     VOLUME XVIII.               -  - -- --- --~--'               NOVEMBER 15,  i94i  --               . .          I     -.    Nu-v-BER-  4
                                                                                                  _                               .__          .
                                                                                great. power is the working of the strength of his
                                                                                might, which He wrought in Christ!
                                                                                   Revealed, first of all, in the resurrection of Jesus
                                                                                Christ from the dead!          -                          -
                                                                                   Amazing power !

                                                                                   Wonderful -God !
                        And  what is the  esceeJcling  greatness  `of              And exactly in Him, Who is God and, therefore,
                 his power to  u.swad  who believe, a.ccor&ng                   doest wondrous things, is our' hope of salvation, of
                 $0 the working                                                 eternal glory.
                                          of  his  mig.hty  power (that
                 work&g,                                                           How utterly impossible appears the matter of our
                              of th,e  strsngt.h  of his might,  IL-V..),
                 which he wrought in Christ, when he raised                     salvation apart from Him, from -any mere human view-
              -%him from the c&a.&  . . . .                                     point.
                                                                                    More impossible, if we may speak in comparative
                                              ~-       Eph.  1:19,2Oa.          terms here, than even the humanly impossible and in-                .
          That ye may know!                                                     conceivable work of creation is the work of redemption
          That the Church of JesusChrist  may have know-                        and  salfiation.  When God creates -He calls the things                  .
      ledge, spiritual knowledge of spiritual things, is the                    that are not as if they were, the things that do appear
      fervent desire of the inspired apostle.                                   from nothing; w-hen.lHe  redeems and saves He causes
          With a view to that he prays for them: he ceases                      the light to shine out of darkness, life to issue forth out
      not to give thanks for them, `always, continually mak-                    of death, glory out of shame, heaven out of hell ! . . .
      ing mention of them in his prayers' to the God and                           -How, exceedingly beyond all. human conception !
      Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.                         How impossible, how hopeless as far as'man is con-
      He -prays that this Father of glory may give unto them                    cerned-!
      Me Spirit of wisdom and revelation  in.the  knowledge                         We lie in the.midst of death. There is a sentence
      of Him, now, continuously, in an ever increasing                          of condemnation upon  LLS  to the justice' of which  ,a11
      measure. For without that Spirit the eyes of their                        and everything testify that it is just  ,and  irrevocable:
     understanding cannot be spiritually' enlightened so                        the law, our conscience, men, the devil and all the
      that they may be able to discern the  s,piritual  things of powers of darkness. Children of wrath we are. Sin
     - salvation spiritually.        And, therefore,  witho-ut  that            hath dominion over us. Death reigns  over   us.  En-
      spiritual discernment they cannot possibly know. . . . slaved we are to the devil. Death rules within and
          Yet, it is paramount that they know!                       .          death encompasses  us on every side; and  there  is no
          Know they must what is the hope of his calling,                       way out, no avenue of escape. The sole way out of
\     that is the glorious object of the hope unto which they                   our present death is the way that leads to eternal
      are called: the glory of his inheritance in the saints,                   desolation.
      the great .and  manifold ri<ches  of that glory.                    .~        And from that hopeless state of condemnation and
         And, again, in order to know the exceeding great                       wretchedness af death, we are to be' raised to the
      riches of -their hone and of God's inheritance among                      hi.ghest  pinnacle of righteousness and glory and bliss!
      the saints, they -must know what is the overwhelming                      That is salvation ! It is the change of `the sentence of
      greatness of the power which He wrought into (thus                        condemnation into one of eternal righteousness.  _ It
      literally) us.                                                            is the adoption of objects of divine wrath unto beloved
         And the measure or standard of this exceeding                          children of God.  It.~is  the deliverance out of  ho@less

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

 imprisonment into `a state -of perfect liberty. It is the         God, conformed- to the image of  IHis  Son; and whereby
 victory over the `mighty power of death. It is the as-           they are made heirs -of the  riches'of  the glory of God's
 sumption from deepest hell into highest heaven. It inheritance among saints !
 is the transmutation of deepest woe into- heavenly                   The adorable power that continues to operate until
 joy.  -. . .                                                     all things are made new and the former things have
       It is resurrection!                                        passed away, and the tabernacle of God is forever with
       `It is the highest revelation that God is God:  Bis        those same men that were once banished from His
 name is Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The               presence. . . . .
 everlasting Father. . . .                                            That exceeding great power it is that is manifest
       The  `God  of our salvation!                               in the work of salvation.
    How,  then,  can'some  degrade this amazing work of               And that all-victorious  ,power  is  now  working in us !
 redemption and salvation into a work of- mere, puny,              `Wonderful God of our salvation!
 miserable` man, or even make him participate in it?
 How  can  it be in any wise dependent upon man whether               That ye may `know!
 he shall be saved? Does creation depend upon the will                Yes, but how can we even now know the greatness,
 of the creature? And is it not far more absurd (if it be         the amazing and exceeding energy of that power which
 possible to make comparisons. here) to insist that He even now is working within us?
. resurrection depends on the will of the dead? How                   .Can  our own experience of the working of this
 can salvation .ever  be conceived as an offer, the reali-        mighty power within us be the .criterion  whereby we
 zation of which is determined by the acceptance of may judge of its limits?
 man, dead in trespasses and sins? . . . .                            How, could it? Can you know the greatness and
       It is resurrection!                                        majestic strength of the oak by looking at the acorn?
       And, therefore, it is the revelation and fruit of the       Or is it not true that the fruit of this mighty operation
 operation of an exceeding great power, a  ,power  to              of `God's exceeding great power in us, is as yet only
 accomplish things, that exceeding great ability, that a small beginning of the new life and righteousness
 mighty power of the God of salvation. even now is                 and obedience and glory?        0, even so, the change
 operating in the Church. For such is the meaning of wrought is  marvellous  enough. But the fact remains
 the words of the text. It does not speak of a power              that it is but a small beginning `that is wrought. Still
 "to  usward", of a power in respect to us, or in our the distance from our present state and position in
 direction,' of a power that probably has us in view and this world to the riches of glory that will be ours when
 that will ultimately reach us too. Literally the text the  inheritanlce  of God will be realized to His saints,
 speaks of "the exceeding greatness of his power into             s e e m s   i m m e a s u r a b l e !   -
 us". The power of God that becomes manifest as re-                   Can it be traversed?
 surrection power has even now become operative in                    Will that final glory ever be reached? Will the
 our very hearts, whence are the issues of life, and hope of our calling ever be realized?
 from that center it has wrought its marvellous  trans-               Y,es, we are living children of God even  now,"but,
 Imutations  in our mind and will, our desires and 1.ong- -we also still lie in the midst of death. We are right-
 ings, in the direction and manifestation of our whole eous, indeed, but our own conscience  a'ccuses  us that we
 life.                                                            still increase our guilt every day. We are delivered
       Exceeding greatness of His power into us!                  from sin and dominion, but that. "other law in' our
       The power whereby we were drawn out of death               members" is incessantly warring against the "law. of
 into life, transmuted out of darkness into His marvel-           our mind", so that we do not what we would, but find
 lous  light.                                                     ourselves doing that which we hate. And we are still
       The power whereby our carnal mind which is                 in the body of this death. We are earthy, not heavenly;
 enmity against God and is not subject to the law of mortal, not immortal  ; corruptible, not incorruptible  ; _
 God, neither indeed can be, ischanged into the spiritual weak, not in strength; in'  dishonor, not in glory ; flesh
 mind that seeks the kingdom of God  and~ftisrigliteous-          and blood we are, not s,piritual.         And flesh and blood,
 ness and the things that are above.                              we know, cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither
       The power, the amazing power; that transmuted the          can corruption inherit incorruption ! _
 proud and rebellious sinner, who haughtily lifted- his               `Is, then, that exceeding great power of God in us,
 fist in the face of the Almighty, into a humble contrite, that began to work the transmutation, able to finish
 heart-broken  :penitent,  that does not dare to raise his        it unto the end?                          .
 eyes. and cries out : God, be merciful to  me,~ a sinner !          Hosw  can we know?
  .. The exceeding great power, whereby. damned sin-                  By considering that same  qower  of God  as. it is
 ners, exiled from- God's house, are translated into- liv-        wrought in Christ Jesus the- Lord!
 ing, righteous, holy, loving and beloved children of .,_,            Notice, that this is  I the meaning of the text.. The
 :`.-,::`-   i;'  >*-
 i.;  i  ,,`J     -:_      .-     ,_     ,       __-  `-  ,"        .   .                                                 -


                                    -_.   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   ~'                                          `15

  Church, having' the eyes of her heart and under-                  such, the kind of might referred to, in this icase  divilie
  standing enlightened by the Spirit of wisdom and. might  ; the "pOwe9 r.efers  to the working capacity and
  revelation, must  #know  what i's the exceeding greatness         efficienGy  of this might, in this `case:  resurrection;
  of God's power into us, that is, she ought to know the            effi~ciency~;  and the' "working" is-the living energy, the
  nature  ,of  that power,. the. full extent of the mighty          active operation of this  resurrection-egciency.
  ener'gy that began to work in her. But  ir; order to ob-             The operation of this `resurrection-efficiency of the
  tain some conception of the greatness of this power, divine power God  wroagfit   in Christ.
  she must understand that its  o,peration  is "according to           And according to the standard of this same opera-
  the working  of the power of His might, which He tion His  exceeding great power also works in us.
  wrought in. Christ, when He raised  Him.  from the                   Contemplate, therefore, the power of God in the
  dead  !" The same power that worked in the resurrec-              resurrection df  Christ.
  tion of Jesus Christ from the dead, -is even now work-               That ye may know!
  ing into you. If, then,  you  would understand what                                      -
  this power of God that already operates in you is  able              Blessed  kn.owledge.!
to accomplish,  $0~7  must look at the glorified Christ,               And blessed  assuratice  of the hope of our calling!
  and consider what it means that God raised-Him from                  To know that the divine power of grace that is  e-pen
  the dead.                                                         now wrought  in us by the God of our salvation, is not
      The  -r.esurrection  of -Jesus Christ  and  His  subse-       only like the power that raised Jesus from the dead,
  quent exaltation to glory is the greatest revelation of. but  ,is that same power!
  the exceeding greatness of His power!                                For the working of the  power  of  G.od"s  might was
    He `was in `death. In deepest death He had de- wrought in Christ! ~. And this  signifies, n6  doubt, that
  scended,  freely, voluntarily, in perfect obedience, for          it was wrought in  Hii case,  that it began working in
  the love of God and His righteousness. Death's  pdwer             Him when He had obeyed even unto the end, when He
  took'hold of Him, though freely He surrendered Him-               could announce "It  is finished", and that it never ceased
  self to it'. Death's darkness engulfed Him. Hell closea           working in Him; until the power of death in Him was
  its doors behind  IHim.  Or did it? For this Christ, as           completely.  vanquishedj  and He issued forth as victor
  He voluntarily sought the deepest darkness of hell and over  death and hell into the glory of .His  resdrrection
  entered into `the lowest parts of the earth, trusted in life. Indeed, in Him that exceeding great power was
  God to justify and deliver Him ! He knew the exceed- wrought to the glorious end !
  ing  greatriess  of the power of God;  and donfiding  iri it,        Yet it means more.
  fully relying on Gbd's power and faithfulness, He was                 For, Christ is not an individual, a  mah  among  men;
  assured that God would deliver Him.           And He was He is the Son of God come into the flesh, and the Head
  not put to shame. For God raised Hi,m  from the dead!             of  th`e  Church, whilch  is (His  body, the fulness  of Him
      He raised  .Him!                                              that  w,orketh  all in all. And as the Head of the body,
      No, He did not merely deliver IHim  fro& the power not as an individual, He entered into the depth of death
  of death to bring Him b&k into "the likeness of sinful            and hell. An,d  for the members of His body, not for
  flesh", into flesh and blood,  into mortality and corrup-         Himself; He stood in the place of judgment in the hour
  tion : `I-`le  raised Him! No, He did not even cause Him          of wrath, bearing the sins of many.       And`as the Head
  to return to a  fortier  state of righteousness and earthly of the body He tierited righteousness and eternal life,
  life, perfect yet lapsible, living yet mortal, blessed yet and was justified. As such He was raised, in  or.der
  earthy : He raised Him ! He changed  `His. shame into that He might impart the glory: of His resurrection-life
  glory, His mortality into immortality, His corruption to all the-members of  ais body, the Church.
  `into  incorruption,  His weakness into strength, His flesh           And,  therefore,  the' mighty power of God was so
  and blood into the  spyritual  body, His earthy image             wrought in Him, that it continues to work.
  into the image of the heavenly!                                       He received the Spirit of promise, and Himself be-
      In Christ God changed hell into heaven!                       came the quickening Spirit.
      He transmuted eterpal  death into eternal life!                   And by that Spirit He works by His  mighty resur-
      From low&t hell He lifted Him. To highest glory rection-power in all them that believe. Hence, it is
  He  elwated Him!                                                  into them that believe,' and who, by the bond of faith
      Y,es, there was a working of the- power  df  God's            are united with Him, that the exceeding great power
  might in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the                of God unto salvation is operating. And also in them
  dead !                                                            the working of that  power  cannot cease until they have
      Notice, how the words  are accumulated to impress become like Him, their Lord!
  us with the greatness of this mighty power:- "the                   Thkn the hope of their  ~calling  shall be re&zed.
  working of the power of His might"!                                  Riches of glory ! His inheritance in the saints!
      "The  `"inight"   den@cg   ,tihe strength or  virtue   as.       _Messed   assurande  !  ~.                    Hi  !EX,  --
                                                                       .-


                                            The: Sandard  Bearer
           A PROTESTANT  REFORMED   SEMI--ONTHLY
                                                                        Published by
                       The  Reforked Free Publishing Association                                                                                                                           .
                                                   1101 Hazen Sireet?  S. E.
                                             EDITOR-   - Rev.  ;8.  Hoeksema                                                                                                                                           Een  Les Uit De Historie
      Contributing editors-Revs. J. Blankespoor, A. Camm~enga,
       P. De Boer, J. D. de  Jongs  H. De Wolf, L. Doezema,                                                                                                                                                   Ex-president  Herbert  Hover is bezig om een drie-
      M. Gritters, C. Hanko,.  B. Kok, G. Lubbers, G. M. Ophoff,                                                                                                                                          tal artikelen te schrijven in The Satunlay  Evemitig  Post
      A.  Petter,  M. Schipper, J.  Vanden   Bregg,en,  H.  Veldman,                                                                                                                                      over ons aandeel in den eersten wereldoorlog en het
      R.  Veldman,  W. Verhil, L. Vermeer, P. Vis,  .G. Vos,                                                                                                                                              sluiten van den vrede van Versailles. Hij had destijds
      and Mr. S. De Vries;                                                                                                                                                                                de gelegenheid om van nabij kennis te nemen van het
      Communications relative  to   contents   should   be  addressed                                                                                                                                     verloop der dingen, daar hij terstond na het sluiten
      tq  REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand
      Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                                                                                   van den wapenstilstand i-n Europa was als administra-
      Communications relative to subscription should be  ad-                                                                                                                                              teur  voor de.  verspreid-ing van levensmiddelen onder
      dressed to MR. R. SGHAAFSMA, 1101 Hazen St., S. E.,                                                                                                                                                 de half uitgehongerde volkeren der oude wereld. Ge-
      Grand Rapids, Mich.  Al1  Announcements and Obituaries                                                                                                                                              noemde artikelen zijn dan ook een paar hoofdstukken
      must be sent to the above address  and wil1  not be placed                                                                                                                                          uit zijn eigen gedenkschriften uit die periode. Oor-
      unless the reg.ular  fee of $1.00 accompanies  the notice.                                                                                                                                          spronkelijk  warend  ze niet bedoeld voor pu'bli'catie  dan
                                                  Subscription $2.50 per year                                                                                                                             tot na den  doo.d   van'  den schrijver. Doch waar ons
                           Enytqed    a             s           class    
                                                                                  secpnd
                                                                                mail   a t   Graad   R a p i d s ,   Michigan
                                                                                                                                                                 .-                 .                     land op het punt staat nogmaals in een soortgelijk con-
L                                                                                                                                                                                                         flict te worden gewikkeld als in 1917, daar meende
                                                                                                                                                                                                          Mr.  Hoover,  dat het niet ondienstig kon zijn, om al-
                                                                                                                                                                                                          thans een gedeelte dier gedenkschri-ften  thans in het
                                                                                                                                                                                                          licht te geven. Een herinnering uit het verleden zou
                                                                                         _                                                                                                                ons tot waarschuwing ku.nnen  zijn.
                                                                                                                                                                                                              De artikelen zijn dus  bedseld  als eene les uit de
                                                                       CONTENTS                                                                                                                           historie.
                                                                                                                                                                                           Page
MEDITATION  -                                                                                                                                                                                                 Immers : een ezel stoot zich geen tweemaal aan
     EKCEEDING   GREAT  POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  - . . . . . .  ~ . . . . . .  ;...& denzelfden  steen.  ~
            Rev. H. Hoeksema.                                                                                                                                                                                Als titel koos-Mr. Hoover  "Amerika's Eerste Kruis-
EDITORIALS                                                                                                                                                                                                tocht".
=_   _.                                      7
     EEN -LES UIT DE HISTORIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ,.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ;.76                                                                         Dit opschrift werd natuurlijk. gekozen om uit te
            Rev. H. Hoeksma.                                                                                                                                                                             drukken,. `dat de schrijver een overeenkomst zet  tus-
T.Im TRIPLE  K<NOWLE?GE                                                                                                                                                                                   schen  ons aandeel in den eersten wereldoorlog en de
     AN Ex,POSI.TION  OF .THE. HEIDELBERG CATjX$IIS'Blf  ..78                                                                                                                                             bekende  kruistolchten  uit de middeleeuwen.
            Rev. H. Hoeksema.                                                                                                                                                                                En -wie het eerste, van Mr.  H.oover's  artikelen heeft
     ITHE   SIGNIFI,C&CE   0.F  SAMUEL  FOR  .C$D  TESTA-                                                                                                                                                 gelezen vermoedt gemakkelijk uit welke oogpunten de
                                                                                                                                                                          ., . ..~
     MENT PROPHECY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  >..: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  :..:...: . . . . . . . .  ,....,....32                                                        schrijver zulk eene  vergelij.king  zou treffen.
            Rev.  G. M. Ophoff.  _                                                                                                                                                                           De kruistochten waren een openbaring van een
     T.HE.  NAZARITE~                                    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  > . . . . . ,...........,.... i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84    soort van religieus idealisme. Er was een edele  be-
            Rev. G. M. Ophpff                                                                                                                                                                             ziel-ing voor een gans,ch  onbaatzuchtig ideaal ; er was
                                                                                                                                                                                                          hoog gespannen enthousiasme ;  - alles was in rep en
     EEN LIED DEB LIEFDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
            Rev. G. Vos.                                                                                                                                                                                  roer ; er was veel opoffering ; en. het einde ws bittere
                                                                                                                                                                                                          teleurstelling. Met wereldoorlog No. 1 was het niet
     THE  CHRISTIAN AND SOCIAL EVILS  s............................... 89                                                                                                                                 anders, wat betreft ons aandeel daarin althans. Ook
            Rev:M.                                Gritters                               -                                                                                                                toen mikte men op een verheven d,oelwit  : men zou de
     THE PROPER PLACE                                                     OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL . . . . . . . . . . 91                                                                                     wereld bevrijden van de tyranie  eener  militaristische
      _ Rev. P. De Boer                                                                                                                                                                                   macht en veilig maken voor de democratie! Dat mag
     T.HE   EVIL OF THE  MODERN  MOVIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93                                                                                                  niet het ideaal' va.n  allen geweest zijn, maar het was
        . Rev. J. Vanden  Breggen                                                                                                                                                                         zeker het doel, dat -President  Wilson  zich had gesteld.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          Ook toen waren de geesten gespannn en liep. de be-
     CURRENT EVENTS : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95'
           Rev.  I+  ?qezerna                                                                                                                                                                             zieling hoog, opgezweept door allerlei Engelsche propa-
                                                                                                                                                                                                          ganda en door de vreeselijkste verhalen van Duitsrhe
                                                                                                                                                                                                          wreedheden en" schelmstukken, `die meestal  hun'  oor-


                                        T H E   S T A M D A R D   BEAREB                                                77

sprong hadden in het vruchtbaar brein van John  Bul1             H,ij meende werkelijk, dat hij een nieuwe orde in
 en. Co.; en die door goedgeloovige Amerikanen voor            Europa kon scheppen.        Hij -sprak  (zoo  herinnert ons
 zuivere waarheid werden aangenomen. Ook toen ge-              Mr.  Hoover  er aan, en wie de speeches van President
troostte ons volk zich vele opofferingen, niet alleen in       Wilson  uit die dagen nog eens overleest, kan zich er
 geld, maar  .ook  in het bloed van duizenden jonge man-       van vergewissen) gedurig van recht en gerechtigheid,
 nen, die hun leven  heten  op de Europeesche slagvelden,      van vrijheid en democratie. En hij leefde in de op-
 en van de verminking van nog veel meer duizenden, die         rechte verbeelding (hoezeer het ook verbeelding was,
 naar hun  vade&nd  terugkeerden om toch een  vroeg-           die wel op bittere teleurstelling moest uitloogen!), dat
 tijdigen  dood te sterven. En ook toen liep alles  o,p        de leiders  .der geallieerden ook naar zulk een hoog en
 een totale mislukking en bittere teleurstelling uit,          nobel ideaal streefden.
 althans voor hen, die ernstig- gestreefd hadden naar het          "Mr.  Wilson  hd echter maar weinig kennis"  zoo
 bereiken van het ideaal.                                      schrijft Mr.  Hoover, "van de mannen, met wie hij zou
     Er kwam letterlijk niets van terecht.                     moeten onderhandelen, en van de machten, die hen
     Men had hier gemeend, dat ook de "democratische"          beheersachten!`.
 machten van Europa naar een ideaal streefden. Och,                Maar  vr het tot den  -iYapenstilstand  kwam van
 zoo  had men zich. ook meer  .dan eens uitgelaten, toen       Nov. 1918, waren de groote mannen van Europa het
 men meende, `dat men daardoor Amerika kon wikkelen            hartelijk met Mr.  Wilson  eens  !'
 in den oorlog. Maar toen het er op aan kwam, en
men om de vredestafel te Versailles zat, bleek het  Euro-          Op Juli 5, 1913 sprak Lloyd George als volgt:
 peesche ideaal toch weinig anders te zijn daa dat van             "President  Wilson  heeft. gisteren-duidelijk gemaakt,
 een verschrikkelijke  ro'oversbende,  die bovendien ook       waarvoor we eigenlijk strijden.  ,Als de Keizer en zijn
 nog beheerscht werd door een geest van bittere wraak-         adviseurs de voorwaarden door den President gesteld
 zucht.                                                        willen aanvaarden, kunnen ze vrede hebben met Ameri-
     Z,oo ongeveer stond het Mr.  Hoover  voor den geest,      ka, vrede met Groot Britanje, vrede met Frankrijk,
 toen hij tot opschrift voor zijn artikelen koos: "De          morgen aan den dag. . . . -Waarom strijden we? Niet
 Eerste Amerikaansche  Kruistotiht".           _               omdat we ook maar een voet gronds  begeeren  van
     Mr.  -Hoover  geeft in deze artikelen hoofdzakelijk       Duitschland, niet omdat we het Duitsche-volk willen  be-
 een overzicht van de geschiedenis in verband met den          rsoven  van hunne rechten. We strijden voor de
vrede van Versailles en wat daarmee verband houdt:             groote beginselen, waaraan President  Wilson   itdruk-
 de bekende veertien punten van President  Wilson,  de         k i n g   g a f " .
wapenstilstand, die op de basis dier veertien punten tot           Wel,  zoo  verhaalt Mr.  Hoover,  op 6 October 1918
stand kwam, de later onderhandelingen, waaraan Pre-            stelden de Duitschers den wapenstilstand voor op
sident  Wilson  persoonlijk deelnam, en de  valsche  hou-      grond  van. de "veertien punten" van President  Wil-
 ding van de leiders der geallieerden, die meer en meer        sen, of liever, op voorwaarde, dat de  vredesonder-
tot openbaring kwam, en waarop Mr. Wilsoa's idea-              handelingen op die basis zouden plaats hebben.  Na-
lisme schipbreuk leed.                                         da-t   -President   Wilson  op 23 October 1918 nogmaals
     Vr den wapenstilstand, zooals natuurlijk ook            de Duitschers hiervan verzekerd had, stelde hij de-
vooral Amerika in den oorlog gewikkeld was, speelde            zelfde- basis voor aan de geallieerden.          Deze aan-
men  "aa,p  wat heb je mooie jongen" met ons gouverne-         vaardden de "veertien punten", die eigenlijk tot vijf
ment en met  o,ns volk.      "Uncle Sam" was immers de         en twintig waren uitgedijd, behalve het tweede punt,
 rijke en goedgeefsche oom, die  ver groote sommen            dat de "vrijheid  derzeen  betrof. En op dien grond
gelds  te beschikken had, en van  wien  men maar "leen-        kwam. de  ,wapenstilstand  werkelijk tot stand.
 de", zonder  zih  er veel om te bekommeren, of er ooit           Maar,' ach, hoe veranderde de houding van de
 een tijd komen zou, wanneer men aan terugbetaling             leiders der geallieerden, ten eenmaal de wapenstil-
zou kunnen denken! En bovenal, indien immer moge-              stand gesloten  was,  en men om  `de vredestafel ge-
lijk, moest Amerika worden overgehaald, om zich aan            schaard was, om  "de nieuwe orde" in Europa te  reali-
 de zijde der geallieerden in `den oorlog te werpen met        zeeren!                                     ~
man en macht. Het stond er niet  zoo  rooskleurig bij              En hoe werd President  Wilson  wreed ontnuchterd-!
met de zaak van Engeland en Frankrijk in 1917.        H e t        .Daar, om die vredestafel, kwam het tot openbaring,
scheen lang niet  zoo  onmogelijk, dat ze het onderspit        dat  men,`inplaats  van bezield-te zijn met het Wilsonisch
zouden moeten delven. Maar als "Uncle Sam" in de               idealisme, door haat en nijd en wraakzucht werd  be-
bres wou springen, zie, dan was er hoop. Vandaar,              heerscht, en door de begeerte om ieder voor zich  zoo-
 dat men het toen hartelijk eens was met de  !dealen  van      veel mogelijk van den buit te trekken, om  Duitschland
President  Wilson.                                             voor goed en kopje kleiner te maken  ; en bovendien
     En`het is niet  te- ontkennen, dat Mr.  Wi!son  een       waarden daar in de rijke spiegelzaal te Versailles nog
                                        ,-
i d e a l i s t   w a s ,                                      een duizend booze historische geestenuit het verleden


      -78          :                                                                                                                                 .
                                               T H E   ` S T A N D A R D   `BE>ARER  _

       rond, die zeker van geen Wilsonisch droombeeld iets            die punten zich gebonden hadden; Maar in elk geval,  -
       wisten,  of, ook maar iets moesten `hebben !  -                aldus  Llo,yd  George, "wij hebben ze nooit officieel  aan-
              Men keek  Wilson  met schuine  oogen aan.               genome'ii, en ze hebben nooit een deel uitgemaakt van
              Al aanstonds  was'  men bevreesd, dat Amerika een       het  officieele program der Alliantie."
       en al te groote rol zou spelen in  de.vredesonderhandee          En men werd er al spoedig zat van, om naar de
       lingen. Dat "Uncle Sam"  zoo  goed was om den geal-            kleine preekjes van den-  Amerikaans#che   droomer  te
       lieerden geldelijk te steunen, en ten  slotte  voor hen        luisteren, die  zichzelven  blijkbaar beschouwde als een
       de,  kastanjes uit het vuur had gehaald, nu  j'a, dat  w.as    zendeling onder de arme Europeesche heidenen; om
      wel aardig geweest, maar dat was toch tenslotte zijn            hen te  bekeeren  van  -hun aanbidding van de valsche
       zaak ! Dat Amerikaansehe volk was, als het er op aan           vuurgoden, en die altijd maar weer sprak van  .zulke
       kwam,  zoo  heette het nu in den mond van Lloyd George,        eenvoudige beginselen als recht en gerechtigheid!
       "een dwaas volk, dat gemakkelijk door de schrandere               Alsof men dat  ze1.f  ook niet wist!
       Engelsche  propaganda te bewegen  was>'  (a foolish               En alsof het daar nu over ging !
      people, pliable  to the ingenuity of  Allied propaganda) !
       Maar ze moesten niet al te veel te zeggen hebben bij
       de vredestafel. Clemenceau bespiedde President  Wil;              Zoo ging het er destijds naar toe te Versailles, vol-
      son daar te Parijs, als een wachthond, die een vreem-           gens Mr.  Hoover,  een oog- en oorgetuige.
       den hond ,op `t erf zit loopen.    Als het er op aan kwam,      En hij bedoelt ons volk een les in te prenten, een
       zoo  meende men, had Amerika eigenlijk niets  betee-           les uit de historie.
      kend- in den oorlog.  ;Op  `t laatste nippertje, was het           De les is: "Pas op, arm ezeltje, je loopt regelrecht
                                                                      weer aan op denzelfden steen!"
       ooknog  even komen kijken, toen de geallieerden eigen-
      lijk den oorlog al hadden beslist.  0:pofferingen  had             Zou?  helpen?
      Amerika niet behoeven te maken. Integendeel, "Uncle                Of zou Lloyd George toch gelijk gehad hebben, toen
                                                                      hij  zeide  dat naar zijn bescheiden meening  "IAmericans
       Sam" was eigenlijk maar rijk geworden ten koste van
      den oorlog. Wat recht van meespreken had dan  ejgen-            were a foolish people, pliable to the ingenuity of  Allied
      lijk die Amerikaansche President in het vaststellen van         pro,paganda"?                      .          ,.
       de vredesvoorwaarden?                                             Het  lijkt  er veel- op !
                                  `.                                                          -.                                        H. H.
              Bovendien, die Amerikaansche president was eigen-
      lijk maar een  droomer. Als het aankwam op de werke-                                    _`.
      lijke toestanden in Europa, wist hij er eigenlijk- niets                                            -
      van. Hij kon wel mooi philosopheeren over "recht"
      en "vrijheid" en over de "salvation of mankind", maar
      wat had daar eigenlijk mee te maken in Versailles?
      Over die "salvation of  mankind'  ging  h.et   heelemaal  al
      niet. De hoofdvraag was eigenlijk, hoe men voor al-                                                                 _     .-     `.._
      tijd de  Duitsehe  macht den kop kon indrukken, en zelf
      de macht in handen krijgen en houden.           En dan was                                               :                               .~
      daar ook  nog-de  vraag, hoeveel buit er te behaien viel,           A n   Exkosition  of  The  Hei&elberg?.'
      en hoeveel ieder daarvan naar zich kon trekken. Na-                                           `Catechism   ~I,~  .",  --  ,.
      tuurlijk. was  $et uit  en oogpunt `wel aardig, dat die                                                                                            ..r
      Amerikaan ook  loij de vredestafel zat: men kon hem                                                I I I .
-     dan in elk geval even laten gevoelen, dat men eigenlijk
      zich niet verplicht rekende om al die oorlogsschulden te                                      LORD'S DAY 11.              '
      betalen !                                                                                          2.  _.
              En wat nu die.  `%eertien"  of "vijf en twintig pun-                             Prone  To  Hate.
      ten" betrof,  o,p  `grond waarvan het tot een  wapenstil-
      .stilstand  was gekomen; ja, Lloyd George kon zich nog             Normal   for  man,  who  is made a rational, mora1
      wel herinneren, -dat President  Wilson  ze eerder had           creature,  is that  -he love God with  ll  bis  heart  and
     genoemd. Als men de  "notes"  van Mr.  Wilson  aan het           mind and soul and strength.  Such  is the living  wil1
      Duitsche gouvernement eenigszins nauwkeurig las, dan            of God for him. It is the great  commandment.   Al1
      scheen het  wel,-alsof  de Duitschers op grond van die          other  scommandments are  implied  -in this. Even the
      punten tot den wapenstilstand hadden besloten. En               love of the neighbor is "like unto it". For you  may
      als zij, d geallieerden,  vooral.Lloyd  George en  Clemen-     love the nighbor only for God's sake, even as yo
      ~ceau  hun stem daar niet' tegen verhieven, nu  Wilson          may  love yourself  only  as existing and living `unto'
      .aan die punten herinnerde bij de  vrdestafel,  dan            Him.    Hence, love of the neighbor is  impossibl  if
      moest  men haast wel den indruk laten, dat ook zij aan          you do nut love. God. The love of God is and  remains
                                                                                 *


                                       T H E   STANDARD   B E A R E R   ;                                                 79
 the one great commandment. And this means that the mandments in order to make this comparison and draw
 law of God is not merely concerned with our outward            this conclusion. For even the "Gentiles, which have
 deeds, or even with our inmost-thoughts and desires,           not the law do by nature. the things of the law" (the
 but'that  it points its finger at our very nature, for love Revised  Versison  offers the correct translation here).
 is a matter of the heart, whence are the issues of life,       This does not mean, of course, that they do "the things
 and, therefore,  concerns  the very condition  *of our contained .in the law", that they keep, the law  of God,
.nature  from a spiritual-ethical viewpoint. If we love         but that they do themselves what the external written
 God, it indicates that our nature is sound:  that we are       code  bf  the  law  did in Israel : distinguish between good
 normal. If we hate God, it is because our nature is            and  ev+l   tiith application to themselves. Hence, they
 corrupt: we are abnormal. And if the latter is the             "are a law unto  themselves". and they "show the work
 conclusion that must be reached when we apply the              of the law written  ili their hearts". Again, this `does
 norm of the law of God to ourselves, this abnormal             not imply that the law of God, the law of love,. is
 condition of our nature and .of our wfhole  life &, at the     written in their hearts; but the  "wolnk  of the law";
_ same time, the explanation of our Fisery. For within that standard, that criterion, that norm according to
 the scope and `sphere of the law  God deals with us in         `which  they must needs judge themselves and their
 -His favor and blesees  us witih His friend.ship;  but out-    whole life, is always  presetit  with them, in their very
 side of that sphere we meet with His  w&h  on every            hearts. And so it happens that "their  <conscience"  is
 side, and He curses us. And that wrath and curse of            also  "ibearing  witness, and their thoughts the mean-
 God is unspeakable misery.                                     while accusing or else excusing one another".  Ram.
    And now the Heidelberg Catechism, in the fifth              294)  15.
 question and answer, applies this  n&m of the law of              We may  go  a step further, therefore, in the  1igKt
 ,God,   makes   the comparison between it and man "by          of Scripture, and assert positively, not only that the
 nature" and so comes to-a  diagnosis `of the real misery       natural man. is  capabke  of  m?king a comparison be-
 of man "in life and death'". The application-is  niade         tween himself and the  law  of God `and to draw a
.personally.  The fifth question,  li!ke  all the preceding, fundamentally correct conclusion  ,of  self-condemnation,
 is-addressed to the individual Christian. It is he that but also that in his deepest heart he also actually makes
`is asked by the instructor to compare himself with             the syllogism of which Ursinus speaks in the lines
 the law of God and to express the result of this com-          quoted above. He cannot possibly escape the neces-
 parison : `Xanst  thou  keep all these things perfectlv?"      sity of doing this. For God always judges him. He
 And it is he that replies : "In no wise ; for I am prone judges every man. He writes his sentence of condem-
 by nature to hate God and my neighbor." `The natural nation, through the  `%o;?k  of the law" and by His
 man, as long as he lives in the sphere of the lie in th<i'     convicting Spirit in the `heart of every man. And in
 world, will never admit this naked truth. This does            the day of  the revelation `of the righteous judgment
 not mean that he cannot see the truth of it. Intellect-        of God, "when God shall judge the secrets of men .by
 ually he can very we11 understand what it 5mpIies  that Jesus Christ" (Rom. 2 :16)  the books of the consciences
 the'law of God  detiarids  that we shall love  .Him  and will be opened, and al1 men will  lbe compelled to con-
 love the neigh'bor for iHis  sage. And intellectually he fess that God is righteous when' He judges.                _
 is also able to make the comparison  ,between  himself            In  fa.ct;  ~$1  men plainly reveal, in spite of them-
 and that perfect law of God, and to diacovey  that in-         selves, that  they  constantly make  this  comparison.
 stead of love there is hatred in his heart. Ursinus            For although they refuse  to admit that they are ene-
 writes in his  "Schat'boel?'  (I translate) :  ."?ihe  con-    mies of God and of one another when it concerns them-
 science causes all men to make such a syllogism. For selves, they constantly pass this very judgment upon
 c&science is  Gothing  else than a practi~cal  syllogism in    one another. It is of this very corrupt but also very
 the spirit of every man  ; of, which syllogism the pr& revealing business among men that the apostle writes
 scription of the law of God is the major premise, while        in Rom. 2 : 1-3 : "Therefore thou art inexcusable,  O.man,
 the minor premise  is the thought of our departure from whosoever thou art that judgest:  for wherein  thoti
 that law. The conclusion  is. the acknowledgement that- judgest another, thou condemn&t thyself; for thou
 the law is good iri its conde&ation  of LIS on account of      that judgest doest the same tliings.     But we are sure
 sin". p. 33. That  the-  hatural  man is capable of mak-       that the jud,ment of God is  actiording  to truth against
ing this comparison, is due to the fact that there re-          them which commit such things. And  thickest  thoil
 mains  iri him "since the fall, the  gl&merings  of            this, 0 man, that judgest them which do such things,
 natural light, wherkby  he retains some knowledge of and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judg-
 God, of natural things and of the difference between           me& of God?" Life is full of this. It was' thus
 good and  evP,  and  discoyers  some regard  for virtue",      among the Jews.' They taught others, but failed to
 etc. Canons of Dordrecht, III,  IV, 4. He does not even' teach themselves; they preached against stealing, but
 have to be  alcquainted  with the law of the ten  corn:        stole themselves; they condemned adultery and com-

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

     mitted  it  ; they abhorred idol's and committed sacrilege  ;    its answer. The Catechism asks: "Canst thou keep
     they boasted in the law but dishonoured God by-break-            all these things perfectly?" Perhaps you say, that
     ing the law. Rom. 2  :l?`ff.   Aind  the- same. sordid           the phrase `"all these things" is hardly proper here.
     business .is going on in the-world today, both among Had not the Catechism summed up, the law in just  `one
     individuals and nations. At gossip parties men and thing: the love of God? But let us remember that
     women will indignantly condemn the gossip,and  back- this  .love  of God is the principle of all the `command-
     biting of someone at the very moment that they are ments of God, and that we must love the Lord  o.ur  God
     engaged in the same sinful activity.          Business men with all our heart and mind and soul and with all
     berate the underhanded dealings and shady trans-                 our strength, i.e. all the time and in our whole life
     actions of others which they themselves  practise.               and all its relationships . It is with a view to this,`that
     Nations are horrified when another nation applies the catechism now puts the fifth question in this form.
     the same ruthless methods of warfare followed by "Canst thou keep all these things?" that is, canst thou
     themselves. We cry out in indignation, when Germany live thy whole life, with body and soul, with mind and
     violates our "neutrality" and sinks our ships that will and all thy powers, a11  the time and everywhere,
     are intended, to carry aid to Great Britain. And so on. in home and, church, in school and office, in the shop
     We condemn in others what we practice ourselves.                 and on the street, from the principle of the love of
     And by so doing we clearly reveal that- we are able to           ,God  ; and from that same principle- canst thou .always
     make the syllogism of which  Ursinu.s  speaks, and love thy neighbor? "All these things", therefore, it
     agree with the righteous judgment of God.                        must remain. And notice that the adverb "perfectly"
           Yet, the natural man would never give the answer is added. Canst thou keep all these things perfedy?
     which the Heidelberg Catechism puts in the mouth of That is : canst thou keep them without flaw or blunder,
     its pupil in reply to the fifth question: "I am prone            without ever being motivated to the slightest degree
     by natur,e  to hate God and my neighbor". He is even by anything else than the love of God? dost thou wake
     offended at this truth. He far prefers his own philo- up with-that love of God in thy heart and mind in the
     sophy. Man may fail occasionally. He may blunder.                morning, and dost  thou go to sleep with it in the even-
     There may even be some that habitually sin. But in- ing? Does it motivate thee in thy eating  .and  drinking,
     herently he is good. And he loves to extol his own in every thought of thy mind, in every desire of thy
     virtues  ~andsing  the praises of his good deeds in public. heart, in every word thou speakest, in every deed thou
     Only, it must be understood that this lie concerning performest? Yes, it must be that or nothing.  .For
     ,himself,  this closing of `his eyes to the righteous judg-      this adverb  "per,fectly"  is not added in order to sug-
     ment of God, is not due to &ny lack of natural light.            gest that it is possible that you keep a11 these things
     The lie. is an ethical one, not an intellectual mistake in imperfectly; but on the contrary, to emphasize the
     judgment. Just as the "fool saith in his heart" that fact, that you must either- keep them  .perfectly  or can-
     ,there  is no God, so he persuades himself  o:f his own          not keep them at all. For it is a question of  Zove,  and
     goodness. Man lives in the sphere of the lie, both               that of the love of Gold. And love is a matter of the
     with regard to God and with respect, to himself.                 heart.     Hence, here you cannot compromise  ;  YOLK  must
           Hence, the answer of  the' Catechism to the fifth          choose.     It is "either-or", not "both-and". It is
     question is the reply of faith,  `,given  in the light of        "yesn   or  "No"; never "Yes" and "No".  ,And,  what is
     `revelation that .is caused to shine in the heart of the more, here there is no possibility of neutrality.  You
     `believer by the Spirit of truth. It is, therefore, the          cannot evade the issue.. If your answer is "No", you
     answer of him in whose heart -the love of God is al-             say "No" to the living God, to the Lord of all, and that
     ready spread abroad, and who in principle loves God means that  you  hate Him, and hate Him perfectly, with
     and His precepts. For the same reason, there is more all your heart and mind and soul and strength.                         Thus
     in this answer than a cold syllogism, more than a mere           the-question must be put. What is your answer?
     logical  cormlusion. The believer who  alns8wers  here             The answer of the Christian, who stands on  God5
     is discovering and characterizing his. misery. And he side and in His-  light  when,  he passes  j,udgment  upon
     now finds that his misery is his corruption,  11s  guilt and     himself, is absolute and uncompromising : "In no wise  ;
     sin, his hatred of God and of the neighbor.        I%  is this for I am prone- by nature to hate God and my neigh-
     si$nful  condition that troubles him. With a spiritual bor." Every word  here-  has its weight. "In no wise" :
     judgment of the .mind  and heart he passes sentence this is the direct reply to the question as to my ability
     upon himself, declares himself corrupt and guilty. to keep all things perfectly, i.e. to love God: Mark you
     He stands, therefore, on God's side in passing sentence well, it is-a question of ab&ty,  of c&pabZty,  not merely
     on himself. And he does so as being of the party- of             of  activity.  It is an answer to the question  ;  Can.&
-    the-living God. He condemns himself and repents in thou? not  t[o  the totally different question  Dost  thou?
     d u s t   and.ashes.                                             The answer, therefore, means:  I cannot! The  Cate-
           Let  us look a little more closely at the-question and-    ch-ism, therefore, here teaches  tdtal   incapabiZi-&y   to -love

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

God. And that  emph,atically  : ?n no wise" ! Igeep  all      His house. To love God is to reverence Him, to glorify
these things perfectly? Impossible! I could not even Him and be thankful; to hate Bim is to curse IHim  and
begin to keep them.. And this impossibility is due. to        to destroy Bis name, if possiible,  from the earth. A n d
incapability. I have not the power to  love-God.-  And        even as "by'nature" I am prone to hate God instead of
this incapability is not a physical defect, it is ethical,    loving  IIim,  so I am also prone to hate my neighbor.
moral, spiritual. I cannot, I will not, I cannot will.        My  neighbor is the one that lives next to me in this
I have not the light in my mind; I have not the inclin-       world, with whom I share my name, my position, my            .
ation in my will ; I have not the desire in my heart  .to     honor, my possessions, my business; the one that rubs
love God and to keep all these things! Yes, such is           elbows with me, that crosses my path. It is  of.  him
the implication of the verdict the Christian passes that I must think in this connection. It is true, that
upon himself. `Zanst  thou?" . . .  ."In no wise" !           in a very wide sense all  m,en  are my neighbors. But
   -And notice that the rest of this verdict which the if I would feel the force of this answer of the Heidel-
Ibeliever  passes on himself as he compares himself with berger, I must not think in general of `"all men", nor
the law, is a reason or ground for the opinion or cgn-        of the poor Chinese whom I never see, and whom to
elusion  expressed in the words  "in no wise". Often love seems rather easy; but I must  ,bring  before  `my
the words : "for I am prone by nature to hate God and mind the man with whom I come into contact daily, and
my neighbor" are understood as if they stood in  ad-          because of whose existence I am limited in my place
versative relation to the first part of the answer. If        in the world. Well, my nature is such, that I am prone
that were correct the sense would be:  "No, I am to hate God.; and, therefore, also to hate my neighbor.
not capable of keeping all these things, but, on the          As my neighbor who crosses my path and who limits
contrary, I am prone by nature to hate God-  and my           my place, I dislike him, and like to destroy him. If
neighbor".    But that is not the meaning. The last           that neighbor is my employer, I simply try to get my
sentence is put in the form of a reason:  "For  I am          wages out' of him ; if he is my employee, I try to keep
prone", etc. It answers the question, why I am incap-         those wages down as far as possible ; if he is in the
able of keeping the law of `God. It is because I am same business I am in, I try to for.ce  him out of busi-
prone by nature to hate. The reason for my incap-             ness; if he is my competitor for a certain job or office,
ability must be found in the condition of my nature.          I do all in my power to disqualify him and spoil his
The words "by nature" refer to the condition of my            reputation.--  If he is in authority over me; I rebel
mind and will and heart as they are apart from grace, against him  ; and if he is subject to me, I lord it over
as they are lby virtue of my birth and my being part          him; These and many other things are daily mani-
of the human race, the human nature as such. Later,           festations of this hatred of my neighbor.
indeed, the Heidelberger repeats virtually the same            And do not misinterpret the words of the Heidel-
question : "But can those who are converted to God berger. When we read in this fifth answer that we
perfectly keep these commandments  ?" And then the ure  prvne   to hate. God and our neighbor, the purpose of
ans'wer  is principally different from the one we are these underscored words is not to `weaken the sense.
now discussing : "No ; but  ,even  the holiest of men, T.hey  have often been explained as if they were a  miti-
while in this life, have only a small beginning of this gation of the severity of this judgment. The meaning
obedience ; yet so, that with a sincere resolution they of the words in that case is supposed to be that we are,
begin to live, not only according to some, but all the        indeed, somewhat inclined to hate God and to hate the
commandments of God." Qu. 114. But this small neighbor, but this does not necessarily imply that we
beginning, and this sincere resolution, are `"by grace",      always actually hate them. It is true., that if we just
not "`by nature". By nature, i.e. as far as my condition      follo,w  the inclination of our nature, we reveal our-
is `concerned apart from grace, `"I am prone to hate          selves as enemies  ,of  God and of one another. But we
God and my neighbor". And because of that condition           can. restrain this  in:clination,  and then we  .appear
of my nature I ,cannot  possibly love God or will to love     rather loving and lovable. But this is a corruption of
1Him.                                                         the sense of the Heidelberger, certainly no  interprel
   Now, this is important. To hate is the very oppo- tation  of it. The word "prone" denotes here a state
site of to love. To love God is to have my delight in         of departure from a  ,certain  standard, a decline, a
Him, to hate Him is to abhor Him, to dislike Him with         state of non-conformity to a certain criterion. In this
all my heart. To love God is to seek Him, Wis revela-         case, it denotes that our nature has fallen away, de-
tion, His Word, His precepts and His fellowship; to           clined from its upright position, is perverse, contrary
hate Him is to depart from Him, to fIee  far from Him,        to the standard of the law of God. This proneness,
to gainsay and oppose.His  Word and to trample under therefore, is such a corruption of my nature that it is
foot His commandments. To love God is to stand in             impossible. for me to keep the things of God's law of
relation of. intimate friendship and fellowship to Him ;      love, and that I .do indeed hate -Go-d and -my neigh-
to- hate l&m is to be an alien, a stranger to- Him and        ibor  !

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

          When the believer  giv"es  this answer and expresses      of a people whom he wanted. to curse.            Israel was
    this verdict upon himself, he -is taught by the Spirit,         about  to enter the promised land of' its abode, and
    Who instructs him in the Word of God. For  ihat'this            jsin battle with the godless races of men by which
    is, indeed, thie teaching of Scripture con'cerning  "man        this   land  was corrupted. There was  neecl  of some
    by  n,ature", no one can deny.        In proof of this the      tangible evidence of an extraordinary character that
    "`Schatboek"  refers to several passages of Holy Writ,          there was no cause for fear i-n that  battle  was  -the
t . such as  RlonY. 3:10,  20, 23; I John 1:8,  10; Rom. 8:`7;      Lord's.  .This   -evi,dence  was forthcoming in the person
    Eph. 2 :3 ; Tit:3  :3, etc. No, indeed, there is none right-    of Balaam. Be,cause,  though the desire to curse God's
    eous, no not one. There is none that  seek& after God,          people was strong in him, he blessed  this  people, his
    th,ey  are all become  unirofit$ble  ; their throat is an       utt,erances  were like meat coming from the eater and
    `open  sepulohre  ; with their tongues they have used de-       thus formed the clearest evidence that all  c-reatures   -
    ceit; their mouth is full  .of  cursing and bitterness,         are so in God's power, that, despite  tliemsel.ves,  even
    their feet are  swift   t,o  shed blood  ; destruction and the wicked declare His praise and the praises of His
    misery  .are  in their ways.      That is the testimony of `people, if Be  so orders.
    Scripture throughout. And that testimony is  atiply                 The message of  the-  prophet. The view  that  the
  ' corroborated by actual experience as well as by the             utterances of the prophet had to be predictive in the
    history of the world, But in the fifth answer of the            strict  and  nccrrow  sense in order to deserve the title
    catechism it  .is the confession of the Christian, whose        of prophecy, is, in the light of -the  above observation,
    only comfort  lover  against this evil of "life and .de&h"      a mistaken idea. Christ  was  pre-eminently a prophet
    is that he belongs to his faithful Saviour Jesus Christ! -\He was our chief prophet-yet a  corn-paratively
                                                     H.  -8.        small part of His discourses were prediction in  the
                                                                    aforesaid sense. The prophet was a revealer of the
                                                                    secret counsel of God concerning -man's redemption.
                                                                    H,e thus revealed God-His mind, His will, His praises.
                                                                    He championed God's cause.  F&e  arose to the  defence
          The Significance  df Samuel for Old                       of God's  law:  He brought men under God's yoke. 9%
                    T e s t a m e n t   j?roph,ecy ,dealt  with men in God's stead in the interest  of truth,
                                                                    of righteousness, of God.
          To bring this subject to a successful issue, answers          In a broad sense it is indeed true that all the dis-
    must be given to the following questions: What is to courses   o,f all the prophets of God  were  predictive.
    be  understoold  by the prophetic office and by prophecy.       T-hey  were this as they set forth either directly or
    What is a prophet.                                              indirectly by word of mouth and (or) type and symbol,
          The prophetic office implied the right and the the promise, the  hope of God's people. the heavenly.
    capacity to receive and impart a divine communica-              In distinction from the prophets of the world, who
   tion. As to the prophet, he was a friend of God author-          prophesy of bread and wine, the prophets of God
   ized and qualified by His grace to know and to  com- spoke exclusiiiely  of things that eye has not seen, nor
    municate  to men God's counsel and through this  en-            ear heard, neither  h&e  entered into  .the  heart of man,
    gage,ment  to build and set in order God's house. The the things that God has prepared for them that love
  first person in the Holy Scriptures  .bearing  the name fHim  and reveals unto them by His Spirit. Rightly
    of prophet is Abraham.           He was a friend of God,        considered, the whole of Scripture is one grand pro-
    The -secrets of the Lord were with him and the Lord phecy, prediction. The Bible is -an  other-yqrldly book.
    shewed  him his covenant.                                           What then is prophecy? In  the broad sense it
          The essential properties of the true prophet are the      is the Gospel of Christ, a good message concerning
    following:  He  speaks words put into the opening of the promise, the revelation of the counsel of God con-
    his mouth by the Lord God.  &ch was. his calling.               cerning the  reclemy;tion  of -His  .peop!e. We distinguish
    However, his discourse had to -be the Word of God               betw.een  Ol,d Testament and New Testament  prophe.cy.
    dwelling richly in him and springing forth from his             Old Testament' prophecy foretells by type and in
    soul  as a living  kestimony.    He thus had to be a friend typical language the first coming of Christ, His atone-
    .an.d  a true servant of God.                                   ment, and also His reign i-n glory and the regeneration
          The rule that  khe  prophet was the friend of Jehovah     of all things.    New,  T&tameqt~_grophecy     foretells. the
    had two notable exceptions, namely, Balaam and  Caia-           second coming of Christ in judgment, the salvation of
    phas.  Both were devoid of grace, yet both were pro-            the Church through judgment, and the appearance of
    phets of God, and the former  cqnsciously  so.  Balsam          `the Church with Christ in glory.
    was  mad6  t? bless a people whom he hated; necessity              The Old Testament  prophet? again varies, acco&-
    was  laid  upon  him to -give utterance to a discourse          ing as it is definite or gener-al. Definite  prophecy   fore-
    that was descriptive of the glory and the blessedness tel!s  definite, specific and. particular events.. Its  char-


                                        T H E   S T A N - D A R - D   ?EAR;ER,                                                83

 acteristic is precisely this that it is general.         The     a view to encouraging piety and detecting and reprov-
 promise of God that it sets forth is first successively          ingthe tendencies to apo&acy.        L&e Elijah he was not
 fulfill,ed  before it is finally fulfilled. An example  of-      pre,eminently  .a man of profound thought and lofty
 prophecy of this character is the blessing of the dying          speech but of heroic action.
 patriarch that  con.cerned  Judah, "`The sceptre shall not           The significance of Samuel% prophetic  labors~  for
 depart from Judah;  .nor  a lawgiver from  .between  h'is        Old Testament prophecy is seen if these labors be
 feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gather- contemplated in connection-  wit13 those of Moses.
 ing of the nation be." An example of definite prophecy Moses  was  the  priticiple   builder  of the house of God
 is Noah's prediction respecting the flood.           This is un.der  the Old Testament. (Hebrews 3  :l-5).  For- the
 really the  fir&  specific prediction  `re.cdrde&  in Scripture. tabernacle and the furniture of it, he received its pat-
`All the communications of the  great  prophets had a             tern from God and gave direction for its building  unto
 `be&ring  on the future, not because they were always            the utmost pins, Secondly, the ordinances' and insti-
 predi$ive  in  the.  narrow sense, but because, as was tutions of  worshi$ were  ,svholly  of his appointment.
 said; they -set foyfqh  heavenly and eternal truths and          He deceived  them .by revelation from God, but he pre-
 ,dealt  tit11  the realities of faith and hope and the great scribed t&em to t,he church, on which~  account they are
 principles of duty. Particular prophecy did not become           called the law of Moses.          Every one who labors by
 copious until the two centuries preceding the exile.             God's  ahpoinfment  for the edification of the church,
 TheYie  was  Yeason  for this. The  ,destruction  of  Jeru-      is a ,builder,  a ministerial  builder; and those who are
 saleni   and.  the temple and the' exile of the church to        employed in that work in an- especial manner are
 Babylon-could not be permitted to overtake the peopl6            plaster  builders. So was Moses in the house of God.
 of God as- unannounced; The removal of so much that               i Now unto the;  building of the house of God,- three
 was typical,  ca;lled-  for  a reiteration and exposition things are necessary. First  the. giving of the design
 of the promise; Without  additional-iight,       the people      and pattern of it in laws and ordinances, and institu-
 of God would have -been driven to the cCmclusioli-  that tionsi that it may answer the purpose- whereunto it
- it had been permanently. f'orsaken'  by the+  God. The' wa,%  designed.  Secondi  the preparing  anid fitting of
 Lord therefore raise& up  prophets through the agkncy            the materials of it and the- fitting of them together,
 of which He told His people what He was  abo.ut  to do tll.at  t,hey  may-grow up into- 7 house;a holy habitation
 with  them  and- held before them the promise of                 of  ,G,od. Third, the solemn  entrance-`07  the presence
 salvation- for them  *o-live  by while they passed through       of God into it.
 the valley of the.  shadows. The people of' God had to               The first then was` that the- pattern W&S prepared-
 beg  told that they had a future, an expectation that            and  revealcd   -to   Nloses-  on the mount, "Make me a
 extended beyond  their  grave. This foretelling of the sanctuary that I may dwell among-them. According to-
 exile and  ,of  all the events attending it, was specific all that I show thee, the pattern-of the tabernacle, and
 prophecy.                                                        the  pattern  of- all the. instruments thereof, even- so
     W,e can now, in the light of these observations,             shall ye make it". (Ex.  25.:8;  9)  .~ And further, "Look
 ascertain the significance of the prophet Samuel for that thou make them after-the similitude, Which  thou
 Old Testament  prophecyif,or  particular and general             wast-  caused. to see in the mount"-vs. 40. God caused-
 prophecy alike.                                                  Noses to see the -pattern of the house and also the
     Samdel  was the first great  proplret  of the  ~period       laws, ordinances, and  institiitYons  of the worship  of-
 from  Noses to  .H:osea.  He was the one to originate            God that belonged to  it,_for  all these did God-show
 the-prophetic schools of the  Old Dispensation.  sow-            and- declare to Moses in the mount. Secondly;Moses
 ever only a small part of his utterances were definitely preIjared  all the materials- fit for that fabric by the
 predict.ive,  Such a prophecy was the one that con-              free-will offerings of the people; and by the skill
 cerned Eli's house. From. time to time this was fol-             of Bezaleel and Aholiab.. The glorious presence of the.
 lowed by others of a like character. Samuel's prophetic          L&d  entered. into -the tabernacle so erected, and God-
 la'bors  had to do with his present. IHis  energies, were        dwelt there, "Then a cloud covered the tent  .of  the
`spent in ldire,cting  the life of then  nation- in the proper    eongregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the
 theocratic channels-and in- supervising the execution- of tabernacle".  -( Ex. 40  :34)  .  "I"
 imposed  duti-es.    To- search and reveal the hidden                "And- Moses verily was faithful in all his house
 mysteries of' God was not his task. but rather to awaken         -the  symbolical-typi,cal     house of God-as a servant,
 and perpetuate interest in the principles of trut,h  con-        -f,or  a testimony- of those things which were to be
 tained in the revelation *already  given," which he- ,did spoken after  ;. .  :  ." (Heb.  3  :2). Moses was faithful  _
 through the establishing of prophetic schools. The .in-  his  house,   in that service which is of nearest  con-
 age in which he lived called. for an activity of this            c&nment   to him. He  was  employed and thus faithful
 kind.  Samuel  $hen-vvas  a watchman on Zion's walls.            in all-  hii   houie:.   All things, for the use of all- ages,
 His task was to-supervise the.  life of the nation with          until the time  of:  ref,ormation  should come, -were.


  84                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                     .
  ordered and appointed by him. "For a testimony of of Samuel, God's house would have disappeared from
  $hdse  things which should be spoken after.": This              the face of the earth. In this c&e  the prophesying of
  ;bei%g   n testimony, refers to the &hole faithfulness of       the   four  great `and the twelve minor prophets of God
  Moses, which extended  itsel'f  to the whole service of could not have been.
  the house wherein he was employed, as well in the                                                           G .   M .   0 .
  building of the tabernacle and institutions of  ordin-
 ances  as revealing the will of God in the law,' So in
  his ministry he  was  a testmony. By what he did in
  the service of the  house  he  gav.e  testimony-to the
  things that were afterwards to be spoken, namely, in                               The Nazarite
  the fulness of time, the appointed season,  by  the Christ,
  -that is, the things of  tke  gospel. A-nd this was the            As was pointed  out, the second thing demanded
   proper end of all that Moses did or ordered in the             of the Nazarite was that he see to it that no razor
house  ,of  God. And through his being a testimony                come upon his head all the days of his  consecratidn.
   in his ministry,  Moses  also. instrumentally built the        As was said, this element in the Nazarite institution
   true house of God, the chuflch,  symbolized and typified has been variously explained. According to one view,
  ~by the tibernacle. In-the final instance, the house in         the long hair  was  the  symbol  of the power of God
  which he was faithful was not that wooden structure,            under which the Nazarite stood; and thus .a sign of his
  known as the tabernacle;but  the house of.I`srael,  the         subjugation to the authority of God.  It  was shown
   Israelitish commonwealth, the church.                          that there is seemingly some ground for this explana-
        Now' Samuel was not the builder of  ihe house of          tion at I Cor.  11:10.  Here the apostle says of the
  *God as was Moses. He-was not the one to receive the            woman that her long hair was given her by nature for
   pattern for God's house. The ordinances and institu-           a covering as  a sign of subjugation to her husband.
  tions of worship were not of hisappointment. He was But the man, hating no earthly superior, should have
   `not the one to receive them  by.  revel&cm  from God.         his hair cropped. Hence, it was counted a shame for
   He reared not the housE  of God. When he appeared              the  &an  to grow long hair.      "But", it is said "the
   upon the stage of sacred  hist%ry,   this  house of God,       Nazarite, who gave himself up by a solemn vow of
   the tabernacle,  the Israelitish theocracy,  wgs  already consecration to God, and who should therefore ever
   standing.     It -was in this. house that he, Samnel,  was     feel the authority and the power of God ypon him,
  born. As Moses, he was appointed to labor in it. He             most fitly wore his hair  long,.  as the  badge.  of his
  idid  so.     And as Moses he was faithful in all his .entire  and willing subjection to the law of  hi& God".
   house-the house of God.  iHe  showed a  r,emarkable            (Fairbairn) .
   zeal.    In his zeal he held the nation to ihe  law of God        There are still other conceptions of this symbol.
   and thus perpetuated instrumentally the existence of A sign of mourning. A  <sign  of more perfect freedom.
   the typical house of God and of: all its  Bymboli5cal-         The  symbO1'  of the spiritual power of the life of re-
  typical institutions and ordinances of worship. And             generation.
  h&rein  precisely lies his significance for Old Testament          Just what may be the point to this part of the
   prophecy. By what he did in the s&vice  bf  God's              Nazarite institution? It is this, that the hair  of the
  house, he, too, as Moses, gave-testimony to the things          devoted one might not be ~cut.    This  is plain from the
   that were afterwards to be spoken, namely, in the              language employed in Num. 6, "All the days of the
   fglness   ~-of  time, by Christ. As this typical house of vow of his separation there shall no razor come' upon
   `God was the shadow of which  ,Christ  was  the.  body,        his head. . . . he shall be holy, and shall let the lo&z
   and as Samuel instrumentally,  thT?ugh  his labors,            of his  haiy  grow." If words have meaning then  the
   perpetuated the existence of this l!oupe;  it may in tru$h     mandate to the effect, "There shall no razor come upon
   be said that by him  the  V_~YY  prophecy-prophecy in          his head", -is equivalent in meaning to the command,
  *he general sense-was perpetuated. He was even in-              "he shall, let the locks of his hair grow," that is, he
  strumental in bringing into being a new.tTpical  insti-         shall refrain from cutting his hair. The clue to the
   tution, namely,  -the   kingshi>,  `when, in  obedfence  to    correct interpretation of this element in the Nazarite
   the command of God and in  agreemeet  with the                 institution is the command,  sitiilar  in character, and
   clamor of the-carnal seed he anointed Saul and later given in respect to the altar, "And if  tho,u  ma&me an
   David king of Israel. But he also had significance for         altar of stone, thou -shalt  not build it of hewn ston&
  - definite, particular prophecy that  b&came  so `copious       &ark  you,  hewn  stone-: for  if thou wilt  lift thy tool
   during the two centuries that preceded the exile'. By          upon `it-that is, if  thou  wilt make it of  stones  that
  ._ prolonging the existence of God's typical  hoiase,  he       were hewn with thy own hands, the hands  bf  man-
   provided the prophets of that epoch with the language          thou  hast  polluted it." (Ex.  21:25). We  mlust  n&v
, for their prophesying. Had  it not  been.for the labors         consider  in this connection  .what  is asserted of the


                                            TZZE   S.T:ANDARfi   B'EARER'                                                        &5

 stone seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his dream.                 This     coff  from his people"  (Num;  19  :9-11).  Thus no dne
 &one, by which $he  great and bright image was smit-                among the Israelites might purposely touch the dead.
 ten, was cut out of the mountain without hands. The                 In  respec;t   to the dead  ,the common Israelite found
 tiignification  of this figure is evident. Christ, the stone, himself under the -same necessity-that was laid upon
 was, as to His human nature, brought into being not                 the Nazarite. The former as well as the latter was
 through  huma*n,  but solely through  divine  agency.               holy unto the Lord. The only difference was that as
 Though  h&wn  out of the rock, that is, though of our               applying to the. Nazarite, the law was most strict.
 race, though born of the virgin, the hands that made                As the highpriest h& was even forbidden to defile him-
 .Him  were those not of man .but  of God.           He was ex-      self for the dead body of his nearest kin.
 clusively God's Christ. He was conceived by the Holy                   The significance ,of  the commands  that the Nazarite
 Ghost, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him-                  touch  not the body of any m&n,  is evident. The corpse
 the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of is the symbol of the nattiral  man in his spiritual death
 `counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of                  and pollution.  But  in  ,distinction  from the wine, the                   ,
, the fear of the Lord"  (.&a.   2:2).  He was solely the            physi,cal  corpse symbolized  -the principle of sin as it
 product of the power of God's  lo~e,--!H~e  and likewise            riots not within a man butin  the world by which he is
 His people, the sheep  for whom ,H,e  laid  down .His  life.        surrounded, in the  men  that constitute this world.
 There can be no doubt that this is precisely the tFth               Thus the prohibition in question is at bottom a man-
 signified by the Nazarite's walking  before his ,brethren           date to the effect that the servants  ~of  God in a spiritual-    .
 with his hair uncut.  ICutting,  his hair, the Nazarite,            ethical sense be separate and live alone  ; it is a com-
 as to- his appearance, would have been a man; made                  mand that God's people see to it that they are  not-
 with man's hands. But with hair  aid beard uncut,                   defiled.by  the evil works of the unprincipled men whom
 thus long and flowing, because unhampered in their                  they daily must contact in the local sense. Thus the
 groiwth  by  the application of the shears, the Nazarite,.          Nazsrite as separating himself and as actually separ-
 as to his outward man, stood before his brethren  as                ated from the dead  body,.  stood before his -brethren
  God made him, as  .a man made with God's  hand.s,-                 also  ai  the wallking  symbol of the believer separating
 thus stood before  his brethren as the walking signifi-             himself and also actually  separated' in principle from
  cation of the truth that the believer is solely the                the world that lieth in d@kness, from the evil works of
 `spiritual  creatiion  of God, His exclusive w0rkmanshj.p.          this world,-as a walking symbol of the believer pitted
      If the point to the prohibition, "There shall  11.0            against sin as- it riots in his own nature and in the
  razor come upon his head," is, `Being a sinful man,                world round about him. But the Nazarite institution                    .
 the Nazarite uses the razor to his own hurt, cutting had also a pdsitive side  t'o it. The Nazarite was one
 with it his hair. Hence, let him put this instrument h,oly  unto the Lord. The' law reads, "And he shall be
 far from him,`-if this were the construction to be holy.  :  :  ."- (Num. 6 :5a).                   The  thought contained in
 .placed  upon the command in' question, it is  ha&l  to             this. brief clause is wholly positive. The Nazarite was
  see  tihy the hair should  Ibe  singled out. Aside from thus one wholly given unto God in  heartful  service.
 the fact that a man does himself no physical harm,                  The law of God was his delight, and his desire was
 when he cuts his hair, there  are many other ways in to run the way of God's commands. His calling was
 which a man may injur,e  himself with a razor. So, if               to live the truth symbolized by  the  coimnaDds  under
 the thought that was meant to `be  cotiveyed  is, that,             which he had been brought.
  wheras  man, -being sinful, cannot use the razor and                  When the d,ays  of his separation were fulfilled, the
 tools and instruments in general otherwise than  to his Nazaritti  offered his offerings unto the Lord-a he-lamb
mown  hurt, the Nazarite may not have these things in                for a burnt  offtiring,  a ewe-lamb for a sin offering,
 his possession, while performing his vow, it shall have a ram for a peace offering, and hnleavened cakes for
 to be admitted that the language employed by the                    a meal offering. ,A ewe-lamb for a sin offering. Thus
 sacred writer is misleading. For, what he, according the Nazarite, during the period of the performance of
 to the form  ,of  the words  emplqyed,  says is simply and his vow,' had sinned. Wherein had he sinned ? `In
 plainly this, "The Nazarite shall wear his locks long,              respect to the outward  commatidments  by which he had
  that is, he shall not cut them."                                   been bound? Had he at intervals drunk wine or defiled
      The last element in the  Nazarite  institution was his head with the razor?  This  cannot be.  - His vow
  the  nec+ssity  of avoiding all contact with the corpse. would  then have been broken. Yet he had sinned. As
  The  3common   Israeiite,  too, might not deliberately defile      has already been explained, his calling was  to so live
  himself with the body of a dead man, except the man                and walk that he stood before his  tbrethren  as the
 ,be ,.o$  his .kin.    If, _ due to no fault of his  own, he was    reality of the  synibols  that he bore upon his person.
 Idefiled,  the law required that he purify himself with             His duty was to love the Lord with all his heart and
  the water of separation on the!  third day and be un-              mind and will  atid  with all his strength and to walk
  clean seven days. If he failed in this, he had to be CLL~          as a true child of grace among his brethren. This was


                  --
 in the- -final instance his  ca-lling.    B,ut  in this -he had. the- wine-but upon thyself.  Thouart  at fault. The
 failed largely ai  do all God's believing people. Hence,-          evil f ountai.n  of thy. lusting lies- within thee.' If the
 havin-g  performed his vowi  he brought his sin ogering.           threecommands  to the Nazarite-that he separate him-
 Despite his best efforts he had sinned. And his' sins self-from- wine, the- shears and the corpse that defiles
 Cal-led-  for his death,, `Therefore he brought his sin            are-at bottom. so many instructions- to-the effect that he
 #offering.  And in  :connection~  with his offering,  he-          attain- to a higher plain of  spir.itual  living through
received: witness that-he- was righteous.,                          such practices of self-denial, we have to do here with
     The question .finally  is whether the prohibiton. in           three commands, the ,only ones of their kind in all-the
 question ,placed-  the Nazaritet  under the necessity. not. scriptures.
 only-of  keeping himself unspotted from the world but                  Yet, fact is, that just because a -man is sinful, bread
 also of separating himself from his world physically and wine,.  a.nd-  the temptation to- which. the wicked  sub:
 and locally. The  Nazarite-had-  to live alone-in spiritual ject him; though they do not cause him to sin, do oc-
 separation from -the ungodly and  be.  wholly  consecrated-        casion  his sinning; his stumbling, his fall. As living
 to God,. ,Thisj  certainly, must have -been- the matter,- .in isolation,- a man' is  free.from  all external corrupting
 the reality, signified by the-symbols that he bore-upon-           influences, fr.om-  the- temptations ,of life that come- to
.his  person. But the- question is whether this- spiritual. him. from  witho,ut.  Did. therefore the Nazarite also-
 isolation was to be achieved. through. the  Nazarite.local-        withdraw himself. locally from the world- of men  oft
 ly withdrawing- himself from- the&world of man- in which he- formed- a part in order to keep from sinning?
which he ordinarily moved-.           If this be affirmed,. we Did his desire to live a consecrated life cause. him to- S
 must certainly be on our guard,against        imagining that seek   the.solitude-  of uninhabited- regions? If so, did he
 the prohibitions in question. root in the  Phil-osophy             do so because the  Zazo  placed him under this-necessity?
 that matter, being as such corrupt, is the. seat of sin            Was. this physi!cal-  isolation. also- the matter that was
 and the teaching that what causes a man to sin is not actually meant to be signified by the signs of the  Nazar-
 his sinful nature, flesh, heart, but the things that he            ite institution?
 holds, such as is wine and bread, and the wicked- that                                     (To be continued)
he must daily contact-the wicked, their bad examples,                                                                 G. M. 0.
 their ,evil  practices and ways ,their  sinful  set+up of life,
the fair promises or- threats. by which they attem.pt  to
 destroy the faith of the believer, in a.  word,.  all the
temptations to which man is  subjected.~by.  the godless-
whom he daily contacts True it is that a man cannot                                     Een Lied  Dei  Liefde
`become. drunken, unless. he have wine  ;  .that  he cannot
 slay himself  -or  his neighbor  urdess  he be supplied-  '                             (Psalm 45, Eerste.  Deel)
with a weapon.; that he cannot make.a  g.lutton  of him-                Een- onvergetelijke doode  heeft meermalen tot mij.
 self, unless he have food; that he cannot steal, unless            gezegd.:,  "Psalm 45; mijn jongen,. is het Hooglied van
he have access to h-is neighbor's possessions. Without              Salomo  in .`t. klein  !"
these things the sinful thought, desire,. imagining, re-                `k  .Heb  het  toen  toegestemd,  doch   na,  bij `t  bestu-
 solution, cannot express themselves outside the man in ,deeren  van dit wonderschoone lied; ben ik. in dit  ge-
`deeds. But from this it in no. wise follows- that a man loof versterkt.
succeeds in living a consecrated life, through his separ-               Ik schreef hienboven:  een-  lied der liefde. Het is
 ating himself from the earth and its  fulness  outside             een van de, opsch-riften  des  Heiligen  Gee&es:        Er  zijn
 of him-, from bread and wine.. For the cause of a man's            er vijf. Dat zal  zeker  komen vanwege den rijken in-
 sinning is his evil heart, the sinful flesh. Hence, the            ,houd  van het lied. De orde dier. vijf opschriften zooals
 thing to do for a man, who wants to be- holy, is not               de  Engelsche  vertaling-. geeft is de juiste :  Voor den
to separate himself from wine and. bread, and. in- the opperzangmeester, op  sosanni.m,-onder  de  kinderen  van
 local and physical sense from his fellow men,. is. not             Korach, eerie,  onderwijzer,  een- lied der liefdel
 tom  throw away his implements, but to mortify, slay,.                 Het manuscript  werd,  overhandigd  aan   Heman,  den
 annihilate his sinful self and -to pray  .God   to. empower Ezrahiet, aan  (Asaph  of aan  Ethan  : zij waren  de opper-
 him by His grace to use  God's,  bread and wine in                 zangmeesters in Israel.
 moderation and to  ikeep  himself unspotted. from- the                .Op.sosannim.   khan   slaan   -op  de-wijze  -waarop  het lied    .
 world of men  in-whizch  he -has. been- placed. Ch-ristdoes gezongen,  moet, of het muziek-instrument hetwelk
not say, "If thy eye offend thee, separate thyself from             `voor  dit lied benoodigd moest.         Letterlijk beteekent
 or destroy the. thing upon  ~which thy- sinful eye  -is, feast-    het: de  lelien.
 ing," but Ee says, "If thy eye offend- thee pluck it out;              De.,kinderen  van Korach waren  de gezegende-lieden
namely, thy eye," that is; `in-thy sinning, turn-not upon           diet dit lied moesten instudeeren;  de muziek der leli&r
the thing that occasioned thy sinning-the bread and                 (9)   leeren,.   o,m   ,straks,   oak  den vijf-en-veertigsten


 psalm in den dienst  van  Jehova te zingen.                         verheven is. Schoon is die Koning vanwege  de'deug-
     -Eene  onderwijzing.         Ja, dat zal  zoo  zijn! Ook ,.den  G'ods.  Straks  hoo-de  hij  .de  koning spreken. `En
 komt men nooit  uitgel,eerd.  -Het is gelijk aan  het               dan getuigt  hij  ervan : -genade is  .op Uwe.-lippen  uitge-
 l%ooglied,   ge.  liefde van God bezingende.  ook   -Eierin         .sto@~.T  &&r;  veel la-ter, -zal de -Evangelist  ervan ge-
 is de  eeuwigh,eid.   .'                                            t,uigen  : Men verwonderde zich over  de genad.ige  woor<
     Een lied der liefde. Het woord voor liefde staat .den  die Hij in Naza&h   sprak.  Genade p de lippen :
 in `t  Hebreeuwsch   in het meervoud. Reden, waarom                 -wat is het anders dan  schoone  woorden,  lief.lijke   woor-
 in de Engelsche Bijbels  -staat:  A song of  loves.  De .den,   .woorden   v a n   waarhei,d.
 geleerde  Delitsch  wil hier -een  en,kelvou$ige  idee  in-            -Ook heeft  d~c dichter de .oneindig  bron .gezien.       Al
 -zien  ,en dan vetialen :het  lieftallige. Ik denk, dat we          die  schotinheid  van  deti Koning komt  vafi  God. God
 .de idee van  % meervoud moeten  ,behotiden.  Als er -heft   <dien -Koning gezegend in eeuwigheid. ~God heeft
 een  meervoudsvoqn           gebruikt,  wordt,  dein  heeft -het    Hem door den.-Heiligen Geest -vervuld met alle deugd.
 ook  ,de idee van het  .vele,  het menigvuldige. En als we Hij is vol van de goedheid des  -Heeren.  En nooit
 Ban  afgaan op hetgeen in `t -vers der  liefden bezongen            heeft die .zegeni-ng  xhooner  geschitter.d dan toen Hij
 wordt kan het  ..een  van -tw.een  beteekenen  : de lief de        aan het kruis. van  .Golgotha  hing.  -,En  al is het ook,
 van velen, d.w.z., de liefde van  God totZijn Zloon,  door dat wij onze aangezichten  -veFbepgende   war,en  voor
 Hem tot Zijn bruid, de kerk, en eindigende in de liefde Hem, de-engelen  God?  hebben  .gejuicht.  Ze zagen de
 van  d,e  kerk (een schare die niemand tellen  `kan)  tot groote, onbegrijpelijke liefde GOds. ,Ze  zagen in bloed
 God in `Christus. Dan hebt ge een veelheid van liefde.              en  tranen en  `zweeten  en  ,brullen,  `het geopende hart
 -Ook  kan het slaan op het menigvuldige van de liefde               van den God der liefde. Dat wonder;  deygdenbeeld
 zelf.        -Dan  zi,et  men de liefde als een veelzijdige         .mocht  in Jezus, den  kon-i-ng,   ,wonen.         (God  zegende
 diamant die zijn stralenbundel van veelkleurig licht Hem in eeuwigheid en tot in  eeuw-ighteid.  Ziedaar de
 doet fonkelen .en schitteren. -Misschien mogen we  de               Bron van de schoonheid van dezen Koning.,
 *wee  ideen verbinden. In elk geval zou ik het meer-                   Gord nu -maar Uw zwaard aan Uwe heup. Geleer-
 voud van liefde Willen handhaven.  -/Het  staat er letter-          den en geschiedenis-vqrschers      hebben ,ons  verteld, `dat
 lijk: -een liled  van liefden; of van lieftalligheden.              we hier te doen hebben met een plechtigheid onder de
     Dat we "nier een onuitsprekelijken  yij-kdom  hebben COostersche  hoven. Als een  P#rins  verhoogd werd tot
 wordt-  duidelijker als  .we luisteren naar de inleiding ZKeoning  -mocht hij onder `t juichen zijner  .hovelfngen
 van den  dilchter.   :H.ij zegt van  zichze&?,  dat zijn hart       het zwaard des rijks aan  zijn heupen hechten. `t Was
 -aan `t koken is, dat het een goede rede opborrelt, .ge-            een plechtigheid bij de kroning van een koning. %Iet
 lijik   he't  water `onstuimiglijk  te yoorschijn  treedt in de w'as  een zinnebeeld  .van de kracht, majesteit en  zeggen-
 fiontein.                                                           slohap  die voorts 06 zulk een koning r.ustte.
     Het  beeld  van een Koninlg  heeft zijn hart in vlam-               Zoo  is `t ook met Jezus gegaan.
 -men  gezet.  .Z?jn tong wordt heftiglijk bewogen van-                  Door den Heiligen Geest kwam er zeggenschap en
 wege het volle hart. Hij vergelijkt zijn tong met de mcht  op Jezus. God riep van den hemel tot de men-
~`pen eens vaardigen schrijvers. Ik  .kan  dat  beeld  eenig-        schenkinderen : Deze is Mijn geliefde Zoon in  dewelken
 zings  begrijpen. Ik heb maar  mna?l  in mijn  leven              `al Mijn  ,welgbehagen  is! En de Heilige Geest kwam
 ,een.vaardigen  sclrjjver  gezien. `$k  Zal zijn naam niet n'eder  `van den hemel  & rustte op Hem in de gedaante
                                                                                                         .   .
`noemen.         Nooit te voren zag ik zulk  een schc&e  har-        van  een duif.
 monie  .van  vlugge beweging  #en  achoone  letters. Het               .Toen  heeft  Jezus, als de Held  Gods,  het zwaar$  des
 geheel  mocht  werkelijk vergeleken worden'  bij een                ri&s aan  ,de heupen gegord.  --
 stroom waters die uit den bron vIiet.-                                  Dat zwaard is Zijn m?-jesteit  -en heerlij-&eid.
     Zoo  is het gesteld met den dichter.  H-j  heeft het                Daarna is die Held gaan st$jden~  `Het  wordt Hem
 `schoonste  beel?l  aanschouwd dat ooit  <het   geheele  heelal h&r  in den psalm toegeroepen : Rijd voorspoediglijk in
 vervullen zal tot in der eeuwigheid. Hij zag de bruid-              Uwe heerlijkheid, op het  woocd:der Waarheid en  recht-
 stoet van  Gods   Zloon  en  .Zijn  Kerke.         Toen  is hij `vaardige  zachtmoed.igheid?
aan `t dichten gegaan. Het lieflijk  geztin.g  der  leliti              En o, daar  had   DDE wereld  ,zo ontzettend veel  ge-
 vloeide van zijn lippen.                                            ,brek  aan. Die held stond temidden van `leugenaars,
     Merkt op, dat hij direkt het beeld schetst van den En Hij moest gaan strijden tegen `den vader der Jeu-
                                                                                                                  _.
 Koning  dler  koningen. Hij ziet Hem en spreekt Hem .gen,  den-  ,duivel.
toe. Dit  spr&end zingen tot Jezus, den Zoon  Gods                       .Het  koord  der waarheid en  re'chtvaardige   zacht-
 gaat  voo?t tot  het tiende vers.                                   `moedighseid  is de  bovenmenschelijke'         kracht  van dien
     Die Koning is mensch  en  toch weer meer  dan.                  KoninYg.`
 mensch; zelfs onder de menechen  is iKij  gemalkkelijk  de              W.&xrheid  ! Die -waarheid moest de Bruid vrij,
 sbhoonste.  Ja, die menschen zijn Zijn broeders, doch               maken. Ze zat in het gevang der leugen, aan de leugen
 .HLj  heeft een naa<m verkregen  die ,boven   .allen  -naam        onderworpen. -tien  slavin, -een  gew-illige  slavin der
                                             i<


            L





   88                                      -  T H E  STANDARB  BEAR,E.ti

   leugen.            Leugen trekt alle verhoudingen. krom. De                Die vreugde-olie (beeld der zalving des Heiligen
   waarheid is de  rechte  verhonding. De waarheid is  di'e                <Geestes)  heeft tot vrucht dat Zijn kleederen gelijk
   deugd waarin men is zooals men wezen moet -(krach-                      mirre,  al@  en kassia zijn. Deze drie stoffen werden
   tens zijn wezen en krachtens het doel  -waartoe  men                    gebruikt tot bereiding der allerkostelijksten  nar@s.
   geschapen wierd.                                                        De zalf-olie doordrong Zijn gewaad en hare reu&  door-
         En toen  Gods  wereld daar ter neder lag  in.`t  gevang -ademde -Hem geheel en al.
   der leugen, is er  ,een  woord  .dm waarheid-van Zijn                       Alles beeldspraak, hetwelk  ofis de heerlijkheid en
  : lippen gevloeid. En dat Woord is Jezus. We hoorden                     majesteit van dien Koning beschrijft.
   Hem immers zeggen : Ik- ben de weg, de waarheid en                         Ook die elpenbeenen paleizen spreken van de schoon-
   het leven?                                                              heid en  kostibaarheid  van Koning Jezus. Elpenbeen
         En als die  hield  nu te voorschijn treedt in het strijd-         wersd  gebruikt om gebouwen te sieren ; doch hier wordt
  perk om  tegen.de  leugen te  strij$en, om den duivel aan                een .Huis  gezien, dat geheel en al van  elpenbeen opge-
   te tasten en hem zijn prooi te ontnemen, dan is  wlk               trokken is.  ;Het laat ons iets zien van de  duizeling-
   strijden een rijden op de rechtvaardige zachtmoedig- w&kende schoonheid en kostbaarheid, heerlijkheid +!n
   heid.         Jezus verslaat zijn vijanden door de recht-               majesteit Van den Goddelijken Koning.
   vaardige zachtmoedigheid. Zijn  rechteihan'd  zal  .Hem                     Doch er is meer.
  vreeselijke dingen  leeren.  In deze taal is het lijden                      De dichter ziet drommen van  ,gelukkigen  die den
   des eeuwigen doods. Hij is  ,de zachtmoedige: Hij zal                   Koning -omringen. Ter zijde van Koning Jezus staat
  veel kracht noodig hebben om te kunnen lijden. Die Zijn bruid. Haar naam is Koningin. De eereplaats die
  zachtmoedigheid wordt gekenmerkt door de rechtvaar-                      zij mag bekleeden is ter rechterhand van Jezus. Nooit
   digheid, d,at is, de wil tot het goede. We kunnen  hier is ,er een-Koningin gewest  die zoo  geheellijk aan haar
   slechts van stamel-en.                ' --                              :Gemaaltoe  behoor,de.    Hij heeft haar gekocht met Zijn
         UGe  pijlen zijn scherp,  voliken  zull.en  onder U val-          dierbaar bloed. Vreeselijke dingen heeft Zijne  rechter-
  len; zij treffen in het hart van  ,des Koning's vijan-                   haed  Hem geleerd in `t verkrijgen van Zijn  schoone
  d              e       n                                                 duive.
         D%ar  hebt  ge de overwinnin'gen  van Koning Jezus.          '        Dezelfde bruid uit een ander oogpun!  wo:rdt  nu ook
         Ter eener  zijde verslaat Hij zijn tienduizenden als              gezien; Dochters van Koningen ziet de dichter. Dat
   Hij ze te pletter stoot met zijn  haard..        Dat zijn de            is dezelfde -kerk van Christus, doch  QU  uit het oogpunt
  v e r w o r p e n e n .                                                  van de iedividueele geloovigen;       Dan zijn ze allen
         Ter  anderer  zijde verslaat Hij zijn vijanden  d,oor             dochteren van God, die Hij -als een geschenk van Zijn
  Zijn pijlen van liefde. Dan wordt den ouden menxh                        Vader  ontiving.    Hij ontving ze van eeuwigheid. Zij
  gedood en gaat zulk een volk leven het leven der liefde                  zijn een kostbaar volk: de Heere Heere heeft ze be-
  van Koning Jezus. Dat zijn de uitverkorenen.               ,'            mind van eeuwigheid. Hij heeft hun beeld gezien in
         Voorts ziet de dichter Koning Jezus in Zijn Godde- Zijne handpalmen.. Zij zijn schoon en kostbaar in die
  lijke  k,racht.  Hij mag, door Goddelijke wijsheid ver-                  handpalmen. Daarom zal  da.n ook het einde zijn, dat
  maand zijnde, iets zien van het wonder der  vleesch-                     ze in `t fijnste goud van Ofir  aan  Jezus' rechterhand
- ' woordiDg  van God. Hij heeft het bemerkt, dat Koning komen te staan.
  Jezus der Goddelijke natuur deelachtig- is. Hij rede-                      Ziedaar het beeld van Koning Jezus. De Held
  neert  ,er niet over, hij stelt de zaak  ,eenvoudig.   Hij          *Gods.  De Bruidegom van de  ke&   .des  Heeren.  De
  zegt : Uw troon, o God is eeuwig <en altoos, de schept&                  gemaal van de Koningin die Hij uit  `t geweld des
  Uw&   koninkrijks  is een  schepter  der rechtmatigheid.                 doods moest verlossen. En Zijn zwaard en pijl, Zijn
  Gij hebt  gerechtcgheid  lief en haat  goddelooshei,d  : daar-           kracht en macht was de -eeuwige liefde  Gods.  Die
  om  !heeft  U, o God! Uw God gezalf;d  met vreugde-olie                  liefde wordt rechtvaardige zachtmoedigheid in `t strij-
  boven Uwe medegenooten !                                                 den en lijden. Ze wordt heerlijkheid en majesteit in
       Deze woorden werden opgevangen door den schxij-                     Zijn overwinningen.
  ver aan de  Htibyen.  En dezelfde Heilige Geest die                       En die Koning is van Israel's God gegeven  zodat
  vaardig werd over  den dichter hier; inspireert den wij allen Hem mogen toebehooren en zien, Hem toe-
Nieuw-Testamentis&e< schrijver. Deze  vergen   wor- juichen en beminnen.
  den neergepend om te bewijzen, dat Jezus Christus                          - De dichter-heeft er iets van gezien  en wij zien het
  de levende Zoon van God is, het uitgedrukte Beeld                        ook;gelijk  in een Spiegel, een duistere rede.
  Zijner zelfstandigheid.                                                    Het  weinigje dat hij ziet doet hem koken in `t diepe
         Jezus is gezalfd door `God om een  vreeselijk werk hart. Zijn tong wordt  ,gelijk  aan de pen eens vaar-
  te doen. Doch Hij is de Held die `alles volbracht heeft digen schrijvers.
  en mag Hij nu voorts in vreugde en  grqote  blijdschap                      En het duistere beeld dat wij opvangen is alreede
   de reien leiden in het  eeuyig gezang des hemels en zoo  schoon en heerlijk, dat wij straks zullen eindigen
  der aarde. Het is'het lied der overwinning.                         met den dichter  en xi-n.gen  zooals  hij : Ik zal Uw naam,


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   89

o Koning  J~ZUS,   doen  gedenken van elk- geslacht tot                  It is necessary also that the Christian know  the-
 geslacht: daarom zullen U de volken prijzen eeuwig-                 essence of this evil. There-is a triple depravity which
 lijk en altoos.  -.                                                 lies at  the basis -of .a11  social evils. First of all is the
     0, wanneer zullen wij het volkomen  leeren,  dat alle           fact that the -natural and fallen man is a hater of
 gel.uk  en jubel enkel en alleen ligt in `t bewonderen              God.    Not only does the Scripture- show that the
 van `t eeuwig deugenbeeld ?                                         fallen  mati  is an enemy of- God,  but,the  Catechism says
     De koningin, de staatsdochteren, het volk van God               that man is by nature "prope to hate God". In the
 eindige : "Hier weidt mijn ziel met een  veiwondrend                second place  fallen  man also hates- his neighbor. God
 oog!"                                                               is One and His Law is ONE, if man hates  God  he
                                                    G. V.            hates. also his neighbor for the Law is  one.  Toward             .
                                                                     God man is a depraved  creature,  toward  hi+  fellow                  ,
                                                                     man  q&te  the same. For the carnal mind  iS enmity
                                                                     against God and is  not  subject to the Law of  Go.d
                                                                     neither indeed can be. And this double stranded prin-
          The  Chrikian  And Social Evils                            ciple of consistent hate and disrespect. for both God
                                                                     and his fellow man is augmented by still &third factor
     Social evils refer to the principle of evil as it mani-         and that is that  natural  man is  ever  a lover of self,
 fests itself in the relations of man to man, in the life            he is selfish. Over against his duty toward God and
 of men among men.  For- "social" or society means a the neighbor which is the  d.uty  of love, he ever places
 body of persons joined or living together. More  par-               his lustful selfishness.  He.seeks  his highest  gbod'  in
 tilcularly  -social evils refer -to evils as they crop up           attaining his selfish ends. -Can he use God's Law as a
 in the community. In one community this evil, in                    stepping stone to achieve personal gain, he will do it;
 some other community  anothek  evil is on the fore-                 tan he use his fellow man .as  a tool to advance his own
 ground. And- the idea of this article  viii11  not be to            ends he will  ,be "nice" to his neighbor, but his cri-
 catalogue a series  df  such evils, but  ra$her  to try to          terion is always self. The first  mbmeiit  he  -notices
 show what attitude the professed Christian has to take              that God's Law hinders his  seKish  efforts or  impedes
 toward the  evils as they appear in his. social world.              his progress he  sajrs of God "there is no God" and of
                                                                     his  fell,ow  man he says "Am I any  brother's keeper"?
                  I.-aware  of Social  Evils  -,                         This triple depravity underlies the social life of
     "Son of Man, dig now into the wall" said God to any given community and everywhere one can see how
 Ez&iel,  (Ezek.  8 :S)  . So the  Prdphet  dug into the wall        social life is lived out of this  wfctked principle. The
 and behold, a door. The  pr.opli&  was commanded to                 Christian must be aware of this. He sees this prin-
 go in and there he beheld such abotiinations  as were ciple of depravity in concrete social evils  romid   abaut
 sufficient to make him shudder. But Ezekiel was com-                him. The city. has a theatre, for  instanlce.  What of
 manded to  inspect  these "chambers of imagery" still               it that they show pictures which glorify what God
 further, and he beheld still greater atrocities. As if              condemns? What of it that they poison the souls of
 that were not enough he l&ad to penetrate still &ther               fellowman? . . . .as long as men satisfy carnal lusts,
 into the hidden recesses  of. Judah's a!bomii&$ons  an-d            and realize financial returns. In the domestic sphere,
 the further he penetrated the more  horrible were the tih.at  does the philandering husband care about the
 evils he saw..  If -this is tihat  the very hou.se  of Judah        God of the seventh commandment, what does he' care
 does in the  dark,  what shall be our  judgmeilt   of-  the         about his o`tvn  wife, what does he :bare  about the man
 world? If  b9  penetrating into the chambers of  imag:              whose wife he illegitimately courts, the home he r,uins,
ery the prop-het saw such indescribable evils in the the children  .he  turns out into the streets as  waif%,
 very house of Judah, what shall we s&e if we descend                what cares he  2s long as he  ploy satisfy his own lusts ?
 into the tiha,mbers  of the imagery of the world? Paul,             And what cares Reno as long as there is financial gain
 in his divine revelation  6merging   fr,oni  these `chambers        in it? In the sphere. of economics and  labor,   t;he em-
 said, "for it is a shame  ev&n  to speak of  .those   things        plbyer  disregards his Master in heaven, disregard&
 iyhitih  are don&  of them in secret" (Eph. 5 :12)  : Whi1.e        the  starvatibn-wage     of the etiployee  and.aims at mak-
 in  &om.   1:28-32  Paul exposes that world  iti all its ing his fortune.  _ And the, employee, in return, dis-
 horrors when he says that it is "filled?' with forni-               regards the authority of God, fills his. soul with re-
 cation, envy; murder, debate, etc.                                  venge, and in total disregard  for.  anyone  else stages
     The -Christian must know that such is the social                strike, riot, bloodshed, etc. Enough  to show concretely
 world in which he lives.- Then he kn6w.s what to. what the Christian is to' understand by social evils.
 expect and is not shocked beyond measure when he
sees these horrors manifesting themselves in his very                               &--Realizing  His Position
community.                                                   _  '       What attitude shall the Christian assume toward


90                                      T H E   STANDARD   B,EA&ER

the social evils he sees round about him? His attitude                         III.-Maintaining His Position
is determined by  t&e  position in which His  C+od  ha,%              .In diligence the Christian ought to maintain his
placed him.                                                        position in  the face of the social evils round about
      Christian, be humble!  _ Remember, Scripture de- him.
scribes the  Ch&stian  thus: "For we ourselves also                   This implies in the first place that the Christian
were sometimes -foolish, disobedient-hateful and hat- must fight back these evils as they penetrate and tend
ing one another". It was when the kindness and lbve                to penetrate into the very Camp of the Saints. That
of God appeared that we were changed.               It is the was primarily the Old Testament position of the
grace .of God which made us Christians.  For Christ Saint. The Israelite had to bewar.e  for the infi'tration
paid  the price of our guilt and through  IIis  Spirit of the Philistine or Assyrian worldliness and he had
He united us to Himself. By foregone decree of elec-               to fight it  ba&.  This position is unchanged in the
tion we were given `to Christ, we became  Christ's--               New  Testament. Paul, for  instafice,  does not instruct
Christians.    &nd the new principle of the life of to rebuild Rpme,  to reform Athens pr reconstruct Thes-
Christ has transformed us so that although we are                  salonica, but he bids the church  ke'ep  itself from the
still in the world and. thus still part of that  corr'upt          accursed thing. The social evils rampant in the world
society, we are wholly different.                                  may pot even be mentioned among the saints or in  -
      The Christian's mark of distinction is  principly their Camp. And this warfare is to be waged  along  no
that he stands in the world and  f,ights;  That is first less than four fronts. `In the Christian's own personal
of all his position. Does not Scripture speak repeated- life he is to beat back evil and overcome evil with good,
ly of the spiritual warfare, of fighting the good fight.           In the church he is to fight the  good  fight, keeping the
Scripture exhorts  hiti  "ye that love the Lord hate               church pure as possible. In the home he must be on
evil." The Catechism also in Ans. 32 gathers this                  guard lest the social  ,evi.ls  round about him make in-
together and says the Christian is one who  with  a                roads into his God-given sanctuary.  (And  finally the
"free and good conscience fights against  sin.  and Satan same is true for the Christian School, where also it is
in this life". Wherefo.re  in Holy -Baptism  th`e  ch,urch         -our   e_xpressed  calling to stand. and fight back the world-
prays that this child when come to years  may  "man-               conformity w&h  al.ways  lurks around our doors.
fully fight against and overcome iin, the devil and his                But, we must not let it there. The Christian is as
whole dominion". Hence we may say that the position                well a member of society and in the midst of that
of the Christian is that of antithesis. HKfi#&:against             society he must  b6 consistently Christian. And this
and  oppos& sin because he hates sin. Th@.-<moment                 implies, among other things the following: First of all
he acquiesces in the presence of evil, grows accustomed it is his privlege and callng  to reprove and' condemn
to it, disregards it or, positively speakihg, counten- these evils when the occasion presents itself. .We  can-
ances it, associates with it or enjoys it, he ,is Christian        not grant that evil has the right of existence,  our
no more. His position is to fight.                                 position is that we shall condemn evil, in the light of
      And together with that his position is to stand the Trutli. But secondly, it is our .calling  to &ge  and
in the midst of his social  world-.and   sh&v   himself as  fhe    exhort  .others,  especially also thohose  who hold authori-
Party of  the.living  God. As-Covenant-friends of God              tative positions in the community, to reckon with the
it is our calling and position to bear out the' prophecy           Scriptures and especially the Decalbgue and cen$ralIy
of the Truth. To hold before others  the Word of truth             the- second table thereof. Did not David sing "thy
and apply that Word .on all sides of  us.. In order that .trtith  before the  .kings  of earth  tiith boldness I will
we, may be a testimony in the world;  a testimony that speak"?.                And. did not Paul protest before Felix,  1
we  are of God.      "Ye shall testify of  Me" said the Festus and Agrippa of righteousness, temperance and
Christ  aB He departed to heaven, that is .the distinction judlgment?  And, finally, it is our  callitig,  with other.
of the Christian. "Ye are the light of the- world" and             Christians, -when the opportunity presents itself, to
we are  light%hildren  among the children of men.                  register coecerted protest against or come with united
That'  is. the position which we are assigned by  God.             action to stamp out certain threatening evils. And
Not to assnme  this position is at once to be traitors to thus we shall show ourselves as "manfully fighting"
God%  Cause and deniers of our very-baptism.                       the good fight.
      Let the Christian, standing among the ever-appear-               And now in conclusion. The  Christian must main-
ing social evils, realize that such is his position. The tain his position and be of good courage. For he
world is no playground, mere rendezvous  or.   so.cial             will  -see that evils will not be stamped out, for they,
circus, but the  yvorld  is the battlefield  of-the saints like  cancer:  will break out elsewhere. He  .will  see
and the social evils are so many challenges for him to             that he cannot touch or reach but a few of the myriad
stand up and fight and lift high the emblem of His                 of evils round about him and can touch only the sur-
Party.                                                             face. And he will likewise see that his attempts will


                                              THI?  `STANljARD   B E A R E R                                                                 91

bring unpopularity and  very  enmity.  -The  Christian                covenant children. However, even to this very day,-
must  ibe of good courage for His God has shown him                   especially in America, the Sunday  S.chool  in  a measure.
the.  cour,se  of the antithesis  and   the outcome of his still seeks to provide instruction for the children of
warfare.       Evils will remain, always, even until the the  `utichurched.  Most Sunday Schools  weltiome   into
end, for God has ordained -the way of the antithesis                  their midst the children of the community at large,
until the encl. Nay, more yet, evil men  tiill wax worse              and  seek to include them with the children of the
and worse.                                                            church.
    Victory is there-but it lies in faith. Centering in                   To my mind the Sunday School should remain true
the final return. of- Christ in -judgment.          Victory  li,es    to its original purpose, and its proper place is first of
not here,  but  yonder. When the  judgme&s of God                     al! among such children. However, I do not believe
have swept away all evil and the Redeemed Family that we  ought  to follow the  exa,mple  of American
e&&ges from  the Ark, then they shall attain to  the-                 church in general  in.  bringing  tl"ie children who  al:e
new heaven and the new earth in which' dwells right-                  not of the covenant into one Sunday School with those
eousness.                                                             who are of God's covenant.                     For  o:bvious  reasons.
                                                         M. G.        First of all, the method of approach'necessarily differs.
                                                                      The children of the covenant should be treated as cove-
                                                                      nant children, while the others cannot and may not be.
                                  -                                   Furthermore, the children of God's covenant  br&ght
                                                                      up in Chiistian  -homes,  in the Christian School and
                                                                      enj,oying  catechetical instruction certainly cannot be
 The Proper  Placeof  the Sunday-School                               expected to study the same lesson the others -study.
                                                                      The former have much greater knowledge to begin
    What is the proper place of the Sunday School?                    with than those who  have  not received this instruction.
That is the*  question which we shall seek to answer in               It is as pedagogically  imposs?ble  to put them in the
th'is  paper. We `might understand our subject to same Sunday  School  classes as it is to pirt an eighth
assume  that  the Sunday School does. indeed have a                   grader in the same class with a beginner. And, finally,
place and consider it only to  .be  our task to discover there are grave dangers connected with bringing the
what this place is. We may- also take the subject a                   children of God's covenant into one  class  with the
bit'tiore  broadly, and then it demands an answer also                children of the unchurched. Dangers of intermingling,
to the question, Does the Sunday S:chool  really have a               of friendships, of the  cliilhren  of the church losing
place  among  the covenant youth? In the more general their distinctiveness and learning the  ways.  of the
sense we. have looked upon the subject.             -                 world, and that in the shaddw and under' the super-
                            _      _
                         :% 2-c   `i:  :i:                            vision of the church. Hence,.we  ought to object strenu-
    A.mong  the children of the unchurched, there; to                 ously against the  practise of bringing all children
my mind, the Sunday School is first of all in its proper promis,cuously  into one and the same Sunday School.
place.       Sunday  -School  is for those children whose                 The Sunday School for the children not of God's
parents  faii to  .provide  a  Chrititian  home,  school   an,d       Covenant ought  t? be separately organized, at least
catechism instruction for them. It is for children born               there ought to be separate classes. And Sunday School
and reared outside of the church and covenant of Gbd.                 is  fir&  of all in its proper place among such child-
To such' children if should direct its attention first                ren.    There  can be no objection  to such  ,Sur@ay
of all.                                                               Schools. They are even desirable.                                 .
    Such was the original intention of Robert Raikes                                          :g   ::<   :,:   :t
who is generally considered to be the founder of the
Sunday School movement. When Robert Raikes saw                         Lest you misunderstand my position, let me add at
how the children of the unchurched, especially of the                 once that I do not mean that  -the  Sunday School has no
poor, profaned the Sabbath and grew up in total                       place at all among and for the -covenant  children.                     I
ignorance of God and His Word, he was deeply moved                    admit -that I. do not believe its place is nearly as large
and finally conceived the plan of organizing Sunday                   as that frequently assigned to it, especially in most of
Schools to provide some training for the "little hea-                 the denominations of  our  day. Neither .do I believe
thens". and to take them. off the streets on the Sabbath. that its benefits anywhere  .near  compare with the
That was in the year 1780.              When the Sunday School instruction of the Christian School, nor with those of
movement grew by leaps and bounds,  not  only in                      catechisni. However, neither am I of the opinion that
England  but.  also throughout the. world in general,                 the Sunday School has no place at  all ampng the
the Sunday School gradually forspok its original  pur-                covenant youth, that it is .really  an evil.            Some oppose
page  and- became an instrument for  instrQcting  the                 the.   S.unday  School  fpr the covenant youth, many
                                                          -


 92                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D -   B E A R E R

 merely tolerate it; it is my position that we ought to         School can serve a purpose, a purpose of its own. We
 support it.                                                    ought to foster and not to oppose it. Bnt. of this later
       It is a fact  that  there are those in our Protestant    in.  the article.
 Reformed Churches that look upon the Sunday `School                2. A second argument used against the Sunday
 with apprehension and fear, who oppose it or at best           School is that there is no room for this instrument in
 merely  tolerate  it.                                          the Reformed "set-up". We have the Christian home,
       Their position ought not to be misunderstood. By         t;he Christian School and the catechism.  T.hese  three,
 and large, they certainly do not assume this attitude          each in its `own place, fill the whole need of  child-
 of oppositidn and aloofness because they underestimate         training. The Sunday School can add nothing; it  cati
 the task of the training of our children in the way            only repeat what was learned before elsewhere.
 they should go. On  th.e contrary, they on the whole,              We  wou1.d   answef  that even  `if it were true that
 are people that are strongly Christian School and nothing new could be learned in Sunday School-which
 Catechism minded and that fear the Sunday  School              is by no means necessarily true-then even mere repe-
 will  su!bstitute  School and catechism. They usually tition would be valuable. Repetition is a large part%f
 present the follo&ng  arguments :                              training, let us never forget. But, we  dq not believe
       1. There is a grave  danger that the Sunday School that there is no place at all for the Sunday School. It
 will usurp the  Rlace  of catechism and perhaps the it true it. can never accomplish in forty-five minutes
 Christian School,  ,especially  in our American world what the School accomplishes in daily periods of that
*where  Christian School and catechism are slighted and length; neither should it teach the doctrines and doc-
 opposed and the Sunday School is nurtured as a bosom trinal viewpoint, which  is the duty of lcatechism.                But
 child:  *This  danger is certainly not imaginary. It is        we  claih  that if the Sunday School adheres to the
 a fact, for example, that in the  Ref,ormed  Church of         method of the  interpretative-praobical-inspirational      it
 pmeritia the Sunday School has largely replaced the            can  fili a place all of its own, and  -add  `its bit in the
 catechism. According td the official statistics'given by       training of, our children.
 Dr.  E.  R,omig  in his  addkess  on the state of religion         Hence, I believe the Sunday- School should not be
 in the Reformed denomination, delivered at the General         .opposed,  it shouid not merely be tolerated, but it should
 Synod in 1941, there are 29,729 children enrolled in           be supported. -Indeed, not as  the  instrument of the
 their catechism classes while th'e  Sunday Schools have        training of the youth, b.ut  as another instrument, be it
 an enrollment. of 138,092.  dn other words there are that its value is relatively less than that of catechism
 five times as many children in Sunday School than              and  Christiian  School.
 there  are in catechism. Dr. Romig also stated that in             I believe  there,is a place for the Sunday. School for
 the Synod of Chicago  the catechism attendance was the covenant youth also for the following reasons:
 fast falling off. For a  qan Reformed in his  .convic-         First, our children can never receive too much in-
 $ions,  and not merely in name, it is distressing to see       struction, especially not in our day. Secondly, we do
 the official instruction of the catechism be replaced not ha-ve Christian Schools of our own  (with the
 `by the instruction of the Sunday School. It represents exception  of.  Redlands) and the general tenor of school
 a.  distin'ct  loss. For the instruction of ministers and in&ruction,our  children receive is Christian-Reformed.
 elders  comes an  instruct&l  of teachers  oniy   too fre-     As long as this is true, the Sunday School- can aid 'us
 quently poorly versed themsglves  in the knowledge of in. presenting the Protestant Reformed  view9t::n.t.
 Gbsd's Word.       Insteed  of the doctrinal knowledge         Thirdly, it provides, if it remains  t?ue  to its char-
gained in catechism comes the interpretative-practical acter., the-  &erpretabive-inspirational vie-wpoint which
 knowledge gained in the Sunday School.                         is an  a&et for  $he   chil,dren.
       We should feel for this argument even though we
 `dannot  agree with the conclusion. `By  no means ought                                  *  :i:  :+<    .*
 we alrlow  any instrument for the training of our  child-          In- conclusion, I wish to remark that to my mind
 ren threaten either the Christian School or the cate-
 chjsm.  These above  all.  But still I do not agree  that      the Sunday School should:
 because the Sunday School has replaced catechism in               `1. Adhere to the m&hod  of interpretative-practical
 other denominations, it  thgrefore  should be opposed instruction, and not attempt the doctrinal viewpoint.
 also  i-n  our midst. We ought to oppose any attempt The  latter is  the tasli  of the.catechism.
 to take the place of catechism. But that does not                  2. Never place itself on a par, as to value for the
 mean that the  S,unday  School  itself-  must be opposed.      covenant children, with either the Chl"istian  School or
 Because the Sunday School is frequently misused, it the catechism.
 does not necessarily foll&v that it is an evil in itself.          3. Be under the close .supervision  of the consistory.
 Not at all, no more than liquor in itself is an evil           The more because it is an organization controlled, not
 because  many.  misuse it. To my mind the  Supday              by the parents, not by the consistory,  notby  the pupils,


                                                  T H E ' S T A N D A R D   B E A R ' E R                                          93

i. b.ut by the teachers. Besides, it is busy in the serious              pating that some people,. -especially our youth, would
 business of the training of the chil,dr.en.              Finally, since say "Goody, now I can attend a drama occasionally  !" -
 the consistory is better qualified to know the character                he warns,  `f1  am  advocating,.the  hard way! You had
 and. ability of prospective teachers than the Sunday                    better reserve. your elation, for you may never find
 Schdol,  all nominations of prospective teachers should a drama  whilch   you  could or would attend". We find
 be submitted to the consistory f,or  approval.                         this to be very inconsistent, f,or  the simple reason ,that,
     4. Direct its efforts also  t.oward  the instruction of if Christian drama is possible, then it should not be
 the children of the unchurched by organizing separate                   difficult to arrange for plays, dramas, or even movies
 schools and classes.                                                    which are fit for our young people. In fact, we are
                          :1  :j:    :/:    *        )                   convinced that it would even be our calling to see to it
     Let  cs give the Sunday School an intelligent,  -heaXhy             that such opportunities for entertaining and instruct-
 Reformed support.                                                       ing our youth are provided for. It would be a very
                                                          I'.  D. B.     effective means of  com:bating  the evil of the modern
                                                                         movie, and the also prevalent evil .of  drama and plays
                                                                         that are unfit for our covenant youth. It is therefore
                                                                         our convilction  that the writer was not advocating the
                                                                         difficult  wlay,  but a very simple way  o.ut of the prob-
                                                                         lem.
         The -Evil  of- the Mo.dern Movie                                   However, we are concerned in -this essay with the            -
                                                                         movies. From what we have stated above, the reader
. ' A  word  of  i-ntroduction   regardi-ng  the  title of this may know that he is convinced that all drama, even
  article may not  he  ,out  of place. The reader-will notice solcalled  Christian drama, is wrong. It is for that
 that it is not entirely correct, and perhaps  someV~.h-at               reason also the conclusio,n  of the writer `of this article,
  con-fusing, to speak  -of."T,he.Evil-of  the Modern  movie".           that the movie as we know it in our day can never
 The expression may leave the. impression that not all                   be anything else but evil, since the movies are photo-
 movies, but merely the modern movies are evil, and graphic  repro:ductions  of the drama. But it is our
 as such to be avoided. In the  first. place,  .the  movie               intention in .this  article to point the reader to the sin-
 itself is  .a  .comparat.ively  `modern  .i-nvention  and insti-        ful character of the movie-industry in  o,ur  day. It is
 tution. And while we a-re perfectly aware of the fact                   a well-known fact, that the actors and actresses who
 that themovie-camera itself is not an evil thing, it is                 perform in them are godless men and  Women,  who care
 also very evident that the- institution- that has  develop-             nothing at all for the Kingdom of God and its right-
 from it is,  and  always has been, evil.                                eousness.    Not only do they "act" in the movies the
     In the second, place, permit me to state that I am life of the ungodly, but they themselves are such.
 not at all in agreement with the sentiments of the They  trampIe  under foot all of the holy institutions
 writer of an article which appeared recently in "The ,of  -God, including that of matrimony. Divorce among
  Standard Bearer".       I refer to the article under the these people is almost as popular as marriage itself.
 caption "Is Christian Drama Possible". And although                     To have onle's  fifth or'sixth  husband or wife is not -at
 it is not my  int,ention  to enter- into a public debate                all unusual among them. They even openly boast of
 with the  author   of that article, at least- not in this              these things, which ought to be their shame. And,
 present writing, I cannot refrain from expressing because of the almost fabulous sums of money they
 my dissatisfaction and disagreement with  the.  argu- are paid for their roles on the screen, they are able to
 ments and the conclusions  .of t-hat essay. We make live lives of luxury and ease which are almost unbeliev-
 these remarks only because_  we feel that the two sub- able. Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow
 jects are very closely related. For if Christian drama we die! is certainly their. philosophy of life. There is
 is even remotely possible, then the movies  nesd  not                  no God, and if there is, -what of it?
 necessarily be evil, and we should have to allow for                       The plays which are dramatized upon the screen are
 the discernment between "good" and "evil" plays or of an equally sinful character.                            This we can -know
 movies advocated by various church leaders. Without without attending the movie-theatre, si.mply  from the
  entering into a  .det.ailed  debate. with the author of                advertisements and publicity given the movies over
 "Is Christian Drama Possible", permit me to point out the radio and on the billboards, in newspapers and
 so>me of the inconsistencies  founld  therein. After the magazines galore.                    And what publicity ! What pic-
 author has weighed some of the-objections to Christian tures are posted to advertize these movies! Pictures
 drama and found them wanting, he states "I feel that that are suggestive of all that is sinful and corrupt in
 in the  f-ace  of these many  .arguments.  which oppose                human nature.  .The  very titles of many movies. im-
 the two main objections against. the drama, a blanket mediately ,strikes  one's attention. Such `as  "$00  Men
 condemnatianof~   tlhe drama is not valid."  `. Then,  antici-         And  A. Girl ,,,'  -~Cdu~   Wife';, `"Bachelor Mother", and


  94                                            T ' H E   S T ' A N D A R D   B E A R E R

  many others too sickening to mention.                   The plays hold of these good things, they are, of course, used in
 themselves present sin and corruption in  al1 their hor-                 sinful  ways  and to sinful ends. Agaitist  this we must
  rible `detail. Murder, roebery,  divorce, godless comedy warn again and again. And we cannot do this by
  and  passions are portrayed- to entertain the c&.mtless                 saying: The drama is  alright,  and some movies are
- millions of  movie-goers.            A play is  -accounted  a big       good.  -We  ought rather to say.  with the author  -of "A
  "hit" in  proportibn-to the sin and iniquity which the                  Compromise  On Movies", that there is no good movie.
 so-calded  "stars"  dram!atize  upon the screen. The most And the same author says, and I quote, "And the reason
  astounding `sacrilege, the dragging  .of the most holy is, that you cannot  clay.  with life and be  aoceptable  in
  things  i&o  the mire of sinful passion is  ,by no means                the sight of the Lord. Certainly it must be evident,
  tincommon.            Nay,  it is the rule, rather than the  ex-        that no child of God is able  to appear on  the stage
  &ption. In-one  aor,&  we can sum up the entire  movie                  or on the sfcreen,  playing the part of an ungodly man.
  as  horr?bl&   imgodliness.          Sin.  and vices are glorified, To be an ungodly man and to live an ungodly life is ad-
  and men and. women are deified.                                         mittedly an abomination in th.e eyes of Jehovah. But
        Wljat   r&St  be  `our  attitude, then,  overagainst  this to play such a part is no less abhorred.by  Him."
  modern ,&il? Shald  tie recognize it  r;ls  an evil, and then             -But  it is equally sinful to dramatize things holy.
  cdmprbinise  with it? This -seer& to  `be   th6 attitude Recently a picture  was   sho%n  in this territory. This
  ppevalent.  in the Church today. As early as 1928 the                   was one of those supposedly good movies. It was called
  Cl&tian   Reformed  Churches adopted this attitude;                     "Golgotha", and portrayed the sufferings of Christ
  Both in speeches and in practice the people of these upon the cross. This picture was heralded far and
  Churches were told  thlat  mdvies  are not necessarily                  wide as "instructive and "uplifting". It also was  re-
  bad. They;  were  told  to-   difterentiate  between good and commend.ed  by various church leeders. Think of it!
  bad  movies.   -One   suich  "good" niovie  tias  introduced A movie depicting the  ,awf,ul  sufferings of Jesus our
ambng   the young `people in  Chic$go,  Illinois. It was Lord. Who could ever act this role? Who'knows the
  the moving picture "Dr.  Maftin Luther". And not awful  depths  of the suffering Christ  un.der  the Wrath
 -ody-was this picture shown, but leaders in th& church                   of the living God? And then to have such. pictures
  cong&ul,ated.          the young people for their accomplish-           recommended by  leeders  of .the church.
  -m&t..- The tiatural  `outcome of such cbmprbmise  will                    Finally, let us combat this evil of the movie with
  be that the church becomes more and more movie                          all pur  might and main. Let us instruct. our youth to
  minded, of course. The youth `of the church  m&y then abhor it. Let  us  teach them really to  p&e   what  is the
  be warned against the  "b&d"   mo&s, but, pray, how goo,d  and well-pleasing and'perfect will of God.
  cati they distinguish unless they-first go to see various                  Then. we will be advocating the right way.
  pictures.          And we' certainly must not advise the leaders                                                      J. V. D. B.
  of the  church-  to visit  these.  ,movie-theatres  in order
  that they will be  abile to enlighten the people as to
  which~  plays  i$e good  br bad.           How astoundinily' ye-
  diculous !
        Shall  w&  thus  compro?nise   ?
        No, a thousand times, NO!                                                 THANKSGIVING  D:AY  PROGRAM
   L But what, then, must be our  attittide   over  against                  A Miscellaneous Thanksgiving Day Program spon-
  this terrible `evil? Our  ai&+&  is, and can only  be,  $               sored by the Talitha Society of Fuller Ave. Church will
  "blanket of condemnation".  We   must.  be in entire                    be rendered in the. First Protestant Reformed Church
  agreement  with the sentiment  df  an  airticle  which a@-              at 8:00 p. m., November 20. Plan now to spend this
  peared  in our paper on April  15tli  1927. In this' article            holiday evening in true Christian fellowship..               1
  the auf;hor  .br.%nded  .the  movie as positively an;d princi-
  pally wrong. And so it  is.-  It is principally wrong,                                                       The Committee.
  because the drama is also wrdng.  `These  two go `hand                                                       -
  in hand.           There  `is  no Cliristiah  theatre or movie pos-
  sible, for  `the  same  r&son that there is no  coniord
  or agreeme&  $ssfble  between Christ  and Belial. Light                                SALVATION'S  SCJHEME
  and darkness cannot  tialrk together. And this is for
  us'  suflicietit  evidence that-  the  movie-theatre may not                   Long ere the .sun beg,an  his days,
  be  condoned  by us. Mark well,  iye do not  say  that
  tlie'movie camera is an evil thing. Many of our young                          Or moon shot forth her sib&? rays,
  people own and operate one of these cameras. They                               Salvations  sheme  was fixed,  `tv?as  done
  ar&.,~po   indre  `evil than  any  other camera. These  `a&  all
  perfe&ly.go6d           gifts of Gbd,`.  But  when sinful'man  gets.           In covenant by the Three  in One.
               -.
                                                                                                                            .>a  .,


                                                  T H E   ST,ANDARD   B E A R E R                                                                95

                                                                          merit.  Besides attempting to destroy religions wor-
                             C u r r e n t   Everits                      ship, they-gave semi-official backing to the.league of
Religious Freedom In Russia                                   -     -.    the Militant Godless.
                                                                              It cannot be denied, of course, that the hatred
    Recenty  the  Pr,esident  has evoked' a storm of cri-                 against the church  wlas partly due to its political
ticism  frolm religious leaders in-the country by his                     power and intervention in .affairs that do not belong
statement about religious freedom in Russia. He cited to it. Nevertheless, it is  .essentially  much more that
the Russian constitution,  arti,cle  124, which pledges                   the  Com.munists  hate. They hate teachings of Chris-
free,dom  of r,eligious  worship and of anti-religious pro-               tianity just as the Nazis. In one of their  Protoculs
paganda. Article 124 of the Russian constitution r,eads                   we read, "We must extract the very conception of ,God
as follows : "In the object-of ensuring to the citizens out of the minds of the Christians. . . . We must
free.dom  of conscience, the church in the  U.SS.R.  is                   destroy all professions of faith.  " Why  `do the na-
separated from the State and the school from the tions rage so furiously together? It is against the
church.           Freedom of service of religious cults  anId             Lord and His anointed.
freedom  .of  anti-religious propaganda is acknowledged                       The Russian fury underwent a continual modi-
for all citizens." This, said the  Presi,d.ent,  resembles fication it is true. In 1936 the article 124 took effect.
the rule  -o!btaining  in  Ameri,ca,  where anyone can                    Because of these modifications many leading church
mount a soapbox and preach religion or rail against                       men took a `different stand over' against Russia in
it as he pleases.                     .                                   late years. For that reason we also, have many who
    It  was,  however, not only &%ticism  that the Presi-                 seek something we have in common with Russia in
dent's statement aroused. Many others advised the                         order to rally support to fight that beast Hitler. It
President to make this the price of Lend-Lease aid to                     is my conviction that there is absolutely no fundament-                           .
Moscow. One of the nation's leading Catholics wel-                        al difference between Comimunism  and Nazism as far
comed the move to open up religious  free,dom  in Russia.                 as their  atti&de towards religion and Christianity
The White House also intimated that such was its in-                      is concerned.
tention and  hard   instruct,ed  W. Averell  Harrima.n  to                    What is the religious situation in Russia today?
discuss the religious question with the Stalin govern-                    There is religious worship in  churc.hes   whch  are left
,ment.          The official statement of a Russian. spokes-              of the  destr.ucton.  Foreigners estimate that there are
man was a  disappoint.ment  to religious leaders and                      only about 30,000 active congr.egations  still in Russia.
government`officials in our country.                                      But there is absolutely no religious freedom, no right
    Mr. Roosevelt's statement caused  us  all undoubted-                  of free propaganda,' as there is in our country.
ly to ask some questions and make some reflections
about religious freedom in Russia  a.nd in the world.                         This present dislcussion  of religious freedom should
For  it is especially from this angle that we view the                    cause us to be reflective. We must not be  de-ieved.
present  ,chaos.  We will often ask ourselves the ques-                   It is my observation that religious freedom is granted
tion, what  sig-nificance  has the present struggle for                   today largely because of selfish and-  pragmatical res-
the cause of the Church of Jesus Christ? Though  w,e                      sons. Freedom is granted for political or intellectual                       :
cannot see it oftentimes, we believe that all world                       reasons. It also seems that the loss of religious free-
events,* current  eve,nts, take place only under the di-                  dom goes hand in hand with the rise of dictatorial
rection of Christ and only- for the development- of His                   powers today. Presently such shall be the. case in the
C h u r c h . .                                                           Antichristian power of the beast.
    The history of the Russian religious persecution C h u r c h   U n i o n
dates back to 191'7, when the Bolsheviks came into                            In the  Christian  Centuq   of October 15 there  ap;
power by a revolution:                     They had two reasons for peared  an article about a movement for Church union
destroying-religious worship -as well as political free                   in' England. The following is a qoutation which- ex-
dom :           1. because of their belief in the -teaching of            plains what is taking place in England. . .              :.
Karl Marx, who  sai'd, "religion is the opium of the                          "While the war has  temporarily  clogged the  lvorldwide
people", and 2. because they determined to destroy movement toward Christian unity, launched at Oxford and
the political power of the church. The Communists,                        Edinburgh in 1937, it may actually release  .and  facilitate the
as is well known, almost destroyed all their foes,  po-                   impulse for the union of churches in a single nation. In  Eng-
                                                                          l.and  it appears to be working out in this way. There the
litical as well.as  r.eligious.            Thousands fled the country.    Free Churches, are drawing together under the powerful stimu-
Their secret police, called the Chd:n,  was just as effec-                lus inherent in the situation which the war has brought about.
tive as the German Gestapo. They jailed, exiled and exe- A manifesto issued a month ago by some 75 prominent leaders
cuted priests and bishops by the thousands and co,n-                      of the Congregational, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist de-
fispated  all the property of the  Gr,eek  Orthodox church,               nominations called upon their people to consider the  p.rovi-
                                                                          dential  opportunity and to explore the possibility of merging
which was the established church of the Tsar govern-
          _        ;,    ., . . .                                         their separate bodies in one United Free Church:"
                                                                               .-                                                        j' . .
                             . . .                                                          .                                      :"- `.-  >.:r
                                                                                                                                          `,:
                              0


                                                                                _._~  ----.-  -
                                                              STANDA'RD   .-BEARER
-     -                                                                                                                                                          I
     -  ' The  &i,cl.e.  explains  lthat   .`the  Federal  CounLil  of          and the essence of Chrstianity because he speaks .I
     Free Churches  has  the proposal  ins  hand now.' It also                  of the "New Christendom".                            !                           I
     gives  its-  comment upon the attempt at Church union
     .as such. In the main the gist of the writer's argu-                       The  L,abor-  Mess                                        .
     ments for Church union  ares: 1. Differences  betwken                        Ever since the  countfy-  was being. genred for the
     churches, are insubstantial and trivial. 2. Union will                     "def,ence  of  demoncracy"  and  became  `the arsenal
     heip  churches confront  diffi&lties. Fol".divided  and ob-                for the  demoncracies!!  `it  :has  -enjoyed the  ~feeling.  of
     scured iestimoriy  will  hind.er  establishment of the new                 the  lack  of sufficient labor instead of  tl&   otiersupply-
     C!hristendolm  after the war. Disunion has a bad effect                    of man power. Along with the rise in  "prosperif;y"
     upon mission work in. foreign lands. And problems                          came the labor trouble. In the-aircraft industries, in
     of-  reconstitution can better  be faced Unitedly.                         the shipyards, in k.ey  defense industries, major stri!kes
           There can be no question  a.bout  the  desira.bility  and            were called by labor  lea.ders.                 Such a slowing up of
     the necessity of Church unity.  B.ecause  the true Church,                 productiqn  has forced the government to step in and
     the body of Christ, is one, it must strive for unity.                      either enforce arbitration or even take over and run
     The Church must manifest  l&e command of Christ to the plants,                                 The public  also.  has become indignant
     lbve   q~e  anoth:er.   _  This  love  sf one another is based             with the labor unions  and  its leaders. Much of the
     upon the love of God which  has  been  spread ~&brqcd  in                  trouble is due to  the hatred between the two  maj.or
     our hearts. If we love God  we will love  one -aeother.                    and rival unions, the CXO and AFL, who-both seek the
           Such  re&ons  do  not  appear  in  any   dis:cqss$jn  of             upperhand in control of labor.  .The  struggle is also
     the present movement for  Ghbrch  union. The  rea-                         f,or the closed shop. The latest strike of importance
     sons are always utilitarian. The Churches seek power was that of the workers of the "Captive"  cQa1  mines.
     and safety in these times in union. It is the idea of John L. Lewis, the leader of the UMW, is the one who
     man  always   to-prot.ect  himself. It is not considered is defying `President Roosevelt; who  asked  that work
     whether the union  of-  t-he church is  Based  upon  the                   continue at the captive coal mines  p,ending  settlement
     love of God and His truth.  -It  should be the  att,empt                   of the  .dispute.  In the Newsweek John L. Lewis is
     of the  C%urch   .to  f&l1 her calling to speak God's deslcribed  as "a hardheaded survivor- of two decades
     Word.. If  it causes strife and hatred  .and  disuni'on                    of bitter. and bloody battles within his  ,own  union." It
     that  IGust   ;lot deter the Church from speaking the                      is also stated `that he was unabashed when President
     truth.                                                                     Wilson in 1919 called a `threatened coal walkout "un-
           The writer of the article ignores  .fundamental   dif-               justifiable" and "unlawful" and 400,000 men quit
     fer.ences   .tha$  have   caus.ed  the  -divisions  in churches.           the cod  pits on Nov. 1 of that Year. In the  DaiZv
     He  ca&,   them   insub&@&  and trivial.  Because  the                     N.ews  of  Las  Angeles, the kditor says, after giving a
     trqe  church  r:epresentecl  by  the  people  of  God  in  it?             history of Lewis' activity in the  past decades,  "Bye
     h@to~y  has  f-ough$  for  the.  truth of  God's  Word in all              thi,s  time, however, it had become apparent that Lewis?
                                                                .;
     it.? purity it.  h-as   sufferd  from  i&e  bands   of the false           chi.ef  interest was the  welfare  of Lewis." The dif-
     church, which  of$entj.rn-es  -was in the majority and fe2ence.s  are no-w. not  at~all  abont  wage,s  and hours but
     therefore deposed  the minority  from its  com.upipn.                      &out the closed shop and control.
     T.&  process of  .depar.tur.e~   from  the  ;tr.utl?.   di-d   not  al-      It is plain. that the unions and. their leaders are
     ways appear in  i.ts  final  stage.  For that  reason  we                  j.ust as this leader,  concer$ed  abont their own con-
     have the many almost  innumera&!e   di,visions  in trol and power irrespective pf  the interests of others.
     churches.     Sometimes because. of reluctance to go the When they strike for the closed shop it ought to become
     way of the consequence of their first departure there plain to us that we are absolutely in the wrong tq be
     remained a certain conservative group in the group                         a member  ,of   s,uch  an organization which uses such
     that first departed. A  moie liberal  gioup arises and                     force, a strike, to gain its objective by force, the
     again causes a rumpus  and  another division results.                      closed shop.                                                   -L.  D.
     Large groups probably. remain who have finally                                                               -M.
     Tea&hed   :tpe  stage of complete departure from the                                                     I N   Iv@iVl.OR$A&l
     truth. It only speaks a  s&al  gos$el  of  man'  and fpr
     man. Probably  if we look  .a$  the history  in that  way                    #The  consistory   of the First  PSotestant  R&formed Church of
                                                                                Grand Rapid?,  heJreby  wishes to express its heartfelt sympathy
     we can agl:ee  wi.th the writer, hcjwever,  when he sum-                   to our brother ~consistory   -member,  Deacon .`A.  Vos in the loss
     marizes the differences as trivial and insubstantial.                      of his  father-
     Probably in none of -those groups mentioned is there                                                        Y S B R A N T   VOS
     that  love for the truth-and  a walk in the way of their                     May the.  Loxd  of all Grace comfort the brother in  this  his
     own  confession handed down from  their   aqces&rs.  .It  is               psT:e_avemen$.                          2
                                                                                    :--.            `J'be   ,Consistory   bf  t]lle First Prot.  pef. Church,
     evident that the  wri'ter  is a  mod,ernist   who  ignores                                         .a            ~  ._  ".I.H.  Hoeksema,  Pres.  `8
     the guidance .of.  the. S&it   ig the`.&.&&  ii!: the   p&,                                                                6.  Stonehouse, Clerk


