VOLUME XVIII.                                    MAY 15, 1942                                             NUMBER 16

                                                            condition. And in these trespasses and sins, in the
                                                            sphere of them, having our. delight in them, we walked :
       M E D I T A T IjO N                                  we thought and desired and planned and willed and
                                                            spoke and acted ; quite according to the course of this
                                                            Iworld, according to the prince. of the power of the
                                                            air, the spirit that now  worke6h in `the children of
            Quickened. With Christ                          disobedience. And having our conversation among
                                                           - these children of disobedience, we walked according to
            Bid  Go,& who is rich  iin  memy,  for  his the lusts of our `flesh, fulfillirig its .desires : enmity
          great love wherewith he loved us, even when against God ; and thus we `were children of wrath,
          we were dead irz sins, hath quickened us to- none better than `%he others" !
          gether with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) ;         Quite worthless we were,  br rather, worthy of dam-
          and ha.th raised us~up together, and made us n a t i o n .
          sit together in  heckvenly places in  Chris`t         Desperate was our condition.
          Jesus.                                                There was no ray of hope, as far a! we cwere ,con-
                                       E p h .   2:4-6. cerned ; nor ,did we even look for one!
   But God! . . . .                                             And you. . . .
    T.here  is an evident contrast here  .with the pre-         But God!
ceding verses of this chapter.
   At the beginning of =this chapter the apostle had
purposed a  differ,ent  ,construction  : "And you", he
wrot,e,  and, no doubt, intended to continue at once:           Quickened, made alive !
"hath he quickened `together with Christ". Of Christ,          IHe hath qtiickened  us. . . .together  with ,Christ !
and bf God's exceeding great power of salvation re-             He ,hatih raised us up rtog&her, and He hath made
vealed and wrought in Him as He raised Him from us sit together in heavenly places in Christ'!
the dead, and exalted Him far above all principalities          ,O, blessed  be the God  and Father of our  Lor:d
`and powers, and might and dominion, and every name Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual
hhat is- named, of this glorious Head of the Chuach         blessings in heavenly places in Christ!
.he had written in the preceding chapter. And no.w he           The three' terms belong together, are intimately
was about to describe the riches  df salvation the r,elaDed:  quickened, raised up, .made US sit in heavenly
Church. has in tshat Christ: "and you". . . .        "      places !
   But as he thinks of  that  ,exceeding   great mercy          We were `dead, and He hath quickened us, made us
of  <God whereby He quickened  belie&s, he  cannoit         alive. In the same sense in which `we were dead, we
lbut  ,divert ,his thoughts to the ldepkh of misery from- are now living. Dead we were in trespasses and sins
which they have Ibeen delivered.                            and unto righteousness ; zili.ve we are  no'w against
   0, it is, indeed, a great love, .a marvellous gracie     sin and uhto righteousness. D.ead we were so that all
that quickened us with Christ.                              ,our ithinking and willing and desiring were motivated
   pnd 40 `measure at all the gr,eaitness of that mercy by enmity against God ; dead in darkness and unto
we must remember wher.e  we `were when it found us, light ; aliv,e we are now so that we mind. the things
in what dkpths of misery we had Ibeen submerged when ,of the Spirit in the love of `God.
it began  $0  Idraw  us up on high. And you. . .  ~who          Yes, but the neiy life swhereby He quickened us is
were dead through trespasses and sins! $3~~ wag our not a return to the ~lcj life, only delivered %rQm thhe


      350                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE.R

      dominion of sin. It is resurrection life. For He hath               For surely, `it does not yet belong to the things
I    raised us up together with Christ. And the r,esu.rrec-           that are perceived that we are quickened together with
     tion of Jesus Christ from the `dead is no return to our Christ; that `we are p&takers of His glorious resurrec-
      earthly, mortal ,existence, but an advanice  into i-or-         tion life, and that we reign  tiith Him in  heavtenly
     tality, the state in which death hath no more dominion places. We are as yet on the earth, not- in heaven.
      over Him, the life of  perf,ect' freedom  that can be And we are earthy, not heavenly. And we are not
     enslaved nevermore. It is the life incorruptible, power- glorious,  but full of troubles and affli,ctions;  not vic-
      ful, glorious, as far above the life'which .Adam knew torious, but often utterly  def,eated;  not reigning in
      in his original state of in4egrity as heaven is above           power, ibut oppressed by the enemy. And we still lie
     the. earth, victorious, ,eternal  lif.e, life that can never in the midst of death, ,bearing about with us the ,body
     die! And to be raised up together in Christ signifies            of this death, mortal, corruptible, weak, and in dis-
     Ohat we become partakers of that resurrecition  life of honor, Nor is it true, according to all appearances,
      Him Who is the Head of the body, &e Church !                    that we are delivere,d from sin's power. For, while we
          H.o$elessly  dead jn sin ; quickened unto eternal life !    have a .delighi; in 4he law of God according to inner
           Still ,more.                                               `man, we find another law in our members, warring
     '       By 4he exceeding great power of ,God Christ was `against the law of our mind, and bringing us into cap-
      set at the right hand of the Most High in heavenly tivity to the law of sin. . . i
     places. He is exalted. He reigns. He has all power                   0, wretched men that we are!
     in heaven and on earth. And when God quickened us                    Yes, but from' this depth of shame and misery,
     `together with Hi.m, and raised us up together with from this darkness of ideath in the midst of which we
      Christ, $He also exalted us with our Lord and Head, lie, we rise victoriously by faith ! We ldok upon our
     so that ,we are with Him in those heavenly `places,              crucified' LorId, Who  she.d His  lifelblood  for our sins,
     partake of His heavenly glory and mighty dominion !              and laid `His life  oti the  al4ar of perfect  love'before
             Quitikened unto righteousness, raised unto immortal the face of  (God for our transgressions, Whom God
     glory, exalted unto vi&orious dominion f                         raised from the dead, and in Whose exaltation to
           All wit& Christ, in .Him!                                  the right hand of power in heaven ,God r,evealed  His
           He is the gr.ound of it. For we are by nature-child-       exceeding great power; and we believe that God hath
     Een of wrath that are worthy of eternal  dea4h. But .quickened us with `Him, hath raised us up together,
     He is the incarnated Son of God, W%o laid down His and made us 40 sit in heavenly places together in Him !
     life for us, and by this voluntak;y sacrifice of love ob-           By faith we know that this glorification &with Him
     tained f,or us the forgiveness of sin, eternal righteous-        is very really an  aecom$lished  fact.
     ness and life.                                                      For by faith we know that we are in Him, that He
           `Through His obedience unto the death of the cross>        is the Head and we are the members of His *body.
     .dea4h forever lost the right to have dominion over us!          We are in Him by an act 02 God's sovlereign  mercy;
           And He is the principle of it!                             for He hath chosen us in Him befmore  4he foundation of
           For He was raised as the firstborn of the tdead, pre-      the world. In  $God's eternal and immutable counsel
     paring the way for all His brethren.                             `He. and we are inseparably united, so that He is re-
           And `He was made the quickening Spitit.                    sponsible for us, `His work is imputed to us, what He
           As such He is the Head of the body, the church, does we ,do, ,what  is (done to Him is done to us. With
     that through Him the whole body may be quickened !               Him we are united in His death, so that when He died
           And in Him and with. Him-:they  live forever!              we died ; with Him we are united in His resurrection,
           B l e s s e d   L o r d !                                  so that when He was raised we were raised ; with Him
                                                                      we were uni4ed when from the mount of Olives He
                                                                      ascended into highest glory, so that we were take% up
                                                                      in Him!
           He hath quickened us!                                         WheIl Christ was raised, 4he body was quickened,
           And Be hath raised us up together with Him, and raised up together with Him ; when He was made to sit
     made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ!               in heavenly places, the Ibody was exalted together with
           IThe qui&ening and resurrection and exaltation df aHim, because it is forever in Him!
believers With their  Lor,d  Jesus Christ is  .presented                 And by faith in Him we lay hold upon the accom-
     here as an accomplished fact.  -...                              plished fact of our being quickened and glorified with
           Partly, this fact is an object of our faith.               Him!
           We lay hold ,of it, so that -we can appropriate the           Partly, too, o, very much in part, ,but, nevertheless,
     language of the Word ,of God here as our owni by that very really, this quickening with .Christ is a.fa,ct of our
     faith which is an evi(dence  of things unseen, the sub- present experience. There  .are, indeed, those that
     s t a n c e   o f   ithings  h o p e d   f o r ;                 would. deny this. According to them?  the Word of ,God


                                      T      H     E              STAND'ARD-BEA~RER;"!   !j  i                               `351

here and in other., similar passages speaks on!y ideally. depth of the divine heart; it is sovereign; i4 is free;
Christ alone is quickened, raised, exalted ; and of us it is Ieternal. . . .
this can be said only in as far as ideally we belong 40               By grace I ati saved !         -
Him, and lay hold upon Him an,d all His benefits by                    By grace  `He elected  :me, knew me with a idivine
faith. The realization of this il,ory and life is all to l,ove, whereby I was tion.derfully  engraven  in. the palms
come in the future. But, surely, we are  -also now ,of His hands. By grace He united me with Christ,
quickened with Him, raised from the `dead, exalted with ,His only begotten Son. By grace  I&e beheld me in
Him in heavlenly places. If it were not so, :He woulld be IChrist, ,eternally, bef0r.e 4he foundation of the world,
a Stranger to us, and never could we even lay hold on justified, glorified, transfsormed  according to the image
Him .by f ai41.i.                                                  of His Son, a proper object ,of His great love!
  He dwells in us by His .Spirit.                                      And for that love !He Iblessed me with all spiritual
    By 4hat Spirit He Iquickened  us, and instilled within [blessings in heavenly places in ,Christ !
our hearts the  ,beginning of  - His resurrection life!               10, let us not overlook the bea&y of this expression;
Principally, we .are very really Idead to sin and alive for IHis great love ! It does not mean the same thing ai
unto righteousness. And our life is hiId with Christ in .through His great love,.or by His great love, or out of
,God, so that we seek the things that `are above. New              His ,great love ; but it means on Naccourrzt  of His grea6
creatures we are. We reign with Christ #even in the love wherewith He loved us! That love was the divine
midst of  Idegeat. Old things have passed away,. all               cause, hid in the unfathomable ,depths  of the divine
things ar,e become new!                                            heart of God, <of His act of ,qui&ening  us with Christ,
    Partly, this accomplished fact is still an <object of          of raising us up together,  ,and making us 40 sit in
hope !                                                             heavenly places together with and in Christ!  That
    For the complete realizat,ion  of all this glory, the love was there. It was there #eternally ! It was there,
full manif,estation of it, cannot come until.He shall be           in the heart of God, immutably. And it was  grea4!
manif,ested  in glory and we shall be revealed with Him            A mighty, an unquenchable fire of love it is! It is
at His coming. Fo.r, even bthough, nay; because of the eternally active. And, though this  expr.ession  is far
very fact that we have the firstfruits of 4he Spirit, we too human aed too weak, we may say that this great
now groan within ,ourselves, waiting for the adoption,             love  mus4  b`e satisfied!  ;God seeks and realizes the
to wit, the redemption ,of our body!                               satisfaction `of His own love in us!. . . . .
    For we are saved in hope!                                          0, marvellous,  incomprehensible love !
  But hope that is seen is noi hope! For what a man                    For t&at loye, on account of it, to satisfy it fully,
seeth, why ,doth he yet hope for?                                  He ,quickened-us,  He raised us up, He made us to sit
    But if we hope for that which we see not, we wait together in heavenly places wi+h Christ !
for it in patience!                                                    0, yes, that ebernal love is the ultimate reason and
    For ,what  is now true only in pi5nciple shall be fully cause of all!
reali,zed  when ,He comes !                                           iIt is the fountain, too, of the riches of :His mercy!
    We are quickened and we shall be quicken&d!                        Fdr God is rich in mercy! *He is blessed Himself,
    We ar,e raise.d and we shall be raised together with           the infinite fulness of blessieg. And He wills to make
him !                                                              us blessed, too; blessed as He is blessed, in the sphere
    ,And our still unseen sitting with Him in heavenly of perfect holiness. That will and strong desire to make
places shall thenqlbe  openly .and universally manifest !          IUS blessed with  l3i.m in His mercy. It reveals itself
    D,e$th shail be completely swallowed up in life !              to us as great. For we were in the ,depths  of misery
    For. ever and ever !                                           and death, children of wrath, enemies of (God, hateful
                       _                                           and hating one another. But His love is immutable,
                                                                   an,d ,His mercy never faileth, and l3e drew us out of
                                                                   the  .d&pth of darkness  .and  ,death into, the glory of
    W o n d r o u s   l o v e !                                    .eternal  light and life!
    Fur of !His great love wherewith He loved us all               Riches  ,of mercy!
this glory is the revelati,on and r.ealizationf                        Revelation of that great love w.herewith  I3e loved
    IHe loved me, i1 know not *why. . . .                          u s !
    ,Or rather : He loved me, and I know that it tias not             IThe greatness ,of which was manifdsted in the death
for any goodness or excellency that I possessed of my- of His Soq !
self, or `as a response to the love wherewith I l,oved                 And  the pdwer  #of which is realized in our being
.Him ; but only for His own name's sake. The reason, quickened together with  iHim!
the ground/the mdtive `of this wondrous love, which I                 ,6, my God!
can never  Sathorn  .is  pyrefy divine ; it  is hid in the                                                  ,..     H. H,
                                                                                                           .G

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


                                      The Standard Bearer
          Semi-Monthly, except Monthly in July  awd August                                                                                                                                        :.  E D I T O R I A L S
                                                                        Published by
                        The Reformed Free  Pub!ishing  Association
                                                     1101  Hazen  Street, S. E.
                                             EDITOR  - `Rev.  ,H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                             De Gronden
   Contributing editors-Revs. J. Blankespoor, A. Cammenga,
   P. De Boer, J. D. de Jong, H. De Wolf,  L; Doezema,                                                                                                                                               Uit het Agendum voor de Synode vernam  ik, welke
   M. Gritters, C. Hanko, B. Kok, G. Lubbers, G. M. Ophoff,                                                                                                                                      de  lgronden  waren, waarop de  iestrudie van  Classis
   A. Petter, M. Schipper, J.  Vanden   Breggen,  H. Veldman,                                                                                                                                    West gebaseerd is, ,om voortaan om (de twee jaar in-
   R. Veldman, W.  Verhil, L. Vermeer, P. Vis, G. Vos,                                                                                                                                           -plaats van ,elk jaar als kerken in synode te plergaderen.
   and Mr. S. De Vries.                                                                                                                                                                          -Vertaald luilden ze als volgt:
   Communications relative to contents should be addressed                                                                                                                                           1. Bet is bewezen, dat `er niet voldoende werk is
   to REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand                                                                                                                                          voor ,een j aarli j ksche synode.
   Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                                                                                 2. /Het geringe werk, dat de synode geroepen is te
   Communications relative to subscription should be  ad-                                                                                                                                        doen, weegt niet lop tegen de onkosten aan eene synode
   dressed  to MR. R.  SCHAA.FSMA, 1101  Hazen  St., S. E.,
   Grand Rapids, Mich.  All Announcements and Obituaries                                                                                                                                         ver'bonden.
  must be sent to the above address and will not be placed                                                                                                                                           -We willen ,deze gronden in dit artikel beoordeelen.
  unless the regular fee of $1.00  accompanies the notice.                                                                                                                                           Het .mag allereerst we1 opgemerkt worden,  $dat deze
                                                  Subscription $2.50 per year                                                                                                                    beide gronden feitelijk  e&n zijn. De tweede grond
         E n t e r e d   as  s e c o n d   c!ass   m a i l   a t   G r a n d   R a p i d s ,   M i c h i g a n                                                                                   hoedt alles in: het weinige werk, dat de synode te doen
                                                                                                                                                                                                 heeft,  is het geld niet waard, dat er aan besteed  moet
                                                                                                                                                                                                 worden.    IImmers,   als het niet was om de onkosten,
                                                                                                                                                                                                 maakte het geen verschil `of de synode weinig of veel
                                                                                                                                                                                                 te ,doen had. Er zou dan geen bezwaar  zijn; om tech
                                                                                                                                                                                                 elk jaar te vergederen, ook  .a1 kon de synode haar
                                                                                                                                                                                                 agendum in  e$n  ndag afwerken.        B,ovendien   zal het
                                                                       CONTENTs                                                                                                                  .duidelijk  zijn, `dat, indien het niet om de onkosten ging,
                                                                                                                                                                             Page                de ,eerste  grond ook izou kunnen worden ingebracht als
MEDI'l!ATION   -                                                                                                                                                                                 teen bezwaar tegen twee jaarlijksche  synoden.         Het
  QUICKENED WITH CHRIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349                                                                    agendum voor een twee-jaarlijksche synode zal weinig
           Rev. H. Hoeksema.  .-                                                                                                                                                                 grooter  zijn  Idan van een jaarlijksche. De  $ewone
                                                                                                                                                                                                 belangen, die we genieenschappelijk .behartigen,  blijven
EDITORIALS  -                                                                                                                                                                                    ,dezelf'de.  We he'bben  <den  ,eigenlijken groed  Poor de
  DE GRONDEN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352                        instructie  dus in de tweede overweging.
  JAMMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354                  Tech  willen we  [den eersten grond `ook  ,onder  de
           Rev. H. Hoeksema.                                                                                                                                                                     oogen zien.
TlHE  TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE  -                                                                                                                                                                            En dan willen we-allereerst  letten  op de bewering :
  EXP08ITION  OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM........354                                                                                                                                             "Het is bewexen, (dat ,er niet genoeg wer.k  is."
  R e v .   H .   H o e k s e m a .                                                                                                                                                                  Ik begrijp niet al te goed,-  wat `Classis West daar-
  THE PLACE OF THE BOOK OF- ESTHER IN THE                                                                                                                                                        mee .bedoelt.    Is het de bedoeling  van ldeze Ibewering,
  CANON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358    dat er op  ,de  laatste vergadering van  IClassis West
           Rev. G. M. Ophoff.                                                                                                                                                                    `overtuigend  lbewijs  is. geleverd Poor  ,deze bewering?
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Dan heeft grond 1 `zelf behoefte  aan gronden. En dan
  DE B'OOZE MEN,SCH  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ ..,....................  363 ware het beter geweest, dat we de bewijsvoering, die
           Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                                           adoor grond 1 wordt verondersteld, fook in het agendum
  ERASMUS AND THE REFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365                                                                                                   ,hadden  kunnen lezen. Zooals  bet nu staat, kunnen we
          .Rev. H. De Wolf.                                                                                                                                                                      niet eens een poging doen, om het bewijs, dat Classis
                                                                                                                                                                                                 West blijkbaar meende te hebben, te wegen en te be-
  IIS- CATECHISM  PREACIHING  MINISTRY OF THE                                                                                                                                                    ,oordeelen. In `dat geval zal het de -task der afgevaar-
  -WORD ? . ..-.............................................................................  ;. . . . . . . 368                                                                                 digden van  IClassis West  we1  moeten   worden  geacht,
           Rev. M. Schipper.                                                                                                                                                                     om  ,dat bewijs op de vergadering der  a.s. synode te
  mwNs  FROM OUR  CHURCBES . . . . ..*.................................... 37; lever&.
           Mr. S. De Vries.                                                                                                                                                                          Intusschen  zal  zulk  .bewijs  zeker op feiten  rich
 -,  1.v  .A(. ---  .*-..  /.  _.  _, . .  -.-~...~                                                                                                                                              moeten  grow& Es ,die feiten  zullen .x-no&en  wonden


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                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               353

ontleend aan de Acta der twee gehouden synoden, die                 Het antwoord op deze vraag zal we1 ontkennend moeten
van 1940 ,en 1941.                                                  wezen.    Wie zal beoordeelen of uitrekenen, hoeveel
    Welke zijn nu die f,eiten?                                      het werk in  @Gods   -koninkrij,k "waard" is, als het in
    De synode van 1940, zoo leeren we uit !de .R&a,                 geld  betaal'd moet  worden?  <Geld en de  dingen van
vergaderde vier en  ,een halven dag, en hield negen IGods koninkrijk  lzijn twee ongelijke grootheden. Er
zittingen. De  Acta inhoudende het financieel rapport zijn maar twee gevallen denkbaar, waarin de tweede
ibeslaan  acht ,en zeventig bladzijden druks. Als we ldit grond van Classis W,est stqek houdt : 1. Het geval, dat
vergelijken met ons klkin ,getal als kerken, dan mogen h,et houden eener jaarlijksche synode geld .verkwisten
-we zeker zeggen, -dat dit een. zeer lange synode was,         is. 2. .Het geval, dat het houden eener synode een Ite
<en  ,dat er zeker heel wat werk  aan  d,en  winkel was.       zwaren geldelijken last op de schouders van ons volk
Hetzelfde  gel:dt van  d,e synode van 1941. Deze  ver- leg-t.
gaderde ietwat  lorter, omdat de arbeid aanstonds                      !Het  ,eerste  is zeker niet waar.  We. hebben reeds
beter georganizeerd werd ,en onder enkele commissi.es          aangetoond,  dat Classis West geen grond heeft om te
van preatdvies  werd verdeeld. Daaruit is het misschien spreken van een "small amount of business". Het is
te verklaren, dat, ofschoon deze synode slechts zeven zeker geen geld verkwisten, dat de kerken eens in het
zittingen had, de Acta langer zijn dan ,die der eerste, - jaar samenkomen om de ,gemeenschappelijke  belangen
en met het financieel rapport zes en tachtig blaclzijden van kerk ,en school en zending te behartigen. Classis
druks lbeslaan. Wie zal~nu bewijzen, dat er niet genoeg West&elt voor, om ,eens in de twee jaar de toelage voor _  ,:.  _
werk was voor  leene  @node, die drie of vier dagen behoeftige kerken` vast te stellen,  ,en  .om het eind-                      :~
vergaderde? Vergeet niet, dat gewone  synoden, die                  examen voor candidaten te laten geschieden ,door  de
sleehts de gemeenschappelijke  tbelangen   (der kerken theologische school commissie. (Het eerste zal echter
behartigen, en die niet met bijz0nder.e  probl,emen  heb- in de tpraktijk  niet zoo gemakkelijk gaan. Het tweede
ben te worstelen, gewoonlijk niet de langste zijn. Als zal  we1 kunnen ; maar  dan  :zal  `die  commissie  beter
er moeite is ,overleer en tucht, ,als er allerlei protesten         de kerken in het gemeen  ,moeten  vertegenwoordigen,
ter tafel zijn en zaken van appel, dan zit eene kerke-              dan ze thans doet, .en zeker ook uit ,de kerken van
lijke vergadering gewoonlijk voor  ,een  langen tijd. Classis West  moet,en   .worden  gekozen of benoemd.
Zooiets hebben we op onze synoda1.e vergaderingen nog Maar er  zijn  ,ook andere zaken  lder school, die be-
niet gehad. We mogen dus uit de Acta veilig de con-            hartigd moeten worden. En dan is daar ,de zaak der
clusie  tr.ekken,   ,dat  bp  onze  synodale  vergederingen zending, die door  Classis West  met  ,eens wordt  ge-
gewoonlijk werk  .,genoeg is voor drie of  vier dagen. noemd. Deze en andere jzaken zullen zeker abeter be-
En ook al zou dit in de toekomst anders worden,`zoo-           hartigd `kunnen worden,  zoo de synode jaarlijks ver-
dat we in twee dagen ons werk afkonden, dan zou dit                 gadert, dan wanneer ze  om de twee  jaar samenkomt.
nog geen grond zijn, m.i. voor de .bewering-van `Classis               Maar zijn. de synodale  onkosten dan misschien een
West : Hiet is bezuexen, ,etc. .                    `.         te zware last voor monze kerken?
    Vroeger, toen we nog a1.s e&e classis  vergaderden,                Uit het  lfinan,cieel rapport in de  Acta 1940  ver-
kwamen we van heinde ,en ver. W,e vergaderden toen `nemen we, dat  d,e totale  synodale onkosten voor dat
twee- of driemaal per jaar. En  ,er was een groot jaar de som van $887.52 jbedroegen.' Als we daarvan
aantal afgevaardigden. En  tech  hadd,en  zulke  ver-               aftrekken (de ,onkosten, die niet door de synodale ver-
gad,eringen  in den regel slechts werk voor twee of drie            gaderingen als zoodanig werden  veroorzaakt,  en die  o
zittingen. Het waren gewoonlijk ibuiten,gewone,.  min-              blijven ook al  zou de  synod,e om de twee jaar  ver-
,der aangename zaken, die ons toen lang bezig hielden.              gaderen, dan blijft er over de som van 640.35 dollars.
Doch daarmee was het niet bewezen, dat er geen werk                 Deze   thorn vertegenwoordigt  ,de onkosten der vergade-           .I
genoeg was voor (die vergaderingen.                                 ringen en het publiceeren  der Acta. Bij aanslag ,over
    In elk geval zal het ,den afgevaardigden van Classis            on,ze kerken bedraagt dit ongeveer zestig cent per
West niet zoo gemakkelijk vallen, om grand 1 uit de huisgezin,  #of ongeveer  Qen cent per week. Een on-
Acta (en dat wil immers zeggen : `Xe dingen, die ver- .dragelijke last kan dit zeker niet  worden  genoemd.
richt werden"?) te bewijzen.                                        Als ,Classis West spreekt van "the large expense in-
    ,Groed  2 dan?  !Het geringe werk is  .de  ,onkosten            volved", dan is dit, om :maar  zacht te spreken, we1 eeri
niet waar,d?    ("The small amount <of business which beetje sterk uitgedrukt.
Synod is `called to transact does not compensate for                   Vergelijk hiermee, wat onze  classical,e vergade-
the Iarge ,expense involved.")                                      ringen kostten, toen we nog als eene classis vergader-
    Er ligt  aan  ,dezen grond  leen waardschatting ten den. In de Acta 1940 kunnen we het laatste financieele
gronds1a.g: te w,einig w'erk voor teveel geld.                 rapport daarvin vinden. jIn 1939 bedroegen `de classi-
    Maar naar welke maatstaf oordeelt   :Classis West tale  ,onkosten de som van  $2,435.07.  Trek  hiervan  af
hier? Is het eigenlijk  we1 "in dollars and cents" te ,de onkosten, die niet ,direkt met lde vergaderingen in
lberekenen,  hoeveel het werk ,eener  synode waard is? verband  stonden, en ge houdt  ,over de som van $1,


                                                                a
 354                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B'EARER

  710.55, of twee en twee derde maal zooveel als t%ze                dat ,er geruchten in omloop zijn?
  synode  kost.. Als ik  bet goed'begrijp (er is  liier een             Des temeer is het te Ibejammeren,  dat de kerkeraad
 fdrukfout  in het  r.apport  ingeslopen) dan  Gertegen-             van South Holland de bewuste bekendmaking in het
 woordigt deze som de onkosten van twee vergaderingen licht gaf, ,omdat  hij den vorm dier bekendmaking zal
  (7 Jan. ,en 11 Juni) . =                                           moeten veranderen, wil hij de waarheid spreken. Zoo-
        Maar ge merkt ,op, dat we intusschen ook aparte              als ze daarstaat ("al de  gerucht,en. . . .zijn absoluut
  vergaderingen van  [Classis Oost en  Classis West  ge- valschl') is de  bekentiaking  eenvoudig  niet waar,
 houden hehben. En in dezelfdte Acta van 1940 vind,en zooals  velen  we1  wet,en.
 we ook een rapport van de .onkosten van ldrie ver-                     De kerkeraad zal dusXen vorm dier bekendmaking
  gaderingen van Classis Oost Ben twee van Classis West 266 moeten veranderen, dat ze de waarheid zegt. Hij
in 1939-40. Met aftrek van de onkosten, die niet door is dit aan de waarheid verplichit, maar ook aan vel,en,
  die Gergad.eringen  als zoodanig werden gemaakt; kost-             die `door deze bekendmaking in ,dezen vorm als leuge-
 ten die zeven vergaderingen de kerken $1,105.97. Zoo-               naars aan de kaak worden gesteld.
  dat ,die z&en classicale vergaderingen plus de synode                 Doet hij dit niet, dan zal er meer moet,en  worden
 van' 1940 tezamen de kerken ongeveer preci& zdoveel gezegd.
 hebben gekost a1.s de twee classicale vergaderingen van                                                              H. H.
  1939 boven genoemd.
     Alles tezamen genomen komt het mij poor, bdat de
 groriden voor ,de instructie  van `Classis West niet bij-                                      -
 lzonder zwaar wegen, <en dat w'e aan ,geestelijke  vrucht
 en kracht teveel verliezen, zoo ze ZOLI *worden  opge-
 volgd.
     Doch zooals ik r.eeds schrdef, we weten niet, welke
  gronden  Classis West heeft  Poor  ha.ar "It has been                  The Triple Knowledge
 proven."
     Misschien .komt  de :zaak we1 in ,een heel ander licht
 te staati, als we `die bewijsvoering hooren.             -              An Exposition' Of The `Heidelberg
                                                      H. H.                                Catechism-
                                                                                                 IV.

                                                                                          LORD'S DAY III

                                                                                                 4.
                         Jammer                  ;                                  Total Depravity.  (FINIS)
        In `:Our Church News" van 1 Mei, 1942, komt een                 HowevGr,  if the theory that there .is some other
 bekendmaking voor van den kerkeraad der  gemeente                   kind `of grace than that which regenerates a man, must
 te South Holland, .die zeker bij velen van de lezers van be .rej,ected,  the question returns : what is the implica-
 .dat blad, die van "de geruchiten" in #die bekendmaking             tion of the doctrine of total depravity? How can the
n genoemd niets gehoord he'bben, verwondering zal heb, answer  of. the Heidelberg Catechism to its eight ques-
 ben gewekt.                                                         tion ;be squared with many phenomena in lthe actual
        Ik vind het jammer, dat izulke "bekendmakingen"              experience and every day life in the world of men that
 gepu'bliceerd worden.  Van den kerkeraad  vind ik het appear to ,contradict the severe judgment of our in-
 niet wijs, dat hij  zich voor  zulke  dingen  laa'c;  vinden. structor : we are incapgble  of doing any good. and in-
  En "Our Church News" moest zulke dingen niet op-                   clined to all evil, unless we are regenerated by the
 nemen.                                                              Spirit of God? In order to give  tihe correct answer
        Bloote geruchten loopen dikwijls lang niet zoo ver to this (question it is paramount that we bear `in mind
  en wijd, als zij, die zich er door gekrenkt gevoelen,              that the ICateckiism is speaking of ,ethical  good and evil,
we1 meenen.` Daarom maakt men de geruchten  ge- and to ask ourselves : what is meant by this?
 woonlijk maar `erger  ,door  ze in'het opubliek te bestrij-            Sin did not and could not ,change man ,essentially,
 den. `En laat men ze loopen, en zijn h& bloote gerhch-              i.e. it ,did not change him into some ,other  kind of being.
 ten eonder eenigen grond, dan loopen ze vanzelf dood.               By the fall .he did not change into) a .devil or demon,
   I n   &ssicale   rapporten,   d i e   i n   ..het  pibliek  ver- nor was he degraded to the level of the animal. It is
  schijnen, worden in den regel alle persoonljjke  zaken ofiten alleged that tian would have `been changed into
  zooveel mogelijk vermeden. Waarom moet nu ,de kerke-               some kind of a devil immediately when he fell, had
  rad-van South'Holland aan al onze kerken laten weten,              not God intervened at once through the operation of


                                  .       T H E   ST.ANDARD  B E A R E R                                                    855

  His common grace. But all such, statements are er-                plays and dances, and flls his heart with gladness.
  roneous. Sin could not change the being of man. It All these -things the fall,en  sinner can perform quite
  is moral, ethical corruption.         Man was created a well. IIn this sense he is not incapable of doing any
  psychico-physical  being, a creature coqsisting of body good,  or' prbne  `to do everything  wrong.  Sin did not
  and soul, possessing intellect and will; And after the change the being of man, nor his essential relationship '
  fall he still is such. a psychicodphysical, rational and to the world about him.
  moral creature. Sin did not cause mental derange-                    `The natural man is Ieven able to conform his ex-
  ment or intellectual incapacity in -man. It is true, that ternal life and walk in the world to a certain extent
  even these natural gifts and pow'ers are greatly marred to the moral law of God. :He is not morally incompe-
  and weakened through the f.all; but they are not lost.            tent in the sense that he can no longer discern the
  Nor has his' essential relatiqn to the world about .him difference  Ibetween  good .and evil. `As we have seen
  been changed. It is true that the world  bears the                in our discussion of Rom. 2:14, $5, the natural man
  curse for his sake: the earth brings forth thorns and             does by nature the things ,of the law, and by rather
  thistles, and the ,creature is in bondage to ,corruption ;        clearly  ,discern.ing between good and evil and making
  it is subject to vanity and it toils and labors in vain.          his laws accordingly, he shows that he has the Work
  But even so, man is still king of the earthly creation,           of the law written in his heart. And there is even
  and exercises dominion over- all things. Although he an attempt on his part to regulate his life and the
~- rules in the spl1er.e .of vanity, so that no definite goal is    life of the community in which be lives according to
to be attained by the "culture" `of the  world, man, the law `of (God. A complexity of motives such as ifear
  nevertheless, reigns over the  ,earthly creature.  ,He of -punishment, vain glory, ambition, the urge of self-
  "cultivates" +hat creation with all its powers and preservation, shame, and the like, govern him in this
  treasures and  ig every department of its existence attempt. In general we may state that the natural
  and life. The result is that the natural m,an is able to man iconsents to the law that it is good, and that it
  perform and accomplish many things that are formally is salutary for him to keep it, while the wages of sin is
  correct, and that are well-nigh perfect from a mechan-            always death.     Too much adultery and  deibauchery
  ioal viewpoint. He makes the world about him, as well undermine the Ibody and ha;ve a corrupting effect on
  as his own existence and life, obj,ect of his scientific in-      society,; too  mlich greed and covetousness disrupt
  v&igation ; he discovers the ordinances of the Creator            economic relations, cause revolutions and wars; too
  in all things, and arranges his own life accordingly;             great a laxity in the laws governing marriage and
 he brings to light the hidden wonders of the ,works of divorce destroys the home and the nation; if the prac-
  God, and presses them into his service. He ,can build tice of d,eceit and dish,onesty in business is not curbed
  a good house, and (construct a wonderfully perfect the result is lack of lconfidence ; the murderer and high-
  machine ; he understands the laws bf the soil and of              way robber are detrimental to society. All this the
 the se&sons, of summer and winter, of heat and -coBd,              natural man discerns very clearly. And the love of
  of winds and .rain, and he causes the earth to yield self and the desire for self-preservation urge him to
 the best possible crop. He studies the laws of gravity cutib his lus_t and to ,conform his outward life as much
  and gravitation, of steam .and electricity, of light rays         as he  .,considers   ,exped?ent to the  pr,ecepts  of God's
  and sound waves ; his searching eye roams through the moral law. Ultimately he. fails in this attempt, f.or
  immensity of the firmament and he predicts the exact the love of God is not `in his heart, and .he follows after
  course of the heavenly .bodies  millions ,upon millions of his sinful lusts. But all this readily explains that in
  miles distant from the ,earth; and he penetrates into             the world of fallen -man ther,e is a certain "regard for
 the .mysteries  of matter, and discovers the ordinances virtue and external orderly deportment" as the Canons
  of atoms and molecules. And he invents the telephone express it.
  and telegraph, the radio and  cinematograph,  and                    Y'et, in all this the natural' man performs ,110 good
  causes his voice to ;be heard to the ends of the earth. .in the ethical sense of the wor,d. It must still ,be said
  ?Ie speeds along `the road in his automobile, he flies of him that he is incapable of doing any good and in-
  through space in his aeroplane ; h.e swallows up both clined to all evil. For whsit is good? It is the perfect
 space and time, and makes the world very small. He keeping of the law of `God with all our heart and mind
  is able to make terrible instruments of ,destrnction  in          and soul and- str.ength. `But what is the law of (God?
 the form of guns and tanks, submarines and torpedoes, As we have seen in ,our .discussion  of question 4 of odr
  bombs and shells ;' but he also heals the wounds and              Catechism, it is the expression of the living will o,f IGod
  fights disease and death, prolonging human life and that tian shall love Him. To love the Lord our IGod
 alleviating human suffering. And much he can ,do to with all our heart and .with all our mind and with all
 enrich his earthly life and to make it more abundant.              our soul and with all our strength, to love Him in all
  H?e surrounds himself with ,means that make his life that we do, to be motivated by that love of God in all
 both pleasant and comfortable: he eats and drinks, he our -thinking and willing and desir,es and actions,-that


356                                  .THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

is good, and nothing else is good. All that is not ,of the really the natural man corrupts all life and destroys the
love of (God, however noble and charitable and beauti- earth. The enmity against jGod that is in his heart
ful it may appear as far as the ,outward  act ,is con- becomes a foul fountain of all manner  ,of iniquity.
cerned, is certainly `evil, And the natural man does From this corrupt fountain gushes forth spiritual
not love IGod, nor is he #capable  of loving God. On the -darkness that envelops his mind, so that he loves the
contrary, he hates  :Him.    For "the carnal mind is lie and pursues it. From that source of enmity against
<enmity  again God: for it is. not subject to the law of ,God there issue forth evil desires that corrupt the will,
God, neither indeed can  [be." Rom.  8:7. Hence, all and cause him to pursue af,ter  the things of the flesh.
he ,does is motivated by enmity against God, by love of    From that fountain of evil in his heart proceed not
self apart from God. LHe seeks his ,own glory instead only actual sins against God directly such as idolatry,
of the glory of God. And because of thisevil  motive profanity, -rejection of the Word of God, worship of
and purpose, all he does is always sin. He may be man's wisdom, ungodly philosophy, cursing and swear-
honest in business,. he may refrain from drunkeness, ing, pride and rebellion, rejection of Christ and hatred
he may lead a clean life, he may be charitable to his      of His people ; but also those sins that corrupt all of
neighbours,  he may be scrupulously  corr,ect  in his human life in every relationship, such as malice and
`dealings with others, he may even be religious, attend    envy, greed `and covetousness, lying and deceit, strife
church, give liberally to the poor and to the cause of and contention, war and destruction, murder and rob-
IGod's kingdom,-but he is incapable of doing any good bery,. fornication, adultery, divorce, love of pleasure,
and inclined to evil nevertheless. F.or always he seeks faithlessness, and the like, of all which the world of
himself and does not love God. If a superintendent of today is a living testimony.
a. factory were to expel his employer and propose to          To $e sure, there is difference between one..man
run the shop for his own benefit, he might do so very and ano:ther,  just as there is ,difference  [between one
,efficiently, but `in all he .does he sins against his em- age and another. Not every man commits all sin. Each
ployer. He may very ably manage the establishment,         individual is but a branch in the organism of the
so that production increases and the work he delivers      human ra.ce, and he bears that particular fruit of the
receives highest -praise ; h,e may treat his employees     root-sin of Adam which is in harmony with his place
kindly and pay the highest possible wages ; but as long in the organism. Men differ as to  chara.cter, power,
as his attitude against his employer is one of rebellion, gifts and talents, means and circumstances. IOne man
he sins in all he does. The same is true of .man in re- is bloodthirsty by nature,  anot.her is afraid to see
lation to God. He. was created to be God's  servant-       blood ; one is a spendthrift, another is a miser; one is
friend. And he was appointed superintendent ,over all weak, another is strong; one has great intellectual
the works ,of God's hands, to develop them, to rule over- capacity, another is dull of mind ; one loves pleasure,
them in the name of God and- in love to Him, in order      another loves the honor of men  ; one is poor while
that God might receive all the glory, But ,he became a     another is rich. And there are coarse sins, but there
rebel, proposed to expel ,God from his heart, and now      are `also sins that are very refined. Some sins are done
intends to run God's establishment as God's enemy          in secret, others are openly displayed and extolled on
and for his own pleasure and glory. He may still stage and screen. There are individual sins and group
be an efficient superintendent, but all he does in that sins, social  ,and national sins. There are sins that
position of rebellion against God is certainly evil. And are punished by the government, and there are sins
total depravity means principally that man is incapable that are committed by the magistrates. But always
of doing anything from the love of God, and that he is     the natural man commits iniquity. He is incapable
al,ways  prone ,to hate Him. In his inmost nature he ,of doing any good and inclined to all evil. Motivated
stands opposed to the law of God.                          by enmity against God he is corrupt in all his ways.
   And this deepest principle of <enmity against God iTher,e is no fear of God before his eyes.
also reveals itself in all his life and conversation. For, . Nor is the  yorld improving. On the contrary,*
let us not imagine that man can hate God and-love the      there is an  organi,c  development of sin, that is; sin
neighbour, that he can violate the first table of the      develops and increases ,even as the organism of the
law and keep the second. .He cannot expel God from race develops.  .Even as there is no restraint of sin
his life and for the rest live in moral rectitude. God in the heart of the individual sinner, so there is no
will give His glory to no `other. He cannot be mocked. check on the process and progress of sin in history.
XIe is terribly displeased with all th$e ungodliness of As the race develops in "culture" and civili:zation,  sin
wicked men that hold the truth in unrighteousness. grows in proportion. It is for this reason that it is
And  #He reveals His wrath from heaven by giving possible that in the day of judgment it will be more
over the ungodly to the lusts of his flesh. And so, tolerable for one generation than -for another. More
ultimately his attempt to show regard for virtue and tolerable it will be for Sodom and Gomorrha than for
fo,r'an ,orderly  external deportment always fails. Very Jerusalem, for Tyrus and Sidon than for Capernaum,


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         859

  little with him. ,His sole concern at this juncture is has devised against-the Jews. The king responds by
  Esther, his favorite wife-Esther the  beautif.ul. She again stretching  for.th his sceptre toward her.  `She
  powerfully apptials  to him now: Her fresh loveliness rises and stands before him. Her request now is thzit
  bewitches him as at no time previous. The spectacle the king  c&se to return, that is, recall, the letters
  cf crestfallen Haman,  crouching in fear and with base which contain Haman's device for destroying the Jews.
  humility at  hel; feet, pleading  for his life, fills him (That she, !by descent nothing but a poor and despised
  with a j,ealotis  rage. _ Hear him scream, ""Will he forCe    Jewess, should propose to the great king of the Per-
  the queen also before me in the house?" To think sians, that he revoke  an edict whose  drrevocable
  that this  wretch  dared to trick him into decreeing character as a Persian dogma was tied, was  some-
  her death. He shall die for this. Presently the word ithing extraordinary. This is a command that he run
  goes forth out of his mouth and they cover Haman's            the risk -of unsettling the faith of' the people in him.
  face.  #One of the  chamberlains, who stands near the Will he not  &sent such boldness? But how can she
  king, now ventures to speak. "Behold;" says he, "also endure to see the destruction of her kindred ! She' may
the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made #calm herself. The king is still her slave. -He reminds
 `for Mordecai, who has spoken good for the king, stand- her of what he h$s so far done for Esther and,Morde-
  eth in the -house of Haman." Then the king said, cai. He has given them the house of Haman, "and hiin
  Hang him thereon. So they hanged  Raman on the they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid
  gallows prepared  for Mordecai. Then was the king's hii hands upon the Jews" (8 :S) . Does this not indi-
  wrath pticified." Tq appease Esther, be,. on the very cate that his good will abounds toward  them?  And
  day in which Haman falls, gives to her the house of now he cannot revoke the decree. "For the writing
  ,Haman, the. people in it, and the entire possessions         which is written in the king's name, and sealed with
  belonging thereto. . Esther in turn places Mordecai,          the king's ring, may no man reverse." (Still, their
  whom  Ihe king has made one of his officers who-see his ,case is not hopeless. Bomeihing can be done to help
  f&ce, over the house of Haman, i.e:, leaves to him the        them without revoking the decree. Let them also
  lucrative management of. the large esttite  thus revert- write for the Jews, that is, let them cause to be made
  ing to her.      Herewith the king considers the case also for the Jews a public proclamation that will mgke
  closed. That the Jews are still expdsed  to annihilation the first deer,ee-that  of Haman-powerless in effect.
  does not trouble him.                                         Just what kind of writing will .accompiish  this purpose,
     This king is a veritable monster in wickedness. the king does not say. Nor  d,oes he  ,care.  Thi.s he
  Yet Mdrdecai married off his adopted daughter to such leaves to the inventive power of Esther and Mordecai.
  a man, and this under the imp&se  of lust of power and They may write. as it pleases them in his name (8 :8).
  influence, bFca;use he thought it advantageous to his         Their minds are-equal to the task. Mordecai in the
  cause and the cause .of his people; The both of them-         name of the king sends an edict to the Jews in which it
  Mordecai and Esther-covet  ,and accept his favors and         is  gra,nted  %hem to gather themselves together in
  bask themselves in his depraved love. But not once            eQe;y city "and to stand for their life; to destroy, to
  do they opeilly rebuke him on account of his wicked- slay, and to cause to pePish, all the power-the  forces-
  ness. -Though he, ,in collaboration with Haman, -has of the people and province that would assault thein,
  brought their people  t-o the- brink of ruin,  tthey  et- both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of
  onerate him and cast  a?1 the blame on  Haman. And them for a prey" (8 :11) . Just what are the grants
  they hold their peace, when the king in a blind, jealous of this edict? For one thing, it allows the  Jew$ to
  rage, orders  Haman's execution.       Though in their collectively prepare and arm for the common def.ence,
  hearts they revile `him-khe  king-as much as they do to act as one man against all the assaults and reverses
 Haman-it can't be otherwise-their treatnient of him which in case of their standing disunited will certainly
  is characterized by greatest respect and  ,diffidenee.        befall them. This means is wholly justifiable. It is
  They know better than to show that they are angry the only means that will  aver.t the threatened calamity.
  tiith  hini. He is useful to them. So they vent their            But the decree seems to grant still more. It allows
  wrath on Haman and allow themselves to be enriched the Jews not only to fight if and when attacked but to
  at the expense of his house, in whose destruction they take the initiative in the impending warfare, and to
  -aqGesce. Can we imagine Daniel doing this, or Isaiah search out, run down and put to the sword, on the day
  ok' Jeremiah or any of the other true servants of God? that was selected for their de&rudion, as many of the
       The  king, as was just said, considers the case          heathen as are known to them to be hostile and to do
 _  clbsed.    But not so Esther. Her mourning  canaot          so with the aid of all the heathen who are well-disposed
  cease until full deli-verance comes to her people, 60 toward them. iIt permits them  f,urther to slay  .not
  #he again intrudes ,upon the king,unsummoned.        Fall-    only the armed man-power of their opponents but also
  ing down at his f,eet,  she beseeches him in tears to put their yodng and old;  tlzeir  defenceless women  and
  ,away the misc,hief  oY Haman and his device that he          children.    Finally, the edict also specifies that they


        360                                 TH.E  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
      I/ take the spoil of the adversary. In a. word, Mordecai Jews arrived, all open hostility had vanished and the
        and Esther grant them the same which, according to hostile heathen were no longer a menace. Yet out of
        Haman's ,edict, was granted to the heathen. The edit&,       fear of the Jews they did assamble not for at%ack  but
        it would seem, is excessively and unnecessarily severe. for  the defence of themselves and of their own.  .For
       <We have a feeling that it. was inspired by-a lust to re- th,ey knew that they had been marked for destructiori.
        ward  evil for evil. Even the Jews in the  prdvinces         It is the Jews who took the initiative in this warfare.
        seem to sense that Morde@ai  has gone too far in his They f&l upon their enemies tiith a fanatic zeal that
        zeal for his people. For if the edict ,decre&  that the rendered them irresistible. The hostile heathen al-
        spoil of the enemy be taken, these Jews refrain from ready devitalized `by feal; before the commencement
       this. The statement thrice occurs, `ibut they laid not of th,e ,conflict were no match for them. Seventy five
       their hands on the prey" (9 :15, 16).                         thousand of their  number were slain.  :One wonders
           <As the  .grants of the two  edictszthe  edict of whether the Jews could not have been more lenient
       Haman and that of Mordeiai-are  the same, it would with their enemies, seeirig that they had really gained
       seem that the- Persian empire in all its provinces ap- the ascendency over them before the beginning of the
       proaches a terrible civil war. Y,et when the day ap- conflict.
       pointed finally arrives, there ?s properly speaking no           The number of those that were slain in Shushan
       fi'Lilch  w&r, no pitched battles between the armed forces    was reported  ,to the king. He communicated it to
       of the histile heathen and the armed forces of the Jews. Esther, adding, "What have they done in the rest of
       What takes place is a  gre& and terrible slaughter the king's province?" i/e. how many must they have
       with' the hostile heathen as the sole victims. The            destroyed there? The bloody events of the day leave
       sacred narrative makes this plain: The Jews ,smite`all        him  unaf?ected.    Not a word of remorse or regret
       their enemies "with the stroke of the sword, and comes from his lips. He is solely interested in know-
       slaugh& and destruction and do what they will to ing whether Esther is  now satisfied. "What  `;low is
       those that hate them" (9  :5).  "No-tian  could `with- they petition?  An'd it shall be granted thee.  ; .  ."
       stand them" .( 9 2) . In Shushan the Jews slay eight Five  hu.ndred have been slain in Shushan,  Haman's
       hutidred  men ; in the provinces seventy five thousand.       sons are dead. "What is $hy request f&her? and it
       No mention is made of the slaying of a single Jew. shall be done."
       Itt would seem .%hat the hostile heathen offer no re-            Esther still has a request or  two. "If it pleases
       sistance whatever and that the will to fiiht is all on the king. let' it be .granted  to the Jews which are in
       the side of the Jews. They are the aggressors and the         Shushan to do tomorrow also according unto. this
       resistance off.ered. them is so feeble as to be insignifi-    day's dkcree." It was granted her. So on the morrow
       cant.                                                         the Jews assembled and slew three hundred more men
           The ,explanation  of +bis is that the fear of the Jews at. Shushan. It must be that she feared the vengeance
       was fallen upon all the enemies (,9 2) and the fear of of some of the hostile party who had not yet been
       Mordec&i  esp@ci&lly~ For, so the sacred narrator con- vanquished. H:er' final request is that the dead bodies of
       tinues, "Mordecai was great in the king's house, and Haman's ten sons be crucified in order to increase the
       his f&me we@ out throughout ,a11 `the provinces: for          disgrace of their execution and in  order  to fill the
,      this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater" `(9 :4).         measure of fear of the Jews.
       .The fad of the matter is this: The people heard that            Were Esther and Mordecai people of true faith?
       the Haman party had -fallen. at the court, that their It shall have to be admitted that their words and ac-
       leader was kiUed and that Mordecai was elevated $0 tions do hot Ibespeak  such faith.
       the position formerly occupied by him and was ever               As to the author of our book, it would seem that he
       @owing i.n influence. The result was that the hostile was jast as irreligious as Mordecai. Some claim that
       heathen were afraid to lay violent hands upon the Mordecai was the author. Hut the words at chapter
       .Jews.    The second edict showed that they now h&l           10 verse 3, which sum up, his life work, imply that
       ;the upper hand at the court and that, although tile          when the book was written,  Mordeeai  had passed
       first was iiot revoked, it was against Dhe will of the away. Whoever the author was, he failed to write his
     _ king to act in accordance With it. The dread of the book after the manner of all the other canonical books
       Jetis in all  "patits of the empire was so great that         of the Old Testament-.--  Not once does he make mention
       many of the heathen of the land became Jews, that is, of the name of ,God, much less ,of Jehovah. Nowhere
       unit&d. With them in opposition to the Haman party does he make apparent that th'e measures taken by
        (8 :17). Even all the rulers of the provinces, and the Mordecai and Esther for the  deliwrance of their
       li,eutenants, and the deputies, and oficers of the king people were necessary for the maintenance of true
       went over with their Persian armies to the side of-the religion. He speaks only of the honor which Mordecai
       Jews to help thein (9 :3) . The. sesult  w.as that wher,      attai.ned  by adopting ihese measures. which the king
       the dajT aljpointed by Ham&n for the d&try&tion  of the       sanctioned. He states that Mordecai` went out from


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          ?357

Tar the, "w.orld" that :crucified  *Christ the first time than is characteristic of unregenerate man. He is not really
for the "world" that crucifies Him afresh. And thus                  sorry for his sin. IOn the contrary, he has his delight
&e development of sin continees  until the day of the                in iniquity. If only there were no evil consequences
culmination of the antichristian power. The measure                  conriected  with the service of sin, if only he could
qf iniquity must be filled. For sin must [become  fully sin with impuni.ty, he would not worry about sin at all.
manifest as sin in all its horror, that God may be justi-            But he his afraid of the results. He dreads the punish-
fied when. He judgeth; when He casts all the wicked ment .of sin. He would like to escape dea;th  and hell.
into-theipool  that-burneth with'fire and sulphur, where             :He likes to feel safe and secure in the service of sin.
their worm dieth not and the fire is dot'quenched,  and It is this fundamental characteristic of the unregener-
.the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever!                ate man, this urge to escape the dire results of sin for
                                                                     himself .and for society in general, that frequently con-
                                                                     strains him to culrb his lust, and to have a certain re-
                                                                     gard for virtue and  for an  ,external orderly deport;
                                                                     ment. Zt is also to this deeply roo.ted  desire ttiat many
                               V.                                    a social reformer, who denies Christ and His atoning
                                                                     blood; who will have nothing of forgiveness based on
                         LORD'S DAY IV                               God's justice and denies the power of regeneration,
            Q. 9.  Doth not  Gocl  then do injustice to man, by      appeals- in his battle against fall sorts ,of crimes and
          requiring from him in his law, that which he cannot        vices. `<Crime does not pay" is their slogan, and by
          tperf orm 1                                                a vivid picture of the misery and suffering connected
            A. Not  at all; for God made  m,an  capable of `per-     inseparalbly  with a life of dissipation they attempt to
          forming it; but man, by the instigation of the devil,      frighten men into a life of eiternal virtue. Man loves
          and of his own wilftil disobedience, deprived himself      sin, but he dreads hell. And so he makes an attempt to
          ancl  all his po'sterity of those divine gifts.            escape the one while continuing- in the other. And it is
            Q. 10. Will God suffer such disobedience and re-         this possibility that is the subject of distitission in this
          bellion to go unpuniihed?                                  fourth Lord's Day.
            A. By no means;  b& is terribly displeased with             However, there is only  .one conceivable way in
          our original as well. ai actual sins; and will punish      which this attempt to sin ,with impunity could possibly
          them in his just judgment temporally and eternally,        be successful; or rather, that one imaginary way is
          as lie hath ,declared, `%ursed  is every one that con-     really quite inconceivable : God must be changed ! And
          tinueth  not in all things, which are written in the       the sinful heart and mind do indeed make the bold
          Ibook  of the law, to do them."                            ,attempt to change the living God. It is thus that the
            Q: 11. 1s not cod then also mercifil?                    sinner tries to entrench and fortify himself in his sin!
            A. God is indeed merciful, but also just; therefore      IIe makes a god of his own imagination, after his own
          his  j&ice  sequiris,  that sin which is committed         sinful heart, before whose face he can sin and f,eel safe.
          against the most high majesty of God, cbe also pun-        He- invents his own god, an id61 that is wholly Xke unto
          .ished  with extreme, that is, with everlasting'punish-    himself. H'e deprives God of His sterner attr?butes  of
          metit of body and soul.                                    righteousness and j,ustice, and speaks of a god of mercy
                                                                     and love that will wink at sin, and make the ungodly.
                               1 .                                   the object ,of His blessing. And thus he tries to quiet
            The Justice Of God's Demand.                             the voice of his own conscience, and partly succeeds tb
                                                                     create for himself a sense of safety in the way of sin,
    This Lord's Day is thelast chapter of the first part until the meets the living God in the day of the revela-
of -our Heidelberg Catechism, whose main theme is tion of His rightedus jud,ment and discovers that he
"the  Mitiery of  Man". The three questions and ans- believed a lie, that he followed after a delusion, and
wers  ,contained in it are very intimately  tielated.                that the eternal God cannot bbk mocked !
They are based on a common principle. They have a                       It is this truth wliich the Catechism expounds in
common source.           All three  .questions might be ex- the three questions and answers of this fourth Lord's
pressed in the one querry : Is there a way out as far as             Day.  (Can  ,God  he changed?  {Can He be changed in
sinful man is concerned? Is there a possibility for ,His ,demand  of the law that we love Him with all our
man in his fallen state and depraved condition to be hearts and mind and souI and strength, so -that `He
blessed, to escape the tirath of God and punishment? comes down to the level of the sinner, and can be satfs-
Considered in this light the three questions represent fied with what sinful mai is able and willing to do?
a very co@.mon aitempt  bn the part of fallen: man to                We cannot perform the demands of the law. Well,
-persuade himself that he can maintain himself in his then, if God could be,satisfied  with the best;we  ,can do,
sin without suffering the consequences. The attempt dl would be well, Or, if that is not possible, cannot


 ,3&                                     T H E '  ST.ANDARD   ~BEARE.R

 `,God relinguish the strict demands of His--justice, so of the king there is no hope for him, if she will not
  that He .does not ,empty  the vials of His wrath upon us, interpose.
 %ut l,eaves our sin unpunished? If only we could feel                   _ It is going too far to say, as some have said, that
 .that there were no hell and damnation; our sinful heart it Was her duty to second Haman's request that his life
 would be at ?est, and we cbuld safely continue in the /be  .spared.  But what she might have done is to re-
 way of iniquity. And. if, finally, the answer to this frain from throwing,all the blame on.Haman for the
 .secimd  inquiry must be that God's justice is unchange- plight of her people-the king was also to blame-and
_ .a'ble, can we not .make an appeal to His mekey?  Is it to kemind the king that it was his duty, as civil magis-
 -not possible to concr&e of Him as a God W-hose mercy trate, to give  Haman a fair trial. For all that she
  overrules His justice, so that, even though His justice and the king knew, there might be anceletient of truth
 -should urge Biti to cast us into everlasting hell, His in the charge  .that  Haman had lodged against her
  mercy so moves `Him with pity and conipassion, that people. Let the king investigate.and  then take action.
  He could not possibly behold us in .the throes of His                 But Esther was too furious with  Haman and too
 -wrath? s These three inventions `of the lying imagina- violently perturbed to consider what justice might be
  tion of sinful man the Catechism here investigates, afid requiring of her. She was thinking only of her people_
  exposes as so many delusions of the darkened mind of and of herself. She wants Haman put out of the way
  the sinner.                                               :           and this not out of religious considerations, not be-
  L!-.                       `                         H. H.            cause  Haman as an Agagite  .and as an  Amalelsite,
                                                                        represehted  the cause of evil in opposition to the cause
                                                                        of God and His people, but solely because Haman had
                                            .,         .                placed in jeopardy, expbsed to destruction, her life and
                                         ,.  `
                                            .                    ~.,    the life of her people. `"If it please the king, let my
                                                                        life be given me at my petition and tiy people at my
          The Place of the Book ,of. Esther
                 .  `.                                                  request" (chap.. 7 :3). "For hoti can .I endure to see
                       m          the-Catidn                            the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I
                                                                        `endure to see the destruction of my kindred" (8 :6).
        In my previous arti,cle  on this subj,ect I was busy .Such is the language of her plea.
  making it ,clear, that our book is wanting in thati re-                  It-can be easily shown that the king's share of guilt
  ligious spirit which we find'in the other Old Testament was exceedingly great. Was it not he, as well as
  books; Neither Mordecai nor'-Esther make the  im- Haman, who had ordered the destruction of the Jews
 ,pression  of- being true believers.             .                     and this on the ground of (their alleged seditious tenden-
    : Before Esther went in unto the king to make sup- ties? `Their laws were diverse from all people . They
 .plicat~ion  to him, she made request that Mordecai to-                kept not the king's laws so that it was not for his profit
  g&her with the other Jews in Shushan, fast for her. to suffer them (3 :8). So Haman had testified before
  It may be questioned whether she expected to receive,                 the king. Such had been his counsel. And so  littl,e
  in answer to this fast, the help and protection of Gocl value was the-king  placing dn the lives not only of the
 .in behalf of herself for this  &entf~ul  hour: Her last Jews but of `all his subj,ects of whatever nationality,
  words, "If I perish, I perish," bespeak despair and that without even first inquiring who that people might
 an unwilling submission to f&e .rather  than faith in be and without first ascertaining by thorough investi-
  the power~and willingness 9f God to be the protector gation whether the  chargb was true, he had given
  and avenger ,of those who trust in Him.                               Ha&an his seal-ring and thus had caused the public
   Then, too, the action which Esther and also Morde-                   proclamation to be made. If  Haman was moved by
 ,cai took against the hostile heathen bespeaks mlbridled               malice against a single and definite people, the king
  rage and desire for revenge.. IIn all that- they say and              coveted  the spoils of whatever people  Haman had
  do there is to be discover,ed  not the .slightest  evidence mapked  for destruction, for he needed much money
  that they were speaking and acting from true principle.               (3  :9, 13). Whoever that people might be-the king
  Let us. get their words and deeds under our eye and knew not-let Haman do with them as it seemeth good
  see how- $rue this is.                                                to him (3  :ll)  ~ So the king had spoken. It shows
        When'  Haman sees that the  a.ccusing finger of- that he had no preference among the `nations of his
 .Esther is pointed at him, when. he hears her saying to realm. The one was of no more account to him than
  she king,, "The adversary *and enemy is this wicked ;the- others. All were equally worthless in his sight.
  Haman;' he is sore afraid, The king.at once becomes He would sacrifice any one of--them on the altar of his
  terribly angry and goes out into his palace garden.                   avarice.
  During his brief absence Haman makes request for his                     But however great the share of`his guilt may be,
  life to the  qu,een. He implores her to intercede for t&e king.is resolved that Haman die. -Whether Haman
  him .with the king,. for -he perceives; that on the. p+
                                                            _.:: .      has spoken  the truth in accusing the  Jetis, matters


                                          _T'HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        363

 him in the performance of his task, that he GO&~ not                Wel, dat kunnen we best  begrijp&  bij de  studie
 falsify the facts.                                               `over dit lied.
     The  Church, guided  .`by Christ's Spirit into all              Toen ik over den 14den psalm schreef zette ik er
 truth, did not err in  incorporaqting  our book in the boveni POOR DEN  OPPE:RZANGMEESTER?  En
canon of the Holy Scriptures. Hence, its being there met dat vraagteeken bedoelde ik wat. Degenen die
 is all the pr,oof that we need of its- belonging there. het stukje lazen heblben  dat we1 gemerkt. In weinige
 But it is not hard to discover the reason .of ItS incep- woorden weergegeven: ik bedoelde claarmede, dat ik
 tion into the canon. Certain'it is #that, although our mijn verwondering uitsprak, dat David zulk een lied
 book takes  -no notice of  religiotn,  still it forms an bedoelde   v'oor den  .opperzangmeester.  Dat het  van-
 essential iart of `the. religious history of the kingdom ,daag niet zoo gemakkelijk zou,gaan  om de inhoud van
 of Gorl. Just what is its place in (the. Canon ; and what        dit lied door de geheele gemeente van IIsrael-gezongen
 may `be its canonicd sig&icance and dignity?                     te krijgen. Dat men hem hartelijk bedankt zou hebben
     Our book does not cultivate religion as ,such, as om  &it  v&schrikkelijke lied te  zingen. Dat de  opper-
 does, for example, the book of -Psalms and of Ecclesi-           zangmeester-van  de 1924 Synode er ook hartelijk voor
 ashes. It cannoit do this, as it is completeIy  devoid of. bedankt heeft om dat vers te zingen. `Dat er een twee-
 religious s&kiment.  Its principal significance is that tal  strij.ders   bleven aanhouden  om  .toch  me't hen
 it records  the pr,eservation  of the church, whose very psalm 14 te zingen. Doch d& men hen verachtte. En
 existence was being threatened by the hostile heathen dat men een zang gereed maakte die in klankgeslacht
 as repre8entt&d  and headed by H&man the Agagite and paar was. Een zang die fundamenteel van dit lied  ver-
 Amalekite   atid as inspired  by his evil genius. Thus schilde, er tegen in broeide en verachtelijk was. Doch
 the story of our book is at once prophetic of the final sterkte mij in mijn God, met de gedachte, dat de no-
 triulnph of Christ's kingdom over all the forces of ttilen van  ,die vergadering in Israel  nooit. door God
 darkness. In addition to this the book is evideece  that goedgekeurd  zullen  worden  in den dag  wanneer  Hij
 ,God saves His people not despite  but even through alles zal  richten. En dat dit  tweetal  moede'strijders
 the evil devised against them by their enemies . And z&h daar maaIr mede moesten troosten. En  da* kon
 it presents these  eeemies as falling into  th,e very gereedeiijk,  want bun zang en de zang van `God zijn
 pit that they dig for the elect.                                 gelijk in tempo. en beteekenis.
                                                !G.  M,. 0.           Ik heb dit lied een verschrikkelijk lied genoemd en
                                                                  ditmaal zet ik boven den psalm: De Booze Mensch.
                                                                      `t Id dan ook verschrikkelijk zooals We er uit'.zien
                                                                  hier. Ik kan eF ink0me.n; dat ee nman als Dr. Kuyper
                                                                  Jr. d&n da& ontspringen wild& Niet dat ik hem gelijk
                De Booze Mensch                                   geef. 10 neen. Dat zal ik in der eeuwigheid  niet doen.
                                                                  Doch ik k& begrijpen, dat hij zich in allerlei bochten
                            (Psalm 53)                            wring-t om den dans te ofitspringen.  -Het gaat in dezen
                                                                  psa1.m over ons. Als er een bijvoeglijk  naamwooi-d
     De waarheid van dezen psalm moet wel heel funda-             predikatief  g&ruikt wordt om uit te  drukken hoe
 menteel zijn. Hoe kunt ge het anders verkl.aren, dat hij         slecht en verfoeilijk wij geworden  zijn door de zonde,
 rtot tweemaal toe in den psalmbundel opgenqmen is? We dat vertaald wordt, door st+nke&e,  dan, ja, dan kan
 sttimmen toe, dat er we1 eenige  wborden  en .phrasen            ik I het mij voorstellen, d'at het 1 groote vernuft van
 ,zijn die anders zijn bier, dan in Psalm 14. Dit neemt mannen als Kuyper  gaan zoeken, zoekq, zoeken, om
 echtel; niet weg, dat Psalm 14 en Psalm 53 aa.n elkaar Loch maar te ontkomen sian wlk em waardschatting
 gelijk zijn. Ze  hebben beiden  &%I beteekenis,  strek- van al ons `gliml.achen, lieflijkheid, nobiliteit, waardig-
 king en doel.         Daar is `men het  -aa?dig  over-  eeps.    heid, barmhartigheid, goedheid en wat dies meer zij.
 Daarom zijn wij tot de %onclusie  gekomen, dat deze Moeten wij dat alles stinkende noemen? En dam gaat
 psalm van zeer fundamenteele beteekenis is. Zoo deed men aati `t filosofeer'en  om tech maar d&n vreeselijken
 ,de He&e tech we1 meer ? Toen Hij droomen zond in dans te ontspringeh.
 diepen  nacht .en dkielfde  zaak tot tweemaal deed ge-             _ Maar `t kan niet.
schieden in het rij:k der droomen, toen zeide  JQzef tech            .`t Gaat ook niet aan om hier te zeggen, zie men-
 op bevel van God, dat de zaak tot tweemaal toe ge- schen, het is te diep : we kunnen er Diet bij ! Dat mag
 schied was omdat het bij den Heere vastelijk en ieker:           waar zijn in `sommige brieven van  Paulus, zooals
 lijk  besloten was om zus of zoo te  behandelen?  En Pet;rus ons zeg.t. Doch dat kan bier zeker niet. Een
 ook  Yezus, als Hij  dingen van fundamenteelen  aard jong kind kan het alles verstaan. Y Is `Goddelijk een-
 besprak, zeide meer dan eens : Voorwaar, voorwaiT ! voudig.
 Herhaling in des Heeren mond beteekent altijd groote                 En wat  zeifle Dr. Kuyper Jr. er dan van? Dit:
 ernst,  zi;vaarte,  belangrijkheid,                              zoo zou de  mensch  gewor,den   zijln als de  Heere geen

          --


 `364        _     -                     TI%E  S `T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

  gemeene  giatie gezonden had. En ik moet het U open- studeerkamer moest uitmaken wat titel te kiezen voor
  ha&g zeggen, dat dit zoo ongeveer de allergemeenste           zeker strijdschrift.    Eindelijk  maakte hij het:  The.
  aanwending is van dit zoogenaamde dogma. Gemeener good that- sinners do! Dat. uitroepteeken is van mij.
  kan het niet. De Heere zegt : Ik heb van clien hemel          Let wel;God zegt : daar is niemand die goed doet. ,Ook
  neergezien en ik h,eb geroken aan den mensch en uit- bewijst de Heere het. Hij heef,t den mensch gadege-
  gevonden, dat zij allen ,stinken van boosheid, en din         slagen en zag dat hij a&s verdierf en gruwelijk on-
  zegt Dr. Kuyper  : Neen, zij  zou'den   stinken,   a18 de rech't deed,.zoodat God tot de conclusie kwam: Er %
  Heere geen gemeene gratie zond. Zulk doen'is vreese-          niemand die  goed doet.  Doch Ds.  KCper weet het
  lijk.                                                         beter : The good that sinners do. Ik heb mij destijds
      `t Schijnt wel. alsof de toestand er nog b%nauwder        g&gerd. En `t  wordt er niet beter op. Ik kan, ik
  op geworden  is, sinds `David psalm 14 dichtte. Daar zal en ik mag het niet vergeten. Ik Wilde wel, dat de
  zeide  hij dat de kerk  ,zuchtte  om de verlossing van arme man het terugnam.
  Israel. Hier.zegt hij, dat zij zucht om die verlossingen          God zag neder. van uit den hemel om te zien of er
  vam Israel. In `t meervoud. `t Is erger geworden in ook iemand was die verstandig ware: die God zocht.
  den tijd die er verliep tusschen het dichten-van  psalm $us hier hebben we  oo$k een omschrijving van het
  14 en psalm 53.                   .                           ware verstand. Een verstandig man zoekt God.
      Hoe zal het er dan nu bijstaan? (Gij weet het. En             En wat is h& resultaat? Dit : een ieder.van  hen is
  de blindheid der afvallende kerk is met gelijk tempo teruggekeerd, te zamen zijn zij stinkende geworden,
  ,doorgesneld.                                                 daar is niemand die goed doet, ook niet Q6n. Ik vraag
      En nog steeds zegt de dwaas in zijn hart: Daar ii U in  allen  gemoede: Is dit  nu niet duidelijk? Zou
keen God !                                                      een kind zich hier kunnen vergissen in de bedoeling
      Let wel; hij zegt dat in zijn hart. Daar zit dit in:      van  dan  aanbidd.elijken  God? Neen  tech? Een ieder
 IGod zegt in zijn hart, in elk hart van elken mensch:          is teruggekeerd. Dat ziet allereerst op  Adam. Die
 Ctk ben God.  Doch nu  haat de mensch God zoo erg, keerde God den rug toe. En die trek vindt ge in elk
  dat hij tegen die stem ian God in tiijn hart zegt: En mensch.' Om  zich voor God te  verbergen.                  Men is
  ik zeg U-: Gij bestaat niet iroor mij ! De psa&i begint ,li,ever niet in Gods bijzijn. God is  licht en wij zijn
  met -de grootste zonde die een m&sch begaan heeft.            duisternis en daarom gruwen we van het  licht. We
  Het is de hoogmoed.                                           zijn  266  .`boos, dat wij van datgene wat eeuwiglijk
      Daarom volgen alle andere zorllden  uit die wortel-       schoon en lieflijk is zeggen: Wijk  vati mij :  aan de
  zonde.     Ze verderven het en zij  !bed?ijven  grtiwelifk    kennis Uw& wegen heb ik geen lust.
  onrecht; daar is niemand die goed doet.                          Dat is dan ook het stinkende van den mensch. Er
      Zij  vederven  het is een algemeene uitdrukking. heeft zich een gedachte vast gezet in het oordeel der
  Dat  duit het  gehcele  leven van den mensch in.  Het menschen, ook kerkmenschen, dat alleen de dromkaards,
  beteekent het werkkapitaal hetwelk de n'iensch ont- uiterlijke hoereerders, moordenaars, enz., stinkende
 vangt. Het-is de tijd en de ruimte, hun eigen lichaam zondaars zijn. Van  zulk soort menschen keeren we
  en ziel en die van bun naasten, geld en gaven, positie ens af. Noemen ze liederlijke  schepsels, tuig, afschap-
  en eer, rijkdbm of armoede, kortom, -alle dihg&n die
                              i-                                se1 van de, maatschappij. Doch om  nu het geheele
 ze hebben  o? mee in  aariraking komen. En:  xii  ver- menschdom stinkewJe te noetien,-  ziet, dat is tech we1
  derven-het. Ze verknoeien  all,es `en trachten <elken dag wat al te bar.
  om alle dingen op hun kop te zetten. Het werkkapitaal            En  tech is dat de waarheid. Een  ieder die  zich-
 moet aangewend tot eere van. den aanbiddelijken God zelven  heeft  leeren  zieti bij de verlichtende  werking
 en zij w&den het ,aan voor .zichzelf of voor een amder         des Geestes en de wijsheid van het Woord, zegt .hier
 ,of voor den' Satan..  ,Dat  is, de beteekenis van  veT-       van harti! Amen op.
 derven.                 :                                         ,God vraagt vqder  : Hebben dan de werkers der
      -En da$t:edoen  is-gruwelijk onrecht. 266 wordt de ongerechtigheid   geen. kennis, die Mijn volk opeten
 ~zondeverd&to:tischre~eti-i~.;R:echt  is het waarlijk goede. alsof zij brood .aten?
  Het is dat&?i& hetwelk overeenkomt  met den standaard            Ja, die vraag komt als vanzelf op. Is er geen ken-
 van `t hoogste  goed, en dat- is God. Onrecht is het nis bij de goddeloozen? En het antwoord  zit er ook in.
 kwade in den wil van deli mensch. Hij heeft-zijn eigen Neen, ze hebben geen kennis.  IGe gevoelt het, hier
 standaard, doch die is krom. En leelijk.                       wordt niet  gehandleld van bloot intellektueele kennis.
      Daarom: daar iS niemarid  die goed doet.                  .De mensch weet.  met een formeel   weten vele dingen.
    `Ik' geloof  fii,et, dat Ds. H. J. Kuiper de Standard       Doch hier is .sprake  van de zaligmakende kennis der
 Bear&  lee&.  Ik wenschte van  harte dat hij zulks ziele, des harten en des verlichten verstands. Denkt
  deed1 Want dan moest ik hem al weer er aan herin-             a&n de strophe : -W.ees die *CT kennen mild en goed !
 ner.en, dat hij' tegen deze uitsraak %n Gods Woord              ,s  .Het  antwoord   is:- Neen, de  goddeloozen  hebben
grootelijks  en  bedroevend'  zondigd,e  toen.  hij op  $i,jn geen kennig. En da4 ontkennende antwoord lezen we


                               .-    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          361

the .presence  of the king in royal apparel of blue and Persians, if they made use of it.
white and with  ti great crown of gold  and that the              Another explanatidn, substantially identical to that
city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.. Nowhere of the Rabloins, is that the Jews were in that age very
does he state that the transactions of our book had a sensitive not to manifest their innermost  and, holiest
religious import. He fai1.s to ,designate his own people thoughts  to the gaze of the d.?y after the manner of
as the people of Jehovah, in opposition to the .heathen. their  fortifathers.  It was a  great satisfaction to the
Instead he tmerms them Jews merely with a task and            Jewish national feeling to know that the secrets of
principle no higher than `that of the ,other  nations. their faith and law w&e well known and understood
Nowhere does he derive the incidents which `he de- by themselvks  without having to enter expressly upon
scribes from God or from His justice or yet from His          a declaration of them ; and also. that they were un-
gracious intentions toward  Hi,s people.        Nor does known and unattainable by thb heathen:
he show the bearing of that which has been attained               This solution cannot possibly b'e: the correct one.
upon the glory and honor of God. - From beginning to          What is rrieant is that our author (as also Mordecai
end the book is devoid of expressions of religious feel-      and Esther) in common with all the God-fearing Jews
ings or -thoughts in the persons of whom the author           in that age, revered the names of God too deeply to
writes.                                                       make mention of them before the heathen in their
   How different, from- the point of view of mode of          public utterandes and writings. Now this is not true.
religious statement, our book is from all the' dther The Gbd-fearing- Jews r&ered the name of God cer-
books of the Bible is best b,rought out by the making tainly. But that. this reverence neither might nor did
of  a comparison. At Judges 2  :13-18 we read, "And prevent them  from. confessing these names before
they (the people of Israel) forsook the Ldrd and #men, even before the heathen is very evident from
served Baal. . . . And the anger of the Lord  was- the writings of Nehemiah, Ezra, Daniel, Haggai and
hot against  IIsrael, and he delivered them into the Zachariah, all of whom were contemporaries of Morde-
hands of the spoilers that spoiled them. . . . Never-         cai, Esther and  dar. author. From the deliverances
theless the Lord raised up. Judges, which delivered of these servants of God there animates that same re-
them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. . ; .        ligious spirit  T;irhich. we find in all the other books
And it came to pass when the judge was dead that              of the more ancient authors, that same "religious prag-
they returned and corrupted  the&elves." Written matism-a  pragmatisti that throws a supernatural
after the manner of `writing of the Author' of the            illuminatioti on all. the events transpiring. In all their
book of Esther, this would `read, "And it came to             wi+%n& the n&n% of God occurs over a?.id over. The
pass in those days that the enemies often' cirossed           .book of Ezra sets out with'this significant statement,
Canaan's borders and spoiled the Jews. At such times          "Now in the' first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that
Judges came forward and delivered them ouit -of the th6 T,OO?$ ,of. the. Lord by the `mouth of Jeremiah might
hands of their enemies. But when the judge was dead be fulfilled, the &otid' stiW,id up the spirit of  Cyrus
the enemy returned to spoil' them." To the notice king of Persia, that he made a proclamation through-
(contained in the book of Esther arid found at chapter' out all' his `k.ingdom,  `and put it also in writing. . . ."
9 :5), "Thus the Jews smote all their enemies  with the Penned after the mode of .stat&ment  of our book, this
stroke of the sword. . .  ."' the more  aticierit  authors    would simply read; "Now in the. first  year of Cyrus
wc+d have added  some such statement  tis,  `So did king of Persia, the king made's proclamation through-
the Lord deliver the enemi6s of his peopl,e into their        out  ~a11 his kingdom." Ezra even `introduces king
hands." They also would have  exp1aine.d that the             ~Cyms himself as saying that lie gage permission to the
king accepted Esthe?s countenance, because the Lord           exiles to return td Canaan, because "the .Lord  God of
gave her favor in his sight. But the author  of. our heaven hath given me all the kingdoms  `of the earth i
book ascribes her influence over the king. to her physi- and he hath charged me to build hi& a hduse ai Jeru-
cal attractions;                                              s'al,em."
   Thus not only Mordecai and Esther  but the author             Another' proffered expIantition  of the phenomenon
of our book as well fails to confess his fa;ith to Jehovah. with_ which we' now  have to  do is this  i More than
It `means if they on this grotid mu& be held to have          sixty years had  passed since Cyrus had given the
been lacking .in true faith; then likevirise our author. Jews  permi&idn   to  rettirri.  The  vast majority of the
It is therefore very necessary for a correct understatid- people remained, nevertheless where  they  w&e. gome,
ing  of our. bodk to  &nquiY;e after the reason  .pf the like Nehemiah; were restrained by official and other
above&ted phenomenon.                                         ties. The rest w&e indifferent and declined to-make
   More than one explanation has been offered. The the necessary sacrifices of property and  rest. With
Rabbins held that Mofdecai,  being the author of the sutih  tis these  l&t  the history Of God's  work in this
bddk, had' pu~pos&ly  expunged the names. df God in it earth  c+~l never be  associ&ed.  In His  providence  He
iiz- -order  that  they might not be desecrated by the will thatch over them and delitie?  : them ; but -their
           :


  362,                                  m3.E       S~TANDARD                BYZAW~R

  nalnes and His will not be bound tog&her in the YIecord       woik .together  for good .to ..them that are His. This
  of the labor and the waiting of the earth's salvation.        cr,&ates no discord certainly:'
     In, other words, the reason that our author refrain-          It is plain that the ph&omenon under consideration
  ed from mentioning the name of God in his book is that is stiil unexplained. Does t&en the irreligious mode of
 `tolhave done so would have been to associat&~ this name statemlent  of our book find its proper explanation in
  w-ith infidel Jews. `This he is supposed not to have the religious indifference of both its author and its
  deemed ..permissable.  But the more ancient authors           characters? As far as can be determined, it does this.
 .~`were  not of this convictidn. They had understanding There is no other  explanition that holds. However,
 )of the truth and fact that all creatures live and.move        "prophecy came not -in old time by the will of man:
  alid have their being in God and that thus God and but holy men of God spake &they were moved by the
 ,a11 creat&es including the wicked are bound together Holy Ghost.`" .2 Peter  3  :2!).               According to this
  ,not  cbrtainly in  %.e power of His love  but in the         scripture the writers of the books contained in the
  power by which He sustains all things and uses all            Canon were holy meii.        If -this was invariably true,
  things for th~.pFomotion  of the ends of His kingdom. the explanation last suggested must likewise be set
  Accbrdingly, `Ezra declares that- the Lord stirred up         aside as being untennable and then we are wholly
  then spirit of  ithe infidel Cyrus. He thus  binded to-       at a loss to know how to explain the mode of state-
  gether  Cirus' name an-d the name of  .Go.d" in the ment of our bo6k. However there is in the Scriptures
  record of, the earth's salvation".                            more than one case -bn .record  of God communicating
     Besides, it was not in behalf of the infidel Jews in       His Word to His people through the agency of un-
  Babylon.but for the'sake of -His beIieving people who         believers. Balaam, a thoroughly dissolute character,
  had returned to Canaan that the dbliverance recorded* gave utterance as an organ of revelation to the sub-
  in our. book was -sent,.-  .Alsp Canaan was one of th,e       limest truths-such truths as,  `~Lo, the people shall
  provinces that. formed  the Persian empire. The church,       dwell alone  ,and shall not  be. reckoned among the
 too,,had been exposed to  annihilation by  Haman's             nations (Num. 23 :9) .-He hath beheld iniquity in Jacob,
  edict. Why could not our author. have included -the neither  bath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord
  name of God in his record by some such statement as,          his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among
  "So did  the Lord send  -deliverance  to His  peopIe".        them. . . .I" (23 :2!). IIt is expressly stated that these
  Wmere bnt- a, single. statement of this character foand in were words put into his mouth by the Lord. Another
  our book; we- ..$ould know w,here  ou'r author stood.         such case is the  B,abylonian  king  Nelbuchadnezzar.
  Because of this lack, our book is decidedly deistic a's to    We have from him words- such as' these, "And at the
  its mode of statement. Interpr,eters.  dn a whole deny send of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine
  this. `They everywhere find concealed in" our book a eyes unto heaven-and I blessed the Most High, and I
  copious religious sentiment. They ascribe to.Mordecai         praised afid honoured  him that liveth forever, whose
  and Esther a  saving1  faith so  fi+m and heroic that, dominion is an everlasiing dominion, and his kingdom
  had they actually been the possessors of such `a faith,       is from generation to generation: and all the inhabi-
 th#e$ wo:uld be standing before Us in.our book as two of tants of the earth are rep&ted as nothing and he doeth
 the mest remarkable saints in all the Scriptures. But          according to his will in the-army of heaven ,and among
  the fact is that our book bontains not- a shred of real       the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stays his
  ,evidence of either` they or' our author having had hand, or say unto him what doest thou" (Dan. 4:34,
  any such faith at all.                                        35). The first impression that this propheti,c  ebulition
          Still another explanation mns as follows. !l%e style makes on us is that this pagan king was a tr,ue be-
 of our book is most apprbpriate to its contents. The liever. Yet he was a godless mari who perished ili his
  deliverance of. the Jewish peoples within the Persian sins.
  dominion, which  fornis its subject, was in itself a           Now the function of our author was to  truthfully
  great- and important event. But this was not brought and accurately record past events. Was he disqualified
  about by a `divinely inspired hero, nor by the faithful for this task by his unbelief? Let us put the question
 valotir of `the people, but through the influence which        this way: Could God use such a man to produce in-
  a `woman exerted over a king through her charms               fallible written  h&tory?      (God being what He is,:
'  .of the flesh. To have exalted such  cha?acters  to a namely, God, this. question-is really pointless. If our
- higher and holier tone, by which they would have been         author was religiously indifferent, God simply did use
  .brought  into. an immediate -relation to God,. would such a man to produce wr?cten  history of -this char- I-
  have crgated  ti discord. This would have been a cause acter. This of course' does not imply that he `labored
  for irritation.                                               under the  iinpulse of love of God. If he was an
          But-it  is not egalting  seeh characters to a holier unbelieving Jew, he w'as devoid of love. But it does
  tone to bping out that their hearts are in -God's hand mean `that- the Spirit gendered in him the infllexible
  afid that with all things they  dare made  by Him to          will to write reliable history and that He so guided


                                      T H E   STANDAR,D   BE-ARE%                                                          365

 in deze kinsnede : Ze roepen  God niet aan. Daar ligt sloten te zijn onder den last des toorns Gods.
 alles  ia. Ze roepen Bern niet aan, want ze hebben de             Maar God heeft den gevangene, Zijn Zoon,  doea
 duisternis liever dan het licht. !God is een Licht. Ze wederkeeren.           Hij `deed dat  geschjefienis  worden in
 roepen Hem niet aan, dus lblijven zij in de duiste&s.          den hof van jozef. Het is de bpstanding.
 En die sifeer  is 266 vreeselijk, dat zij het volk van God        Ja, &en heeft Zich Jakob verheugd, Israel was ver-
  opeten alsof zij brood aten. Ze haten God 266, dat zij        blijd. En dat is de blijdschap van Jezus in den hof.
 zich in arren woede keeren tegen Zijn kinderen. God            Toen is Hij gaan  zingen. En Hij  zingt  riog.
 kunnen zij niet beschadigen.  wel,, dan  moeten  Zijn             Daarna die van Jezus zijn. Men zag welhaast een
 kinderen  er aan gelooven. En zij hebben er ook schik groote schaar !
 va:n. Dat kunt ge merken uit de vergelijking. Zij                 De gevangenis  vain Zijn volk  wordt  ,gewend. Ze
  eten Zijn volk  bp als brood.  IGe weet met welk een mogen naar buiten  treden in `t  voile licht van Gods
 innerlijk welgevall,en  men soms brood kan eten. Dan vriendelijk aangezicht, En dat is weer Jesus.
 aeggen we: het smaakt als koek. -Welnu,  zoo Beeft d.e            In beginsel ondervinden  wij die verheuging nu al.
 natuurlijke  `mensch schik om Gods yolk te plagen, te Doch wij zingen door de snikkingen heen. Want men
 trijterea; te verscheuren, te dooden, den. ganschen dag :      eet oas nog op, alsof zij brood aten. `t Is nog maar in
. Psalm 44.                                                     beginsel.
     Doch ze hebben geen makkelijk leven, die godd.e-              Dat wordt straks  anders.  De psalm  spreekt   apo-
 loozen.                                                        kaluuptisch. `t Ziet op het heerlijk einde. Dan  zul-
     Zc: zijn met vervaardheid vervaard  geworden waar len ze aankomen al zintgende  bij God in den hemel.
  geen vervaardheid was. De dwazen.  :Hebt ge het                  Zoo zult ge ook verstaan, dat er staat: Och! Dat
 nooit gemepkt  ? Laat er Fets `gebeuren in de natuur,          och roept om God;
 Soms is een donderslag genoeg. ,Orf een aardbeving.                                                              G. v.
 OI een eigenaardig geluid in den  nacht: het kraken
 van het behangsel. De mensch is niet geloovig. Dat
 wil  hij  ni&t.  .Hij  haat God. Maar hij is  we1  bijge-                              -
 loovig. Dat is ook zijn smart.
     En dat komt hier vandaan, dat God de beenderen
 -dergenen, die-zich tegen Zijn volk keerden, verstrooid              Erasmus And The Reformation
 heeft.
     Ook kunt de Heere U een blik in Zjin diepste wer-          The  1Mi.m. __
 ken.  .Eenvoudig  staat het daar. En het heeft mij                Someti&e  during the period, known in history as
  ook doen sidderen. De .Heere heeft de goddeloozen the Renaissance, a forgotten woman gave birth to an
 met vervaardheid jgeslagen door hun beenderen  te ver- ill.egitimate  son, who was destined to make a name for
 strooiten,  o,rndat Hij xe verauo?pen  heeft! Da't uitroep-    himself in the sphere of  learning in his day. This
 teeken  is weer van mij. Hij Wilde uitdrukking geven nameless. thing, the son of a Catholic priest, in later
 aan die eerder genoemde siddering. Siddering, want years assumed the name, Erasmus Roterodamus  and is
 het valt niet mee om van God verworpen te zijn. Voor-          consequently referred to in books of history as, Eras-
  al als men bede'nkt, dat wij geen haar beter zijn dan mus  sf  Rotierdam,  Erasmus `Desiderus,  or' simply
 (de  g o d d e l o o z e n .                                   Erasmus. The date of his birth is uncertain but it is
     Van God verworpen! Vreeselijk.  En dat  ver- usually assumed  that he was <born about 1466 or 1467.
 werpen  Bouclt   tiooit  op. Dat gaat door tot in alle .He himself is to blame for this. obscurity in respect to
 eeuwigheid.                                                    his birth and childhood for he disliked saying even,the
     Al het bovenstaande in den psalm heeft Gods volk least thing about that time of his life. The reason for
 moede gemaakt. En zij verlangen naar het eilnde.               thins silence is not hard to understand in the light of
     ,Dat verlangen vindt zijn uitdrukking  in het laatste what has been said above. Socially, Erasmus was a
 vers. "Och, dat Israels verlossingen uit Sion kwamen ! "partisite". *History relates that his parents died early
 Als God de gevangenen Zijns  yolk zal  doen  weder- .and, very nat,urally, the relatives, who had perceived
 keeren, dan zal zich Jacob verheugen, Israel zal ver- the burden of caring for the unwanted child, were only
 blijd zijn!                                                    too meager to have hjrn reared as cheaply as possible.
     IDat beteekent  eerst Jezus.                               The Chunch,`on.the other hand, was glad to take change
     Dat zit z&i: De gevangene is Jezus in banden van of this child, who, though yery young, showed definite
 fden dood, waar d'angst der he1 Hem alle troost deed promise in the way of learning. At the age of nine
 missen.  Toen heeft Hij gesehreeuwd: Mijn God, Mijn years Erasmus was sent to the school at D.eventer  and
 God,  waar,om hebt G;IJ Mij verlaten?! Jezus is naar later to Hertogenbosch.  He entered the Augustinian
 onze natuurlijke gevangenis gegaan en beeft onze monastery at Steyn in 148'7 and was ordained a priesit
 boeien op  Zich genomen. En die gevangenis is:  be- by the Bishop of Utrecht  in 1492. Later he became


  3 6 6                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

  an Augnstinian canon. It is only proper to mention prepared. food, his stomach refusing to assimilate in-
  at+his time that he entered the Aug&tinian  mon&tery         different meat, while the smell of fish revolted him.
  not so much for religious reasons`& for .literary am- Such constitutional frailty rendered a certain degree
  bitions, this monastery p,ossessed  the finest library of of physical comfort indispensable. He needed soft,
. classical literature in that country at that time, Aiso warm materials for his atiire ; a clean bed; costly wax
  the years which he spent in-the cloister were passed candles instead of the usual dip. . . . During his
  not in the exercis@ of religious duties but in studying sojourn in  Bbasle  he-  had, day after day, to make a
  the fine arts and reading the classics.                      ,detour  i,n order to avoid a peculiarly evil-smelling
     Thus began a life of borrowing on the livelihood street, fok' every form of st,ench,  of noise, of garbage,
  of others. Erasmus had ihe Church to thank for all of of reek, of rudeness, asrid of tumult afflicted his mind
  his  qducation.   What was  trde of his  early life was      as well as his body and wrought his soul up to the
  equally true of all his life, f,or this "social p&&e" was a pitch of murderous frenzy. . . . His greatest dread
  forced, even when his hair was grey, to eat the bread, was that he should be attached by the plague, which
  of charity. He was a confirmed beggar and made his           was raging throughout every land at that time and
  way through life on the doles o? the rich and begging causing terrible havoc. If he learned that the disease
  his way a,$ best he might. Someone has written of him was epidemic in a region one hu*ndred miles away, he
  as follows, "Endless are his dedications, his flattering shuddered with  apprehsension and decamped  panic-
  epistles which form a major.part of his correspondence stricken, 50 matiter  whe$her  the emperor had summon-
  and could well become the textbook of  thqse who should ed him to a council or the most attractive proposal had
  wish to learn the craft of writing begging letters;          been made to him. ;He felt personally humiliated if he
  subtle and cunning as they are to the verge of a fine        found vermin  upon  hiti, or pimples, or a boil. . . .
 -art."                                                        he was by no means ashamed of avowing that he
                                                               trembled at the merest mention of death."
  The Epicweak,.                                                  This  regar'd for personal well-being was by no
                                                               means limited to the sphere of food. and shelter. It
     One  might assume that a man so disposed would be ~manifested, itself also in his relation to all with whom
  satisfied with anything that he might receive as long he came into contact. Erasl'nus was interested solely
  as it would serve the  pulrpose of his existence. But in himself, in his own safety and security, and he had
  noi so Erasmus. He was by nature an Epicurean and an utter disregard for the feelings and safety of
  therefore, had a high regard for his personal well- anoth~er. ,He was guided, in -every social relationship,
  being. He despised all that which was of an inferior by the animal instinct of  self-pfieservation,  so that
  grade and could be satislfied with only the best. The even when great issu,es were at stake, whenever an
  following description is very interesting and also gives     issue became serious, he  slipped away out of the
  us, at the same time, a rather good insight into the         `danger zone. No one could elicit from him a plain
  man's character. "During the seventy -years of his "Y,es" or "No", but would instead be met with- such
  life he was perpetually afflicted by bad health; for terms as, "If" or "Jnsofar". He refused to make any
  what nature had deprived him of in the way of muscle,        decision, lest he should in some way bind himself.
she had supplied to excess in the matter of nerves. Hence, anyone putting his trust in Erasmus as aa ally,
  . . . .The  pr,otective  covering of health was tdo thi.n would be mercilessly let down, for he coul,d be faithful
  to secure  him~ from assault, So that if he was  nob only to himself. At heart, the man was thoroughly
  plagued with one petty ailment, he was afflicted with selfish and he did not hesitate to unscrupulously sacri-
  ano$her, slight, maybe, but undermining. His digestion fice his best friend or most liberal benefactor upon the
  gave him unceasing trouble ;  hiti limbs were often rack- altar of his own.selfish interests.
  ed with rheumatic -pains or with gout; he `suffered
  from the stone'; every breath of keen air acted up04 The Humanist.
  his delicate constitution like ice upon a decayed tooth;
  he was sensitive to the slightest change in climate.            Although Erasmus was an ordained priest in the
  In a&no& evlery one of his letters he complains of not Church, he consistently refused to act in that capacity
  f,eeling well. .. In no place Tdid he feel at ease : heat and the record of his life and work fails to show any
  undid.him; fog rendered him melancholy: he detested active exercise  of that office. Already  `in the early
  the wind ; he shivered in t,he cold ; stove-heated rooms years of his priesthood, he had by cunning and clever
  oppressed  him  a%nd made his head  a.che;   s6uffy air scheming ,won permission to cast of.f the ofl?cial garb
  gave him nausea. . . . He needed to be particular as and from living in the depressing confines of the
  to what he drank and the wines'of Burgundy were the cloister. From~ this bastard son which the Church had
  only ones capable of whipping L@I his chilly !blood  into    dutifully reared .at her own expense, she received but
  a semblance of warmth. . . . He'fought shy of badly Jittle compensation in r,eturn  for all her labors in the


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B 'E A R E R                                          367

  way of positive fruit for the Church. In reviewing bef,ore his public the principles of human reform for
  the life of Erasmus, one can easily forget this official which he  shrove.  1.t has been said of him, !`Erasmus
  capacity and- it is  not difficult to understand  .that       packed his wares so cunningly that he was able, unbe-
  Luther would write to him, ". . . .I pray you, relnain        knotin&,  to smuggle all the contraband of the Reform-
  content with your own proper gift. Study, a$rn, and ation into cloister and court."              '
  promote literature and languages, as you have  `hith&to          :He reached the height of @s popularity between
  dope, to great advantage. . . . But .as to this our' ca&e: `the ages of forty to fifty. No other author in his' day
  to this, God has neither willed, nor given it ~$1, td be saw his works published in so many editions. ,He was
  equal. . . ." (The Bondage of the Will, p. 392) c '           called  `<doctor universalis", "prince of scientific learn-
     -Erasmus was more the humanist .than the priest.           ing," "father of study" and the "light of the world".
  His interests settled in man ratll& than in God. Fe           In fact no praise seemed to high for him. "Emperors
  was concerned about the peace and security OY man- alid kings, princes and dukes, ministers and professors,
  kind  rather than the honor of the Sovereign- God._ ,popes  and prelates, were all of them rivals for Eras-
  Like &I1 humanists, Erasmus firmly believed that a mus' good will. Charles V, ruler of the New World
  realm of peace and happiness, devoid of all fanaticissm, and the Old, offer.ed  him a seat in .the Aulic Council ;
  hatred and malice was possible upon this earth. More- Henry VIII wanted him to reside in England ; Ferdi-
  over he -was convinced that such  `a state could be nand offered him a pension if only he would consent
  realized by means of enlightenment and education. to go to Vienna ; Francis I promised him a fine recep-
  To the realization  6f this ideal he was given. This tion in Paris ; the most tempting invitations came from
  utopian philosophy and .this desire for conciliation was Holland, Brabant, Hungary, Poland and Portugal;
  recognized by his contemporaries when they coined the five univer&ties stiove to obtain the honor of placing
  term, "Erasmism". In the pursuit of the statement of him on the staff; three popes wrote him letters full of
  this humanistic ideal, Erasmus f.ound his lif,e's mission. veneration. His room was cluttered with tokens of
  Toward the goal of its realization he set himself with esteem; f.ree tributes from wealthy admiTers. There
  great zeal and with all the keen intellectual gifts at his were golden- goblets and silver table-services; casks
  disposal.     In this great struggle for the unity and of finest wines were sent to him; rare and precious
  ,peace  of all mankind, to which he had dedicated his books."                  -
  life, he used but one means,  h;is  pen.  In  all sairness       There is no doubt but what for a time the influence
  to Erasmus it must be said that he was a brilliant of this man was very great and made itself felt upon a
  writer.      Although the many books which he wrote wou*ld-wide  scale. The humanist had gained the favor
  are today covered with dust and are regarded as of of all men and seemed to be well on *he way toward the
  little value today, they were  nevevltheless  in great realization of his goal, the unity and peace of all man-
  demand in- his own age and almost everyone of them kind in a world devoid of hatred and strife and war.
  enj,oyed  worldwide, fame for a time. But perhaps an But, as surely it  niust, this dream was doomed to
  even greater and mqre lasting achieveme+  than any failure. And this one popular man died a forgotten
  book which he wrote was ihat he converted the Latin,          and forsaken individual.
  the  supranation:al  language of his day,  into a more
  literary and flexible tool for the conveying of illought.     The Traitor.
     There can be no doubt hut what Erasmus was a
  great scholar. He had a keen insight into the weak-              When we speak of Erasmus as a traitor we do not
  nesses and evils of the hu.man  nature against which mean- that he was .a traitor to himself and his own
  he  hgd set himself in his pursuit of the  hu.manistic        ideals. He remained true to his humanistic principles
  ideal of a better world. He was not a profound thinker to the very last and it -was exactly that fact that caused
  $ho produced new truths. He was, however. a clear             hi_m to be branded a traitor by both the Catholic
  thinker, a correct thinker. He did not find his material Chur,ch  and the Reformers. Actually he yas traitor to
  within himself  but in the exterior world and was there- neither one because he never once championed the
  fore ,to be characterized more as a coll&tor,  a coven- `cause of either one over against the other. Some seem
  tator  and a seeker. Also his style of writing differed to think that Erasmus played a major role in the
 Tfrom the heavy, straight-forward method employed by success of the Reformation but we fail to find any
  the majority of his day, which undoubtedly constitut&d        proof on -that score. He was in sympathy with the
  a  factor in the great popularity  of- his books. He Reformation only in as far as he thought that it would
  wrote in a light vein ; humor and satire constituted the      serve the purpose of removing from the Church the
  garb of every address. It  was this feature of his evils tihat were present in it. He. supporte,d  the move-
  writings that gave his hooks ready access to hhe homes ment in as far as it could serve as a tool for the attain-'
of the great as well as the common people. While, at ment of his humanistic ideal. He was not interested
  the same time, underneath this external. dress, he set in the truth which' was at stake nor would he have any-


 368                                   T H E   S T - A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                 -
 thing at all `to do with the titanic struggle that re-
 sulted. He hated the narrow-minded fanaticism of                Is  Catechik Preaching Ministry Of
 the Catholic  Chur.ch  but he regarded Luther as a                                The Word?
fanatic equally well. Hence, since he would be faithful
 only to himself and his own humanistic philosophy,               When our institutions are attacked, we will defend
 he had to be a traitor fo any cause that trusted in him       them. When they are threatened,  ~nie may assume
 for support. Erasmus was an advocate of compromise the offensive. Such are the attitudes espresso-d  in our
 and conciliation. ,He regarded every schism and `re-          day with regard  to the war situation.  Thoiugh we
 volution as bar,baric and withdrew himself from evlery were caught off-guard, and Pearl Harbor `was at-
 open strife, no mat& what issue might be at stake.           tacked, it did not take long before miljtary machineries
 At %he outset of the great struggle, both sides "could were being rushed to their strategic positions of de-
 make neither head nor tail of his attitude ; he address&d     fense. And now because of the declared threat of
-them gently, and each side hoped to win him over." the Nipponese to invade even our continent, the ,cry
 There is no doubt but what this man could have b&en          has gone up to take the offensive. For it is the ex-
 a great power for good with a view to the Reformation' Qerience  of modern warfare that mere defense is fatal
 if he had so desired. But altliough many opportunities .and the aggressor proves victorious especially if he
 pr,esented themselves for his open and  linequalified        can strike quickly .and with sufficient force.
 support, he consistenlJy refused to make  use of them..          In most any kind of a conflict I suppose both of
 Only once was anyone successful in drawing him out these  kinds of strategy are  neci%sary and must be
 of his peaceful seclusion, so that he could not avoi.d used to effectively thwart the enemy. Ytes, even when
 making a clear statement of his stand in respect to the doctrinal issues are at stake or age-old institutions or
 struggle of that time. When accused by a dying man, customs are threatened.
 whom he had once befriended, of betraying the cause              Since the last World-War, and especially immediate-
 of the Reformation, he gave out .the following state- ly  ,&hereafter,,  there was a growing tendency and a
 ment, "In many books, in many letters; in many dis- marked incline toward what is known as undenomina-
 putations, I have unfalteringly declared that I  refuse      tionaiism. Jts program and constituency is undoubted-
 to mix myself in the affairs of any party whatsoever. ly well-known to most of us:. Their chief tenent was:
 When Hutton rails at me ,becau$e  I have not rallied          "No Creed, but Christ." In fact that is still their
 io Luther's support, as himself would have me do, he          creed. If we understand their cry correctly, they mean
 fails to remember how three years ago I explicitly to imply that `old out and dried' doctiines must be
 asserted that the Lutheran party was alien to my out- put away. The  Ttime-worn creeds' of the church are
 look and that it would always remain so. . . . I love antiquated. The tendency of these creeds to formalism
 freedom, and I will not and cannot serve any party." is killing. Their maintainence leads to dead orthodoxy.
 It is not difficult to understand that a man like Luther We want `life'. Wee want a return to the Scriptures.
 could not tolerate such an apparently spineless in- ZGive us the living Christ once more, and throw away
 divlidual who did~not  have the courage of his convic-        `your old forms of unity'.
 tions to openly take his stand on the side of the truth.         With their emotional appeal and Arminian evangel-
 Nor is it dificult to understand that a tian like Eras- ism, they attacked the churches by the name of Re-
 mus could have no use for an individual like Luther formed and carried  away captive not a few who
 who was  willing to cast the whole world into con- readily succumbed to their well-timed bombardment.
 fusion for the sake of his belief. To Erasmus no-truth Many of these victims, wheri carefully interrogated,
 was worth + split in the Church and surely not Worth pr,oved to be gorely lacking in the knowledge od R.e-
 bloodshed. Erasinus would not be martyr for any `formed doctrine and were therefore unable to defend
 cause, no matter what it might be.                           `+hemse&es,  or they were of the ntirnbe? who long ago
    Erasmus knew no religion but that of humanism. had acquired an aversion for fundamental doctrinal
                                                              instruction and were  crlying exactly for the things
    That was undoubtedly his greatest weakness.
        -     3                                               undefiominationalism had to offer.
                                                                  `Occasionally one finds even in our circle one who,
 Note :-                                                      though in name is Reformed, has acquired the speech
                                                               of the above described sect. He may not speak so
    We wish to acknowledge the book of Stefan Zweig,          boldly and pointedly, and for fear that he be un-
 "Erasmus of Rotterdam" which we have liberally con- covered, he may gleefully rehearse the early history
 sulted and frog which most of the quotations in this .of our churches, pointing to the  chuuTch-property,
 article have been taken.                                     trouble,  the  courtLeas&  etc. He may try .to make you
                                                               think that things were hot for him and his conteti-
                                           H. D. W.            poraries. Yes, he will even describe in detail the


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        369
                               .
inconveniences they had to forego in the days of qfialifies to speak His Word. And these only, in
organization. But noticeably he does not once men- di&nction from others in the institution of His
tion the doctrinal issues involved. Either he does not Church,  hav:e this high  office and calling.  '  It. must
know them, or they were  of no special  inter&t  to           be maintained further that when we sta.te.  that God
him. These individuals are the same from whom y&i speaks His Word through them, He does not treat
may hear the complaint  that we should have less them as some talking machine on which He transcribes
doctrine and more `gospel'.  IThey are bored to hear and broadcasts His Word. No! These  officebearers
persistent preaching on the Heidelberg Catechism.             are ratioeal-moral  beings, who are qonscious,  thinking,
       It is not impossible that the knowledge of this        willing, planning, responsible  clreatur,es  who live in
element occasioned  the question  whi,ch heads this the flesh. Besides, ,God does not come to them at set
,article.    For that is also the  question of the  .abeve    times in an inner chamber and mysteriously delegate
described individuals to which they as well as any them to speak a  certaip  message for  Him. Neither
undenominationalist would answer emphatically, No !           `does Ee, as some would have it, merely lay the words
                                                              dn the opening of their mouths. No!  ,God lays at
       Should we not then take up the defense, yea, evea      thieir disposal the one and only Word. of God, the
assume the offensive when our institutions are at- Scriptures, written on paper with ink. The same
tacked? I trow--Yes ! and most emphatically-Yes  !
because this danger threatens from within. In our Scriptures which He so wonderfully formed through
day a quizzling proves to be just as effective opponent the ages past and delivered by His holy apostles and
                                                              prophets, through His Son, the Word, to the Church.
as the- dive;botiber and the armored tank.                    It is the ~Isame Word which is the possession of the
       W,e think it therefore not superfluous to devote a whole Church, rich and poor, old and young, wise and
few moments of thought to the above named ques- simple; parents and children, clergy and laity, alike.
tion not only to  def,end  the custom  of Catechism Regarding that Word, it is the specific calling and
preaching, but  .to  ass,ure ourselves anew that the task of the minister to prayerfully analyze and study
keeping of the custom is right and proper.                    it. And only  wheti he has laid hold on it and it
       Before we preceed,  however, we shall have to con- becomes a definite part of his thought structure and a
cede that mere catechism preaching need not neces- lively testimony within him, can he speak it as a living
sarily be ministry of the W,ord. In other words, just `witness and be instrumental in administering it to his
because  oee preaches on the catechism, does. not neces- divinely appointed audience. When be speaks on a
sarily mean that he is preaching the Word of God.             certain text of the Scriptures he ministers the Word
It is conceivable and ~exactly true that .one can speak       of God only as the light of the  wkiole Scriptures is
on a section of the catechism and not preach the              cast into -the mold of the exposition of the one text.
Word at all. Just as it is  conceivabl,e  and exactly Shall the W,ord be truly ministered, therefore, it is
true that one can preach on a certain text of Scrip- his task to rightIy divi& the Word of truth and direct
ture and still not preach the Word of God. Therefore it to the hearers in such a way that it fits their needs
we shall have to show not only that Catechism is and applies to their conditions, ability, etc. `God ap-
ministry of the Word, but also why and when it `plying it to the heart in such a way that it 3s a savor
is.                                                           of life or of death.
       Shall  we answer  -our' question intelligently, we         Much more could be said regarding .this particular
should understand well what is implied in both of the phase of our subject, but  this will suffice to define
elements in Ithe question, namely, What is  mfnistry what we  und'erstarid by the expression: Ministry of
of the Word? and, What' is Catechism Preaching? the Word. We conclude then that the Mmistry of the,
In respect to the first of th'ese elements, we can define Word is God's work through human media especially
the ministry of the Word as that act of God whereby prepared by Him whereby He imparts to men, pre-
.He through Christ Jesus' in the divinely designated destined in His good-pleasure, His Word in such a
office and through the divinely called office-bearer in way that the light of t@e entire written Revelation is
His  Chur.ch  proclaims His own Word. He has  given           cast into the mold of each portion administered, and
authority to His exalted Son, our Lord, to set up in applied to the mind and heart of the appointed ob-
the institution of the Church the office of teaching jects  wh'ether  it be to life or to death. And in re-
and preaching. elder through which He will minister gard to the human media through whom He ministers,
His. Word to all those-whom He in His goold-pl.easure         we conclude that they are living, rational creatures of
wiIl' send `it.    God; it musk be. m%ntained,  always flesh and blood, sinful men, in-whom the administered
ministers His own Word. Mere man can-never `speak Word is consciously taken up and becomes a living
#God's Word, n&lier can -he ever minister that Word. testimony expressed intelligently in human sounds.
However, the Lord does minister His Word through                  Regarding Catechism Preaching, we may state
burn&n  media, These  latter  ItIe calls,  appointq  apd ,briefly that it is an, expression signifying that forti
                                                                                      _-


   370                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA.RER

   of preaching which follows the line of .instruction pre- can be and is  merci.ful  only on the basis of strict
   scribed in the Heidelberg Catechism. The latter is           justice, or by presenting, as is commonly done, the
   that book of instruction, in question and answer form, sinner as of himself l&owing his sin, he would not be
   formulated by the celebrated Zacharias  Ursinus, a preaching the Word  ,of God. In other words, the
   Germ&  pro$esior   ,in the University of  Eeidelberg,        light of the whole Word of God must be cast on the
   Germany, in the year 1563, and adopted by the Church- text expdsited, and the text preached on must not be
   es of the Palatinate of southwest Germany as a guide made-to militate against other bruths of the Word.
   `for the instruction -of th'e youth in opposition to the        Much in the same manner `it is possible to preach
   Lutheran and Catholic  confessionls   and- instruction on the Catechism without preaching the Word. When
   theri prevalent. 11t was adopted by the Reformed `God speaks His Word, He does so infallibly. `On the
  Churches represented in the Synod of Dordt in the other hand, when man interprets and gives expression
   years 161%`1.9 as one of the forms of unity in conjunc- of the truth of God's Word, he does so fallibly.
   tion with the Belgic or NetherlBnds  Confession and the Further, though the Catechism cannot be said to be
   Canons of Dordt. Besides adopting the Catechism as an infallible symbol as the Scriptures is the infallible
   a  folrm of unity; the  R,eformed  Churches also in- Word of God,  it cannot be gain-said that the same
   sisted on and enforced through its Church Order that Spirit that guided the formation of the Scriptures also
   the Churches should devote at least one service each led the Church in the formation of. the  Cataechism.
   Sabbath to the ex$osition  of doctrine as formulated And it was and iS evidently the intent of `the Chur,ch
   in the Heidelberg' Catechism. This good custom has that the Catechism, though perhaps inadequately and
   ibeen commonly re.Eerred to as preaching on the Cate- incompletely, should form a unity of expr,ession  of the
   chism.                                                       faith of the Church as it is grounded-in the Scriptures,
      To anyone acquainted with the form and contents           and lives in the heart of the Christian. This unity is
   of the Catechism, it must be evident that it purposes        best expressed in the triad of truths designated in the
   to set forth doctrines or truths of Scripture which are triple division of Knowledge .of Misery, Redemption,
   the object of faith as it is experienced in the life of and Gratitltde. It is the purpose bf the Catechism to
   the Christian. E,ach of these truths are based on then express-in this triple division therefore the knowledge
   Word of God. The Catechism was not intended to be            of the Word of God in its entirety as it lives con-
   a book of instruction next to `the Scriptures, neither sciously in the faith and experience of God's children.
   is it above the Script,ures,  but it was intended to be a       In the meaiure that one, preaching on the Cate-
   collection of the truths that make up the Scriptures.        chism loses sight of the trilogy of the truth and empha-
   Th,e Catechism is but the echo of the Scriptures, and sizes one department to the exclusion of the other,
   having received its contents from the Word of God,           or treats each department apart from the others, he
   it purposes to lead us back to that W0r.d.                   cannot  be  saidi  to be ministering the Word of God
                                                                which is  expressed  in the  wjhole. In other words, as
      It must therefore be maintained that all Catechism the knowledge of misery, redemption and gratitude
   preaching that does not lead us to the Scriptures            are simultaneous in the experience of the' Christian,
   cannot properly be called: Ministry of the Word.             and together make up his ,knowledge  of the truth of
      As was said bef,ore,. it is conceivable that one @each &ripture, which contains  this triple revelation, so
   on the Catechism without preaching the Word. of God, the three parts must be preached on as constituting
   just as it is possible to preach on a certain text of one whole. To preach on misery without any connec-
   `Scripture without  preachin.g  the -Word of God. In tion with redemption and gratitude is an ,error, and is
- regard to the latter, we  may say that the  Woyd  &Y          not a ministry  ,of  `the one truth of God. Truly, we
   God is  one.  Bhould the preacher speak that Word may distinguish truths as the S&iptures  also presents
   in such a way that' a portion of it be administer-           distinbt  truths, but we may never separate them and
   ed irrespective and apart from the whole,  her  no% treat thein a$art from the whole of Revelation.
   only destroys.  the unity but at  the same  time he             We conclude;-iiz  answer' to our' question, that Cate-
   preaches the word of man. To illustrate: Suppose one chism preatihing  is- ministry of the Word, when that
   chooses to preach on the well-known Scripture' th&t p`reaching,  which `follows the line of instruction pre-
   deals with the brayer of the Publican `(God be merciful sented -in the Catechism, presents. the doctrines of
   to me, a sinner." Suppose further that he explains.the       Scripture contained therein, not as separate truths but
   fact that  thti  pu,blican knew himself to be a great as integral parts of `the whole Revelation contained in
   sinner, as well as the fact that God was indeed merci- the Scriptures. If ministry of the Word is what we
   ful; and that the sinner conscious of his sin and. of        have described it to be, it must become evident that
   God's great mercy cries for that mercy. Should the (Catechism preaching can be and is ministry of the
. minis&r orate on and exposit these facts stated in Word when it coincides` with` and does what the
   the text without showing  srorn Scripture  hoiw God Ministry' of the Word does.' Catechism.. Preaching,


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D `B E A R E R   .                                   371

therefore,- does-not become ministry of the Word just away from .the Reformed truth, and they lose their
because the minister reads a f,ew texts of Scripture R,eformed  distinctiveness ;and therefore as Protestant
before he begins his exposition on a certain  Lord's Reformed Churches we must have our own schools.
`Day. Neither does the Catechism preacher minister            Christian Education is most essential ; and in this
the Word as God's mouthpiece when hk exegetes and intoxicating free-will church-world of today we must
expounds the Lord's Day apart from  Scri$ure.  .He have sound Reformed Education given by thoroughly
ministers the Word, or rather, God ministers His Reformed  edu&tors.  Education which must be  God-
.Word through this human medium when that expo- centered and r& man-made ; for let us remember that
sition of the Catechism is thoroughly based on Scrip-      covenant chi@ren are a heritage.of  the Lord. Chris-
ture and leads tis to the Script,ures,  so that we can see tian Edlucation should be a trtie connecting link in our
and  uriderstand   par&ular truths in the light of the Reformed thinking.
whole' icruth and revelation of God. In the measure           If our children- shall grow up as sturdy Reformed
that Catechism preaching departs from this principle, men and women the17 they must not only have a con-
you have a word of man.                                    ception `of truth in general, but in particular a. dis-
   ,Finally, let us, as Churches and as  Givinely ap- tinctive Protestant Reformed teaching.
pointed agents of God to preach His. Wor,d,  continue         Schools must be thoroughly fundametital in their
to preach the Wxord and maintain the custom of Cite- teaching. The Public Schodls  help prodbuce the great-
chism Preaching. For God, Who ministers His own &t reign of crime that America? history knows. That
Word according to His good-pleasure, -has; called us to is %hy parents in our own midst should not send their
hold high th.e banner of the whole truth in order that children there. They must bring them up in the fear
we may be thoroughly grounded and established in the of the Lord. That was their pr.omise at baptism.
truth.  And'all .those who would discard the custom           We must have schools of our own, which system-
and stop the mouths of the faithful expositor of the atically teach our Protestant Reformed principles.
truth as contained in the Scriptures and formulated Protkstant  Reformed parents teach their children in
in the catechism close their ears to the Word of God. the home in accoi-dance  with our thoroughly Reformed
For the Catechism tends not -to shackle the minds truth (do they not?), and therefore as we plan to
and hearts of the children of God as some would ac- havie a school of our own iti the future, let it be our
cuse, but it makes us free ,because it presents the only aim to help in this noble cause, and let not one of us
comfort in life and in death. And the truth shall minimize the importance of this worthy movement.
make us free.                                                 Wh%t w.ould  you think of Roman Catholic parents
                                           M .   S .       sending their children to  z  L&heran school,  or an
                                                           Adve&&  tiho entrusts his child to a Reformed School,
                                                           or  -L.utheran  parents who send their children to a
                                                           Roman Catholic school?  YOU say, that is inconceiv-
                                                           able, and you  &r@ right.  .And I -assure you that a
                                                           Christian Reformed parent.will  not send his child to a
          News From Our Churches                           Protestant Reformed school. No one can blame  ,us
                                                           that we like to .have a school of our own in the which
                 (Continued from last issue)               our principles are taught.
   The Rev. Baker is of the opinion that the Christian        Let us tiever  fofget, the Christian Reformed Church
Reformed Churches still believe .and teach that the made a breach through their common grace doctrine ;
Christian. should. live a life of spiritual separation and they have used it,- alid still use it, as a bridge to
from the world. Fact is, however, that they do not meet the miofld, and enjoy mutual friendship together,
practice it, and they never .will, as long as-they do not but that-bpidge  is not constructed  for a true believer.
go back to the Scriptures, and discard the doctrine           You may ,$y: The present school has been good
of common grace.                                           enough so far, but is this true? There was no other
                                                           way,  and of course the Public school,-that is out of
   The writer of the little pamphlet also makes the the question. You may think there is nothing, the
statement that the Christian Reformed Church teaches matter with the present teaching, but have you in-
that the educa?ion of .the  chil,&en is the task of the    vestigated? This is everybody's duty. You also may
parents, and that it is proper to organiKe Christian claim that it is not the time for it. How do you
Elementary and High Schools for the purpose of assist- know?
ing them in bringing up their children in the nurture         Of course, those who are of the opinion that this
and admonition of the Lord.                                movement is wrong, tliat we are not in the Lord's way,
   10f cou?&e we fully agree with- that, but remember, that He frowns upon us, must refrain from supporting
also in this respect the present Christian Schools wean this noble, cause. However, 1, have not heard one so


       3        7    2                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

       bold in his speech. -Let Us  piut.  a11 our own petty ment may require necessary work of the soldiers, and
       notions away, and as one man steer in this one                 that- holds `also for the civilian. However, the true
       dir,ection, namely, to have a school of our own ; and ;Christian will not say quickly, that Sunday labor is
       then it does not make a particle of difference if we are       necess+ry.     He -knows the commandment, six days
      ,married  or single, if we have children or no children. .shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but on the seventh
       "This is a common cause, and-it means you!"                    day thod shalt rest, and thus have a foretaste of- the
            Furthermore, let us not grudge, but rejoice that _heavknly Sabbath above.
      we are deemed. worthy to' be co-workers with-' God,                                                                S. D. V.
     `io bring up `our children; which are His, in  %he fear
       of His name and in  our Protestant  Reformed  prin-
     .'  ciples`;. and let us  sho_w  -that we have not  l&t  our'
       distinctiveness.

                                                                                                    NOTICE  ~
            Can we as Christians petiorm-Sunday labor in OUT'
      ,def&se  industries during the -present N~ational Emer-             Young men-aspiring to the ministry of the Word
     gency?                                                           in our Churches `and desiring admittance into our
            That was the topic of the lecture-delivered  by R,ev. Theological. School. are requested to appear before the
       P. De Boer in the Fuller- Ave. Churcly; Aprils 9j which Theological  ,-School Committee at its next meeting,
      was very interesting  ,and worth-while listening to,            June 1, 1942, iri the Fuller Avenue Church parlors.
       although it  &as discouraging  that so few were pre- -Aspirants must present a certificate of membership
       sent.                                                          and recommendation from their consistory and also
            The speaker- commenced by saying, that this ques- a certificate of health from a reputed physician. Ap-
      tion is not new. It refers not only to soldiers but.also        plication for financial support can be made directly to
      to civilians,. especially in our own day. `This question the Synod.
       is often approached, not in the first place on a -doctrinal                       The Theological School Committee.
       basis -but m-ore on the. basis- as the need of the ,.hour.
      But  fir& of all we are  inter,ested in the Scriptural
      principle of it. May we perform labor on thk Sabbath?
      and is it in accordance with -Scr.ip$ure; and if not, .we
      must refrain from doing so.
            Now, as Protestant Reformed peop1.e we interpret.                                       NOTICE
' Scripture in,its own light. We can not take the fourth
2     commandment strictly literally:  -Thou. shalt not  dq               The Con&tory of the First Protestant Reformed
      any manner of work. The Jews knew this too, fm on               Church'wishes to call to the attention of our churches
      .the Sabbath they did work. They killed their animals, th.at Synod will meet D. V., on Wednesday, June 3,
      as a sa&ifice  for their sins, by the thousands. Jesus 1942 in the parlors of the Fuller Ave. Church. This
      SalSo worked  ,on the Sabbath day. He `healed many is to be. preceded by a prayer service on Tu&day even-
      sick, and- He told the Pharisees. and Scribes to free ing, June 2. The President of the former Synod, Rev.
      theilr ox and ass out .of the pit `on the Sabbath.              H. Hoeksema, will preach the sermon on this occasion.
        ?he `fourth commandment has also  meaninlg for
      us in the New Dispensation, although -there are el.e-                                          The Consistory,
      ments in it only for Israel of old. We have `a freedom                                        of the First Prot. Ref. Church,
      but not -in sin, for-we must-use it to the glory of God.                                           G. Stonehouse, Clerk.
      It is a positive and ,not a negative teaching.
            The Synod of 1618 decided that -work of mercy
      might be performed on Sunday-,and z&o. our H,eidel-                                            -
      berg Catechism- speaks in this manner.  The.  Rev.
      De Boer makes it clear, that work on the Sabbath can
      not be -placed in the same categor-y with other coti-                                  ATTENTION
      mandments, -for instance, yen necessarily can not kill,
      or steal, or commit adultery. The Sabbath was made                  The Editorial Staff of The Standard Bearer will
      for man and not man  for the' Sabbath.  #God brings meet June. 4, tit 7 :45 p. m., in the Fuller Ave Church.
      necessary work to us on the Sabbath, and in this A,11 the members o$ ,the Staff are kindly requeslted  to
      modern- world we can hardly escape doing it.                    be present,  if. possible,
            In  &n&&on  the speaker said:  that  the  Govetn-                                                    -G.  JM.  Ophoff,


