VOLUME XXVI            October 1. 1949  - Grand Rapids, Mich.        NUMBER 1
  .                      .
               .


                                                          .

               A Reformed Semi-Monthly  sMagazine





                    .  .  . it has been and still js the Standard
                    Bearer of the truth of God's grace.
                    . . . . faithfuI  in maintaining, developing,
                    and defending against all opposition, the
                    pure Protestant Reformed truth.


2                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
---____---".-.                                                                                                --.-
                                                                     ters to this pious king of the people of God, cursing
                                                                     and mocking the God of Jacob, he went to *God and
                                                                     spread forth these letters before the Countenance. And
                                                                     his cry was heard: Now, therefore, 0 Lord our God,
                  A Truly Happy Man                                  save us from his hand, `that all the kingdoms of the
                                                                     earth may know that Thou art the Lord, even Thou
                  "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for His    only. Do you not notice that the God of Jacob was
             help, whose hope is in the Lord His God."               his help? Neither did he trust in vain. For this God
                                                  Psalm 146:5.       of Jacob sent His angel and destroyed a hundred and
                                                                     fourscore and five thousand of the wicked in one night.
     It is wisdom not to put your trust in the princes               And so the name of the God of Jacob was to the nation
of the world.                                                        of God's people the name of Him Who helped in time
     Let not the dreams they weave before your longing of need.
eyes charm you to that extent that you place your trust                 Why, even in `our day you will notice that when
in them. Because their breath goeth forth, they return               God's people are in trouble they will cry to Jacob's
to the earth and in that very day their thoughts perish.             God. The Holy Ghost leads us to do this. `Jacob had a
And you are left destitute in the cold. There is no help troublesome life. It seemed as though all things were
in men.                                                              against him. His father, his brother, his uncle, the
     lover  against this idle trust stands the cry of the elements. His sons also, for they robbed him `of his
Holy Gost: Happy is the man that hath the God of children. All these things are against me! Now we
Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.               know that this was not so. We know that all things
     Let the object of your trust be the God of Jacob.               worked together for good unto Jacob. But Jacob did
     Then and then alone you are safe for time and for not know this. And therefore he spent his life in cry-
eternity.                                                            ing to God for help against his distresses. 4nd God
     Because the God of Jacob is the Almighty God.                   heard. From step to step the God of Jacob fought
     When the Bible repeatedly testifies `regarding the for him and delivered him.,
God of Jacob, the meaning is first of all that this  *God
stands over against the various gods in Canaan. There
were many gods in those days. Every tribe in Canaan,                    Ah, yes, the God of Jacob is God, the Almighty,
sometimes every individual family, ruled by its patri- Who is willing and able to help His people who are in
arch had its own god. And in time of war or drought,                 distress and trouble.
in all manner of calamities these poor people would                     And the God of Jacob is all this because He is the
turn to their gods and cry out their need of them: 0 Lord God.
help us, for the water has come over our souls. It is                   That has a wonderful significance.
pitiful to read some of the petitions that came down                    The Lord God.
to us through the ages, testifying of their need of                     He is the Covenant God.
help and the efforts put forth to get it from the heathen               Lord means.: I am that I am. That is, I am the
gods.                                                                unchangeable One. I am the eternal one, the Immut-
     Yet all was vain.          These heathen gods were no           able One. There is no shadow of turning with Me.
gods, idle and helpless. Things with them went on Therefore He is also the ever faithful One. In His
just the same and these things were governed and everlasting Counsel He saw Jacob, that is, Israel, that
ruled by `Him Who dwells in the heavens.                             is, the Church of Jesus Christ, that is, the sum total
     The God of Jacob, however, was and is different.                of the elect of God, and seeing them He counselled
When Jacob went to that God with strong crying and peace and security for them in the Son of His love.
tears, he was helped out of all his calamities. Never And because He is the Lord, that is, the Unchangeable
did this patriarch knock in vain on the doors of heaven.             One, He keep&h  truth for ever, He is the ever faithful
God heard him in that he was helped.                                 Covenant God.                     _
     Moreover, the God of Jacob became also the name                    This Lord made promises. And what promises!
of God among the descendants of Jacob. All the god-                  I am your ,God and the God of your seed. I am coming
fearing lsraelites  went to the God of Jacob for strength to you, my darling children ? I am going to come to
and help in time of trouble. And they also, like their you and I will come ever closer to you, until you shall
father, were helped out of all their distresses. Take be so everlastingly close to Me that it may be said that
for instance the Godfearing Hezekiah. When he was                    I am all and in all.
in dire need of help at the time the wicked were lying                  And nothing can change this promise from its ful-
without the gates of Jerusalem, cursing the Name  ex-                fillment.
pressly and wantonly, and when they sent wicked  let-                   God did come to His own Jacob in a picture. It

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

was the first heaven and earth. Through omnipotent He made from everlasting, The time is at hand that
creation he weaved an image of the fulfillment of the also the bodies of the Jacobs shall be made to conform
promises, which is the reason that Genesis 1 and Revel- to the most glorious body of Jesus. The lives of the
ation 22 seem so much alike.                                 souls of Jacobs were first fruits, but the harvest of
    When this first creation went down in the gloom the bodies is coming. He shall raise our mortal bodies
of death and the curse, the Lord came closer through through the Spirit that dwells in us. At the day of
the altar and the blood of sacrificial animals. He Jesus !
taught His Jacob that this world which had fallen               And the God of Jacob shall come still closer. For
so low must be elevated, must tbe raised to new heights a new commonwealth is coming. We expect according
of glory.    He came closer to Jacob, for He taught to His promises a new heaven and a new earth. And
Adam and Abel to build an altar, that is, they must that new commonwealth shall be such that heaven and
take some- earth or stones and make a heap or two.           earth shall be united and in the midst of them shall
It is the exalted and elevated world.                        descend the tabernacle of  ZGod  out of heaven. Then
    Later the Lord came closer. Listen to  Stephan,          God shall dwell with His people and shall be a Father
just before his stoning: . . . . David, who found favor      unto them and they shall be His sons and daughters.
before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the         And all the tears of Jacob shall be washed away.
God of Jacob . But Solomon built Him a house. The
Lord  came ever closer. In splendour of gold of Ophir
and the needlework of artists, God dwelled in the Holy          What have the sons of man ever done for  you'?
of Holies and taught Jacob that He loved Him. And            We are killed all the day long by them. We are ac-
He showed His love in manifold tokens and signs and          counted as sheep for the slaughter by them.
types and washings and sacrifices. God came closer to        . Recall the history of Jacob. What did Jacob get
Jacob for his help for He accepted the token of blood        for help out of Esau and  Laban? None at all. But
once every year when the High Priest entered His on the contrary : these two relatives brought him much
abode. And the angels were very desirous to under- sorrow and tears. And if it had not been for the help'
stand this miracle of grace. They bent forward over of the God of Jacob he would have been swallowed up
the sprinkled blood on the mercy seat.                       alive. No thanks to Esau and Laban for the revival
                        -        -                           and survival of Jacob. These evil men were as wild
                                                             beasts around the turtledove of God. Ah, Jacob, thou
   And the Lord came closer when Jesus was born.             hast all our sympathy !
   For Jesus is Jacob fulfilled. God promised that              But I hasten to add that Jacob was happy. For
He would come to Jacob and be his God. Well, this is happy is the man who has the God of Jacob for .his
fulfilled in Jesus. According to the flesh, Jesus is help. Whose trust is in the Lord his God.
Jacob and God dwelleth in Jesus in unity of  ,the Person.       Indeed !  Sll things work together for his good.
Immanuel: God with us.                                       Even tears and suffering must serve to bring the
   And with this Jesus the wonder of grace is mani- promises to fulfillment. That is wonderfully shown
fested to angels also: now they may see it! ,Glory to in the Christ of God. That dark night cannot be spared
God in the highest and on earth peace! Now we see in the scheme of things. The strong crying and tears
it ! This babe will take away all the sin of Jacob.          of Jesus in everlasting agony are the foundation of all
   And with this Jesus the fallen world is elevated for fulfillment of the promises. Without them we would
He climbs the steep sides of the mountain of God's cry in hell,
holiness. Climbing in His resurrection and ascension,           But blessed is that man ! `Blessed now for he
He cries out: The glorious gates of righteousness, wrestles with God and will not let Him go without
throw open unto Me !                                         the blessing of Jehovah God. And the blessing is re-
   And the Lord God came still closer to Jacob when          maining. All things testify of the love that cannot
the Holy Ghost was poured out on Pentecost. Now be measured.
God dwells in the hearts and minds of all the Jacobs,           And blessed anon in the land that is fairer than day.
both small and great. And now we all are temples of There we shall be so blessed, beloved reader, that we
the Holy Ghost.                                              shall never sin any more. If there was no more re-
   But the flesh is corrupt and the body is inclined to vealed than just that: it would be sufllcient to elicit
the dust. And in the night we hear the groaning of my highest singing and praises of God.. Not sin any
Jacob with strong crying and tears: 0 wretched man more. Can you imagine anything sweeter?
that I am: who shall deliver me out of the body of this         Oh, even through the dimming tears, I see glory
death !                                                      that cannot be uttered in the vale ! Not sin any more;
   And God, the God of Jacob hears him, for He is the nevermore to roam. Ah, blessedness unspeakable !
Lord God. He shall remember His covenant which                  Let all of Jacob say : Amen, Hallelujah ! G. Vos.

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

                                      The Standard Bearer
            Semi-Monthly, except Monthly in July and August                                                                                                                                                                         E D I T O R I A L S
                                                              P u b l i s h e d   B y
                         The Reformed Free Publishing Sssociation
                                   Box 124, Sta. C., Grand Rapids, Mich                                                                                                                                                            The Standard Bearer
                                            EDITOR: - Rev. H. Hoeksema.
.Contributing  Editors :  - Rev. G. M. Ophoff, Rev. G.  Vos, Rev.                                                                                                                                                                                1924 - 1949
R. Veldman, Rev. H. Veldman, Rev. H. De Wolf, Rev. B. Kok,
Rev. J. D. De Jong, Rev. A. Petter, Rev. C. Hanko, Rev. L.                                                                                                                                                                 It seems but proper, in this anniversary number of
Vermeer,  Rev. G. Lubbers, Rev. M. Gritters, Rev. J. A. Heys,                                                                                                                                                           the Standard Bearer, to remember, with thanks to our
Rev. W.  Hofman.
     Communications relative to contents should be addressed to                                                                                                                                                         covenant  aGod, the fact that He privileged us to edit in
REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids,                                                                                                                                                               unbroken succession the paper which, no doubt,  .with
M i c h i g a n .                                                                                                                                                                                                       all its weaknesses and defects, still has an important
     Communications relative to subscription should be addressed                                                                                                                                                        place in the  hear'ts and minds of all that love the Pro-
to MR. J. BOUWMAN,  1131 Sigsbee St., S.E., Grand Rapids 6,                                                                                                                                                             testant Reformed truth.                       -,
Mich. Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the
above  address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each                                                                                                                                                            For throughout all these years, it has been faithful
notice.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 to its name: it has been and still is the Standard Bearer
Renewals:-Unless  a  defmite  request for discontinuance is  re-                                                                                                                                                        of the truth of God's grace.
ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes his subscription                                                                                                                                                          In the midst of all the criticism that has been direct-
to continue without the formality of a renewal order.                                                                                                                                                                   ed against our paper, rightly or wrongly, this one, most
Entered as Second Class  Mail  at Grand Rapids,  Michigan.
                                       (Subscription Price $2.50 per year)                                                                                                                                              important item of praise, cannot be denied our Standard
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Bearer: it has been faithful in maintaining, develop-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ing, and defending against all opposition, the pure
                                                                                                  -                                                                                                                     Protestant Reformed truth.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           In this the  I,3tandard  Bearer may rejoice with
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        thanksgiving by the grace of God.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          _ True, throughout the years there has been much
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        cri,ticism. And who could expect anything else?
                                                                   C O N T E N T S                                                                                                                                         In fact, when I peruse once more the pages of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        twenty-five volumes of our paper that have been pub-
ME,DITAcTION-                                                                                                                                                                                                           lished, I can only be amazed that there has not been
        The Truly Happy Man . . . . . ..I............ * . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3                                                                                         more *criticism.
                    Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                                                            For let us consider, first of all, the editors. They
EDITORIALS-                                                                                                                                                                                                             were always few in number. For some time, in fact,
        The Standard Bearer - 1924-1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4                                                                                                               the Rev. Ophoff and myself were the only editors left,
        The Open Letter of Prof. Holwerda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G                                                                                                             and twice a month we filled our whole paper, and
                    Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                                                                    always we filled, at any rate, the lion's share of it.
OUR  DOCTRI'NE-                                                                                                                                                                                                         These men were weak and sinful, of themselves in-
        The Veracity of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9                                                           clined to err, and that always had to guard against
                    Rev. H. Veldman                                                                                                                                                                                     allowing their sinful emotions getting the best of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        them in their writing. Besides, although many would
           A Word To You, Rev. Hofman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13                                                                                                consider the publication of a paper like the  Standard
           Reply To Prof. Veenhof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
                    Rev.  G; M. Ophoff                                                               ' ~                                                                                                                Bearer a job by itself, these men could only fill and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        edit our paper as a side issue. They had their own
SION'S  ZANGEN-                                                                                                                                                                                                         congregations to consider. One of them had a church
        Een Vloekpsalm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 of more than five hundred families which he shep-
                    Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                                                         herded all alone for twenty years, preaching three
FROM HOLY  WRIT-                                                                                                                                                                                                        times every Sunday, teaching catechism classes, con-
             . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                                                                                                                                            21 . . ducting funerals, visiting the sick, conducting family
                    Rev. G. Lubbers                                                                                                                                                                                     visiting, and, in late years, lecturing over the radio.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Besides, ,undersigned  was instrumental in preparing
`IN HIS FEAR--                                                                                                                                                                                                          and organizing all our congregations with the excep-
           The Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
                    Rev. M. Gritters                                                                                                                                                                                    COVER: The R. F. P. A. is indebted  to  Mr.  Lambert   Mujder
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  and Mr. Albert Heemstra for the art work of the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  new cut which appears on the front page of this issue,

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

 tion of three of them, so that frequently the  Standard    them  I quote and translate {they were written in
 Becwer  had to be written away from home and on the Dutch) the following :
 train.. Not only this, but the Rev. Ophoff and myself          "The brethren decided unanimously to organize a
 gave a tolerably complete course in theology to .pre-      Publication Committee, and at the same time to discuss
 pare our men for the ministry, which again is a job matters that could serve  the~purpose  of supporting the
 all by itself. And I am not speaking now of "the care brethren, the Revs. H. Danhof and H. Hoeksema in
 of all the churches".                                      the publication and distribution of brochures, and bear
     You say, I am boasting?                                the expenses connected therewith, and if possible to
     Well, I am, but to be sure, not in self. As far as I publish a paper."
 am concerned, I rather boast, with the apostle, in my         What motivated the brethren in that decision may
 infirmities that all the praise and glory may be to the be gathered from the following:
 name of Him who enabled and strengthened us through-           "Reasons for this important step are:
 out all these years.                                           "First of all refusal by the r~edaction  of "De Wach-
     But are you not with me surprised that the criticism ter", to receive and publish a series of articles of the
 was not more severe than it actually was, especially in above mentioned ministers, written for our Reformed
 view of the fact that we wrote for a public that is in-    people.
 clined to be critical?                                         "Secondly, the desire to offer the aforementioned
    But, let me, in this anniversary number, not forget ministers an opportunity to gainsay their opponents
 to delve into the archives, and bring to light the names before the eyes of the' Reformed reading public, and
 of the men that first conceived of the idea of the         to reply to all the articles that are written from one
 Standard BeweT.                                            side, and that are often characterized by personal
     The first meeting for this purpose was held at the hatred."
home of the undersigned, though not by his inspira-            That first meeting immediately appointed a publi-
 tion: the incentive was entirely of the men assembled cation committee with power to ad, and to publish and
 there.                                                     distribute brochures written by the two ministers men-
     It was the evening of April  8,1924.                   tioned above.
    All were still in the Christian Reformed Church,           Funds were collected for this purpose from the
 and none of the men contemplated, I am sure, a break brethren present to the amount of 425 dollars.
 with that church, although as might be expected, thick        The next meeting was held in Kalamazoo on the
 and threatening clouds were already gathering at the evening of April 17, 1924. That there was a good
 ecclesiastical horizon.                                    deal of enthusiasm for the cause is evidenced from
     Fifteen brethren were assembled there that even- the fact that no less than sixty-five brethren joined
 ing, and I present their names here as a roll of honor.    the association, and that by those members the sum
    They are the following:                                 of 792 dollars was collected to support the cause. A
                                                            permanent board was elected with Mr. 0. Van Ellen
              0. Van Ellen                                  as president and Mr. A. Wyma as secretary.
              J. H. Van Tuinen          1                      Besides, and this is the official beginning of the
              G. Vos                                        Standard Bearer, it was unanimously decided to realize
              J. II. Vander Vennen
              J. Koster                                     the publication of a paper.
              P. Ezinga                                        And thus was organized what ever since is known
              C. De Young                                   as the R. F. P. A., the Reformed Free Publishing Asso-
              Wm. Verhil                                    ciation.
              Ed Groenhout                                     The term "Free" in this name denotes that the asso-
              R. H. Timmer                                  ciation in publishing its literature does not stand under
              Arthur Wyma                                   any ecclesiastical jurisdiction. It also means that the
    All these were from Grand Rapids.                       editors alone are responsible for the contents of their
    And from Kalamazoo the following brethren were writing, and that they are not under the jurisdiction,
                                                            either of the Church or of the board of the R. F. P. A.
 present :                                                  The minutes show that, in later days, the board has
              R. Wolthuis                                   sometimes attempted to change this relation and to
              J. C. Moerman                                 acquire some jurisdiction over the contents of their
              E. Onder de Linde                             writings, but the editors have always jealously guarded
              J. Post                                       their rights in this respect, and they always will, at
    `The purpose of the meeting is rather clearly ex- least as far as the original editors are concerned.
 pressed in the minutes of that gathering, and' from Thus The Standard Bearer was launched.

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

        Its first issue was edited by the Revs. H. Danhof,    14). The question was not one concerning your corn--
and H. Hoeksema, and Mr. G. Van Beek. It appeared mon  confession  and concerning your fight against
as a monthly covering sixteen pages. But this soon Arminianism ,-in this the Revs. De Jong and Kok
was changed.           Already the second issue contained agree completely,-but concerning the binding to theo-
thirty  two.pages,  and the editorial staff was joined by logical  opinions. why do you put an entirely different.
the Revs. G. M. Ophoff and Cand. B. J. Danhof. Later meaning in my words?"
it was changed to a bi-monthly containing twenty-four
pages, and in this form it has remained ever since.              Comment  :
Of course, also the editorial staff has undergone several        Under "14", professor, you camouflage the argu-
changes, the most important of which was caused by ment, as I can easily show you. You write as if our
the wanton and faithless desertion of the` Rev. H.            main objection was to the statement allegedly made  b3
Danhof. But two of the original editors, the Rev. G. M. the Revs. De Jong and Kok that we have great sym-
Ophoff and, undersigned, still remain.                        pathy for the liberated.     But our objection is not
        Thus, dear reader, your have been reminded of the against that part of their statement. We do have
first beginnings of  The Standard Bearer,  the publica- great sympathy for the liberated, as all our actions in
tion that stands closely connected with the origin and the past and all that I have written in the Standard
first beginnings of the Protestant Reformed Churches.         Bearer  have plainly shown. But our objection is
        How long will it continue to be published as the      against the second part `of their statement, namely,
bearer of the standard of the pure Protestant Reform-         that we are supposed to have a great sympathy for the
ed truth?                                                     covenant view of the liberated ; and to have a warm
        I know not.                                           heart and an open ear and well-meaning interest for
        But one thing is always sure : whatever will become that covenant view certainly would mean repudiation
of The Standard Bearer, and, for that matter of the of the covenant conception of the Protestant Reformed.
Protestant Reformed Church as an institution (and the         Suppose, professor, that you had been visiting us and
future does not look bright to me), God will preserve         had held a conference with some of our Protestant
His Church, and the gates of hell shall never over- Reformed ministers ; and suppose further that I had
shadow her!                                                   written to someone in the old country: "Prof.  Hol-
        To know this is all that matters for you and for      werda has great sympathy for the Protestant Reform-
rqe.                                                          ed and for their covenant doctrine." Would not that
        And in the meantime, Iet us labor while it is day, statement imply that you repudiated . the covenant
ere the night cometh in which no man can work !               theology of the liberated? Do you have any sympathy
                                                 H. H.        at all for the covenant theology of the Protestant
                                                              Reformed Churches, which is, indeed, the  covenam
                                                              theology of the Rev. Hoeksema? Do you not very
                                                              positively advise the immigrants in Canada "if the
The Open Letter of Prof. Holwerda conception of the Rev. Hoeksema is binding, never
                                                              join ?" For this,< of course, I do not blame you at all :
                         (CONTINUED)                          you have a perfect right not only to differ with the
                                                              view of Rev. Hoeksema, but to condemn and abhor it.
        "In the third place I have serious objections against But if you feel that the covenant theology of the Pro-
your many insinuations. Again I mention a few points. testant Reformed Churches is diametrically opposed
        "14. When I speak of sympathy for the liberated       to the covenant view of the liberated, which is the
also in their doctrine of the covenant, you distort that      Heynsian view pure and simple, you  certainIy  cannot
into : `the Protestant Reformed Churches have repudi-         speak of sympathy for the Protestant Reformed con-
ated the covenant theology of Rev. Hoeksema and               ception. You have no sympathy for that conception
embraced the covenant theology of the liberated.' You whatever. But no more have we any sympathy for the
know very well what sympathy means. I have greet, covenant theology of the liberated. And when the
sympathy for the Protestant Reformed.            Does ' that Revs. De Jong and Kok made that statement,- as iu
mean now that I repudiate the theology of the liberated       your letter to Chatham you report them to have made,
and embrace the theology of your leaders? You  cer- we understand that statement as meaning that they
tainly know better. Sympathy means that  I have a have repudiated the covenant theology of the Pro-
warm heart for someone, and that I have an open ear           testant Reformed.
and a well-meaning interest for his ideas; but it does           The same holds for their statement that the concep-,
not mean that I adopt all his opinions.                       tiop regarding election maintained by the Rev.  Hoek-
        "15. About the binding to Rev. Hoeksema's con- sema is not the doctrine of the Prot.  Ref. Churches
ception regarding election I already spoke above (sub.        and is not binding. Of course, if that statement is

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

taken by itself, it may mean very little. It may mean, let it suffice for the present. Do you deem this per-
for instance, that the Revs. De Young and Kok favor missible over against our churches, and may you strike
the infralapsarian view of election while I am avowedly fear into the hearts of your churches for our churches
supralapsarian. And who could indict them on the in such a slanderous and rash manner, fear of heresies
basis of such a statement? We all know. that the stan- that do not exist?"
dards of the Reformed Churches are decidedly infra-
lapsarian. Perhaps the Revs. De Jong and Kok will              Comment  :
develop their own doctrine of election in distinction          Professor, you write that the Rev. Ophoff has not
from mine. But if their statement means that the understood even the abc .of the covenant theology of
Heynsian view of election is also to be tolerated in our the liberated, and that means that principally  I have
churches, they certainly reported falsely of the Pro- failed to understand the same covenant theology also.
testant Reformed Churches: for Heyns has no room For although I would not use the same.language  as the
for election, and especially not for reprobation  `in his Rev. Ophoff does, and although I gladly believe that
doctrine of the covenant. The essence of the covenant, men like Prof. Veenhof believe in election and repro-
according to Heyns, is  #the  promise of God. And that bation and in the sovereign grace of God and abhor the
promise, according to him, is for all the children of Arminian heresy, yet I must now confess that in my
believers head for head. And `if you ask Heyns how it opinion Rev. Ophoff is principally right when he
is possible that many of the carnal seed in the covenant speaks of the two main tenets of the covenant theology
are nevertheless lost, he explains this not on the basis of the liberated. And therefore it is plain that  ai-
of election and reprobation, as we do, but from a cer- though I have faithfully and carefully read all that
tain preparatory grace which all the children of be- has been written in late years by the leaders of your
lievers receive and which enables them either to reject churches about that covenant theology, I, too, have
or to accept the promise of God. This Heynsian view failed to grasp the abc of that theology. And there-
of election and reprobation' in relation to the covenant fore in all seriousness I ask you to instruct us, for 1
we reject; and the rejection of that Heynsian view is am indeed eager to learn; and hence I would like to
certainly binding in our churches, for `we reject the have you answer a few questions clearly and un-
First Point of 1924. And therefore, professor, we re- equivocally :
turn again to the crux of the question : What, according       a. Is it true, or is it not true, that according to
to the statements made by the Revs. De Jong and Kok         your theology God establishes His covenant equally
is binding in the Protestant Reformed Churches?             with all the children that are born of believing parents,
   Professor Holwerda continues :                           head for head and soul for soul ?
   "16. When you speak, of the two principal tenets            b. Is it true, or is it not true, that according to
of our covenant theology, I must make the remark that the theology of the liberated the promise of God is
you have understood  nothing  of that theology. I gladly equally for all that are born in the historical line of
believe that you are a bright man, but of the covenant the covenant, elect and reprobate alike?
theology of the liberated you have not understood the          c. Is it true, or is it not true, that according to
abc. And that is not so bad, but is it accountable on the theology of the liberated God gives .that promise to
your part that you enlighten your readers in a way all, elect and reprobate, in His grace and in His
that is thoroughly inaccurate and that you announce love ?
to write more articles about the same subject? May             d. Is it true, or is it not true, that God seriously says
you rashly write that we have the Arminian doctrine to all the children that are born in the historical line
of universal atonement or that condition in our  sense      of the covenant that He gives them a right to all the'
of the word signifies freedom of the will in the Pelagian blessings of the covenant?
sense of the word? Where do you get the foolishness            e. Is it true, or is'it not true, that according to the
that according to us God stands powerless overagainst covenant  $heology  of the liberated  ,God assures all the
man's corruption or that the term condition with us         children that are born of believing parents in the
means a circumstance that limits, prevents, God, or historical line of the covenant that He washes them
that it is an efficient cause that induces God to be grac- in the blood of Christ?
ious unto all such who of  Itheir  own sovereign will          f. Is it true, or is it not true, that according to the
choose to be saved? You simply condemn us in the            covenam theology of the liberated God assures all the
heaviest terms. But when I note what indictments children of believers that He will give them His Holy
you bring against us, I am forced to the conclusion         Spirit to dwell in them and to make them partakers of
that as yet you have read nothing of our theology.          all the blessings of salvation in Christ Jesus?
For these heresies are nowhere to be found. May you            g. Is it true, or is it not true, that in answer to
slander? 1 could say much more about this point, but        the question why many of the baptized children are

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

not saved you say that their corrupt nature prevents Church proves to be the true church also herein, that
the grace of God from operating in their hearts?           she  .truly seeks the immigrants from Holland and con-
      h. Is it true, or is it not true, that in the case of sciously allows all room for their conception. In the
those baptized children that are lost you teach. that situation I believe that joining the Prot. Ref. Church
it is their unbelief that bars the way of God's grace?     is calling, and let them then as liberated preserve their
      A few years ago I was in correspondence with one contact with Holland by all means and also spread our
of your liberated ministers concerning this very ques- literature.  *Our liberated would be doing a  fruitfu1
tion. He told me that in his preaching he said to all work if they labored in the Prot. Ref. Churches to re-
the children of the covenant, that is, head for head and move misunderstanding and to deepen insight. Rev.
soul for soul, that are born in the historical line of the Kok said: We can still learn much from each other.
covenant, that they had a check in their pocket and all    The communication that Rev. Hoeksema, who first
they had to do was to go to the bank and cash the          was skeptical of the immigrants, paid them a visit
check.     1' asked him just what was written on the and returned enthusiast struck me as remarkable. And
check : did the check read thus : "I, Jehovah God, prom- another must have said: `Those are strong men, who
ise to all that believe eternal life?" Or did it state:    know what it is all about; you could make them all
"I, Jehovah God, promise you all, John, Peter, and ministers just like that.' If Rev. Hoeksema's concep-
Clarence, eternal life?" He answered me that it was tion was binding, I would say: Never join. Now I
the latter. Again I asked him how God could issue believe, however, that accession is calling, and then so,
such checks, seeing there was no sufficient capital in that the liberated also help to disseminate the dog-
the bank, at least according to the truth of particular matical wealth of Holland in the Protestant Reformed
atonement. The answer was : that is a mystery. Now, Churches."
professor, does that fairly represent the abc of the          .Now  remember, professor, that it is not true that
covenant theology of the liberated, or does it not? the Protestant Reformed Churches allow all room for
Perhaps it requires brighter men than the Rev. Ophoff the conception of the liberated as far as as their cove-
and myself to grasp the tenets of the covenant theology nant theology is concerned. Remember, too, that the
of the liberated. But nevertheless, we are very willing conception of the Rev. Hoeksema, at least as far as the
to learn and to be instructed: for in all seriousness      rejection of the First Point and of the Heynsian
we hate to think that you are Arminians and Pelagians. theology is concerned, is binding. Remember, there-
                                                  .        fore, that your advice still stands that the immigrants
      Professor Holwerda continues :                       in Canada should never join the Protestant Reformed
      "17. Very offensive also is what you write con- Churches. And in that light read the rest of the para-
cerning my desire `to see us converted into a  com- graph which I quoted above. The liberated that join
union of liberated churches. He tells his correspon- the Protestant Reformed Churches, according to your
dent that the liberated in Canada by all means should opinion, must have all room to spread their own doc-
make that their aim.' I spoke about the removal of trine; they must preserve their contact with Holland
~rnisunderstanding,   for I noticed before and now espec- by all means and spread their literature, and in that
ially from your article how great is the misunderstand- way they must remove understanding, not only, but
ing which exists with you in regard to us. You do not must deepen insight. And I ask you whether it is so
consider it a Christian work to remove all  possible strange that we got the impression that the liberated
misunderstanding by believers? And when I exhort in Canada that join the Prot. Ref. Churches should act
to this, may you then make the caricature that it is my as agents to disseminate their own view of the cove-
purpose to make of your churches a liberated. com- nant?
munion? The Rev.  Kok said, we can learn much of
one another. I too believe that: learn from one an-           Professor Holwerda writes further :
other, the liberated of the Protestant Reformed and           "18. I must restrain myself not to become bitter,
vice versa. Why do  YOU  write  as  if I had different but you insinuate terribly when you speak about `the
and evil intentions?'                                      fundamental purpose of that visit to the Netherlands'.
                                                           Of course, you only put a question, but a poisonous
      Comment  :                                           question is sufficient to awaken evil suspicions against
      The way you put it now, professor, the above para- two ministers who' certainly deserve to be kept in
graph sounds rather innocent, for you seem to empha- honor because of their purity of purpose, their in-
size that the purpose of your letter was to exhort the tegrity, and their inviolable character. I want to ask
immigrants in Canada to remove misunderstanding on you : since when is it the style in the Prot. Ref. Church-
our part of your covenant theology. But if I quote you es in their ecclesiastical press to write articles that
in the context of your letter, the impression you left is drip of suspicions ? The ninth commandment, to be
quite different. Let me quote : "Second, the Prot.  Ref. sure, is valid also in your churches?"


1
                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              9
                           - -
            Comment  :                                                   Now as I have made very plain before, the cove-
            About this I can be brief. An apology for this al- nant theology of Heyns is condemned by our churches,
     ready appears in the Standard Bearer of September when they rejected the First Point of 1924. There is
     15.                                                              no room any more for Heynsianism in the Prot. Ref.
            "19. I will not analyze every section of your article.    Churches. And unless you can make clear, professor,
     Rly letter would surely be doubly as long as it is. I that the Heynsian theology is not the same as the
     will only say, that I seldom read anything, that so theology of the liberated, we need no  ofiicial act of
     consistently and continually in innocent words seeks a synod to express that there is no room in our churches
     wrong significance. Can you give account of it, when for their conception.
     you literally distort all that I wrote in order then to             In conclusion, let me emphasize once more that I
     base your conclusions on that distortion?"                       think we should have correspondence between your
                                                                      churches and ours : not a correspondence that will open
            Professor Holwerda writes further :                       your pulpits for us and our pulpits for your men, but
            "20. You make the motion that your churches will a correspondence of free discussion and of receiving
     reject  officilally  our theology as heretical.     Above I delegates from our synod to yours and from your synod
     already wrote that as yet you prove to- have no con- to ours. That will create a better understanding.
     ception of. that -theology. And your churches will not                                                        H. I-1.
     understand the truth` concerning that theology from
     your articles if you continue in this ,way.  But seeing
     that you give advice nevertheless, I like to ask you:
     did you already forget the misery which the decrees
     of 1924 brought over the Church of Christ in America                       OUR DOCTRINE
     because of their unripeness and superficiality? And                                                                .."..___I
     what weighs still heavier with me: may churches  con-
     demn other churches in their theology unheard and                          The Veracity `Of God
     without understanding what they are doing? I am
     thinking of the text in John 7:51. The Pharisees, over                                   Definition.
     against Jesus Christ, quickly condemned  Him.; but                  We define the veracity or truthfulness of God as
     Nicodemus warned them: a condemnation of this that perfection of God whereby He is all that He as
     nature, without knowledge `of the case, precipitate, God should be, in distinction from all idols, also re-
     and in haste is always condemned by the law of God.              veals Himself in complete harmony with His Being,
            "21. Because of all the above mentioned facts  I truly knows Himself and all things. The first (that
     want to ask you urgently: is it not high time to retract God is all that He as God shouId be) we call the onto-
     your entire article with an expression of regret?                logical truth; the second (that He also reveals Himself
            `Upon all these questions I think I have the right in complete harmony with His Being) we call the                       .
     to demand an unequivocal public answer.                          ethical truth ; and the third we call the logical truth.
               ' "With Christian greetings,                           We understand, of course, that the Holy Scriptures
                             "Your brother in Christ,                 abound in their testimony in regard to  the veracity or
                                            "B. Holwerda."            truthfulness of God.
            Comment  :                                                        God's Veracity  According  To Berkhof.
            Strictly speaking, professor, the Rev. Ophoff wrote          Prof. Berkhof writes, pages 69-70 of his Reformed
     about the covenant theology of Heyns, and I quote: Dogmatics, concerning this attribute of God as fol-
     "One more thing. We must all be agreed, certainly, lows, and we quote: "The Veracity  of  God.  Scripture
     that it is high time that we as churches take an official uses several words to express the veracity of God:
     stand in the matter of the covenant theology of Heyns. in the Old Testament "emeth, amunah, amen", and in
     It is high time that we as churches officially pronounce the New Testament  "alethes  (aletheia) , alethinos,
     that .theology heretical and its contrary-the covenant pistis". This already points to the fact that it includes
     theology of the Protestant Reformed-Scriptural and several ideas, such as truth, truthfulness, and faithful-
     true. This has already been done, as was explained. ness. When God is called ,the truth, this is to be under-
     But let us do it again, that all may understand that we stood in its most comprehensive sense. He is the
     do have a covenant theology that is binding, and that truth first of all in a metaphysical sense, that is, in
     we allow no room at all in our communion to its con- Him the idea of the Godhead is perfectly realized ; He
     trary-the covenant theology of Heyns and of the is all that He as God should be, and as such is dis-
     liberated."                                                      tinguished from all so-called gods, which are called

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

vanity and lies, Ps. 96 :5 ; 9'7 :7 ; 115 :4-8 ; Isa. 44 :9-10.    true, truly, faithfulness (waar, waarachtig, trouw) ;
He is also the truth in an ethical sense, and as such the concept "aleetheia" had a significance which was
reveals Himself as He really is, so that His revelation too limited in the ordinary Greek and thus also in (the
is absolutely reliable, Num. 23 :19 ; Rom. 3 :4 ; Heb.             LXX, and `in the New Testament to express sufliciently
6 :18. Finally, He is also the truth in a logical sense, the Hebrew words ; hence, it was necessary to complete
and in virtue of this He knows things as they really               it with the words, pistos, etc. Already the Name,
are, and has so constituted the mind of man that the Jehovah, expresses that He remains what He is. He
latter can know, not merely the appearance, but also is truth and without injustice, "ayel,"  perverseness,
the reality, of things. Thus the truth of God is the distortion, Deut. 32:4,  Jer. 20:10, Ps. 31:6,  II Chron.
foundation of all knowledge. It should be borne in                 15:3. This implies, on the one hand, that He is the
mind, moreover, that these three are but different true, essential God overagainst idols, which are  "haeb-
aspects of the truth, which is one in God. In view of              halim," Deut. 32:21,  etc., and, on the other hand, t?at
the preceding we may define the veracity or truth of               He as such always confirms and makes sure His words
God as  that perfectiorr.  of His Being by virtue of which and promises, so that He is completely trustworthy.
He fully answers to the idea of the Godhead, is perfect- For He is no man, that He should lie or repent, Num.
ly reliable in His revelation, and sees things as they 23  :19, I Sam.  15:29. Whatever proceeds from Him
really are. It is because of this perfection that He is bears the stamp of the truth. Repeatedly  there is
the source of all truth, not only in the sphere of morals          mention of His beneficence, "chesed", and faithfulness,
and religion, but also in every field of scientific eri-           Gen.  24:49,   47:29,  Joshua 2  :14, II Sam.  2:6,  I5  :20,
deavour. Scripture is very emphatic in its references              Ps. 40 : 11, of His lovingkindness (goedertierenheid) ,
to God as the truth, Ex. 34 :6 ; Num. 23 : 19 ; Deut. 32 :4 ;      chesed,  and truth, Gen. 24:27,  Ex. 34:6,  Ps. 57:4, 61:8,
Ps. 25 :lO ; 33. :6; Isa. 65 :16; Jer. 10 :8, 10, 11; John 89 :15 etc. His words, rights  (rechten) , paths, works,
14:6;  I7:3; Titus  1:2; Heb.  6:18; I John  5:20, 21.             commandments, laws, are all pure truth, II Sam. 7:28,
There is still another aspect of this divine perfection, Ps.  19:10,   25:10;33:4,   111:7,   119:86,.142,  151, Dan.
and one that is always regarded as of the greatest 4:37.  His truth and faithfulness reveal themselves
importance. It is generally called His faithfulness, in so rich and glorious upon the earth that it reaches' unto
virtue of which He is ever mindful of His covenant the clouds, Ps. 36 :6, Ex. 34 :6. He repeatedly confirms
and fulfills all the promises which He has made to His His word by swearing by Himself, Gen. 22 :16, etc.,
people. This faithfulness of God is of the  utmos:                 Heb. 6 : 13. Therefore He is often called a rock, Who
practical significance to the people of God. It is Ithe            through His unchangeable firmness offers support to
ground of their utmost confidence, the foundation of His favored ones (gunstgenooten) ,  Dem.  32:4,  15, 18,
their hope, and the cause of their rejoicing. It saves 30, 37, and in many proper names, Num. 1:5, 6, 10,
them from the despair to which their own unfaithful- 3 :35, 34:28, and also in II Sam. 22 :3, 32, Ps. 18 :3, 32,
ness might easily lead, gives them courage  $0 carry ou            19 :15, 28 :I, 28 :l, 31:3,  71:3,  144 :l, Is. 26 :4. And as
in spite of their failures, and fills their hearts with such a God of truth and of faithfulness He keeps the
joyful anticipations, even when they are deeply con- covenant, Deut. 4:31 7:9, Ps. 40:11,  Hosea 12:1, etc.,
scious of the fact that they have forfeited all the bless- and He is a completely reliable refuge for all His
ings of God. Num. 23  :19; Deut.  7:9; Ps. 89  :33;                people, Ps.  31:6,   36:6  f.f., 43  :3,  54:7,  57:4,  71:22,
Isa. 49:7; I Car. 1:9; II Tim. 2:13; Heb. 6:17; 6:18;              96 :13, 143:1,  146 :6 etc. Likewise He is called in the
10 :23."---thus  far Berkhof.                                      New Testament the "aleethinos theos," i.e., that God
           God's Veracity According To Bauinck                     alone is the true, essential God, Who was revealed
       This &tribute  of the Lord is beautifully set forth         Himself in Christ, John  17:2, I John 5  :20. And  all
by Dr. II. Bavinck in his Reformed Dogmatics, pages                that He reveals is exclusively the truth. He is a "theos
173-174, Vol. II, as folows, and we translate: "To the             aleethees" in contrast with all men, John 3:33,  Rom.
virtues of God's mind or intellect belongs finally the             3  :4. . His word is truth, His gospel is truth, Christ is
veracity of God. The Hebrew word, "emeth, amunah,                  the truth, John  14:6,  17:17,  Eph.  1:13. Yea, He is
amen," is derived from the verb  "aman",  to make fast, yet what He always was. ,The New Testament is ful-
to bind, to build, to lean, intransitively, to be firm,            fillment and confirmation of His promises in the
cling to, trust in, to be sure of something, and expresses days of the Old Covenant. He has remembered Ilix
subjectively, to cling to something,  faivth, pistis and covenant and His oath, Luke 1:68-73.  He is faithful,
objectively, the firmness, reliability, truthfulness of pistos, in that He is the God of the covenant (and re-
the person or issue upon which one depends. The mains such) and completely bestows salvation, I Cor.
Hebrew words are expressed in the LXX (the Septua-                 1:9, 10:13,  I Thess. 5 :24, II Thess. 3 :2, Heb. 10 :23,
gint) by "aleetheia, en aleetheia," then by pistooo,  pis-         11  :ll, I John 1:9. He cannot deny Himself, II Tim.
teuoo, pi&is, pistos, and in the Holland language by 2:13. All His promises are in Christ yea and amen,


                                    T H E   STANDAR D   B E A R E R                                                11

II Cor l-18,
      . .       20. Christ is "ho  martus  o pistos (the sense views this presentation of the reality in the
faithful witness) ," Rev. 1:5, 3 :14, 19 :ll. And there- logical sense, the harmony between our *thinking and
fore He is and can be the unchangeable object of our speaking and its corresponding reality.                I
pistis `(faith) ."-thus far Bavinck. We have quoted
him at length because of his wonderful quoting of the          The Significance of the Truth as Applied To Us.'
Word of God.                                                   In the first place, of the utmost significance, is the
                                                            fact  tha,t God is for us the truth in the objective, onto-
    The.  Co~ncept,  "Tmth", Generally  tipeaking,          logical sense of the word. He alone is the Absolute
           Distinguished in a Three-Fold Sense              Reality. As God is, He is it alone. All other being, all
   First of all, we speak of the truth in a me:aphysicai    creaturely existence is but a creature reflection of
sense of the word. This "metaphysical" truth is also        what He is in the eternal, and absolute sense of the
called the ontological, or essential, or objective truth. word. He alone is the Light; all other light is but a
The metaphysical or ontological truth implies that a ereaturely  .reflection  of His Light. He alone is  the
person or thing is what it essentially should be. "Onto-    Life; all other, creaturely life is but a creaturely re-
logical" refers literally to the essence or being of reflection of His life. He alone is the Goodness ; all
anything. And Metaphysics, e.g., is the science of the other goodness (wihch He works in His creatures by
most general principles, or that part of philosophy that His almighty and irresistible Spirit) is but a  creature-
investigates the ultimate nature and relation of funda- ly reflection of His *Goodness. God alone is; all other
mental conceptions, such as space, time, matter, force,     existence has been made, and it has been made by Him.
life, mind, will, cause, motion, etc. In other words, Hence, the Lord lives His own life in the eternal sense
metaphysics rises above the physical, above the things of the word, but also in the absolute sense of the word
we see and hear and feel, and would discover the -the Lord not only lives His own life in the full and
fundamental relation and nature and essence of the complete sense of the word, but He alone possesses that
things. Hence, the metaphysical truth is the essential life. God is the one and only Absolute Reality. It is
or objective truth, implies that a person or thing is for this reason that the Lord also does all things for
what is essentially should be. Gold, e.g., is true gold His name's sake. And this also explains why all Divine
when it does not merely look like gold, but when it Revelation is necessarily Self-Revelation,  SeZf-revela-
really is gold. In this sense of the word, truth stands tion in the objective and subjective sense of the word.
over against all that which is false, unreal, vain.         It  is Self-revelation, objectively, because God is the
   We can also speak of truth in the ethical sense. only Object of His revelation. When God speaks He
We may call  ~this truth the subjective truth. The always speaks of Himself; when He reveals, He always
ethical, subjective  ,truth implies that a person reveals reveals Himself. This lies in the very nature of the
himself as he truly is, implies harmony between a case. Of whom other could the Lord speak but of
person's being and his manifestation. Whosoever re- Himself. He is the only Reality. And it is for the
veals himself differently than what he is, is a deceiver, same reason that the Lord's revelation is Self-revela-
a hypocrite, does not appear truthfully.                    tion in the subjective sense of *he word. Inasmuch as
   And, thirdly, we can also speak of the  `truth in the the Lord always speaks of Himself because He is the
logical sense, the logical truth. The logical truth im- Absolute Reality, it lies in the very nature of the case
plies harmony, agreement between one's thinking and that the Lord must reveal Himself. He must do the
speaking and the reality. We speak the truth, e.g., revealing. He is not only the Object of His revelation
when we present something exactly as it is, when we but also its Subject. Hence, the Lord does all things
narrate or relate an incident according to fact. In for His Name's sake.- All His works, in creation and
this sense, truth stands over against the lie, error, in re-creation, purpose to focus attention upon Him:
heresy.                                                     self, and  tha,: into all eternity.
   Generally speaking, therefore, we may define the            Only when we understand this truth are we able
truth as the presentation of-reality. If we view that to grasp,: in the full sense of the word, that all sin is
reality objectively, emphasize the -essence of a person essentially the lie. The natural man moves constantly
or thing, call attention to the reality itself, we view in the sphere of the lie. He always speaks and thinks
the truth in the metaphysical, objective, ontological, and does the lie. This does not mean  <that he always
essential sense of the work. The ethical, subjective speaks the lie in the natural sense of the word. He is,
truth emphasizes the harmony between our manifesta- e.g,. able to solve mathematical problems. He ,knows
tion and ourselves, when we reveal ourselves as we that 2x2 are 4. He can study the heavens, and give
are really, or, to speak now of the ethical truth as it .you a true account of the movement of the sun, moon,
frequently occurs in Holy Writ, when we, in our spirit- and stars. He is able to tell you the exact time of the
ual  conduct ourselves in  harmony with the Absolute sunrise on a given morning hundreds of years in the
reality, the living God. And the truth in the logical future. He is able to diagnose various diseases, can

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

analyze the human body even into minute&  details, et&           come not to do His own will bpt the will of Him that:
This, however, does not emphasize that there is after sent Him, He was the representative of the living God
all, some $ruth in the natural man, but it does empha- in the midst of the world, condemned, therefore, the
size  <the fact that he is a liar, that there is no truth  in    wicked world and the unfruitful works of darkness,
him in the Scriptural sense of the word. If the natural denounced the wickedness of the ungodly scribes and
man were not a moral-rational creature, if he did not pharisees, and also the carnality of His own disciples.
possess any understanding of the works of God's hands, He was the personal and living embodiment of !the
if he did not have any knowledge of the living God, one law of Jehovah that we shall love the Lord our <God
might ascribe his failure to serve and glorify the living with all our heart and mind and soul and strength.
God to the fact that he had no knowledge of Him.                 That He, therefore, always spoke the truth lies in the
Man, then, simply does not know any better. But, now very nature of the case ; fact is, He Himself was the
such is not the case. He is a moral-rational  crea+ure.          living God in the flesh and constantly spoke that His
He has remnants of natural light. He can scan  #the              Father might be revealed and glorified. And this also
heavens and study the stars in their courses. He 31~0 applies to all His mighty works. His works were
has knowledge of the living Lord and is fully ac- works of life and 1igh:t even as His Father is the liv-
quainted with the fact that God is and that He alone ing God of all life and light. He raised the dead, gave
must be feared. This fact merely serves  to emphasize sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, enabled the lame
the awfulness of His condition, the terribleness of his          to walk, stilled the angry sea, condemned the devil and
lying nature. That he does not serve the Lord is, there          his host and revealed this by casting out devils. If the
fore, not to be attributed to ignorance, but to the. t'act       work of the devil and of sin is always destructive,
that he hates the living Lord, that he wilfully refuses          breaking-down, the mighty works of the Son of Man
to honour and praise Him Who alone is the Reality revealed the opposite characteristic. Hence, always, in
and does all things for His Name's sake.            Man is, all His walk Christ was the Truth, revealing the living
therefore, a liar in  the spiritual sense of the word.           God, and truth is the representatation of the Reality.
And, understood thus, he lives in the lie exclusively.           The Servant of Jehovah He was, always revealing the.
He never speaks or thinks or acts unto the glory of Father. And this reaches its amazing climax at the
the living God. Fact is, God is not in all his thoughts, end of His life upon this earth, in !the shameful and
and the wicked saith in his heart that there is no God. awful death of the cross. Alone He trod that weary
This, however, is not all. The natural man does not way. He, the eternal Son of God in the flesh, per-
merely refuse to serve the Lord ; he does not merely mitted Himself to be taken captive by His enemies,
conduct himself as if there were no  <God. More ter- to be ridiculed and mocked and beaten and scourged,
rible still, he has wickedly and  wilfully  set himself to tco be the object of all :the hatred and bitterness of a
destroy  &he Cause of the living God, His truth and world that lieth in darkness without offering the slight-
Revelation of Himself. All men are liars, and this also est resistance. And all this He took upon Himself
implies that they would stamp out the Name of the because, as the Servant of Jehovah, He must reveal
living God from the face of the earth.                           the God that sent Him in all awfulness of His terrible
      Bearing in mind that God is the Truth in the ob- justice and righteousness. Because the love of God
jective, ontological sense, we can also understand that toward His people must be in perfect harmony with
Christ is the Truth. As such He reveals Himself unto His righteousness, and the Lord cannot be merciful at
His disciples, in John 14:6, in the well-known words the cost of His justice, Jesus Christ, Who had no
that He is the Truth, the Way and the Life. He is the other desire than to reveal the living God, does not
Truth, first of all, because He is  Immanuel. As  Im- hesitate to humble Himself even unto death, emptying
manuel He is God with us, the living God united with Himself, according to" His human nature, into deepest
our flesh and blood in the Person of the Son. Hence,             hell, bearing the awful burden of God's wrath and
He is necessarily the Revelation of the Father-fact is,          indignation upon sin, thereby revealing the wonderful
He is God in the flesh. It is also for this reason that love but also awful righteousness of the living God.
whosoever hath seen the Christ hath seen the Father, Truly, Jesus Christ is the Truth,, in all His walk upon
John  14:9. And also for this reason Christ is the this earth, but particularly when He pours out His
"rruth, She Presentation of the Reality, the Revelation life's blood upon the cross of Calvary.
of God Himself in the flesh. But our Lord Jesus Christ              And, finally, continuing to bear in mind that God
is also the truth in all His works and words. Whenever is Truth in the objective, ontological sense of the word,
He spoke He spoke of, revealed the living God. He we may also say that the Scriptures are the truth.
spoke the truth ; all His words were words of righteous- For <the Scriptures are the revelation of the living God
ness and holiness, etc. And all His words were words as revealed in Jesus Christ, our Lord. They are the
of truth, righteousness, and holiness, etc., because He truth, objectively, the true presentation of the reality.
always revealed and spoke of the living God. Having              They are, in the-first place, the revelation of the living


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       13
                         l__l_____.                                                              -
 God Himself. In them the Lord has made Himself in his own mind as condemnable, so that he writes not
known unto us, speaks unto us of Himself. But this from conviction but to stifle his conscience? Such is
 is- not all. In tthose  same Scriptures also all things, your reasoning. But it is false. Brother, you were
 good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness, light judging my heart, that is motives. In the sequel of
 and darkness, the calling and obligation of man are your article you  accuse me of having committed an
 presented in their true perspective, their relation to identical sin with respect to the Revs. Kok and De
 the living God. What is  ,good or evil is determined Jong.           But here you fall into the same error with
 solely by man's relation to the living God. And in respect to me.
 those same Scriptures all of eternity is held before us,        Further.         You refuse to admit the cogency and
 also from the viewpoint of the living God, as the day, the veracity of the reasons that I advanced, not for
 the eternal day, when the Lord will publicly maintain publishing the letter of Prof. Holwerda when I did-
 and reveal Himself, as the God of salvation for those I have confessed that .I should have waited-but for
 who, by His grace and Spirit, may believe in His Name, publishing the letter as such. These reasons are true;
 and as a Consuming Fire to those who were disobedient Yet you refuse to give them credence as appears from
 to the gospel, hated the living God, and :therefore  must the sequel of your article. You referred to them as an
 taste that the Lord alone is good, in eternal ruin and "apology". And I do not object.  Par that they are.
 desolation.                                                 But by that reference you set those reasons aside, one
                    ,(to be contnued)                        and all. Nay, worse, you virtually tell the readers of
                                            H. Veldman.      our magazine that what they indicate is that in penning
                                                             them I was engaged in justifying an action that I felt
                                                             to be wrong; that thus, in penning those reasons-I de-
                                                             liberately and consciously was arguing against my
                                                             better knowledge. And to that I do object.
   A Word To You, Rev. Hofman                                    My contention is and shall continue to be that 1
                                                             did the right and necessary thing in publishing that
                                                             letter  as  such.
    You  wtite,  "You also seemed to feel that something         There is still the question whether the Church Order
 was not quite in order since you began with a rather did not put me under the necessity of placing the letter
 long apology containing your various reasons for pub- of Prof. Holwerda in the hands of the consistories of
 lishing the matter."                                        the Revs. Kok and De Jong to let them publish the
    Reply. You  call my comments an apology". Ac- letter or perhaps to allow them to keep the contents of
 cording to the dictionary an "apology" is something the letter hidden from our people as they should see fit'.
 said or written in defence or justification of what ap- I deny that the Church Order placed me under that
 pears to others-mark you, of what appears to  others- necessity. But this is a point that I shall treat in a
 to be wrong, or of what may be liable to disapproba-        separate article.
tion." Departing from this  definition,  you say, "An
 apology is something said .or written  .in defence or           You write (Rev. Hofman writes), "However, my
 justification of what appears to the writer himself to main objection has to do with the manner in which you
 be wrong and of what he, himself disapprobates." attack your brethren and mine in the ministry of our
 And, that, precisely, according to this bit of criticism churches. In the first place, it seems strange to me,
 from your pen, is true of me. For you state that  1 that you so treat your brethren upon the basis of hear-
 seemed to feel that something was not quite in order. say. You have taken the. word, which was not ad-
 You have' it, then, that my comments are indicative         dressed to you, of one whom you consider to maintain
 of an attempt on my part to justify an action of mine `false doctrine', `damnable . . . . rotten heresy' and,'
 condemned by the voice of conscience even while I was Arminianism' to attack your brethren."                _'
 penning those comments. That is a terrible indict-              Reply:'  This while tirade of charges of yours is       .
 ment, brother. And what were you using as a basis misdirected. You have learned by this time certainly
 of your charge ? Those very comments from my pen. from my open confession to the Revs. De Jong and Kok
 That very apology. For you write, "You also seem that in my article I did not accuse these brethren at all
 to feel that something was not .quite  in order since you and that therefore I could not have accused them on
 began  wz% u rather long apology" (italics supplied). the basis of hearsay. What is more; the possibility
 But is it true that apologies necessarily imply and on that the report of Prof. Holwerda is false is too remote
 that account make it seem that the apologist himself to allow it to be classified with hearsay. The professor
 feels that something is not quite in order? that the is a bitter enemy of our covenant-theology. Yet,  iu
 action he defends and justifies in writing stands out his letter he advises the  immigrants  that they affiliate

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

with the Protestant Reformed. What is your solution deed, every one of us, including yourself, brother, is
of that amazing phenomenon?                                   taking that stand. We all know, our hearts tell us,
      Then there is your saying  that I  have  taken the that for more than one reason it is the only possible
word of one whom I consider to maintain `false doe.           stand to take. Why then, brother, are you pointing
trine' to attack my brethren. You have learned from your accusing finger at me alone. Why are you not,
my Confession that in my article  I do  not take  the         like an honest man, pointing that finger also to your-
u:ord  of the professor to attack my brethren. You have self and to everyone in our communion?
learned that I was and still am suspending judgment              You write, "In the second place, the implication
until the brethren have made a statement. And there- which you make in the statement: `Can it be that we
fore you will have to agree that there is no point to the here hit upon the fundamental purpose that visit to
following statement from your pen ,"Now  apart from the Netherlands. . . .' etc. To your mind, that is an
`the eventual determination of all the facts and estab- unwarranted insinuation.  To  this I reply simply that
lishment of the truth, to write as you did upon the word my confession is known to you.
of one who is so far removed from you, both physically
and thelogically, over against those who are united with         You write, "To an extent at least, I also would
you in the ministry of our churches, fails, in my mind, object to your attitude over against the Liberated
to be a judgment of love."                                    Churches as evidenced in your article. In the first
                                                              place the official position of our churches is that these
      "TO write as you did upon the word of one," you churches are Reformed and that we should seek con-
say. I did not write-accuse the brethren-upon the
word of one, the professor's word. .As you have learn- tact with them. (Cf. Acts of Synod, 1947, Art. 75,
ed by this time, I suspended, and am still suspending, pp. 53 and 54. Also Acts of Synod 1948, Art.  53.,
                                                              pp. 53 and 54). That this was also your personal
judgment.                                                     opinion is evident from the letter which appears over
      The expression from your pen, "of one whom yox          your signature in the Acts of Synod of 1948, pp. 38
-mark you, whom you-consider to maintain false and 39. It would appear that until the opposite is
doctrine," strikes me as strange. It causes me to ask established ,we should recognize them as such."
whether you likewise do not consider that "one" to
maintain false doctrine. I have also this question  : what       Reply. So, then, "to an extent", you say, you also
has Prof. Rolwerda's maintaining false doctrine to do would object `to my attitude over against the Liber-
with the question whether or no the content of his ated churches. Mark you, to an extent you would ob-
letter to the immigrants is true? Is it your position ject implying that to an extent you do not object, and
that just because he is addicted to a wrong, unscrip- so to an extent you share my attitude.                If so, you
tural, covenant-theology he is -mark you  is-a heretic should be talking to yourself as well as to me in this
and that therefore he cannot be counted on to speak last-cited paragraph from your pen. That you do not
the truth under any circumstances? But that view is share my attitude to the full extent makes no essential
wrong. Prof. Holwerda is ,no more a heretic than king difference, of course. Strange that this did not occur
David `was a liar, just because he told some grievous         to you.
lies. Consider also that the most profligate man re-             You write, f'In the second place, I dislike the man-
frains from lying, if to lie disadvantages him  ; and ner in which you have condemned these churches be-
that, accordingly, he speaks the truth when and if it fore furnishing a warranted basis for your judgment
pays him dividends.                                           of them. It would seem to me to be more proper; first
      You say, too, "Moreover, you argue for his (the to state the case and prove your allegations, rather
professor's) veracity while `you seem to doubt that of than the reverse."
your brethren." I ask YOU to show me where in my                 Reply.  First, you cannot point to a single state-
whole article I argue for the professor's veracity while ment from my pen in all my writing in which I con-
expressing doubt for that of the brethren Kok and De demn the  Liberated Churches. B-it I do pronounce as
Jong. You cannot; I do state, "The possibility that unscriptural their covenant-theology. And you share
Prof. Holwerda fabricated the statements that he ai- my attitude to an extent, perhaps even to a great ex-
tributes to the Revs. De Jong and Kok is remote. Cer- tent. You have just stated that you do. Hence, you
tainly, the man did not fabricate those statements." join me in openly condemning the covenant-theology
That is what I wrote. Are you, brother, maintaining of the Liberated, at least to an extent.                Have you,
the contrary? You are not. No one among us is, not brother, furnished a warranted basis for your judg-
even Rev. Kok. For when asked by Rev. H. Hoeksemn ment of them? Not that anybody knows about. So,
to repudiate the letter of Prof. Holwerda, he replied in then, also in this paragraph you should be talking to
the presence of a witness, "I cannot do that, because yourself as well as to me. True, you have reviewed
Prof. Holwerda is not a liar." There you have it. In-         that "Appel" of Prof. Veenh.of. But you simply repro-

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

duced  in outline form the content of his booklet. We        basis of the Truth in the spirit of love expressing one
are still waiting for your criticism.                        another's desire for mutual spiritual welfare, rather
   You should know that it was not necessary for you than in the way of accusation and name-calling."
to take me, and unwittingly yourself, to task for "con-         Until a stand has been taken, you say. We have
demning" the covenant-theology of the liberated before taken a stand. And that stand is that the doctrinzll
furnishing a warranted basis for my judgment. FOP tenet--the promises of God are also unto the reprobated
the two main tenets of that theology-the ones I dis- covenant seed-is thoroughly heretical; that there id
cussed and criticized-are well known to all of us, as        no truth in it. And by accusation and name-calling
well known, I would  say, as the name of the present you again mean, must mean, pronouncing that doc-
occupant of the White House.                                 trinal tenet thoroughly unscriptural. For that is all
   You write, "Finally, if the position of the liberated I have ever done, namely, call that doctrinal tenet
churches is as heretical ad you maintain. . .  ." etc. names, calling it by its right names. Never,  cerkainly,
                                                             have I called the liberated brethren names. The only
   To this I reply, what I have thus far been dealing names I called them is good names. I called t!lem  in
with in my articles is the  comxant  theology of  the the Standard Bearer our dear brethren in Christ. But
Liberated, definitely with the two principal tenets of that evidently doesn't satisfy you. You want us to
that theology, one of which is this: The promises of call also that doctrinal tenet good names. But doing
God are given also to the reprobated covenant seed.          that, brother, we lie to the liberated. And lying to
`True, I pronounced' that tenet thoroughly heretical. these brethren we show not that we love,but that we
But your contention is that it is not as heretical as hate them. So let us by all means continue calling
I maintain. It is not thoroughly heretical. There is that doctrinal tenet bad names, and also the proposition
an -element of truth in it. Will you point out, brother,     that through the agency of the human preacher of the
that element of truth?                                       Word God tells men that He will place that promised
   Allow me to complete this paragraph from your heavenly good-a good promised unto all elect and non-
pen, "Finally, if the position of the Liberated Churches elect alike-in their actual possession 0% condition of
is as heretical as you maintain, I feel that we as church- their faith and repentance. Brother, I invite you to
es have even a greater calling over against them. We show in the light of the Scriptures that the two abova-
have then the calling, with our greater light and cited doctrinal propositions, as taken together, thun
superior knowledge which God has graciously given in their union, are not what I all along have said they
us, to attempt to do all in our power to save this last are-thoroughly erroneous.
vestige of Reformed truth in the Netherlands, while                                        .
there is still opportunity for communion with them.             And then also this yet. You accuse me of many
It is possible that we close the door to this opportunily    things in your article. But in accusing me you are
and fail in realization of this calling if we proceed in only giving expression to your  opinions.         For you
an abusive manner."                                          write, "I felt I should write you and express my opinim
                                                             and reaction. . . ." Now it seems to me that when we
    Reply. We are bringing to the immigrants in accuse others especially in public we should be able to
Canada what we believe to be the pure gospel of God.         speak from conviction. Otherwise we lack the certain-
Through the years of the past we have been sending ty that our statements are true. That is bad. Accord-
to the Netherlands brochures setting forth that Gospel ing to your statement, you lack that certainty, brother.
and opposing it to the covenant-theology of the Liber-       Hence, here, too, you are guilty of the very thing of
ated. But perhaps we should do more. But you don't which you accuse me. You charge me of accusing the
think so. For your stand is that there is an element of brethren on the basis of hearsay. In a word, you
truth in that doctrinal tenet (it forms the heart of their charge me with not being certain whether my accusa-
covenant-theology), : The promises of God are, given tions are true. (Of course, I really have not and do
also unto the reprobated covenant-seed.                      not accuse the brethren).
    You say that it is possible that we close the door           Finaiy this. You take me severely to task for pub-
to this opportunity if we proceed in an abusive manner. lishing Prof. Holwerda's letter. It is well. But I do
You mean if we pronounce that doctrinal tenet thor- wish that your article also contained a statement ex-
oughly heretical. But will you make plain to us that pressive of your sorrow at what  4he brethren  Iiok
we can do anything else and still be of true benefit and De Jong are guilty of, if the report of Prof. Hol-
to the liberated?                                            werda is true. According to Prof. Veenhof, they are
    You close your article with, the remark, "It would guilty of having betrayed our churches, ,if the report
seem to me that at least until a stand has been taken,       of Prof. Holwerdu is true.
this purpose can be advanced more properly by digni-
fied communication between the two groups; upon the                                               G. M. Ophoff.


                                                            that meeting. It was not held behind locked doors.
        Reply To Prof.  Veerhof                             And its deliberations turned on matters that from
                                                            their very nature were public. Hence, the professor
   Rev.  W. Hofman criticizes in the Standard Bearer had a right to publish those deliberations to the world.
(previous issue) my doing of publishing the letter of And I had a right to do likewise.
Prof. Holwerda. Prof.  C. Veenhof of Kampen does               In a word, the professor's letter was not a private,
likewise in a letter addressed to Rev. H. Hoeksema personal missive. Once in the hand of the immigrant
and that receives a place in the present issue of our       in Canada, it was as public as to its' character as a
magazine.  O.thers  have sent me writings expressive news-paper on the news-stand. And therefore `I was
of their strong disapproval of my action,-two minis- not under the obligation of asking the professor if I
ters in our own communion and a brother in the Nether- could publish his letter in the Standard Bearer. Cer-
lands. The sum and total of these criticisms form a tainly, it was already being published. Its content
mass of argument characterizes by an almost perfect was being spread far and wide among the Liberated
sameness. In replying to the criticism of any one of in the Netherlands-there is conclusive proof for this
my critics, therefore, I shall be replying to the critic- -and among the immigrants in Canada. Now these
isms of them all. In .this  article I shall concentrate,    are the facts.
though not exclusively, on the missive of Prof. Veenhof.       Further, professor Veenhof. Your saying that I
   Let us examine the charges that the professor here went by a personal letter, (afgaande op een persoon-
sees fit to lodge against me.                               lijke brief) has this in it: that it is too doubtful
   1. iSays  Prof. Veenhof : Prof Holwerda's letter was whether professor Holwerda was `writing the truth
personal. Qphoff did not have the right to publish it to allow me to publish his letter. But is it true that it
without the permission of its author.                       is too doubtful whether "Prof. Holwerda was writing
   Reply.  I did have the right to publish Prof.  Hol- the truth? I feel certain that you don't really believe
werda's letter without first consulting the ,professor.     that. Allow me to put to you these ,questions  : 1.) Is
I- had this right for the following reasons. The pro- Prof. Holwerda a liar? Is he noted for speaking un-
fessors letter, as to the character of its content, is not truth? 2) Or, is he hard of hearing, and was his
a personal, private missive.     It does not deal with hearing-aid out of order at the time, so that he mis-
private affairs--affairs that concern only the recipient understood the brethren De Jong and Kok not once,
of the missive. The matter dealt with vitally concerns not twice, but as many times as there are statements
all the immigrants from the Liberated churches. For, that he attributes to them? 3) Or, was the professor
mark you, it is a letter giving advice. And the advice in a trance, hearing voices of subjective origin? Bc-
is to the effect that Mr. Koster affiliate with the Pro- sides, consider this : Prof. Holwerda, was one of our
testant  Reformed Churches, and not only Mr. Koster, bitterest enemies. You know that. It is evident from
certainly, but all the immigrants in Canada.       Thus this letter that he was one of our bitterest enemies
Prof. Holwerda was speaking to Mr. Koster, to be sure,      theologically. For he writes : "If the covenant theology
but through him to all the immigrants ; and if to the       of Hoeksema. were binding, I would say : never  jpin."
immigrants then, certainly, also to the Protestant Re- But now he is urging the immigrants in Canada to
formed in the States. So also that immigrant took the affiliate with the Protestant Reformed. How do you
professor's advice to be-advice meant for all the immi- account for the professor's change of front, if the con-
grants. For he published the letter to as many of the tents of his letter are to be branded a concatanotion
immigrants as he could contact, and is still doing so.      of untruths? These are questions that you are in duty
 He published the letter to me, and I published it in the bound toface.
 Standard Bearer.                                               Your statement, professor, "afgaande op een per-
    Further. The professor in his letter tells that immi- soonlijke brief", has also this in it: that I am accusing
 grant what with his own ears he heard the brethren and condemning the brethren Kok and De Jong on the
 De Jong and Kok say about al lour churches, about all ground of one witness-mark you, on the ground of
 our people, and about all our ministers. Hence, the one witness.  ._I Allow me to reply to this. First, I am
professor sat down to pen his letter as having no ob- not accusing the brethren on the ground of one witness.
 jection to its being published also to the Protestant       For in the first place Prof. Holwerda was not writing
 Reformed in the States. If not, he is guilty of back- as a witness  ;that is, it was not his purpose to accuse.
 biting the Protestant Reformed as to his intention and He was simply motivating his advice to the immigrants
 also actually.                                             to the effect that they affiliate with the Protestant
    Finally. As I wrote in my former article, Prof.          Reformed. And for reasons already stated, the possi-
 Holwerda's letter partakes of the nature of a report of bility that he lied or that he unwittingly misrepresented
 the acts of a conference that was open to the public, the brethren is remote.
 ,certainly.  Any interested person could have attended          Second, I am not accusing and condemning the


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        3.7

brethren  Kok and De Jong in that article (previously    ~    There is one statement occurring in my previously
published). I am not accusing them at all. Hence:        published article on which I must comment. It is this,
I am not accusing them unheard. Yet that is one of "Can it be that we here hit upon the fundamental pur-
the charges that you lodge against me. And you add,      pose of that visitt to the Netherlands,-the purpose,
"Here we deal with the working of a spirit that is not namely, to show the irreconcilable leaders among the
out of Christ."    But also this your charge is false. Liberated that they need have no  scrupples  about ad-
Allow me to make this plain to you. Return with me vising their people coming to these shores to affiliate
to my previously published article contained in the with the Protestant Reformed?" I am not accusing
Standard Bearer for August  I. In the third column the brethren here directly or indirectly or by implica-
of that article is found the sentence from my pen, "Our tion. What I do is to ask the question  wheiher that
whole movement is at stake, if the statements con- might not also have been the purpose. The brethren
tained in the letter (Prof. Holwerda's letter) are true." were offended, and rightfully so. For the question is
Mark you what I write, "if the statements are true." suggestive of a motive. But motives are known. to
This "if" clause occurs three times. It occurs the       God alone. I therefore confess that I should have kept
second time at the bottom of the third column, and       that question in my pen, and add that I am heartily
again at the close of the article. The implication of sorry.
this "if" clause is not: The report of the professor          I aIs. stated in my article the following,`"The possi-
(Holwerda) is true. But the implication is: The re- bility that Prof. Holwerda fabricated tl;e statements
port of the professor also may not be true. Thus, the which he attributed to Revs. De Jong and Kok is re-
sense and meaning of that "if" clause is: the report mote. Certainly, the man did not fabricate those state-
of the professor may or may not be true. I know not. ments." You don't believe that he did, do you Prof.
That is for the brethren Kok and De Jong to say, and Veenhof? That would be terrible, wouldn't it? But
Prof. Holwerda especially and by all means, and the there is still the possibility that Prof. Holwerda mis-
ministers and professors who were present on the con- understood the brethren. And that possibility, how-
ference. That, professor Veenhof, is the thrust of that ever remote, I all along have been granting and will
"if" clause. What I state by that "if" clause by logical continue to grant until we hear from the brethren. S:)
implication is that I suspend judgment and will con- I was not accusing the brethren Kok and De  Jong
,tinue to suspend judgment until we have received here.
from the brethren the statement, "The report of pro-          One more thing. I do. believe, after having given
fessor Holwerda is not true," signed by Prof. Holwerda, the matter some thought, that in dealing with this
of course. Mark you, ,what we need is not an inter- ,present case I failed to take the brethren Kok and
pretation of the statements attributed to the brethren De Jong into consideration sufficiently. Out of regard
by the professor-we can read as well as the brethren for the brethren I should have waited with publishing
in the Netherlands can read-what we need is a  siate-    Prof. Holwerda's letter until they had made a state-
ment to the effect that `the report is not true; that ment and ha1 receive1 the testimony of the brethren in
the brethren did not make the statement attributed the Netherlands. Their statement together with that
to them.                                                 testimony could then have been published with the
  `Further, let us take notice further of the phrase, letter and my comments. That woull have been better.
occurring in my previously printed article, "Accord- By my hasty action I took the joy out of the brethren's
ing to the report of the professor (Holwerda) . The homecoming and caused them unnecessary grief. * And
phrase occurs four times. And it means, "Not accord- for this I am heartily sorry.
ing to what I report or say-1 say nothing at all-but          But herewith I am not admitting and confessing
according to what the professor reported.                that I accused and condemned the brethren unheard
   You must perceive, Prof. Veenhof, that also this and that I did wrong in publishing the letter as such.
your dreadful charge is false--the charge that I ac- That letter had to be published sooner or later for
cused the brethren De Jong and Kok unheard and on reasons already stated. It had also to be published to
the ground of the testimony of one witness,-accused clear the name of the brethren in case they are inno-
the brethren zcnheard of such a dreadful and terrible cent. So, then, I am not herewith confessing that in
thing as, to use your own language, "betraying our publishing the letter I was working the works of the
churches," and that I accordingly set them forth as devil. Publishing that letter sooner or later was m-7
men of "basest morals", to again use your own lan-       solemn duty. My critics must understand this. And
guage. I am not guilty of that heinous sin, as you they must retract their heavy charges.
yourself, must now perceive. That whole article of            2. Once more, I did not accuse the brethren un-
mine is predicated on that `(if" clause. That whole heard. I did not accuse them at all. I am still sus-
article, therefore, is hypothetical in so far as it turns pending judgment, Prof. Veenhof. If there is an
on the brethren De Jong and Kok.                         accuser in this case it is Prof. Holwerda. Yet, you

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

  pass him by and you direct your invectives against, wrote me, "After reading and digesting your last
  me, who am not accusing but who simply asks : Is the article in the Standard Bearer, regarding the brethren
  report of the professor true? Did the brethren Kok Kok and De Jong, I feel constrained to write you about
  and De Jong actually make the statements which he it. The first effect upon reading such a thing is a
  attributes to them in his letter? These are my ques- terrible shock and a kind of perplexity, but of course
  tions, Prof.  Veer&of.    Is asking these working the we are all very much concerned and interested and
  works of the devil? I did not bring the brethren under this daze cannot last too long and we begin to take our
  a cloud but professor Holwerda did so by sending bearings and try to find a solution."
  that letter of  his across the ocean. What I did was          The only solution is that we think realistically and
  to make public what already was public: What I did honestly and act accordingly. In  s word, the only solu-
  was to publish a report that was already in circulation tion is that we face the facts however bad they may
  among the immigrants in Canada. Do you take it ill be.
  of me that I failed to divine that Prof. Holwerda want-       A final remark. You write, professor ,"I hope
  ed to keep the contents of that report hidden from our and ardently pray that this matter may be taken out
  people? And that was his aim, as we now have  leam-        of  the. way radically." That certainly is also our wish
  ed from his letters.                                       and prayer, But consider that the only way the matter
     You make a tremendously big issue of my publish- can be taken out of the way-can truly be taken out
  ing the professor's letter without first gaining his of the .way-is that, we all, you and we here in the
  consent. But it seems to me that it should now be          States, face the real question, which is: Did the breth-
  plain to you that you should not be making an issue of ren actually make the statements attributed to them
  that doing of mine at `all. I know, as was said, pro- by Prof. Holwerda, if not as to the form of the words,
  fessor Holwerda wanted the contents of his report to then as to substance. This question must be faced and
  be kept secret as far as the Protestant Reformed here truthfully answered by you brethren in the Nether-
  in the States was concerned. But you should know lands and by the Revs. Kok and De Jong. And an`swer-
  that God is against all secrecy of that character. "For ing this question is not done, certainly, by castigating
  there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed ; me for publishing what already had been published
  neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore what- virtually and for publicizing what already was public
  soever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in -the letter of Prof. Holwerda : it is not done by telling
  the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear        us with what magnificent courage the brethren ex-
  in closets shall be proclaimed on the housetops." Luke pounded and defended, in your midst our colenant-
  12:2, 3.                                                   theology, and thereby, of course, indirectly attacked
         3. Once more, you charge me with accusing the your covenant-theology-a doing that is supposed so
  brethren of having betrayed our churches. I have to have pleased you that you decided to urge the immi-
  dealt with that charge., I would like you to consider grants in Canada to affiliate with the Protestant Re-
  with me this statement from your pen, "And now they formed ; it is not done by writing us pious letters in
  (the brethren De Jong and Kok) are being accused-          which the above-cited question is completely ignored ;
  because that is what it comes down to-of having it is `not done by the publication of witty articles in
betrayed their churches." "Of having betrayed their which this very question is cleverly evaded ; verily, it is
  churches," is your language, professor, not mine, as done by facing and honestly answering that question ;
  is  evident  from the expression from your pen, "Be- thus it is done by telling us either, "Yes, the brethren
  cause that is what it comes down to." Your reasoning did make the statements attributed to them by  Prof,
  here is plainly this, "In holding the brethren guilty of Holwerda; verily, his report is true if not as to the form
  making the statements attributed to them by Prof. of its words, then, certainly, as to substance," or by
  Holwerda, Rev. Ophoff accuses them of betraying lheir telling us, "The brethren did not make the statements
  churches."     Your reasoning here is significant, It attributed to them by Prof. Holwerda either as to form
  shows how your heart apppraises the statements in or as to substance that is, did not make the statements
  question.     These statements are that bad that, if in question to us on our meetings with them or as far
  and  as uttered by the brethren Kok and De Jong, they as we know and are able to determine to anyone out-
  involve these brethren in the sin of having betrayed side those meetings either in public or in private. The
  our churches. That was exactly the speech of my heart, one exception is Prof. Holwerda. If he insists that the
  professor, when I heard the report of professor Hol-       statements in question were made on'the meeting, we
  werda read to me by that immigrant. I was dumb- or. our part `must insist that he was the only one to
  founded and pained. I assure you that many more of hear them." This is plain English, professor. Cor-
  my brethren were similarly affected.       One brother rectly translated, and as so. translated employed by
  from the west, who otherwise is very critical of me        your brethren, it would be plain Dutch, too, and strictly
  on account of my publishing the professor's letter, to the point.                                G. M. Ophoff.


                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          21

                                                            which is created after God in true knowledge, right-
                                                            eousness and holiness.
           FROM HOLY WRIT                                      This activity of putting off the old man and putting
                                                            on the new man is stated very beautifully in our Heidel-
                                                            berg Catechism. Concerning the putting off, the mortifi-
   God willing, the undersigned will again contribute cation of the old man, the fathers say that "it is a sin-
to this rubric in the Standard Bearer. For more than cere sorrow of heart, that we have provoked God by
a year the Rev. C. Hanko has very ably and willingly our sins; and more and more to hate and flee from
written in my stead. I wish, therefore, first of all to them" ; the q,uickening  of the new man is "a sincere
thank him for his efforts in my and our readers behalf. joy of heart in God,, through Christ, and with love and
That the undersigned again writes does not mean that delight to live according to the will of  ,God  in all good
our readers will no longer receive the benefit of Rev. works". Questions 89 and 90.
Hanko's pen. He will also contribute from time to              Although this quotation from the Heidelberg Cate-
time. This will give the readers a bit of variety, and chism cannot be considered an exposition of Ephesiana
will give the writers more time to prepare their pro- 5:14, yet it does give the general thrust of this pas-
ductions and for their other labors in God's king- sage.              u
dom.                                                           Let us keep this in mind.
   In the past we have treated various types of Scrip-         Looking at this passage a little more closely, we
ture passages. Those who followed the articles, which notice that Paul is here quoting a passage which an-
we then wrote, will remember that we wrote under the other has spoken. And Paul quotes it as being appro-
heading : "Old Testament Quotations In The New priate to his purpose in. writing, and also as, having
Testament." Later we wrote on "The' Signs Of Jesus authority, being the last and final court of appeal.
Recorded In The  ,Gospel  Of John." Whereas such               This helps us to get started, doesn't it?
articles require rather extensive research and intensive       And involuntarily we ask two questions. They are :
study, we thought it best not to place ourselves in such 1. Who is this "he saith?" 2. And where is this writ-
a position, at least for first, but rather to treat certain ten in, the Old Testament? Both of these questions call
passages of Scripture which struck us as  *having exe- for an answer.
getical merit (as far as this compartment is concerned,        We begin with the last question: Where is this
of course), and yet a very practical message ; that the written, namely: "Awake thou that sleepest and arise
man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto every from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." In
good work.                                                  vain do we look for this in the whole Old Testament
   In humble thanks to -God and recognizing His rich Scriptures, that is, in this exact form and in these very
mercy and unscrutible wisdom and justice in all His words. The nearest that we can find answering to
dealings, we undertake to write this first of, what we this is recorded in two passages both in the prophecy
pray may be, many articles for the  StandardsBearer.  j     of Isaiah. In Isaiah 26 :19 we read : "The dead bodies
   There is a passage in the New Testament, namely, shall live ; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing,
Ephesians 5 :14, which is instructive unto godliness ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of
and worthy of special study.                                herbs (light), and the earth shall cast forth the dead !"
   The passage reads as follows:                            And in Isaiah 60 : 1 we read these words : "Arise, shine ;
   "Therefore He saith: Awake thou that sleepest and for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is
arise out of the dead (plural) and Christ shall give risen upon thee." But neither of these passages ans-
light (shine) upon thee."                                   wers to the "quotation" of Paul ; not literally at
   Paul is here addressing the church at Ephesus. He least.
is instructing the church not to walk as do the other         I What must we say of this? It is no doubt best to
Gentiles, as those Gentiles who still walk in the dark- take it as briefly stated by A. T. Robertson in his
ness of sin and unbelief. For that walk does not befit "Word Pictures in the New Testament' `to be a "free
them in their present state of being saints in Christ adaptation of Isaiah 26 :19 and 60 :l." This is far bet-
Jesus. That walk of the Gentiles is in the vanity of ter, even on the face of it, then Meyer's conclusion:
their minds, and is estrangement and separation from "From therefore He saith, it is evident that Paul de-
the life of God. The believers know another life. They sired to adduce a passage of canonid Scripture, but-
have heard the Gospel, the truth as it is in Jesus. And as the passage is not canonical (having normative
that truth as it is in Jesus, in His cross and resurrec- value) -in virtue of a lapse of memory he adduces an
tion, is, that we are to put off the old man, which is rlpocr~phul saying, which, citing from memory, he
corrupted by deceitful lusts. But that is not all. We held as canonical".             This latter is not merely not
are to put  on  Christ, His righteousness, sanctification, worthy of serious consideration, but is also a specimen
complete redemption. That is putting on the new man, of higher criticism.

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

      We believe that Paul here is giving the New Testa-        And Dr. Schilder has also championed the theology
ment sense of the Old Testament passages in question, which holds that there are conditional promises of God.
applying it to the point that he is here making in this The two parts of God's Covenant, according to Dr.
part of the letter to the Ephesians. It was the Holy Schilder, are the promise and demand (belofte en
Spirit, the Spirit of truth, Who would teach the apos- eisch) . And these are never to be separated. Both
tles all things, Who here instructs Paul. Does Paul these elements are always present reaching equally
not speak by revelation? And has not the Holy Spirit far. And in the covenant-circle (verbonds-kring) , the
the right and also the insight into His own Word, promise comes as well to the reprobate as to the elect.
spoken by prophets, to interpret it to fit the special       Oh, yes, Dr. Schilder also believes that there are
point that Paul is here making? Paul here gives the unconditional  promises. And in so speaking he .quotes
"sense' "of the Spirit in the  Old Testament prophecies.     Ursinus, who, according to Schilder, distinguishes two
      It would lead us too far from our purpose to make kinds of promises : a) Categorical, unconditional prom-
an attempt at this place to show that a careful exegesis ises; b) Non-categorical, conditional (voorwaardelijke)
of these two passages and the fundamental implication promises.
of this would be exactly what Paul here gives. Besides          With these questions in the midst of theological
what would be the point in so doing? Can we not discussion the matter of demand and promise in our
trust Paul? We are fully satisfied that:            '        text may not be neglected. The elements of "demand"
      1. Paul is here quoting the Word of God in the Old and "promise" simply lay on the very surface of the
Testament. And that this quotation here is so wonder- text . We may, therefore, not simply pass this by. We
ful that all the exegetical research can never improve mentioned that we might not do this in view ,of the de-
on it. We are also certain that all other interpretations bated question of "condition' `and "conditional prom-
are so much hay and stubble, which will not stand the ises". But there is another reason. We may not do it
trial of God's judgment of man's work.                       for our very life's s&e. Only when I see the relation-
      2. That the "he saith" is God Himself. It is true ship of this "command" and "promise" in the text can
that the form of the verb does not indicate this as such.    I give proper heed to what "He" saith. We must listen
But whether we make this "he" the Christ, the Spirit, sharply. For God listens carefully when He speaks
the prophet Isaiah-it all will be the same thing as clearly.
"God saith." And that is enough.                                Now the first thing that strikes us in ,this text' is
      But that "He saith" is God Himself also gives great the order of the "command" and the "promise". The
importance to these words. That is exactly their im- order here is not "promise and command" (belofte en
portance. Let us, therefore, pay attention, and give eisch), but it is command and promise. Only those
believing heed !                                             who  obey, who arise from sleep are given the promise.
      What does He say?                                      the blessed assurance that Christ will give  ,them  light.
      To this we answer : God here comes with the gospel     Now I know, that I cannot build a whole theological
command to  zrepent and  b&&e, adding thereto the            system on this text, but I insist that this text, too, is
certain promise  of life  and salvation. Note well : Gos- theology, and that the fundamental teaching of the
pel-and the Promise to those who repent and believe          whole of Scripture here lies as a basis under his text.
-obeying this command !                                      The text does not say: All shall have Christ to light
      We do not believe that we `can construe a whole upon them, if they will but awaken from sleep and rise
theologically scientific conception of the relationship from the dead. And I would have it be- understood
of the command to believe and the promise of life from that I here do not yet speak of the difference between
one text. That would be preposterous. But we do +the alleged differences of the Remonstrant "if" and the
believe that in the light of other Scripture passages we Reformed "if". I am here merely speaking of  the
must take notice of the relationship of the  "commandt       order  in the text of the elements command and prom-
and "promise" in our text.       Certainly we may not ise.
neglect it. Especially not now since this very point is       : It is true that this order. of the two elements in the
a heatedly debated question in our Protestant Reform- text do not teach us  as such whether the promise is to
ed circles.                                                  all. Nor does this order teach us whether these two
      Of course, we have in mind the matter of whether elements are the elements in the external calling  (vo-
the promise of God is "conditional". It was Rev. Petter catio externa) of the Gospel, or whether they constitute
who contended with qualifications that this was the constituative elements of God's covenant, as Schilder
case. Rev. Ophoff has very vehemently contended that teaches. So far as I can judge, the two elements are
the term "condition" must be banished from our theo- here simply the two elements in the preaching of the
logical vocabulary, since it makes the promise of God        Gospel. Thus we read in Canons of Dort, II, Art. 5:
in its actual fulfillment contingent upon the will and       "Moreover the promise of the gospel is, that whosoever
act of man.                                                  believeth in Christ` crucified, shall not perish but have


                                       T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       23

everlasting life." This promise, together with the              Instead of supplying the deficit at the church he,
command to repent and believe, ought to be declared as an elder, should have put forth an effort to teach
and published to all nations, and ,to all persons pro- others the blessedness of giving for the  kingdom.         It
miscuously and without distinction ; to whom God out was far easier of course to give a little e.xtra  himself
of His good-pleasure sends the gospel".                      (for he had much riches) than to go through the
    That Paul is here preaching the gospel with the trouble of teaching others to give liberally. Besides
elements as expressed in the Canons of Dort is certain. that, his fellowmen made misuse of his liberality, they
That the text here in Ephesians 5 :14 if explained in        figured that HE could do *the giving since he had more
the light of the context will be a reformed explanation money. `Therefore, instead of taking the giving so
as given in the Canons of Dort is also equally cer- entirely upon  himself,  the Lord was calling him to
tain.                                                        teach and exhort the members of the church.
    To this latter we hope to call attention in a follow-       And instead of writing out the "budget check" for
ing issue.                                                   the entire family, he should *teach his sons and daugh-
                                          G. Lubbers.        ters to lay away something of their earnings for the
                                                             collection. Sons and daughters were growing up, they
                                                             handled money freely, yet as far as the church was con.
                                                             cerned they did little more than put in their usual
                                                             nickel.    Daddy paid the "budget". And that was
               I N   H I S   F E A R                         that.So you see how from a giving father there can
                                                             sometimes come non-giving sons and daughters.
                 The Collection                                 In God's covenant it is never enough that we live
                                                             covenantly ourselves . . . we must teach others, espec-
                                                             ially our children to live covenantly also.
    He was a good giver.
    He loved to give to the church.                                                  Giving.
    He made two mistakes. He made a mistake as a                What does God require in the fourth command-
consistory member when, as often as there was a short- ment ? "First {mark that word first) that the minis-
age in the fund, he would make up the deficit with his try of the Gospel and the schools be maintained". So
liberality.                                                  says our Catechism in ans. 103.
    That was one mistake.                                       This includes supporting the church with your
  And the other mistake was that he, as father, handled money. Not as if ,God needs your gift. God's Word
the family's finances and he simply wrote out a "budget and your conscience will tell you He needs nothing
check" every week or so without the family itself tak- from you. God does not need your giving, but you
ing part in this giving. That was his second mis- need to give to live. God loveth a cheerful giver and
take.                                                        God remembers the cheerful giver when He dispenses
    Away back in the olden days when men used to His mercies through the ministry. God remembers
work with horses it was a  difficult task to break in also the miser when He ministers in the church. An
young horses. ,One would make about as much head- elder one time said to a penny-pincher that he could
way pulling the wagon himself as trying to get these easier go to the grocery store and get groceries without
young prancers to pull it. But, of course, these young paying for them than that he could go to church as a
horses had to learn to pull the load.                        miser and receive a blessing. This was quite a nice
    And there's mother in the sewing room, trying to parabIe even if not applicable in every detail.
teach daughter to run the sewing machine. Mother
could sew the dress herself in a third of the time that          God GAVE. In those two words the whole of our
it takes now with daughter at it. But she knows that salvation is contained.
daughter has to Iearn it, diflicult as it is.                    Because God gave, we, His imitators, also begin to
    It is perhaps easier for dad to go out-and repair give. AI1 we can ever give results from His first giv-
the spare tire himself than to have son puttering with ing to us. Therefore we give.
it for half of the day. But son has to learn it.                 We give ourselves. A living sacrifice, says  l?aul.
    So there is a learning process necessary. It is That is so much superior to the slaughter of animals
extremely important that we take time and effort to of the Old Testament, and far more excellent than
teach others what we ourselves already know.                 paper money, nickels and dimes, etc. Giving our-
    Now to get back to that good giver.                      selves.
    He was making the general mistake of rather doing            And in the process of giving ourselves we also
the giving himself than to instruct others therein.          give of our goods, He that giveth himself in living


                                                                          ..__
                                        TH&--BTANDARD   B E A R E R   .   .

sacrifice will follow this with the giving of hs money of the tithe, but who forbids us to practise it if we
toward the support of the church.                           are assured that in giving a tithe we give "as the Lord
                                                            has prospered us"  ?
              Teach It To The Next Generation.                 Some people seem to think that the Lord removed
    Now comes the acid test of our covenant living.         the ordinance of the tithe because we are free to give
   If we ourselves have learned to give, how much as we please, with that selfish freedom born of greed.
do we exert ourselves to teach it to others.                   Most people do not like the tithe because it would
    This is true first of all in the church.                require a rather  sizeabIe  portion of their income.
    The ministry of the church includes the preaching          I am convinced that the Lord removed the tithe,
but it includes no less the work of the elders, etc.        not in order that we should do less, but to give us the
The preaching must teach people to give, but the freedom to do more.
minister who emphasizes this rather consistently is            We, of the New Testament, have grown up and we
liable to be suspected of looking for a salary boost.       need no tithe laws-or do we? We are free. Free-
And that is too bad.' The elders therefore can do so to do more than tithe. There are exceptions of course.
much toward teaching the people and especially the Your income tax tells you what your income was.
young couples to become faithful in their contribut- Your acreage and property tells the world how rich
ing.                                                        you are. And  <God  knows what your income is. God
    But I believe that the matter must primarily be         knows it. And He says' you must be free to do MORE
learned at home-the place where they learn every- than tithe.
thing else practically.                                        Give as the Lord has propered  us-some of us are
   Therefore it has to be discussed in the home . Not       prospering tremendously.
in terms of cold finances but in terms of covenant             Teach our children that when they come home with
fidelity.     It can be discussed at the table  ,when the their first salary check. And they will not long need
chapter you read happens to be II Cor. 8 or  9. The to ask, how much must I give?
family ought to  -become  conscious of this Christian                                                      M. Gritters.
practise.
    But when son and daughter begin to work out and
receive an individua1  income, right there, when that                             56'BH  ANNIVERSARY
first week's salary comes into their hands, they must          On October 10, 1949, the Lord willing, our beloved parents
be made conscious of their covenant duty. Whether                                 Mr. and Mrs. A. Wever
they give their earnings to the parents or whether will be merried., D.V., 50' years.
they retain all or some of what they earn, it makes no         We thank our Heavenly Father with them for having kept
difference. This money is very really something they and sustained them together through the years, and pray that
have earned. And of that which they have earned the Lord may grant them His peace in their remaining years.
they must learn to give freely.                                     "Blessed be the Lord who daily leadeth us with
                                                                    benefits, even the God of our salvation."
    It is a  ,mistake therefore of parents when they                                   Their grateful children,
make requisition upon all the son's income and leave                                      Mr. and Mrs. Herman Korhorn
him a little for spending money. Before anything                                          Mr. and  Mrs. J.. Wever
else, son has to lay aside-for the church. He must do                                       6 grandchildren
that, he himself. If the parents claim all his income, Grand Rapids, Mich.                  1 great-grandchild.
that part of his income must be exempted which the                                 M-o-=x
young man himself gives to the Kingdom. And from
that first salary check until the time that he becomes                              ANNIVERShRY
entirely self-supporting, the principle of giving freely       On October 1, 1949, our beloved parents,
to the church must be impressed. Until, by the grace                        Mr. atnd Mrs. Henry Heemstra
of God, he has learned it. Then the church  wiII not will commemorate their 25th Wedding Anniversary.
often have to call at his door because his giving is         ' We thank our HeavenIy  Father for having kept them through
below par.                                                  the years, and it is our prayer that they may be spared for us
                                                            and for one another for many years to come.        ,
                            Tithe ?                                 "Thou, 0 Lord, remainest for ever; thy throne
                                                                    from  generation to generation."
    How much to give. Son has a regular income.                                      Their grateful children:
How much shall he give?                                                                   Mr. and Mrs. Frederick W. Geers
    The boy needs guidance here as everywhere else.                                       Joyce Lorraine Heemstra
                                                                                          Hollis Duane Heemstra
        In the Old Testament there was the tithe.                                         Carole Faye Heemstra
    That would be a rather safe rule don't you think?                                     Nancy  Ione  Heemstra
We, of the New Testament, are not bound by the rule Grand Rapids,  Mich.                  Henry Timmer Heemstra


