ; the for things that are before. The present never satisfies.
calling unto the attainment of the prize, that dangles          Every present bears to the testimony of its imperfec-
from the goal of that perfection: unspeakable joy and tion, of its "vanity of vanities". And always the future
glory, the crown of life ! . . . .                              becomes the present with the same mournful message
       It is the prize of the calling from above of God in of disappointment. And always the world reaches for-
Christ Jesus !                                                  ward to the things that are before. The present being
       That one goal and that one prize the apostle, the without satisfaction, man flatters himself with a vain
Christian has in view!                                          hope for the better things of the future. Until there
       There is singleness of object, and the object is         are no more things that are before, are there yawns
hea+enly.                                                       the dark and deep abyss of death and hopelessness.
  ' Not several objects has he in view. He does not The child reaches forward to the things that are before
aim at more than one mark. He does not strive for in youth, the youth impetuously reaches out for man-
various goals. Not one object in heaven and several hood. The man for riper and better manhood. Until
others in this world attract him. Just one aim. And             the evil days come and the years draw nigh of the
that  one aim is perfection, the excellency of the knowl- which we say: I have no pleasure in them. The shadows
edge of Christ, the resurrection from the dead.                 of death grow longer and reach out for him that vainly
       For, the Christian warrior is truly other-worldly.       pressed on the things that were before ; and with
       He is decidedly not this-worldly !                       equally vain efforts he then tries to reach back for the
       Not, indeed, as if he were careless with respect to things that were . . . .
the aRairs of this present life and neglected his earthly          Vanity of vanities !
tailing, in home and shop and office, in the midst of              `All is vanity ! The things that are before beckon
the world. The very contrary is true just because he and attract only to mock and fill with bitterness as
strives for the prize of the high calling of God in             soon as they have become present!
Christ Jesus, everywhere and always.                               Not so the Christian !
       l3ut even in regard to the things of this world he is       His hope is not limited by the things that are of
other-worldly !                                                 this world, cannot be destroyed by death and Hades!


                                     T'HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  '                                             363
                              _.                       _.-.....  -    -    -    -
                                          .
The scope of his vision is not bounded by the high                    Singleness of heart !
mountains that encompass the dark valley of this                      Even forgetting those things which are behind !
death. He has been called by God in Christ Jesus !                    This in opposition to his attitude to the things
His calling was not from below, came not from this which are before. While he reaches for these, he for-
valley of tears, but sounded from beyond the moun- gets those ; while his mind is concentrated on these, his
tains that limit our natural vision, was a high calling, mind is removed from those. Back of his singleness of
a heavenly calling, a calling that has its source in the effort, striving for the single goal, there is a singleness
resurrection from the dead ! By faith his horizon was of heart and mind.
widened, was, extended far beyond the limits of the                   How possible ?
earthy. And he has learned not to regard the things                   Does not the apostle here express what is really a
that are seen, but the things that are not seen. The            contradiction in terms ? Is it not exactly with the
things that are seen are temporal and the hope of them          things of the past that our memory is concerned?
dies. when they are seen no more ; but the things that                And is it not psychologically impossible to forget
are not seen are eternal; the hope of them never dies. those things that are past?
Always there are things that are before: the resurrec-                Yea, what is more, is it not ethically wrong to for-
tion, the perfect knowledge of Christ, the heavenly get constantly the things that are behind, the debts we
vision of God, glory and everlasting bliss!                     failed to pay, the obligations we failed to fulfill, the
   Blessed privilege of the Christian!                          sins we committed, the errors that marked our way?. .
   And always he reaches forth. He presses on ! With                  Indeed, it is !
singleness of effort !                                                Nor is this the significance of the apostle's words.
   Lured on by the prize !                                      IIistorically  they would be untrue, were they meant in
   Urged on from within by the taste he has of the              this sense. Never did the apostle forget that he had
excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, his Lord ! been persecuting the Church of Christ; never had it
   Reaching forth to those things that are before! It become for him a matter of oblivion that, on the way to
expresses the intense longing of the apostle, of the Damascus, he had been apprehended of Christ Jesus,
striving Christian to reach the desired goal, the prize his Lord!
that is set before him. And it pictures the intensity                 Not of a psychological, nor of a historical, but of a
of the effort put forth to reach that one goal. Hardly spiritual forgetfulness the apostle is speaking. Not of
is it possible to express in one word the meaning of the an oblivion merely from the viewpoint of time, but
original Greek. The language here is still based on the from the viewpoint of progress in reaching the goal,
figure of the runner in the race in the Grecian games. from the aspect of sanctification, he is ,writing. We
The runner is bending forward, his eye on the prize             remember, that is, we have in mind and keep in mind
that beckons in the distance ; he strains every muscle ;        most easily the things we love, upon the which we set
his exertion is superhuman ; already he reaches forth, our hearts and minds. That which entices us we have
he extends his hand to clutch the goal . . . .                  constantly before our minds. We cannot rid ourselves
    And the goal is perfection !                                of it. It appeals to us. It tempts us. It presses itself
   He looks at nothing else ! He is detained by noth- always above the threshold of our consciousness. In -
ing about him ! He hears not the cries from the by- the progress of a life of sanctification the. things we
standers and spectators. He stops not to pick up what- leave behind are the things of sin, the lust of the flesh,
ever apparently precious thing may be thrown in his the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the besetting
way.                                                             sins, the peculiar sins of our personal character, our
    The pleasures and the treasures of the world do not weaknesses and passions, the things of the world, its
allure him!                                                      pleasures and its treasures. They are within  US. They
    The lust of the flesh and the lust of, the eyes and          are about us. They appeal to us. They are before our
the pride of life have no attraction for him.                    mind's eye. They will not be forgotten. But as we
    He presses on ! He reaches forth for the one object :        press on and on, as we reach forward in the effort to
the prize !                                                      reach the goal, in singleness of heart and effort, they
    No, not in his own strength. Not by the determina- fail to allure us, they lose their attraction, they are
tion of his own will. He could do nought else. He has            forgotten, they leave him cold . . . .
been called by God almighty. He has been apprehended                  Forgetting those things which in the progress to-
for this very thing by Christ  Jesus! On he must . . . .         wards the final goal are behind!
    And on he goes !                                                  And always caring for new things the new things,
    Ever approximating, yet never apprehending in this           the things that are before !
life, he still increases in sanctification of life.                   I press on and on, reaching forth in singleness of
    In the excellency of the knowledge of the Christ! heart !
    Reaching forth !                                                   Till the goal is reached and the prize is obtained !
                                                                       The crown of life !                          H. H.


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       :wf

                                                             the Chr. Ref. Churches. There impressions were left
            Orange City Organized                            that would never be erased. There our people were
   News at last !                                            partially prepared for the dark deeds that were soon to
   Another addition to the steadily increasing family be enacted by the carnal and  Arminian  Synod of 1924.
of our Protestant Reformed Churches !                        Indeed, Prof. Jansen was deposed, but did not his
    Eleven families plus, of the sound, sturdy, Friesian     spirit, his influence, his many supporters remain?
type, organized into our nineteenth Prot. Ref.  eongre-      Revenge would be sweet! Was not at that very mo-
gation !                                                     ment of apparent victory the prediction made by
   In a place where in the past faithful ministers have leaders of the church and spread abroad as a sinister
soundly proclaimed the Word of God ; where, therefore, foreboding of what  w,ould  take place but two years
one may reasonably expect consistent growth !                later: Met tw.ee  jaren gaan zij (Us. H, H. en Ds. H. D.)
   Let us rejoice together, friends. Generally, because er uit ? Reminiscent of that other: hij moet er uit,
our covenant God, since our cruel and malicious expul- maar hoe ! 1922 paved the way for what now took
sion from the church we loved so dearly, has so richly place.
bestowed His blessings upon us. More specifically for           The latest efforts put forth in Orange City by our
the reason, that again in these last days He has moved       churches and pastors in western Iowa were not the
the hearts of a group of His people, be it as usual but a first. Throughout the year 1931 Sunday evening meet-
small group, to reveal their colors and unite with us in ings were held, wherein we by the grace of God pro-
that glorious battle for the truth of God's testimony claimed the blessed truth of God's sovereign grace  re-
and the glory of our Alone Sovereign God.  Asaph's (vealed  exclusively to the people of His good pleasure.
hymn of praise should indeed  fill our every heart:          Our  attendances  remained encouraging until the end.
"Unto Thee, 0 God, do we give thanks, unto Thee do Many agreed with and loved the truth as then pro-
we give thanks: for that Thy name is near Thy won- claimed. Yet the work was temporarily discontinued.
drous, works declare", Ps. `75 : 1.                          Winter set in, and what was more, our friends in
    Often, when we of the middle West came to spend Orange City appeared reluctant to take any initiative
vacation with our dear ones, at times publicly in the of their own. We ceased our labors, convinced that
Standard Bearer, even in our Classical gatherings,           our duty had been performed. For the space of two
voices were heard: let us hear once about our churches years all our efforts appeared to have been futile. Yet
in the West. It was so very quiet on the western front.      our staunchest friends, daily hoping and praying for
These requests were appreciated. They proceeded from a Prot. Ref. church in Orange City continued to assure
genuine interest in our churches in general. Yet they us that this was not the case. And so it proved to be.
met with but little response. As often as the idea struck       December  Iast our labors were resumed. Things had
me to send some news items for publication in our changed, had developed. Conditions  b.ecame  more and
Standard Bearer the question presented itself: what more unbearable for those who loved the pure, un-
shall and can be written as far as church news is con- adulterated truth of God's Word. Indeed, our friends
cerned ? Not as though there were no news whatever, there loved the church, wherein they were born and
but scarcely sufficient to justir'y a special article. This reared, wherein they received the sign and seal of
time, however, is exceptional. Therefore we wrote:           God's covenant, wherein they were instructed and con-
news at last! Encouraging things have occurred dur- fessed their faith before God and man. So did they
ing the weeks just past. Another congregation has and do we all. Therefore we cannot and may not cease
been united to our youthful denomination and I know to point her to the evil of her ways. Some there were
you are eager to become acquainted with the facts.           who had spent in excess of 50 years of their lives in the
    Orange City organized !                                  same church. Separation was not easy. However,
    In a certain sense it may be said: it's about time! when one Sunday they were publicly told, that all who
Orange City, also from the viewpoint of our cause and        reject the general offer of salvation make of God c1 liar,
churches, has a history, dating in fact to the very be- the issue was decided. Four families severed relations
ginning of our history as Prot. Ref. Churches. Even at once and  affiliated  with the  Prot. Ref. church of
the Chr. Ref. Synod of 1922, unforgetable because of Sioux Center.  `Two others regularly attended our Sun-
its controversy with and deposition of the erring Dr. day worship. All pleaded for services in their own city.
Jansen, plays a rather prominent role in this history Something had to be done. Our course of action lay
of Orange City. From day to day the large auditorium clearly before us. Evening services were resumed.
of the Chr. Ref. church, wherein the Synod convened,         Communications were begun with the Mission Commit-
was filled to capacity, including the majority of those      tee of our churches having the purpose of procuring
very people who have now affiliated  with our churches. the services of Fuller  Ave.`s pastor for as long as pos-
There many people learned to respect and love the            sible in these parts. Meanwhile the meetings held were
doctrinal views as propagated by them who but two encouraging.               All through the winter months the
brief years later were ejected from the fellowship of weather was exceptionally favorable. The audiences


     368                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
*    --_-_.- -........._._...___--                                II
     were large and remained so throughout. All things of prayer after those present sang that beautiful first
     pointed in but one direction: Orange City must be or-        verse of Psalm 89. Thereafter Rev. Hoeksema called
     ganized.                                                     our attention to God's Word as it is contained in II
         Finally the climax came. Word was received that Timothy 2: 19: "Nevertheless the foundation of God
     the consistory of Fuller Ave. had granted its pastor standeth sure, having this seal: The Lord knoweth
     a leave of one Sunday. If necessary he might remain them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth
     another. The spacious auditorium of Orange City's the name' of Christ depart from iniquity."
     Public High School was procured at a very reasonable            A brief sketch of the message brought may not be
     rate. The meetings were duly advertised in the widely out of place. The Apostle begins with "nevertheless",
     read weekly, P)e Vollcsvtiend.                               That is: whatever may occur, whatever the enemy may
         And what a glorious time was had ! Within the say or do, even though all things may discourage,
     space of two weeks Rev. Hoeksema spoke no less than "ncverthelcss   the foundation of God standeth sure."
     eleven times, while during the day as many families as This "nevertheless' has often been spoken in the
     possible were personally visited. How the beauties of history of God's church. Paul wrote this with a view
     God's Word were again extolled! How the riches of to the church of his time. Some had departed from
     divine grace, the  .mysteries  of His eternal good           the truth. Hymenaeus and Philetus had fallen away.
     pleasure, the virtues of our adorable God, the atoning Others had  folIowed  them.  Nevertheless  the foundation
     power of the Cross of Calvary, the impotence and total of God standeth sure. Time and again this word has
     depravity of man were again proclaimed! No phase of been repeated in history. It was spoken in the 16th
     the truth was hid. No attempt was made to flatter, century, when Luther broke away from the hierarchy
     mere man. God is God was the theme throughout.               of the Roman Catholic church. It was repeated in
     How these audiences increased ! From an approximate 1618-`19.  Also then there were many'like Hymenaeus
     150 on that first, misty, disagreeable evening they and Philetus. God spoke through the Synod of Dordt,
     steadily increased until that final Sunday evening, nevertheless  the foundation of God standeth sure. The
     when the spacious hall was filled to capacity and the        same was true in 1834. Again Hymenaeus and Philetus
     knees of the foremost were pressed against the speak-        raised their heads in the midst of God's church. Again
     er's platform. And how God's people did listen ! Some the Almighty spoke, now through De Cock and his
     present were foes, no doubt, others were curious, to         followers:  rtevertheless.  God is speaking this today.
     be sure; but throngs were inspired by the beauties of There is a falling away in our day, - also otlicially,  -
     the Gospel of Christ. Is the truth as we love and pro- from this foundation with this seal; the seal of sove-
     fess it cold, dead, uninteresting, void of all warmth and    reign election. We are now together to return to the
     life? For the godless, yes. Was it not so when pro-          sure foundation of God. And that just one hundred
     claimed by our own Lord Jesus Christ? But is it also years after the Secession of 1834. Truly, we are com-
     for the children? God forbid! Orange City proved             memorating 1834 as only w.e can in returning to the
     otherwise.                                                   principles for which our fathers fought and suffered.
         A preparatory meeting was held Wednesday eve-               The speaker continued. A foundation reminds one
     ning, April 11, at the home of Mr. W. Hamstra. Eleven of a building. The building here presupposed-is the
     families plus one individual were present. After a church, not as the mystical body of Christ, but as the
     brief discussion all signed an urgent appeal to the Mis- church visible, the church as we must manifest it in
     sion Committee of our churches to be organized into          the midst of the world. That church, says Paul, has
     a Prot. Ref. congregation.                                   a foundation. Such a foundation has a two-fold signi-
         The actual organization took place the following ficance. It is the strength of the building. It also de-
     Friday evening, April 13, at the home of Mr. S. Dyk-         termines the size and shape of the latter. That founda-
     stra. Incidentally, this birthplace of the Orange City tion in respect to the church visible is the truth as it is
     Prot. Ref. Church is adjacent to the parsonage of the        revealed to the church out of Christ through the
     Chr. Ref. Church. A last attempt was made that same apostles and prophets  ; the pure, unadulterated  trut,h
     day to dissuade certain of those who had requested of the Word of God. That truth  was,corrupted  in the
     organization from continuing on their erring way. time of Paul. Many were busy building  next  to the
     Strange ! Strange it was that they knew so well who sure foundation of God. "Nevertiteless  the foundation
     had been present at our gathering of Wednesday eve- of God standeth sure."
     ning. Stranger still was this, that a number of fami-           This evening we are prepared to build ; build the
     lies could attend services in Sioux Center for some four church of Christ upon earth. Thereby w.e testify. We
     months, even neglecting to partake of the Lord's  SUP-       are not Hymenaeus and Philetus. We desire to build
     per, without having elicited as much as one official ad-     upon the sure foundation of God. We can build no
     monition. Now, however, things were different, but more with the church wherein we formerly had a name
     also, too late.                                              and place. Only this, in fact, may induce us to con-
        Rev. Hanko  of, Hull opened the meeting with a word tinue in the way we have chosen.


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEPRER                                                  369
             -" -.....-  - ^.    -..-............._  -  """.._                    -.--.----. -- _... -__         __--.,.-
     Consequently the all-important question: But how Various have even now expressed their intentions of
  can we distinguish that sure foundation? People of affiliating with the small group. To those I cannot help
  every persuasion maintain: We are building the but suggest: if your God is your all you must and will
  church ! We are building upon that true foundation ! follow the dictates of your inmost convictions. Be this,
  We have the truth ! Can we know, also this evening, however, as it may, our Orange City brethren and sis-
  whether we are actually building upon the sure founda- ters are upon God's way. That means more by far
  tion of God ?                                                   than all outward growth.
     Indeed we can ! That foundation has a seal. A                   God bless Orc&.cnge  C:`ity!
  seal is an earmark, a sign of genuineness. so also                                                           R. Veldman
  here. This seal, however, is twofold. On the one hand
  it is the doctrine of divine, sovereign election. "The
  Lord knoweth them that are His." When you build a
  church this is your proof that you are building accord-
 ing to truth. The truth of .election  proves the genuine-
  ness of the .foundation  upon which you are erecting
 your church. No, it is not  sufhcient that this doctrine
  is mentioned occasionally. It must be lived and loved                               BLESSED JESUS
  by the church of God permeating all its teaching and                  There's One who can comfort when all else fails ;
 preaching. The complementary side of this same seal
 is the truth of sanctification. "And, Let every one that               Who's able to save when the foe assails ;
 nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."                             Once He traveled the way we go,
Christ delivers His own. Thereby they call upon His                           Felt the pangs of deceit and woe;
 name, confess Him, partake of His anointing.  Having                         Who more perfectly, then, can know,
 this latter they depart from iniquity. We do not                                Than Jesus, blessed Jesus.
 affirm: now that we are elect we can live as sinfully as
 our flesh desires. Thus we would reveal that we have
 no part with Him. The fruit of election through Christ                 He heareth the cry of the soul distressed;
 is always sancti%ation. Is this twofold earmark pres-                  He healeth our wounds and He giveth rest;
 ent? Is the truth of election precious to you? Do you                        Tho' so often denied is He,
 believe that God's people is holy and unique in the                          Spurned the love that built Calvary,
 midst of the world ? Then we will build. And building
 upon God's foundation we may be certain of success.                          Still with pleading of "Come to me"
 His blessing will rest upon us.                                                 Stands Jesus, blessed Jesus.
     The speaker concluded. We have proclaimed unto
 you the truth. You may do as you see  fit. We have                     He never forsakes in the darkest hour;
 preached unto you that sure foundation without which
 the church is lost. Let us then proceed according to                   His arm is around us with keeping pow'r ;
 the pure Word of God, convinced that we are in God's                         When from lov'd ones we're called to part,
 way, encouraged by the promise that the Lord will be                         When the tears, in our anguish, start,
 with us.                                                                     None can comfort the breaking heart
     After these inspiring words a tasty lunch was                               Like Jesus, blessed Jesus.
 served by our hosts to which all present did full justice.
     The organization proper was soon effected. A  con-
 sistory was chosen, consisting of two elders and two                   When summer is ended He'll come again,
m deacons. As no objections were raised against any of                  0 let us be ready to meet Him then.
 these brethren, the Form of Ordination was read by                           When we enter the Shadow-land,
 Rev. A. Cammenga, after which the congregation                               When at Jordan we trembling stand, .
 wished them God's blessing by singing from Ps. 134:3.                        .He will meet us with out-stretched hand,
 The ceremony was ended when the writer of these lines
 pronounced the benediction upon the newly organized                             This Jesus, blessed Jesus.
 congregation of Orange City.
     Orange City organized !                                             What joy will it be when we see His face,
     The sentiments of more were expressed in those                      Forever to sing of His love and grace !
 touching words of one aged mother: All these years I
 have prayed to see a Prot. Ref. church in Orange City                        Then at home on that Shining Shore,
 before I depart. Now my desire is granted. I cannot                          With the lov'd ones gone on before
 express my joy.                                                              We will praise Him forever more,
     They are small,  it  is true. But they will grow,                           Our Jesus, blessed Jesus.


  880                                  THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                    .l___--._                       - -   -...  - -  L-...  __.  I-
                                                                purpose of God He intended that' it should have pre-
                         Book Review                            cisely the effect which in experience it is found to have.
         "The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination" by           He designed in its adoption to save His own people, but
  L o r a i n e   B o e t t n e r .                             consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to
                                                                receive them. More than this no anti-Calvinist can
         I asserted in a previous article that there runs       demand" (p.  254). The reasoning here is Arminian.
  through the work of this author a vein of thought that        Consider the statement : "When the Gospel is presented
  is sound, a line of reasoning that is scriptural. With to mankind in general nothing but a sinful unwilling-
  much of what the book contains on the matter of th.e ness on the part of some prevents their accepting and
  elective grace of God, no fault can be found. But the enjoying it." This has meaning only when the natural
  fact is that the author often strays from the straight'       man, devoid of spiritual life, be defined as a creature
  way of correct thinking into a labyrinth, of Arminian with a better, holy, self, corresponding to the new marl
  reasonings. Let me present a few instances of this. of the child of the light, that yearns for the Christ. Of
  The book teaches a sincere offer of the gospel to the         this self it could be said that it is being prevented from
  non-elect. I quote : "Although the Gospel is offered acting upon its hallowed impulses by the sinful unwill-
  to many who will not, and for subjective reasons can- ingness on the part of the corrupt nature. But wh.at
  not, accept, it is, nevertheless, sincerely offered to all." meaning is there to the saying that a man, wholly cor-
  It is to the  defence  of this proposition that the author    rupt, who with his entire being sets himself against
  arises in the twenty-first chapter of his book. The de- things holy, crucifies afresh the Christ presented to
  lineations found in this chapter plainly. show that the       him (not offered), is being restrained by his sinful
  term "offer" in the above-cited proposition can only          unwillingness from embracing the Christ presented?
. stand, if. words have meaning, for an Arminian con- Do we say of a corpus that it is being prevented from
  ception of divine dispositions and intend in respect          rising to its feet? Do we throw thumbling blocks be-
  to the non-elect, that, also in the mind of the author,       fore the feet of dead men to impede their progress?
  the supposed act of God, consisting in His sincerely Do we speak of locking the doors of our houses at
  offering His salvation, necessarily implies a sincere night-time to prevent the dead from entering? It is
  willingness on His part to save all to whom the offer is      the living only that are restrained. Such terms as
  made and thus to place in their actual possession the         prevent can apply only to a living creature capable of
  good that is offered, to wit, Christ and the fulness that     suffering the prevention, so that the joint conception
  dwells in Him bodily, that thus the term under consid-        from which the reasoning contained in the above-cited
  eration indeed stands for a thought-structure in which rluotation  is, must be, that in the natural man there is
  Christ appears as laying down His life for all men            hidden a better self that strives to assert itself and
  (head for head) and thus meriting for all the proffered       that God is willing that this man (the reprobate)
  salvation and fallen man as a creature with a will cap- should arise, set out for Zion and enter in through the
  able of accepting or rejecting what is offered. These gate of that celestial city. He throws no stumbling
  delineations show, finally, that when the exponents of block in the path of that dead one. Hence, as for God,
  this  "offer-theology"  go to expounding their views, he may make for the city of refuge and save himself.
  they, in spite of the caution exercised, reason as Ar-           The above criticism applies with equal force to the
  minians. The only explanation of this is that the con- statement that reads : "the non-elect have all the ad-
  ception the term "offer" stands for is Arminian.              vantages and opportunities of securing their salvation,
         Attend first to this from the author's pen: "When that according to any other scheme, are granted to
  the gospel is presented to mankind in general nothing mankind indiscriminately." Let me ask: Do men speak
  but a sinful unwillingness on the part of some prevents of granting -not to the drowning but to the drowned
  their accepting and enjoying it. No stumbling block advantages and opportunities for saving themselves
  is put in their way. ,411 that the call contains is true;     from the raging billows of a  turbulant  sea? Pray,
  it is adapted to the conditions of all men and freely what would these opportunities be, the life-Iine thrown
  offered if they will repent and believe. No outside in- out? Now this line is thrown out indeed ! But can, do,
  fluence constrains them to reject it. The elect accept; the drowned catch hold of it and allow themselves to be
  the non-elect may accept if they will, and nothing but drawn to safety? If not, is it not sheer folly to say of
  their own nature determines them to do otherwise." the saviour ashore that he affords the drowned oppor-
  "According to the Calvinistic scheme," says Dr. Hodgc, tunity for securing their salvation when he throws out
  "the non-elect have all the advantages and opportuni- this line? Advantages are granted only to the living
  ties of securing their salvation, that, according to any so that also the reasoning contained in the statement
  other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately. last quoted springs from the conception that the (rep-
  Calvinism teaches that a plan of salvation adapted to robated) sinner is not drowned {dead in sin) but
  all men and adequate for the salvation of all, is freely      drowning and thus much alive. The gospel is there-
  offered to the acceptance of all, although in the secret fore an advantage to him. He has power  t,o accept or


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      381

reject the profZlered  Christ. And whereas nothing but a passengers, so he invites all those  on  the sinking vessel
sinful unwillingness on his part prevents him from to come on board, although he knows that many of
accepting, from catching hold of the line thrown out, them, either through lack of appreciation of their
God is willing that he avail himself of the granted op- danger, or because of personal spite toward him, or
portunity and save himself.                                 for other reasons, will not accept. Yet does that make
   The fact is that the reprobate, being dead in sin, his offer any less sincere?" The author fails to apply
cannot will to enter, that with their whole being they his illustration. Yet it was meant to be applied. That
actively hate the Christ presented to them and crucify boat, certainly, represents Christ, and he by whom the
Him afresh, that it therefore will not do to say that       boat is hired, the man who goes to rescue his family,
they are being prevented by their own unwillingness God. So the family on board the sinking ship comes to
to enter and that Christ does not prevent them from stand for the company of elect. The teaching of the
entering and thus wills that they rush in. Such rea- illustration is, then, that God goes to the rescue of His
soning presupposes not a sinner dead in sin but a people with a Christ in whose heart there is incident-
sinner much alive. And as to Christ being willing that ally room for the others as well. What else can this
the reprobate should save himself, consider that the mean than that Christ merited himself, be it incident-
kingdom has both keys and a door, that the keys are ally for these others, that He is therefore now will-
the forgiveness of sins and that the door is Christ.        ing that they, too, should have His gifts of pardon and
What now is the truth of the matter. This: According salvation and that God through Christ can now also
to the eternal and sovereign decree of God, Christ holds reach out for these to take them to His bosom. And
the sins of the reprobate, refuses to engender in them this extension of mercy finds its explanation in the cir-
life, hardens their hearts, through the preaching of cumstance that God miscalculated when He prepared
Himself and thus fits them for eternal destruction. In His instrument of salvation. What a conception of
this sense does He close to them the door of the king- God ! What a travesty on the true scriptural doctrine.
dom. But the fault lies with the sinner that perishes.         The next illustrations reads: "If a man's family
So far from the truth it is, therefore, that He wills that were with others held in captivity, and from love of
they shall enter, that He  fits them,  t.hrough  their them and with the purpose of t.heir redemption, a ran-
wickedness, for their eternal destiny. You say, this is som should be offered  sufficient for the delivery of the
a terrible presentation of matters. So let it be. But whole body of captives, it is plain that the offer of de-
show me that it is not Scripture.                           liverance might be extended to all on the ground OF
   Let me now prove that my analysis of Boettner's that ransom, although specially intended any for a par?
reasoning is correct. Wrote he (the sentence is found of their number."
in the paragraph quoted above:  "&he elect accept; the         Applying the illustration, then the offer of salva-
non-elect may accept if they will, and nothing but their tion, such is the conception, reposes upon the ransom
own natures determines them to do otherwise." Mark as its ground. The ransom, therefore, is, must be, the
you, Boettner has it that the sole and thus the supreme     rightful property of all and if so,  wcas of necessity
cause of their not accepting  ir; their own nature, their merited for all. If not, the author was playing with
unwillingness. This certainly is Arminianism of the words. The same conception meets us in the last of
purest wool. Further, the reprobate may accept. This the three figures: "Or, a man may make a feast for
"may" can apply only to God, so that the Almighty is his.own  friends and the provisions be so abundant that
here presented as saying to the rejected one to whom he may throw open his doors to all who are willing to
He has His Gospel preached, `As for me, thou mayest come. This. is precisely what God, according to the
accept. I am willing, desirous that you should. The         Calvinistic  doctrine, has actually done. Out of special
evidence of this is that I bring no outward influence to love to His people, and with the design of securing
bear upon you to serve as a preventive.'                    their salvation He has sent his Son to do what justifies
   It shall have to be conceded that if it is right for the offer of salvation to  all who choose to accept it."
the just God to direct a speech of this character to the       Here again the teaching is that God prepared a
rejected ones, it must be that He through and in Christ heavenly feast, living water, true bread of life, spirit-
prepared for them pardon and *redemption,  that this ual wine and milk, in a word the Christ, not only for
bone is objectively theirs, but that their task and the family of elect but for the others as well, the repro-
privilege is to apppropriate it of their own free will.     bated ones. The provisions are theirs for the taking.
This is actually the author's view. Let me show this. God therefore throws open the doors of His banquet-
On page 283 and 284, we come upon illustrations that hall also to them. The provisions, from the point of
read : "We may imagine the case of a ship with many view of right, are also theirs. Let them enter, so God
passengers on board sinking some distance out from wills, and drink of the living streams of grace that flow
shore. A man hires a boat from a nearby port and from the throne. And think on this: God makes His
goes to rescue his family. Incidentally it happens that feast for His friends. These certainly are the elect.
the boat which he takes is large enough to carry all the The others to whom He throws open the doors are the


 382                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
 -.I._ -.- ..--." . ..- I ^..^_ __-.  ^.  ". ..--                                               ---__.-.
 ones reprobated. Christ came and did what justifies the                     signed and merited for and thus beIonging  to and com-
 oEer of salvation also to these. He merited for Himself                     pletely occupied by, the elect family, was also incident-
 and for the Father the right to bestow the blessing of                      ally merited for the others (the reprobate) and that
 the kingdom upon as many of these as choose to accept                       God now sincerely offers this house in which there is
 the oEer. It may be, therefore, that also of this class room for the elect family only, also to the others and is
 some will be saved.                         This same sentiment comes to    thus willing that they, too, should occupy rooms in it.
 the surface of the first illustration. The passengers on                       That I do not press out of these illustrations a doc-
 the sinking vessel comprise two classes. To the one                         trine that is not Boettner's, that he actually teaches a
 class belong exclusively the members of the man's                           free wil of man, a Christ who died for all and a God
 family; to the other, the remaining passengers. That who would save all if He only could, is evident enough
 family group are the elect of God; the others, the rep- from paragraphs in his book that read: "The question
 robate. The latter, too, the Lord invites, although He which we are to discuss under the subject of `Limited
knows that many of them (but thus not all, G. M. 0.)                         Atonement' is, Did Christ  offer up Himself a sacrifice
 either through lack of appreciation of their danger or for the whole human race, for every individual with-
 for other reasons will not accept. But this does not out distinction or exception ; or did His death have
 make His offer any the less sincere. He wills to save special reference to the elect? In other words, was
 alI. Provision has been made for all. For all there is                      the sacrifice of Christ merely intended to make the
 place under the shadow of His wings. Such is the rea- salvation of all men possible, or was it intended to
 soning. Consider that the ship the Lord built through render certain the salvation of those who had been
 Noah did not, through a miscalculation, turn out to be given to Him by the Father? Arminians hold that
 large enough for the multitude that perished. While                         Christ died for all men alike, while Calvinists hold that
 this ship was in process of being build, the wicked were                    in the intention and secret plan of God, Christ died for
 being requested to repent. Is this request to be con-                       the elect only, and that His death had only an inci-
 strued as a sincere offer of deliverance? If so, how is dental reference to others in so far as they are par-
 it to be explained that the Lord ordered a ship built                       takers of common grace. The meaning might be
 t.hat would accommodate besides the animals but eight brought out more clearly if we used the phrase `limited
 people? The author, whose work I criticise was con- Redemption' rather than `Limited Atonement.' The
 sistent enough to provide the man in his illustration, Atonement, is, of course, strictly an infinite transac-
 who goes to rescue his family, with.% boat large enough tion  ; the limitation comes in, theologically, in the ap-
 to carry all the passengers. But Noah's ark was,  cer-                      plication of the benefits of the atonement, that is in
. tainly, not large enough to carry the multitudes that redemption.                         But since the phrase `Limited Atone-
 might have repented. Here, then, is a real difficulty. ment' has become well established in theological usage
 Consider, further, that the Father's house with its and its meaning is well known we shall continue to
 many mansions was likewise designed before the                              use it.
 foundations of the world for a definite number of                              " . . . We believe, however, that even if many
 people. And when this house will appear  in glory on fewer of the human race were  t.o have been pardoned
 the new earth, it will be found that all the places have                    and saved, an atonement of infinite value  would have
 been taken by the elect of God. How then can God will been necessary in order to have secured for them these
 to save also the others and be sincerely inviting them blessings ; and though many more, or even all men were
 to occupy rooms in this house? "This," Rev. H.  J.                          to have been pardoned and saved, the sacrifice of Christ
 Kuiper would say, were the question put to him, "is the would have been amply sufficient as the grounds or
 mystery. We do not intend to debate with the brother basis of their salvation . . . .
 on this subject. He knows where we stand on these                              "WhiIe the value of the atonement was sufficient to
 matters. We believe and preach a well meaning offer save all mankind, it was efficient to save only the elect.
 of salvation unto the reprobated wicked also because It is indifferently as well adopted to the salvation of
 it is taught in the Bible. We believe and preach a one man as to that of another, thus making the salva-
 limited atonement and a Father's house designed for tion of every man objectively possible ; yet because of
 the elect only for the same reason." Ah, yes. But does subjective difficulties, arising on account of the sinner's
 the Bible actually teach both? But this, certainly,                         own inability either to see or appreciate the things of
 would not be Boettner's answer. For the first para- God, only those are saved who are regenerated and
 graph of the introduction to his book reads: "The pur- sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The reason why God does
 pose of this book is . . . to give a re-statement to that not apply this grace to all men has not been fully re-
 great system which is known as the Reformed Faith or vealed" (p. 150-152).
  Calvinism, and to &how that this is beyond all doubt                           " . . . . Out of special love to His. people, and with
 the teaching of the Bible and of reason." Mark you, of the design of securing their salvation He has sent His
 rimson. Now the professor's sound reason, certainly, son to do what justifies the offer of salvation  to all
 does not teach him that a house, the Father's house,  de- who choose to come" (p. 284).


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            383
- - -   - -  .-..._..        _-- .l_ll___ll  ..__-
    "There is, in fact, no single member of this fallen          The reasoning found in the above quotations rnnJ
race who is not treated by his Maker better than he           be reduced to the following propositions:
deserves. And since grace is favor shown to the unde-            (1)      The objective atonement was unlimited.
serving, God has the sovereign right to bestow more               (2) Objective atonement consisted in  Christ  in-
grace upon one subject than upon another. `The be-            cidentally making possible salvation for every man,
stowment of common grace upon the non-elect,' says            and thus in extinguishing by His suffering every man';;
W. G. T. Shed, `shows that non-election does not ex-          guilt and in meriting for every man (including thu
clude from the kingdom of heaven by Divine efficiency,        reprobate) the right to possess all the fruits of His
because common grace is not only  un  irwitation to be-       death.
lieve and repent, but also an actual help  (Italics mine,         (3) Redemption is limited.
G. M. 0.) toward it; and a help that is nullified solely         (4) Redemption consists in Christ's placing tha
by the resistence  of the non-elect, and not by anything      peculiur  fruits of His death - pardon and reconcilia-
in the nature of common grace, or by any preventive           tion - in the actual possession of the elect.
action of God. The fault or the failure of common                (5)      Christ's dying for the elect is to be defined
grace to save the sinner, is chargeable to the sinner as an act consisting in His laying down His life with
alone ; and he has no right to plead a fault of his own       the intend of bestowing as the resurrected Christ the
as the reason why he is entitled to special grace" (p.        peculiar  fruits of His death upon His chosen ones.
267).                                                             (6)     Christ died for  all men as well. His doing so
    "In conclusion let it be said that Calvinists do not is to be defined as an act consisting in His laying down
deny that mankind in general receive some  important;         His life with the intend of incidentally extinguishing
benefits from Christ's atonement . . Cunningham has by His suffering  cvc?ry man's guilt, of meriting for
stated the belief of Calvinists very clearly in the fol- every one the right to possess both the peculiar and the
lowing paragraph: `It is not denied by the advocates temporal fruits of His death, and with the intend of
of particular redemption, or of a limited atonement,          actually bestowing upon all, these temporal fruits (the
that mankind in general, even those who ultimately blessings of common grace).
perish, do derive some advantages or benefits from                (7) On the basis of this unlimited atonement,
Christ's death; and no position they hoId requires them God sincerely  offers  the peculiar fruits of Christ's
to deny this. They believe that important benefits have death unto all men (including the reprobate) and thus
accrued to the whole human race from the death of earnestly wills thgt all come into the actual possession
Christ, and that in these benefits those who  are finalIy     of these fruits. Tl?& evidence of this is that He actually
impenitent and unbelieving partake. What they deny endows the reprobate wicked with a common grace by
is, that Christ intended to procure, or did procure, for which grace He capacitates them to believe unto the
all men these blessings which are the proper and pe- eternal salvation of their immortal souls.
culiar fruits of His death, in its special character of an        (8) God therefore wills that also the reprobate
atonement,  - that He procured or purposed redemp- save themselves. As many of these as choose of their
tion - that is pardon and reconciliation - for all men. own free will to make proper use of the (common)
Many blessings flow to mankind at large from the              grace that is given them, will be saved.
death of Christ, collaterally and incidentally, in conse-         (9)     (Common) grace is capable of being resisted.
quence of the relation in which men, viewed collect-              (10)     Natural man is not totally depraved.
ively, stand to each other. All these benefits were of           Let no one say that I am pinning,anything  on the
course foreseen by God, when He resolved to send His          professor. Every one of these propositions are con-
Son into the world ; they were contemplated or de- tained in the sections of his book quoted. Mark, once
signed by Him, as what men should receive and enjoy.          more, statements such as these: "The Atonement is, of
They are to be regarded and received as bestowed by course, strictly an infinite transaction ; the limitations
Hiin, and as thus unfolding His glory, indicating His comes in, theologically, in the appIication  of the ben-
character, and actually accomplishing His purposes ; efits of the atonement, that is the redemption. It (the
and they are to be viewed as coming to men through atonement) is indifferently as well adapted to the sal-
the channel of Christ's mediation,  - of His suffering vation of one man as to that of another, thus making
and death.'                                                   the salvation of every man objectively possible. Ther3
    "There is, then, a certain sense in which Christ died is, then, a sense in which Christ died for  a11 men, and
for all men, and we (this from Boettner's very own we do not reply to the Arminian tenet with an unqual-
pen) do not reply to the Arminian tenet with an un- ified negative." Pray, what else can it mean that by
qualified negative. But what we do maintain is that the atonement salvation was made possible for all men
the death of Christ had special reference to the elect        (head for head) than that Christ died with the intend
in that it was effectual for their salvation, and that the of extinguishing sin for every man and of meriting
effects which are produced in others are only incidental      for all the right to possess also the peculiar fruits of
to this one great purpose"  (p. 160, 161).                    His death. It is exactly upon this unlimited atonement

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

as upon its base that, according to the professor, the
well meaning offer of salvation to all  reposes.  I am                 League Of Men's Societies
not ascribing to him views that cannot be gotten out of
his writings.                                                    Since the reawakening of the above mentioned
   The God one meets with in this book is not the organization in our Protestant Reformed Churches in
God of Scripture at all but a figment of the author's         Michigan we have been informed from time to time of
own imagination, an impotent, inconsistent, unright- the procedure of its meetings. On Thursday evening,
eous deity, altogether unworthy of the esteem and April 14, a well attended meeting was held at the First
adoration of the creature. He  pro&r-s his house to Protestant Reformed Church. As this was not a public
all, t.hough he knows that in this house there is room meeting, as our previous sessions had been, only men
for some only.        He must stand helplessly  by while were present.
many perish as, though the would save all, many do               The meeting was opened by the chairman, after
perish. As he had his son extinguish the sins of all having read from James, chapter IV, and singing of
and secure for all the right to possess the particular Psalm 133 by the audience. The program for the eve-
gifts of the latter's atonement, consistency requires ning consisted of two well formulated essays `dealing
that he now also place in the actual possession of all with, "Our Attitude Toward the C. L. A." (Christian
these gift. Yet he actually saves some only and con-          Labor Association).
demns to eternal death men just in Christ. What a                Mr. Jack Verhil, of the Holland Men's society-of the
god !                                                         First Protestant Reformed Church, rendered his mate-
   But someone may say, we read in the Canons of rial in the Holland langue. In his paper Mr. Verhil
Dordt the following: The death of the Son of God is emphatically stated, considering the first six articles of
the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction the constitution of the C. L. A., that according to the
for sin ; and is of infinite worth and value, abundantly explicit teaching of Scripture it is impossible for any
sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world. Second member of the Protestant Reformed Churches to be,
head of the doctrine, Art. 3.                                 or to become a member of this association.
       I will comment on this in a following writing. In         In the English language Mr. Kortering of the Men's
this writing I will place alongside of the theology we        society of Holland, also very forcibly explained the
come upon in the book under consideration, the true           impossibility for any members of our churches to ally
doctrine of Scripture.                                        themselves with the C. L. A. His remarks were also
                                              G. M. 0.        based on a careful study of the first part of the eon-
                                                              stitution of the Christian Labor  ,Association.
                                                                 A recess lasting twenty-five minutes, during which
                                                              time coffee and doughnuts were served, was provided
                                                              to re-establish old acquaintances and to establish new
                                                              friendships. Fellowship, friendship and union are more
                     ANNOUNCEMENT                             firmly established and continued at meetings where
   The Curatorium of the Protestant Reformed Theo- this social period is provided for.
logical School shall meet, D. V., 011 Tuesday, June 5.           The meeting was resumed by the singing of number
1984, at  3%) p. m., in the basement of the Protestant 87 from the Psalter. Roll call was taken by the secre-
Reformed Church of Oskaloosa, Iowa.                           tary showing the societies of Rudsonville, Kalamazoo
                                                              and Oak Lawn not present at the meeting. The subject
   Any student desiring admission to the School will of the essays was now opened for discussion. One
have to appear at this meeting, in possession of:             question was raised, namely, "Can there be a Christian
       (1)    A certificate of membership in one of above     Labor Association" ? After discussing the question
                                                              pro and con throughout the remainder of the evening
mentioned churches;                                           the result showed the members upholding the negative
       (2) A recommendation of his consistory to the answer to the question to be most numerous.
Board of our School.                                             After the singing of Psalter number 225, Rev. Grit-
                       The Curatorium,                        ters of Holland closed the meeting with prayer.
                                    L. Vermeer, Sec'y.                                              Peter R. Zuidema



       Nergens zijn  meer  ,schuilhoeken  dan in het  men-       Woorden zonder daden  zijn niets den holle klanken,
schelij k hart.                                               al zijn ze ook zoo zoet als honig.


