   VOLUME XXII                                Jenuary 15, 1946 I-- Grand Rapids, Michigan                        NUMBER 8

                                                                    ing and try&g and knowi,ng  and judging God there is
            MljXHTA?L'ION                                           no. escape. He besets us `on all sides. He is near- us
                                                                    eyery mloment. He knows our every move; He watch&
                                                                    closely our every act. He knows our .downsitiing -anId
                                                                    OLW uprising,  `our thoughts He  understan'ds afar off,
                         Heart Searching                            even before they rise up-into our' consiciousness. coals
                                                                    pat& He compasses, and  wit.h  all our  -it"ays   Hle is
                      Sear& me, 0  Go~cl, and know my  keawt: acquainted. Befsore a word leaves our lips, He knows it.
    _            try me, and know my thoughts: And see if He  sur+o&ds  u,s, .i.s before us an.d b&i& below and
             . there he nnzJ quicked-way  +n me, ,and lead me above, in heaven atid in hell. : from His presence thene is
                 in the way  everl!ast$ng.                          no escape. On the wings of  bhe morning we  caDnot
               . .                            Psalm 139:23, 2.4.    ifl,ee from Him, to the uttermost par& of the earth we --
                                                                    may  take our flight,  ;but even theme  we meet  Hiti.
   .Profound                 supplication!                          The deepest darkriess cannot cover ~11s from before His
         Cry ,of perfect agreement with, an@ of wholehearted face ; in His presence the night shines as the day. Even
   surrender to th!e ever ~seanching, constantly trying God ! when we were made, when we were ,quite wonderfully
         SeayCh  me, 0. God !  ;  .-. . .                           and curiously wrought, before our substan.ce was fash-
         The prayer is the ultimate. hutcome,  the inevitable iont@cl,  He was present with us, a&d His searching &ye
   fir& result' of the poet's c&sciousfiess  of the -presence watched over the process of. our formation: . . .
  ~Gf that God Whose k&wledge  is iear, extremely pre-                 How (wonderful is that P$sence !
   cious, yet fzr too wonderful for him.                :
         In the light of the l\:hole  psalm, this cry for heart      ' How  amaiing._is the thought of His penetrating
   searching judgment by the Most iHigh might appear search of Us!
   `rather paradoxical. For. is not the whole psalm &h,e              I Spell-bound; &holly atid awfully ch?tied,  Ithe poet
   exp+ssion  of an amazed ~o&&o$&ss of the presence
                                         .     . . .                had -stood,in that marvellotis Presence. Something of
   of God as ti Searched-  of the hearts +d the reins? Is the awe He had felt,' which the seraphim exper.ience
   nit its.then%e expres_sed-in  the positive statement of the that stand in the piesence of His lglloriou.s Majlesty,,  and
   first verse : "O-Lord; .thou hast_sear&ed  .Ge, alid kcown cover their faces With- their' wingi as Obey cry out :
me"? Why,  theni if  .the poet is so profoundly  :con- iHo@ holy, holy! . . . .                             _
   scious of the fact that the Most Hi,gh &es sear?h him,              "Yet, Ghile hi had stood in. the Presence, and had
   and know him, should he conclude his adorgtion of iexperieticed  the penetration. of those searching eyes *of
 Jehoval!  with  this prayer  $0;  seanching?  h                    the Judge of $eaven an'd earth, something more than
         Yet,  $hough it  n&y  .se@n  p.aradoxical  to  pray  f,or mere awe had filled his soul, something &lse than mere
   what God is ~&r&&y and constantly pErforming  w&bin fear had caused Lis inmost beiizg to tremble. He seared
., us, the two ,are i,n. pepgect h:armony, and the prayer i$ H%n, yes, but with the fear of love. He Ihad mot wanted
, only the ineyitable louttiorne of the po,et's con?ciousness to flee, but to  yemain.   .His awful  expkrience of  Dhe
   of Jehovah's  sear,chi!ng presence.                              Pr.esence was not like -that of the ungodly,  who, at the
         DeepIy  cqnsciou&  conscious  with fear-and trembling, sight of Him &at &tte$h on the throtne ;ery out : to ihe
   with iw,otidertient and. utter amazement, the poet was mountains and rocks : "Fall on us, and ;hide us!" 0.c
   of this overpower&g,  soul-ove&helmlng  presence.                the contrary, Farvellously sweet Was t,he Presence' to
         .Of this he had, sun,g in the `re& of ihe Psalm. God him; won&rfully precious were the thoughts of- Him
  searched him, and knew him; Atid from this search- to his soul. . . :


  170                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       *

         S t i l l   m o r e .                                       &arch me, bore through the surface of my life, pene,-
         While trembling in awe in the consciousness of His t&e into the depths ,of my existance, until Thou know
  holiness, and .of His penetrating search, the poet had             my very heart, whence are the issues of life!
  felt a bond ,od fri(endship  with that glorious Holy One.                 Let nothing remain uncovered I
         He knew himself to be in :His covenant!                            Let me be .utterly exposed ,before  Thy face, 0 my
         tHe would (be ,of His party! He would agree with God !
  Him, take His. side, even in His searitihing juldgment  of                And what is more, thus ,exposecl in "nis inmost being,
  himself!                                                           he desines to be evaluated, to be tried, to be judged,
         He feels `himself wholly in harmony with that by the Holy One!
  searching, trying, judging Presence, that besets him                      Try me!
on every  side.                                                             A,nd.  know me!  Know my  t,honghts!  Know my
         And he longs, with a profound yearning, to be in heart !
  harmony with Him, to be lrke Him, to be righkeous  as                     He v,oluntarily  puts hi&elf ;on trial beforie &h,e tri-
  He is rightledus,  to be holy as .He is holy, to. dwell in the bunal  ,of- the only Judge of heaven and earth. Try me!
  light as He dwells in the light; and thus to know Him, IHeYmplores  the Holy One to apply to him the touch-
  to dwell in His house, to seClHis face, to taste that He stone- bf His own righteousness, H.is perfect law. He
  is good. . . .                                                     ,beseeches his God to compare him, his nature, his heart,
         In that.longing He willingly submits himself to. His his thoughts, his inmost inclinations. and dIesires  and
  judgment, gives himself complletely over to the search             motives, as *well as the words ,of his mouth and .a11 his
  ,of those penetzating  eyes, in order that be, too> may walk and conversation, w.ith the holy law .of love. Fully
  know himself, condemn himself, `cast himself upon His aware that Jehovah can and will Ibe satisfied x&h noth-
  mercy, ,be delivered from that evil way,` an,d be guide& ing less than compl&e  Iharmony of the whole man with
  by Him in the way leveylasting!                               e    His own righteous will, the will that we shall love Him
         Thus the  cons$iousness  of His  Prlesence presses <with all our heart and- mind and soul and strength,
 from his heart this marvellous prayer.                              a!nd that tihe Holy One is too pure *of eyes even to behold
         Search me, 0 `God!                                          iniquity, he takes his position before the tribunal of
         I  lgn!ow that Thou always dost search me, but nolv the Most High, and prays : try me!
  I long to be searched!                                                    And know me, my thoughts, my inmost heart !
         Know my heart !                                                    H'e asks to be evaluated, to be kInown by God a.s to
         I Bnolw that Thou dost oonstantly know my inmost the ethical value of his inner life.
 beilig, but now I deeply yearn to be known !                               Know me ! D.etermine  what I am! Express a ver-
         Try me, and know my thoughts,  wthich I know dict  .as to my righteousness or  unrigh&ousness!  He
  thou. pr,ovest even l@ef,o?e I am aware of t.hem !                 desires to hear that verdict, to know himself in the
         See if there be any wicked way .in me ! For I would l,ight od God's own judgment over him.
  oond'emn it with Thee, and long to be delivered, 80 my                    N.or is this prayer a mere abstraction; <or a mystical
G o d !                                                  I .
                                                         '           I&esire  5ha-t God may direbUy reveal Himself and speak
         And lead me in the everlasting way !                        to him, and cause tihe light of His righteousness to ,ex-
         Marvellous prayer !                                         pose the inner recesses of his heart. On the contrary,
                                                                     it is a prayer' that' is heard whenever the child of God
                                                                     s&mits himself to the izrfalli:ble judgment .of the Word
         B o l d   r e q u e s t !                                   of God,:as contained in +he filoly Scriptures, and God's
         For the poet asks nothing less than that .He, Ibefo,re      own Spirit applies that Word to his, heart. Standing
  Whom nothing is hid; Who proves the reins' and the before, and beholding :hi.mself, ,iti the mirror ,of the
 heart, may cause the sear?ching and trying light of His perfect law of liberty, .his prayer is. heard indeed : Try
  just judgment to penetrate ey& into the ,depth of his me, anld :know  my thoughts-and my heart!
  existence-!                                                               Bnt how is %his poss$ble?
         Nothing in him must remain ahid.                                   Is not this priyer  too audacious? Is it not an act
         Such is the meaning <of the word search. It signifies of utter- rashness to invoke the judgment of God upo,n
to bore through, to penetrate even to the  bot,tom.                  us?
  Hence, the poet speaks of the thoughts, that lie behind                   What motivates the. poet? What  ,gives him this
 the outward appearance: know my ihoughts,  th& is, boldness to beseech the righteous Judge of all to search
my inner life, my. plans an&purposes, my desires and him to the depth of his being, try him, and ,express iHis
  aspirations, my imaginations and' peasonings,  my in- right,@ous judgment upon him? Does. he, perhaps,
  cliinaticxns ,and the motives ,of all'my actions. An.d so, pray in the assurance af his own righteousness? Does
  too, he makes mention Iof his $&art, that center of his he feel that he may freely present himself before ,Him
  whole  iexistence from  `a  ipiritual-ethi,cal view-point. that searches the hearts and the reins, confident that


                                            T H E   .STAN:DAR-D  B E A R E R                                                          `l71

      He will find nothing that is worthy of cond'emnation.? the tritbuiilal of the God of grace in Christ Jesus their
      But no, such a spirit of self-righteousness were &ite Lord, praying for His searching judgment.
      contrary to thte .profoynd knowledge of and reverence                  Bold  supphcation,  indeed !
      for the Most High that is expressed in the entire psalm.               But it is the boldness of faith!
      Besides, :d80es not the poet spelak  the ,wiicked  way the             Through Jesus Christ our Lord! .-
      Lord may find within him?' Rather is it thus that,
      in the light `of the searching Presence, he has already
      examined .himself, that this examination of self yielrded              And lead me! . . . .
      the result `of the knowledge of many sins of w&h he                    To be sure, also the desire expressed in the last part
      is conscious ; and that now, realizing that his trial of of this prayer, motivates the poet.
      himself is very imperfect, considering that, in the                    It is not <only.  the consciousness of forgiveness, and
      depth of his heart there are other "wicked ways?' of the desire to &ink of the blessed fountain ,of redemp-
      which Be is not ev'en conscious, he impl'o,res thle Most t*ion. more deeply, that causes him to implore his God
      High for more light, f,or more thorough searching of to search him, to try him, to know his thoughts and his
      the heart, for a iclearer Ebid more penetrating exposure heart  Ee longs to be delivered from every evii way,
of the hidden sins within.                                                aad to be guided in the way everl,asting.
          Bold prayer, indeed:, for .a sinful man!                           H'ow could it be di)fferent?
          But it is the boldness, not of self-right.eousness,  nor           Is not the faith in the Lord Jesus by which we ldng
      of the rashness of blind ignorance, <but of faith !                 for, and pray  f,or, and are confident of forgiveness,
          It is the boldness `of confidence of faith in ,Christ !         r.ooted  in the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, the
          But for Him this supplication would be utterly im- 1eve w.herew.ith  He loved .us even unto the death of His
      possible. Or shall a,man, that is .a sirmer, mv'oke u,pon~ Son, ? ' And do we not, through that love &wherewith He
      himself the judgment of Him Who is consuming fire? l.oved us first, also love  /Him?  Hlow, then,  can this
      Shall he not rather call upon the rocks to fall on him,             faith, rooted in love, and *operating  through the love 5of
      and to the <mountains to cover him? -                               G.od, ever be  s,atisfied with forgiveness alone? How
          But in Christ th'is prayer is possible.                         can it ever rest until the perfect deliverance from all
          In Him we m$y be confident that we shall not come the power and domin.ion of sin shall have ,been accoI1?-
      into condemnation! He is the revelation  .of the God plished, ant3 we shall b,e 1i.kk-e Hi,m, to dwell in His taber-
      of our salvatioii. He ,took upon Himself all our sins, nacle f.or ever, and to see Him face to face?
      all ,our iniauities, all .our condemnation. And for them _.            Hel%ce : "see if there be any wicked way in me,"
      iHe offered the perfect obediences of love. And there, the way of an idol, the secret `inclination to follow after
      #in the :darkness of `desolation, He, too, cried unto His vady, to deny the living God, to serve the lust of the
- God, sand Pwe~ : "Search me, 0 my God ; try me, and f.lesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pr,i& of life !
      know my thoughts and my heart ; ,and see if there ble in                Discover that `evil tendency in me, not merely in
      me, as I .off,er  -Myself a sacrifice for the sins of my ,order that I may have forgiveness, but that I may know
      people, any wicked way in me !". . . .                              it, fight it, ,b,e delivered from it by Thy grace !
      I _ f&d He was answered in the. resurrection.!            .             And lead me in the way everlasting !
          `No  (ticked way was found in Him. His sacrifice                    That is the way of the righteousness of the kingdom
       was per&et,  without ,bl(emish.                                    `of heaven.. Everlasting because it is the way of the
          He was justified before the tribunal ,of God,, justi- righteousness of Christ, t.hrough His death ,and resur-
       filed, that is, as the Head' of all His #own.                      rection, into the everlasting light of. the tabennacle of
 0        And they were for ever justified in Him ! He was God with men I
       raised f,or our justification !                                      I am weak and helpless, prone to wander!
          And 1He was exalted at the right hand of God, and                  Lead me, 0 my God!
       was given the Spirit `of promise. And in that Spirit                                                                  H. H.
       He dwells in all His own, calling them out of darkness .'
       into the marvellous light of the God of olur salvation,
       bestowing upon them the ad,option unto children, the
       Iforgivleness  of sins, eternal righteousness. . . .          0            0           BLADVULLING
           In that Spirit they have confidence to pray : Search
       me, 0 God!                                                          De kwitantie in het 1aatj.e is :geruststellend,  maar de
                                            , -
           In that Spirit they know that with God there is kwitantie  iin hiet hart nog meer.                          u'
       forgiveness that He may b,e feared.                                                        4 <: :!G  *
           And longing to obtain that forgiveness, to obtain it             "God kan den trots der menschei~~ door een nietigen
       ever again, to taste of its sweetness ever more deeply, zaadkorrel   bespot;ten. .Er is geen wij-sheid  er is geen
      they have boldness to place themselves willingly before verstand, en er is geen raad tegen den Heere !"


 i72.                                                                                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                   -I
                                                                                                                           `\

                          -  T h e   S t a n d a r d   Bedrex <
                        Semi-Monthly, except  `&%onthly  in July and August                                                                                                                            -`EDI.TOR,IA.LS
                                                                         _ Published by
                                   The .Rcformed  Free Publishing Association
                                                  _ 1463 Ardmore St., S. E.                                                                                                                 ~.`Jhe Banner Is Not To The Point
                                                      EDITOR - Rev. H. Hoeksema
      Contrib&in,g   Editors:,Rev.   G. M.  Ophoff, Rev. G.  Vos, Rev.                                                                                                                         In The Banner of Jan; 4; 1946, the editor reflects
      R. Veldman, Rev. H. Veldman,  Rev. H. De Wolf; Rev. B. Kok,                                                                                                                         upon some of my statements in the last issue of our
      Rev. J. D. De Jong, Rev. A. Petter, `Rev. C.  Hanko;`Rev.  L.                                                                                                                       paper, relative to his, the- editor's, attitude to and
      Vermeer, Rev. G; Lubbers, Rev. M.. Gritters, Rev. J. A. Beys,                                                                                                                       evaluation of the controversy and sch.ism in the Re-
      R e v .   W .   H,ofman.                                                                                                                                                            formed Churches of the Netherlands.
          Communicatio&s  relative to contents should be addressed
      to REV.. H. IIOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand                                                                                                                                  -Judging by his language, I got the impression that
--Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                                                                       the editor was rather roiled.
          Communications relative to subscription should be addressed                                                                                                                          He informs his readers, most of whom rdo not read
      to MR. GERRIT PIPE, 1463 Ardmore  St., S. E., Grand Rapids,                                                                                                                         the Standard Bear#er,  so that they cannot check up on
      Michigan. All Announcements, and Obituaries must be sent                                                                                                                            the Rev. Kuiper's statements, that my article is ",char-
   10 the above address and will  not be placed unl&ss,th~e  yegular                                                                                                                      acterized in the main  by, sophistic reasoning." In fact,.
   fee-of  $1.00 accompanies the notice.                                                                                                                                                  according to the editor, much that I wrote about thte
                                          (Subscription price  $3.50  per year)                                                                                                           schism in the Netherlands is [sharadterized by "xlroit
      Entered as Second Class mail at  C&an!  Rgpids, Michigan. but  specious  ~easonina   1,
                                                                                                                                                                                              Such statements ax;, of, course, unanswerable. They
_             *                                                                                                                                                                           reflect a certain:emotional  state of mind ,on the part of
                                                                                                                                                                                          the `editor, rather than presentmg  any argument that
                                                                          CONTENTS                                                                                                        ,&n be .analyzed and answered. If the Ieditor -of The
                                                                                                                                                                                          Bariner  cannot brook criticism, becomes peeved when it
MEDLTATION  -                                                                                                                                                                             `is pointed out to him that he .is in error, so that he
HEART  .SEARCHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..!...........~69 II)IUS~ resort tb vituper&on, I wna only Lfeel 'sorry $0~
                     Rev. H. Hdeksema                                                                                                                                                     him.
                                                                                                                                                                                               Fact is, nevertheless, that the editor `of The Banner
EDITORIALS -                                                                                                                                                                              frequently' rushes into prmt without having sufficiently
                                                                                                                                                                                        , informed himself about the matter he discusses ; and
THE BANNER 1s NOT TO THE POINT. . . . . . ..**................*...... 172 -' that he often shows that he is incompetent or unwilling
LIBERATED  CIIuRcms m THE NETHERLANDS . . . . . . . . . . 175                                                                                                                             t o   s e e   t h e   p o i n t .
EXPOSITION OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM . . . . . . . . ..`178                                                                                                                              - As soon as the news reached him that Dr. Schilder
             Rev. H Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                              Was suspended, and before he knew anything ,about
                                                                                                                                                                                          the matter, he drew the conclusion that it was all about
RUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~........................................................180 Schilder and common grace, ,and he condemned Dr.
THE FIRST  DE.GRADATION  OF PAPACY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182                                                                                            Schilder and virtually reminded his readers that he
            Rev. G. M. Ophoff                                                                                                                                                            "had told them so." When it became evident that he 
                             __                                                                                                                                                           had been mistaken, he never ac,knowledged  his error,
FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  135                                                                                        ,but merely !began  a discussion of th'e actual controversy
            Rev. J. D. De Jong                                                                                                                                                          and schism in The Netherlands.                     '    *
                                                                                                                                                                                              But even now, one a&onders #whether the Rev. Kui-
F.ROM  HOLY WRIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T "...:~.*.....................  ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Per takes the  troub1.e sufficiently to  i!nform   ,himself
            Rev. G. Lubbers"                                                                                                                                                              about the matter; whether he possesses sufficient
                                                                                                                                                         D                  >             sources  .of information, and, if he  ,does, whether he
                                                                                                                                                                                 18g      studies them carefully and thoroughly.
PERISCOPE . . . . . . . . ..* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .             He writes about Utrecht 1905 .a~% Utrecht 1942 in
             Rev. L.  Vertieer                                                                                                                                                            <one breath,. `as if they are quite We same. They are
                                                                                                                                                                                          not. The Bawner does not see the point here.
INGEZONDEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.......................: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,I-92                                      `Ee writes about the Conclusions of Utrecht 1905
             Mr.  J. Menninga                                                                                                                                                             as if they simply adiopted  the theory of presup:posed  or


                                      T H E   STANtiARrD.  B E A R E R .                                                          173

 do this, and they do not. ~The -Baruner fails to see the                  cording  to the  jud-gment-tof  love. However,
 p o i n t   h e r e .                                                     that judgment, according  t0. these  Conhu-
     He wrote in a recent issue oif The Banner that I                      sions, must be ,relinguished  in the case of the
stated definitely that Utrecht (whethe?  1905 or_ 1942                     children when in later years they ,shoW them-
 is not clear) makes- the presumption of regeneration                      selves to be  indifferenit.   An&,  oE.course,  the
 th&e ground of baptism. I never did. The Bmn& failed                      same applies to the adult qnfiessing  members
 to see the point.                                  --         .'          <of the Chunch.                               ._
     And thus The Banner failed to see the -point in the             L       The editor ,of The Stindard Bearer knows
 statements  r made in the last Standard B:ecL?"er,  to which              all this.    How then  can he say  $hat our
 the editor of The Banizer replies-in bhe issue of Jan. 4.                 Church, which has adopted the Condusions
     The point was this.                                             _  - of- Utrecht, should take  sides with the so-
     The. Synodieal churches of the Netheriands made                       called liberated `churches  `of Dr.  Sbhilder,
 their .decisions ,consertiing  the' icovenant bindi?7g. They              which. #have rej)ected ,what  those Conclusions
 tolerate no other view in their fellowship. They suspmd                   teach on the subjlect of the covenant?
 and depose those that teach the Heynsian conception.
 If the Christian Reformed Churches ("Church" says                        To this I reply:
. the Rev. iH. J. Kuiper; td me, holw.ever; they are just                 1. That one can. #only stand agh.ast as he reads the
Churches)  adopt  th:e same position as the  .Synpdical              statement that I `Wandly :ignored" the fact th$at the
 Churches in the Netherlands, .and become sister-church-             Christian- Reforqd; Churches ad'opced the Conclusions
 es-with7them t,o the exclusi,on of-$&e  Liberated, Church,&, of UtrFoht. Does not the editor read? I made a good
 they  t,her@by depose Heyns and  al! that teach and                 deal of `those Conclusions. That the Christian Re-
 pr?each his view.                                                   formed Churches, in 1908, adopted +hem I expressly
     This  poini was not obscure but  very plain and stated.                   How,  thlen,  can  the Rev. Kuiper  h$ere state
 emphatic in the article on which the Rev. Kuiper re- that I blandly ignored thPm?
 flects. Yet, he failed to see the point. -                               2. That these iConclusionS were never. meant to be
                                                               _
  For what  cloes he reply?                               :          an  ,official dogma  `of the theory  ,of presumptive  re-
  -First  ais (and the italics are  ;his-oti)  :  "the pe- .generation. I$ that had been their original intention
 culiar covenant view of Prof. Heyns is not the-offi&                they would never have been adopted in 1905. They
 stand of t,he Christian Reformeh Church on the cove- wene rnmnt~-as a compromise. The result is that they
 namt."                                                              are full ,of contradictions. Yes, they do teach that all
     "This is the answer," writes the Rev. H. J. Kuiper,             baptize6 children must be  consirdered  as regenerated 
 ref'erring  to the above.                                           until the $o,pposite appears. But `they also teach l&at
     But is it? Di,d I Ttite Wrat the Christan Ref,ormed             they are not all regenerated, and that even bhe elect
 Churches ever ,adopted  Heyn's view .of the covenant., or children are not neoessarily regenerated before bap-
 any view about  the  copenant? I did not. How then tism. And, nlot as a definite `official view of the cove-.
 can the above be an .answer to what I wrote? It is not. nant, to t,he exclusi'on ,of all `others, :but as a compro-
 The Bavner missed the point.                                        mise statement they w,ene meant also when tliey were
                                                                     adopted by the synod of the Christian Reformed
     In order  $0 answer the point  I  rai:sed, the  ,editor `Churches in 1908. If the editor of The, gunner will
 should have written :' The Christian Reforpmed Church investigate this matier, he will, fin.13 `t;ihat the Acta of
 (es) repudiated and c'oncdemwed  dhe view ,of Xl%efls awd that Synod bear me  ,out on $his point. .
 do not permit its teaching in their c.ommu&io`n.  But this
 he could not write because this was never done.                          3. "The Con,clusions of Utrecht are not, ana wrere
                                                                     never meant (by the Synod of Musklegon,.  1908) to be
     The only other answer to my statements the editor contrary to the view of H&ns, as the editor of T!e
 of The Banner offers is the following :       .                     Banner contends. Tklat *hey aye not is plain from their
           B,ut theme is somekhing  else w&h the editor              contents. iHeyns  subs&bed to them tob. And that
       of The Standard Bear,er has blandly ignored,                  they  Iwere never meant to be contrary to  Beyns,  is
       though  he  codd not  :have  f,orgotten it.  Owr              evident, first of  ,all, from the majsrity report  ,df the 
       Church  has taken; an offticial   stmd oa  +he.               commii%tee  i&at advised that Synod to adolpt these ,Con-
       covenani ntihic?h is aontvory to that propozcnd-              :cl.i.Gons,  .and which was ,adopted  in full. This &port
       ed by Prof. W. Heyns. We nefer to the Con-                    plainly states "lb. That also ,among us there is ,differ-
       clusions of .Utrecht, 1905, which were idopted                #ence of opinison ,regarding these p&&s. c, These con-
       by our Church in 1908. These  Co,nclusions                    cl,usioas meet with general agreeme`nt  and,are therefore
       teach $hat the child& of the covenant, as                     adapted to  <preserve peace and unity." Art. 58. And
       well  -as their conlfessing  parents, are to be               that %hey wene never meant to .be an .oflicial expression
       regarded. and dtealt with as, regenerated, ac-                contr&q to Heyns should be evitdent  from the fact that


 174                                     TH,E  STAN$ARD  B E A R E R

 the same Synod of 1908*appointed  Heyns for t.he ,chair these  Synodicaily   unit&  churches remained.  lo'cal;ly
 ~of  PractBcal Theology almost unanimously for. life.            quit,e  distinct, and evien separated, and became known
 He had 53 of  the 55 votes.  I And he taught in the              as`Gereformeerde  Kerken A and B. The A-group con-
 Theological Scho.01 ,of the Ch&tian Regormed Churches sisted of the rrien `of the'secession, the B-grdup of those
 $or ,almost  twenty years sfte? that.                            of the "Doleajnitie".
        Must I under&a&d the #editor  `of The Banner t'o mean         The questions that sepa,rated them concernb?,d  tihe
 khat the Christian  Rieformed   ,Churches condemn, a problems `of Supya and Jnfra, (the B-men were supra,
`man's view, and then  appoifit him as professor  f'or            the A-men were infra) , eternal justification, immed.iat&
 life, ,a.& permit him to teaoh that ,condemned  view at          or mediate negetieration  ' (B anld A-views respectively),
 every poss?bl#e opportunity, as Prof. Heyns did?                 presupposed Degeneration in conn&ion with infant
   ..The Banner mi:ssed the point.                                baptism, besides rthe buyning question of the relation
                                                                  of Theology to the Sciences, between the Church and
                                                                  Theology, and between the Free University ara:d the
                                                                  Theological School in Kampen.
        H,ow badly the editor of The ,Banwr is ingormed  as           ARer the union  <of 1892 Dr.  Kuyp,er  cont,inued to
 to  th#e historical side of `the present  trouble- in the propagate his views on, all ,these  questions, esp:@ally,
 Netherlands is  reveabed in all he  writes on  &he  sub-         as far as thfe present question abo,ut the tiovenant is
 jtect ; and that, ,because.of  khis lack of corre:ct  historical concerned, emphasizing that sacraments seal internal
 informati'on he has a distorted view of the entire situa-        grace, that therefore this must also be true i'i?r infant
 tion, he  shows in  *he above paragraph in which he              baptism, and that, therefore, in baptism the faith (as
 states that the `Conclusions of Utriecht teach .a view of a faculty or. power) or regen'eratioa of infants is pre-
 the covena.nt that is contrary to that of the late pro- supposed. This $3 meant by presupposed or presump-
 f essor IHeyns.                                                  tive regenera.ti0.n (not what the Rev. H. J. Kuiper pre-
        This remark of the. editor's clearly reveals that he      se&s  as  `chit  v<ew),  even apart from the  ,qeestidn
 -has the same distorted view; `df the hist&y `of tihe Rle-       ,whether this presupposed regeneration is the g?lound
 fosmed  Chur&es  ifi The  Nletherlands that led up  ;to          ,of baptism.
 Utrecht 1905, the "C~onchisions",  and the pacification.             Many of  the  Aibrethren were worried and ag-
 that  f,ollowed  1905' and of which the "Conclusions" grieved because of this propagation ,of a view which
 were th.e cause.                                                 they considered to be contrary  to Scripture and the
        The, editor ,clearly laboks under *he impression Dhat, Conf&sions. They raised thieir voices against it. ,Out-
 in the controversy of the years immediately preceding standing in this controversy were me`n. like thbe. well-
 1905, ;the -Synlod of that-year simply adopted, as far as        knowh Prof. L. L,indeboom  of Kampen, and the Rev,
`the questioll  :of the covenant was concerned, the theory T. Bos `of Be&m. The latter <raised his voice against
 of presumptive'or prresupposed regeneration, expressed the allegedly dangerous views in "De Waohter",  first
thereby a view that was opposed to the aggrieved and              organized ar1.d published in 1902, of whitih he, the Rev.
 protestinlg  A&rethren of that time, and took the side of Bos, was editor for mAny years, in -fact till his ,d:sath
 thy  B+brethren  by adopti.ng `a view, in part ata least,        in 1916. And it  m&t be  remem:bered  that with this
 tthat was favored by them, arid whose chief exponent             group must be classi.fied  men like the Rev. Hulst, Prof.
 was Dr. A. Kuyper  Sr. If this w;Ke cot his conceptilon          Hemkes, Ten Hoor, and Heyns.
 of  $hat h.istory, he would not have writben that The                The result was that *he objections of these A-breth-
 Christian Reformed Churches in 19.08, by adopting.the            ren were  brought `officially  t,o'  thee attention of the
 Conclusions `of Utrecht, expressed themselves contrary Synod of Utrecht, 1905. And khte result ,of tihe deliber-
 to Heyns.  Ylet, the  edi;tor` is mistaken. He is not ,ations  of this synod are the well-known "Conclusions
 acquainted with the historical facts. Hence, he has of  Utreoht".
 a distorted view of *he whole matter.                                Now, wha;t is the maiin contenits  and nature ,of these
        Let me, tS mender this discussion plain ;to `OUT read-    Conclpsions?
 ers, briefly 1-ecall  the history of the Reformed Churches          Were they contrary to the aggrieved A-brethren, .as
 in the Netherlands of those years. ._       .                    the editor (of The Banner makes his readers believe?
        The Secession from  th:e  "Hervormd)e  Kerk" took         Did they, `on the question that concerns us at present,
 place under Henry De ,Cock in 1834.                              condemn the iiew of tihe A-brethren, and sustain that
        The "Doleantie", virtually another secession from ,of the B-brethren? D$ thgey really adopt the theory of
 the  "Hervormde Kerk", occurred in 1886, under  tihe             presupposed regeneration?
 leadership of Dr. A. Kuyper SF.                                      This is the co!nitention ,of the editor `of, The Banner.
        1~ 1892 these two groups were synodical,ly  uinited,          Bnt this is so utterly unhistorical, so contrary  to.
 although bhy -did not .agrsee in detail `on all matters of all the facts .in the (case, as well as to'the contents of
 doctrin,e. I say "synodically"l because, in many pIAces,         &he  C'onclusions  themselves,  and so  ftindamental an


                                        T H E   STANDAtiD   B E A R E R                                                      175

  error that the editor of The &L?LM~ is not in ,a position with respect to the covenant children, is to presume
  to  See the true implication of the present schism in or suppose that they are really in the covenant. There
The`Netherl&&,  and  ,will  iiliot be able to furnish his is no assurance. Hence, the liberated churches, em-
  readers with true and ,c,orrect  information, unless he phati,cally reject this whole conception. They want no .
  fiy,st ~rectifies  this error.                                  idistiii~lction  between an "external" and "internal" cove-
      Due to his  c&sorted  view of the history of and nalnt, or between Ibeing yeally and noit veallg in the cove-
  ,arounr$ Utrecht 1905, the .&i+or of The Banner briefly nant. They refuse to speak of supposition and  pre-
  argues thus : Because the Christ&a Reforfled  Churches sumpti'otis.  They seek  objcective certainty. And this
  (Church, according to. him) adopted the Conclusions of certainty with respect to the covenant ,of God they find
  Utrecht, thw must reject the positiowof the Liberuted in the plromise: I will *b.e your God and thle God of your
  Churches, cpnd become sister-chwvhes of the Synojdtial seed. This promise I may accept. It is sure. It can
  Chwrches                                                        never  fai.1.  `On it I may rely., It is  d sure basis of
      But thie moment he sees <tie history and meaning of certainty and. personal assurance of faith.
  Utrecht 1905 he will have 60 argue exactly in: the 8oppo-          2.  .They also want to  ,assert  something positive
  site  8directio.n:  the+  stcwld on the basis  of the Con- about all the children of  -bhe covenant,  Le. all the
  clusions ,of Utrecht will,, in all honesty, compel the children ,of believing parents, all that are baptized.
Christian Reformed  Chw'ches  to establish  .aomespond-           And again, they appeal Ito the gromise lof God. The
  ence with the  Refawned Churches  `(ma+ntainin~g Art.           promise is for all  bhe children  #of  b,elievers.  In the
  31, D.K.O.),  i.e. the Liberated Chwches.           S           promise God bequeaths la11 the blessings of the co++-
      T,o substantiate this I will review the historical nant upon ,a11 that ,are Ibaptized:. He gives to all the
  facts in the case.                                              right to b:e saved. I may, the&ore, say: to them all:
                                                   H. H.          $0~  are very really in the  coveaant. You *have the
                                                                  right to accept the promise.
                                                                     3.  iHence,  Ahe promise is  IaondGtdonaL.  It- is  cpn-
                                                                  tingent for.its fulfillment upon the faith of those that
                                                                  are baptized. They must believe &he promise, -fulfill
                                                                  their covenant obligations, their "part" of the `covenant
               The Liberated' Churches                            of `God. If they fail in this, the blessings ,oi the ,cov&
                                                                  nant do not actually come in their possession. Instead
                 `In The Netherkinds                              they fall under the `terrible covenant wrath and ,ven-
                                                                  geance ,of God.
      When we speak of the covenant-v,itew  of the liberated
  churches, we must co.nstant& bear in mind, that there
  is no officially adopted dogma with them on. this podnt.            To this view ,I offer the ~ollowin~g objections.
      By their covenant  conceptiXon  we mean  `the view              1. It  fd,oes  Dot  estiblish the  :certainty  of  which it
  that is ,consistently  presented by t.heir leaders, such & 1 boasts, i.e. the objective certainty that, according to
  Prof. Greydanus, C. Vonk, R. Bretimer, Jib. Francke, the promise of God, all that are badptized  are really in
 P. Jasperse,  H. J. Schilder, and others.' However, they ;the -covenant and ,have. a God-given right t,o its bless- '
  so unanimously prlesent  the same view, and'that, t,oo, in ings. For :
  opposition to t:he v.iew adopted by +he syeodilcal  church-        a. Either the oondittinal pvom<se to abl is `a promise
  `es, that it is.,safe to speak of the covenant conceptilon      the condition ,of. which must ioe an,d is fulfilled by God:
  of the liberated  chur,ches,  just as if it were an officially In that !case all baptized children are actually #saved.
  ,acoepted  dogma with them, provided we remember that It is, of course, the Reformled view that ,all "conditions"
  no particular covenant concegtion  is [binding, in +heir of the covenant, all "conditi,ons'[ unto salvation `are ful-
  fellowship, $or the officebearers and members.                  -killed by God Himself. If, therefore, we Bay that OUT
      Their view, then, may be briefly.-characterfEed as actually receiving the ,blessings of the covenant is &con-
  hollows :                                                       ditioned `by faith `on `o,ur part, we must hasten to add
      1.  ,They seek  .certsinty,   assuran,ce.  The' "presup- that Gad Himself gives  LIS the  faitih.  Yen may  Z&O
  positi,on" or "pyesumption"  of the syno,di.cal yliew ithey express it this way: &he i-fulfillment of the condition
  reject.      `On the basis of  the view  adopt&d  by the & included  $a the promise.  If  the.  brethren~  of the
  Synod of 1942, they say, there is no assuran,ce possible. liberated churches understand  +ch*e  "co!nditilonal prom-
For the ;covlenant,  according to 1942, is e&ablished only ise" in this R,eformed  sense, ,and insist `on it, they must
  with the elect. I must, they&ore;  first know t;hat I `am be consistent enough to teach that all tbaptized children
  elect, before ,I can have the assurance that- 1. ,belong to ,are actually <saved. God promises to all the blessings
  God's covenant, The  `best one  can  `do!  O'T? this  basis!    of the  icovenant. He promises to all His grace and


 i?6                                   `:THE  .STANDARD   BEAR-`Ek

 Spiri,t.  He  -pnomises  $0  :a11 the lively. faith whereby in the covenant, they separate the work of the Fatheu:
 `obey become partaker& ,of thle blleesings  of I& coven%nlt. and of f;he Son from that of the Holy S,pirit.              Hems
 The promise <of God is sure. Henoe, all baptized child: does the same thing. It is pointed out that, ..in regard
 ren are surely saved,. The sigri .an!d seal of this they to the "~a&" ,of -God the Father and of Go!& ;tlhe Son,
 receive in baptism. If the brethren would be thus con- the bngua,ge  of the Baptism, Form is positive: "God
 sistent, they would, jndeed, arrive at certainty.for  all, the Father  witnesseth  Andy sealeth unto us, that he
 but-it would be a  meye  theoretical assurance, always `cloth make ,an et,ernal covenant elf grace wi4h us, and
 contradicted by the fact *hat many baptized childr'en adopbs us for.his chil,dren and heirs, and therefore will
 are not saved.                                                  provide  us with every go.od thing, and avert all evil
     $3. ,Or, if they *dare  not thus corisistently  carry out ,or `turn it to ,our probt. Atid when we are baptized in
 their conception (and &hey- do not), and still iilsist that $he name `of the Son, God the Son sealeth unto us, that
 the conditional (in the Reformed sense) promise is f'or he .doth wash us in his blooid fr,om all our sins, iricorpor-
 all that ayle baptized, they make  God a liar. God prom- ating us into the fellowship tof his ,death and resurrec-
 ises to establish His covenant with all the baptized tion, so tha$ w,e are freed from all our sins, and ac-
 children. He  gives  ;them a right to all the covenant counted-righteous before God." Buf, thus it is pointed
 blessings. H,e promises that He ,will give Wem all'His out,  #when that  ,same Baptism Form speaks of the
 Spirit and grace, and thle faith whereby they become work of the Holy Ghost, lof (His "part" in the covenant,
 p&takers of the covenant. Yet, iHe ,d'oes not fulfill His the  laliguage becomes contingent: "In like manner,
 p:romise  t,o all, but only to the eliect. En: thtit ,case, they when we are baptized in the name of +he Holy Ghost,
 make God a liar, and all their talk of certainty is put the Holy Ghost assures us, by this  boiy sacrament,
 to shame.                                                       that he w@ dwell in us, and sanctify us to be members'
     c. Or, if they will not subscribe to  ,either   lof  the    of Christ, applying unto us,  thtit which  -we have  in
 above alternatives (:aed  they will not); the conditi&al Christ, namely the washi1g.g away ,of our sins, and the
 ,prqmise tb all is a tirotise  the condition of which the daily renewing of our lives,  tili we shall finally be
 bajx%xed .chibdwn the&selves must arud are .abJe to ful- presented ,without spot lor +.inkie among the assembly
 Till. That is th!e gositioti of Heyns, as we have shoti.        oif the elect in life eternal.",
 The distinction -between baptized children ,and others              You  sele, they  polinted  ,out, the "part" df God the
 is that the form& receive Stificient, grace to aeoept  `the Father and 6f God tihe Son is presented as absolutely
 C&nai& to'bring forth fruiti ,of faiit;h and repentance, aqd objectively sure: in Iboth inst;an.ces  the word doth
 dth'otigh they ,can,;still  refuse to ,do this. That is the is used ; but the "part" of ,God the Holy Spirit is pre-
 position  #of the  Remwwtrants.   It is  Pelagi&-&m  ap- sen$ed  as con&ional-and-  conitiligent : He zuill dwell in
 plied to the covenant. But, (of course, even so, beast          us, etc. In the f,ormer,  the bequest, the sobjzective  tight
 ,o!f dl so, there i,s no -cetiainty. For in that case, thbe to the lblessifnlgs of the covenant is stated-;  and this is
 covenant is made ,continlgent  upon the will of the sinner. sure to all. In 6he latter, however, the actual applica-
 And thiBt means thtit it has become impo'ssible  od reali- tion of the benefits <of the covenant is motioned ; and
 !i&tion.                                                        this is not sure' ,at all : -.it is presented !as condi&iona-1..
     Now, I  &m well.  awase that the  br&hren of  the           The last sentence must be Icompleted as foUows:  "Hre
 liberated churches reje& also this last position. Th'ey will Idwell in us, .etc. . . . if we fulfill our "part" of the
 relju'di,&te   ;t;h&  indilctm&nt  o f   remonstrtitism, They covenalit,  and walk %n faith and ,obedience  b:efore God."
 emphatically state that God. must fulfill ;a11 the con-             Now,  bhis  iInterpretation  of the  B,aptism  Folrm is,
 d:tioiiS.                                                       ;of  ,course,   wid'e open  ho criticism.  rHow is it possible 
     Yet, I wish to  r&h%rk,   fi%t of  ali, that I cannot thus to separate the ,work of the Father and [of the Son
 IEolilceiVe  :of a  foutih  ,alternativB Nor did  ,I  tieet, in ifrom that #of the Holy Spirit? .If the Father promises,
 shy Iof the `writings ,of the brrethren  .of the libera*ted     "witnsesset,h  and sealeth unto us," that He makes an
 chu?ches, even tin tittetipt to offer an explanation of eternal covenatit ;of grace with us, and adopts us for
 `this .probleti. To me it `appears that th.e ,above aiterna- His childr& and `heirs, ,and till provide us with every
 tiv@s ,are lexhaustive. If th&y can oo&eive of a `:fourth good thing, etc., `does He no;t ,assure  us `that He ml and
 possible  explangtion  of the dilemn8,   tihat +he promise ydoes ~$0 80 in His ~Son and by His Spirit? And &e;n
 b,f Gbd i!s for &I, while it is not fulfilled t,o all, it is up $he  Son  f`wi%ntesseth  and  seal&h unto us," that  He
 to them to &tat@ it cl~early.    2                              washes us in His Iblood,  incorporates us into the fellow-
     ISecotidly, if - they tire accused ,of Remons%rakltism,     ship of His death  ,and  resurr;ecti,on,  so  6hat we  ,arti
 Obey have ;only them&elv& to blame. Aithough I gladly free from sin and righteous befolre C&d, does He not
 kccept thit thcey <eject the view lof tK@ Remotistrants,.       assu?e us th-at He will do sd of the Father and thro,ugh
 it is, neve?thei,e&,  trtie t&t they expose hhemselves to &e Spirit-? Moreover, wheti the Boly Spirit assures us
this  in&c~en;t. T&.ey do thibi `~esp.edBlljr  when, in the that He `will ,dwelJ in us, and ,sanctify us, and .apply
 &qository_ part of the Baptism F#or& as ho God's ,"pa&" unto Us all we have in Christ; Idoes He not mean t.hat He


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          177

 <will make  H.is  8dwelling with  -us efficaciously, of the fill before, an,d in order ihat God will fu!fi!l His part,
  Father and. the So:n,, not because we fulfill any con- but ,as the new obligation of love which follows upon
  ditions, nor after we have fulfilled them, but before and from God's part. And only when  aatl after  C+d
  we oan <do anything to ,be received  into God's loovenant has fulfilled His "part" of the covenant, can we begin
  and to r(eceive  any of .its `benefits?                           to :fulfill ours.
      Morekifiight * be said against this interpretation of             M,o,reover,  it would-appear that the language of the
  our Baptism Form&                                                 first question that is asked sf the parents who present
  ' -However, the one thing I w,ish to point out in this bheir children for baptism is equally positivle:.  "Whether
  connecti,on  is that the brethren of the 1:iberated church- you acknowleidie, that our Ichil'dren are conceived .and
.es, by adopting this Heynsixn ,ir$erpretation,  lay them- born in sin, and therefore are subj,ect .to all miseries,
  selves wide open to the indictment  #of Remonstrantism. yea, t.o condemnation itself; yet that they are%afictified
  By ;thus making separation between t,he work of *he in Christ, and therefore, as members of his Church
  Spirit and ,of the Father and bhe Son, they stroqgljr             ought to be baptized?"
  suggest that  `Go:3 is  wi,lling to save  `all  tjhe  `ba@ized        It seems quite impossible to `me t? interpret this
  children, but that the realizat,ion .of this will to save "san,ctifield  in Christ" `as referring  to a certain objec-
  depends on something they must  dlo.  Alkd this is tive, ecclesiastical  :holiness,  as,  $or instance, the, priests
  Remonstrantism.                                                   of the ,ol,d dispensation were holy (,consecrated  in their
      2. This viiew~ is in conflict witih the plain language :office) unto the Lord, regardless of. their own ethical,
  ,of ,oUr Baptism Por.m,                                           spiritual sanctifica~i.on ; or `as even the vessels of the
      The truth of this &atement  is allready  evildent from temple were holy unto Jehovah; and as all Israel are
  yhat we quot,ed.of  that Fc~rm above. That expository separated from the nations and holy un;to God. For,
  part of ;the F)orm  establi,shes  the whole of Go,d's cove- first  `of all,  the New Testament knows of no  rsuoh ob-
  nant and all its :b,enefits BS absolutely sure unto the j,ective  holiness,, not even in I Cor. `7 :14. `In the seoond
  "children of the promise." Gqd's part `of &he covenant            place, the Iquesti!on  ,of the Form speaks of being "sancti-
  is that He. realizes it completely; objectively and sub- fied in Christ," And the only .sancti.fication  in. Christ
jectively, both as to its ,objective establishment and as .of whi,ch Scripture knows is real, spiritual,.ethical  d,e-
 t,o its subjective applilcation.  God assures the "child- liveran,ce   f&m the  ;power and the dominion of -sin,
  ren of the promi.se," that He establishes His Icovenant           ;the inner cleansing of the heart. Thirdly, the contrast
  with them, that IHe a,dopts  Dhem, that Hse forgives their in the question leads to the same conclusion: it is (either
  sins and justifies them, that H,e delivers them and sanc- or, one is still (as also our chilldreti are by nature) "in
  tifies them, that He preFerves  and glorifies thefil. This sin, and therefore subject to all miseries, yea, %o con-
  iis *absolutely wnco~~ditional. No coadition  whatever is demnation i&elf, -or ,he is "sanctified in Christ," that is,
  menitiofied-in  this part. Fact is, 6hat if &here  were a according to tihe cbntraslt,  no longer in sin, etc.
 ,oondition attached to this, the covenant could never be              If it should be `objected, that, in that ease, the Bap-
  realized, and that entire'expository part of the BB;ptism tism Form requites  ,of the pare&s the ,confess%on  -that
  Form would be made vain. But God's work is never all our children are, at the moment of ,baptism, already
  conditio.nai.  And the language  ,of the  Ba.ptism Form regenerated, we deny  this.- The  qu&tion  i;s not:
  is as posi?cive"and unconditional as it possibly [could be:       "Whether you acknowledgethat . . . . tliis child is here
  The mere fact that `clae future tense is tisad in connec- and now  -sanctified   ;i,n Christ," but : "Whether you
 tion with the work .of the Holy C%ost (He will dwell in ackaowledge  that `our children' ,are sanctified in Christ"
  us) does ni,b mlor&  niake this work contirigent and con- an expression which is to be unld'erstood  -in thle #organic
  ditional than wh$en the same tense is used w&h respect sense, without *applying it Do each baptized child ; while
to  the  work of the Father (He  will provide us with %he. expression that they "are sanctified" may well be
  every good thing) ;. it merely denotes that God the understood that :befolre God, in virtue `of %he promise,
  Holy  `Spirit will surely  fulfill this promise in the tihey ,are holy in Christ, without eontaini,ng  any refer-
  future, i.e. all our life long, as well as in, the present.       lence as to the time when this sanctification is to ,b.$
      To be sure, ithe Baptism Form makes mention of applied to them: I believe that ;this .way'of  speaking"is
 ,our "`part'! in the covenant, that `c!e by God thr&gh thoroughly biblical.
  baptism (are) admonished of,  an,d  ,obliged unto new                Moreover, conisider what is said in the thanksgiving
 ,obedienoe,   --namely, that we  clleave to this  .o:n'e  -God,    of this Form of Baptism:. "we thank and praise Thee,
  I?ather, Son, and Holy Ghost; that we trust in- <him, that Thou hast Forgiven us, and our chiladrq, a! our.
 and love him with all sour hearts, ,and with all our souls, sins, through the blood of thy beloved Son Jesus Christ,
  and wi&h all our mitid, and with all our st?ength; that and .received  us through thy Holy Spirirt as members
  we forsake the world, crucify )our #old nature, and walk of. thine only begotten Son, and adopted  us to be thy
in a new a;nd holy life." But this part is not -presented           children, and sealed and confirmed the same unto us
  @ a condition for the part of God, whi,ch me must ful- by  holy baptism."


  1'78                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   . - B E A R E R

     Here, at least, it becomes abundantly evident,, that                   But, although the heaven of heavens i5 a definite
- the Baptism Form does not intend t'o make a distinction place; and not 8 mere abstraction or conditio?, it dif-
  and- separation between the work :of the Father an'd                  fers from the earth. _ Flesh and blood cannot inherit
  the Son and that [of the ~H,oly  Spirit, aed between the the kingdom of <heaven. With our present bodies we
  "bequest" and the application. Evlen if the forgiveness could  Inot enter into heaven., ,nor live its life.                    Our
  of sins, and the ard,option  of children, might ibe under-, <earthly. eyes cannot behold it. And the gaze of the
  stood in that objective sense, the expression: "and re-
                :                                                       disciples, though ,earnestly .directed  to,ward the firma-
  cei,ved .us through &y J@ly Spirit ,as memblers ,of thifne. ment, .,after  their Lord had been taken up from them,
  only begotten Son," certainly cannot possibly be exle- could not follow Him into the heaven of glory. A cloud
  geted in this same way.                                               received Him out of their sight.
          We &on&de, therefore, that the view that all the                  Hence, it is idle, too, to speculate about the 15efinite
  ohi.ldren  #of believing parents are equally in the cove- 1,ocation of this heaven !of glory in the .present ,universe.
  nant `in .virtue ,of a tionditional  promise, is in !c:onflict It is true thatthle Scriptures speak of it as "high" and
  with the plain language of our B,aptism Form.                         even present it as "the highest." Whether, however,
          3. Finally, we. believe th.at this view is-also in con- this means that the glorious abode <of the exalted `Christ,
  flict with the plain teaching of Scripture.                           and  ,of  t,he  redelemed  saints,  and the holy  ,angels, is
          IHowever, the motivation ,of this statement- must above and beyond the starry heavens, as is often sup-
  ,wait till our next issue, D,V.                                       posed, is a matter of speculation rather than of-reveb-
                                                          H. H.         tion. There may `well b!e an element of symbolism in
                                                                        the language of the Bible when it speaks of thie highest
                                                                        heavens. At all events, we dare not speak of the dis-
                                                                        tance of -t:his glorious heaven from the earth in terms
                                                                        of our earthly laws af space and time. Those that
                                                                        study the starry heavend inform us that the most dis-
                                                                        tant of thle leavenly bodies are jm,illi,ons an& even'bil-
  1  THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                                               lions Iof miles distant from our earth ; and there is no
                                                                        reason to ,doubt  their calculations. If, then, we would
                                                                        pursue the same line of figuring, anrd apply it to the
   An Exposition Of The Heidelberg distance of the heaven of heavens, and to the ascension
                                                                        of our Lord, it would lead us to the  con;clusion that
                           Catechism                                    the Lord, after He was taken .up frolm the mount of
                                                                        Olives in the. sight of the disciples, ihad- to travel mil-
                              Part Two.                                 lions upon millions of miles  .before-  He reached His
                       Of Man's Redemption                              destination. It would also mean that the holy ,angels,
                                                                        -whenever they make their appearance on the earth,
                         Lord's Day XVIII                               have ,to travel the `same distance. 1 And, finally, it would
                                  2.                                    imply that, when the earthly bouse of this our taber-
             ^ The Presence Of- The Ascended Lord.                 4    nacle is -dissolved, we ,wouid still have to make a long
                                                                        journey before we would  arrivie  in' the  `?buil,ding of
          `Christ," so the Catechism instructs us, "in silght ,of       God," the "house not made with hands, eternlal in the
  His disciples, was taken u'p from earth into heaven."                 h e a v e n s . "                 .
          This ,does not mean- that the disciples on mount                  The trouble with this line of reasoning and calcula-
  Olivet could,' with their earthly eyes, behold the heaven ti,on is, of course, that we think earthly of <heavenly
  of glory, and see the Lond:.enter iinto it. What they did things, and that we try to apply our earthly laws of
  see was that He was taken up fr,om them, as- a sign to space and time to relations that are heavenly.
 them that He departed from  th.em to see them no more,'                   W.herever,  as far as its definite  .l,ocation is  con-
  "and a cloud received him out  #of their sight." The c'erned,  wfe conceive the heaven of glory to be, whether
 meaning -is, evidently, not that they saw Him a.scend.up we think (of it as `above and beyond the firmament, or
 all the way int,o the clonds,  but that, as soonbas He was whether. we  conceive of it as interpenetrating our
 . taken up from them, Borne such cloud .as had enveloped world, as surroundmg us `on all sitaes, though we cannot
  Him on the mount (of transfiguration hid Him from see it; we may never think :of-it as far away in the
 their gaze.                                                            earthly sense of the word, so that there is no contact
     iHeaven is "above."                                                between Beaven and ,earth,  and as if it actually would
     .Hence, to assure them that He  astcen,ded  up into .have to take a long time,to reach ,it.
  the `heaven ,of glory, the sign of His being taken up                     When Christ `was taken up from the earth ,on the
 .from  th'e earth was given; the disciples.,        .                  mount of <Olives; He `was at once in glory, in the highest


                                    T,HE  S-TA,NDARD   B E A R E R                                                  179 -

heavens. T1he transition took place in a moment, in heavens and a new earth, also the ,heaven oft heavens _
the twinkling ,of an eye. Proof -of this is the-fact that shall bje changed. For it is the good pleasure of God to
at the `same moment, wh3e the ama.zed disciples were unites11 things in heaven TanId. on earth into one glorious
still staring into heaven, two angels from that same ,creation with Christ as the head over all, the glorious
heaven of gl#ory stood Iby them to announce that their kmgdom  of heaven that is to. be realized in the day of
common  Lord had been taken up from them into hea- C h r i s t .
ven, and would so oome again.                                    Into that heaven Christ  rascended  forty days after
   This heaven ,of heavens is a part of God's original H.is resurrecti,on  frlom the dead.
creation. The statement of Gen. 1 :l : "In the begin-            It- was the Son of God, but in His human nature,
ning God created i&e heavens .and the earth," must Who thus ascended. The Catechism reminds us of this
inch&e the, .heaven  of `glsory.                              in .answier  to the question, whether Christ is cn.0 more
   And, even as ,the earth, so the heaven (of glory has with us, and will be with us even unto the .end of the
a.history;                                                    world as He promised: "Christ `is very man Lan$ very.
   BOriginally, "it-was  the abode.,of  the holy angels, the God ; with respect to His human nature, he .is no more
spiritual principalities  `an'd powers and  domini~ons ; on- earth."
perhaps, with Satan as their chief, no.t, of course, as          All the changes that took place in Christ, and which
Satan, but as the m,ost glorious and powerful ,of the we  ,deeote   ,by the  vari'ous  !`degrees" in His states of
heavenly -spirits. But a break .occurred  in the heavenly humiliation ,and exaltation, have .reference  only to His
world. The chief ruler of the heavenly principalities, human nature, and yet always `so th& it is the Person.
together- with a large number rof his .fielBoti  angels, of-the Son of God, inseparably united with the ,human
stumbled bn his pride, rebelled ,against the Most .High, nature; that is the Subject of all  thieve  cha.nges  and
and became irrevocably-the enemy and opponent of experiences. It is the Person of the Son of. God `that.
God. God's electi,on  an,d reprobsation made separation -humbles Himself when He  a;ssnmes.  the form  02 a
between the heavenly spirits,- and; the matter was at servant in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet so that in
once deci.ded.                          -                     the divine nature He remains unchanged. It is the
   After Satan had directed this attention to man, the Person (of the Son of God that suffers the .agony of
king .of the .earthly creation, and wduced him to violate Gethsemane, that ias dlelivlered  into the ha&s of sinners,
God's oovenant ; and God had- maintained iHlis covenant that is nailed to the accursed tree, that lays <down this
in the line of the ,elect among menj,putting enmity be- life, descending even into the depth of hell, to offer
tween thle woman and the serpent and their respective the perfect sacrifice of atonement; yet, He suffers. all
seed, `heaven is ,also made the abode of the ."spirits  of this in His human nature. It is the Person of the Son
just men made perfect," of `the Church triumphant. of God that is buried as to the Ibody, while His spirit
In the ,old dispensation, b,efore  $he coming of Christ, is -in paradise ; for.even in d,eath  this PIerson was never
this glorified Church in heavenly places, though  ,ever separated from the huma,n  nature. Iit is the same
increasing in numbers, was saved in hope. It appears Person `of the Son of God that is raised from the dea@
that Satan.still had access to heaven, .and acted as the ,and that ascended up `on high into bhe heaven of glory;
accuser  ,o:f the  ibrethren. The promise was not yet but again, thisglorification has reference only to His
realized, and with the saints  !on  ,earth   they looked' human nature.
forward in hope to its fulfillment.  IHowever, in the         The ascension, therefore, does not melan a Iohansge in
fulness  #of time, Christ came, brought the sacrifice of His divine nature. The Godhead is immutable. More-
reconciliation, realizeid the jastification`lof  all the saints, over, time and place ido not exist for God. He is the
was raised .from the ,dfead, andi ascended up on high, Ieternal ,and infinite One. As the ,Cat,eohism  rem.inds us
leading captivity captive. For heaven and its inhfibit- in the forty eighth answer : "the Godhea,d  is illimitable
ants this ascensi,on ,of Christ was of great significance. ,anid 8omnipresent." Tb speak of a ch,ange  of place with
It was &he en,d of, the war in heaven, the Qevil was regard to  Christ'.s [divine  natu.re would be absurd.
permanently cast ,out, anId the great voice bs heard i.n God is immanent in  .a11 things, yet, as the transcendent
heaven : "Now is  oome  salvation, and strength; and One. He fills all things, yet He is far above the ,world.
the kingdom .of our God, land the power of his Christ: He .can Aeither descend nor ,&end.
for the :accuser  ,of our. brethren is cast, ,down,  which       Nor idoes the lconfession that Christ l~ocally ascended
accused them  blefore God  `d*ay  and night. And they into be&en,  and that, therefore, he is not ubiquitous
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and .by. the acoording  to His human nature, imply that the human .
word of  *heir testimony; and they loved `not their nature is separated from the  ,divine.  With an  ,argu-
lives unto death.. There/fore rej,oice  ye heavtens, and ment that is not ~free from scholastic mgenuity,  the
,ye' that dwell in them." Rev.  12:10-12.                     Catechism answers this possible ,objection in the wands :
    However, `even thus the history of the heaven of "Not .at all, for sinoe, thle Godhead. is illimitable and


 180                                       T H E -   STAN,D.ARD   B E A R E R
                                                             .-
 is beyond the limits of the human nattire he ,assumed,             must not ,utter the desire that Jesus might still be on
 and yet is nevertheless in his human na%ure,  ,and re- the ear$h. To `His `disciples He ,said: It is profitable
 mains personally united to it." The f,orm. of this ans- for you that I go away.
 wer isTn20 doubt, ,occasioiilted ,by the nature,,of the lobjec-        This new presence of the ascended Lord the cate-
 tion : "if &s human nature .is `not present, -wherever ehism  describes, in the words: "with respect to God-
 his G&head is, are not then tihese two natures iri Christ head; majesty, grace and spirit, ihe is at no time absent
 separated from one anothler  ?" Thle objection suggested from us."
 by this question is foolish. ;Amd Dhe Catechism answers                                                            H. H.-
 accordingly: since the divine nature is omnipresent,
 the human nature #of C,hrist can neper be separate3
 fl-om it, no matter whe?e  it goes; Ior whither it moves.
 The .?eal poiht of the answer, ho,wever, is in the last
 part: remains personally united to it." T!hce union `of
 6he two nat--1res  in Ch@st is not such that they merge
 into #each ,other,  so that the hutian natu.re  partakes of               THEDAU-OPSHtiOWS
 the attributes  #of the divine: it is a  gersoaal   unioh.
 In the Person `of the Son of G,od the tw'o natures in
 Christ are inseparably united. Surely, this personal                                        Ruth
 union cannot be ,affected  or .destroyed  by any change in
fihe human nature. The human, nature w,as not separ-                   When Naomi went f,orth ,out #of the place .in Moab,
 ated :fFom the divine, wlhen the Lord sojourned among her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, went with
 us .in the form of a servant. Nor did His ascension her. It seems that..Orpah  so well as Rule set out with
 intro  hea+en, though it implied  & `definite change of the intention to  ret?rn with their  mobher-in-law to
 place, cause-such a separation. "           1                      Judah. The.text  reads, "And they-the thvee of them-
 .J. .N'or  dloes  the  aacer&on   ,of  oui  L0r.d into heaven (went on *he way.t.0  r&urn to the land of. Judah." And
 imply that, in no sense ,of the won&, IHe is present with again, "And  they-Orpah and  RuDh-said unto her,
 us, who tire on the earth.           _                             "S.urely, we will  yeturn with thee  unto  %hy people."
       According to .His human nature he is n'o lonIger on Thus spake also Orpah. Hence, she, too, must be urged
t h e   e a r t h .                                                 to return to  rher people. And .how ihsistent Naomi was
       That is, as far as the n,ature, the attri!butes,  and the that the both `?f them do as she advised. "Go, return
 l.imits ,of His humanity  are 8concetied,  He is not with each of you to her mother's house ;" ,she, s&id to them,
us.                                                                 "&he `Lo.rd ,deal kindly with you, as ye ,have dealt with.
       Hle is not omnipresent.                                      the dead  mid with me.  Tihe  Lorrd grant you that ye
   . . He w&s with us ,&ce, (when He was like us. Then. find rest, each ,of you in the house of her husband."
 ke could meet Him, see Him in His eatihly `appearance, And once more, "Turq again, my ,daughters :. why will
touch Him, speak to Him, have earthly fellowship ,with ye go  wi+h me? are there yet any more sons in my
,Him. It was tihis ea&hly assotiiation  whi.ch the Magda- womb, that they may be your husbands? Tnm again,
 Irene, perhaps intendled  to continue, w.hen she met her my daughbers, g6 your way; 5or I am too old to, :have
Load and recognized .Him in the gapden of Joseph, and an husband. If I should say, I have' hope, if I should
the Lord waxned .her : "Touoh tie not, for I have not have an `husband also tonight, and should also bear
yet `,ascended  !" .                                                sons; would yon tarry for them ti.11 they are grown?
       But now He is with US no- more. In th% flesh w,e Woulrd you stay for. them from having husbands?
kn'@w Him no more. With lo& earthly eye we se& Him Nay, my daughters ; for it grieveth me much for your
no more, nor dare wje imagine that we see H.is bodily sakes that the hand `of the Lord is gone out against me."
presence -in the signs &of the broken .bread  and tihe swine           It must not be supposed that *he design of Obese
tl@t is poured out at His table. All earthly associa- wtords was to put them to a test that she hoped and
ti:o& ,&Fe severed. As $ar .as His hu.man  nature a,s such expe:cted  $haS they would endure. These words hid
%b  conZcern;ed,  He is definitely  ,departed  fro?  us.,  `IO not her true feelings. _ She mieant precisely what she
the sight of His dis'ciples He was taken up!                        sai'd. They  must by  ,a11  means  .neturn.   Tihat is what
       However, this dpes not mean tihat IHI~ is not with us she wanted  tihem  to do. This  is plain. After the de-
. Ieven, unt,o the end lof the world, as ,He promised us.           parture of Orpah, she ,on<e Fore turneid to Ruth gnd'
 `. Although `earthly" gonnections .of space and time are said to her, "Behot!,  thy'. sister-in-la% is  gqne back
b?oken,  an,d  although   Iearthly   asso&ti,ons  with  Jesas       unto her people, and untb h&`-gods: return thou after
exisf; no more, He is &ill with us. In fact, He is with thjr sister-in-law.  <Ruth replies and then' we read,
us-in a.:far,  higher and iIntimate  sense than He ,ever was "When she-szw that. ihe was steadfas$ly minded to go


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          181.

she perceived that she, Gould not rid hersel-f of Ruth. ness; "Turn again, my daughters, go your way ; flor I
Despite all ,her remonstzances, this daughter `was ada- am tbo old to have a husband. Azzd if I should have "
ment. Sai,d she to Naomi, "Do not entreat, uyigle, assail htisband..  . . .and Bear sons, would you tarry for them?
me with petitions, to leave thee or to turn from hollow-     No indeed. That would be' f,olly. T:hey perceived the
ing thee. .  !  ." That precisely was That Naomi did, `meaning back'of Obese words. There were no husbands.
so much so that Ruth  :became impatient  wi+h her for $hem in Israel, for they were `heathen. Her SO~S
mother-in-law.    "Do not urge me. Be silent. Thy h.ad taken wives from the daughters  (of Moab but
entreaties avail not. For I am  d.etermin!ed. Whither ,against the law of Israel. Hearing and fully compre-
thou  goest-  I wiil go; and w,here  thou lodgest, I will jlending,  Orpah kissed her mobher-in-law and immedi-
180dge: Thy  fpeoplle shall be my people, and thy God .ately set out, for Moab, -returning to her people and t,o
my God: #where thou diest, will. I die, and there will I her `gods. Her attachment f,or her motther-in-law  was
be buried." It is a matter of life or death unto her. strong but not that strong. For her love of Naomi was
Par she even swears by Jehovah, the God of Isr.ael.          pur;ely natural. As to its essence,' it w'as a carnal self-
"Tlhe Lord do so to me, aacl more also, if ought, but 1,ove. It was the kind ,of love of wh,ieh Christ spake;
death part thee and me." Na,omi  `perceived now that when he said, "If ye  dove those who  -love  you? what
it was useless to `oppose her. Yet, it is plain that more  .do you  khan sinners.             The prospect of being
Naomi  remainBed   relu'ctant. For instead of  `baeaking     joined in marri,age  to anot.her Israelitish man appealed
forth in praise at the hearing of that confession, ialh to her; For her experience .had been th'at 6he Israelites
stead of speaking words  [of comfort and encouragement, made good husbands. The likes of them were not to
she was mute,  aed mother and `daughter continue their be found in  Moab. She could sacrifice the pleasures  0
jburney to God's country in silence. Naomi iielded be-- of sin in Moab arid Moab"s people and gods for sul:h
#cause  she understool that it woul'd be folly to oppose a husband. But with  th,is prospect  1gone,  she- went
a .r(esis&n'ce so determinle!d as that of R&i. Y,et Naomi back to her people. And she foued it not too difficult
had listened to the `good  conf,essio.n!,  the thrust of to  part*  with her  inobher-in&w, in  f&t not difficult
which is *easily to be  ,discerned. It  `is this. "I will at all. For spiritually Naomi was`a chikd of the light
abidle with thee, my mokher, now ,and ever. And so will ,and Orpah was a chi$ld )of `darkfiess, being a heathen.
I abide with thy people and with thy God. For thou And Naomi's telling her that she was wholly objectio:n%
art m.ine .and I am thine. And thy people and tihy Gad able t.o God's people in Canaan, because of her being
are mine,  ,and `I am  &heirs  an,d His. I  .love thee my `a heathen had only in,jured  her pride, and filled !her
mother.. And I  lsove thy  people  and, thy .God. For with resentment toward  N,aomi.                For, despite her
thou and thy peopIe and Dhy'God  are onle." There is, tears and ostentations ,qf affection for her mother-in-
t.o be sure, a world of thought shut up iq this ,ao,niession law, she was a heathen, devoid of grace.
of  &e Moabitess. It forms  the  nncleus of our  w>hole          But Ruth  clave  td her mother-in-law. For  tihe
Christian faith, God's gift to Ruth. She was a new w.ante,d Gold. F'or slie was possessed of God. And she'
creature  lin Christ, and thus deed to Moab, to the theresore  -wanted  His people and also Naomi. Gladly
pleasures of Mioab which wene the pleasures .o$ sin, would she spend the rest of tier days in widowhood and
and to Moab's $.3ols-dead to all these and alive to God. in a state ,of abject poverty, if she m,ight only have
She  `had heard about God-Israel% God. And when God. And she forsook Moab ,anld all that Moab repre-
she married into that Israelitdsh  family, she heard still sented, and went to God `in Canaan. Nothing could
more %bont Him. And she had seen something ,of His Ideter  her, not even the consi,deration that the bllessings
glory as reflecte$d  in Naomi, and .had received in her ,of Abraham were ,only for Israel. That, she knew w.as
`heart Hiis testimony $I-@, He was hers and she His. sou;n!d teaching. But she also knew that God was call-
h yas .Him after whom her (heart was yearning.               ing her into His sanctu.a.ry. Her perplexity was great,
   But Naomi did not unlderstand. She could not be- but not so gr& that it was not surmounted by her
lieve that this Moabitess `was truly seeking after God. faith. Great was her faith. And therefore great was
She `w,ould  fain have it sb: F'or she loved the `woman her  detlerminatiafi  -that nothing should deter her or
as her  ,own sod. And the tie was spiritual.  P.arting       discourage her. "Cease urging tie to leave thee. . . .
with her was too painful for words. But Ruth -was .a Then she left off speaking unto her." Arid well she:
he&hen. And the prlomise  of God was unto Abraham might. But she  wa.+still  *doubtful,   w'as Naomi.  Ruth
and his seed. knd it was the ,disp'ensation .of sha'dows. belongs. in that category lof Old Testa&ient worthfees
G,od had yet to  send His Son  inho  Ic?eath  f,or the  sins who took $he kingdom `of God by @o+m. And what a
of His people, and `so the blessi.ngs `of Abraham had not remarkable {example she is of the `irresistible  operati.o.:l!
yet  corn,,, to the Gentiles.  F,or one like  Rutih, there of `God's grace.
could `be no <hope, and no futu;re.iz>  Canaan. God nor          If Naomi was still doubtful, she was now made tb
His people wanted one 1iFe her. She was shut out of see that Ruth was ,&ceptei?  of God. _ Ruth had attached


       ig2                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE-ARtiR

      on-  +he  bounty. of  $he rich. That was the ,necessi.ty that they tiight have the authority [of antiquity. The
      un&er  which !her choi'ce had brought B&. But she-was spurious decretals of the book, thdugh .pure inventions
      .content.  For she dwelt amsong God?s people. And ,shie:             of bhe ninth ce&ury,  were: affixed by their unknown
      had,Naomi as her constarit  companion. Thus she had author  fo the names `of popes.  lof the second, third;
      gotten her way. She  w:s with  ,God's  people. Her, four+& fifth, and sixth centuries. As at the  time of
      heart was glad. She felt confident that God, $0 whom its ,appearxn[ce,  the boo'k was received as genuine: The
      she `knew. that she ;belonged, would take caye of her.: popes, pointing fo its decretals, [canons, .and letters,
      But  &e did not sit still. She gains  p&missilon   o:f could now !say ;that all the ideas inhering in the papal
      Naomi to go to the field: and glean ears `of corn after              system are traeelable,  through the unbroken sulccession
      him in whose sight she ,s.hould find grace. The Lord of popes, to Clemenit, the immediabe  successor .of Pet$r
       directed  her  feet'to  the  fielads of  Boaz, who  .besbows        (%e .apostle) in the papal throne. Certain it is, that
     upon  113r signal  favors  ,and  speaks to her words  such by no other instrumer$ was 4-h! power of the papacy
      !as she as yet had heard from no one,' not even from                 so raised (and strengthened ai by this amazing fraud.
      Naomi. Boaz was assured that she  was  <accepted of It was this book that gained  5or the  claims of the
      God. Her dbings was indicative of that. He Izonsiders                pap&y the  acknowledgemetit  of -men. As  ;has  been_
      all that she d.id f,or N,&omi. He considers how sh@ left stated more than #once in previous a&&s,  the .papacy
      h&r father and mother, and the latid of her birth, and was laying claim- to suprJem& headship `over ,a11 things
      was &me u&o a people which she knew n~ot heretofore. in! Church and state. It maintained that it lay within
      She had come to trust under the wings of the Lord God its power to give and wi%hokl kingdomsand to .appoint
     * 1 of Is&. Considering all this .be blesses her. Says and ,depose  its kings as t,heir sovereign lord. That the
      he to her, "The Lord recomFanse  thy work atid a full papacy claimed and still .claims for itself this authority
      reward ,be given thee eof the Lord God of Israel under is plainly stated isn5 a li.ttl,e Ibook that `I. ,recently  acquired.'
      whose  rwiags thou art  come  to  rest." And Ruth was It is zentitled  "Religion Of The Plain Man", and was
      com!forteid. Boaz' words were to her the words'bf God. written by Father R. H.  Bsenson.                      The chapter on
      She gang expressio;  to her gratiltude in these words,               "?`he Petrine Claims" .beg%s  with the  .well  l&own
      "Fqr thou hast comforted me and hast spoken friendly words  !of Christ to  `pet&, "I will give unto thee  %he
      unto  thine  handma%d, though I  lo,&  not like unto one keys of the kingdom `qf heaven-; ,and whatsoever thou
      of thin'e handmaidens."                                              shalt :bind dn ea`rth `shall ,be b.ound,in heaven," MVatt.
                                                        G. M. ~0.          16  :lS. The -author  ex,pl$ns &his scripture. "Now,
                                                                           here", says he, "is a very `extraordinary sentence. . . .
                                                                           It appears certai<lyWas  if to Peter wene commi$$ed  the
                                                                           keys themselves; ,ani$.to  the others-the other apostles-
                                                                           ,only their occasiona use. This is a far more emphatic
                                                                           sentence,  and addressed to once man <only ; whatever khe
              THROUGH- THE AGES                                      -' `s ,others recei,ved afterwards, he received .al,so with them;
                                                                           and he seems to receive som&hing more b&sides iby t.his
                                                                           unique  ,commission.  Now this  ,commission,  whatever
                                                                           it was, may have died with Eeter; .it is possible. Let
               The _aFir&
                       fli       Degradation. Of                           me first sed whether there is any on earth who, claim
                              T h e   P a p a c y   .                      it." The author. in his imagination now puts to the
                                                   i                       heads of the various Protestant denominations, .in the
_                                                                          form #of a -question, what he conceives to be a fair para-
          As was -olbserved,-  however deserving of &i&ism phqase ,of the passage( Christ's worlds  to Peter).
      the p,opes ,of the Middle Ages may 6e, what cannot be                    "Do &ny of you," he asks, `Waim all that this sen-
      said ,of them is, +hat thlejr `were l,acki;lig-in~enuiy -to de- tence involves? lbo jrou claim to-bold the keys of $he
      vise ways-and means  for legitimatizing their false posi- khgdom  .o$ heaven?. . . . Do  you Ic1,ai.m to un.lock or
ztion in  th&  eyes of men. As  we  said, what perhaps lock ?neaven ,at your ,tvill w*ith, of (course, -God's assist-
      must ,be regard& as bhe outstanding example df such ance? Do- yo.u claim, what is ,co?allary  to this, that all
      papal  inlgeimity   :was the appearance of  t,he Pseudo- meti whp wish to enter heaven must, in some sense,
      Isidor in the middle ,of the ninth century. As tia% said, make  appli,cati,on  to you for  a!dmittance. In other
      this code ,of ecclsiastical laws--f;or sU!ch `it w&&+r;neid words,  md#o you claim universal jurisdiction `over the
      ,out to be, on examination, the greatest fraud l&owin in &tire ,world,  *kings, governments, republic;? Do you
      the history of  church literature. As  w:as  .ex@lbaine& claim then, any of you, that you ,&e lord of the world,
      tlie aim lof the :book Was not to present to the age new father aof princes aZld -kings ; *hat your lightest words
      doctrines but' to trace back  the  filse claims of  the. require attention, land that your heavier Sentences bind


                               -_         THE  S T - A N D A R D   BtiA'RER-                                                 183

  movements (for all this is involved, it seems to me,                way. when His -\\-r2th  is kindled blli a little. Ps. 2.
  in some sense, in those awful words.tof  Christ) ; that,`              Yet, as we have seen, it was on that unsctiptural
  to sum up plainly, .He who has the goaernment  u,pon~ ideas of papal powler th& the papacy conslciouily :began
  His  .shoulders, has put the  insi&a  of. His  kingdom to rule as `early as 440 in the person of Leo The Great.
  i&o your han,ds ; that He who is Himself trhz door, has
                                                .                     But, as  alureedy has been  obierved,  the first pope  %q  '
  give you the l&y?"            -                                     carry out the- idea with more than common success
      To these questions the :author puts into the mouth              was  Gregory VII, the  date% of  wthose   pontificate  are
of  thle heads of the  vari,ous  ;pr;otesta& denomination 1073-1085, and. whose reign we shall next consider.
  the following tnswer,  "A thousand times, No ! Who is But we must first 1cpo.k  at t&e histo,ry thgt the papacy
  this that speaketh blasphemies? There is no such made in &e tw,o and `a quarter ce&uries that interv:eFed
  power ,on `earth ! YIOU  are  .deTogating from Christ's between *he beginning of .this Gregory's poakificate-
  hoE!or. It is He who has ,opened  the kingdom  of heaven            1073-and the death. of $he pope last treated-Gregory
  to all believers ; if He is the dloor,  He is wide open, and        IV,  yho  diled in 844. In  .these 229 years the papal
  His people `<enter in through IHim alone. Main  `can ,do thbone was  ,oocupiield  by fifty. five popes.  Wikh  fee
  no more $h:an ,point  thhnough Him who i,s the wajr, to             exceptions they `were ordinary ,and even wicked men,
  Him who is the door, for +hey are both ,one.?                       whose brief careers were blackened' by the darkest
      `Hereupon the author has  the pope of Rome answer,              crimes and ended in [deposition, pr$soi and -murder.
  "I claim it," .claim what the heads ,of the various pro-            The aone -shini.ng  exception was Nicolas I, wh:o, died- in
  testant  $enominations disclaim, to  twit,  purisdBcti,on           ,867. The concensus ' of opinion among. historians is,
 ,over  `the `entire worl.d,  kings, governmenits,  yepublics,        tihat he is the only (great  pope between Gregory.1 `(died
  #as the l,ord `of &he w,orld and the f!ather df princes anid        604) and C&eory VII. Cert&n ik is, khat he was" not
 kings.     This,,  acoording to our author `(who writes a criminal as !were most of kh,e ~occu~amits lof the papal
 as a spokesman [of &he papacy), is wlhat Christ's words chair in the tenth.and eleventh cetituriqs.  He served
to Peter involve. Hmowever, jnrisdicti,on over the kings the cause of  justice,  but, as  the;  in&time&  through
 (of the ,earth  does not accrue fro?, key power. If a king whi& he acted  -was.  $he usurped  autho&y   .of the
  is `a member  of Christ's church, he can be excommuni-              papacy, it is a [question yhether, in his zeal, he was
 cated not as a civil magistrat.e  ibut as a member of the co&trained by Chte love ,af Christ. Wh.at also m;ust be
  ehunch. In this capacilty  ,of ruller,,  he is. not subject to held against him is, that, to legitimatize his a&ions, lie
  the key polwer with which Christ vested the ruling an'd             freely quoted $ro& &hat greatest of all-frauds in the
 teaolhing ministry. Hence, be cannot be deposed in his history .of ecclesisitical  literature-`I'he  Pseudo Isildorian
  office by th!is pqwer. - On the- `other hand, the .pastors          Decnetals. -Also in his thought the pope  is bhe r,uler
  in ;the church, in their capacity (of pastors, tare noit sub- ,of the whole-chgrch and of the eorld. &e was able to
= ject ito the magisterikl  power ,of the tempo,ral rulers. make  good &is claim in two notable cases; The first
  They are subject to this power but only in their capacity was that ,of Teutberga, the ,divorced wife :of ILothair II,
 `of citizens #of the &a$e. The &uFch has her own s@heE king `of Lorraine. -The injured lady appealed to Nic,olas,
  ,of  o.perati,on,  which  .is  ithe  churdh.  Uader  Christ,  khe who annullel the sanction@g ,deci.sione `of synods, and
  state is the supreme judici~al authosity  in its sphere. deposed the ar,chbishops,  who had wppoyted the king.
  Neilther the church nor `the state may lbord it over ,ea.ch The latter he-threatened !wit!h .excommunication,  if the
  other. They may not encroach  upon each other's do- lawful wife was n,ot taken b&k antd hhe concubine, Mfho
  main..  N,ot'the   po$e  but Christ is  the  King-,of  kings had taken her place put away. The king finally yielded.
--an&  `as  #such  It;he `head  over  all things in  th'e chur;ch.    The seco!ald case is that :of the deposition `of Rolthad,
  There is not a vestige of proof in the Scriptures,  that            bishop  `,oI Soisans, by  H*incmar,  the  pow&ful- arch-
Christ app,ointed  the pope His vice-gcrent in state and bishop of Rheims.  _  Nicolas reinstated  Rothad  and
  #church,  making  :him. to be  the  prince'- of  t$e  wholIe        Hincn$r yiel'ded to the pope. Nieolas also attempted
 churoh*and the lo'rd of the world. Such a conceptiion                to <extend his autho,tity  *,over the Eastern Church, but
is strange  60 Holy Writ. It  wq  ccmceiv@  in the                    in  this he fai-led miserably. Tshe uncle ,of the emperor
  colossal pride of men  ~whti  lusted  af$er power. In in Constanti,nfopl,e was Baridas,  a man who lived in sin.
  their heart the idea arose. The Scriptures teach the ' Ignatius, patriarch  of Constantinople, refused him the
 peparattion  ,of ,ehureh  and state iti the ,sense thgt each J&id% supper, and was deposed. Photius, one of the
 limit; itself in its cperation to its own sphere. The two most leanzted  men #of his a&, titi chosen his successor.
  com(e together in Christ by nivhose authoriQ the rulers `Ignatius &ppeaJ,ed  to Nicolas, who sent delegates to
 both in tihurch  and state rule. Hence, the kiays of the Constantin,ople  to investigate  Eihe case. They were
 .earth shall be wise, .a&? <he judges instructed. They bribed to approve Photius. The  p,ope  a.nnulleJ   th&ir
  shall  #serve  ,Chr&,t  with fear,  rejoi.ce  with  trerinb'ing, `acti80ti, upheld `Ignatius, and declared Photius deposed.
  l&p,  favbr, and  protect  iHis  chur.ch.  -They shall  kiss The latter in turn called a synod in  Const&ntitiople,
'  tile Son, lest  FTe  be,  angry,  and they  pe&;iL   from the ~which,  n&er his leadership, condemned the  ,pope.


-- 184                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E - A R E R   ,

  Plmtius  now set for&h, in an Encyclical Letter; all           into prison.  Alberic's son `was  tihen elected pope as
  +he `objections .of the Greek church to th;e Latin. He John XII, when only eighiteen  years of age. This took
  accused `the Latins of oolrruptinlg  the creed.  by the ad- place &i 954. The reign of this John was charqctetized
  dition ,of the filioque, charged them with heresy for by the most shocking immoralities. He was charged
  fasting  #on Saturdays, `demanding  priestly  `celibacy, and by a Roman.synod  with almost ev!ery species of crimes.
  confining confinmatioln  to the bishops. -By this action Among the chavges ladged against him were, that he
  the ill feel,ing that already existed betw:een East and had mutilated `a priest, that he had set h:ouses on fire,
  West was intensified, vhich resultjeid, in 1654, in the #hat he had committed  homiti'de   mid adultery, had
  complete a.nd permanent separation of bhe two church- violated virgins  and  .widows, lived  with his father's
  les.                                                           mistress, convested  the lpontifical  palace into a brot.hal,
          Nicolas, being a strong pope, was able to maintain and drank to the health of the devil. When  *he emperor
  hitiself in his false poSitio,n  with consHderable  success. Otho idemanded  that khese  accusations be proven, the
  But even within twenty-five years after his death bishops Yreplied  that they were t!hat well known as not
 _. began that ldng stretch ,of .papal cdegradatioia  already to be in the need of proof. It is telling, *hat before 
  referred  t.0. From 888 to 896 three petty kings or            synod  co,nveyed, John XII fled from Rome with as
  -dukes-B,eyenger,   Guide,  and Atiulf-contended  with much of the trTeasury `0-f St. Peter as he could carry.
  .one another for *he possession1  lof Italy. During this The synod deposed him as a -monster  of iniquity, and
  time when a new pope had to be elected-t!here  was Leo VII `was ,elected  in his stead.
  need  `of this  no less  than  %our times-each  `of  thhese       A remark is in ,order here. T&his was not l%e only
  dukes, working through. his party in -Rome, strove to degradation of the papacy. As we shall see, it was fol-
  control the $ection in `favor of his can'didate Qr the lowed by ,several  others in the (centuries that followed.
  papal  th$one.  Y!$e  ,winning  pope.  would then  pla'ce      How, in the light ofdl this histo,ry, the Roman C&holic
  upon rthe head of the duke;to whom he was indebted for church (has the courage to maintati the infalibiltiy
  his ,election,  the .emperial  crown. It n%eans-that  at &hi? its popes, is a mystery. Sihe cannot maintain this rdoc-
 1 time the popes were the creations of these dukes. The trine wtih respect to +he good popes ,only. ,A11 must be
  $ee.ling between the rival candidates for the papal office infall'iblle .or none can be:. For if even one pope `were
  was bitter, as is apparent from the fo:ll&ng igruesome  - not infallible, the papal institution should cease to exist,
  incidents. Stephen VII, the creation of the party of and if it did,- it ,could  be doubted with reason whether
  Guido, caused- the corpse #of his predecessor,  Formosus, #it iever existed. But the Roman clergy has an answer
  to be dug up, dressed in pontifical robes, arrai,gned  in to this. Bathe; Benson, from whose work we have
  a m.ock  trial, ,condemned  and deposeid, &ripped `of ihis already ,quoted,  put this Ianguage in hhe mouth of the
  garments, fearfully mutilated, beheaded, and c&t into papacy, "I am a sinful man like him from whom ~7
  the  Tiber.  But when  bhe  party of Berengar again title is  descended (reference here is to the  apostle
  gained  thle  ascendency;  Stephen VII was  ,cast  i&o         Peter). I have passions, weakness and temptations a,s
  prism and murdered. In the half  cenrtury   &hat  sol- he  had. I have no immunity from sin, no safeguard
  lowed, the papacy sank `eve? to lower depths. Leo V against !falling beyonrd that which mai be found `in the
  (died 903) was pope less  +han two months,  w.hen he mercy of my God and the  prayqrs of my people.
  wbas cast into prison. :by. Christopher, lone of ihis ,,chap- (N,otice  the teaching here. It is that it is possibl,e for
  lains. The foll,owing year th& Christopher,  why usurp- the true believer to fall from grace. G.M.O.) . . I may
  eid his place, was dep,osed  and driven from Rome by deny  .my Lord as some say bhat Lib&us did; I `may
  Sengius III, who. behame pope in 895, and who soiled .err in my private fai%h as John XXII zd,iid ; I may falter,
  the  papal throne  w&h  every  vioe. H.e  ai&d in illicit  ,or  -give an obscure  answ,er as Honorius did.  _ Yet I
  inbercourse with the Bel,der  Theodora,  a l&d woman of claim it, anld I bear the keys bel,ow my purple Crown 
  high rank an,d low character. She ha.d two daughhers,          show that I bear them in my hand. %n  the strer~gth
  Marozia and Theodora,  f#ati&d  sor  the& beauty  anld  .of.  /Him who called me  Pr$er, I am not  &f&d to  &e
  wealth. Both prostitutes, they filled &he ch&r o Y t.he them. I m.ay em in all `else, but not in that for wl-&h
  pope with their l(overs and bastards. The love of Theo- ,arn set; whit I bind is ibound  in heaven; what I !oose
  ,dora the elder wahs also &ared by pope John X. She ' is loosed in heaven. For to me it was, saU Through
  gave him the Archbishoprile of Ravenna, and made him Peter; and. bhoujgh a hundred popes are gone, Peter
  pope  in 915.  Mar&a and her lover,  Aliberic   `I,, over- sitands here still. . . . I  da& it, I, Pius the Tenth,
  threw  this pope  Andy  bad him  smo;Dhmed to  dearth in alias PetRr.  Does any dispute it with me?' . _ . .",When
  prison. Thereupon she raised three o'f-!her own crea- I say that the pope is infallible, I mean that the pope
  tures +uccessively to the papal chair-Leo VI, Stephen cannot err when, as shepherd and teacher of all &ris-
  VII, and finally John XI, her `own bastard son .o$ tians, he defines a doctrine concerning.fai$h  or morals,
  twenty one pears.  Another-of her sons, Al'beric,' jealous to be held by the whole  church." So far  the  auehor.


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               1 8 5

     the infallible pastor Pieiter, was a man with many in- against his`master. The master quickly r,etuum,ed.  He
      firmities, as ar,e all God's believing people. But Perter~ convened a synod, which, as we -thave seen,. deposed
      the Christian, the infallible pastor Peter was, as a re- John XII,  an,d chose Leo VII. But  after' the king's
      generated child o.f God, not a profan'e man, a monster Ideparture,  John  -XII returned. and  ,act.ually  golt the
      of iniquity, revlelling in.sin. The lo&her apostles `were upper hand. He seized h.is antagonists ; %e cut off the.
      not profane men. Nor were Daniel and jsaiah alnd &he hand. of ,one; the nose, the finger, and th:e tongue of
       o;ther prophets, who wrote an!d spake infallibly in com-          others. . Eventually his life was brought to  aln  end
      mun.icatin&  to the church the mind and will of God, by the vengeance ,of a man ,whose wife he had seduced.
       profane  Ten.  ;In all those four thousand years that And also  .of  ihis  pope-John.   XI&-we,  are asked to
       God through them was preparing for us His  Bible, believe th& .he w&s appointed by Heaveti as & infal-
       there was not one profane man amorng them. But a lible mediator of Christ a,nd His Church!
       surprising number ,of popes were profalle men, judg-                                                          G. M. 0.
       ing from $he fruit that they hoi-e. Fact is, thhat be-
       tween the close  ,,of the ninth and the beginning of the
       sevenkeenth  centuries there were few popes who were
       not profane. Is it ticxw co!nnceivablie,  in the light of tihe
       Scriptures, that God after the death of the l&t apostle
       would continue the &postoli.c  off& in long unbroBen
       succe&ions  `of profane men? Th& Gould have to be                       ~     -IN  IHIS  `j?EAR
       considered strange.
         The synod that had deposed J,ohn XII wbs attzntded,
       as ihas 31Feady ,bse&, i.ntimated, by king Otho I, jastly           Furnished Unto MB. Good M70rks
       surnamed the C&at- (936-973). The dynasty of Charles
       the Great had ,ended with the death' of ~Louis the Child.            In ,a previous artJicle we brought out that the elect,
       During i&e joint reigfis of Charles' incapable successors the schristian,  %he beli@ver is `the man ,@f ,God'. And
       $he  empire that he  !had built  disintegratieid  and,  Idue ,on &he ,basis ,of Scripture God is our God anld the God
       to the growth of FeU~dalism,  Germatiy  had ,d#ivid!ed  into ,of sour seed, hence, $he ,church must ply:oceed from the
      tribal states, ruled by tribal dukes. On her frontiers, fact that in the  covenana child she is  dkalii1.g with
       she was being threatened  Iby the barbarian  Daaes,               `the man `of God'. And tihis `man of God' must be per-
     ,Slavonians, and  Hufigarians. There was  dire  need of f$ect, thoroughly  ftirnis~hed  unto all  ,good` works. This
       a strong ruler t,o establish order. ,T:his need was met is according to Scripture, aed specifically so stated in
       by  Otho I. He aas -the son atid: suoeess,or  of the. able II Timothy 3 :I?`.
       &Henry  the Fowl,er, dupe [of Saxony, who already had                The complete furnishing ,of the covenant child, of
       defeated the Danes, the Slavonians, and theyHungarians `the man  #of  Go:d', is  ,of  course a task for which not
       on the f?ontier, and `had thus removed  the worst perils only  ;the  Church is  respo,nsible.  This is first of all
       ,df Germany. The useful -work  was ,co!nbinued  by Otho. the  responsib$ity of the  covena& parents. And also  ,-
       Be not only  -wholly  sub.dued  the barbarians  oil the the Christian school as an instrument :of the parent,
     `,  drontier, but in  additi,on went far in `consolidating has a very vital calling here an@ a ,&eat responsibility.
       Germany. B,ut his lust tof power was too great to allow Besides, as the covenant child grows older, Saud as his
       him- to confine his work to his own country. In 951 responsfbility  increaees,  he Bimself takes .a- very active,
       he crossed the Alps and malcle h&elf master ,of. North- conscious, and  deterrmined  part in  &hi?  `furr@hing'.
       ern Italy. In 961 be was again in Italy now in response But all %hi,s does mot take away the fact that also the
       -to a cry %or help ,on the part ,of tJhe worthless pope John church has a ver; vital and importa& task .to fulfill j
       XII, who was being hand: pressed by Berengar II. The in *he Ifurnishing ,of the man iof God. And at present
       king promised  $0 return to  &he  papa,cy all the lost we w.ish to deal fir& of all with -the work, task and
       territories .gran;ted by P@pi~ and Charles the-Great and responsibility ,of the church ti completely furnishing
      SO the pope obligingly cro.wned',him  emperor and gave             the man of, God.
     him the  ,oath of  All,e&ance.   :S? was the papacy again              That the church has a~vital task here and that .even
       rescued, this time fnom tihe tyranny of political fat- $or her  ,own  interwt she  shoulld take a  very active
       tions `in Rome as headed by Roman nobles,-resciied part i&`fuynishing', is self evident ati< *hat for several _
       it was but ,only to pass o&e more ued,er i&e ju&i&iction          reasons,  three `of which I li.ke to mention at present.
       of a foreign power. Hist,qry had repeat&l  >&self.                   In the first.plece the church 5s a spiritual institu-
_          The perfidi,ous  pope John XII had no intentions <of tion. The sc.hool may prepare one with i ,view t'o his
       subjecting chimself  to lOtho. Wheri Okho had departed, ,earthly life  pere on  :ear%h, train `him  for'- `works' in
       the pope  Ientered into  conspirticy  wi!h those `same general,  f,or. a  particular  evocation, the  church deals
       nolbles  $rom  whom  he had  ,been  reacted  and  r&xll~e;d directly with- Scripture. and Spiritual matters. The


                                               `.


186                                   T H E   S'iCANDARD   B E A R E R

church deals with the citizens <of the kingdom of God, ,of law enfor,c&ent  a.genoies  pro& it that as a nation
with the  `elect according to the promise, `with the `we are quite lawless. And accoriding  to the authorities
believers, the regenerated, ckltlaed, justified, sa~a+ified `there is at present even a special `Icrimewave'. Well,
people  ,of God. And  izhe `good works' t!o  whi,ch the thi church never claimed to be able to instill moral
oovenant clhild is to be thorou&ly furnished are works righbeousness  into  irks  c&e&& seed, how  much less
that  arie spiritually:ethically  goor&  Go,d pleasing, they then ,could the world sever expect to make one perfect
are in harmony with the law of God, bear the stamp of by the process of vere education and training.
His appr,oval. Now,. if the former is true, and it is,            No, but the `man of God' must be made perfect in
then it stands 60 reason *hat, thle ,c'hurch is very .well    the. sense of being  `thoro,ughly furnished'. And the
equipp,ed  to share iln &he task o,f furnishing the man of latter expresses the idea of fully equipped, able and
G.od.  Y,ea, it can be expected that  the Church has capable to perform t.hat for which one is furn,ished. A.
a lion share in this task.                                    machine is perf,ect,  thoroughly furnished, when it is
   .To the fOregoing should be `added that the cove-          capzbl&e  (of performing the $ask for whiich it was made.
namt seed fbelongs  to Sh& chuflch. Our children .in due Al,1 the &ompoment parts function so smoothly that the
time d,o not become members of the ohu.rclh, they nre         e&ire machine works, runs, performs  it,s task for
members, they ape born into the church, even though it which it was made.
is true that for a number of years they are really                `In Dhe same sense- the `map of God' is ;thoroughly
minors ,an,d immature church members. Nevertheless furnished when he is  able to perform the  :work,  Cne
they a;re in a very real sense mer$bers  lof thie church, task, for  ,whichP he is called. In  `other words  ,he is
of't,he body, aed the grown np man in the church is the thoroughly furnished when he can think, live, walk,
child who came to maturity. Th% being the case the talk, act, react as a `man !of God'. And the man of God
church .is viitally interested in her Sown members, they must be furnished unto CLLJ good works.
are part of her, they belong to -bhe body, are members            That brings up the question:  `What are good
of the institution. Henoe, l.ove f,or her own seed and works, what is the' standard f'or good works, are good.
love for her `own wellbeinlg forms th'e <basis f,or a two- works some special  kimld  of works?" It  stands to
fold motive `on the part of the church to do her utmost reaso,n  the worl!cl can tiot antswer  these questions Sor us.
and Ido her particular share in the `furnishing' ,of Ber      Neither can the world ,give us the standal;d for good
se&f.                                                         wor&s.  3he  ,wo,rl,dly standard for  Igood works is the
       In the third pl&e &he church has a direct divine standard of men, and that staedard  is very inadequate;
ubligati,on here. We might iquote a number of texts to very unreliable, and does not subject itself to the Word
prove this point, but let me zemind you of the basic of  Go& Htence,  only the Word, G;od. Himself can tell
truth t,hat this divine ,obligation  fiollows from the fact us  wshat  good  works are. And according to God's
.of our covenant relation to God. We and our seed be- stalnidard  good works are ,works that are in harmonly
long to God. And the church must `feed the lambs'. with the IaT `of God, ,out of the principle of faitih and
Paul urges .the b&hops of Epheses to `take heed' unto ,done to th'e glory `of God. The foregodng  alsb implies
a2Z -the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made them that good works are not  solme `special' ,works   wh,i&
overseers. (Acts 20 :28).                                     are occasionally performed by  thle man of God (al-
  All the Soregoing, am:d wle could easily add to these though they are included) but  ull  `his works,  live in
reasons, makes it very plain  +hai the church has a harmony with God's law, live out of t&e. principle of
very vital task in an~cl calling toward the furnishing faith, live to the honor ,anrd: glory of God. He must
,of the man of ,God.                                          do that as  .preacher  or teacher,  but also as farmer
       What now does it mean to thor,oughly  furnish the snd shopkeEper, as boss and as employee, as housewife
man ,of `God. Is the idea that &he ,&urch, ton her part and  bffice-worker, etc. etc. Always and everywhere
and as far as her calling goes, must make the man of an'd in every sphere of life he must perform good
God perfect? (Perfect under,stood  in &.e ethical sense works, his works must (be ethically .good, they must
,of .the word, moral perfection?) That could m,ot very `bear the stamp of God's ,divine approval.
well  !be and  .besides  that  wo,uld  ;be impossible. No         And he must be `funntislhed' unto these good works,
amount of edulcation,  instruction, training can make a. he must be inStructed,  trained, educated with-a view to
person perfect i-n that sense. Many educators claim IbEing  able  %o  perform   goad: works.-Of  ,course,  this
that education and itraining will make a child morally process is never finished in this life and the good works
.better.  /However, the reality  ,df life and  $he  fa.cts of ,of the  nian  `of God  `are  .g&od works in  principle,  sin
,cold statistics prove different.~  If more education and always cleaveth unto,him even in his most ,hol,y actions.
trairnJng woul,d  make for. trL!e righteousness and lead -nevertheless, his works mulsrt be good works as de-
t0war.d perfectimon,  our ,own country would approximate scribed  above.  And for this (and of  oourse we are
ithis idleal as closely as any lother- cou&ry. However, mainly thinking  n,o.w ,of the covenant child) he must
you can read it in your dealy papers an;d the statistics be trained, equipped, so that when he !grows to physical


                                     -,THE  S - T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            187

 and spiritual maturity he must know ,what constitutes f,oregiveness  of transgressions".: 2, How these two
 a good work, what is required of him' `and how he must ,elements  are mutually related .in the text and in Scrip-
 perform goold ,works.                                         ture in general.
  And that brings up one more question in th.is con:           .    We must now.proceed in -our discussion. We will
 section, and that  questi,on  is:  "What  .bel,ongs  to this still be studying verse `7. The.ne are still two elements
 complete furnishing of the maill:  of God' when ,can it here that call for further study: The .first element is,
 be said that he i,s furmshed, equipp,ed  to `do ,a11 good that the benefit of redemption is ours iq! the Beloved.
 works ?" We might menti,on a number ,of things, but Ancl the second is, that, this is ours in the Bleloved  UC-
 let me emphasize just a few. To the complete fumish- corking to the fiches of God's graoe.
 ing belongs first of all that the `man of God' knows the           It .can scarcely be gainsaid, that there is an inherent
 will of God. For how can be do the will of God unless relationship  Ibetween  these two elements. Hardly is
 he knows it? And without thorough knowledge-  *of'- the truth of the matter thus, that tile hatie Te&emption
 God's will he is ill Quipped bo ,do that will.`. In the in the Believed-an.d  that it is c&o according to God's
 seconc$  place he must possess the power of spiritual grace.            The latter  surlely is included in the former.
 disoennment,  he must $e spiritually keen,, alert. He This, we trust,. will become evide:;t in the course of
 must so thoroughly know the truth and the w;ill of God this essay.
 and be so. spiritually sensitive that in any given si.tua-         H.oweaer, let us first, try to see the implication of
I. t&on there is found by .him theproper evaluation, view, th,ese  elements separately.
 conception, reacti'on. Ear the man of God carries about            To begin with the former, we might ask-: who is
 theold man .of sin and he lives in" a ,hostilie, s,hrewd,     the Belolved? The plhrase "in the Beloved" occurs no-
 oft-times deceiving and subtle world, and always in ,where  else in the New Testament. Taken by itself it
 a world of darkness. ( And he must she able to distin- might b,e. taken to mean : the one who is loved by the
 guish at all times and in every situation of life the people of God. Thus we read in I Peter 1:8: "Whom
 light from the darkness. N.ow in `order  to do this he ,having not seen ye love",  wh*ere  "wh0.m" refers to
 must be spi.ritually  k,een, to put in it a !Holland phrase Christ. But this is laandly the case here. In the first
 and express it in  Refsormed terms: "Hij  meet goede place all of Scripture emphasizes'that our redemption
 Gereformeerde voelho,rens  bebben."          -                has nothing to do- with our love .for God. Thus `I John
    And in the thir'd pla'ce  to be completely furnished 3 :9, 10. "Herem: is the love. of God `manifested amongst
 also implies that he must have `the spiritual ability, us, t,hat God sent His Only Begotten Son into the world,
 strength, ,courage, stamina, to fight the battle of faith. in order that we might be saved through Him. In this
 He must be of strong will and determination, he must is the love, not that we lov:ed God but that He l,oved
 know how to .use the right, weapons at'the right time.        us an.d sent iHis Son a propitiation for, our sins." It
    All this, and we might mention several more things, is therefore quite clear that God's love is always' first.
 belongs to the equipment which the man #of God needs It is basic and it always precedes redemption. It is
 to  perf'orm  all good works. And he acquires these a rather common expression, but nonetheless fuk?lda-
 things ,over a process ,of years, they just don't come mental heresy, that God `was re,conciled  to us in Christ.
 over night. That takes time, study, training, edu,ca-         That is never true in Scripture,, and, what is more
 tio!n!.  And. the  Ichurch  has a vital part in the all im- important in this conne~ction,  we do not read in II Cor.
 portant task ,of thus furnishing the man of God.              5 :19 that Go&d was reconciled to us. What do we read?
    How the church does and must quit herself of this This : God was in Christ reconciling the world (kosmos)
 task we iexpect  t,o discuss in a following article.          unto.Himself. The Cosmos was reconciled to God, and
                                                   J. D. J.    not God to the Cosmos. Tbe latter is the  Pelagian,
                                                               heathenish  concepti,on  of  Gold.. Nay, God manifested
                                                               and demonstrated His great love to us ,when we were
                                                               yet sinners. HE REDEEMED US. He paid the ran-
                                                               som price!
                                                                    The term "the Beloved" cannot, therefiore,  be merely
            FROM HOLY WItIT                                    `a Iname given Christ be:ause  of our lov:e for Him. To
                                                               be sure, this latter is'not excluded. We love God and
                                                               His Christ. W:e love God because He loves us in the
                    (Ephesians 1:6-10)                         "Beloved". And surely not our love for God is here
                                                               on the foreground `in the aforenamed sense, ybut God's
    In our :f,ormer  writing on Ephesians X:6-10 we took great ltove for us. Is it here aot j,oined .with the re-
 notice of the implications of two very important el,e- demption that is `ours, the .foregivenes$s  of trans,gres-
 ments in verse 7. These two are: 1. Wh.at we must si,on.s,  and "the riches of His grace"?
 uederstand  by "the redemptio'n  in .His blood" anid "the          But what  .clinches it all is what we read in the


                                                                 . .

 1 8 8                                   T H E   ST.ANDARi)   BEBRER~

 parallel passage in ,C,ol. 1:13, 14, which reads : "Who main in the Vine to be fruitful and to live. Here in
 hath ,delivlered us out of the .auth:ority  of darkness and this"epistle the apostle .employs  the figure of the Head
 translated us into the kingdom ,of th>e Son of ZZs love, an,d the body.- Crompare  verses 22, 23 where we .read:
 in whom we have the redemption, the' foregiveness of "And ,hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him
 sins." The "Beloved". is the Son `of God's love. This to be the Head ,over all things to the `Church, which is
 is,very  clear from this quotatio-n.                            His body, thefulness of Him that filleth.all in all."
     Of this, "Beloved', this. passage in Col. 1:15-21 has              From the above Iqu&ation we would draw two con-
 quite a good deal to say. We  ~wil~l. quote it  ,in full.       clusions, ,with regard to `%Y the Beloved".
 "Who is the image of the invisible God; the firstborn of         The first is that we are clearly taught  ,her$e  that
 every .creature. For by Him `were all things created, the "we" and "ns" -and ."our" in these verses 3-14 are
 that are in heavlen, and that- are on Je-arth; visible and; not to be limited -to a few Christians in Ephesus of
 invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or Asi.a Minor with Paul .included, but must refer to the
 principalities, or powers : all things `were created by entire elect ,church. of God as chosen by Him before
-Him and for ,Him; For He is before all things, and by the foundatilon  of the world, having ibeen foreordained
 Him all things consist. And H,e is the head of the body, u&o  th.e aduption o,f sons through  J.esus  C*hrist. The
- the church : who is the beginning, the firstborn from apostle  .is speaking  ,of the entire church of God organic-
 the [dead ; that in all things He might :have the pre- ally united with Christ her Head by faith, and legally
 eminence. For  it- hath pleased  (the Father) that in represented by IHim. Tjhis church is complete, cc fziiness.
 Him all the fulness should dwlell. And having made TJie  fdmess of Him that f$Zeth abl in cd.  ,The church
peace through the blood.of His cross, by Him to recon-           both `of the Old and ~of the New dispensation. This
cile all thilngs unt.0 Himself, by IHim, I say, whether latter is clear from such passages as Eph. 2 :I3 where
they be things` in heaven or things ,on earth. And you the apostle  i!ncludes the prophetic "far" and "near",
being in times alienated and enemies in your mind by Jew and Gentile respectively, as also from chapter 3 
wicked w,orks, yet now hath He ,reco,nciled."                    where mention is made of the Gentil'es  becoming fellow-
  To give a complete exposition of the quoted passage            hirers of the same promises with the Jews. The church
would lead u-s too far from our contemplated course of that is gathered during the entire history ,of the wurld,
thought.     We will,  therefore,  call attention to the         is here viewed as  ,one Body! And this body `is- the
 elements, `which it' contai!ns,  in as far as it is relevant    `<we" that have the redemption in the Beloved.
to  -our discussion.                                                    Secondly, that this Church, this "we" (the apostle
    Apart from the fad that we  l.earn `that  `%he Be- is still singing) have this redem,ption  in the Beloved
loved,' the "Son of God's love" -we also learn some of means : only in the Beloved. Not for ~one~minute  apart
-the implications. of this love of God for His Son. It from Him, not now nor in the ages to come. In Him,
is the love of God for His Son !whic:h wills Him to .be          but :only in .Him, .is the church Christ's fulness, have.
the Preeminent O.ne in all things. `In creati'on, in the we "every spiritual b18essing .in heavenly places".
resurrection' from the- dead, in His Head,ship of the             That-in  this  -particular passage amongst all these 
Church and over all things. From this we see that in spiritual blessing just these blessings, to wit, "the re-
the work of `our redemption Christ *is not merely the demption  in His blood" anld "forgiveness of transgres-
means to an ,end; nor is He the means merely [of re- sions" are mentioned, and thus the legal ,aspect  is placed
storing what Satan has spo,iled'. He is most clearly ,and        on the foreground is, however, -very significant. And
emphatically  t.he chief  .consideration   ,of all God's b'eing significa,nt worthy ,of being read .and und,erstood.
t!houghts both in ,creation  and recreation ; .and then so,             But _ just what is the great significance of Paul's
that the latter  determ&es  the  .former.   Am,d in  each having placed this. legal aspect on the foreground. We
part the Son, the Son in the flesh is the "Beloved", so believe that this legal aspect is closely related with
that God would `have the fulness to dwell .in Him. He the "riches of God's grace" ,and, that in the "Belovedy9.
is the IHeaa! Head as the Beloved !                              This "Beloved". is the Son ,of God's love, who according
    Viewied in this light "the Beloved" becomes for 60 the Divine  go-od-pleasure   &ould be in all things
us  rioher in meaning, fully worthy  `of our  san.:tified        the preeminent: one. But this Preeminence is exactly
consideration. Once more `we look at the text and. ask :         His Preemenince  in `God's work in Becreation. In this
what d'oes it mean, that we have redemption and fore- `work the "Beloved One" is iodeed the Last Adam, the
giveness of transgressions  i?z Him, in the Beloved. lif egiving Spirit. His greatness is exactly, that He
Certainly this "in" implies more than mere "in connec- comes into this world under sin and .death, and that
tion with Christ", somehow related to Him. It suggests out of many offences, transgressions, He brings unto
the figures  `,of speech which Scripture employs.  In j ustificati,on and life. N:ow death is first of all a legal
John 15 :lff. #our relation to Christ is pictured under question. It is the wages o,f sin; the fulfillment of the
the figure of the "vine and the branches". Says Christ-: penalty a,n&unced t,o Adam in advanoe,  "the day that
W.ithout me ye can,,do nothing. The branoh must re- thou leatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2 :16,


                                             THE  S T A N D A R D . B E A R E R                                             189

  17.. And this legal element is first; it touches the right.-    on'e of His lethical perfections. God is .His virtues. All
  eousness, the justice of .God. And for the guilty sinner,       His virtues are one. He is simple, and this simplicity
  dead m trespasses and sins, #death is the curse, the main- ,of God is something Scripture  .always `emphasizes.
  tainance of all God's virtues.        -                         And #our redemption in the Beloved is the. manifest-
      . . T,he elect are mdeed  elected to- be holy and without ation, revelatio?,' and magnificati,on of this ethical per-
  blemish. But it is. a ,great h'eresy to say, that God,          fecti,on `of God.
  without reconciliation through .Ithe payment of -the               2. This ethical perfection called "grace" is then
  "ransom price" could bring the- elect. to this `holiness in that virtue whereby God is altogether divinely lovely
  love. Thus it is not ,even in H.is council of foreordina-       and adorable ,because He is perfect, the Highest Good.
  tion. We are to b:e sons of .&option,  (vs. 5) but then         And  this adorableness God would reveal exactly in
  exactly such ,adopte!cl sqns through Jesus Christ", that "redeeming us in the Beloved". In the  Cr.oss of ,Cal-
  is, "through the lc.oming ,of the Beloved Son of God in         vary the riches ,of grace is manifested,. and, that em-
  the flesh. Thus God loved the world and the rede:emed           phatically, over-against the guilty sinner who contra-
children in His counsel,  ,and, thus it  (is worked out,          Idicts and deniles  the perfection of God .i!n His essence
  realized iln IHim in time.                                      and revelation.
     Viewing  t.he matter thus,  &d the text requires *               3. `It, therefore, lies in the very nature. of the
  this interpretation, we see *that what lwe received in riches  of grace, that  call merit and work of merit of
  t!hG ,coming of the Beloved Son of Go'd in the flesh is man are excluded by "grace". God is the God of all  c
  a aeidemptive  work ; Be came to seek and to save' the          grace, `exactly in our redemption. ,Tjhis grace is rioh
  lost, to save His people from their sins. All `that the in our redemption in its simplicity. This `grace 6s love,
  Father gave Him should come to .Him.               -            mercy and 1,ongsuff ering ; iat is almighty, unchangeable
      Thus in the "beloved" history is ~eclen&& in char- and omnipresent. It is strong where we are change-
  acter. That we  &ve this  red,emption  in His blood able, life-giving while we are <dead, pure while we are
  means that we are not a just people; but ,a justified           filthy. Yea, where sin abounds grace `does ?n,u&  m-olre
  people; not a holy people, but a sanctified people ; not abound.                                                          ,
  a glorious people, but a glorified people. Sons, yes ;              4. To sfsoremer  demonstrate the riches of His grace
  but sons by adopt;ion. Rich we are but because we have -God has freely .given us redemption in. the Beloved Son,
  been made rich with'heavenly grace in the Beloved.              in Whom all the fulness of the Godlhead  dwells bodily.
     This is placed emphatically on the foreground. And             I r.epeat  : w&ds cannot adequately convey this rich-
  this riches  of. redemption we have in the Beloved. -es. But I know that God's people know what I've
  Tgherefore  according to the RICHES of His grace. God attempted to explain, for out of His fumess have we
  sent His Own.' Son ; H.im He did inot spare. `Of this           all received, yea, grace for grace
  fact the' believing (church often sings in' joyful confes-                                                      G. L..
  sion. However, merely-smginlg .of it does not get sgive
  us a conception of its implication.
        Just a few remarks, therefore, about the phrase
  "according to the r&es ,of !H,is grace". It should be
  .observed  that "grace" in the very nature of its Ibeing
  "rich,' is made the standard, the measuring rod of `our
  redemption:  ,O,ur  redempt.ion  in the Beloved must
_ exactly demonstrate-the riches  <of grace. Of this phrase
  A. T. Robertson in  :his "Word  Pi,ctures In The New
  Testament" makes the following comment. "A thor-
  loughly Pauline phrase, ri'ches o,f kHn,dness  (R,om; 2 :4)          .'  NET;HERLAND YOUTH CONGRESS`
  riches of glory (Cal. 1:27 ; Eph. 3 :16), riches ,of fulness
  ,of understanding ( Col. 2 :`7) riches -of Christ (Eph.            We- noticed. that the youthful brethren and sisters .
  3 :8) and in Eph; 2 :7 the Burpassing rich.es of gralce.`.,     in The Nletherlantd Churches are very active. In the  _
        Hunian language is not able to convey all that is past they have been noted for their strotig ,organiza-
containled in. this riches. For this grace is at once tional work, and today it appears. that it. is no different.
  "surpassing all knowledge',. Yet, we would  `call- at- It appears that in Nov. 15 and i6 of the past year, the,
. tention to the f,ollowing in the phrase ,under considera-' great Federation of Youth of the Reformed Churches
1  ti'on.                                                         met in  ,official  `gathering- in the city of Amersfoort.
        1. It is quite clear that, to somewhat approach the This ;organization was also split wide open by the ,di-
  idea `of the wkhes ,of grace, we `will first need to under- : vbsion"in the "Reformed" Churches .im, the .Netherlands.
  stand what grace is. To begin with, grace is
  ly a virtue, an attribute, a perfecti,on of


     1 9 0                                     T - H E   STAN,D.ARD   B E A R E R

    as delegates of our  Refurmed   Y)outh Societies, who                     2. The State.
    stand  unfder-  supervision of  the Reformed Churches                     3. The Community (Maatschappij).
    (article 31). Also now, as a result  ,of the ecclesiastical
    strife `of our days, &here  is also the sharp battle going          After a lively discussion of th`e foregoing, the third
    on in &gard to the Rieformed  basis [of .our youth-work.        speaker of the  conver&ion   `was  &troduced,  n.1.  Pro,f.
    Many of us have perceived *hat we m'o 1,onger  can work         Holwerda,  who spoke on : "The .task'of the Church with
    t,ogether with those who have forsaken Dhe co18d basis.         rlespect  to her Ylouth in our Day". After pioturing the
    Therefore `w.e.have separated first anld thereafter we          great necessity of ,chunch  leadership for t,he youth in
  came  together  again in  `our own "youth  cotngress",  in        the post-war period, the speaker emphasized that c'lur-
    order to further w,ork  upon ;thie old basis". It is plain ing .the German noccupation  tihe Church gave practically
    from this &at also &he various  or;ganizati,ons, su,ch bs       n,o leadership to the youth. I!il&&d it met many times
   their `equivalent to ,our Federajti'on  ,of Young People's       in official gatherings whilch only resul:ted  in splitting
    Societies, have Iexperienced  f&e split. of the churches.       the .ehurch&. He emphasized thiat the liblcrated churchs
    The liberated ,chuuches  of whom Dr. K. Schilder and            must face the task of being a mother &o the youbh
    Dr. Greydanus are the lealders, have now also organized         the  covenamlt and-  hter primary  woKk  lay in  b'ringin;g
   their ,o,wn youth congress.                                      the  unadulberated   wand to  that-  ,oovenant  youbh.
       At the first `convention #of this Yaouth  ,congress .of      denounced sensat$malism in the treat.m& of the youth
 - the  1iber'a;ted churches some very  iinteresting  topics        by the Church, atid b6ought home t,hat "continzLaZ  
   `weye introduced by various speakers and `discussed shy          fcrmicttticm" must b'e its aim. Thus far the report.
 the  dellegates  present. In &he morning session od Nov.              A few remarks may be in  order. First we noted
   15th, after the opening, a Rev. Vink introduced *he sub- that a considerable number  #of ministers and also prof-
.jectof:       "The #Organizational  BuiEdi& of  ,otir  `0w.n flessors` attended these youth gatherings, and also took
   Y'OLhW'. .Be  .discussed  $he  desirabil$y of  havi!&g se- pa& in  +he  d.iscussicms.   !&is is commendable for it
   parate young ladies  ,azld young men's  organizat&s             neveals  initePest  in the youth  #of God's  oovsnant.  ISee-
    (th young ladies voted in favor of separate organiza-          ,dndly, it- is to :be noted th.at the youth of the Nether-
   tions) . The R,w. Vin*k,stnongly a:dvocated independent         lanids Churches take part not only .bu$ also `choose sides
   initiative of  ,o.ur  yawn youth,.  t,o develope  th6ir own     in the church strife goitng van. Also 6hat is commend--
   leadership, something very lacking in the' past. Ac'd           able. They  .discuss the  ques@ns that are  beirqg de-
 . the characteristic feature of ou~.soci.eties  must be not       bated. We recall in 1924 in the Federation  meetti1.g
   a mere !hollow `discussion of principles, but a study ,of' held  ins Holland,  Mitih.,  Ithat  +he subject of  C,ommon
   ALL that the Lord commands us. That being &he basis             Grace,~ the burning  que&ion  in the  chullches  of that
   of iea'ch local society, $e furth'er ,urged that each society time, was a subject n&to mentioneld'. We would urge
   :have  stbmg  representatilon  in the  d,ist,rict league of the young people societies of the Christian Reformed
  " societies (the league again del,egate  Q and orgainize as      Chur&es even now 60 study and <discuss and hold die-
   a national Y,out~h `congress or Federation).                    bates with our Pnotestant  Regormed young people
       In the evening session a Rev. Vfogel gave a speech soci8eties.          It would be very fruiitsul for all conclernle$
   ?n : "Methqdics" in w'hieh he .di.scussed tile various-and Whoever refuses discussion of fundamental, reveals
   best  meth.ods   ,of  st.udying Scripture  0~ the various their weakness. And finally we note the fti:le subject
   truths  .of  S,cripture,  in our societies.  IHe stated  &hat material discussed at these youth  oongresses  in old
   the- .vieWjoint  must ,always _be God's aovenant,  for this Holland. Whether they  hard: a banquet  rto close the
   constitutes the very reason of existence of `our young sessions, as we in America have, was not stated in $he
   people societies. But hle emphasized that the o!bject report.  Pierhaps they are too  poo,r. Perhaps they do
   of o,ur study niay not be tie young men or young wo- not favor *hem. But we yhope $he youth [of the Nether-
   men, but God  HimsElf in all His  revelati,on. At  the lands may come to know and cmlfess the truth of our
   close of the a'ddress the Rev. Vogel gave t$e $ollowing         Sovereign `God; That is all impo,rtant.
   little sketch for study-subj,ects  :
        A. The Sicriptuules  :
              1. The Bible as such.                                           TRANSLATION OF "jE VOTO"
              2. The Bibical %ist&y.                                  We read the following ,call for a.id $1 & recent Ban-
       B. The Church.                                              ner : "The committee appointed by the Synod of iOhe
              1.. History otf the Church.                          Christian+ Reformed (Church for the  Transla.tioli  of
              2.  Clonfessions  ,of  the  &urch.                   Dgtch Theology would like to hear from anyone who
              3. Instit&ion and task.of $he Church. '              would like to offer his services for the work of tratns-
        C. The various  ,other   Subjiects:                        lating Dr. Abraham Kuyper's "E Voto  Dordraceno".
              1. The Home or Family.                               Address the.secretary,  Rev. Leonard yerduin, 218 N.


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             `Tgl

   Division,  Ann Arbor,  Mich." As  ou.r  pe%ders will Britatn that. it  ;will be her official, policy "to  move
   know "E Vote  Dorclraceno" is the four volume work in whatever reinforcements are necessary to restore
   of Dr. A. Kuype?  on the Heidelberg Cate&ism. It is' order  an-d GUARANTEE DUTCH  SOVEREIGfiTY
   a work &at is rather extensively used, br rathaer  HBS                IN THE EAST INDIES." Mind you, this i,s all being
   been  uBed in the past, when most  theologians c&d idqne despite the fact that the East Indies peoples desire
   still work with the Xollaed language. But seeing the ,to have +heir independence fyom Dutch rule and as
number #of those still able to use f;hs Holland language f,ormer  Pres. Roosevelt promised: "that peoples every-
   is  gra.dually diminishing,  this famous work on the ,w:htere  may have a voice in establishing bheir own form
   Catechism is more an<d more being neglected. Seein(g <of  government'i.                  But *he British will see to .it that
   also that it is still the practice in the Chr. Ref. Chur&s Dutch Sovereignty continues. Also the Dutch will
   to  preach from  the Heidelb,erg   Catech.ism every Sun- b,r.ing in thousands of her troops to suppress the m-
   day, i;vc presume the lack of an adequake work on this                dependence movement.       That is  ,a11 supposed to be
   part of our  oonifessi,ons,  is  very much being felt. "Free Government' `and "Democracy". And here is
   Therefore the Synod. has appointed a committee to the  answ.er  of the  peoplle  ,of Java and Sumatra, as
:  translat,e  bhe  ,ol.d  standard   ,Holland works  anld  sdesirles    broadcast over the radio station in  S,oerabaja: "The
   also "E Voto" to be translated `into bhe English.                     Dut& are boasting that they so'on will bring in thou-
   W      e          Recdmmend:                                          sands of soldiers. What of it? We are `determined to
        Wherreas  there is evidently a.  grmt  nleed  for a annihilate them, even .if we have to poison t,hem to,
 thorough  work or exposition  of'the  iHeidelberg  Cate- tdteath.  We have 70  millio:n behind  us. It is an easy
   chism especially for &he younger theol,ogians,                        task for sus to get rid of 100,000 o,r 200,OO enemies by
        Whereas your. rather  ablle  .book reviewer in the poison". Such is Dhe sorry state of affairs with the
   Barmer, Dbr. Hendriksen, has come across a work on                    Dul&.    First the Dutch government sought Allied,
   the Heidelberg Catechism  tha;t is  at present being aid in liberating her own country from German rule,
   written, and which he can highly praise and ne'com-                   anId now that same government tries to suppress 1;he
   mend't,o t,he reading pnbiic 81so,                                    liberating. forces in the Dutch East Indies.
     Whereas you undoubtedly `desine something that is                      The same  situati,on appears in  the-,other  Asian
   very ithoroughly  Refornmd  -and also expositlonal.                   countries, India with -her 350,000,OOO  peiples is seeth-
        That your committe,e  00 longer look around for an injg with unrest and the determination to %ee himself
' able man  Do translate that large work of "E  Vote" from the bondage .of England. Indo-Chlina is seeking
   written by Dr. A. Kuyper, but instead that you'recorn-                freedom fror'n-the  French rule ahd. much blood has al-
   menId to your Synod and thus also to the theolo!gians. ready been shed in that country iti her, striving after
   in yotir Churches, as well as &e reading public, &hat, "Democracy".  Th&e Malayan states ask : `"why have we
   they `buy the very good and  $horoughly  Reformed been freed friom Japan, in ond.er ,again to be shackled
   "Exposition  ,of the  Heideliberg   Cabechism" written So great Britain?" The  Chines,e have been told by
   by Prof. Herman H&sema, paof. `of Dogmatics at the Eiagland sto vacate .her ,ow11 rightful city of Hongkong,
   Theological  S,chool of the  Prot. Ref. Churches.  Th6 because it must rtemain under control of Imperialist
   entire  wo:rk  ,ie not yet finished. Two volumes have Bcritain. America and Russia will share. a protectorate
   come  ,off the press, thus far  covering the first  iten              over Korea for five ywrs, in order kheaeafter  to grant
   Lotid's Days. The third is about to be presented to                   her  indepen,dence. And so it goes  on. Where .is the
 .  th8e  pub18ic. And the. entire set will be obtainable ,Jong promise of "I%&edon?  held out to these Asiatic peoples
   before you could lever get !`E Vote" transla;ted an'd pub- ,during the Jap occupation ? Is St a wonder that tihe
   lished.     Besides  JTM.I  ,wo@d   have a more  practicd,            yelltow and brown  races on the four corners of the
   scholarly and Reformed -Exposition of +he Catechism.                  earth, are waking up to the fact that- the white .peoples
                                                                         are, plajTing but a ,ga.me? Is it a wolnlder  that already
                                                                         many are predicting that those peoples w.ill arise in
                                                                         inid@nation  and cast `off their yoke and make  war with
                          WHAT A WORL'J?                                 t,he whites?  And lest we forget, it is foretold us in
                                                                         Scripture that Satan will be alEo,wed ho ddoeive  thos:e
        During the war our  governtiqnt  was  filling the very natirons,  to gather them together to batile ; the
   minds of  the. people  wit,h the  ;poisonous  prd,paganda number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
   that we are fighting agression, and that people `<every-                 Ifi Europe we see also this same farce of "Demo-
   .wheu;e  may-have a voice  in establishing &heir own form cracy". Jugoslavia may vote, but with only one slate
   of  gove?nme&.  That is supposed to  ,be Democracy. of candidates,  sellected  :by the  d.icta&or  Tito. No  free
   Llet  US  look  throu!gh  o,ur periscope and see what we elections at all. Aaid mipd  you  that country was
   can see concerning all. this.                                         "liberated" from the  Germaii  Dictato?.   T,he  "Big
        ?t has just been  offi&ally  announced `by Great Thaee"  lof Russia,  Englmd  and  .the  U,S.A.-  [come  +o-  '


                                                                                                                                 __-            f
                                                                                          ---
                                                              `l!%!E  S T A N D A R D   B.EARER

            gekh& .and deci,de bow this aad that `cou'ntry shall be.                                              .
            ruled.   -.O  ,what- a  farce  i_s  bei.ng made  of  the term                            ,                    Ingtjz6ndqi
            "freedom".     That f,or whtch we, condemned Ge,many
            during Dhe war, is now being practiced by us and ,com- A&n de R,eda&eur  van jde Stan'dard Bearer :
            pany.* Mass deportation of geoples  from their homes G;eachte   Ds  Hoek,sema  :  y                                                                  4
            and far@ to places, assigned them by the Alliles. Whole
            countries gobbled up ,aa!d annexed by Force. Where,                                           Wil U lhet volgend  schrijven van  mij plaatsen in 
       &he "Democracies" believe  SF strongly  in kee  ,expres-  _den  Staedard  Bearer?  Sij  voorbaat   mijne dank.
            sion,  to!clay-  we see thousands of books in Germany -.                                      Da.ar mij gevraagd  %erd van  baoeders  ,uit de
            burned in public. The purges of Dilct&or ,Hitler were Christelijke  Gerefotieerde  Kerken, waarom  ik; lid
            denounced as most cruel and .resorting to the savaigery van de gemeente  van Ds. Da&of, niet ben meegqysan
            of the middle ages. Yes, but today `we also believe in naar *de Christelijke Gereformeerde Kierken, ,$egeer ik
            purging, `only now in i&e name of "Democracy". Yes- op  *:{eze   .wijze  idaarvan  rekensehap te geven.  HieT
            ter#ay wle denouniced  "agression?' and Agressors as t&e volgt dan ook een afschrifit van hetgeen ,o!ndergetee-
            chief'sin  we are fighting agaiilst.  -Today `we approve k&de ,gezonden heeft aan d,en keltkeraad  van de nienwe
            (at least by silent consent) to .the greatest .aggk7essio?                             "G`race Christian R&ofmed  Church", voorkeen  de Pro:
            ever witnessed in rhistory. Look at Russia. It seems testeerende ,Eerste ,C$ristelijke Gereformeerde' tierken,
            as &hough the `<black pot is accusinff -the. black kettle waarvan Ds., H. Danhof leeraar wa$.
            that it is black."             1             ,
               We conclude by  sayintg  :  WHaAT A WORLD. A                                                   "Aan den Kerkeraad der Christelijkle  Gere-
            world tJlat is-,oppqsed to itself. A house bh%t is divided                                     ,formeerde  Kerk, voorheen (de Prote&eerenjd:e
            against itself, And such a house. of course -can never                                         lC&rist+ijke  Gereformeade   Kerk.                           :
            stand. A world-that has many wise and prud& men,                                                                                          Dec. 13, 1945.
            anid wh.o ane lauded  `(even by the chuyIch) as men filled.                                    Geachte  Kerk&aad :
            with v$dom, But the wisdom ,of the,worl,d  is foolis,h-
            ness  ,wi;th God.           And  Gard  pr,oves this right along.                                 Daar de Pr.itesteerende  Christelijke Gere-
            He is  inakitig the wisdom of the  world at  thhis  very~                                      f,ormeerde  Kerk zilch tieeft .aangesloten  ,bij de
            moment lookver$  foolish .indesd. God is revealing  that                                       Christelijke  Gerefo,rmeer.de   KeTken, geef ik .
            ,a11 the so-called noble anld pious tal,k.of the world ,con-                                   bij ?dezen kennis dat (ik niet de vyijmoedigheid I
            cerning -(`justice" ,and "right" and `<mercy" is' but so                                       heb om mee te gaan ntiar de Christielijke  Gere-
            mulch mockery.  The justice- of the world is  .always                                          formeerde  Kerken.
            injustice  anld her right is always wrong  an,d-  :her  -A                                        Daar de Christelijke  Gere%osmeen.de   Ker-
            "mercy" is always cruel. That' is Iwhat we see ,when                                           ken, in 1924, Drie Puaiten  aan de Belijdenis
            looking throqgh the pie&cope `of God's Word. 0 yes,                                            hebben  ioegevoiegd,  alhoewel zij  uitspreken
            we also see more.  Wee see that THE KINGDOM  o!f                                               da<ze waayheid zijn ,en daarom uik de Heilige
            which the Christian is a  :c$izen,  -is NOT OF THIS                                            Schrift  en  ,de  Belijdenisschriften  genomen
            WORLD. `Rather it is  +he  kingi&om of God  wherein                                            zijn ;. en daar bet: mijne belijdenis is dat de
            righteousness -alone dwells. In  that  Kinj$+m,  *here                                         Drie Punten van 1924 niet de waarheid  zijn
            is true freedom, true'freedom of expr;ession  to ,declare                                      omdat ze [dingen van God ,en van den mensch
            th_e virtues ,of ,our God, and true independence f,rom                                         zeggen ,die niet waar zijm, noem ik.%dit  `een ont-
            corrupt and sinful man. In 1946 let us seek  f&t                                               heiligen van God.             ^
            THAT: kingdom. of righteousness, and all `other things                                            De . Protesteerende  Christ&jke  Gerefor-
            will be adsded unto us.             _                              I                           meerendye  Kerk had de  zuivere  waarhei,d.
                                                                     1              L. v.  .'              XMaar zij is afgevallen.
       !                                                       _          -                                                _  .                 Hoogacrhtend,
                                                                                                                                                John Menninga."

                                                                                                          Iti het licht v&n d_atgene  wat ik lbelijd ,de waarheid
                                           L E C T U R E                                           t_"  Hjn,  ho;e-zou  ik  :dit  kunnen  leeren en  voorstaan   i.n
.:v                       . By the Rev. `H.  ZIo&sema                                       `,"    ,c!e Christelijke Gereformeerde  Kerken-? Ik  zou-  rdan,
&d&t:                   Children of the Promise.                                                   ,voqryaar,   een  valrsche  belijder zijn in de  Ch.?istelijke
                                  ._                                                               -  G e r e f o r m e e r d e   Kerken;  t
            Date :    Thcursday,  February 7, 1946.  ,'
            Pi&e : Gospel' Hall, South Park and W.` Vine Streets,                                                                                    John Menninga,
                                                                                                                                    *
                      Kalamazoo,                     Miih.                           _                                     ,.                 -Kalamazoo, Michigan.


