VOLUME XVIII.                                              OCTOBER~,~~~~                                               N%MI%R  1.

                                                                       des  Heeren  drukt zwaar,  tct  verdervens toe, op de
                                                                       wereldmacht: . . .
                       e                                                   En de Filistijnen  zallen   vreezen  bij het aanschou-
L--LQ-P.                                                               wen van Tyrus' ondergang. Askeloti  en Gaza en Ekron
                                                                       zullen met groote  vreeze  worden  Ibevangen. Want op
        De Komst Van ons Koning                                       Tyrus zagen ze en vertrouwden ze.        En de ondergang
                                                                       van Tyrus is ook hun ondergang: de koning  .zal  uit
              Verheug  TL   qeer,  gij,  dochter   Sions!   ju.ieh,    Gaza vergaan,  Askelon  zal niet bewoond worden, de
             gij, dochter Jeruzalerns!  Ziet, uw Koning                bastaard.qal  te Asdod wonen, de hoogmoed der Filis-
             ml  u komen,  rechtvnawlig,  en Hij  is ee!n              tijnen zal uitgeroeid worden. De  wereldinacht  gaat
             Heiland; arm, en rijdende op een ezel,  en                ten onder!                                      > .
              op  wn  veaden,  een jong `der ezelinnen.                    Meer nog! . . . .
                                                Zach.   9:9.               Want ziet, een overblijfsel, ook uit het land van de
                                                                       Filistijnen, behoort den Heere toe !
   Maar zal dan deze heil aanbrengen?                                      Het wordt behouden, het blijft onzen God over, het
    Is de komst van dezen koning dan waarlijk oorzaak                  wordt als een vorst in Juda en als de Jebusiet!
van blijdschap en verheuging voos de dochter  Sions  en                    En  IGods   .Huis  wordt bewaard, in veiligheid gesteld.
de dochter  Jeruzalems,  van dezen koning, die komt:                   De doorgaande en de wederkeerende zal niet meer
(`arm en  rijdend,e  op een ezel, en op een veulen, een                gemolesteerd worden; de drijver zal niet meer door hen
jong  der ezelinnen?"                                                  doorgaan ! Verheug  u dan, gij, dochter  Sions, want uw
     Zullen we het met hem wagen, op hem ons vertrou-                  koning komt! En met de komst van dien koning staat
wen stellen?  Zal  het mogelijk zijn, dat in verband                   dit alles in onlosmakelijk verband !
met en  dor de  kom&  van,dezen  koning de wereldmacht                    Doch zoekt geen  teeken  !     '
ten onder wordt gebracht, en God's Huis veilig  wFrdt                      Want  `deze  koning is niet gelijk aan de koningen
bewaard en bevestigd.?                                                 der wereld! Hij is rechtvaardig! Hij is een Heiland!
   .Zoo  toch moeten' we,  naar het verband, dezen ko-                   En Hij  komt:< arm, en rijdende op  eenen  ezel, en
ning hier zien.                                                        op een veulen, een jong der ezelinnen?
   De vertaling hier, vooral van de  eerste  beide verzen                  Zullen we `t met Hem wagen?
van dit hoofdstu'k, munt niet uit door. duidelijkheid.
Maar de gedachte is, dat de last van het Woord des                         Uw ~ koning komt  !
IHeeren, dat is,  Z:ijn   oordeels-woord,  rust  op Chadrach               Altijd blijde mare!
(waarschijnlijk een symbolische aanduiding van het                         `t Is  zoo  in en met de wereld ten opzichte van haren
Perzisch-Medische wereldrijk : "Scherp-zacht"  beteeke-                koning, de koning der wereldmacht. Als zij de aan-
nend)  en op  Damaskus,  en op  Hamath,  en op Tyrus en                kondiging verneemt : "LW  koning komt  !"  dan  verblij  dt
Sidon, en ook nog op het land der Filistijnen. Tyrus                   ze zich .en springt op van vfeugde.
staat hier zelfs aan de' spitse en treedt op als vertegen-                 Want de mensch zoekt een koning. Dat zit hem
woordiger der  wereldmac.ht.  Ze is  ,zeer wijs,  fiaar de             in `t bloed !
wijsheid, die van beneden is, aardsch en duivelsch is;                     Van  nature  is hij geen democraat. Hij ziet uit.
daarom heeft ze zich sterkten gebouwd,  en ook veel                    naar  ee8 koning, iemand, die aan de spitse kan treden !
schatten vergaderd, zilver als stof en fijn goud als                   De geschiedenis van de jongste dagen bewijst dit wel
slijk der straten. Doch haar wijsheid,. hare sterkten                  overvloediglijk.  Hij. werpt wel eens tronen neer, en
en hare schatten zullen haar niet baten. De Heere zal                  doet koningen en keizers het stof  .bijten   ; doch met
haar uit het bezit  stooten,  hare vesting in de zee ver-              oweerstaanbar,en  drang zoekt hij toch  - weer een
slaan, haar met  vuur:  y&eren.        De last van het Woord           koning, al noemt hij hem, uit schaamte  over  zijn


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         _.-                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   - -                                          3

   cler  vijanden, en eeuwiglijk  regeeren  in  Gods Naam en          wand aan. . . .
   als  Gods Knecht!                                                      Efi Hij ging  Onder in den dood.  m. . . rijdende op
   D    Deze Koning is Knecht!            `--                         een  ,ezel.  . .  : zachtmoedig. . . . rechtvaardig en een
        Knecht des  IHeeren  !                                        Heiland  !
        Daarom  komt  Hij dan rijdende op een  eze!,  en op               Nooit verwisselde Hij de ezel voor een paard in heel
   en veulen, een jong. der ezelinnen!                                den strijd! En Hij overwon! Zijn vertrouwen werd
        Immers, daarin ligt `juist uitgedrukt, dat Hij -ten           niet beschaamd.  ,God  rechtvaardigde Hem.
   strijde komt zonder wereldsche macht, zonder midde-                  Rijsdende  op een ezel, en op een veulen, een jong
   len, zonder het geweld der sterken. Zeker, deze Koning der ezelinnen, vreesde Hij niet de hitte van den strijd,
   is ook nederig van hart. Hoe zou Hij anders Knecht                 ging Hij dood en hel in, verbrak Hij de machten des
   des  Heeren  kunnen zijn ? Maar de idee van nederig-               doods en der hel, verrees Hij  uit.het  graf, en ging Hij
   heid  is toch niet de hoofdgedachte van dit profetisch             de  hqerlijkhei,d  des Vaders in!
   beeld des  Konings      "rijdende op een ezel".         Veeleer        Tot het einde toe rijdende op een ezel, besteeg Hij
  verkondigt hij daarin heel  ,de  wereld, en de vijandige            Davids troon !
   macht, die  Hij.`moet  overwinnen, dat Hij Zijn ver-                   Om tot in eeuwigheid te  regeeren   !
   trouwen stelt op den  Heere  der  heirscharen,  maar dan              Wonderlij$e  verschijning!
   ook absoluut alleen op Hem.  Zoo  moest  ook Israel
   doen. Strijdpaarden mocht  Gods volk niet hebben.                     Verheug u zeer!
   Het moest den vijand altijd weer verkondigen : "Deien                  Gij dochter  Sions;  verheug  u  !
  vermelden van wagens, en die van paarden ; maar wij                    IGij,   .dochter  Jeruzalems, verblijdt  u  met groote
   zulle vermelden van den. Naam des  Heerei,   onzes God" !          verheuging !
   Ma&  zulk een strijd. dorst Israel niet dikwijls aan.                  Juich, want  uw  Koning komt, uw Koning is ge-
   Dat de strijd des  Heeren  is,  verst,ond-  het niet dikwijls.     komen!. Roept het-uit, zoodat de aarde dreune:  Ho-
   Doch deze Koning heeft afgezien van alle geweld. Zelfs             .zanna,  gezegend is Hij, die komt in -den Naam des
   als zijn goed bedoelende, doch verkeerd verstaande                 H,eeren!  Want als gij thans  niet  juicht en uw  Stein   .-
   jongeren, Hem in de hitte van den  strij,d  het zwaard             verheft met groote blijdschap, dan zullen waarlijk de
   aanbieden, en ook zelf het  teeken  tot den strijd geven           steenen  nog  moeten  uitbreken in  vreugdebsdrijf   !
   door dat zwaard te hanteeren, bestraft Hij hen  en                    Verheug u, Kerk  .des   Heeren  in de nieuwe bedeeling,
   heelt den gewonden vijand.                                         gij   hallen,  die op Hem uw vertrouwen stelt, die het ook
        In Zijn  strij,d,   Gods strijd, de worsteling om  Gods       nu met Hem waagt, met Hem; die kwam rijdende op-
   Verbond, heeft het stalen zwaard geen beteekenis.                  een ezel!
        Zijn strijd is geestelijk.                                       Want  zoo  moet het ook  thans.        De wereld heeft aan
        In Zijn strijd gaat het louter om Gods`recht! En              ,dezen Koning niets.       Zij zoekt niet  Gods zaak. en
   dat recht kan. door geen stalen zwaard, door geen leger-           Gods  recht,   ma&  wereldmacht. Zij. zoekt de zaak der
   macht van paarden en wagens, door  geen- tank en                   wereld, de zaak des satans en der zonde tegenover God
kanon worden verdedigd of gehandhaafd.                                te handhaven. Zij zoekt wel een  .koning,  maar een
        Hij komt, rijdende op een ezel!                               koning met een  teeken. .En  zijn  teeken  is waarlijk niet,
        Daarom  kmt  Hij dan ook "arm" of liever "zacht-             dat  hij  komt arm' en  zachtmocdig,  en rijdende op een
   moedig".     Want immers zachtmoedigheid is  bekwaam-              ezel, op een veulen, een jong  `der  ezelinnen. Zij zoekt
  heid.om  te lijden ! En wie niet met paarden en wagens              een koning met macht en geweld. Doch gij, die ver-
  den vijand tegemoet wil trekken, wie in den strijd  om              staan hebt, dat de strijd gaat om  Gods  Verbon,d en dus
   Gods recht alleen, absoluut alleen wil vertrouwen op               Godes  i.s;  die  Gods recht hebt  leeren  erkennen en lief-
  .den  levenden God, opdat Die Hem rechtvaardige, zal                hebben  ; die daarom verstaat, dat de overwinning alleen
   moeten lijden. . , ,                                               ligt in het kruis en  `de opstanding van dezen Koning,
        Ten  doode toe! . . . .                                       die Knecht des  Heeren  is ; gij, die daarom ook hebt
        En  zoo  kwam Hij eens!                                       leeren  afzien van  .Ipaarden  en wagens", van alle eigen-:
        Aan de  spitse  van Zijn volk, daar gesteld voor de           gerechtigheid, van alle  menschelijke  poging ter ver-
  grondlegging der wereld, kwam Hij ; aan het hoofd                   lossing, om alleen in het kruis van dezen Koning uw
  van een volk, dat in de macht der  vijanden  verzonken              heil te zoek& en te vinden,-verheug u !
 . lag, van satan, zonde, schuld, verderf, dood  ; aan het               Want Hij is nog  altij,d  komende.!  .: En Hij zal straks
  hoofd van dat volk voor het aangezicht  Gods,   olti in den         verschijnen in al de heerlijkheid, -die Hij voor  Jeru-
  weg van  Gods recht dat volk te verlossen, en Zijn                  zal.em  heeft verworven en van  den. Vader heeft ont-
  Koninkrijk te ontvangen.                                            vangen !
        Hij kwam,  rijdend&   .op  een `ezel, en bond den strijd         Temidden van tegenwoordige `verdrukking : ver-
  aan, het wagend met God alleen, zich beroepend op Zijn              heug  u!
  recht, vertrouwend' op, Hem van Zijner  moeders   inge-                Uw koning komt!                                 H, H,


                                                                           ._.

4                                                                           ,THE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                                                                                   his walk. We  quote fr,om  the doctor's own address to
                                                                                                                                   synod : "I have been criticised. First in my stand
                                                                                                                                   on the  movi& Yes, I am a bit out of step with  OLJX
        A PROTESTANT REFORMED  SEMI-MONTHLT
                                               Published by                                        -i..                            C&tirch   on the movies. I have been criticised for enter-
         The  P&e&ant  Reformed Publishing Association                                                                             taining movie stars at the hospital. Let me tell you
                              EDITOR  - Rev.  ,H. Hoeksema                                                                         the circumstances. I happen to be a Rotarian. We
                                                                                                                                   were having a dinner at the Rotary Club `in Gallup.
     Contributing editors-Revs. J. Blankespoor, A. Cammenga,
     P. De Boer, J.. D. de Jong,  H.  De Wolf, L. Doezema,                                                                         Some movie stars were there whq  were making a pic-
     M.  Gritters,  C. Hanko, B. Kok, G. Lubbers, G. M. ,Ophoff,                                                                   ture. They `said they would like to see the Indians in
     A. Petter, M.  Schipper,  H. Veldman, R. Veldman, W.                                                                          theiti  homes in which they live. I did the same thing
     Verhil, L. Vermeer, P. Vis,  G. Vos, and Mr. S. De Vries.                                                                     Dr. Beets would have done. ,I took them into my home,
     Communications relative to contents- should be addressed                                                                      showed  &em some of our Indian homes, and gaye them
     to REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand                                                                          a dinner. We ministers should be  caref$l  in using
     Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                     1.                      arguments against the movies.  ,If  you use  the  same
     Communications relative- to subscription should `.be  ad-                                                                     arguments your grandfathers used, you  will alienate
     dressed to MR. R. SCXIAAFSMA,                                    1101 Hazen  St., S.  _E.,                                    otir people. Are we not encouraging a lot of hypocrisy
     Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                       with our attitude tow,ard  the inovies? .On  the mission
                                  Subscription $2.50  per year                                                                     field our attitude toward the movies is of extreme
         `$rtered   a s   secortd class mail at Grand Rapids, Michigan                                                             importance. We are trying to win Indians for Christ,
                                                                                                                                   not to make them Christian Reformed:            There. are
                                                                                                                                   ministers in Gallup and Presbyterians  on the mission
                                                CONTENTS                                                                           fields who feel different on that  subj,ect.  One of our
                                                                                                                                   ministers used this argument.: `What if you should
                                                                                                                        Page
DE KOMST V A N SIONS KONING.. .......... .                                                                                         be found in a theatre  on th& judgment day ;  ho.w  ter-
                                                                                    ...............................          1
APPEALS               TO COMMON ,GRACE,. ........... j.. .. ................... j.. .............                            4     rible that would be !' I would not think so ; it all  de-
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS.. ..............................................................                                         6     pends~  on the kind of, picture you axe seeing. Some of
THE TRIPLE &ONWLEDGE. .............................                                    . ........... . ...............       8     our Indians have had training at the Ganado Mission.
MELCHISEDEC AND ABRAHAM ...............................................                                                   . l l    The  sup&i&endent     of that `school allows no smoking
`t HIJGEND HERT............................................................................                                1 4
,CHR:ISTUS                                                                                                                         but he, does take the children to a good. movie  dccasion-
                        VERZOCHT I N ZIJN' KONINKRIJK.. .. . ........... ... .17
IS  O;HRISTIAN  DRAMA POSSIBLE ............................................                                               .19      ally. Then our missionaries get up and say: `No. one
THE  CH'RISTIAN  AND SUNDAY LABOR ............ .... _. ............. .21                                                           *can  be a good Christian and attend movies'. We are
CUR.RENT  EVEWTS .............................................                       L.. ...........................      2 3      doing  the hypocritical thing. in the Church too, by
                                                                                                                                   maintaining the stand we do. Some of our ministers
                                                                                                                                   have said to me: `The stand of our Church is  throng;
k------i---------.
liL+-&.-~ the decision should ,be removed, but we don't dare to
                            .Ed-ito.rials                                                                        1.                do it,at  the present time'. Many pictures are bad, but
                                                                                                                                   some are good". . . .
                                                                                                                                      Thus  far we quote Dr. Pousma on  this  matter.
             Appeals To Common  Grace:                                                                                                We also present a quotation from the remarks made
                                                                                                                                   to  Synod  by Rev. N. De Vries, a co-worker with Dr.
     At the last synod of the Christian Reformed                                                                                   Pousma at Rehoboth for a time : "Then the movie  ques-
Churches a  r&her miserable case was considered in                                                                                 tion was thrust upon me. . . . A Navajo girl asked
connection with their-mission work among the Indians,                                                                              me : `What about the movies ?' I ~did not say No or Ye&
more  particularly with the-work at Rehoboth. On the' but I asked her a simple question : `Would'pou care, to
Furface  it appeared t'o be the question whether "white                                                                            be found in a movie on the day the Lord Jesus comes?'
patients" should be admitted to the hospital  there,  but                                                                          The next Sunday evening I mentioned this in my ser-
it was repeatedly stated that there was a "deeper                                                                                  mon. The next morning Dr. Pousma called me and
problem at the bottom of the whole-matter". It  ,is not                                                                            said: `Everybody here goes to the movies; there are
our purpose to review the whole case as it  ;was con-                                                                              workers  here_  who go when the coast is clear'. . . .
sidered by the Christian Reformed Synod. There is                                                                                  A few days later I saw one of the Rehoboth hospital
chiefly one  point  of interest to which we would like                                                                             workers go to the movie house in Gallup. . . . I went,
to call the attention of our readers as well as of the to see her. . . . I said.: `We as missionaries are calfed
Christian Reformed brethren. This concerns, the case to live a separate life", and pleaded with her as a pastor
of Dr. R. Ponsma, medical missionary at  Rehoboth                                                                                  to be loyal to her Church and her Lord. She took it
at  the time, who was rather severely  criticised, not to the doctor.  The  next Sunday before the broadcast
only with regard to his work, but  also  on account of the doctor said to her-in  my presence: `&a you going


                                        THE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     5

to  see-Gone  with the Wzkul.2'   . . . .Here  is an incident:     this argument? Did they not ask themselves: how is
On the way East with a party, Dr..  .Pousma  bought                it that a man that is quite rational can conclude from
tickets to a show. One of the girls would not go. .The             the  doctrine'we  adopted that such an outlook and mode
doctor said / `Don't be an old fashioned girl ; your folks         of life is justified?      Did they not wonder  f.or   a
won't find out.' Again: it was Prayer Day. My boy moment whether, perhaps, he was right? Surely, they
suggeste'd he'd like to go to a ball game while we went            owed it to themselves to point out the fallacy. in the
to church. The doctor said to the boy: `You go to the              doctor's reasoning if there were any.
basketball game and pray there ; we will pray here'.!'                 But also to the doctor they owed this.         For, after
    Both quotations are from  The  Baniner  of July 18,            all, it was the doctrine of common  ,grace,  which the
 1 9 4 1 .                                                         Christian Reformed Churches  of&ially  adopted in
    Now, the point I wish to bring  .out  is that Dr.              1924, that had become a stumbling block to the doctor.
Pousma in replying to these criticisms and defending               And personally.1 do .believe  that it is such a stumbling
 himself, appealed to the doctrine of "common grace".              block. But even if the delegates to Synod do not agree
 According to oral reports of his speech to Synod he               with me on this point, they must admit that the doc-
 made a good deal of this theory as a basis for. his de-           trine  ,of   1924  actually -became a stumbling block to Dr.
 fense.'  ir"he  Bmner   briefly reports the following: ."I        Pousma. Should they, then, not have pointed out to
 must defend myself now.          I am on the spot. The him that in what respect he erred in his conception
 Board has always been exceedingly kind to me ; but it             of the doctrine expressed in the "Three Points"?
 has not always been sufficiently careful about the men                But they did not even attempt this. Why not?
 it put on the field. There is a' twofold trend among our Perhaps, they had an inferiority complex and felt that
 leaders: there are those who are orthodox  ,and  con-             they could not show the doctor the error of his reason-
 servative, and there are also those who `are also ortho-          ing. Perhaps, there were some who felt that the doc-
 dox and conservative but have more appreciation of                tor's conclusions could not be attacked. Perhaps,
 commoh  grace. The existence of the latter element there were also those that were of the same views
 .exerts  an influence on one's outlook and ability to get          as Dr. Pousma, had the same outlook on life and fol-
 along with other people."                                         lowed the same mode of life.
    It seems to me that. Synod should have answered                    However this may be: the Synod failed to answer
 this argument.                                                    .-DDr.  Pousma on this most important point.
    But it did not. In the discussion  of.Dr. Pousma's                                                 .--
 speech there .were  some that expressed rather strong                 I cannot refrain from-acquainting our readers with
 disagreement with it and disapproval, of  it,. but no one         the outcome of this matter. I quote from  The Banner
 touched the principle of the matter as presented by               ,of  Aug. 15, 1941:
 the  .doctor  : the relation of the theory of common grace            "Synod's  officers  advised: 1. To accept the resigna-
 to the rest of Dr. Pousma's.  views.                               tion of Dr. R. H. Pousma as a medical missionary and
    .Here came a man and appeared publicly before the               to give him an honorable dismissal. 2. To give to
 synod of the churches whose servant` he is as medical              Dr. Pousma the following advice in answer to his re-
 missionary, openly states that he belongs to the Rotary            quest: `From your statement it is evident that  you  do
.Club  and dines with representatives of Hollywood, has             not desire to resign as a minister of the gospel, and
 a  .good  time with them, instead of rebuking them for             only did so because you thought the one automatically
 their well-known corruption, is friends with them,                 followed from the other. We advise that you. await
 laughs at their jokes, no doubt, and talks their  lan-             f,or a time the leading of God's providence to see if
 guage (how otherwise can one dine with people of the               some other field .does  not open for you where you can
 world? It is always the same). He freely attends                   labor as medical missionary, and in case no such open-
 shows, advises  ,others  to do so, and mocks at those that         ing is provided, that .you  address yourself to your Con-
 oppose this. And he advises a boy to say his prayers               sistory for an honorable dismissal from the ministry.'
 at a ball game! `And he defends this "broad outlook"               This advice was adopted by Synod."
 on life by an appeal to the very doctrine which the                   The authors of this advice surely proved themselves
 Church he serves adopted in 1924, and publicly de- masters of ambiguity. Mark, .the question is : Is Dr.
 clares  virtually : "the only difference between some of           Pousma still a minister? The masterful ambiguity of
 you and me is that I know how to appreciate this  doc-             the above `advice appears in this, that it Seems to ans-
trine of common grace, you don't."                                  wer this question, but in rectlitzj  it cloes not.. Or, if you
     Surely, for their own peace  of mind as well as for            please, it gives a double answer: Yes-No. No, for the
 Dr. Pousma's sake, the members of Synod should have                resignation of Dr. Pousma as  m&cal-rnissiorztiv  was
 answered this argument. of the doctor !                          . accepted. This includes his ministry. He is no longer
    For their own'peace  of mind, I say. Did they. not in- the service of the Christian Reformed Church as
 get scared for a moment when Dr. Pousma presented minister of the gospel in the mission field at Rehobofh.

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

The relation between him and his Consistory has been              Practically all  commentato?s  agree that by this
severed as far as his ministry is concerned.  iYes, for       act the President has taken our country another step,.
Dr. Pousma may still look for a position as missio.Gary       perhaps  the last, to actual involvement in the present
in another field, and although he already receivea  an        conflict in' Europe.
honorable dismissal as medical missionary,  ,he  may              The occasion for this drastic step, the taking of
still ask for one from his Consistory! Is Dr. Pousma          which Mr. Roosevelt assured us he has contemplated
still a minister of the gospel? No: he received an            for a long time and even prayerfully considered, is the
honorable  dism.issal.  Is Dr. Pousma still  mi$ister of      attack upon our ships, some of which, at least, carried
the gospel?  yes:  until he asks for an honorable dis-        contrabande, by the axis  *powers. The last straw was
missal !                                                      the  attack  by a German submarine upon the- Greer,
     I expect, however, that this decision will meet with     a United States cruiser that was  carrying  mail to
general. satisfaction.- For by this decision the Chris-       Iceland. The President issued further orders that the
tian Reformed Churches get rid of Dr. Pousma, while           submarine that launched this torpedo attack is to be
at the same  ti:me  they vindicate him in  his views.         hunted down and eliminated.
The latter is true, for he received an honorable dis-             The chief argument in the President's address  justi-
missal, and is committed to the kind providence  df  God      fyillg this step was that of the "freedom of the seas".
for another field (other, we suppose, than  Christian-            It is true, Mr. Roosevelt incidentally characterized
Reformed) of labor as medical missionary.                     the attack upon our ships as an act of piracy. And  it
     Dr. Pousma appealed to common grace.                     would seem quite reasonable and justifiable  to sweep
     The Synod did the evidently wrong thing .with  an        the <guilty  pirates from the .h&h  seas. As early as in
appeal to "the leading of God's providence".                  the days of President Monroe's administration we are
     The two were not very far apart  after all !             informed a law was  passed by congress. "to protect the
                                                H;  H.        conutierce  of the United States, and to punish the crime
                                                              o f   p i r a c y . "
                                           1
                            -                                     In this act congress- authorized and empowered the
                                                              President to employ as  inany  of the armed vessels as
                                                              he would consider necessary to protect the merchant
            F r e e d o m   O f   The,Seas  _ ships of the United States against "piratical aggres-
                                                              sions and depredations".       And congress authorized
     In his latest radio address President Roosevelt the President to instruct the comma!lders  of the armed
infbrtied the American public that he `had  I "issued         vessels of "America "to subdue, seize, take  2nd   send  into
ordeps  to the na.vy  that-all necessary steps be taken to    port of the United States any armed vessel or boat, the
insure the  safet;y  of communications in the approaches      crew whereof shall be armed, and which shall have at-
between Iceland and the United States, as well as on tempted or committed any piratical aggression, search,
other `seas between the United States and all other           restraint, depredation' or seizure, upon any vessel' of
strategic outposts".                                          the  U~nited   States,`or  its citizens, which may have been
     Mr. Roosevelt, moreover, in the same  speech, was        unlawfully captured upon the high seas".
quite insistent on the delivery of-American-made war              `This was in the days when congress was  still -in
materials to Great Britain and their passage through rower and had not surrendered the power vested in it
the American defense zones  at.  ali  costs.  ,Alld  he' to the President.
warned that  all. axis  war,ships  will be fired upon at          But the torpedoing,of the Robin Moor  in the South
sight if they are found within these zones.  j Where          Atlantic, the bombing of the Steel Seafarer in the Red
these defease  zones are to be .found  and how far they       S&a, the sinking of the  Sessa,  an American owned- ship
extend.is  r&her vague at present, Ibut it is evident that sailing under the flag of Panama, and the attack upon
they are to be determined by Washington  o&y,   and           the Greer, were not acts of piracy.
that  they'will surely be extended  as far as is necessary        A  pirate  is a freebooter, a lawless rover, acting.
to deliver the goods to great Britain.                        without authority or commission, but the submarines.
     The President insisted that this is no act  : of war,, operating under the <German  flag have their commis-.
but simply one of self protection and self defense. If        sion fyom  a sovereign state. Their attacks  we   ucts  of
this should lead to a "shooting war" (which is the same warj  not of psiracy.
as simply `(war" except that it is  riot.  for&ally de-           It seems to me that Mr. Roosevelt's radio .addres$'
clared), the blame rests entirely with the axis powers.       would have been  much  more to the point had he  clearly.
The latter now have  their choice. If they would avoid and candidly recognized this fact.
trouble with the United Stat& they will have to $110~             President  WiIFon  did so during the first World War.
unmolested passage to  AGerican ships even though             Regardless, -now,- of  the question whether "freedom of
they carry contrabande:                                       the seas" implies that a neutral nation can claim the'


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  7

right of free passage through war  zones even -when              tacks upon our shi.ps,  even though we openly declare
they a.re carrying war materials to one of the belliger-         our intention to aid Great Britain,-and insist that we
ent nations, it must be said in favor of Presiden<:yil-          will  send  her all the. war materials possible, and though
son's policy that formally he pursued the right &i-se.           the  2;:~s  that  are sunk carry contrabande, is a viola-
After the sinking of' the Lusitania in May, 1915, and            tion of the principle of "the freedom  Gf the seas".
again after the Sussex affair,in  the summer of 1916,               But is it true, as the President claimed in his  ad-
the  Piesjdent  sen.t  a series of dispatches to the German      dress, that the sinking of our ships when they sail the
Imperial Gopernment, protesting mainly on  the ground high seas with the avowed purpose to send aid`to Great
of the "freedom of the high seas". And,when  all his             Britain, is a violation of the "freedom  bf the seas",
efforts failed to persuade the  Germax  government               an act of war against the United States for which the
to  adopt  his, President Wilson's, viewpoint, he did            German. Government must assume all the blame?
not merely issue a -shooting-order to the navy, as now              It is argued that the principle mentioned is applied
did President Roosevelt, but he turned to Congress to American defense zones only.                       '
with the advice that it declare the indiscriminate sink-           Very well; but who determines their scope and how
ing of our ships to be acts of  war  against us on the           far do they extend?
part of the German government.  `1  quote fr-om Presi-              Does not the President's speech give reason to con-
dent Wilson's address to Congress on April  2, 1917:             elude that all of the Atlantic and of the Pacific is, or
    "VVith  a  proFound  sense of  the  sol,emn and even         will be included in the defense areas?
tragical character of the step I am taking and of the               The United States occupied Iceland, allegedly  be-
grave responsibilities which it involves but in unhesi-          cause it was necessary for self defense: the German
tating obedience -to what I deem my  cpnstitutional  duty Government might otherwise establish a base there to
I advise that the Congress declare the recent  c.ourse  invade our country! The result is that the waters
`of the Imperial  `German  Government to be in fact              l?etween  the United States and Iceland belong to our
nothing less  tha,n  war against the Government and              defense zones, and  American ships must be permitted
people -of the United States; that it formally accept            free passage, even American warships may freely
the status of belliger.ent  which has thus -been thrust          cruise in these waters.
tipon  it; and that. it take immediate. steps not only             Actually, the President's plea for "freedom of
to put-the country in a more thorough state of defense,- the seas" means insistence on the right to carry aid
but also to employ all its resources to bring the Gov-           to Great Britain, if necessary by armed force, and
ernment of the German Empire to terms and end the.               whatever may be the cost.
war".         (Th`e__War  Message and Facts Behind It, pp.          But if this is  -the,  American interpretation. of that
12, 13):                                                         principle, can we blame the German Government if It
    ,Compare  with this course of action  the announce:          adopts the same interpretation and applies it to its
inent  made by Mr. Roosevelt to the nation in his latest owli  "needs and benefit? If the American  interpre-
radio address : "I have issued orders to the navy that  tation  of "freedom of the seas" demands free pas-
all necessary steps be taken" etc.                               sage for American ships carrying contrabande, does
    No, acts of piracy the sinking of -ships  by bombing         it not follow that the German interpretation must be
or torpedoing  cannot  be called.' `They are certainly           that the German Government has the right to sink
acts by the  Ger-man  Government, for which the  Govern-         those  ih<ps   ?
men+,  of Germany is responsible. If they are anything              But the American  Governm&t repudiated this
at all, they are acts of war.                                    interpretation of "the. freedom' of the seas" by its
    And if they are acts of warby  the ,German'Govern-           neutrality act:
ment against the United States the question certainly                This act  ..of   Copgress  can, of  cou+se,  be  circum-
should be ,answered,  not  .$y  the President alone, but -vented  and  evaded by extending our  defelise  zones.
by Congress, whether these acts of war against us are               But it would be a more honest course to pursue if
justifiable or not.                                              the  %utrality  act would simply be repealed.
 And if the Congress concludes that  these   a&s  on                As matters stand  now,  the issues are constantly
the part of  th,e German Government against -the being  %efogged.,                                                _
United States are wholly unjustifiable,. so that we
have given no occasion for them, the Congress  .ought               It is rather generally admitted by friends and foes
to1  declare that.a  state of war exists between the Ger-        of the war policy of the present administration, that
man government and the United States, and act  ac- there is .a conflict. between the open and avowed or
cordingly.                                                     . alleged purpose of Mr. Roosevelt and the actual course.
    T&en bur Government would, at least, pursue a in which  he .is steering our-  nation.
course which the nation could clearly understand.                   He pledged himself to keep the country out of war,-
 As it is. now, the President' alone decides  that  at-  : as far as  l&s was  in.his  power.


       8,                                           THE.STANDARD.BEA.RER-                                      -

             But  all-agre,e  that every step he has taken thus far this concept? What is true comfort? The second
       is calculated to involve the United States in the  Euro-            ,element  is expressed in the adjective "only". By this
       pean conflict on the side of Great Britain.          I              qualification the Chl"istian  comfort is  charabterized  as
             All are convinced that the last step the Pfesident            an.ex_clusive  and quite sufficient comfort. One who has
       took; the order he issued to the American navy, puts this comfort needs no other. And the third element is
       us  on the very brink of war, leaving it to the axis                expressed in the words "in life arid death", by which
       powers whether we shall actually be dragged into  a -phrase the comf,ort  of which the Heidelberg speaks is
       "shooting war".                                                     described as an all-embracing comfort. It  covers  all.
             Some claim .that  we are in the war already.                  Iti meets  .a11  possible  exigensies.    And,  at the same time,
             What may be the reason for the apparent, conflict             it presupposes that "life" requires comfort as well  ai
       .between  the President's pledges and his  actuai  policy? `"death". We must briefly explain these three closely
             I believe that he, too, realizes very well that the           relatkd conceptions.
       American people as a whole are &ill strongly opposed                    The first question, therefore, is: what is the idea
       to our  becoming involved in the war, and that  all the of comfort, .particularly  of Christian comfort?
       pleas of interventionists have not been able to persuade                Zacharias Ursinus, one of the authors of the Heidel-
       them to believe that to enter this conflict is  a matter            berg Catechism, gave an exljlanation  of our Catechism
       of self  dgfense.                                                   in  t.he form of lectures to his students.           These were
             Personally, I am an enemy of Nazis&  and' I hope              collated and edited by David  Pargus;  and they were
       that we may never see the day that its dream of  world-             translated and published, in 1657, in &he  Holland lan-
       dominion is  rea,lized.                                             `guage  under the title "Schatbooek der Verklaringen
 d'          But  I do not believe that Great Britain's slate is           over den Heidelbergschen Catechismus".                (Treasure-
       very clean, in fact, I am sure that it is rather dirty. book of Explanations of the Heidelberg Catechism).
       Germhny  aims at world  dominidn.  Great Britain al-                The translation is by Festus  Hommius.  It was edited
       ways did the same thing.                                            and. published again in 1739, enriched by a rather
             Nor  cati  you persuade  me  $0 believe that' we are lengthy preface of approximately one hundred and
       j,ustified  before God to fight on the side of Russia,              sixty pages. And more recently it was translated from
       godless, atheistic, communistic Russia, and that we the  ,edition  by  Par&s  into  the Holland language by
       can expect God to smile upon us in His favor if we db.              C. Van  Proos.dij.      Whenever I speak of or quote from
             I believe that it is the calling of our Goverliment  `to      the "Schatboek", as the work is generally known, the
       see to it that our nation is well prepared to defend                reference is to the last named translation. In this
_ itself.                                                                  "Schatboek", then, Ursinas  offers the following deflni-
             ,But  we should take no deliberate steps to become            tion of `comfort: "Troost is een zeker besluit van het
       involved in the present conflict.                                   verstand, waardoor we tegenover iets ongelukkigs,  dat
             And this we surely have done.                                 we heb,ben,  eenig goed  stellen, en door dit goede te be-
                                                          H.' H.           schouwen de smart verzachten en het ongeluk  gedul,dig
                                                                           dragen",  p. 21. We may translate this definition as
                                                                           follows : "Comfort is a certain -determination of the
                                        -                                  mind, whereby we posit some good thing over against
                                                                           a certain evil which we'experience,  by the contenipla-
                    Th,e  Triple Knowledge                   I             tion of which we alleviate the grief and patiently bear
                                                                           the evil". And Dr. A. Kuyper agrees with the chief
       EXPOSITION  OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHI SM                            notion  oB  this definition. Also according to him com-
                                                                           fort is "een overlegging in ons verstand", a considera-
                                       II.                                 tion in our mind or intellect. E Voto, I, p. 3.
                                                                               An important truth is  exljressed  here, upon which
                                  LORD'S DAY  I.                           we  should  insist, provided we do not give it all the
                                                                           emphasis. I refer now t@ the statement, that  comf,ort
                                        2.                                 is a determination, or conclusion, or consideration- of
                      The Idea Of An Only Comfort.           :             the mind.
                                                                               Qf course, if -we  should say no more than  this, the
             The  first question of the Heidelberg  Caiechism              ,definition   ~would  not be correct. It would  be untrue
       speaks of an "only comfort in life and death".             There    because of its one-sidedness. And if we, then,  iti the
       are three elements in this question that at once draw subsequent exposition of the truth, should follow the
       our atterition and that require  eiplanation.  The first lead of this definition, the result  w.ould  be intellectual-
       is the fact that  the Catechism here speaks of "comfort",           ism, dead orthodoxy. Man is more than mere intellect,
       and the question arises: what is the implication of mind or reason. ..He  is also a volitional being. He has


                                             THE S  T.AN  D A R D- B EAR E R                    ------  -  .                       9

       a will, emotions,, desires, imagination, feelings.       He a Christian by instruction, but the Christian can be
       is a being with  "h.eart  and mind and  soul  and strength".    indoctrinated, and by growing in the knowledge of
       And comfort concerns the whole man.  ,' It is not merely        Jesus Christ may increase in the conscious possession
       a consideration of the mind, a decision of  the~intelle~t,   . of  thetrue-`comfort  in life and death.
      a conclusion of reason. Faith is more than knowledge,               .Of course, it should be added that; in the case of
       it is also confidence. Religion is more than doctrine,          Christian comfort, this "consideration of the intellect",
       it is  l.ife.  and joy. And comfort is more than a mere         this "conclusion of the mind", is not a mere rational
       decision  lof the mind, it is also a determination of the `process or the result of a syllogism. The "only com-
       will, affecting all the desires and emotions. And Chris-        fort in life and death" is concerned  with  a good,
       tian comfort is a matter of the heart, whence are the           which "eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard,
       issues of-life. .                                               an,d  has never arisen in the heart of man".    It is, there-
           Yet,. it should be maintained that comfort is also a        fore, a good that can be posited over against the
-*     consideration and. conclusion of the mind ; in the specific     evil of life and death only by the mind of faith.       And
       case under discussion, that of the Christian comfort,           this faith lays  ho1.d  upon that which the Spirit of God
      it is also a determination of the believing  mind.. This         reveals to  us,  not by inner light, as the mystics would
       must  be  emphasized  over against all forms of  emotiom-       have it, but by the Word of God as we possess it in the
       alism  and.  faise  mysticism; in opposition to all who         Scriptures. It is the believing mind that lays hold
       deny or belittle  .the value and necessity  of Christian upon the promise of God, is certain of that promise,,
       knowledge and Christian doctrine and, therefore, also           contemplates that promise,  -so  that the believing heart
       of Christian instruction. There are those, especially'          embraces the thing promised and esteems it so great
       since the last part of the' eighteenth century, that            and gracious, that the sufferings of this present time
       would separate' the emotional life of man from his              are not worthy to be compared with it. ThusKbraham
       intellect, that  woul'd  make of "emotion"'  a. separate        by faith,  *hen  he  was called to sacrifice the child of
       power or faculty of  theaoul,  and give it a more or less       the promise, posited the good that God  was  able to raise
       independent place., And it is amazing  Howe  much is            him from the dead. And Moses esteemed the reproach
       relegated  iLLo  the domain of the emotions or "feeling".       of the people of God, the reproach of Christ, greater
       It is through' "feeling" that we distinguish ourselves. `riches than all the treasures of Egypt, for he had
       from the outside  world, that we  ,become individuals,          respect unto th.e  recompence  of the reward.          Both
       personal beings.. "Feeling expresses the fact that all          actually did some -accounting, some figuring. In the
       `is not purely  Iobjective and universal, but that it also      case of Abraham this` is even  .literally  expressed in
       exists in individual and subjective form".            (John     the original of Hebrews  X:19.   B,oth performed an
       D,eivey)`.   T&e same author distinguished between  Senu-       act of the mind, both reached a conclusion concerning
       OLL%,   .Eormal,  and Qualitative  F,eelings, and to the        a good which they placed over against an evil.        But it
       latter category is relegated  the. "feeling" of sympathy        was a consideration of faith, that laid hold on the
       and antipathy, of pride and humility, of good and evil,         promise of God, yea, on Himself, who calleth the
       of  .guilt  and remorse, of dependency and obligation, of       things that are not as if they were, and who raiseth
       peace and rebellion, of love and hate, of faith and hope!       the dead. Rom.  4:17.  And thus this "consideration
       Religion and morality become matters of feeling. One            of the mind" which is implied in Christian comfort,
       can readily understand that this is the deathblow to            is based on the Word of God, and is an activity of
       Christian doctrine.- Feelings certainly are no "de-             faith in the promise.
       cisions of the mind", the intellect has nothing directly           What, however, is true comfort? It is, indeed, .
       to do wth them, you can hardly construe a dogmatics             the positing  ,of  a good  over against an existing evil.
       of your feeling or on the basis of your emotions.        All    But must not more  be"said?        Is comfort perfect when
       that pertains to religion and morality becomes  sub-            we are aware of both, an existing evil and, over against
       `jective  and vague. And the Word'of  Go.d  cannot serve        it, an existing good?  Evi,dently  not, for the fact re-
       as the source or criterion of this religion of the feel-        mains that the evil also exists. It is true, that in that
       ings. It would, in that case, have no sense to' ask the         case the contemplation of the good may alleviate the
       ,question  : "what is  thy'only  comfort in life and death?"    suffering, relatively lighten the burden we bear, but it
       For an intelligent account of the  `!feelings"  is quite        cannot possibly reconcile us to the evil we experience.
       impossible. And in opposition to this it is significant to      As long, therefore, as our experience is dualistic, and  -
       maintain the truth, that comfort is a  consideqation  of        we are conscious of ,a good and. of an evil in juxtapo-
       the intellect, that without this intellectual consideration     sition, our comfort cannot  be  perfect. We can conceive
       and conclusion no Christian comfort is possible: Faith          of a far happier state, that in which the good alone
       is more than knowledge, but it is, nevertheless, also           exists. Nor can comfort be said to be perfect, when
       knovbledge;  and without the knowledge of faith the             the good of which we are aware and which we posit
       confidence  .of faith is impossible.  Yo~z'cannot make          over against the evil  w,e  suffer, is greater, even much


IO                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA-RER

greater than the existing evil. For the  evi!  still re- of this qualification; It is -not a "great"  comfort,_or   a
mains, and the possibility is  still  there  of conceivirig          "chief' `comfort with which our instructor is  con-
of a happier lot for' ourselves, that in which the `evil             cerned:  That would make  it.relative. It would leave
has no place. Perhaps we are inclined  to  -k&y, that  0 us  &any-  comforts  arriong  which there is  one'   that  is
comfort is complete and perfect, when, over against                  easily the greatest. But if that should be our view
the prevailing evil, we know of a good that isi not  only            of. life-and-death  .we  cannot possibly agree with the
far greater than ,the evil, but by which the j evil will             first question  df  the Heidelberger. The comfort of
ultin@ely  be removed. We know of a  gpod  that which  it speaks  is exclusive. It brooks no competition,
overcomes the evil! We are contemplating a good no comparison. It will have sole sway, .or  it will have
that is  victo?ious   over  the evil! Yet, although in that          nothing to do with you. It is like a physician that
case,  our  comfort is far greater because- of  the! prospect off'ers  you just one particular treatment of your disease,
of final  deliver,ance  from the evil, the dualism still re-         on  coedition that you refrain from taking- any other
mains. And  t& question must needs arise :  wAy  should              medicine. It takes all your other comfortis  away f.rom
there have been an evil at all?          Still  we can!  conceive    you ! It wants to be all or nothing!
of a more blessed situation: that in which we enjoyed                   But even so we probably did not make quite clear
the good.  froni  the beginning, the joy of which was                the seriousness of the situation as presented by this
pever  for a  m,oment  marred by' the suffering of the               bold question. To do this we must also consider that
evil.      We must go a step further in order to arrive at this comfort of which we now speak presents. itself as
the conception of full and perfect comfort.  `It  is the             all-embracing and  fully  sufficieint   iu all cases.    It is
consciousness  #and  contemplation of a good  20'  great             not an only, an exclus&e  comfort in a given case, let
atid  precious that the evil we suffer- cannot  be com-              us  say in the most serious case : death. Perhaps we
pared with it,  a&   ur&o  the  attahment  of  zqhich  the           could more readily agree with the  Hei,delberger  if it
evil  we   beq   for  the time  be&g  is  strictlz~   su@ervient     had not spoken of life-and-.death but simply of' death
and  necessanJl   Only when we may contemplate the                   in  copnection  with the only comfort. `Indeed, that
evil as a means to the end of the great good do we                   would make the question quite intelligible. Even the.
have full and perfect comfort. Only in that case do                  "flesh" can understand the question quite well  in.  this
we have  an -answer,  the final answer, to the iuestion :            slightly  a1tere.d  form: what is thy only  comfo?t in
why should the evil exist at all, even for a time? Only              death? Death!, Death in distinction from life, even
in that light can we see that the evil is only relatively            from our present life ! Yes, indeed, that  is the great
an evil, while absolutely it is a good. I may have to                evil, for which there is no remedy,, over against which
walk a steep and rugged road, to-travel  which  means                the mind cannot posit any good derived, from this life
toil and suffering ; `but if it is the only way that leads           that  is sufficient to serve as comfort, even. in the
me to my destination,  the almost impassible road is,                slightest degree. Life is rather good to us. True, there
nev&theless,  a good, and I become reconciled to my                  are also many evils, but these are more than counter-
suffering. A surgical operation may cause much pain                  balanded  by the goods.  ,`There  is  much  that is un-
and suffering, and I may dread to submit myself to it ;              pleasant, much toil and labor, much pain and  ,suff   eringj
but  ,if I have  .the assurance that it is  the only and  ,sure      much sorrow and grief,- but there are .also  many com-
way to recovery, I consider it a' good. Perfect  .com-               forts  that  alleviate the suffering. For there is a good
fort, therefore, is the knowledge and contetiplation of              deal of "common grace" -in this world that causes  us
a great good over against an evil which is subservient to enjoy life. And so, the mind "considers". We do
to the good and necessary to  the.  attainment of the                some accounting. We  divi,de  our experience&into two
l a t t e r .                                                        classes. We put the things of this  present life on two
         Such, indeed, is the comfort of the Christian, the          piles. And evaluating  .the one  &MS,  we complain of
only comfort in life and in death !                                  our lot and way and conclude that there is a good deal
         Ursinus  mlay  not have conceived of the  bhristian         of evil and suffering;  but  we turn to the other pile
c.omfort  in this  li.ght,  as his definition `would give us         for our -comfort, and say : "we have much to be thank-
Teason  to surmise, but surely, it is the  u;derlying                ful for". An,d   `so `we do, indeed, speak of  comfort-
notion of the first question and answer of the Heidel-               in-life, meaning that there is a silver lining to -every
berg Catechism.. How  otherwise.could           it  hav'e  spoken    dark cloud,. that there is a good deal of sweet mixed
of an ortly comfort, &nd  that in life and in de&  $          :-     with the bitter, that there are many things, that make
         Let  & consider the deep seriousness of the:realities       life worth living. But to speak of an  on&  comfort  .in
of life and  I of death, of  life-hnd-d,eath  as moving on           life  .sounds  rather  unintelligibl&  absurd, too  absolut-
the sa?e plane and belonging to the same category, as istie.                If it were not for death, the death that makes
they are viewed. and evaluated in this  amazingIquestion             an end to this life, we-could get along quite well with-
o$ the catechism.           It draws the lines  shakply.  It         out any other comfort than those we find in this life
speaks- ?f an o:nly  comfort. Consider the implication itself! In fact, is not this  exfactly,  the unique terror


          _
                                               'THB   S T A N D A R D   BEARER   :                                                       1 1

        of. death  ,that  it cuts off this present  Kf,e?  Indeed,        with its moaning but also with its singing, with its
       we admit: over against death .we can think of nothing              sickness-and pains but also with its health,-life such
       that can comfort us. All our other comforts  w&  can               as it is in this -world, is, in this first question of our
        find in life itself, in this  worl,d;   btit   for a  co&ort      catechism, mentioned in one breath with death. It is,
      ih death life offers nothing. To  obtain  this comfort together `with death, in inseparable connection with
        we go to church -on Sunday. When we die we call in                death, the evil over against which the believing'mind
        the.  minister to pray for us (and,. if it seems at all           posits a good-that overcomes the evil of life and of
        re'asonable,  to pray that we may recover and stay in             death, nay more : that `presses it into  its service !
       this life), or the priest to administer extreme unction.                  Such, then, is the idea of this only comfort. It is
        And so all is well. My comfort in life is that it rains           a' decision of the believing mind, that clings to and
        and  thlat  the sun shines,, that I have enough to eat and        t k
                                                                          a es into account the promise of God. ' It is^ the know-
       to drink, that I have a good job,,that there is a do&o?            1 d
                                                                          e ge and ptirsonal  assurance of a great good, without
h.      wheti-  I am  .sick  and that I may look forward to  re: ., which  li$e-and-death  are an evil from  which  there is
        covery,'  that J have  some money in the bank on which            no escape,* of a good that cannot be found within the
        to fall back, that I have a pleasant home, a lovely wife,         scope of life-and-death, that. comes from without, that
        dear  chiklren,  that there is peace and prosperity in the        transcends it, that is both exclusive and all-embracing,
        country or that they will surely return  when  war                and unto the attainment of which the present evil of
        rages and deprsssion makes life less pleasant ; and -if,          life and of' death are `nec.essary  and'subservient as a
        besides, I may also have comfort in death, an only  meanS   to  an  end.
        comfort, I am well off, and have nothing to complain.                                                                 H;   H.
         Indeed, that would seem a  r,easonable   .philosophy,
       the philosophy of common grace nn-d  special grace, of                                          -
        many  comforts'  .in  life  an,d an  on&   `comfort in death!
        Any normal intelligence can grasp.  such a world-and>                              Melchigedec  And  Christ
        lif,eAand-death  view. And. who could possibly be off end-
        ed by it?                                                                At `the time when Abraham, in obedience `to the
               But consider,, pow, the conception of life-and-death       commaed  of the Lord, took up his residence in the land
        that is implied .in this first question of the catechism:         of  Canal&  the Canaanites were fast deteriorating  mor-
        what is thy  oni!y  comfort  in  life   CWK~.  death?  What  ally  in  all  their branches.         This is implied in. the
        does it mean? Clearly, it can express only one thing:             saying of God to Abraham that the measure of iniquity
        that life and  deccth   aq-e   .hoth  evils when  oon.Gdered      of the Canaanites was not-yet full. That the tribes of  --
        apc&   fr-om this comfort after  wh&h   OUT  instructor           Canaan, even at that early date, were steeped in idol-
        inqukes!  It  srleaks  of life-and-death in one breath.           atry is also  iandi&ted  by the doing of the patriarchs
        It puts them in the same class. you need the same that consisted in their building, in agreement with
        comfort in both, over against. both: life and death! their calling, an altar to the Ldrd in every place where
        It means. that life is, also death, "nothing but a con- they would temporarily pitch their tent. .  They  must
        tinual death"  :  as the prayer `before baptism in our            have done so, surely, with a view to providing the
        Form .has it, when  .evaluated  by itself, without  th&           inhabitants of Canaan with the glorious reverse of
        light of this. only comfort. This life, such as it is, as their  idolatry.
        I- live it in this mortal and corruptible. body, as it is                Thus did heathenism gather gradually, as a general
        hemmed  .in on all sides by death, as it inevitably, in-          twilight, through which glimmered the men  .of  God,
        exorably  ends in death, is an evil, offers no comfort.           as individual stars. One of these stars is Melchisedec.
        Life, the life in which I am born through "the will of            11~1  this writing we  draw  a comparison between him
        the  flesh",  on  dme'   pathway   1  move,   and   move   in-    ana  the ,patriarch  Abraham      The   writer  of  tile  epistle
        evitably and  fro:m  my very first breath in the, direction to the H.ebrews  does .so directly and purposely, in the
        of death  .and  in the domain of death, the limit of which following.scripture found  at,Hebrews  `7 :I.-5   :
        is  threescore   ~years  and ten or fourscore years at the
        utmost, is an evil unless you can bring into account the  '               "For this  Melchiseclec,  king of Salem, priest of
        only  comfort in life  and  in death. Life and all it                     the Most High God, who met Abraham returning
        implies, life in -which I eat and drink, labor an.d toil,                from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed
       marry a wife and bring forth children; life and all its                    him ;
        actvity in labor and industry, business and commerce,                     To whom also Abraham gave a'tenth part of all ;
        science and art;: life in all its relationships of natural                first' being by interpretation King of  righteous-
        love and friendship, of parent and  chil.d,  of brother                   ness, and after that also King of Salem, which
        and sister, of man to man, groilp  to group, nation to                    3s king of peace;
        natio'n;  life with- its sorrows, but also with its  joys,                W,ithout  father, without mother, without  Gescent,

                                         -


  xi                                             T H E '   ST.ANDARD   B E A R E R
                            ._
            .having   neithei beginning of days, nor end of life ;          priest only. Secondly, his priesthood had beginning
             but  .made  like unto- the Son of God; abideth a and end. In agreement herewith, Levi, that  is, Aaron,
- - . priest continually:                                                   was made priest, not by the power of an endless life,
             Now consider how great this man was;  unt&iYihom               ?.%.t-gfte>ithe  law of. a carnal commandment and with-
       -     even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the               out an oath.
             spoils.                                                          Let us now  ,deliniate  on these differences.  .Mel-
             And verily, they that are of the sons of Levi, who             chisedec was king of Salem and priest  of.the  Most High
             receive the office of the priesthood,. have a com-             God.    Of him it is related that he was without father,
             mandment to take tithes of the pebple  according               without mother, without descent, having neither  begin-
             to the law,  that is, of their brethren, though they           ning of. days, nor end of life,, but made like unto the
              come*  out of the loins of  Abraham   :                       Son  of  Gbd.    It need not surprise that his appearance
             But  ,he  whose descent is not counted from them               had been variously explained. According to one view,
              received tithes of Abraham, and bl.essed  him that Melchisedec is Sem, who  still  liv&d  in the days of  Abra-
            had the promises.                                               ham. Another view  -has it that he was  the. son of
             And without all contradiction the less is blessed. Kena&  who  kept watch on the hill of Golgotha, where
            of the better.                                                  Adam lay burried, who  `died in the days of  Kepati.
              And. here  men that. die receive tithes;  but  there  Some,  recoiling from the view that this great one
              he  receiath  them,  of whom it is witnessed that am&ig  men was an or,dinary  mortal, maintain that we
              he liveth.                                           .-       are to think here, in connection with the name Mel-
  1           And. as I may so say, Levi. also, who  receiveth              chisedec, of an angel, or of an incarnation of the Holy
              tithes, payed.tithes in Abraham.                              Spirit, or of the Logos, or perhaps of the appearance
              For he was yet in  the loins of his father, when of  a higher God.                     But. all such views must be set
              Melcbesed~ec.  me$  him."                                     aside as being without the slightest support in Scrip-
                                                                            ture. Fact is that in Holy Writ, Meichisedec stands
            Let`  us   tiar:k  the  statement;  "And  with'ouf   contra-    before us a man  among men, who, living in the days
   diction.  the  l,ess is blessed of  the better." Abraham                 of Abraham, was king of Salem, the latter Jerusalem,
  theri was the less; Melchisedec was the better. The                       and priest of. the Most High God.         The scripture  at
,  prOOf   of this  :k  that  (1)  Abraham was blessed by  [Hebrews   7  3-5 is  to  be  taken  as the  record of the
   Melchised&   ; , (2) to Melchisedec Abraham gave .the                    appearance of a  rkal  man of flesh and blood on the
  teiiths  of  the  s;poils.  However, we may not rest here  stage'of sacred                                c    -
                                                                                              history.
   with Abraham. -The point to the whole argument of                           abut  how  is this priest of the Most High God,  ruling
  the.  sacred wri!;er  is that Levi as  priest Was the  -less              in  the. midst of an idolatrous land,  and'standing     out-
   an.d that Melchisedec as priest-king was  th+  better.                   si& the line of Abraham, to be explained, and wherein
   The  indicatipn  of this is that Levi, being in  the.  loins             must the origin of his priesthood be sought?  kccord-
   of,  Abraham,  gave the tenths to Melchisedec !al!d  was \ ing to Abraham Kuiper, the priesthood of Mklchisedec
   blessed b$  the latter. So, rightly considesed,  the com-                is to be regarded as a remnant of the original  priest-
   pal%Wl  here iS in the.final  instance.between            the Leviti-    hood  of creation. Adam was  pri&.   --And  this   priest-
   cal  priestho'od  and that of Mechisedec. Let' us then hood, with which man in the state of integrity was
   concentrate on the theme:
                                  .                                         clothed, by virtue of the original ordinance of creation,
                                                                            reappeared in Melchisedec. That this priesthood  per-
   Melchissdec   the  better,  Levi  (Abraham) the  Tess.                   siste,d and could, still flower so beautifully in the
            Letus see (II) in what sense this was true;.  (2) the           person of Melchisedec, despite the entrance of sin, is
   bvidence  of this.,                                                      to  be ascribed to the  oper%ti,on  of common grace,
       ,It  is plain that the comparison is not between., the checking sin in the human race' and staying the cor-
   persons of  Melchise,dec  and Levi but between the  ruption.                         So.   h&  wrote in De Gemeene  Grutie.  "De
   p:iesthpod   .of  these  two personages. It was  iin their               apostle roept  .dan  ook al de tiacht van de taal tehulp,
   capacity  .of  priests  that. Melchisedic was  the. better juist om die meerderheid, die  verhevenheld,  die  uit-
   and Levi tlie, less. Melchisedec was the better; for two                 nemenheid'  van Melchisedec te  doen   uitkomen.        Hij
   reasons : (1) Besides  being  priest of the  Most  High prijst hem als priester  des Allerhoogsten,  als koning
   God, he was at once king-king of righteousness and                       der  gerechtigheid;     wijst er op,  hoe.zijns een koning-
   king of. Salem, which is, king of peace  ; (2).  Mel-  schap  en  eri&terschap was, dat niet hing  noch   aan
chisedec, that is, his priesthood, abideth continually.                     zijn  Vader-of   m,oeder,   rioch  aan  de geslachtsrekening
   .The latter implies certainly, that Melchisedec was van zijn afkomst; dat  nooit  begon  en geen einde zou
   ma.de  priest after the power of `an endless  pfe and                    hebben; hoe hij, meer dan'Abraham,         Aaron en David
   also by an bath. .,                                        _             deswege den Zoon Gods gelijk, en-alqoo  zijn voorbeeld
             Levj,  on the other hand,  &as  no king. He was                en afschaduwing was; en dat koningschap en priester-


                                _.                                                      .
                                              .  .  ,                      ;...:


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  .I3

sc.hap  in hem tot een verbonden, derhalve  niet uit `een          God with his whole heart and with all his strength
particuliere heilsdaad, maar uit de oorspronkelijke                and in that love to offer himself and all things to God.
ordinantie Gods was opgekomen. Wie dit anders  opvat,              However, through sin this priesthood turned into its
voor dien zal al deze uitdrukkingen van .Paulus;een-               very opposite. In the language of the Confession, man
vou.dig  onverstaanbaar, en zoo is men er dank ook toe             corrupted-his whole nature. He became .wickecl,  cor-
gek,omen,  om van Melchese:deti  een onwezenlijk persoon           rupt and perverse in ail his ways. He died spiritually.
te  maken;  riiet een historisch koning van Jeruzalem,             His love became enmity. If he orginally consecrated
maar een soort  .vluchtige  verschijning van den Chris-            himself to .God with all his strength, he now wallows
tus ; iets wat met  bet duidelijk verhaal van Gen. 14 ten in the mire of sin. Not gradually aed  eventually but
eenemale  in  stri.jd,  met Psalm 110 onverzoenbaar en             immediately he changed from,  priest of the most high
met Hebr. 6 en  7  ten.eenemale  onvereenigbaar is.                God to priest of the devil.  ' There appeared immediately
    "Ge moet, om het verhaal van Den'. 14 en Hebr. 6               the priesthood of men in the person of Cain and in his
en 7 te verstaan, onverbiddelijk vasthouden  aan  de generations perpetuating itself. After the  .flood it
wezenlijkheid  van het geschiedkundig verhaal; dat  er             reappeared, did this false priesthood. It revealed it-
destijds in Salem, het  latere-  Jeruzalem, een vorst              self in the idolatry of the heathen world and in the
regeerde, die God nog vreesde, die naar het  oorspronke-           modern civilized world in the rejection of the atone-
lijk bestel nog de  koninglijke  met de priesterlijke              ment of Christ. In the line of the development of this
waar.digheid  in zijn eigen  persoon  vereenigde, en die           priesthood there is no room for the priesthood  ,of
deze priesterlijke waardigheid  bezat,  niet `krachtens            Melchisedec.
een.  bijzondere heilsopenbaring, maar krachtens de                    Melchisedec was a historical figure. This  certainfy
oorspronkelijke  sche-ppingsordinantie,       die den mensch       must be maintained. But it is also certain that' he
als  men&h  opriep, om in den naam des Heeren als                  cannot be explained as an after-glow of the original
koning te regeeren  in zijn schepping, Hem als priester            priesthood of the ordinance of creation.
het  ,offer  van  lief,de  en lof te mengen, en als  profeet           The explanation of Melchisedec as a historical phe-
zijn naam te  verkoedigen.      De  .zegen,   &en  Melchisedec nomenon in his priesthoodis not the so-called common
over Abraham  uitsprak  was dan ook de priesterlijke grace but simply the grace of -God, .which  is in Christ
zegen, en  d,oor  het geven van  de.tienden  heeft Abraham Jesus and which operated- in the generations of the
hem als priester geeerd."                                          true people of God. The narrative of Genesis strongly
                                                                   suggests that in  Mel&isedec we have to do with a com-
    And in his  Dictaten  Dogmatiek, III, Locus de                 mon historical phenomenon. He was king-priest and
Christo,  Pars Tertia, p. 92, he says, "Nemen wij dit there was to him a people over which he ruled and
saam, dan krijgen wij dit resultaat:  Zooals-Melchise-             whose highpriest he was.              The  appearantie  of  Mel-
dec  optreedt,  is hij een priester, die zijn priesterschap        chisedec implies that even. at the time of Abraham
lijnrecht uit  bet  paradips afleidt uit de algemeene ge-          there was found in the land of Canaan a tribe or group
nade ; bij wien van verzoening en  ,offerande  geen sprake         of people, who knew the -Lord and worshipped the most
is  ; wiens  priesterlijke bediening  .volle  realiteit bezit ;    high God and who through their priest-king brought
ze  is we1 onzuiver (want hoe zou'  de gevallen mensch             Him sacrifices in his sanctuary.  Melchisedec  was
het priesterschap voortzetten?) , van binnen  uitgehold,           king-priest of Salem  anId-  in this place there was still
van  geestelijk leven ontblood-maar  tech een laatste found a people who -truly  loved and served the Lord.
gloor van het  priesterschap  door God zelf in het  para-          The land was also inhabited by the Canaanites. But
dijs ingesteld. Hier hebben wij voor hetlaatst  in deze            in the midst of the Canaanites there also lived a people
aanminnige verschijning een spoor van `t scheppings-               that knew the Lord and were represented by  Mel-
priesterschap-+dat     daarna verdwijnt in ,`t  heidendom          chisedec. If the priesthood of Melchisedec sprang
bm  `Gott widrig' te  -worden."                                    from redeeming grace, it was a remnant not out of
 According to Kuiper then, this priesthood. is the                 Paradise but out of the ark. In the' ark was the church
original priesthood of `the ordinance of creation. It              of God. And out of the visible church there will again
has been transmitted to Melchisedec directly from                  come forth the seed of the woman and the seed of the
Paradise. Now this conception is  not -according `to               serpent,according          to the two lines of election and repro-
Scripture.    Certain it is that there' was a priesthoold          bation. The main .line  of the covenant runs through '
according to the original ordinance of creation., Adam             the generation of Sem and is limited to the seed of
in the state  .of integrity was priest of the most high Abraham.  B-ut  this does not'mean that with the call-
God. He was the servant of God and stood in covenant               ing of Abraham all God's people had died with the
fellowship with God, with  hi8 whole being and with                exception of Abraham. Only gra-dually was the fear of
the whole of the earthy creation. And it was his  call-            God limited to the seed of Abraham. In the light of
,ing  as prophet to know God and to declare and glorify            these observations, it is not strange that even at  the.
His name in the  :midst  of creation, and as priest to love        time of Abraham there was found in the land. of


           --..
     14 . .                      `t.     _     -::    TH,E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  `.
     -      -
     :              _I.,'                . .                                                                                       .
     Canaan a people  wh,o  truly feared. God. So much for              figure of the .company  of redees+.ed,  blessed and no&.
the ;historical  ~appearance-  of Melchisede&.                          ished  by Christ, lin whom they triumph and to whom;
      :  Nom,  as compared. with  the.  priesthood of  .Aarcm           therefore, :they  do homage,
     (Levi) the priesthood of. Melchisedec was the` better.                                                   ._        G.  M.   0,.  I.
     1% was  thi,s  because it was a  :kingly priesthood. In
     Melchisede?  the priesthood and the kingship were
     connected. .' Second, the priesthood of Me!chis.edec  was
eternal. , Of  .Melchisedec  the sacred narrator, directing
     attention. to his name, says' that. he is a' king of right-                             `t Hijgend  Hert            .: . .
eousness -and king of ,peace.;  The first is the meaning
of the name Melchisedec, which this king bore, certain-                                         (Psalm 42)
ly on account of his being righteous. The second  .is                    Toen  onze  vaderen  geroepen werden om  001~  dezen
derived from the name of the place; Salem, m.eaning                     psalm  op rijm te zetten,  zagen   .ze  een  her%,  dat door
peace. As to  ::his   priesthoold,'  the writer tells  LIS that         honden  en  jagers.   achterna  gezeten werd. Doch `t arme
he was  .priest  of the most  high:  God; without father,               beest was den jager en de hond te vlug  .af.       Het mozht
without: mother; without descent, ,having  neither be-                  "der jacht ontkomen". Doch,  o wee! De dorst was  266
ginning of  d,ays,  nor end of life. Thus he was-  mad.e                groot, dat de  arme  hinde haar stem snikkend  ver-
like unto -the' Son of God; This description  m.ust  be                 hief en schreeuwde  na:ar  de frissche waterstroomen.
ma,de  to apply solely to Melchisedec as priest and not to              .Het  Wilde  zich  in .de ruischende waters storten en om
him  ..as. a historical personage. The. key to the correct              dan voorts  te-drinken,  te drinken  naar  harte-l.ust.
understanding of this scripture- is the word descent.
Jts. Greek.  .eguivalent  signifies- a generation not  de-                  Dat beeld is niet geheel naar  waarheid:      Tenminste,
s&bed  or recorded,. or in the express words  ,of  the                  de. tekst spreekt niet van jlagers  en honden, noch  van
writer,, not counted. Melchisedec- then is .a priest                    de jacht;  `t Is best-mogelijk, dat David net inaar da&t
whose parentage, generation, birth  an.d  decease was                   aan  een hinde die dorst had, lang  dorst gehad had .en
not recorded, because his priesthood did not  .depend  on               die geen water ken  vinden. Hoe dit  dan  ook zij, die
such descent. :He did. not  have--to  point  t,o.fa&her  and            dorstende hinde  vergelijkt David met zijn dorstende
mother. to make plain  th+at  he  ,ha,d a right to the  .priest-        ziel.
hood.:,  Jt was different  `with  the sons of  .Aaron.         Their        Uit den aard der zaak  is het zeer moeilijk om iets
parentage was recorded because only the sons of Aaron over dezen psalm te schrijven. Dorst  naar  God!  `t Is
might be, vested  with the priesthood. This priesthood                  zoo subjectief, zoo. zeer intiem, persoonlijk. Let er
therefore had beginning:and  end. Not so that of Mel-                   slechts op,, dat David ,het  persoonlijk voor,naamwoord
chisedec.                Aed that it  is said of him that he wasking    in verschillende vormen 33  malen  in .dezen korten
of Salem must imply something more than that he was                     psalm gebruikt. `t  Isalles  ik, mij, mijn en mijne.
                   I.
a..iivil  magistrate ruling. in a. particular place and over              Zie,,we  hebben het kerkelijk instituut en de ambten.'
a.,de&it.e  people. For the .writer  adds, "which is king We  ,hebben  goede Gereftirmeerde  dogmatiek met hare
sf  .peace.."             -He was a righteous and peaceable king,       discu.ssie  door woord en blad. Ook  zingen  we de
one.  that, ruled.  righteously and. lived peaceably.. Ab-              psalmen  in het .Huis.  Gods en luisteren naar de preek.
solutely in himself, and  as,unto  his own personal quali-              Komt men dan wat  samen  zoo  ,spreken  we over de
fications, he was so and no more, nor could he be more.                 dmgen  die `t  eeuwige  leven  aangaan..  Vaak mag het
Really he was a righteous and peaceable king. Typical-                  gebeuren, dat we naar Gods Woord grijpen en gretig
ly he, .in distinction from  Aaronwas the  "king of,  right-            lezen, lezen, lezen. Het einde was dan, dat `de Bijbel
pmss~~ss  and peace". ,And,   hits  priesthood was eternal.             we1 dichtviel, doch  de,ziel  mijmerde voort, het gelezene
As person, ,Melchisedec  was born and died.                  But `his overdenkend- en mediteerend,
priesthood. had `no end.  `,  -.  "                                      . En  alle  deze  dingen  zijn  goed,  met dankzegging
           Could it not be that  ,even  more is, intended. It is to genoten zijnde.  Ze  behooren bij  bet  leven der  kerk-
be considered  th.at  his priesthood abided continually.                m e n s c h e n .
This  woul[d,seem.to  suggest that we are to think of this                  Ook nierken we op, dat David aan  deze dingen  ook
priesthood as springing from the life of -regeneration,                 gedacht heeft bij  `t componeeren van dezen  onverge;
thus as the priesthood of all believers,                                lijkelijken zang.
.          Abraham  pa$ys the  ,tenths  to  Mel.chisedec.  He did           Tech,  er is meer, er is zeer veel meer in dezen
so  aft.er  having  gained.:a   ,signal  victory over the in-           psalm dan net maar de dingen  die we opsomden. En
vading host, representative of the forces of iniquity,                  dat  veel meerdere noemt David : dorsten naar God !
the world-power. Abraham paying the tenths to Mel-                          Probeer  het eens om daar wat van te zeggen. Pro-
chisedec and the latter providing the former with food                  beer het eens  om dat te  verkla~en!   Tracht  het eens
and drink  and,  in addition blessing him-forms the                     om den  stillen  omgang met God te  verklaren!             `t Is


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                               15

mijn ondervinding, dat men zulks wel kan ondervinden,             begon hij te zingeti  en te jubelen van ongekend genot.
doch moeilijk bepraten.                                           Hij  tioest  het  zoo  vaak, o  zoo  vaak, herhalen: "Dat
     `t Wordt vergeleken bij een schreiend beest, dat  ,orn       Zijne  goedei  tierenheid  t$ `in der eeuwigheid  .is  !`T
frisch  water  schreewt.       Het is  lilaar  geen  .gewoilen     .'  QLZ`Vi&  %e'eft  gemerkt, dat God,' .cie.  levend@  God te
dorst, doch een schreeuw& naar. de  wa?terstroor&n.               hebben   voor.zijn.hart d hemel=  op-aarde  is.
OvergebraCht-op  het kind Gods  is het een dorsten naar              Dorsten naar God doet men omdat  &e geleerd hebt
den levenden God. Het is mogelijk om al Uw  kerk-                 dt Hij liet  HQogste  Goed is.. 0,  gemeenSchap  met
plichten na te komen  met  het lichaam en toch geen vat           Hem  te, mogen  hebben;   Hem  alles te  vert$&n; wat
te hebben  an  den levenden  ,God.  Mn kan lezen  en            in `t harte woont, Hem te klagen  jl de  sinart,  Hni
zing&, debatteeren en schrijven;  denken.en  peinzen en           te leven .&n  t-wandelen  : wat lieflijker; .is er' toch Xot
toch verre iijn van het  -dorsten,  het dorsten.                  in,  der.  euwigheid  in henel'  en op aarde?
   Eerst: er zit dit in, dat mei? het zonder God niet                Dkar  komt nog bij, dat die gemeenschap'  &cler-
stellen kan. Er spreekt een groote  noodrft  uit deze            zijdsch is. God  spreekt,   -zin&   zucht-,  schreeuwt in
taal. Op het beeld lettend, mogen we zeggen,. dat `wie            `t hart door Geest en  Wor,d.  Mijn leven is imrers
z dorst, alles, alles wel zou  -Gillen  geven om het            met Christus verborgen in God. `Mag .ik.gemeenschap
obj.ect  van  .dien  dorst te bezitten.. Zulk  eenen  zingt       met Hem hebben, dan is  nijn  lvnssfeer  Zijn leven.
.k: Wien heb ik nevens U omhoog?  Wqat zou mijn                 Dan mag ik in de liefde .wamdeln;            Dan  ,demt   alleS
hart; wat zou  mijti oog op aarde nevens U toch lusten?           de sprake  Gods.  Dan beluister ik Zijn lieflijke  s&m
     Dit moet ge diep vatten. Het wil wat zeggen als              in diep.e  nacht:, In den naclht  zal Zijn lie'd bij mij zijn.
ge.  te `midden va.n  Uw beminden staat,  overladen met              Doh   zoo  staat  het.e$  niet  altijd bij.  _  :
gunstbewijzen i:n spijs en drank en  vroolijkheid; ge                David (ge gelooft  -toch  wel  dat  David  dezen  psalin
hebt  dan een zek:ere  mate vtin gezondheifd  en krachten;        ged.icht  heeft?) David hd al dat lieflijke genoten in
gaven, en talent&. Ook werd .U  een weinig tijds en               `t verleden, doch nu  moe& hij het missen;.  Qaarm
een weinig ruimte-geschonken op deze aarde. Waren                 dorst hij er riaa?.    Daarom  hebben we den onvefgelij-
                                                                                                                           ._:
er  lesten  en vragen en begeerten,  zoo  kwamen er onder         kelijken   p s a l m   4 2 .
Uw bereik de dingen die wonder pasten bij Uw Iust  en                We, weteii  niet  bij- welke.  .h&%risch@  gebetirteris
                                                                                                                      .
vraag en begeerte. Ge  waapt  een betrekkelijk  gelukkig          deze psalni  past. Misschien wel .,bij het  -vlucl$en  voet
mensch.         Ontmoette men U zoo  werd- ge minzaam ge-         zijn zoon.
g r o e t .                                                          ,:In  `elk geval, ht is duidelijk, dat, David ver  &ti
     Welnu; temidden van dat alles en op dat alles                Jeruzalem was toen `hij  de dingen  -ervoer  `clis  .hij :ifi
starend zegt zulk een niensch:  Wien heb ik nevens U              dezen psalm bezingt en klaagt.                      . .                    -.l
omhoog, wat iou mijn hart wat zou mijn oog op aarde                   Alles scheen tegen hem te zijn.
nevens U toch lusten? Of  oo!,  . om in den trant te                  Hij was'niet omringd door zijne  lief,iebb&s. Er
blijven van dezen,psalm:  Ik schreeuw naar God ge`ijk             waren  spotters die durfden vragen; Waar is  God  Dieti
eeu hert  schreeukt naar de waterstroomen. Ik  dorst gij verwacht? IGoddelooze  menschen hadden   liem gade
naar  ,den  levenden God!                                         geslagen. Ze hadden gemerkt,  -dat  het  Dadid  niet  v&r
     Is  `t niet moeilijk om daar wat van te zeggen?              de wind ging. De Heere  schen   heti tegen  te  iiji.
     Tweedens, ik: zie er dit in, dat zulk  eenen  God kent.      Daaruit- -maakte  `mei  .de  conclu&e,  dat` hij zijn God
Hij heeft -God geproefd, als ik het  zoo  mag zeggen. En          vrloren had. David  tias geplaagd,  geslagen,.   gestraft,
God smakendeheeft hij ervaren, dat Hij hem goed is.                                                                                    :.
                                                                  gekastijd. Ergo: Waar  isuw  God?
Hij leerde God kennen in al Zijn deugden: goedheid,                   Bovendien was hij- verre van het huis  Gods.'   David
trouw, recht,  wijsheiid,  macht en oneindige liefde.             placht op te trekken -onder  `de .feestvierende.  menigte
     Die deugden heeft hij gesmaakt in `t diepe hart.             en met hen te treden naar Gods  huis.                           *
Toen werd in zijn ziele `t verlangen gewekt. Toen                     ?t Verschil  is wel groot. Hier zijn de  goddeloozen
is hij gaan dorsten. Want al die deugden  wonen  in               die hem tergende als met een doodsteek  hoonen-  en
zijn hart slechts in een zeer klein beginsel. Hij heeft vragen den ganschen  dag: Waar is uw God? Daarom
er'Yaren,  dat die levende God juist bij hem past. Mag            zegt David : Ik gedenk daaraan .en begin  da,n te  ,schrejen
hij die-deugden van God ervaren, hebben, genieten, dan            want het  -wai  vroeger zou geheel  anders:   Vroeger be-.
is het stil,~dan  is er rust en vrede en lieflijkheid. Dan        vond ik mij onder de schare die opging naar  Gpds.huis,
popelt  zijn hart van stB, vredig genot.                          naar de plaats waar ik liever  -woonde  dan. onder de
     Zulk   eenen  heeft gemerkt, dat als  die-lvende   G&d      schare der kwaaddoeners.            Ik heb altijd  sfe-,@  n
in hem woont, hij gaat schitteren,- glanzen, schijnen             ding  kegeerd  : Ik wilde in  Go+   huis  won-,
van genade en waarheid,. van God-lof en hemelsche                     Doch  nu?  Ik ben verre van die schare en van dat
blijzdschap.      Ge tioogt  het ook z zeggen :' zulk eenen     Huis. Zij beiden waren  mij tot een weg naar-`t  hay't
merkte, dat het deugdenbeeld  Gods  in zijn diepste' van God. We vierden dan  feest.. In zekeren zin' mocht
hart natrilde, tot God weerkeerde. Langzaam  aan.r ik dan voor Gods  aangezicht verschijnen.


      16          L                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

             En toen is David aan  `t snikken gegaan.                     goed is en dierbaar. Hij  zeide  immers: Maar de Heer
             Totdat het toch wel al te erg werd. Dat schreeuwen           zal uitkomst geven ! ?
      en snikken en huilen verzadigde hem ook, niet.  -.   In't              Des daags is daar de goedertierenheid en des  nachts
      treuren zelf zit geen bevrediging. Vooral  -net als.               z&Gds   `lied bij David zijn. Hij verheugt zich in de'
      men hoort, dal; treuren en klagen en schreien zijn vervulling van  Gods beloften.
      spijze was dag en nacht. Dat wil zeggen, dat David                     God gebiedt de goedertierenheid over Zijn kinderen.
      zijn ontbijt, middagmaal en avondeten eenvoudig over-               Dat  beteekent  dat ge het bemerkt hoe alle dingen die
      sloeg. Hij at  d'en ganschen dag niets. Men moest wel               ge wedervaart U medewerken ten goede. Gods goeder-
      denken, dat tranen zijn spijze was. Dat was alles wat               tierenheid. is  Gods lust aan Zijn volk. Hij tiert van
      hij deed.                                                           goedheid over Zijn volk. Hij wil  `Iien altijd goeddoen
             Toen heeft David gemerkt, geleerd door Goddelijke            en doet hen altijd goed.
      aanspraak, dat zulks verkeerd was.  .Hij mocht zich                    En des  naehts  komt het lied van  .God.  Zijn lied
      niet nederbuigen en zijn ziel verontrusten.                         zal bij mij zijn. Het gebed tot den God mijns levens.
          ,Daaruit,  uit die overwegingen werd de samenspraak                God heeft'een eeuwig lied, het lied des  Verbonds,
      met zichzelf geboren: Wat buigt gij U neder,  .O  mijne             Het is een lied der liefde.    God heeft Zichzelf lief van
      ziel ? !                                                      -.    eeuwigheid en zingt Zichzelf een lied. Nooit zult ge
             Hef het moe-geschreide oog omhoog en  blikop  naar           de Goddelijke accoorden  hooren,  zooals God dit lied in
      God naar Wien ge dorst. Herinner U hoe Hij U                        Zijn Eigen Wezen zingt. Daar zeggen God de Vader
      menigmaal uit  TJw  druk verlost heeft in  `t verleden.             en God de Zoon en God de Heilige Geest het elkander
             Inplaats   vin  zoo  te keer te gaan, mijne ziel, denk       gedurig aan, dat God eeuwiglijk goed en lieflijk is.
      aan God, hoop op Hem. Hij is immers de Verlosser                       Doch dat lied heeft een editie  ,die  op het creatuur
      Israels?  Hij heeft toch immers een woord gesproken :               aangelegd is. De Bijbel noemt het het lied van Mozes
      Ik ben Uw God?! Hij is toch Zijn Woord aan Uw                       en het Lam.                                   ,
      kwijt? Hoop op God, ga naar Hem heen, roep Hem                         Dat lied geeft Hij. En in den nacht. Soms neemt
      aan vanuit  `t klein en nietig gebergte.- Denk toch aan             het de vorm van een gebed, een smeeking, een aanbid-
      Hem, ook. bij  `1;'  gedruisch der  waterg0te.n   als..  de af-     ding.                                                      .'
      grond tot den afgrond roept en al  Gods baren Uw  be-                  In den nacht. Denkt aan  Paulus-en   Silas.
      nauwde.ziel vervaren. Denk dan. aan God : `t is heil-                  0  .mijn  ziel: waarom  zoo  onrustig en  zoo   neder-
      zaam.       Denk  aan  God en bemin Hem: Hij is immers              gebogen? Is het lied  Gods er niet? Ge dorst naar
      Uw borg  -en Uw schild?                                             God, naar den levenden God. Welnu: zing dan het
             Ja, nu zal  -,t  gaan:  -Ik zal  tot- God mijn Steenrots     lied  Gods in diepen nacht. Al zou het ook moeten
      spreken : waarom, Heer, vergeet Gij mij?                 0, het     met een bebloeden rug en met de handen en voeten .in
schijnt hier alsof ik een  dieperen  klank opvang. Een                    den stok.     Zing nu  den  maar dat lied . Het zal  1 Uw
      klank van Messias die schreeuwt op Golgotha's kruin.                gevangenis  omtoovereu   ,in een paleis  Gods.
      0,  v(at is die klank van David's vraag toen verdiept tot             En de woorden van het lied?
      een eeuwige diepte. Ook schreeuwde Hij dien vraag                       Luistert!-.. `t Is wonderlijk, doch de klanken en
      in eenigszins anderen vorm,               Hij  - riep met luider    woorden van dit Lied van God luiden Nieuw  Testaxen-
      stemme:. Mijn God,  -Mijn. God,  waarom.hebt  Gij Mij               tisch:  Hij is de  menigvuldige.verlossing          mijns  aange-
      verlaten ?                                                          zichts  en mijn God. Dat is het lied. Ziet ge nu niet,
             Zoo riepen David en Jezus een ieder op zijn eigen            dat ge heel  dcht bij  `t Kruis moet staan om dit lied
      wijs tot God..                                                      te zingen? Menigvuldge verlossing !    <Mijn  God! Kan
       En.  God heeft beiden verhoord; David uit zijn                     het schooner? `t Zijn  hem,elsche klanken.
      smart en  J.ezus  uit de hel.                                          -En nu?
             Maar wat is de smart van Jezus en de dorst van                   `t- Is nu nacht. En daar is de afgrond die tot den
      Jezus toch veel dieper en  grooter,   vreeselijker  en ver-         afgrond roept bij `t gedruisch der watergoten. Ook
      hevener dan die van David.           .                              zijn daar de baren en golven  Gods.     Er is benauwdheid
                                                                          en droefenis.
         `. Als David schreeuwt in  .zijn dorsten naar  Gods                .~ Doch in den nacht dorsten we naar God. We ver-
 - omgang dan is d.at erg, doch als Jezus zegt: Mij dorst,                langen naar Hem in een land, dor en. mat, zonder
      dan spreekt daar  een.  verlangen naar God in, hetwelk              water. Zonder Hem kunnen we niet. Het verraadt de
      uiet  door ons gemeten kan. Niemand heeft- ooit z                 adel  .van de wedergeboren ziel.
      naar God verlangd.  `.                                                  Doch spreekt tot Hem, `zegt het Hem dat ge aan
         DoCh  David is getroost.                                         Hem gedenkt  ; zingt tot Hem.Zijn Eigen lied in  donk're
             Zelfs voordat hij weer terug mocht komen om met              nacht.
      de feestvierende menigte zich te  vrblijden  in den                    Hij beloofde te komen. Eenigszins  kwam,Hij  in de
      dienst van Jehova, heeft hij gezien, dat de  Heere'  hem
 >                                                                        > schaduwen en typen.' Straks kwam Hij in -Zijn Zoon


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               17

en door den Geest van den verheerlijkten Christus.                Werp u slechts  nederwaarts. Daar is een Woord Gods,
Doch Hij gaat nog veel overvloediger komen straks                 dat u veiligheid waarborgt-Engelen staan   u ten  dien-
in den dag  van  Christus.                                        ste. Geheel dat machtsvertoon,  zoo  is des  duive?s  voor-
  Dan zal Zijn komen  z00  geheel en volkomen zijn,               stelling, zal -den indruk  verhoogei.  Allereerst,  ,het
dat men  yan  U zal zeggen: God is alles  en  in allen-.          wonder uwer  kracht,   .dan,  en telijkertijd, de  s-hoon-   .
    Dan gaat het dorsten naar God over in  `t verzadigd heid van uw pracht door der  -gelen  tegenwoordig-
zijn met Zijn God.delijk  Beeld.                                  heid, zullen het middel zijn waardoor het volk  u als
    Dat  volk.zal  water putten en drinken uit de eeuwige Vorst Messias zal uitroepen en erkennen. Ge krijgt
Fontein des heils.          .                                     den Tempel, met den Tempel het volk en daardoor
                                                   G . V .        gansch den  di,enst  van het schepsel.
                                                                     Indien ge de Zoon van God  zijt. Maar daarom
                                 --                               juist kan het andermaal niet. De Zoon iS hier knecht,
                                                                  niet om bevelen te geven, doch om het groote bevel
 Christus Verzocht Om Zijn MOninkrijk
               -_                                                 `Gods   tiit  te  voerer.  Hij zal tot Zijn Tempel komen,
                                                                  doch dat komen tot de gemeenschap, zoals'  die in den
                                        Matth. 4  :8-11.          Tempel belichaamd is, loopt door den weg des  b!oeds
    Satan heeft den Christus tot tweemaal  Verzocht.              van den Zoon van God. Een Tempel zonder God, is
    Eersi, het  wai  kort nadat de Heiland door Johannes gen Tempel waar eenige gemeenschap is. Een Tem-
gedoopt was, -zoCht  hij, Hem op, nadat Jezus veertig             peldienst  zonder God, is een dienst van den mensch en
dagen in vasten en bidden de  gemeenscha,p  met den voor den mensch,  waardoor die m.ensch  op God's plaats
Vader had gezocht en genoten.                                     ten troon zich  verheft.                  `.
    Daarna hongerde Hem.                                             Cliristus  zal haastiglijk tot  Zij'n  Tempel komen, als
    Het is `dan ook aan het begin van Zijn publiek op-            Hij door Zijn  bloed-off,erande,  de gemeenschap herstelt,
treden, dat wij den Satan zien optreden: om mede zijn             door te voldoen aan Gods  recht. Er staat geschreven.
rol te spelen, dat, indien mogelijk, dezen  Ambtskneoht              En tenderde  male verzoekt  Satan  den Middelaar.
bij  uitriemendheid  worde verleid, om God  den'diefist              `Tot tweemaal toe -heeft Satan  de verzoeking in-
der gehooPzaamheid  te weigeren en aldus een. bres in             geleid met een  .voorwaardelijke      zin:.  Indien-het is
dQ  vesting te slaan, die nimmer zou kunnen geheeld               mogelijk-niet waarschijnlijk, dat ge de Zoon van
worden.                                                           God$jt.
    fIndien  gij de Zoon van God'zijt, maak dan van deze             Dat, zoo  wil Satan als middel tot verzoeken, geheel
steenen  brood.                                                   loslaten. Hij spreekt niet langer van Christus  Zoon-
    Die eerste  anval,  door  middel  van de verzoeking          schap; Hij laat dan ook verder af om er een beroep op
had zich gericht  016  de kwestie van het- leven. Het leven te  doen:   In   duivelsche   haat  moet hij  tenslcjtte,  wat
der aarde, gelijk dit `onder den vloek en toorn'  Gods            hij weet waarheid te zijn, ontkennen. En daardoor
ligt. De kwestie van macht, niet dien van recht, werd             openbaart hij zijn waar karakter. Kwam hij een en
aldus  op den voorgrond geschoven.- En honger, brood,             andermaal, vooral in de tweede verzoeking, in de ge-
-bestaan,  hebben  in geen. enkel  opiicht iets  t.e  doen met    daante van een Engel des lichts, nu, n de laatste
rec'ht  en gerechtigheid, met zonde en  ,oordeel.  De             Verzoeking openbaart hij zich zo-oals  hij `werkelijk is.
gevolgen der zonden weg  te nemen; neemt de zonde                 De Satan,  ,de groote tegenstander, die' God van Zijn
juist niet weg. Het  kan  ook  n&.                                plaats wil  drifigen,  die  .zelf  God `wil zijn en van den
    Het  ,eigenlijke  leven en levenbestaan hangen af van Zoon' den Anti-christ wil  naken.
de gemeenschap met God en deze is alleen mogelijk op                 Er zijn, in verband met de derde verzoeking, allerlei
den hechten grondslag van gerechtigheid. Van een                  verklaringen gegeven,- die  ,bijna  allen op speculatie
wegnemen van den  eenen   grooten  oorzaak van alle               berusten. De Schrift  leert ons, dat de Heiland op een
scheiding: De Zonde. IS die weg, dan is de weg tot                zeer  hoogen  berg getoond, werd de koninkrijken der
de gemeenschap geopend. Er is geen ander middel.                  aarde  exhunne heerlijkheid. Men heeft genieend,  dat
En die weg, waardoor alle gerechtigheid zal vervuld               dit niet ,letterXjk  moet-wor.den  Qpgevat. Aldus heeft
worden, was den Christus bekend, uit het  Wmoord   Gods.          Christus  van  dat alles  letterlijk  niets  gezien. Som-
Naar dien weg,' den weg Gods,  greep de `Heiland; met             migen hebben  gemeetid,  dat dit geschiede door mid-
al de kracht van Zijn ziel. Hij hield zich, ale  Knecht ldel van een visioen, gelijk die het  openbarings-
des Heeren,  aan het Woord Gods.                                  middel waren waarvan de Heere Zich bediende in
   .De  tweede maal, brengt Satan Christus op  .de tinne          de Oude en ook in de  Nieuwe   Bedeel.ing.  Maar
des Tempels. Als het dan toch naar het Woord  Gods                ligt  -hei niet in den  aard,  van Zijn  goddel.ijke  na-
moet, dan kan hier de gelegenheid aangegrepen, om                 tuur, dat dit `juist niet  het geval Was? Wel te
(wederom de kwestie van macht) het  hoogere,  het                 verstaan, dat  dan   aaxi  Satan een macht gegeven
hoogste, wat de aarde bezit, ten uwen  dienste  zijn.             Was, waarover God alleen beschikt en altijd en alfeen


 `18       "                             THE   STANDARD   BEARR.

 tendienste van  Gods  Zelfopenbaring door hem ge-              inwerkt. De mogelijkheid hiervoor zien we dan, door-'
 bruikt werd. Christus behoefde niet het middel van             dat wellicht alles waarvan Satan spreekt in n centra
 het visioen om in den "Geest" te worden. opgetrokken.          werd  ,saamgetrokken.  Als ik bijvoorbeeld, wil weten
 Hij leefde, ook als Middelaar, altijd in de innigste'          hoe-rijk  de Staat van Iowa is, dan is het niet noodig
~ gemeenschap met `den Vader-tot aan het  Krus  toe            om  iederen  voet gronds te zien,  doc,h  dan geeft mij
 in de ure der Verlating.  _ Hij leefde niet slechts bij        een zekere County voldoende  waarborg;hoe  de Staat
 het Woord  Gods;doch  geheel Zijn levenssfeer was  door-       in zijn geheel is. Vergeten we hierbij  .dan niet, dat
 dr,ongen van dat Woord.' Zelfs als er een  speciaal  ge-       Satan niet slechts het oog, maar ook het oor bewerkt
 tuigenis komt van den Hemel, dan is het Zijn ge-               en door die beiden tot het hart tracht in te dringen,
 tuigenis, dat  d.e  stem, Die gehoord werd, niet sprak         dan kan bij het gezicht van een enkele heerlijkheid,
 om  Zijnentwil,   doch'terwille  van de schare. `Het was       het woord dienstbaar zijn,. zoodat het oog en het oor te
 voor  *Hem,  Die altijd in het' volmaakte evenwicht            zamen van het enkele, deel zich richten op het geheel.
 leefde,  aoodat het leven van het lichaam en dat der               Een andere vraag is, heeft Satan werkelijk zeggen-          *
 ziel in volkomen  harmoni,e  stonden met Zijn ambt en          schap over de Koningrijken der wereld?  Zoo schijnt
 taak, niet  nodig  om' door  ,visioen  of extase tot het      het'er bij te staan. Is dat nu werkelijk waar of is het
 hoogere  te worden opgetrokken. Eigenlijk was er               een duivelsche leugen? Lezen we  Lukas  4 dan krijgen
 bij Hem geen lager en  ho,oger leven, die beiden stonden       we den indruk, dat het werkelijk er aldus bijstaat, dat
 altijd in `rezhtstreeksche verbinding met den Hemel.           God Satan die Rijken  .Hem gegeven heeft. Letten we
 Nooit `heeft Hij God losgelaten, neen,  niet.tot   .op een     er echter op, dat de duivel zelf het absoluut bezit er
 enkel oogenblik toe.                                           van zich toch niet toekent. Neen, schoon die konin-
         Zekere omstandigheden kunnen Hem dan ook nooit         krijken wel geestelijk onder zijn invloed staan, in den
 bewegen, om  eenige  begeerte in Hem te wekken, waar-          absoluten zin des woords zijn zij niet zijn eigendom.
 door Hij Zich  van  Zijn God en Zijn Woord  zouden  doen       Hij kan er niet mee doen wat hij wil. Wat invloed
 afkeeren. En aan dat Woord hing Hij met geheel                 hij ook moge uitoefenen, hoe hij dan ook overigens
 Zijn Middelaarshart. ' "Er  staalt   geschrevn"  is het       zich op en zekere macht kan  ber.oepen, feit blijft,- dat
 rustpunt van  iijn geloof in  God;                             hij met alle schepselen onder God staat. Ook hier
         Weer anderen, wel ziende dat de verzoeking van         weer blijft God Drieenig de Schepper,. de Heerscher
 Satan uitging,  :hebben gemeend, dat deze den Heiland          en de Alleen Bezitter. Ook Satan bezit geen macht,
 de  Rij.ken  der wereld heeft voor getooverd. Dri  was        dan die welke hem van boven gegeven is en waarmede
 het natuurlijker wijze niets anders dan een illusie; dat       ook hij dienstbaar wordt gesteld aan  Gods. Raad en
 niet aan de  wer:kelijkheid  beantwoordde. Dan werd de         Wil.      `.
 Middelaar gebracht onder den invloed,. die alleen moge-            Die onmacht blijkt dan ook uit zijn eigen  woord,
 lijk is als de mnsch gezondigd heeft.- Onware voor-           dat hij hier in de verzoeking tot den Heiland- richt.
 stellingen kunnen slechts, waar de zonde  .is,  mogelijk       Stelt Satan de kwestie van `recht zuiver, zij is, tege-
 worden geacht. Evenmin is het waar, dat Christus               lijkertijd een erkenning van eigen onmacht, schoon
 slechts te strijden had met een  ,inwendige  vijand.           door  ,hem nit  zoo  bedoeld. Want, schoon, hij de  voors
 Satan kan  j.uist  naar Christus inwendig bestaan geen         stelling van zijn macht over `de koninkrijken  on den
 aanknoopingspunt  vinden.         Niet van  .binnen,  doch     voorgrond plaatst, het geven kan slechts als er een
 buiten Hem lag de mogelijkheid om verzocht te worden;          ruil gesloten  -wordt. `Als ge mij uw plaats schenkt,
 Trouwens, waarto zou  dat  alles dienen kunnen, anders        dan doe ik afstand van wat mijn bezit is. Als ge mij
 dan om de heiligheid van den  mens&  Christus Jezus in         zult aanbidden. Mij zult uitroepen en aanroepen, mij
 twijfel' te trekken?                                           erkennend als God. Aldus wil Satan het centrum aller
         Christus kan  wel. verzocht, maar niet bedrogen        dingen zijn. Op -zijn. wezen zal dan worden  saam-
 worden.  Voor Hem kan de schijn niet de plaats der             getrokken de Goddelijke vereering,  majesfteit  en deugd:
 werkelijkheid innemen.                                         Aldus zal Christus dan Satan worden en zal, naar
         Er was hier een. werkelijke verzoeking..               Satans wensch en begeeren, hij de rechtmatige ge-
Er waren werkelijke heerlijkheden, die getoond                  bieder zijn.
werden.                                                            Zijn vraag in de verzoeking is bewijs van het echt
    . Er  w,as,  een werkelijk Middelaar, Die verzocht         duivelsche, -dat hem altijd weer bezielt. Zeker, er moet
 werd.                                                          wel een God zijn, maar die eigenlijk geen  ,God  is. Een
         Wat dan heeft Satan Christus werkelijk getoond?        schepsel  Gode gelijk gemaakt, doch nooit de bron van
         Het antwoord op die vraag is, dat op die zeer hooge    alle goed  .en  vol van volmaakte deugden.  " De herhaling
 berg, heeft Satan den Christus gewezen op hetgeen  be-         van de znde  .eenmaal  in het Paradijs gepleegd. Er
 paald heerlijk is en van macht spreekt. We  zo,uden            staalt voor Satan hier alles op het spel.    Het is hier een
 het aldus willen uitdrukken, dat hij toonde den Chris-         ontkenning in het bestaan en het wezen  Gods,  om zelf
 tus datgene, `wat het oog streelt en op het  begeeren          God te zijn.


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                                                                                       `.A





                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                              19

            Ik  zal  u geven de koninkrijken en hunne heerlijk-
        heid.                                                                                      Is Christian Drama Possible -'
            Maar  deze Ko:nifikrijken  zijn juist het  &ewijs,  dat
        de harmonie in dfi  sohepping  verbroken is.,  - Het;@at                         &+  ;I   f&e  the  `task of writing an article of this
        er met den Christus  niet om, om die Koninkrijken   -te                      natu$I   am.`keenly  aware of my limited qualifications
        bezitt,en.   Van  af den torenbouw tot  aan  de voleinding                   for such  tiopk,  firstly because it is on material quite
        zullen  zij er we1  zijn, doch  enkel en alleen terwille van                 foreign to a minister's regular field, and secondly,
        Het  Boninkrijk.  -Uit  die  allen  zal Hij, `door den  weeg                 it is a relatively new subject among us, having been
        van Zijn eigen  bleed,  het Koninkrijk fundeeren en                          intrpduced  only recently by Rev. Kok in Our  Chwch
        daar Zelf Koning des Vredes in zijn.                                         News.
            Daarom, er  staat   geschreven,  dat gij den Heere                                I'  will  however write in the hope that  `it may pro-'
        uwen God  zult  aanbidden en  ,Hem alleen  zult  ge dienen.                  voke a fruitful discussion_ among us, and in the Stan-
`i          Dat is wat er leigenlijk  alleen geschreven staat, dat dard Bearer, if it does not dislocate the Editor's  plan,
        alle dienst en alle aanbidding God  rech$matig   toe-                        or interfere with his policy.
        komen.                                                                                In order to see our problem it is necessary first
            Daarom is  Hij  God  alleen;                                             to see what we understand by Christian Drama. And
            Daartoe  dient  ook Gods Zoon als Knecht,  Zich then it will appear that any. definition offered Will
        houdend  aan  het Woord.                                                     reflect at least something of personal opinion.
            En daarom wordt Satan  weggestuura  van uit de                                    !Kdwever,  it is apparent that we are not left whblly
        nabijheid van dien Knecht des  He'eren.            De  ,Heiland              to arbitrary definition, but find something that  de-
        noemt Satan bij Zijn naam.:  `?egenstander,   tegen-                         termilles it, both in history and in human nature, and
      spl"eker,  oproerling.                                                         taking  accoutit  of  thehe  two, I  w&l&  define `it  ,as
            En door-Zich  aan  het  Woord vast te klemmen meet                       follows :                                             .
        die tegenstander wijken en  zal   Christus   Zich  naar                               `The. presentation of Biblical doctr.ine  05  the spirit-
      het kruis  begeven,  om het Koninkrijk. Het rijk Gods,                         ual motives `of history  -in the light of the Christian
        waarin de onderdanen zullen brengen  .den  dienst Gods                       interpretation, by means of action or speech'imitating
 . gewijd en waarin zij Hem alleen  zulleti  aanbidden.  -                           the situation or thought presknted, tiith' the purpose
                                                             w.  v:                  of provoking. a spiritual response.
                                                                                              The  drama so seen can be distinguished in two of
                                                                                                                           .       ,`.
                                                                                     its phases.
            Xier&de  hebberi  we on?  laatste artikel  geschreven                             And some drama does not' really advance any
        en hop.en, dat het althans voor sommigen, tbt leering further  than-  the first stage, that is the historical
        geweest is. We  weten  wel,  dat  niemand  zijn.   eigen.                    material which  is.  imitated   eithei for the  sake  of
        werk  &an  beoordeelen. We laten dit dan ook  aan  de                        entertainment  ,or  historical instruction.
        lezers  dver:  Men  bedenke.  daarbij. clan, dat wij  tiiet                   H,owe$%,  the  d?ama  only reaches its  proper de-
        schrijven en  sohreven;   dmd&  we meenden over. een                         velopment and -inherent. tendency  when  it emphasizes
        groote  hoeveelheid   mai%riaal   t&  beschikk&;  dat  we in the motives, the passions,  ,the struggles  inherknt  in
        de  Standard.Bearer      kwijt  wilden.   ,IntegendeeI,   d.at we            history.        To this  point  it develops in  the  andent
        stihreven  kwam mede door omstandigheden, den lezer                          Greek plays, in the Teutonic drama, and  ~also in the
        bekend.  Doch  dfize omstandigheden zijn in de laatste Medieval church iti the morality plays.
        tien of twaalf jaren   aanmerkelijk  vertinderd.        Er zijn               T,he  reason  f.&   this  is apparently, that moral man.
        nu  niet  meer  &kele,  doch   vele.  predikanten, die, of cannbt  c,ontemplate  histdyy  to any considerable extent,
        voor  het' eerst, of al reeds zoo nu en dan geschreven                       without- setting his interest upon the deeper- motives  ;
        h e b b e n .                                                                or' to  express  it somewhat  c$if&ently,  the `most pro-
            We hopen,  dat de Heere verder Zijn zegen gebiede                        found, the grandest material, for  drama-   i.s  3ound   in.
        over  bet  werk va.n  de broeders.                                           these deep underlying motives.
                                                           `-w; v.                       At this stage Drama becomes.  an art. . That is as
                                                   . .                               such, it must express by unity bf construction a uni-
                                                                                     versal truth. In  this sphere, hence, it is not  &tough
         . The above`article was written for the September'%                         to give a faithful presentation of many facts, for thnt
        issue, but could l!ot  be placed then because it  was  de-                   does  rioi  represent the truth. 1 Rathbr  must the truth
        voted to the Young People's  Conv'ention.             Hen&;  it be presented by a few carefully dhosen  facts.
        occurs in this number. I  give  this  explatiation  because,                   A very simple and crude illustration  wiIl  explain:
        in the future, I shall not place articles that-  ai% not                     I may  very faithfully paint a  horse  I  have.seen  in the'
        written on the subjects assigned.                                            pasture, but having painted it, I `h&e  a horse with a '
                                                            H. H.                    lame leg, one eye-missing, and big,  obtkusive  gall-scars.


   20                                         ,THE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

   NOW, irrespective of my accurate painting, I have                    Now, it seems to me we must weigh carefully ob-
   produced no art. I have -not- conceived "the horse",               jections of this nature.
   as to its idea, I have not  chosen  a few typical repre-              In the argument from the word "hypocrisy" we
   sentative lines but have used all a particular sp&imen .&VI?   pla&ily   a hidden equivocation.  A.cting  is silently
   presented.                                                         assumed to be hypocrisy and  the conclusion is  easy-
         So it is with the drama. As an art it requires that "abomination to God".
   the universal  be grasped and presente.d  in a few bold               But is acting equivalent to hypocrisy?
   strokes.                                                              Of course not, no acting is trying to deceive, no one
         Applying this  no,w   tb the proper theme of drama,          is  irying td withhold his real character from anyone,
   that is to -the Imotives,  the passions and struggles in- and we may drop this argumetit  forthwith. This then
   herent in history, because .of  truth and righteousness            leaves  the questiqn whether itipersonation or the crea-
   coming in conflict with evil,  it requires a vision that ti,on  of a hypothetical situation or an illusion, when
   has truly grasped the essence of truth and the essence             agreed to by all, is accordant with m&albonesty.
   of evil and their mutual relations, and has not been                  <Against  this objection there are m'any  counts.
   led astray by incidental manifestations.                 I            Hereby also the Novel with its hypothetical situa-
         How is such drama possible?                                  tions and fictional characters is condemned, and it
         Is- it ethically possible?                                   should not have  escaped,  e.g., Rev. Kok  thlat   Prin.
     Is it  epistemalogically          possible?                      Janse, the able pedagogue and psychologist, whom he
         That is, is .it possible without sin on the part of the      quoted approves of the -novel.
   authors, and does the nature of  truth  and of knowledge              Further  we should note that in ihe  Bible welhave
   allow it?                                                          instances of impersonation and hypothetical situations.
         It is on these, two points that objections present              Isaiah is to walk `"naked and barefoot" as a sign
   themselves.  '                .                                    of the captivity of Egypt. Is this in conflict with  ~
         The first considers the question whether  it accords moral honesty?
   with one's personality and individuality to assume  the
   role of another.                                                      Ezekiel is  to. make a picture of Jerusalem and
         This again has  tw,o  aspects.                               build engines of siege against. it and then  ljring  upon
                                                                      the ground  %or many days he shall bear the sin of
         First the objection can be raised, that by assuming
   the role  ,of   another  a person thereby warps  hi&  own          Israel. Is he thereby "abominable before Him, Who
                                                                      seeketh truth within"?
   individuality and personality. He uses that which  #God
has given him to take his place in the grim reality  ,of                 And. what of all dramatic speakers and preachers
   life, in a. manner that does not comport with its nature           who impersonate by gesture, by grimace, by voice
   and deve1opmen.t.      IHis  good gifts of displaying-anger,' inflection, by quotation.
   sorrow, fear;  despair, he uses ulider  artificial stimulus,          Surely we d,o  not condemn all this as  ill'according
   in situations that do not call for the exercise  6f  these         with sincerity. .
    emotions, and consequently dulls, his own sense of'                 For the second main objection I have more respect.
   these.                                                             That, objection holds that truth in its deepest sense,
         `A second aspect of this same objection is that the' the sense in which drama seeks to portray it, cannot
   actor  -leads a make-believe life, he livks  in a colitinued       be expressed within the limitations of the drama.
   hypocrisy. I can best state this by quoting  expresBions           It is in this  sphere  that  the. word,  th& abstract word,
    from  a. few articles of  6ur  Rev. Kok in the  Church            the flexible, pliable word is our appointed vehicle of
    News (March 28 and June 20,  1940)-every  individual              thought.  `In  this sphere where we often grope  for
   has its own unique and distinct character and person?              words and even they fail us, dramatic equipment can
   $lity given by God, and-it is positively wrong for one             only tend to superficiality. of thought.
   creature to impersonate another-all impersonation is                  @it also with respect to this argument we find that
   essentially hypocrisy-an abomination.to God. Again :               in Scripture where the truth and also the vehicle is
    "If  otir  position be  correct, that all dramatics are shown in  iti highest perfection, the abstract word is
   abominable to God, because  all dramatics is essentially           not exclusively used at all; but Scripture abound? in
  hypocrisy?you   :cannot  speak of Christian drama or symbolical action, hypothetical situation, illusion, im-
   D&y,  any more than of Christian hypocrisy."                       personation. To mention a  few:  .The service of the
         The  se'cond  main  ,objection  is that  it is impossible    temple  where  the ministers enacted confessional,
   Co present  tkuth  by means of drama because of  the-,very         cleansing, forgiveness, and blessing. These. were all
    nature of  ;truth.  -Truth is  deem-ed  so great, so inex-        shadows of higher realities.  ,Or again,  +he  prophets
    pressible, so beyond the hypothetical--situation- and             and Nazarites who portrayed in  *hei?.  manners and
    the limitations- of dramatical device, that the result            dress, as well as in word, their message.
    is ne.cessaFily  a Ihalf-truth  or distortion.                       Surely, these could afford a better living, and yet. .


                                       T H E   STANbARD   B E A R E R                                                       21

their over-simplicity was not hypocrisy, and it` was
very effective speech.                                               The Christian And  Sunday Labor  -
     I feel that in the face of these many arguments
which oppose  th.e two main objections  againsQ@ie                  This heading suggests what `may very  aCtUallY
                                                                 be..&&   a, new problem in our circles.
drama, a  blanket  condemnation of the drama is not
valid. These  various   argunients   tiay to some  apear'           It is new iri the sense that until now we virtuallY
                                                                 tdok  for granted that a Christian would not engage
trifling.  ,But  I hold that the objector  m&t face these
anpoying instances, and since there is no statement in Sunday labor.                    Even those who never see the
in Scripture  settling  the issue, he must far  fr,om brush-     insid,e  of a church building considered six days of
ing them aside, integrate them into his grounds for a            labor sufficient .for any man and .appreciaGd  one day
                                                                 in seven as a day of relaxation to be spent in joy-
condemnatory judgment.
     I believe our calling in this respect is much more          riding, visiting or, frequenting various places of amuse-
                                                                 ment, But today a radical change is evident, brought
spiritual  a@ serious., Surely, seeking a solution in
one sweeping condemnation will be wholly unsatisfac-             about especially by the war in Europe and the re-
                                                                 sultant defense program which demands a twenty-four
tory, for a stand that goes  beyond  the truth is just as h.our  day and a seven day week for defense factories.
untrue and  dangeroils   ?i an understatement. And it is Many  ,of  .our  men are  suddenly  effected by this change.
tragic in its results in complacency, selfrighteousness          The problem may introduce itself gradually, but  no
and strife.                                                      less certainly. At  fir&  the laboring man may only  _
     I am convinced that, should the drama become                be asked to work late Saturday evenings  Or  to. begin
popular,  then13  is our calling to become  gortified  not       early Sunday evenings, and -already Sabbath observ-
by a convenient blanket conde+nation,  but by. the de- ante  in the real sense of the w,ord is threatened: Other
velopment of spiritual  discernnient  through God's              inroads upon the Sabbath follow; he is urged to work
W,ord  so that we  <are  able to discern evil and flee it.       frorri  Saturday midnight into the Sunday morning, or
     That is the-  Scriptural way and history teaches  the       even all day  ,on an occasional Sunday. To give  iti
same. Many sects condemn tobacco outright; we smile              means that the way is gradually paved for a  Sund$y
and say "It's not the ude ,but  the misuse that is sin."         work-day.
:    Again many  ,would  condemn liquor outright1 Re-
call the controversy in the Orthodox Presbyterian                   What are we doing about it?
Assembly. We say "Oh, rio; not  .so simple as all  th&t.             Our churches have already. expresse`d  their stand
Hands off.! It's mot in the use  ,but  in the misuse".           on  the matter, particularly by petitioning the go+ern-
     I may even point to the union question. Many                merit,  for the sake of those who keep the Lord's Sab-
of us have started out with such a sweeping-condemna-            bath,`to  withdraw their decision as to Sunday labor in
tion  .of  the idea of a union that even the business asso- the defense -plants.                        -_
ciation as such atid  even the 6.L.A.  as  suol-n  fell under        But our own stand? What are they  to do about  ~
that ban. The practical task of treating these things it whose jobs are  .involved?  Some  have  taken these
soon reveals a m,ore difficult calling of discerning be-         jobs as a `haven of.  escape frpm  the.. Unions, whose
tween good  $fid  evil in each given case.                       tenacles  are reaching out in every direction to take all
     Applying this  principre  now  to the drama,  I-for         industry  atid  labor in their grasp. For these and. for
one am not, on any  gr,o!md  I have seen, ready for a            others as well, the problem  ,becomes  increasingly
blanket condemnation, and feel shut up to the more               weighty.
arduous way-the way of spiritual  .fortification  and               Yet when we speak of a problem, it  should  be borne
discernment.                                                     in mind that that problem is  not  whether  o? not a
     And shpuld  any of our youth now say `(Goody,  now          Christian can engage in Sunday labor !, There can be
I can attend a drama .occasion&lly   !",' I would advise         no difference of opinion among. us on the question
them to reserve their elation. For I have advocated              whether Scripture demands of  the Christian  .that  he
the hard way. It will mean namely that you must                  rest one day in seven. Nor whether a Christian is
always persevere in prayer and spiritual' discerning,            always   dut$.bound  under all and every circumstance
and even then you may:  possibly never find a drama              to abide by the  ,Word  of  _ God.,  y.e are all heartily
which you could or would  attend.                                agreed that Christianity and Sunday labor are incom-
     BLit  the loss would be of no  accou.@  and  t.he gain      patible  with each other and that no  circumstances  of
would  be tliat  you have grown strbzl?  in spiritual care-      an?  kind can ever change the divine institution of the
fuihess,  and have proved what  -is that  good  and well-        Sabdath.
pleasing and perfect will of God. That is the reason-              -  One  voice of dissent is sometimes heard. The
able service He requires of us.                                  argument is raised, that if it be permitted for our
     To me it is the only solution for the drama problem boys in the army to fight and to even go out on man-
as I see it.                                       A:, E',.      euvers.on  the  Sslbbath  because  of  their  present peculiar


 `22                                    T H E   STAN.DARD   B.EARER
  -
  relation to the government and their duty to be subject        stil others are busily engaged in a pleasant pastime,
  to those in authority, cannot this same argument be            and all are enjoying themselves to the full. Are these
  raised for those who labor in the defense factories? tl;e'sa.me  individuals who have conscientious objections
  To. which can be answered very briefly that no one is          to Sunday labor? How lqng  will it be, do you suppose,
  drafted to  w,ork  in the defense plants, nor is the           before their, consciences will allow them to also work
  relation of  aut,hority  and obedience the same in the         on Sunday, especially if it should become  "cdmpul-
  def,ense  plant as in the army. The issues should not soyy"  ?
  be confused.                                                      `There  .is still a third objection which is very con-
        Sunday labor can only be a  pr,oblem  for'  us from      cretely expressed `by saying: "I am accustomed .to go
  this aspect, 071 what basis is it rimpossible  fey a Chris-    to church on Sunday, therefore I cannot work". Fact
  tian to be fowed  to engage in Sunday labosr  ?                is; that we have been born and reared in the church,
        Many plausible objections to Sunday labor are            have always been taught to go Co church on Sunday,
  raised; it is  blut the question whether they can `stand       and we have become so accustomed to it that Sunday
  the test as real objections.                                   would not be Sunday if we did not go to church.
        One of them is  the.  very materialistic objection       Besides, our whole. community, `more particularly our
  that-it is not good f,or any person to work seven days         friends and immediate relatives would stand aghast
  of the week. Man was created, so it is said, to work           if we would take up the dinner bucket instead of don-
  six days and to rest one day. France, where in the             ning our Sunday apparel on Sunday morning. Going
  year'1793 the seven-day week was abolished and with            to churoh  on the specified time seems the only natural
  it the Sunday, is sometimes cited as an example of             and proper thing to do.
  the  d,evastatin.g  influence both upon the morals and            But God has a very amazing way of putting those
  upon the health and manhood of the nation which                "natural and  ~proper"  things to the test,. proving  us
  abolishes the Sunday. Let-us grant that God certainly in the fiery trial whether' we do those thinge "by
  had His own divine and wise purpose in instituting the nature" or by faith. Even the heathens are a law unto
  seventh day as a day of rest, and that man can never           themselves and do by nature the things contained in
  ignore the ordinances of God without suffering serious         the law. (Rom. 2 :14). Not motivated by love to God,
  consequences.     These consequences are very concretely       but purely by selfish motives the wicked  wor'd will
 evident in all of our lives. Be.that  as it may, the mere abstain from stealing, murder and the like. We also
  need of a  "da.y  off" is as  ,yet  no argument against        may refrain  fi;om  certain inordinate  a&s  because of
  Sunday labor.. It is very questionable, to say the least,      decency <or training ; may even become accustomed to
 whether a mere seven day  r0utin.e  would necessarily           live very properly and to attend church very faithfully.
 prove to "jeopardize man's physical, mental and nerv-           But if these things are done purely  "by nature" they
 ,0~7s  system". I am thinking now particularly of the           are to be condemned as enmity against God, for "we
_ mother in a family of children with meals to prepare are prone by nature to hate God and our neighbors."
  and children to care for 365 days' of the year. The            (Heid.  Cat., Lord's Day 2). Nothing that is  done.in
 laboring man. `on  the other hand, has an eight hour            enmity against God can ever be branded-as good. A n d
day, which allows for plenty of time for relaxation.             if we do these things merely to be seen of men- we are
 But the point is, that even if an individual does have          no better than the Pharisees who were condemned by
 need of one day in seven for relaxation he can take             Jesus as  ,white-washed  sepulchres.
 this on any other day as well as on Sunday. The prob-             Nor is the mere fact that we have always "kept
 lem of Sunday labor is not yet solved.                          the Sabbath'! a guarantee that we shall continue to
        Another objection, even more selfish than the first,     do so in the future. ,Christ  may also say to  us  as to
 is the plea that a person has a right to one .day in seven      the rich young ruler, "yet  lackest  thou one thing; sell
 to be spent as he himself sees fit; He owes it to him-          all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and
 self and to his family to get `away from the rush and           thou shalt have treasure'in  heaven; and come, follow
 bustle of business or industry and to find a quiet re-          Me." And. unless our hearts are filled with a godly
 treat in the Sunday atmosphere of  his' home. One               sorrow the `demand will be too great` for us.    Custom
 would almost begin to hope that the consciousness of may have a very firm grip on us, but when the choice
 parental responsibility was pushing itself to. the fore.        must be made between your position, the bread on
 If only that part of the day that is spent in the home          your table .and your time-tried custom, custom suc-
 were utilized in Christian fellowship and "training             cumbs. Although it may seem ever  so.  difficult to
 the child in the way he  sh,ould  go". But in many cases break with a certain practice, and may even cost you
 the Sunday atmosphere of the.  home means that some a few pangs of conscience, you can become accustomed
 of the family  <are  enwrapped in the hush of sleep,            not to go to church, not to recite your prayers and
 others are 1ollin.g  about in easy chairs, listening to the     not to pay the slightest attention to Sabbath observ-
 radio or  digest:ing  some light piece of  fi,ction,  while     ance, He who builds his house on custom builds on sand.


                          _-                                                                                                          -
                                                                                                                    .     .

                                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   -'                                                       23
     ,_._"..I      _._
      There is but one thing that can stand the fiery
  trial of temptation, and that is faith. We must once                                            Current Events
  more  be impressed with the -fact that the Sabbath is
  an institution of God for His Church. God -has  ,en-                        Ow:P&  in the Present Chaos.                                     L.
  trusted unto us a reflection of .His  own, divine Cove-                        .`It-~hss  by this time  .become  clear that the  United
  nant life in order that `we may enter into His  fel!ow-                     States is almost pledged not only to aidcGreat  Britain
  ship and experience even in this life a foretaste of                        materially but  Also  to fight her battle. Before the
  the eternal Rest that remaineth in Christ Jesus our melodramatic meeting `of the President of our country
  Lord. *On  the Sabbath we are called to desist -from all                    and the Prime Minister of England there were indica-
  our daily  lab.ors  and to banish every earthly care in                     tions of our increasing share. Since that meeting
  order that we  ma.y  be exclusively occupied' with things ,President  Roosevelt has delivered a. speech declaring
  heavenly and  spi.ritual.   OnIy  then, when the day is                     that our Navy, has been given orders to shoot at
  spent in congregating with God's people and engaging                        any Axis boats which threatened our safety in -de-
  ourselves in things  spiritual can the Sabbath have a                       fense waters.       Undoubtedly matters of  ~great  im-
  sanctifying influence upon our whole lives and`give us portance:  were discussed by these two leaders at  &at
  a foretaste of the blessedness  of.the life to come.                        historical meeting. However the important decisions
      Come what  may.  we cannot relinguish our Sab-                          that were made about specific collaboration between
  bath rest, no, not even for compulsory Sunday labor.                        the countries, which was probably the chief part of
  Especially as the evil day draws near our need  f,or                        their  discussion;  was not made  .known  to the public,
  real `Sabbath rest  inc.reases  rather than decreases.                      which can be readily understood. Yet there did appear
  Now more than ever we need the communion of saints                          a program containing eight points `which both Roose-
  and a firm grip on the unfailing promises of God.                           velt  a:nd Churchill signed, as their joint declaration.
  Now with renewed  determinati,on  we must hold that                             It may be of interest to examine their eight point
  which we have.                                                              p r o g r a m .
      If our spiritual morale `is broken now already,                            "First, their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or
 .when  we have not yet suffered unto blood, how shall                        other;
  we ever be able  to stand in  the future? It may involve                       "Second, they desire to see no territorial changes that do not
  a certain amount of deprivation or even suffering for                       accord with the  .freely  expressed wishes of the people concerned;
                                                                                 "Third, they respect the .right  of all peoples. to choose the
  some of L~S,  but "we gIory  in tribuIation  also, knowing                  form of government under which they will live;  ,and they wish
  that tribulation worketh patience, and patience  sex-                       to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those
  perience. and experience hope, and hope maketh not                          who have been forcibly deprived of them;
  ashamed, because the love of God is shed  abr,oad  in                          "`Fourth, they will endeavor, with due respect `for their exist-
our hearts by  the.  Holy. Ghost  wlhich  is given unto                       ing obligations to further enjoyment by all states, great or
                                                                              small, victor or vanquished,  of- access, on equal terms, to the
  u s . "                                                                     trade and raw materials of the world which are needed for
      We, not only  as churches, but also as individuals                      their economic prosperity;
must hold our ground in the confidence that faith is                            -"Fifth,  they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration
  the victory .that  overcomes the world.` -Be ye, .there-                    between all nations in the economic field with the  objec't  of
  fore, -"`steadfast,  unmoveable,  always abounding in the -securing for all, improved labor standards, economic advance-
  work of the Lord,  frorasmuch  as -ye know. that your                       ment and social security;
                                                                                 "Sixth,.after the final destruction of Nazi tyranny, they hope
  labor is not vain in the Lord."                              .C. H.         to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the
                                                                              means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and
                                                                              which will afford  assurance  that all men in all lan.ds  may live
                                                                              out their lives in freedom from fear and want;  -'
                                                                                 `Seventh, such a peace shall enable all men, to traverse the
                                 I N   M E M O R I A M                        high seas and oceans without hindrance;
      On Tuesday, Sept. 16, 1941, it pleased our heavenly Father                 "Eighth, they believe that all the nations of the world, for
  to take unto Himself our dear ,husband,  father and grandfather.            realistic as well as spiritua1  reasons must come to the abandon-
                                                                              ment of the use of force.-
                                JOHN W. -PASTOOR                                 "Since the future peace cannot be maintained if land, s-4  or
  at the age of 67 years.                                                     air armaments continue to be employed by nations which  threat-
      May we be comforted that he now rejoices in the heavenly                `en, or may threaten, aggression outside of their frontiers;they
  mansion above with his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.                      believe, pending a wider and more permanent system of general '
                                      Mrs. J. W. Pastoor                 \    security, that the disarmament of such nations is essential.-
                                      Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kuiper                 "They will likewise aid and encourage. all other practicable
                                     _ Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Pastoor             measures which will lighten for peace-loving peoples the crush-
                                      Mr. and Mrs. Edward Jonker              ing burden of armaments."
                                      Mr. and Mrs. William J. Pastoor
                                      Mr. and-Mrs.-Raymond A. Pastoor             We all would probably have some criticism of the
                                          10 grandchildren,                   sentiments expressed in these points, Aside from the


            zsl                   2-Q      ..       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
           -1 _c -           ,
            evident "power politics'" that certainly has much to say          fbr our redemption. We may be comforted that when
            in the present conflict it is  proably  the best statement these confusions are taking  p!ace  our redemption  draw-
            of the war aims of the allies. It is idealistic. It  re-          eth nigh.
            mitids  one of the eighteen points of President Wilson,           Th,e  Great Test of the Battle of the Ww  so Fay.
            at  least`the  ideal of them. For England and the U&ted              `The battle now raging between the Nazis and the
            States it is r&her easy' to make the first assertion. Tlhe        Russians is the greatest battle that has been fought
            sixth point combines the real aim of the war, the de-             so far in this  liar. The  r&ults so far have been
            struction of Nazi tyranny  with an ideal of mankind in            rather a surprise to the world. `The ability of the
            general, namely, that men  in all  la.nds  may live out           Russians to hold -the Germans was underestimated.
            their lives in freedom from fear and want. Surely we              However;it is yet premature to say what the outcome
            cannot conclude. that Nazi tyrany is preventing the               will be. Whatever it will be,. it will have great and
            realization of the freedom of mankind. There are the              grave implications for future history. We all are
            m&y  other tyramiies  all related to the one tyranny of           waiting to see how it will turn out.           I think a state-
            sin. Because of the failure to realize that tyranny man           ment by Douglas lkfiller  in the Atlantic Monthly, Sep-
            goes on to vizualize the .abandonment  of force. In this tember, is interesting. He says :
            sinful world it can  6ever  be realized. We hardly -be-               "The first two  months  of the -present war with their alter-
            lieve that the-:na%ions  who once talked of disarmament nations of `sitz and blitz' are now definitely over. For the first
            can really mean to speak of the saine illusion. It al-            time in this contest the German armies are hotly engaged on a
            most  seerhs  as though it is necessary to make the  chaos        2,000-mile  front against the  Red  armies. From June  19,41
            of war logical  and'-justifiable  and  theresore   th&  final     onward the consumption of German war materials leaps upward
                                                                              at a rapid rate.  .The  large movements of men involved, the
            feeble  pr,omisf:   iS given too, namely; to lighten for          heavy use of mechanized. equipment, the long distance, the
            peaceloving peoples the crushing burden of armaments.             wketched  roads, all combine to place a strain on any: war
                   Although the war  a&is  are expressed in such veiled machine-even Hitler's mechanized battalions. There can be
            and idealistic language we still conclude it really means         no question that this summer at least, the-Nazis are burning
            we are enteripg into. greater chaos.  -In  spite of all up and wearing out vast amounts of material. The wide plains
                                                                              of western Russia must be strewn with abandoned motorized
            the attempts of  tl& Isolationists,  the  pr,ogram.  of  our
     -                                                                        equipment.     Germany can  afgord  to loose the steel involved
            country is  takin&  deYinite  shape-entry into war. That          in this destruction, but scan  she supply the skilled labor, the
            policy was shaped imi$e'diately  when this country `was           engineering capacity, the special'alloys to replace these losses ?
            comlmitted   tb  ;ai(l   .]Britain:  If  w,e said "A" we must     Not quickly or  .easily;  and, as far as some of the alloys are
            continue  and  s;ty  "B" .and  "C" etc. The Neutrality Act        concerned, not at ~+ll. German soldiers are wearing out boots
                                                                              on `the Russian roads that cannot be replaced out of conquered
            has been discarded. Our policy is now the freedom of              supplies;  _ and  unifor&  and overcoats were manufactured of
            the seas.  In"   this   siizful   world  that  policy can only    imported wool that is far to seek. Never again  in this war will
            mean  domiiiati.on  of  th,e world.                               the German army have  &he  same wealth of material it now
                   To  spea$  of a duty to protect weaker. nations  is        commands, to shoot away or consume. If Germany faces a
                                                                              sustained attack on the west or on the south, she will have
.           true in itself,  bu'c  to speak of that as a righteous act        to encounter it with inferior equipment and inadequate  m&&al
            on the part of  .t.he  democracies confuses things. We do         resources."
            not know the motives that are in the minds of the                     The  Itiore  it comes  to. our ears that the Germans
            leaders of  th'e   ria.tions.  But judging from their past        are being (defeated, I thinir  that so it will also be true
            history the actions now of entering the war cannot be             that we will hear of  mariy  more groups than the
            righteous. There  a,re  ,also  acts of aggression in their        American Legion go over to the side of those who
            past history,' !rh&ir  present position is founded upon shout that we must not stop until Nazism is crushed.
            acts of  aggr,ession.  Their history is stained. Even             The clearer it becomes to the Americans that an Eng-
            now there are glaring injustices against races and                lish victory will mean prosperity and all the freedom
            people within'  tiheir own borders. Before they can act           they  rdesire  the more will  ,the  present administration
            as arbiters they must take out the beam in their own              gain support of its policy.                           L. D.
            eye.If we would speak of our part as a Christian in the                                        -
            present chaos, .:it must not be to attempt to- untangle                                   I N   MEMORIAM
            the mess, to i-estore  order in the chaos. It is our cluty          The consist&y of the First Prot. Ref. Church of Grand Rapids
          to see that the present chaos is the judgment of God                hereby wishe,s  to express its sympathy to our brother, Deacon R.
            up,on  ail the foolish attempts of mankind to save itself.        Pastoor,  in the loss of his father
            Let it be a sign to us that even though there arise a                                   JOHN W. PASTOOR
            semblance of worldly order and peace as is spoken of                May the `Lord of all grace comfort the brother and his family
            by the idealists that it cannot be the true order. It in this their bereavement.
            also shall perisb. from the face of the earth. Our part                          `The Consistory of the First Prot. Ref. Church,
                                                                                                                     H. Hoeksema, Pres.
            aS  Christiarq  is $0  stand and wait in this chaos looking                                              G.  StonehQuse,  Clerk,


