                                                                                            continually above them, around them, within them.
          M E j-&J A:%.1 (-J g o                                                            That means that the wrath of God shall be poured out
   1                                                                                        cpon them for evermore. 0,  td be in the flesh and
                                                                                            according to the flesh is so terrible that I cannot find
                                                   (           `
                                                                ..                          words to aptly describe it.                  .
                                                                                               To I+, in the flesh. is the .same as to be in death,
         The Flesh. And %`he..Spirit
                                        '                                                   nay, then you are death its4f.                      .i
                 "For  thky that are  <after  t&6. flesh `do  mind  the                           _               .r  -c----.9
               .things  of the flesh;.  bud they that are after the
               Spir$  the "things: of the : Spirit. -For to he carnally                        No,. ihe flesh as such is not bad.
               minded is death,. bnt to be spiritually minded is life
               and peace.     Because  ih& carnal mind is enmity                            L. Ch&st came-in the flesh. And Paul speaks of being
               againkt  God: for it is not subject:to  the law  of God,                     seen. in the flesh,  atid he did not-mean anything miser-
               n@ther  indeed -can- be. Sp., thkq they that are `in the                     able iq that.
               flesh  cannot:ple&isk  God."'             '  -Rom%ns   `8:5-g.
                                ._.                                                            But flesh here has a terrible meaning. - Flesh in my
        They th& are afte? t&e:f$L$i  !;.I'.                                                text is the sinful flesh.
        A thousand times imhappy people !                                                   `The sinful flesh  is,`first, earthly  kan, of the earth
                                                                                            earthy .with a thousand bonds that bind him to human-
  N&e that I- said :. a ihthousand'times  ufihippy people !                                 ity and the earth.
        .How poor is our langutige'! I I@ aqd c+npt f@d                                         BuLit is thtit etirthlp and' earthy man as he is fall&
 words  `+o d+!&ibe :the unhappy- estate  .of. .thqse,  t&t                                 headlong into sin. And  SL& it  -is the full nature of
' are after itie' flesh.. What & a ~h&&nd t?ri$s misery nia;n with ail his `gifts, talents, with his body ahd soul
 compared  t@.the   @rnaZ  wy in  `J&l-?,  :  "  `,  -  (                              -    and spirit, under the doi&nioti  of sin and the devil..
        Doei not -.yotir  heart. melt' "witgin  J+' when ybu                                    Arid all ihis together is called the mind of the eesh,
 think on- the'tiillions of ,peoljle &ch as` yoti and I tliat                               ihe minding of the flesh, if you please. Atid it is awful
 tire weeping and gnashihg thei? teeth right noti,, whiie                                   that I' find so few words and sb feeble words to de-
 I writ6 @Chile $ou:read,  this? Did you ever thihk on                                      scribe its horror.
 tliis ?' They are or' `werea @&ople  of like pa&&is as jrod                                    It is a man, created in the-beauteous image of God,
 and I.. They were&t,%orse  than,yoi.,aFd.I;  -It iS very                                   but who has lost -all that original beauty of holiness,
 well po$sible  thai:some-$f them were not as evil as you                                   and who is now filled with all perverseness and evil
                                                                                                                                   _I
 or I. -;&id yet, they age iti -h&11, or they are `on their                                 of every descr`iption.
 niiserable jbuq.ey to h@ll; `and you and I travel to the                                       They never aspire higher. than humanity and the
 Zi'on'-of         ,God!'         i          ('           :. --                  `.         earth. And :even  in those aspirations they are always
        0, I can understand how th$ `churtih. of `all ages                                  wilfully against God and all real virtue.
 have-sung, ,Why didst -Thou think- on' me, b `God! -                                           And so ~God could. look' down upon ~tl$&rn that walk
 t They  .ar,& after the  `flesh !  '  1                      ' :.                          .after the flesh, listen to the&, taste of them, even smell
  . `Therein is all `their  tiitiery.  .,                                                   of them; atid, come to the awful conclusion: No, there
  * .NoteT  that.* thc$`are ~xx~fi& tlii! flesh. .. Th;tit' @cans                           is  no one  that: doeth good.  N6, not  ofi&:. They have
 that thtiy-$$%ti$ or.ayleraccor~~ng-to.t~le~flesh.  They and, become stinking ! And I would beg of `you to realize
 the, flebl@ a& or& A,nd that is `a %&yible es&X. That                                      that this last evaluation is of the Holy Spirit of God.
 mealis:~mise~~::he-ere'on  earth, all the days' of their vain                                  Oh, to be ticcor$ling to the flesh. is so indes'cribably
 life on earth. That means that the wrath of God was                                        miserable ! .


                    .                                                                                                         P


                                                                                                    .  :
                                                 T H - E   STk'$DA.RD  :Bk.ARER   `.
                           .(          ,.,..'                     s:`;                                                                          ._
   .But Paul also s$aks of another kind of people:::,                                       Since that visit of Gbd's Dayspring YOLI- may say
 He speaks of ,tlii%e that are &fter the Spirit. Yes, that these people live in the sphere of the Holy Spirit
we capitalize the letter "s". It is  t-he Holy Spirit of
                    -..                                                              o                            f                            Gdd.                                :
God.              L i                                                                                                    /                                                         .:
  The word  Sp$t  is- first of all the Holy  Spirit as                                                                        .'          &&y.9.
                                                                                           _i     /.I       :,..-                   `#                                                   ,A
the third Person in the holy Trinity.                                                       All  sy$".thillgs  must be  proyen.:.  And  Fe will
   But He is the: Spirit as He is given to Jesus c&&t                                p r o v e   i t .
the Lord tit His exaltation.                                                         These people manifest themselves.                                                          .,,I'
   And, third, H&.is that Spirit of God and of, Cl&t                                        &et  us,  look,at  the  first  kiiidfiof people.  ;?
as l&e is poured bu,t2 in the wonderful Church of' God.                                    . ..Th&y are thbse fhat, $ind the fresh; the$`&e called
As ,such He is the $P;i$it  of the Church.            -,           '                 c&n~lly                           ;n?inded.:                     I        , .
   And so we come td' the conclusion: He is the Spirit                                    Their manifestation is shocking  $0 all that.& good,
of <God  and of Christ-Andy of the Church, and He dwells                             v&tuc&~ and right.
in every saint bf God.                                                                      Here `is their first name : they- are enmity against
                                                                                                                                     I
   ,Ah, but they ai*e a happy people! I w&s going to                                 God,                   -.
write: a thousand times happy people                                                        Note the ehoi@ Of-words of t&e Holy Spirit. He
   But I meet the same difficulty here as I had in the                               does not. s+y that they. are enemies of God. No, but
description of those unhappy souls that are after the                                $&y-are enmity,, and then, enmity against Him who is
flesh. A thousand times happy is so poor when you                                    Fdorable  @ternally. Against Him  who never did any-
speak of the happiness of God's saints. -They are                                    thing that is evil.
happy for evermore. They will drink of the river of                                          It stresses the fact that &ieir whole make-up, with
God that is full of water. They will `eternally see' body and soul, with all their functions of heart and
God's beautiful Face. And that will batisfy them with                                will. and mind, are nothing but evil. It is not so that
an eternal &tisfaction. How then could I speak of a                                  they are characterized,-beset by evil. and wicked hatred
thousand times here?                                                                 against ,God ; no, but they ,aEe sucli. Not character-
   But they are happy. For they are after the'spirit.                                ized by ? h,+teful -spirit,.  but they are hateful and they
   And how shall I describe it? Here is an ocean of                                  are such always. ,                                                                                         ,
beauty and holiness and ecstacy.                                               -:            ThFy are not .spbje&.t6  tile ,law' of ,God.                                                `..
   Well, this time I -will begin in -history.                                                Attend to this awful description `of ,the wicked.
   They are `people that tie?e visited by the Dayspring                              The law of ,God:is expressed in one word, and that one
from on high. -They are people that were equally as                                  word is the sweetest word which m&n ever heard. .It
wicked and miserable as those whom 1. began, to de-                                  is love. And then the.love  of God, .of course.
scribe at the beginning of *his tieditation. Their ways                                      And these people are not. subject to  it; That is;
were evil from their'youth:  And they were travelling                                they kill not love, but they will, hate God and one an-
to hell? And they liked it.                                                          other, That is the manif,estation of the flesh. _
   But some  day; some hour, some minute, some                                            Neither indeed can be.
second (the fathers have called, it, the hour of love)                                - A few simple and short words. But full' of untold
there came like a flash'of Divine. Lightning the Holy                                misery for the .tiicked.                                              They are impotent to any-
Spirit of God and of `Christ and- of the Church, and                                 thing that. is called loveable and good. They are im-
`He performed a wonderful miracle in -their inmost                                   potent to love the ad6rable God to be loved and praised
heart.                                                                               forever,. Amen. It is one thing'.to be wicked and to
    No, they were not aware of it. Jt happened in their                              hate IGod, but it is another thing when I must and will
subconscious heaj,                                                                   remain  in that prison?, since I lack the, potency to ,re-
    But it was real nevertheless. It was real; for they                              turn, to convert, to repent, to turn~around,  and'in tears
lived to  tell.the  &ory of it when  `God continued  t?                              say  tq  `G:od: .  0 God,. forgive!                                         They.  are, impotent.
cherish that work in their inmost heart, when $te con-                               r\lei;ther indeed can be. In thtise few. apd short words
tinued to love !hat hea& and warmed  it by His love                                  I. h;ar the r!lang+g of thti prison doors. that shut the
through Word and Spirit, until they came to the con:                                 wicked in their captivity for aeyermore.
seious stature of the man in Christ.                                                         &nd if there are any of my readers who would,
    That first flash of Divine Lightning we call re-                                 doubt the absolute truth of these evaluations, then X
generation. And the cdntinual cherishing df that heart                               would catalog $his..ma&estation of the wicked. They
,until it came to consciousness we call conversion..                                 `manifest themselves $, these  : adultery, . fornication,
    And so these- happy people became. spiritually .uncl&nness,  Iasci:viousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hat-
minded.. Note that iYe here quote the text. That is                                  red, variance,.  emulatidns,  wrath, strife, sedition&
their nanie, for that is their essence. They have the                                heresies,  envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings,
mind of Christ aad of the Spirit, .                         `_                        and such like.

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                                                                        T@  ,S'l!ANDARD'  BEARER                                                                                                                 51
                                   -                                                 ,. . ..~_.. . .                                                                 _        -.
                .     The faithful Bible reader has noted thtit I quoted                                                              weep. Do they `not weep often? Yes,  btit they are
      Scripture.                                                                                                                     lbasically always happy. Understand it, if you can.
                     Oh, I would say it again with a pitying heart.: they It is Paul's evaluation.
      are a thousand times unhappy people!
                      IGod have-mercy  upon us; for we are not better than                                                                   :                       -- .
they are by nature.-  -.:-  -.-.  :  8                                                                         :                            And &hat are the spoils ?
                      Have mercy on us!                                                                :.,- ., . ' .I. shudder when I must agai? begin with those un-
                                                                              .  _:  _.                     .- --
                                                ",     ."-:             :            :,.._,,.                  :                      happy people .that are carnally mintied. They receive
                                        m-w.--.                 1..      ._          -i'              I             I
                                                                        _  r;  ;  .;  I                                               2: fitting spo11 $0~ their endeiivors.                               ,,
                      Perhaps there is a soul `that &odl& -&$`: `h&`-you                                                               TThe text .n&ntions .the foul harvest `which they must
           make too inuch-of the beauty of the-people  &God. :` `,"                                                                   and will gather in;             . .:
                      Then my `answer wqtild be : I -catihot Ij;o&$bly `do                                                            : Fir&, if you-are ti carnally-tiinded man, and if you
     r that,. for when- we begin .to exegete the desc$iptidns                                                                         will not repent before you die, then your harvest is
           which ~God  Himself gives of His saints; then we staql death.
           mer, and feel  at once that they are infinitely  inore.                                                                           Is there'a word ihat is more.horrible?
      beautiful than we p&sibly could make them.                                                                                             Our Psalter gives .a very. simple definition of death.
      ;               ,God has gone much farther .,than  Reformed d@-                                                                 W$' sing: To be apart from God is death!
           m&tics.  God says of you.: You a?e my `Child and Qou                                                                              I think it will do. Therein lies all the horror. I do
           will not lie (Isaiah) ; you  are born of  Me; and you                                                                      `not know the full meaning. I think that if I would
           cannot sin (John). And you. are pure of  $eart                                                                             know, .I would not have another quiet hour. I would
                (Jesus).                                                                                                        ; see then and I, would  appreciate to the full the horrors
                      ,IOh  p&s, I may say  and that  in truth, that  l&&e                                                            of eternal hell.
           spiritually minded people have the love and friendship                                                                           And if the wicked  knew and under&ood  death, they .'
           of God's covenant in their heart. And do no& sajr that                                                                     would do nothing but weep.
           I idealize <God's people, that, in prabtice, ,it `is not true;                                                                   ,To be. apart from God. And not to be pleasing to
           That I take poetic license and that it is not true thtit                                                                   ,God.  But  th&  is  awful.  He is  the  only  good.  -There
     God's people are as lovely as I sing of them.                                                                       J "          is no good of any `kind outside of Hiin !
                      Do not say that for it is not  true.                                      '                   -           .            Negatively, i$ .is th,e estate of outer-darkness. Here
i                     I will prove it to your own satisf%ction.                                                                      lie horrors that my soul cannot fathom. Christ speaks
                      Attend to this : the least in the Kingdgm OS! !God,                                                             of gnashing of teeth- and bf weeping. I hear of their  d
           be he man or woman, that ever lived had this: lie',or                                                                      smoke, the ,smoke of their torment that ?shall &rise fbr-
           she had the love of God spread abroa'd in his or her                                                                       ever. I hear. of unquenchable fire that will burn an4
     heart through the  Hq!y Ghost., that  -is given. to us.                                                                          burn everlastingly. I hear of damnation and desola-
           Romans 5.                                                                                                                 tion. I hear of the pit of  fire  atid brimstone.
                     And now I would ask:  hoti can you refrain from
           calling such a being altogether lovely; &he< the very                                                                             It is the-fitting harvest  of those whose whole es-
           love of .God, is in his heuyt, of all. things. As the heart                                                                ,sence breathed hatred against  ,Go$. Oh, remember
           is so is the man, and that is also a text.                                                                                 here that God is adorably just. Do not charge Him
                                                                                                                                                                                              . .
                     These happy people are subject to the law of Gdd;                                                                foolishly*
           for indeed they can be.                                                                                                           And your harvest? .
                      They have -the Spirit if -God as their constant and                                                                    It is life and peace. I think that the latter is tl!e
           eternal companion. Christ cannotlie, and He promised                                                                       result of the former.
     that the Spirit  wopld  never depart from them  any-                                                                                    To see  the face of' ,God is life. And to see that
           more.                                                                                                                      face, turned  to us in love and eternal good pleasure.
                      Oh, they are haipy. .They have their streng%h  rc-                                                              0, tha! is heaveri itself.
           newed as an eagle; They journey from such strength                                                                                Christ said : this, is <ziernal life : to know the only
           to strength, until' every one of them appears. before                                                                      and the true.  ,God, and Jesus Christ whom He has
G o d   i n   Z i o n .   o                                                                                                           se&.
           :          And here is thb manifest&d proof of. their happy                                                                       Therefore, we would always turn to Jesus, so that
           estate,. tile estate that they are spiritually minded: .- He g:ght lead us to His Father in. heaven.
           they have love; joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
           goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.                                     `.                                                     And that brings peace.                 _
                      And here  agsiin: I was quoting from God's' holy                                                                      `And peace is that your hear& a;nd God's heart beat
           W                  o            r                    d                          .                             iy unison.                       `-
                      A thousand times happy peopli? No, but th&y'&e                                                                        .  ,Gbd bring you there !                    .
           eternally happy.  Even now, while they must often                                                                                                                                         G. Vos.
                                                                                                                         :             /

                                                                                                                                                                .                                     I


52                                                                         `THE  `STANDARD B E A R E R .   `-

                    ,  The  Sfandai-d  Bearer                                                                       :
       Semi-Monthly, except Monthly in  jtily and August
             Y                                                                                                                                 EDITORIALS
                                       P u b l i s h e d   B y " ` .   .
                   The Reformed Free Publishing Association
                        Box 124, Sta. C., Grand Rapids; Mich,                                                                                Criticism And Its Answer
                        .' EDLTOR: - Rev.  11.  Hoekiema.
  Communications relative to contents should be addressed to                                                                          Dr. K.`Bchilder,  in the Refbrnz&e,  proposes to dis-
REV.. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin^St;,  S. E., Grand Rapids,                                                                        cuss the Declaration--of Principles adopted by our last
Michigan.                         q                                                                                                synod.
  Communications relative to subscription should be addressed                                                                        "  ,Of thfs we cannot but be glad, and we can only
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above address and will be published'at a fee of $1.00' for ,each                                                                   words. For it certainly was otie of the purposes d:
notice.                                                                                                                           this Declaration and bf` its proposal to our. churches
Renewals:-Unless  a definite request for  discont+uance  is re-                                                                    that it be t&ted and thoroughly discussed. As I wrote
ceived, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes  his subscription                                                                `already in answer to the Rev. Bltitikespoor's  questions,
to ,continue  without the formality of a renewal arder.                                                                            we do not mean to ljropose  a fourth form, in addition
Entered as Second Class Mail at Grand Rapids, Michigan.                                                                            to our Three  Forms of Unity. We recognize nothing'
                                                                                                                                   else ai binding than Script%re. and our Confession&.
                                                                                                                                   But it is necessary, sometimes to express clearly and
                                                                                                     I
                                        CONTE,NTS                                                                                  definitely what the * Scriptures and the Confessions
                                                                                                                                   teach. There are all kinds of so-called Reformed chur-
M E D I T A T I O N -
        The Flesh alrd The Spirit _....___....____.._____:  . . . 
                                                                                     ..__...__  I..~ ____________ 49               ches ; and they all appeal to the Confessions. In the
                  Rev. Gerrit Vos                                                                                                  Netherlands `you have the Synodicals and the Liber-
EDITORIALS-                                                                                                                        ated and t&e Christian Reformed `and the Hervormde
           Critici.sm and Its Answer : ___..___:  ._.___ .___.........__  ~....___..___________  52                                Church and the Nederduitsche Church. And in this
                  Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                 country we' ha& the Christian Reformed Churches and
           Van.Boeken .._.. T . . .._....-..._...........  _ . .._....._  i _._.._........._...................~.  6:              the Free  Reformed Churches And the Reformed Church
                  Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                - of Anierica and _ihe Protestant Reformed Churches ;
        Rev. Fetter Has Arrived .: ___._______.________....~.....~...........~  _.___._ -62                                        and they all cairn to 6e Reformed on the basis of the
                  Rev. G. M. Ophoff                                       .'                                                       Confessions.. Thus,  fbr instance,  the! Christian  Re-
           Inge&nden- _..__ ~.______........_....________________~  __________________.________  :... ____. 65                     f@rmed ,Chu&hes  in 1924 tried td- appeal to the Con-
                  Mr. A.  J. IJtsma.                                                                                     '  `>
                                                                                        .                                          fessions in corkoborati6n  of their Three Points; And
           Contribution ______._.__..._..__.______  _ ________  _______._______________________  _ ,___________ 66                 they claim to have found the error of common grace
                  Mr. A. J. IJtsma.                                                          ^ .                                   in the Three Forms of  Unity. The  ISynodicals  base
FROM HOLY  WRIT-                                                                                                                   their decisions of ,1?42-`44 on t&e same -Confessions.,
           Exposition of Hkbrews 10: 19-25 _____.___.. _ . . . ..___..__________________  67                                       And no doubt the Liberated are  convi&ed  that the
                  Rev. Geo. C. Lubbers                                                                                             H.eynsian view of the' cbvenant -is the pufe' teaching of
1N  H I S   FEAR                                                                                                                   the Three Forms of  U&y.  Th$efore,  it does not
           Church Membership In His Flear ..___..__.._  1 .._.___  _ ____: ____ _ _____.___ 69                                     seem `to be superflubtis `tb formulate a brief declara-
                  Rev. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                              tion,. a! our last synod did, of what is truly and really
PERIStiOPE,                             _.                                                                                         Reformed, according to our Confessions. And that is
           The Assumption of Mary and the Prot. Ref. bhurches  . ...70                                                             the purpose  of the. Declaratidn of Pyinciples. If, there-
                  Rev. J. Howerzyl                                                                                                 fore, it &an be cl,early khovirri and definitely proved.that
                                                                                                                                   this Declaration of Principles is not. according to our
                                                                                                                                   Three Forms of Unity,,we will thankfully accept that
                                                                                                                                   proof and will certainly not accept that Declaration
                              HOLLANDSE EMIGRANTEN!                                                                                                                          .
                                                                                                                                   at our next synod.
      Van of den 5den November hoper wij iedere Zondag van                                                                           Dr. Schilder introduces his  a$ic?es, in which  ile
      8:30  to 9 uur des .morgens  een  Hollantise  uitzending tot ;u
  te  richten  over Radio Canada CHLO (680 kilo.).                                                        ,                        .proposes  to criticize our Declaration of Principles with
                                                                                                                                   an article u?der the'caption, "Waarheen in Amerika,
              Deze uitzending wordt u toegezonden door de                                                                          Canada?" (Whither in America, Canada ?) , which is
                                       Reformed Witn'ess Hour                                                                      chiefly addressed to l&e immigrants. I will follow his
                    van de First Protestant Reformed  Chur,ch                                                                      example, and also p&face  my reply to his criticism,-
                      Box  8, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A.                                                   1
                                                                                             `
                                                                                               .                                   which he may, of course, expect,,by an int?oductory
                                                                                                                                   article of my own,. at the same time reflecting upon
                                                                                                                                        ,                              .          .;


                              _       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   .'                                        53

 some of the statements which he writes in his intro-           the :basis of Scripture and the .Thr& Fortis of Unity,
 duction.                                                       and maintain pure reformed church polity, being
     The main thrust of his introductory article -is the        averse to all -hierarchy". -In the same letter of synod
 ardvice  to the immigrants not to allow .thbmselves to `be- we wrote `as follows : "Dat wij  natuurlijk niet  ver-
 bound by the Declaration of Principles; and not,to  join `&a&ten, dat uwe Synode reeds op de e.k. vergadering
 the Protestant Reformbd  Chkrches if the Declaration           tot de betrekking van zusterkerken tusschen U en ons
 of Principles should be adopted at 0~; next synod.             zai  zbesluiten, evenmin als U dat van ons verwacht.
     From this article we wish to make  a few quotatiolis` -Mocht uwe Synode  echter besluiten  om_ stappen te
 and reflect upon them.                                         nemen in de ri'chting van nauwer contact met `onze
     Dr. Schilder writes : "In een brief,  dien  we als         kerken, dan verzoeken we U om _door uwe deputaten . .
 deptitateti  voor buitenlandsche kerken in .handen kre-        met de onze te correspondeeren of samen  te spreken,
 gen van de Prot. Ref. Churches, werd nu aanvankelijk           om onze Synode, zoowel als d.e uwe, in de kwestie van
  een goed' standpunt ingenomen. Letterlijk` citeeren           contact  tusschen beide  ke`rkengroepen,  van  advies te
 kan ik niet, omdat.in.  het stuk niet bij me heb. Maar         dienen., en alsdan definitieve besluiten te nemen." Acts
 ik meen  tie niet te vergissen, als ik den hoofdinhoud         of  &nod, 1948, pp. 53, 54. And we translate:  -"That
  aldus vrij weergeef :  Xusschen.   u en ons liggen  mis-      we naturally do not expect, th,at your Synod will al-
  schien  we1  theologische. verschillen, maar geen  con-       ready in its next meeting decide to establish, the. re-
 fessioneele.    Dat was een _ go&de en nuchtere opmer-         lation of sister churches b.etween you and us, no more
 king, die meteen  de basis aangaf, waarop &.i. geloovi-        than you expect this  of  us.  If, however; your Synod
  gen  .elkaar in een kerkverband  ontmoetep  mogen." should decide to take steps in the. direction of closer
 That is translated : "In a letter which we as deputies         contact with our churches, we  .invite:  you through
for foreign churches, received from the Prot. Ref.              your deputies to correspond or confer with our depu-
  Churches a sound standpoint was at first assumed.             ties, in order to Serve our Synod as well asyours with
  I cannot quote  literalljr,  because I do not  tiave  the. advice in the question of contact between both church
 l&ter  wif;h me. But I think I am not m&taken when             groups, and thereupon'to take -definite decisions.".
1  T freely reproduce the-main content as-follows : between     .This  pfficial letter of Synod naturally  superceded
 you and us there are probably;theological differences,         the letter sent by out commi'otee  of correspondence and
but no  con?!essional  differences. That was a ~good and was the only letter that could come officially before the
  sober remark,' which at the same time indicated the           Synod of Amersfoort, 1948. Note hoti carefully this
 basis on which in my opinion believers may meet one            letter of- Synod was worded. `We did hot ask for im---
another in church fellowship."                      .'  d       mediate correspondence, but wanted to confer and to
     This- is not quite true. The letter to which Dr.           correspond with the  .deputies for  .eorrespondence   ,in
 `Schild.er  refers was, as he weil knows, not -sent by.the     the Netherlands. But neither the Synod'of Amers-
  Protestant Reformed Churches, but simply by the com-          foort, 1948, nor the deputies for correspondence with
  mittee of correspondence. When this letter was brought . foreign churches acted upon our. advice. The latter
to the attention of our Synod, 1948, our synod did not          never conferred'and never corresponded with us about II
  aDprove  of $h.e .terminolqgy  of that letter, and there-     the question. For over-a year we never heard of them
  fore decided to send anoth.er letter, which was officially    at all. And when we finally did hear from them after
  adopted by the broadest gathering of our churches,, and       they had conferred with the Revs. de Jong and Kok,
  which the  &puties for correspondence  with foreign           they simply proposed a comple+e  and full-fledged re-
  churches also received, as Dr. Schilder well knows.           lation of correspondence between the Refor,med Chur-
 . In that letter the mtiter to which' Dr. Schilder refers      ches maintaining Art. 31 and ours, which we could
  was expressed more soberly  as' follows: "Dat onze            only place in the hands of our Synod. I have written
 Synode het in het algemeen met de strekking van  voor-         befor.e, and l write it again, that this is not doing the
  noemden brief eens is. [Gaarne qoekt zij nauwer con-          business of ,the church properly. And I ati convinced
 `tact met de Gereformeerde  ' Kerken onderhoudende             that if the Synod of -Amersfoort  had acted on the re-
  Art. 31. Zooals gezegd is  iri den door de  deputatbn quest and advice of our Synod of 1948 instead of plung-
  verzonden brief, wij staan met U op den grondslag             ing headlong into a decision for establishing corre-
  van de ?&rift en de Drie Formulieren van Eenigheid,           spondence with our churches, all the miserable history
  en handhaven het zuivere gereformeerde `kerkrecht,            of the last coupl,e years would have been avoided.
 ,wars zijnde van alle hierarchic.," Acts  of: Synod, 1948,        After-Dr; Schilder mentions some of whslt he con-
  p. 53. That is:"Th$t  in general our  ,Synod agrees           siders thegood points in the Declaration of Principles, '
  with the intent of the aforementioned letter. rShe likes      he continues as follows : "Maar wanneer nn deze zelfde
  to have closer  conta`ct with the Reformed  Churches          kerken eigen uitsprakeh  zouden vastleg@n,  die naar
  maintaining Art. 31. As .has been said in the letter          den inhoud 6f ondoordacht en slordig geformuleerd
  that was sent. by opr deputies, we' stand with you on - (en dus als bindende leer-uitspraken af te wijzen) zijn,


54                                     T H E   .S'TANDARD   B E A R E R   :

6f onjuist zijn, dan scheppen ze daarmee een nieuwe             pijn doen, vooral omdat we meenen dat er misverstand
sittiatie. Die verschilt van het aanvankelijk In boven-         in het spel is. Maar het is nu eenmal niet anders. .
bedoelden brief ingenomen standpunt. En dan kunnen                    "Daarom blijven we; meenen we, in de lijn van onze
en mogen onze emigranten  niet daarvoor  capituleeren.          vroegere adviez.en,  als we zeggen: meldt u bij de Prot.
Deze nieuwe situatie IS er nog niet, maar bedreigt hen          Ref. Churches; maar laat meteen duidelijk weten, dat
wel, ingeval nl. de Prot. Ref. kerken tezamen de voor-          en waarom ge er niet aan denken  kunt, bedoelde uit-
stellen zouden aanvaarden. En  daarom is  bet  goed,            spraken te aanvaarden; Tenminste, indien ge het eens
iets naders 6. gaan zeggen van die, voorgestelde uit-           zoudt zijn met wat wij daartegenover  zulien aanvoeren.
spraken." .And  tie translate: "But when ilow these             Neemt men u dan n&t aan, laat u d&, ook om hunnent-
same churches would establish their own decla&ions,             wil, spijten mogen, maar zegt geen `lja" als ge "neen"
which accordilig td the content are either thoughtless          bedoelt.  fi.an maar liever afwachiten, en zien wat er
and carelessly formulated (and therefore must be re-            verder terecht komt van de poging om de kous iti het
pudiated as binding expressions of doctrine) or' incor-         gelijk te breien."
rect, they thereby create a new situation. This differs               Thus far Dr. Schilder. And we translate: "With-
from the standpoint at first assumed in the above               out therefore'wishing  to shut the door for conversa-
mentioned letter. And then our emigrants may and                tions of and with the deputies about possible corre-
cannot capitulate. `This new situation is not yet exist-        spondence,  #and also without wishing to anticipate what
ing, but does indeed threaten them, in ease, namely,            the deputies still have to db, we certainly want to state
the Protestant Reformed `churches together -adopt the           -for this is nothing new-that IF our emigrants here
proposed  declaqations.  And therefore it is good to            and there already might be bound to theological opin-
say something more about these proposed declara-                ions, as we mentioned tibove, and which in part we will
t i o n s . "                                                   repudiate as binding formulas, .refusal is necessary.
      And a little farther Dr. Schilder writes :` "Zonder       -     "The ch&nged situation in that case did not proceed
daarom de deur voor gesprekken van en met- de depu-             from  US, but to our  deep  regret from the Prot. Ref.
taten over'mogelijke correspondentie af te willen slui-         Churches themselves. They h?ye proposed these new
ten, zonder ook vooruiti  Je loopen op wat deputaten'.ndg` declarations without r.eaching  defiliite  conclusions w,itll
zullen hebben te verrichten, willen we wel-tiant dat is         the deputies. Something about which we are sur-
oud nieuws  - constateeren, dat INDIEN reeds. hi&               p r i s e d .   F o r :      !
en daar plaatselijk onze emigranten mochten gebonden                  "a) these churches themselves ga<e apprenticeship
worden  aan theologische  meeningen, als we hierboven           money when in Kalamazoo the Rev. Hoeksema was
weergaven, en die .we deels zullen afwijzeri  als pin-          driven out with the stick of thoughtless and badly
d,epde formules, de weigering daarvan noodzakelijk is.          f%rmulated  additions to the confessions ;     .
      "De veranderde  situatie is dan in dat geval tiiet van          "b) we -had. hoped; that they would see- that in
ons uitgegaan,.  doch tot  onzen grooten spijt van de           strong maintenance %f the existing confession, with
Prot. R&f. churches zelf. Ze hebben zonder met depu,            simultaneous rejection of every idea to be baund by
taten te komen t6t afsluitende halidelingen al vast deze        anything else, would unders6.d  their calling to gather
nieuwe uitspraken,  op stapel gezet. Iets waarover wij          as many as possible believers who come to dwell from
ons verwonderen. Immers :                                       the other side of the ocean' in the territory in w&ch
      "a) deze kerkkn hebben zelf leergeld gegeven, toen' they themselves tire established and bver against whom
in Kalamazoo men. Rev. Hoeksema uitdreef met  den               they have a callitig..  It is not a small thilig, to become
stok van  ondqordachte  en slecht geformuleerde  aan- the cause that people that fear- God an! maintain the
de confessie  toegevoegde uitspraken ;                          tieformed confession cannot take their places with us
      "b) we hadden gehoopt, dat ze zouden zien, dat in         at the table of the Lord. This we maintained  eveI;
sterke handhaving der bestaande belijdenis, met  gelijk-        since 1944 in the Ngtherlands. And this.we will main-
tijdige verwerping van elke gedachte van daarboven              tain also over against America. Also over against the
uitgaande bindingen, ze haar roeping zouden verstaan            best of friends and well-meaning acquaintances. It
om zooveel mogelijk geloovigen ,op te vangen die van            may-be painful, especial&  because we are of the opin-
over den oceaan komen wonen in `t gebied, waarop zij            ion that. there is misund&standing here. But the fact
self zijn gevestigd en waartegenover zij een roeping            remains. .  '
hebben. Het .is geen kleinigheid, zelf de oorzaak ervan              "Thefefore we`remain, we -think, in the line of our
te iijn, dat nhenschen]  die `God vreezen, en de gerefor-       former advices, when we say: make application with
meerde  belijd&nis  handhaven, niet  aan onze  avond-           the Prot. Ref., ,Churches, but stat'e at the same time
maals-tafel kunnen  plaats nemen. Dat hebben we vol-            clearly, that and why you cannot copceive  of accepting
gehouden in 1944 en  V.V. in Nederland. Dat zullen the proposed declaration. .At l&ast,,if you will agree
we ook volhouden tegenover Amerika. Ook tegenover               with what we will 8adya.?lce  against `it. If then the;z do
beste vrienden  en welmeendende  hennissen. ,.Het. kan not accept you, you may be sorry, alsd for their sake,


                             .'

                                        T H E   C.ANDAR~   BEARER                                                     55     '

  but do not say `yes' when you mean `no'. Then you               Dr. Schilder suggests that we would be the cause
  better wait ,and` see what will come of the attempt to       of refusing'people admittance to the Lord's table that
knit the stocking evenly."                                     fear ,G&d and maintain the Reformed confession. This
     What shall be replied to all this?                        I, deny. .And Dr. ~ Schilder himself knows better. But
     Dr. Schilder suggests that our Declaration of Prin- 1we do not admit anyone to the table .of the Lord in our
  ciples is thoughtlessly and carelessly formulated, and       fellowship that calls himself Reformed, or even one
  is in part, at least, incorrect. We will wait for him        that has an attest in his pocket of another Reformed
  to prove this before we answer. But it is not true' church, with which we do not stand in relation of
  that we have changed or that we created a new situa-         correspondence. Nor do we receive members in our
  tion. In this Dr. Schilder is utterly mistaken. . He         churches that present an attestatisn  from any other
  speaks of a. situation that is different from the stand-     Reformed churches unless they first are examined and
  point assumed in theletter that was sent by the depu-        show that they are acquainted with the,Reformed doc-
  ties, to which we already referred. But thatletter was       trine as it is taught in our Prot. Ref. Churches, and
  not adopted by the Synod of 1948.- And ther,efore  Dr.       express agreement with it. This has always been the
  Schilder cannot appeal to that  ,letter  as representing' custom in our churches ; and I think that this custom
  the standpoint of our churches. In the letter that was       is perfectly correct. And if any man after he is exam-
  adopted `by our Synod of 1948 our standpoint and atti-       ined proves that he does not agree -"`with  the doctrine
  tude has been expressed much more correctly and              that is taught `in this Christian church", or openly
  soberly. And that is the only letter- to which Dr.           declares that he does not agree with that doctrine, not
  Schilder-has the right officially to ref&.                   we, but he hims'elf  is the cause of the-fact that he can-
     Dr. Schilder alleges ,further  that `we attempt to        not be admitted'to the ILord's talble in our fellowship1
  bind the immigrant to theological opinions. He refers,       About this I %also will have to say more presently.
  of course, to the Declaration of Principles. -Without         . And now I wish to make a few remarks of-my own
 `anticipating.a  reply to what he is going to write in the    in this introductory article.
  future,.we  here nevertheless maintain that this is not         In the first place, I want to emphasize that that the
  true, and that the Declaration of Principles contains        leaders in the ILiberated Churches have done untold
  nothing that is not clearly taught in our Confessions.       harm to their own immigrants, especialJy in Canada,
  But, as I say, this must wait until we receive the           and to the cause of ,our laboring among them. I have
  criticism of Dr. Schilder black on white.                    especially in mind men like the Rev. van Raalte, the
     Although the situation principally, therefore, has        Rev. van Dijk, and Prof. Holwerda. And now, sad to
  not changed, Dr. Schilder now joins the ranks of those       say, Dr. Schilder joins their ranks. Let me inform
  who advise the immigrants not to join the Protestant         the brethren that we have as  Prot,  Ref. Churches
  Reformed Churches. I mean, of course, men like the           faithfully labored among the immigrants in Canada;
  Rev. van-Raalte, the Rev. van Dijk, Prof. Holwerda; that we have literally taken them into our bosom ; that
  and others. -About this advice we shall have more to         we have loved them ; that we have spent thousands
  say presently. Only once more I want to emphasize            and thousands of dollars for their benefit; that we
  that the situation with us has not changed one bit.          have faithfully, instructed them; and that we have
    . As cqncerning  the comparison which Dr. Schilder : tried to organize them into Protestant Reformed Chur-
  draws between the Declaration of Principles and the          ches. But it was always the influence exerted upon
  Three Points of Kalamazoo, 1924, I maintain that it' them from the' old country that made our labor very
  does not hold at all, and that there is no similarity        difficult and practically impossible.' Their leaders from
  between the two. For I maintain that in the Declara-         the old country stir them up against us, both by public
' tion of Principles nothing whatever is added to the          articles in th@r papers and lby private correspondence.
  Confessions,, while the Three Points of Kalamazoo  cer--     Their purpose evidently was to create in America an
  tainly are additions to our Three Forms of Unity. And        extension of the Liberated Churches, or even to per-
  secondly, the Three Points .are not only additions to,       suade. the Pr,otestant  Rteformed  Churches to assume
  but also corruptions of  theConfession. This I have          the same stand as they. I assure the brethren that
  definitely and very clearly shown more than once. If         this will prove to be impossible for more than one
  this had not been the case, we would have had no ob-         reason.    I have advised the immigrants more than
  jection to consider the Three Points binding upon our-       once, both in Hamilton. and in  Chatham,  that they
  selves and upon the churches. But this certainly is          must not be incited against LIS by the old country, but
not true of the Declaration of Principles. And if Dr.          that they must learn to stand on their own feet. They
  Schilder can clearly prove that the Declaration of           must judge for themselves what is the purest mani-
  Principles is not only an addition, but also-a corruption    festation of the body of Christ in America. And I am
  of our Confessions, I promise'him that our churches
                                   -                           confident that if" they `do so, and if they are really
  will never adopt it.                                         Reformed at heart, and understand the Reformed truth,


56                                1  T H E   S T A N D `A R D   ,B,tiARER                 .
                 .
they will certainly join the Protestant Reformed Chur- :Schilder,-di-ffers  radically. To us that Heynsian view
ches. But I say once more that the influence from             certainly m.aintains the false theory of' connnon grace
the old country has been detrimental. to the cause of         applied to the sphere of the covenant. We condemn
the Liberated immigrants and has beena stu.mbling-            that view as principally Arminian, and maintain that
block for them to join our-churches.                          the promise of God is only for -the elect. Thui was
      As a glaring example of this pernicious influence       the situation between us and the Liberated immigrants
and* propaganda I refer once more to the letter which         in Canada.  ~What could we do? We certainly could
Prof. Holwerda.wrote to the Liberated immigrants in           not organiz,e the true and the false church in one and
Canada. The exact truth concerning this letter I have         the sam,e.church fellowship. As long as they claimed
never been able to, discover. But be that as it may,          to be the.,true church, we were, of course, the false
the letter itself is full of untruths concerning. our         church. How then could iye receive them into our fel-
churches and their leaders, and at the same time an           lowship.? Besides;: we must not- forget that among
instigation of the Liberated. to make propaganda for          them there .are all kinds of. people. Some were.posi-
their view in the midst of our churches, In that letter tively Ar+minian.  -Some openly claimed that God loved
a sharp distinction is made between the view of the           every child and all. the children that were born under
Rev, Hoeksema `concerning election and that ,of the           the covenant, head- for head and soul for soul. Some,
Prot. Ref. Churches.        The conception of the Rev.        openly stated, that. Christ died for all men. ,Could we
Hoeksema is not church doctrine, and no one is bound          possibly corrupt our. own churches  by openly admitting
by it. Most of the Prot. Ref. people, according to the        Arminians into our communion. That were, of course,
letter of Holwerda, did not think as the Rev. Hoeksema        impossible. So'we decided to instruct them before we
and the Rev. Ophoff. Sympathy for the Liberated and           organized them into. churches. And thus we finally
their view of the covenant was supposed to be great in        organized two congregations, the one of Hamilton and
our churches. And for the covenant cpnception  of the         that of Chatham.. : "
`Liberated there was supposed to be ample room. The            But still the problem was not solved, Many other
Prot. Ref. Churches are supposed to be the true church ,immigrants entered .into <Canada,  both Synodicals and
also [because they allow ample room for the conception        Liberated. The Synodicals would not very likely join
of the Liberated. Besides,, -the letter of' Prof. Holwerda    our churches. `They usually went to the Christian Re-
urges the  Liberated  immigrants in Canada by all `formed Church. Our problem always was with the
means to preserve contact with Holland and to spread          Liberated. Could they ,be admitted simply on the basis
the Dutch literature. And he writes that the Liber-           of their attestation? They were-visited, and always
ated would be doing a good work if they labored in            they insisted on .their own peculiar covenant view.
the Prot. Ref. Churches to remove misunderstanding            How then, could they possibly answer affirmatively
and to deepen insight. And the iliberated  must -dis-         to the second baptismal question concerning the doc-
seminate the dogmatical wealth of Holland in the Pro-         trine that "is taught here in this Christian church"?
testant Reformed Churches. If the conception of the           The Consistory of Hamilton finally made a decision to
Rev. Hoeksema wasbinding, thus the writer concludes,          ask of those that would be admitted to membership
he would.advise  the immigrants never to join. Propa- `that they promise to be instructed in our Prot. Ref.
ganda of this nature, brethren, and there has been a          truth and that they would make no propaganda'in the
good deal of it, certainly has injured the cause of ,the      `congregation for their own peculiar covenant concep-
Liberated immigrants in Canada and has made it well-          tion. On that basis the Consistory worked with the
nigh impossible for us to labor among them.                   immigrants for a time. But soon they weakened, .and
      But there is more.                   -         . .      they refused to stand by  theirvery  reasonable decision.
      It is not we, but the Liberated immigrants them-        The matter was brought to the attention of our Classis
selves, that created the necessity for a declaration of       (East) by the Consistory of Hamilton  I themselves.
principles such as our last synod adopted. When we            The classis decideci i that they should maintain their
labored among them, they themselves always accentu- `decision, and not allow members on any other basis.
arted the difference between them and us regarding the ,And just as I was writing this editorial, I received the
covenant. And mark you well, it was they that ever            news that the Consistory of Hamilton refused to
came with the claim that they were the true church            abide by the decision of classis.
and all other churches were simply the false church.          You must not receive the impression that the
Now it is  .a well-known fact that in the Liberated           change in the stand of Hamilton's Consistory regard-
Churches, `although they claim that no covenant con-          ing the admittance to membership in their Church was
ception is bieding, the Heyesian theology concerning          caused by  ,the Declaration of Principles.     For they
the covenant.of God is generally accepted as the only         changed their stand before that Declaration was
true conception. From this Heynsian conception our            adopted.
view of the covenant, as is well-known,-also to Dr.                  But again I say that they were influenced by
                                                                t
                                                                                ,.


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                57 ~
     pressure from the old country. They did not have suf-       nitief  bewezen  kan  :worden   dat deze Verklaring  vzr
     ficient stamina to stand on their own feet. This is         Beginselen niet overeenkomstig onze Drie Formulieren'
     the history behind the Declaration of Principles. -As       van Eenigheid is, .dan zullen we dat bewijs dankbaar
     I have explained in a former editorial, the Mission         aanvaarden, en dan zullen we zekerlijk  deze Verklaring
     Committee asked for such a declaration as a basis upon      niet accepteereh op onze volgende  synode.
     which they might conduct their mission work especial-                Dr. Schilder introduceert zijn reeks artikelen,  waar-
     ly among the Canadian immigrants. The Synod ac-             in hij van plan is onze Verklaring van Beginselen te be-
     ceded"to their request.                                     critiseeren, met een artikel onder het kopstuk :  "Waar-
        And if we were to mainta.in the purity of doctrine       heen in Amerika, ,Canada?",  hetwelk voornamelijk ge-
     in our Protestant Reformed Churches, this Declaration       adresserd is aan de immigranten. Ik zal zijn  voor-
     certainly was necessary.                                    beeld volgen, en mijn antwoord aan zijn critiek (het-
                                                  li..  ii.
                                  L                              welk hij-natuurlijk verwacht) laten voorafgaan door
                                                                 een inleidend artikel mijnerzijds, om terzelfder tijd
                                                                 eenige opmerkingen te  maken aangaande,  sonnnige
                                                                 gezegden die hij neerpent  in zijn inleiding.
         Hier volgt de vertaling van dit hoofdartikel:                    Het hoofdpunt in zijn inleidend ,artikel is het advies I
       Dr. Schilder .is van plan de Verklaring van Begin-        aan de immigranten, om zich niet te laten binden door
     selen, door onze laatste Synode aangenomen, te be-          de Verklaring van Beginselen, en om niet toe te treden
     spreken in De Reform&e. -'                                  tot de Prot. Geref. Kerken indien de Verklaring van
         Hierover kunnen we ons met anders dan verheugen,        Beginselen  mocht  aangenomen  worden  op. onze vol-
     en we hopen tevens,`dat hij het volledig doen zal, zon-     gende synode.            ._  :  '
                                                                  -4
     der mer doekjes om te winden. Want het was zeker een                 Uit dit artikel wenschen we eenige citaten aan te
     der ,doelmerken  dezer. Verklaring en van haar voorslag     halen, en er eenige opmerkingen over te maken.
     aan onze kerken, dat zij getoetst en door en door be-                Dr.' Schilder schrijft : "In een brief; dien we als
     sproken zou worden. Zooals ik reeds schreef in ant-         deputaten voor - buitenlandsche kerken in handen kre-
     wodrd op Ds. Blank&poor's vragen: ons doe1 is niet          gen van de Prot. Ref. Churches, werd nu aanvankelijk
     om een vierde formulier-voor  te stellen, als een toe-      een  goed standpunt ingenomen.  -Letterlijk  citeeren
     voeging aan de Drie Formulieren van Eenigheid. Wij          kan ik nietj, omdat ik bet stuk niet bij me heb. Maar
     erkennen niets anders.. ibindend dan de Heilige Schrift     ik meen  me niet te vergissen, als ik den hoofdinhoud
     en de Confessies. Maar het is soms noodzakelijk om          aldus vrij weergeef': tusschen  LI  en  ens liggen  mis-
     klaarlijk en :duidelijk omschreven uit te drukken wat schien we1 theologische verschillen, maar geen confes-
     de Schrift en de Confessies  "leeren. Er zijn  allerlei     sioneele. Dat was een goede en nuchtere opmerking,
     soorten van zoogenaamde Geref ormeerde Kerken ; en          die  meteen  ,de basis aangaf, waarop m.i. geloovigen
     zij beroepen zich allen op de Confessies. In Nederland      elkaar in een kerkverband ontmoeten mogen."
     heeft men de Synodalen,  de Vrijgemaakten, de Christe-      Dit is
                                                                  1  I         niet geheel  waar. De brief waarvan Dr.
:    lijke *Geref,ormeerden,  de Hervormden en de Nederduit;     Schilder spreekt  -werd niet door de  Protestamsche
     schen. En  bier te lande heeft men  .de Christelijke        Gereformeerde Kerken `gezonden,  zooals hij zeer' goed
     Gereformeerde Kerken, de Vrije SGereformeerde  Ker-         weet, maar eenvoudig door de commissie van corres-
     ken, De Gereformeerde Kerk van Amerika en De Pro-           ,pondentie. Toen deze. brief voor de aandacht van' onze
     testantsche ,Geref ormeerde Kerken ; en zij allen maken     synode van 1948 gebracht werd; heeft onze synode de
     aanspraak op den naam Gereformeerd op grond van             terminologie van dien brief niet goedgekeurd, en be-
     de Confessies. Zoo probeerden de Christelijke  Ger.efor-    sloot daarom een anderen brief te zenden, dewelke of-
     meerde Kerken, b.v., zich te beroepen  op de Confessies     ficieel aangenomen werd door de breedste vergadering
     ter  bekrachtiging van hunne  .Drie  Punten,  in 1924.      onzer kerken, en dewelke de deputaten tot correspon-
     En zij beweren.de  dwaling  der algemeene genade in de      dentie  met buitenlandsche kerken ook ontvingen, zoo-
     Drie Formulieren van Eenigheid gevonden te hebben.          als Dr. Schilder zeer we1 weet. In dien brief werd de
     De Synodalen baseeren hun besluiten van 1924-`44 op         zaak waarover Dr. Schilder spreekt met meer bezadigd-
     dezelfde Confessies. .En zonder twijfel zijn de Vrijge-     heid uitgedruld,  als volgt : "Dat onze Synode het in het
     maakten van overtuiging, dat de Heynsiaansche be-           algemeen met de strekking van voornoemden brief
     schouwing van het yerbond de zuivere leer is der Drie       eens is:        Gaarne zoekt zij nauwer contact met de
     Formulieren van Eenigheid. Daarom schijnt het niet          `Gereformeerde  Kerken, onderhoudende Art. 31. Zoo-
     overbodig te ,zijn een korte verklaring op te` stellen,     als gezegd is in den'door de d*eputaten  verzonden brief,
     zooals onze laatste synode deed, van wat `waarlijk en       wij staan met U op den grondslag van de Schrift en
     werkelijk Gereformeerd is,. overeenkomstig onze Con-        de Drie Formulieren van Eenigheid, en handhaven het
     fessies. En  ,dat is het  doelmerk  der Verklaring van      zuivere gereformeerde Kerkrecht, wars zijnde van alle
     Beginselen. Als het, daarom, klaarlijk betoond en  dell-    hiBrarchie." Synodale   Acta, 1948,  pI 53. In  denzelfi
             0


                                                                        .  _

       58                  -                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER-

       den brief der synode schreven we als volgt : "Dat wij              Iets verder  schrijft Dr.*Schilder  : "Zonder daarom
       natuurlijk niet-verwachten,  dat uwe &node reeds op            de deur voor gesprekken van en met deputaten over
       de e.k. vergadering tot de betrekking van zusterkerken         mogelijke correspondentie af te willen sluiten, zonder
       tusschen U en ons zal besluiten, evenmin als U dat van         o.ok vooruit te loopen op wat deputaten nog zullen heb-
       ons verwacht. Mocht uwe Synode eechter  be,sluiten om          ben te verrichten,  willen we  weliwant dat is  oud
       stappen te nemen in de richting van nauwer contact * nieuws-constateeren, dat INDIEN reeds hier en daar
       met onze kerken, dan verzoeken we U om door uwe                plaatselijk onze emigranten mochten gebonden worden
       deputaten met de onze .te correspondeeren of samen             aan theologische meeningen, als we hierboven weer-
       te spreken, om onze Synode, zoowel als de uwe,' in de          gaven, en die we deels zullen afwijzen als bindende
     . kwestie van contact tusschen beide kerkengroepen, van          formules, .de weigering daarvan noodzakelijk  is.             .'
       advies   .te dienen, en alsdan definitieve besluiten  te           De veranderde situatie is dan in dat geval niet van
       nemen." `: Synodale Acta,. 1948, pp. 53, 54.     *             ons uitgegaan,  doch tot.  onzen  grooten  spijt van de
              Deze officieele brief der Synode -veiving natuurlijk    Prot. Ref. Churches zelf. Ze hebben zonder met depu-
     den brief die door onze commissie van correspondentie            taten te komen tot afsluiteride handelingen al vast deze
       verzonden was, en was de eenige brief die officieel voor       nieuwe uitspraken  op stapel gezet. Iets waarover wij
       de Synode van `Amerxfoort,  1945, Bon komen. Merkt             o n s   v e r w o n d e r e n .   I m m e r s :    '
       er op hoe voorzichtig deze brief der Synode geformu-               a) deze kerken hebben.%elf leergeld  gegeven, toen
       leerd was: We vroegen niet om dadelijke, directe cor-          in Kalamazoo' men `Rev. Hoeksema uitdreef met den
       r.espondenjtie,  maar  ,wenschten  `te confereeren en, te      stok van ondoordachte en  slecht  geformuleer,de  aan
       correspondeeren met de deputaten voor corresponden-            de confessie toegevoegde  u&spraken ;                   .
       tie in Nederland. Evenwel, nochlde_Synode van Amers-               b) we hadden .gehoopt;"dat  ze zoiiden7zien,  dat in
       foort, noch de depuitaten  voor correspondentle  met de        sterke handhaving d&r bestaande .belijdenis,  met ,ge-
       buitenlanclsche kerken handelden naar ons `advies. De          lijktijdige verwerping .van  elke  gedachte:-van   daar-
       laatsten liebben nooit met ons geconf,ereerd en nooit          boven uitgaande bindingen, ze haar roeping zouden
       met ons. gecorrespondeerd aangaande de kwestie. Voor           verstaan om zooveel mogelijk geloovigen op te vangen
       meer dan een jaar hoorden we in het geheel niet van            die van over den  oceaan komen wonen in `t gebied,
.      hen. En toen we eindelijk van hen hoorden, nadat `zij          waarop zij zelf zijn gevestigd en waartegenover zij
       geconfereerd hadden `met de Dss. de Jong en Kok; stel-         een roeping hebben. .Het is geen kleinigheid, zelf de
       den zij eenvoudig een complete en -geheel ontwikkelde          oorzaak ervan te zijn, dat menschen, die God vreezen,'
       relatie van correspondentie voor tusschen de Gerefor-          en de gereformeerde belijdenis handhaven, niet aan
       meerde-Kerken;onderhoudende  Art, 31 en onze kerken, onze avondmaalstafel kunnen plaats nemen. Dat heb-
       dewelke  we  slechts   konden  -doorgeven' in de  hsnden       b.en we volgehouden-in 1944 en V.V. in Nederland. Dat
       onzer Synode. Ik heb reeds eerder geschreven,  en ik           zullen we ook volhouden tegenover-  Amerika.                 Ook
       doe het nu weer,:  dat men ~66, de z&en der kerk niet          tegenover beste vrienden en  wehneenende kennissen.
       behoorlijk behartigt. I& ik ben er van overtuigd, dat          Het kan pijn doen, vooral omdat we meenen dat er
       indien de Synode van Amersfoort gehandeld. had over-           misverstand in het spel is. Maar het is nu eenmaal
       `eenkomstig het verzoek en advies onzer Synode van             niet anders.
       1948, in plaats van hals over -kop in een be&it te                 Daarom blijven we, meenen we, in de lijn van onze
       vallen tot daarstellen van correspondentie met onze            vroegere-adviezen, als we zeggen: meldt u bij de Prot.
       ,kerken,  de geheele eliendige `historic der laatste paar      Ref. Churches, maar laat meteen duidelijk weten dat
       jaren vermeden had kunnen worden.                              en waarom ge er niet aan denken  kunt, bedoelde uit-
      .' Nadat Dr. Schilder gewag maakt van hetgeen hij               spraken te aanvaarden. Tenminste, indien ge het eens
      ..denkt de goede gedeelten der Verklaring, der Begin-           zoudt  zijn, met  wat` wij daartegenover zullen  aan-
      .selen  te zijn, gaat hij door als volgt : "Maar wanneer.       yoeren. Neemt men u. dan niet aan, laat u dat, 66k
       nu deze zelfde kerken eigen uitspraken zouden  vastleg-        ,om hunnentwil, spijten mogen, maar zegt geen "ja"
       gen, die naar den inhoud of ondoordacht en slordig             als ge  "neenl' bedoelt. Dan maar liever afwachten,
       geformuleerd (en dus als bindende leer-uitspraken af           ,en zien wat er verder terecht  komt van de poging om
       te -w-ijzen)  zijn, of onjuist zijn, dan scheppen ze daar-     de kous in het gelijkte  breien."
       mee een nieuwe situatie. Die verschilt van het aan-                 Tot zoover Dr.  Schilder..
     vankelijk in bovenbedoelden brief  ingenqmen stand-.                  Wat dient hierop geantwoord?
       punt. En dan kunnen en mogen onze emigranten niet .                 Dr. Schilder suggereert  dat onze Verkiaring van
       daarvoor .capituleer.en.    Deze nieuwe situatie IS-er nog     Begins&en ondodrdacht en slordig geformuleerd is, en,
       niet, maar bedreigt  hen wel, ingeval n.1; de Prot. Ref.       ten minste, gedeeltelijk onjuist. We. zullen wachten
       kerken  -de voorstellen zouden aanvaarden. %n daarom           totdat  hij zulks bewijst vooraleer we antwoorden.
       is -hetgoed, iets naders ;te gaan zeggen yan die voorge-       Maar het is niet waar, dat wij veranderd zijn of dat
       stelde  `uitsprakem"  `,. - -            .-                    we een nieuwe situatie geschapen hebben. Hier ver-
                          . .


                                       T H E   .STANDARD.   BEARER                                                  59.  q

   gist Dr. Schilder zich geheel en al. Hij spreekt van        fessie handhaaft.  Dit.>ontken  ik. En Dr. Schilder
   eensituatie ,die verschilt van het standpunt ingenomen      weet zelf we1 beter. ' Evenwel l&en we niemand toe
   in den brief die door de deputaten verzonden werd,          tot de tafel des Heeren in onze gemeenschap die zichL
   en waar we. alreede.  hierboven op wezen. Maar die          zelf Gereformeerd noemt,~  of zelfs iemand die een at-
   brief werd niet cloor de Synode  van 1948 aangenomen.       testatie in zijn zak heeft van een andere Gereformeerde
   En daarom kan Dr. Sehilder zich niet beroepen op dien       Kerk, waarmede we niet in betrekking van correspond
   brief als zou hij het standpunt onzer kerken vertegen-      dentie  staan.  Noch ook ontvangen we  leden  in onze
   woordigen. In den brief die door onze Synode .van           kerken die een attestatie presenteeren van eenige an+
 1948 aangenomen werd is ons standpunt en onze hou-            dere Gereformeerde kerk, tenzij ze eerst onderzocht
   ding veel juister en meer bezadigd uitgedrukt. En dat       worden,  en toonen, -dat zij op de hoogte zijn met de
   is #de eenigste brief waarnaar Dr. Schilder het recht       Gereformeerde leer,, zooals die geleerd wordt in onze
, heeft officieel te verwijzen.                                Prot. Geref. Kerken, en hunne overeenstemming daar-
      Verder beweert Dr. Schlder, dat wij trachten  ,den       mede  .uitspreken. Dit is altijd de gewoonte geweest
   immigrant aan theologische meeningen  te binden. Hij        in onze kerken ; en ik denk, dat ,deze gewoonte  correct
   heeft het oog, natuurlijk, op de Verklaring van Begin-      is. En indien iemand betoont, nadat hij onderzocht
   selen. We zullen niret vooruitloopen  op ons antwoord       werd, dat hij het niet eens is "met de leer die in deze
   op wat hij in de toekomst zal schrijven, maar wij wil-      Christelijke Kerk alhier geleerd wordt", of onverholen
   len hier tech  .even handhaven,  ldat dit  niet waar is,    uitspreekt, dat .hij het niet eens is met die leer,. daa
   en dat de Verklaring van Beginselen niets inhoudt, dat .iijn niet wij, maar dan is hijzelf de oorzaak, dat hij.
   niet duidelijk in onze Confessies geleerd wordt. Maar,      niet toegelaten kan worden tot de tafel des Heeren
   zooals reeds gezegd werd, dit moet wachten  totdat we       in onze gemeensqhap.  Ook aangaande dit punt zal `ik
   Dr. Schilder's critiek zwart op wit ontvangen. .     --     meer te zeggen hebben.
     ~Ofsehoon,  daarom; de'situatie principieel niet ver-        En nu wil ik oak zelf eenige opmerkingen maken
   anderd is, treedt Dr. Schilder toe tot de rij dergenen      in dit inleidende artikel.
   die den immigranten adviseeren geen .lid te worden             Ten eerste, wil ik met nadruk zeggen, dat de leiders
   van de Protestantsche Gereformkerde  Kerken.  Ik  be-       in de. Vrijgemaakte kerken onuitsprekelijk veel schade
   doel, natuurlij-k, de rij van mannen zooals Ds. van         berokkend hebben aan hum eigen immigranten, vooral
   Raalte, Ds. van Dijk, Prof. Holwerda, en anderen.           die in Canada woonen,.  en -001~ aan de zaak van onze
   Aangaande dit advies hebben we straks nag meer te           anbeid onder hen.
   zeggen. Ik wil het eehter nog eens met nadruk ,zeg-            En dan heb ik  -vooral  mannen voor mijn  aan-
   gen, ,dat de situatie, in zooverre zij ons aangaat, geen    dacht zooals Ds. van Raalte, Ds. van Dijk, en Prof.
   zier veran.derd  is.                                        Holwerda. En nu treedt Dr:Schilder,  helaas, tot hunne
    * Aangaande de vergelijking die Dr. Schilder maakt         gelederen toe. En dan wil ik den broederen  mede-
   tusschen de Verklaring van Beginselen en .de Drie           deelen, dat wij ala Protestantsche Gereformeerde Ker--
   Punten van Kalamazoo van 1924, zou ik  willen vol-          ken trouw gearbeid hebben onder de immigranten in
   houden dat die in het geheel niet opgaat,~  en dat er       Canada; dat wij hen letterlijk. aan onzen boezem ge;,
   geen overeenkomst is tusschen die twee. Want ik houd        drukt hebben; dat wij hen hebben liefgehad; dat `we
   staande, dat in de Verklaring .van Beginselen in het ,duizende en duizende dollars aan hen besteed hebben
   geheel niets toegevoegd is tot ,de Confessies, `terwijl     en ten hunnen bate ; dat we hen .getrouwelijk onder-
   de Drie Punten van Kalamazoo zeer zekerlijk toevoeg-        wezen hebben:; en dat we getracht hebben hen te or-
   selen zijn aan onze Drie Formulieren van Eenigheid.         ganiseeren in- Prot. Geref. Kerken:.  `*Maar .het `was
   En in d'e tweede plaats iijn de Drie Punten niet alleen     steeds de invloed die op'hen uitgeoefend werd `vanuit
   toevoegselen aan, maar oqk verbasteringen van de be-        bet oude vaderland, die onze arbeid zoo moeilijk en
   lijdenissehriften. Dit heb ik meer dan eens `definitief     praktiseh  onmogelijk-  maakte: Hunne leiders uit het
   en zeer duidelijk aangetoond; Indien dit niet het geval     oude vaderland porren hen aan tegen ons, beide door
   geweest was, zouden we `geen bezwaar' gehad .hebben         openbare  artikelen in .hunne bladen. en door private
   de Drie Punten bindend te achten voor onszelf en voor       correspondentie. Blijkbaar was hun doe1 om in Amer-
   onze kerken. Maar dit is zeker niet waar van de Ver-        ika, een verlenging der Vrijgemaakte Kerken te schep-
  klaring van Beginselen. En indien Dr. Schilder duide- pen, of zelfs om de Prot. Geref. Kerken te bewegen het-
   lijk bewijzen kan, dat de Verklaring van Beginselen .zelfde  standpunt in te nemen als zij ingenomen hadden
   niet niet alleen een toevoeging aan, maar `ook een ver-     in Nederland. Ik verzeker de broederen, dat dit om
   krachting van onze Confessies is, dan beloof ik hem,        meer dan  6%  reden onmogelijk zal  blijken. Ik heb
   dat onze kerken haar nooit zullen aanvaarden.               de immigranten meer dan eens geadviseerd, dat zij
       Dr. Schilder suggereert, dat wij de oorzaak zouden      zich niet moeten laten ophitsen tegen ons door Neder-
   zijn om toegang tot de `tafel des Heeren te weigeren        land, maar dat ,zij leer& moeten om op eigen beenen
   aan volk,.dat  IGod vreest  en dat de Gereformeerde Con-    te staan. Zij moeten  voor ziehzelf oordeelen wat de


,  ,60                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA,RER  '

  zuiverste openbaring van het  lichaam  van  Christus          accentueerden zij zelf alltijd het verschil tusschen hen
  is in Amerika. En ik ben er zeker van, dat indien zij         en ons aangaande het v&bond. En let er op, zij zijn
  dit  `doen,  en als zij van harte waarlijk- Gereformeerd      het geweest die. steeds tot ens kwamen met de be-
  zijn, en de Gereformeerde waarheid verstaan, zij zich         wering,  dat zij de ware kerk ware-n; en dat alle andere
  zekerlijk zullen aansluiten bij `de Protestantsche  Gere-     kerken eenvoudig de  val&he kerk  waren. Nu is het
  formeerde Kerken; Maar ik zeg nog eens weer, dat              een welbekend feit, dat in `de Vrijgemaakte Kerken,
  de invloed  van& Nederland schade heeft berokkend             ofschoon  ze beweren, dat niet  &en-  verbondsbeschou-
  aan ,de zaak der Vrijgemaakte immigranten, en dat het wing  ,bindend is, de Heynsiaansche theologie aangaande
  een struikelblok bewees te zijn voor hen om'zieh bij          het  verbond  Gods geaccepteerd word& als de eenige
  onze kerken aan te sluiten.                                   ware  c0ncepti.e. Van deze Heynsiaansche conceptie,
          Als een flagrant voorbeeld van dezen  verderfe-       zooals iedereen weet, ook D.r. Schilder,  verschilt onze
  lijken invloed en propaganda wil ik nog eens weer wij-        beschouwing radicaal. Voor ons handhaaft die Heyn-
  ien op den brief die Prof. Holwerda aan de immigran-          siaansehe  beschouwing  de valsche theorie der gemeene
  ten in Canada schreef. Ik ben nooit bij  machte  ge-          gratie,`toegepast op de sfeer des `verbonds.  Wij  ver-
  wee& om de juiste waarheid aangaande dezen brief te           oordeelen die beschouwing als  principie&  Armini-
  ontdekken. Dat zij zoo; maar de brief zelf zit vol van        aansch, ,en handhaven, dat de belofte Gods alleen voor
  onwaarheden aangaande onze kerken en bun leiders,             de uitverkorenen is. Zoo is de situ&tie  tusschen ons
  en is terzelfder  tijd een aansporing der Vrijgemaakten       en de Vrijgemaakte immigranten in Canada.           Hoe
  om propaganda te maken voor humre beschouwing in ) konden we .anders  handelen? We konden tech zeker-
  het midden `onzer .kerken.       In dien brief wordt een      lijk de ware en de valsche kerk niet organiseeren in
  scherp onderscheid gemaakt tusschen de beschouwing            een'en dezelfde  *kerkgemeenschap?  Zoo lang als zij
  van Ds. Boeksema  aangaande de uitverkiezing en die           beweerden de.ware  k&k te zijn, waren wij, natuurlijk,
  der Protestant&he  `Gereformeerde  Kerken. De  be-            de valsche kerk.     Hoe  konden wij hen dan in  onze.
  schouwing van Ds. Hoeksema is niet de kerkleer, en            gemeenskhap  ontvangen? Bovendien  moeten we niet
  niemand wordt er `aan gebonden. Het grootste ge-              vergeten  dat onder hen allerlei soort volk is. Solil-
  deelte van het Prot. Geref. volk; volgens Holwerda's          migen  waren positief Arminiaansch. Sommigen  be-
  brief, denkt:  niet zooals Ds. Hoeksema en Ds. IOmphoff.      weerden openlijk, dat God elk en alle  kinderen  die
' Sympathie voor de. Vrijgemaakteii en voor hunne bei           onder  het~ verbond geboren  worden liefheeft, hoofd
  schouwing des verbonds werd verondersteld groot te voor hoofd en, ziel voor ziel. Sommigen beweerden
  zijn in onze kerken. Voor vrijgemaakte opvattingen            openlijk dat Christus voor alle menschen gestorven
  aangaande het v&bond was volledig plaats. De Prot.            was. _), Mochten wij mogelijk onze eigen kerken ver-
Geref. Kerken  worden   geacht de ware kerk te zijn             derven door openlijk Arminianen toe te laten tot onze
  omdat zij een ruime  plaats inruimen  -voor de  oon-          gemeenschap?  Dat was natuurlijk onmogelijk. Daar-
  ceptie-der Vrijgemaakten. Bovendien  `dringt de brief         om  besloten we om hen te onderwijzen vooraleer we
  van Prof. Holwerda er bij de Vrijgemaakte immigran- hen in kerken organiseerden. En zoo organiseerden
 ,ten op aan om op alle manier contact te bewaren met we eindelijk twee kerken, een in Hamilton en een in
  Nederland en om de Nederlandsehe  literatuur te ver-          Chatham.
  !spreSden. En hij schrijft; dat de Vrijgemaakten een             En nog was het probleem niet opgelost. Vele andere
  zeer vruchtbaar werk zouden doen als zij werklten in          immigranten kwamen naar Canada,  ,beide Synodalen
  d.e Prot. Geref. Kerken. tot wegneming van misverstand        en Vrijgemaakten.      De Synodalen  w&den niet  ver-
  en aan verdieping van inzicht. En de Vrijgemaakten            wacht, dat zij zich bij ons zouden aansluiten. Gewoon-
  moeten de dogmatische rijkd'om van Holland doorgeven          lijk gingen zij  naar de Christelijke Gereformeerde
  in de Protestantsche IGereformeerde  Kerken. Indien           Kerken. Ons probleem was,altij,d met de Vrijgemaak-
  de conceptie van Hoeksema bindend ware, zoo con-              ten. Konden zij eenvoudig toegelaten worden  op hunne
  cludeert de schrijver, dan zou hij de immigranten ad-         attestaties? Zij werden bezocht, maar zij stonden
  viseeren om zich nooit  aan te sluiten. Propaganda            stee'ds op hun Teigen  bijzondere verbondsbeschouwing.
  van deze soort, broeders, en er is heel wait van die soort    Hoe was het dan mogelijk om .de tweede doopvraag
  geweest, heeft de zaak der Nrijgemaakte immigranten bevestigend te beantwoorden aangaande de leer "die
  in Canada veel schade berokken'd, en heeft het voor- in deze Christelijke Kerk alhier geleerd wordt"? De
  ons nagenoeg onmogelijk gemaakt om onder hen te kerkeraad  van Hamilton maakte eindelijk een besluit
  a r b e i d e n .                                             om ,degenen' die toegelaten zouden worden  tot lidmaat-'
           Maar er is meer.                      i              schap te vragen of zij beloofden zieh te laten onder-
           Wij  waren het niet, maar het  waren de  Vrijge-     wijzen in de Prot.  ,Geref.  waarheid,  en dat zij geen
  maakte immigranten  zelf, die de noodzakelijkheid             propaganda zouden  maken in de gemeente voor hun  r
  schiepen tot een verklaring van beginselen zooals onze        eigen bizondere  verbondsbestihouwing.  Op die basis
  ,laatste  synode aannam. `Toen wij onderhen arbeidden,        werd door den kerkeraad met de immigranten gewerkt

                                   .
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                                    THE..STANDARD   B E A R E R                                                             ,61

voor tijd en wijle. Maar  spoedig   verzwakten. ze, en. hoofdbedoeling van het boek Esther en zijn plaats in
zij weigerden om huri zeer redelijke besluit te hand-         den kanon goed heefk gevat. "Haman's ,boze aanslag
haven. De zaak werd door den kerkeraad van Hamil-             is in wezen een poging van den- duivel om de komst
iton zelf ter attentie  van de  Classis  (Oo,st) gebraeht.    van. Christ@ te verhinderen."
De classis besldot hen te adviseeren bij hun besluit te          Hartelijk aanbevolen.
blijven, en geen leden  toe te laten op eenige andere                                                            H. H.
basis. En juist  toen ik dit hoofdartikel schreef,  be-                                                   - .
reikte mij het ,bericht, dat de kerkeraad van Hamilton        Jakobus-&cZas  (in &n band) door &. F. W. Giosheide
weigerde zich aan het besluit der classis ite houden:              (Jakobus)\ en Dr. S:,Grejdanus  (Judas). Uitgever
   En nu moet ge niet den indruk ontvangen, dat de                J. H. Kok, N. V. Kampen, Nederland. Prijs f. 2.75.
verandering in het standpunt van Hamilton's kerke-               Ook deze beide commentaren, beide behoorend tot
raad aangaande het toelaten van leden in hun kerk ver-        de serie: Korte Verklaring,  en/  beide,  evenals al de
oorzaakt werd  `door de Verklaring van Beginselen.            commentaren in deze. serie, .een tweeden druk bele-
Want iij veranderden hun standpunt vooraleer die              vend,  be&en we gaarne bij ons Hollandsch lezend
Verklaring aangenomen werd.                                   publiek aan. Ze zijn beide geschreven in zeer heldere
   Maar  ik herhaal, dat zij beinvloed werden door            taal en stijl, gemakkelijk te verstaan zelfs voor onze
pressie vanuilt Nederland. Zij haddeti niet .voldoende        Yankee-Dutch. En ze bieden in het algemeen degelijke
weerstandsv&rmogen om op eigen beenen te staan.               exegye.  I
   En dit is de geschiedenis die aehter de Verklariqg            Dit  ho&t  niet in, dat we het altijd met de  ver-
van Beginselen ligt.. Zooals ik .uiteenzette in een vorig     klaring eens zijn: Op sommige  punten verschillen we
hoofdartikel,, vroeg het Zendings-Cornit  om ztilk een        met de verklaring,  vooral van den brief van Jhkobus.
verklaring, dewelke dienen kon voor een basis waarop          Maar dit verschil betreft geen principieele zaken, maar
zij hun zendingswerk konden verrichten vooral onder           louter k-westies  van exegetischen aard.
de .Canade'esche  immigranten. De Syriode willigde hun           Hartelijk aanbevolen.
verzoek in.                                                                                                       3%. H.
    In in&en wij de zuiverheid  der leer zouden hand-
haven in onze Protestantsehe Geref'ormeeFde  .Kerken,         De  Voomi&igheid Go&s, door Dr. G. C. Berkhouwer
dan was deze Verklaring z$er zeker noodig.                        .(in de serie  Dogmatische   Studi&).  .Uitgever  J.
                                            H .   H .   I_        H. Kok, N.V. Kampen, Nederland. Prijs f. 6.90.
                                                                 Dit is naar mijn oordeel, eeh der minst geslaagde
                                                              der "$ogmatisdhe  studi&i"` van Dr: Berkhouwer. We1
                     - Van Bdeken                             staanser  in di,t mboek allerlei belangrijke en wetenwaar-
                                                              dige  dingen  .over de, voorzienigheid, en  we1  worden
                                                              allerlei beschouwingen van anderen  kritiich  onder-
Esther  (in de serie : Korte Verklaring der  Heiligti         zoekt; maar ten eerste biedt Dr. Berkhouwer in `t ge-
     ,Schrift) door Dr. G.- Ch; Aalders.  Uitgever J. H.      heel geen nieuwe gezichtspunten over de Voorzienig-
     Kok, N.V.  Kampen,  Nederland,  Prijs  f.2.50.           heid :Gods, en ten tweed&,  en dat is wel'mijn hoofd-
    l$ze verklaring van'het boek Esther  bevelen we           bezwaar, heeft hij het probleem  der  voorzienigheid
gaarne aan. Het is jammer, dat verreweg de meeste             als geheel niet- geva$ en overzienr
van onze jonge menschen bet Hollandsch niet meer                 Ik heb mij afgevraagd,`hoe het komt, dat Dr. `Berk-
kunnen lezen, &oral daar juist dit bijbelboek op oilze        houwer, dien we anders uit zijn andere werken leerden
Jongeliedenvereenigingen  besproken  wordt. Hun, die          kennen als een  goed dogmatic&, zoo weinig grondige
echter het Nederlandsch nog machtig iijn, en vooral           studie blijkt te hebben ge&jd aan .zulk een gewichtig
de leiders van onze vereenigingen, raden we a&n om            probleeni  als dat der voorzienigheid Gods. Mijn ant-
zich deze commentaars  aan ,te schaffen.                      woord is, dat hij zich op eens, zonder eenig verband,
    In  eene  inleiding  behandelt Dr.  Aalders  ook de       op het probleem der voorzienigheid heeft geworpen.
bezwaren tegen de geloofwaardigheid van het boek              Als hij eerst den raad Gods en de schepping had be-
Esther, maar hij merkt tevens op, dat hij dat niet            handeld, in veurband ook met de zonde en bet wonder
Ideed, "omd&  wij noodig hadden ons &erst van de bB           der genade, wellicht had hij beter licht geworpen op
trouwbaarheid der medegedeelde feiten te verzekeren,          hot piobleem der voorzienigheid.
maar eenig en  a'lleen om  aan te  tonen, hoe zwak de            Misschien ga ik later nob eens antwoordeti  op zijn
gronden zijn,.waarop men, menigmaal rnct de stout&            overigens zeer oppervlakkige  kritiek  op mijn geme&e
zelfverzekerdheid, de historiciteit van het  bock  be-        gratie beschouwing, kritiek waarvoor ik hem overigens
twist."        `.                                             ze&, dankbaar ben.
    Wat ons bovenal bevalt is, dat de  sch;rijver de             I.                                              H. H. .


-62                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   EiEAtiER

 Bijb.else Encyclopaedie, dogr Dr. W. H. Gispen, Dr. J.                   he speaks and writes from conviction. He declares,
        W. `Grosbeide,  F. J. Bruijel, Dr. A..Van Deursen.                does he not, that he will maintain everything that he
        Uitgever J. H.' Kok, N.V. Kampen, Nederland.                      has written about conditions. He declares, too, that
        Prijs f.15.                                                L      he is thankful to God that in his earlier writings Rev.
       l%t is eigenlijk een bijbelsch woordenboek. In een                 Hoeksema "taught conditions". That, says he,  tYas
 inleidend woord schrijven de samenstellers: "Het  on- the Lord's doings whereby He put tb shame Rev. Hoek-
 derhavig werl?draagt  een gehebl ander karakter  (dan                    sema's. present posistion, teaching, doctrine; and he
 de .christeiijke Encyclopaedie,  H.H.) . Thans worden                    concludes with telling us that it is right for him to. use
alleen Bijbels,e name&dit dan te nemen in den ruim-                       "these  materials" to condemn Rev: H&ksema's present
 sten zin van het woord-opgehomen en uitvoerig ver-                       position. This certainly is the.laq&$ge of conviction.
klaard. Ni& besproken worden  dogma's,  begrippen,                        It ii language that Rev. Petter can"use  with a good
 die hetzij door de kerk, hetzij, door personen uit de                    conscience before God only if he be- convinced in his
 Schrift werden afgeleid" etc.~ In- hoofdzaak  iS dit                     heart that he writes and speaks,the  truth.. I
waar.        Deze encyclopaedie behandelt hoof dzakeli jk                    If Rev. Petter is now openly condemnigg oui teach-
bijbelse namen, en dan vooral eigennamen. Tech is dit                     ing, we, too, take and all along have been taking a
                                                                          definite stand publicly in the Standard Bearer  regaY'd-
niet geheel waar. Zoo behandelt het boek b.v; ook h&                      ing his teaching-we :
begrip  "geloof)`. Maar wie nu zoekt naar                                                             Rev. H. Hoeksema, Rev. H.
                                                       `POOrtg&jk~        Veldman, and the undersigned. We hold and `declare
begrippen zooals "genade'?`b.v.  vergist zich. \Het is dus
niet geheel duidelijk van welk principium de sam&i-                       and all along have been arguing the point that the
atellers bij# de keuze tier namen zijn uitgegaan.                         teaching of Rev. Petteu: ru%s contrary to the true doc-
                                                                          trine of the Scriptures and of our Creeds. _
       Tech is er veel in dit woordenboek, .dat belangrijk                   What it means is that there is a controversy in
is; en we bevelen het gaarne aan allen, die Hollandscl?.                  progress between brethren of the same hotisehold  of
kunnen lezen aan.                                                         faith, that is, of the communion of churches that bears
                                                         H. H.            the  natie Protestant Reformed. The brethren involved
                                                                          are Rev. Petter on the one hand versus Rev. H. Hoek-
                                                                          sema, Rev. H. Veldrnall- and the undersigned on the
          Rev; Petter Has :Arrived                                        oth& hand.                                         I
                                                                            -Mark yod well, I say controversy and not discussion.
   As we all know, Rev. Petter's section heading-for. A discussison in our case would be a debate in which
his contributions in the "Coneordia" is "Among Our                        the four of us took part for the sake. of arriving.  at the
Treasures". Under this heading' the "Concordia't' for                     truth  regarding the matter in dispute through the
October 12 (Number 16) contains two articles from                         investigation of' the Scriptures.
the pen of Rev. Petter. The second half of the first of                     On the other hand, the controversialist  (contra oppo-
these - it bears the title "Temptation" - reads as                        site and versus pp of vertere to turn, hence contro-
follows :                                                                 vert to turn .against) , the controverting church, _ has
                                                                          -o&&e&-at  the truth. She has seized the truth; The
   "Shoulad  auyone  have questions or .desire  a Biblical d&ssion        truth stands out clearly in her mind against the back;
 on the-conditions in the Bible, that could, of course, be instructive
and' edifying, no doubt. In the meantime, I will reassert that I          grpund of the lie, the heresy. Being thus spiritually
maint&n  everything that I hsive  written about conditions. And           equipped, she coritroverts:  she exposes without minc-
I ;also'maintain  that the earlier writings of Rev; Hoeksema, in          ing words the lie in all its fearful ramifications. She
which he taught conditi,ons,  faith as a condition, convkrsion-`as  a     sets forth the truth, declares in'the hearing of all men
condition, repentance as a condition to receive forgiveness, and          what she ibelieves  to be the truth of the Scriptures.
con,d!itions  in the Confessions, bondemn  his present position and       And she qpposes  the truth to the!ie. That is her call-
attitude  against me. `Without gloating I am very thankful that
the Lord has deposited these materials in his earlier writings,           ing. Woe unto her if she walks not worthily of  -it.
whereby his present attack is so effectively put to shame. A  so-         And therefore I. cannot subscribe what Rev. Petter in
called apology does not  ibn the least affect the validity of my          his second article says about ,controversy. He calls it
use of  those,writings  to condemn his position."                         a necessary evil. But controversy is not an evil. It is
       Here-Rev. Petter is telling us what he does with                   preaching the Gospel as Christ wants it preached.
our position, that is, our teaching to the 4ffect that in                 It is therefore a work necessary and good which God
the covenant faith is not a condition but an instillment.                 hath before ordained that His people+-the  church of,
In the above excerpt he opbnly condemns that teaching,                    the elect-should walk in it. Should fYe then be afraid
which is  .,equivalent  to  pronouncipg it a heresy. To                   of  contkoversy ? Should we not by all means refrain
(this teaching he opposes his own doctrine to the effect                  from calling it an evil? The church that will not'eon-
that faith is a condition. And judging fro& the lan-                      trpvert has lost its savor and -is good only for being
guage.that he employs, we are driven to conclude that                                          ,.       - --
                                                                          cast on the dunghill to be trodden by men. What we L


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          63

should fear `is not c'ontroversy but that which always          please?*  Not of course. that I am opposed to discussing
wants to disqualify ;a Christian man for contro$ersy,           with the Libeptited.    '
,n&nely his sinful flesh.                                          Rev. Petter continues: "And woe to us i'f we create
   Rev.  Petter in  that second article writes  more            an atmosphere that makes discussion practically im-
`things with which I cannot agree. For example this:            possible, and we become guilty of obstructing and im-
"For it, controversy, pr&upposes  a &ff.er&ce  of opin-         peding the shepherding and church-gathering work of
ion. and `thus an imperfeition in our miderstanding  of         Christ in this world of tangled relations,.
God's words.`? But controversy as a good. work of the               "Therefore it is necessary to discuss the new De-
church of the-elect is born of Conviction not of opinion.       c l a r a t i o n .
What it presupposes is the clear&t understanding of               "Ii? may be possible that the embarrassing fruits
the ScriptuYes  on the part of God's believing people. of misunderstanding are already appearing in Canad;."
For the controverting- church has arrived,                       `These sentences; too, s&t me to thinking. I studied
    Rev. Petter has arrived. Whether he has arrived             them long and hard. Let us first concentr&te  on the
at the truth, whether,. in other words, he is the true          statement : f`Therefore it is also necessary to discuss
`controversialist amopg  us, is quite another Ixuestion.        the new Declaration." Rev. Petter intends doing so
Be this as it may, he has arrived. If not, how could hk- in a series of articles to follow. But seeing that he has
openly and. publicly and apparently with'such convi&            arrived,' seeing that, according to his solemn convic-
tion be. condemning our position, Verily, the brother           tion, faith .is .a condition and the contrary doctrine
has arrived. hence, he has no more need -of discussion          heresy, he shall have to discuss'the new Declaration
on the points at issue in our dispute. This is so plain         for the sake of condemning it and urge the churches
also  .from  the following statement from his pen:              to do likewise. For the essence of the new Declaration
"Should anyone have a !question or desire a biblical            is that  fa.ith is not a condition, that it is solely  an
discussion on the conditions in the Bible, that could           instrument, and that therefore the promises of God
of course be instructive and edifying, no doubt." Let           to His people are unconditional and unfailing. And
US take notice. What Rev. Pett$ deems instructive               that, according to Rev. Petter, is heresy. I repeat,
and edifying is discussion on coz.&it~o~  in the Bbb.           Rev. Petter shall have to condemn the new Declaration ;
The question whether .or no- the Bible actually teiches         and that, certainly, he intends to do, must do. For a
conditions has ceased -to be a question for hip. He is          man, certainly, may not trample hi's convictions.
convinced that it does. Hence, what he would welcome               But Rev. Petter has still another reason for want-
is that we discuss the matter with him as-occupying             ing the new Declaration condemned. The new Declara-
his position and accordingly as being motivated by, the         tion impedes the shepherding and church-gathering
felt need of beeing grounded in his position. Very un-          word of Christ, that is, it excludes, Rev. Petter means
welcome therefore would be to him a discussion for the          to sajr,.all such who hold with Rev. Petter thti+ faith is
sake of `testing his position. For he has arrived.              a condition,. And Rev. Petter wants these persons ad-
    This is sig@.cant especially in the light of the fol-       mitted.    But supposing now that it were his  rock-
iowing statement from Rev. Petter's pen: "And there- bottom and .unshakable conviction that faith is not a
is especially an urgent need of discussion with the             cqndition bu% solely an instrument, and that the con-
Liberated churches and  peqple of the Netherlands.              tyury .view is heresy, would he then also be complain-
There are many points on which we must clearly set              ing that the riew Declaration obstr.tiets  and impedes
our conceptions as we understand them in cbmparison             the shepherding and church-going work of' Christ?
witli theirs whatever they are, and then discuss them           Would he then be urging the churches to condemn the
through to the end."                                            new Declaration?. How could he? For that would be
    I must comment first on tize clause, "whatever they         equivalent to urging the churches to open their doors
are." -1'  belieye Rev.  Petter should  have kept  these        to heretics, wouldn't it? Well, we  ,are of  the..convic-
words in his pen. For as appears from all his earlier           tion that the doctrine to the effect that faith is not a
articles he is thorohghly conversant with the concep-           condition but solely an instrument is the teaching df
tions of the Liberated, definitely with the two thought- the. Scriptures and our Confessions.  Certaiqly, Rev.
pillars of their peculiar theology.         i                   Petter can't blame us therefore, if we `defend the neti
    $econd,  iet us take, riotice  of this too : Bev. Petter    Declaraiion   .and urge its adoption.  He would do  the
wants to compare our conceptions with those of the              same, he would `be compelled to `do the same, if otily
.Liberated.  What conceptions please? I ask because             he shared our convictions. So you see the attitude wb
Rev. Petter has arrived-at the position that faith is           take toward the new Declaration, must depend. sole-
a condition. He thtis. embraces as truth exactly one            ly 6n our convidions. And this is but another way of
half of liberated theology, if this theology allows being       saying  t-hat the sole question confronting  each  alid
split into halves. And therefore his wanting to dis:' every one of  us  regarding the new Declaration  3s:
cuss  with the Liberated causes me to ask: What for,            Is it true? Does it; yes or no, set forth cer~a~n'~l%&&


       64'
                                 `
                                   ,.        T H E       $TA.NDARD   B E A R E R   e'

       ,of doctrine  contaitied in our Confessions? If  sp, and      later between Rev. Petter's doctrine and ours.  What
       if that is my conviction, I am ,in duty bound fo adopt        is their choice going to be? Are `our people, at least
       it, and urge the churches to do likewise, If not, and         the great majority of them going to choose  Rev.
       if this is my convction,  I am in duty bound to reject        Petter's dodrine? Or will they cleave to the doctrine
       it, and to urge ihe churches to do litiewise.    For cer-     that has been preached among us from the ,beginning
       tainly I may not reject a document that, according to         of our existence? * `God only knows. And He will re-
       my firm conviction, sets forth the truth on the ground        veal, it. In the-meantime we will continue to  tiar what
       that its adoption would be untimely. How, I would             we believe to be His warfare.
       like to know, could otir owning, and championing$he              Let not our pkople say that essentially Reir. Petter
       truth and our opposing tlie truth to error ever be un-        and we agree, and :that it is only a squabble about
       timely? Can dur walking worthily of our calling as            words. That certainly is as little Rev. Petter's view
       churches ever be untimely?                                    of the matter as it is ours. Rev. Petter has openly
           Let R,ev. Petter act according to. his. convictions       condemned our position, hasn't he?
       iegarding that new Declaration. And we will do the               But I bellieve we should by all means take to heart
       same. An,d let him~ by all. means and on his own re-          these words of Rev. Pettier:  "I want to maintain that
       s-ponsibility, of course, persist in maintaning that faith    altogether too often controversy borders on the un-
x      .is a condition, if. that is his conviction. And let ,him     christian, the unbrotherly." That, alas, is only too true.
       persist in opposing his doctrine to our positiolz.  But       Let us henceforth see to .it that this can not be said of
       let him remember. that we, too, have our convictions.         us. Let us not be fanatical in our reaction but let us
       Let him remember that we, too, have arrived. It is            r.emain calm and brotherly and in a spirit of meekties.s
       our firm belief that his `doctrine  is unreformed, and        wage.this  controversy through to its end.
       that, our stand, teaching,. regarding conditions,. is the        Rev. Petter's second article contains more such
       true doctrine' of the Scriptures and of the Confessions.      warnings and admonitions.to  brotherly conduct in con- .
       We shall therefore continue to expose -Rev. P&ter's           trovbrsy.  He says for example, "And woe unto us if
       doctrine for what we believe it to be, namely an error.       we create an atmosphere that makes discussion .prac-
       And we shall continue to set forth our doctrine in all        tically impossible." That of course would be terrible.
       its glory and oppose it to be that error. That, of course,    But I was just wondering whether Rev.tPetter  directs
       will spell continued contrbversy  within! the bosom of        this and pimilar speech oniy to us and not aiso to him-
     our. communion  o$ churches for as long a time as               self. He leaves that impression as in the statement,
       necessity will dictate. And, our  peo$le must not  be         -`"And  the-preseqt approach of the Standard Beafer
       averse to controversy. For the true church contro-            does not lend to edification.!' He shquld not have neg-
       verts, Controverting, it preaches, as was stated,. the        lected to make this clear ; and -certainly he should not
       Gospel as Christ wants it preached, that is antithetic-       have by-passed the Concordia, which he does. The
       ally. Rev. Petter, therefore did wrong in stating that        way he treated Rev. R. Veldman is certainly calculated
       he can feel for those readers who have a distaste for         to make discussiqn practically' impossible. And there
       "this controversy" and who .would keep ,it out of our         is no excuse for his ,latest attack on Rev. Hoeksema.
       papers and. the eyes of the public ; that he will not         More could be mentiioned.
       brush their feelings aside ; and that he trusts that it        But- in fine: j Let us without ceasing pray God for
       is voiced by people, Christian people, who try to gather      the grace that is needed to wage this controversy in
       edification from our papers. His stating that he can          a spirit &early besPeaking that what we seek is not
       feel for those- readers who have a distaste for "this         ourselves but the truth.
       controversy" is really equivalent to his stating- that
       he can f,eel for readers who ,have a distaste for preach-
       ing the Gospel as. Christ .wants it preached. Besides,                      IO~NE  M,ORE REMARK.
       Rev. Petter should bear in mind that it was he and               As  far as the undersigned is concerned this con-
       not us who started "this controversy" in our circles.         troversy could end right now. For he, too, (the under-
       I know, in one of his articles he denies it, throwing         signed) has arrived. To him it has become as clear as
       the blame on the ciberated. But that is wrong. The            the sun in the-heavens that, according to the Scriptures
       Liberated ~may have started the controversy `between          and our Confessions, faith is not `a condition in the
       us and themielves,  `but not, certainly, between Rev.         covenant. The matter is remarkably simple. &One of
      ' Petter and us (Rev. Hoeksema, Rev. Veldman and the           my earlier writings contains a definition of the term
       undersigned). That was solely the work of Rev. Petter.        condition,  taken, from the Century Dictionary and
           And now the controversy is on. And our people             Cyclopedia of the English yanguage, a work of ten
       must want it and follow it closely-very closely and           voiumes. ' But Rev. Pet&  did not like that definition.
       studibusly- for the rest of its duration. That is their       He called it border-lined. So he presented in the Con-
       s.olemn duty. And they shall have to choose sooner or         cordia  for July 21, 1949 what to him is the proper de&
                                                                                       `.


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                                        65

       nition of the term in dispute. "The simple' dictionary vation from beginning to etid and in all its phases is
       definition," he wrote, "is perfectly valid, namely, an         solely ' God's work in man?" Indeed this is also his
       event, fact, ok the like that is necessary to .the occur-      teaching. But in defending among us the firoposition
       ante of some other, though not its cause;. a prerkqui-         to the effect that faith is a cond&ion,' he draws a line
       s i t e . "                                                    of thought in conflict `with and thus exclusive. of the
          But this makes fccith i "cordition re`quired  before-       true doctrine. It means that he has introduced in our
       hand" (the part of this sentence inclosed in parenthesis       communion the double-track theology of the Christian
       was taken from my dictionary) -and therefore a virtue          Reformed Churches.
       that man must supply, provide, originate,/if  .God is to           Neither Rev. Petter nor anyone else must take it ill
       save him. Certainly, such a conception is strange to           of me that I say these things publicly in the Standard
       the Scriptures and our Confession. This is plaid and Bearer. For, like Rev. Petter, we, too, have arrived.
       thoroughly understandable. It is not true that the             He is openly defending his position and condemning
       matter in dispute is bafflingly intricate, involving us        our.+ This places us under the necessity of openly
       in inumerable difficulties and problems the solutions          exposing his t&aching. It compels us to set forth OUT
       of which will come to us only after years and years            ,doctrine' and oppose it to what we believe. to be his
       and still more years of intensive and. sustained' study        error. In a word, there is being waged in our midst a
       and discussion. It is simply a matter. of Armnianism controversy, which was started by Rev. Petter, and
       versus the truth-the true conception,-thus verily a            meaning that he and we have arrived.
       matter that was settled, wasn't it ?,some 331 years ago                             2                       G. M. Ophoff.  '
       on the synod' of Dordt, 161%`19, by otir' R&formed
       fathers. And the conclusions at which they arrived                                       ---
      -they laid down in a number of canons known as the
       Can&s of Dordt.                                                                          hngezoideti                   _           0
          Allow me to quote from these Canons:
           Canons l-B-111.                                                                              Chatham,  21 October,' 1950
           "We reject the errors of those who teach-that `God         Aan de Redact&r  van de Standard Bearer,
       chose the act of faith as a condition of salvation."           Geachte Redact&r :
           Canons 1-B-V.                                                  `Tegenover het ingezonden stuk ,van Mr. De Jong
           "`We reject the error of those who. teach that faith, te ,Grand Rapids, ,Michigan in de Standard Bearer van
       the obedience of faith, holiness, godliness, and perse-        15 October 1950, nmnmer 2, zou ik het volgende willen
       verance; are conditions and causes yithout which the           s t e l l e n   /            ,
.      unchangeable election to glory does. n6t occur. . . ."            le.. Gr. De Jong vraagt wat beide kerkengroepen,
           Canons l--B-VII.                                           te weten de Protestant Reformed ,Churches en de ;Gere-
           "`We reject the errors of those who teach that . . . .     formeerde Kerken (art. 31)  gemeeti  hebben. Ik ant-
       there is in this life no fr"uit and no consciousness`bf        woord daarop: B,eide hebben gemeen dat zij staan op
       the unchangeable election to glory, nor ?ny certainty,         de basis van de Heilige. Schrift en de Drie Formulieren
       except that which depends on a changeable and un-              van Eenigheid. Daarom is het  g&en pleiten (plead)
       certain condition . . . ."                                     van on,s, emigranten, om ons als leden  bij de Protestant
            (Rev. Petter  found fault with me for stating that,       Reformed Chur.ches te voegeti,  maar . . . een iegelijk
       according to the dictionary, the essential characteristic      is  volgens artikel 28 van de Ned.  ,Geloofbelijdenis  .
       of conditions is their changeableness. This character- schuldig iich bij de ware kerk te voegen.
       istic was included in my.def%&ionof  conditions-a defi-           2e. Mr. De Jong generaliseert  als hij in zijn "Con-
       nition that Rev. Petter brushed aside as claiming that         trilj+i~n" degene, die zich in `Hamilton en daarbuiten
       it" was border-lined. He will take notice of the expres-       niet afsclieiden, nadir aanleiding van het bezoel: van
       sions occurring in the above Canon: "changeable and            19s. Hettinga, over dezelfde kam scheert, als hen die
       uncertain conditions).              :                          dit  wei deden.           Velen in en buiten  Hamillton  en
           Canons 5-B-I.                                              Chtitham. keuren af hetgeen in Hamilton is gebeurd.
           "The synod rejects'the errors of thos&who teach            U generaliseert  nogmaals als U Rn" herinnert  aan de
       that . . . . th@ perseverance of the true beli&vers is not,    "Januskop" in verband  met de royale behandeling van
       a fruit of election, or a gift of ,God, gained by the death    sominige van-Uw leiders (wie zijn dat?, ik ken in de
       of Christ, but a condition .of the new covenant, which         Gereformeerde Kerken'geen leiders-principe) .
     ' (as they declare) man before his decisive election and             36. Ik zou gaarne bewijs van U willen hebbei van                     L
       justification must fulfill through his own free ~$11."         "their Arminian alid Common Grace conception of the
           The question is being put to me time and again,            covenant and baptism". Met "their" zult U bedoelen,
       now by this one then by that one: "But doesn't Rev.1           zij die  `als emigranten  van.  I\Jederland,  voorheen  !e-
       Pktter  declare that faith is a gift of God aid `that sal-     hoorende  tot de ,Geref. Kerken (art. 31) ) thans in-Can-



                      \-


66                                     T H E   STANDARD B E A R E R

ada of Amerika vertoeven. Dit is de  2e  keer dat ik
deze onware.  besehuldiging  onder de ogen krijg zonder                                   _ Contribution
                                                                                          '
enig bewijs." Als U zieh op de hoogte had gesteld en                                 .
van hetgeen op de Synode van Dordrecht in 1618-16.19                                                     .Chathami October 14, 1950
en hetgeen de laatste jaren in Nederland in de'ker'k-            To Professor Rev. H. Hoeksema,
strijd is voorgevallen, zou U een dergelijke beschuldi-          Editor of the Standard Bearer.
ging niet schrijven. Ik geloof zeker ,dat Uw "leiders" Esteemed Editor.
het niet met U eens zijn.                                                I read in the Standard Bearer, number 1, October 1,
      4e. U sehrijft: "One leader &advises  his people to        1950, under "Contribution" the following of Mr. A.
be sure and join the Protestant Reformed Churches,               H. Haan:
whereas another great .one` (wie zijn dat dan?) among                    "But, the error of the Liberated Churches with re-
them sends out the alarm: "BEWARE". Ik moet op-                  gards to the Covenant and the error of Common Grace
merken dat de Gereformeerde Kerken (art. 31) in                  in the Christian Reformed Churches are simply one
Nederland geen  leiders kent. Zie hierover art; 7 en 36,         and the same -error."
31, 32 van de Ned. Geloofsbelijdenis,, en Zondag 34                     I should like to know of Mr. A. Haan in the Stan-
vraag en antwoord 94 van de Heid. Catechismus.                   dard Bearer regarding the error of the Liberated
      5e. U schrijft verder  :, "It could very well be that      Churches relative the Covenant. It is the first time
we are much closer to the so-called "synodical" group            that ,I have read and heard, that a, member of the
than to the -Liberated. "Nogmaals als' U zieh op .de             Prot. Ref. Churches puts the Liberated and Christian
hoogte had gesteld van hetgeen de laatste  jaren tijdens         Reformed on the same level. It is simply nonsense to
de Kerkstrijd officieel op papier  is gezet in besluiten         compare the stand of the Liberated Churches regarding
enz., U' zoudt ook deze zin niet hebben geschreven.              the Covenant with the Common Grace of the Chr. Ref.
Welke groep staat dichter  bij U? Zij,. die deveronder-          C h u r c h e s .
stelde wedergeboorte  l&en en de Algemeene Genade                                              With kindest regards from,                            '
theorie in de besluiten van 1939-1942 hebben vastge-                                                                 A. J. IJtsma,
legd en vooral deze laatste theorie tegenwoordig overal                    Member of the Prot. Ref. Church at Chatham.
doorvoeren of die alleen ten aanzien van Verbond en
Doop misschien ee.n andere "opvatting" hebben? Uw                                                     --j:-
"leiders" zullen het ook zeker hier niet met U eens zijn !                                          I N   M E M O R I A M
Als U een goed theologisch onderscheidings-vermogen
hebt, dan had U da? zeker in de prediking in de "syno-             It pleased the Lord in His great wisdom to suddenly remove
dale" Kerken kunnen horen. .                             :  I    from us on September 25, 1950  ,our beloved husband, father,
      6e. De IGeref.  Kerken (art.31) vragen bij het af-         and grandfather                                                    ;,
                                                                                ,
leggen van de openbare geloofsbelijdenis de viey (en                                            Mr.  Nickolas   VanrTer Wal
niet drie zooals U schreef) geformuleerde vragen,                at the age of 57 years.                       -
welke U kunt vinden in het daarvoor betreffende for-               We.are   comfo.rted  that our  loss is his gain.  f'For  we know
mulier van elk Nederlands psalmboekje. Dus geen 4                that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
of 5 vragen meer. Daarmee hebt U  zich stellig vergist.          have a building of God, an house not made with h&nds,  eternal
Missehien dat de Nedeflandse taal U to& ."parten" in the heavens."-
heeft gespeeld. In de 2Geref.  Kerken (art. 31) bestaat `.                                               Mrs."  N.  ,Vander  Wal
                                                                                                          Mr. and Mrs. John Koster
geen enkele andere binding dan die aan de ,Schrift en                                                    ' Harvey                    .
de Drie Formulieren van Eenigheid. Precies als in de               _                                      Marvin               t
Protestant Reformed. ChurcheK  e                                 Grand Rapids,. Mich.                        two grandchildren.
  Tenslotte hoop ik in de Standard Bearer ook eens                        ~.                       ---+--
andere stemmen te mogen horen als die van Mr. Haan
 en Mr. De Jong. Anders ZOLI er stellig redenen zijn uit                                       WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
te  roepen  : "BEWARE". Dergelijke niet op argumen-                     On Novem.ber  4, 1950 our beloved parents
ten berustende ingezonden stukken doen veel inbreuk                                            Mr. anti Mrs. Donald Pastom .
 op de verstandhoudmg  tussen beide kerkengroepen.               hope to.celebrate  their 25th wedding anniversary.                       -.
Vergeet niet dat velen van hen voorheen broeders en                `We, their grateful children, thank our covenant God that it
zusters waren in die Kerken in Nederland en zich dat             has been'His  will to spare them for each other and for us. May
nog voelen te zijn, maar juist in verband-met  het aan-          their remaining. years together be filled with the `peace that
 gehaalde -artikel  28 van de Ned:  `Geloofsbelij denis zich     passseth all understanding.                                                    .
`bij U voegden.            Met hartelijke groeten,                                                                     G e r a l d i n e
                             A: J. IJtsma,         `I                                                                  Honrard   -
                             Chatham,  Ontario, Canada.          Grand Raiids, Mich.                                   DoriaId


                                       .THE                    S-TANDARD              BEARER.                                 67
   -  `
              .
                                                                      Holy Place", that  .we are  here dealing in our text
                   FROM HOLY WRIT                                     with highly symbolic language. These terms indicate
                                                                      an earthly, typical representation of a heavenly spirit-
        Exposition Of Hebrews 10:19-25                                ual reality, of the intercourse and fellowship with God,
                                                                      a literal picture in earthly forms and dimensions por-
                                                                      traying a higher heavenly reality.
                                IV.     :                                 The reason for this?                  _
         At this juncture of our series it can do no harm to              It is the manner of God's dealing with us in teach-
   briefly .restate~ what we have thus far learned fxom               ing us by means `of earthly forms and symbols, He
   this portion of the book of Hebrews.                               causes us to see the great :work of His salvation in
         In our first article (see September  15 issue) we            Christ Jesus, our:Lord.
   called attention to the meaning of. the terms : "true                  In the Old Testament tabernacle, He gives us a
  hearts" and "heart sprinkled from an evil conscience".              picture,   a.  type,  a  ieplica of the heavenly temple, the
   The implication of these terms, as we` noticed, was,               tetiple `not made with-hands.
   that only the pure in .heart dad see God. `Only those                 - Thus we read literally-in Hebrews 8 :4 5 : !`Npw if
   who are pure, can draw near unto God in confidence                 He were on earth He would not be a priest at all, see-
   of being accepted of Him. This  i? not only true in                ing there are those who. offer the gifts according to
   heaven, but it is also true now'in this present time.              the law i who serve that which is a copy and shccdow of
         IOur second article (see ,October 1 issae) called at-        the heavenly things, even as Moses is warn,ed of God
  .tention  to the fact, that the  text  teaches, that our            when He is about to make the tabernacle ; for, see,
   drawing near unto God must be don.e in full assurame               saith  ,H,e, that thou make all things  accor.ding'to  the
   of faith. We mu& draw near u&o God without doubt-                  p&e& that I showed thee on the mount". (Compare                 '
   ful wavering, without fear of being unacceptable to                 EX.:25~40).                                   . . .
   Him.       The certainty of being well-pleasing to God                 The underscoring in the text is of `us. We have
   must burn in our hearts. Faith must be carried thvough              done so  $0 call attention to the truth that the  "Old
 to the very end.                                                      Testament taberndcle  was made after the pattern of
         Our third instalment (see Octbber 15 issue) called            the- heavenly tabernacle. Of this heavenly tabernacle
   attention to the legal possibility of our drawing near              we cannot possibly .form any idea except by means of
   to God in such full.assurance of faith as we have just `earthly forms and symbols.
   mentioned. We have a High-Priest in  thti house of                     Wherefore God speaks to us of heavenly things in                 _
   <God  ; H,e is ov,er the house of ,God. He is rione other           and through the medium of the earthly. He knows
   than the Son of God in our flesh. At this very moment,              which forms alone can teach us the truth as it is i.n
   throughout the entire New Testament -Dispensation,                  J.esus. In fact, He even created and foreo?dained these
   `He is in the glory of the inner heavenly Sanctuary,               .re+elational  forms- for us, who He also foreordained
   #ever living tg pray for us, wherefore He is able to save           unto the adoption of sons thxough Jesus Christ. And                 -
   to the uttermost those who  through  Him go to the                  in great gratitude of heart for such a display of Divine
   Father. Indeed,  H,e is very God (Hebrews 1)  a`nd                  goodness and wis'dom  we' cannot but bow in reverence.
   real, righteous man (Hebrews 2).              . . .                 We shall only l&u? not be wiser than Godi We shall
         Such is the chain of thought as followed by us. in            humbly study these symbols and typical representa-
   our study of this ricl! and comforting portion of Holy              tions `to know the love of the Father for us His child-
 W r i t .                                                             r e n .
         In this essay we wish to continue our st-udy of this             From the just quoted text from Hebrews  8:4, 5
   portion of the book of Hebrews. We must still give                  we learn that the, whole of the tabernacle, the taber-
   account of the following elements in the text:                      fiacle,Din iks fundamental structure and. dimensions, its
          1. What is the Scriptural idea of the "Holy Pl+e" rqoms and furniture, its ceremonies and liturgy, is in                              1
   and its relationship to Go{, the Father as we know                  its to&&y made after tthe pcctte?n shown unto Moses
   and conf,ess Him to tie our God?                                    in the Mount. About  all of this  the Architect and                           -
         2. What must Ge understand by the "new and liv-               Builder was and  is and shall be very jealous.  "Se'e",
   ing way dedicated by His blood"?                       '            saith He, "that thou make all things according to the
          3. What is the meaning of the' "boldness" to enter `pattern, that.1 show&d  thee in the Mount."
   into the Holy Place?                                                   It is' very evident from the epistle to .the Hebrews,
_  /     4. And what is the sense.of "having this boldness"?           that, ~what is true of the whole tabernacle in its being
   In what sense does the text speak of "having"?                      fashioned after the heavenly pattern; is `equally true
        Let us study our text.                                         of every detail of it. And so we may safely conclude,
         It is quite evident from the terms "the veil" and             that also t+t which is called "the way into the Holiest"
   the Holy Place" and also from the term "way into the                is made after the pattern of the heavenly.

                                                    ,


68                                     T      H       E           STANDARD   BEA'RER.                                     .

      it is all a picture of Christ. Who is `.`-- ---I-- J-1, _    temple with a believing heart, the more we shall, in-
-truth and the life. None can &me to the Father, ex-               deed, know the only true God and Jesus Christ, Whom
cept through Him, through His righteousness realized               He hath sent. And by means of, this symbolic-revela-
on the Cross of Calvary. He who  unaersta<ds the                   tion of the Mediator of God and man, we shall be' led
impoyt qf this temple sees .God revealed in Chr,ist; sees          by the, Holy Spirit to exclaim "and unto Him that loved
God working `in Christ, the Mediator of God'and man,               us and loosed us from our sins by His blood, and He
to biing U6 back to Hi,s Tavour. For God was in Christ             made us to be a kingdom, priests ulito God and His
reconciling the world unto Himself. It is God bring-               Father; to Him be glory and' dominion forever and
ing us uhto Himself. The temple is, indeed, a picture              ever. Amen." ( -Rev.  1:5, 6).
of the way' unto God in the Mediator, Christ.                          For ,Gocl,  Who sitteth on the throne of His holiness,
      It is this truth that Jesus expresses in. John 5 :46,        is in this temple.
which truth is no trite and commonplace saying, name-                  Let us see thi's in the .-text.
ly, that if the Jews had believed. Moses, they ,would                  We notice, that the text speaks of. the "Holy Plac'e"
have believed in H& "for", says He, "he wrote of me".              and of the "entrance of the Holy l!lace,,.
For what Jesus evidently has in mind' in this passage,                 To understand what the significance of the "Holy
is nbt that -Moses wrote about Jesus here and there                Place" is, in our text we should riotice what the "Holy
in the first f'ive books of the `Bible, that he mentioned          Place'? was in the Old Testament tabernacle.
Jesus too while writing about many other people and                    In. the first place, that  ib was  that room in the
happenings, but most emphatically, that in the qntire              tabernacle, which was most distant from the Outer
collection of the `inspired writings of Moses we have              Court, where the congregation gathered to worship
only to see Christ. Moses  did not mite biographies of             God by bringing their sacrifices to the ministering
certain  s&nts, nor did he write a mere record  -of                priests at-the' #Great Altar. Only the -priests might
human events, but he ,wrote  only of the coming bf the             enter into the Holy Place and otily. the High Priest
!Son of God in the flesh, the work of the Mediator of              might come into the Most  :Holy Place once a year.`
God and .man Jesus. He wrote of the sufferings to                  Now, in order to come into the Most Holy Place from
coine upon' the Son of Man and of the glory to `follow             this  duter Court, where the congregation met, the
afterwards.                       ~                                High Priest  must pass through the Holy Place to enter
      We could cite many more instances in Scripture to            into the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was
substantiate our: conviction, that the entire Pentateuch           separated from the Holy Place by "the veil". It is of
is nothing else than the revelation of God in Jesus.               this "vefi'~`and of this "Most Holy Place'? that our text
Gut the foregoing is sufficient to make our point clear.           speaks.
      Now-this  ,Gospel  concerning the Christ, our Medi-             Secondly, we would no&e, that this- inner sanc-
ator, which is preached by pz@archs and prophets is                tuary is called the Most -Holy Place because here God
also set  fdrth, portrayed by the entire temple, its               dwells with His .peopl&. In. this inner sanctuary `God
sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law. Also here              gives us a visible representation, a replica of the .
Jesus says : "He .wrote  of me" ! In this temple J.esus,           throne of  `God in heaven. As the throne of God in
-no doubt, had` His own wor'k outlined.                            heaven is surrounded by Cherubims so also these.
,     Of this p_ortraying  of the Gosp'el, the glad tidings -Cherubim are pictured in this earthly tabernacle. Fop
in Christ, our text liere  in Hebrews `10 :19-25 speaks.           the throne in the tabernacle is nothing'less than the
We shall do well to cbnstantly r,ead our text Against              Ark of  ,the Covenant.  ,On this ark. Moses was in-
this exalted background of the purpose of the Chief                structed to place the Cherubim, which are placed upon
Architect and Builder of His church. Thus we shall                 it `in a bowing, God-adoring posture. It is the same
see the ivay unto ,God the Father, in Christ, without              picture of the Throne of God,-as  He rules not only over
seeing a visible, c.reaturely` form of God Himself. For            His people, but also as He.rules over all `in Hi,s majesty,
the temple shows ui the ,way unto the Father. This                 revealing Himself as the Judge  iof the nations, while
way unto the  Fathetishoul'd ndt be  change'd into the             saving His people. For in this Ark we have the two
way  into heaven. For it ought to be evident to all,               Tables of Stone, written with thk Singer of God. (Evi-
who earnestly seek to under&and the  tr&th of the                  dently the first inspired writing in the Bible, and also
,Gospel,  that &en when w,e presently arrive in heaven,            written n6t through the medium of holy men, but by
we shall still only be able to diaw nigh unto `God ii-i            God Himself.)       iOn this law the entire law and the
Christ, the only way unto t&e Father.                              prophets depend. They are the fmidamental  Statutes
     As long as we dwell here upon earth, and o&y see              of the' Throne of God whether viewed in relationship -
the great tr'uth of the, Gospel in a glass darkly, we can          to the unbelievers as wei1 as to the believers ; both as
only see our Mediator with the help of the earthly                 a Thrqe of mercy in the blood of Jesus as well as a
forms and symbols- given us. by God Himself. And,                  Throne of justice outside of Him!
theref,ore,  the  ,more we study the symbolism of the               (to be continued)                R,ev. Geo. C. Lubbers.


                                      T H E   ST,ANlL?ARD   B E   A-it  ER'  !(-                                                       69

                                                                 must always serve only and strictly to describe forus
              IN  aIS  F E A R '                                 the various aspectis of that church and her life. I `Hence,
                                                                 `as we. make these various. distinctions,: we. musti not
                                                                 cud after  all with a half dozen  differenP.::churchkies
   `. Church- Membership In His Fear                             which haire little or no connection with the hoip&ho-
                                                      I          lit church, so that, there is a' visibie`,chprch.  .and%;aa
                                                                 invisible church, a militant church and `a tFiumpha&
                              3:                                 church, an instituted church and an orgatiic church.
                 The C&&h In The World.                          Then, of course, ail speech of th'e holy gathdiiti church
                                                                 is, devitalized. a Then we finally. arrive at th&: poitit
      In our last article we called attention to the Re- `there the holy catholic church is merely $ .hazy;! :id'eal-
  formed and Scriptural conception of the Holy Cath&c            istic, abstract thgory, with which in our:&lif& `as. Gh&&
  Church. We did this, not because it wtis our intention         tians we never come-into vital contact and' whi&h hev&
  to discuss dogmatically the id'ea of the church, as such.      touches our lives in any concrete way. For that YeaL
  That does not belong in the territory of this rubric.          son, too, the language .&hich we tise' must express -th&
  We must remember that' the chief questi6n before us            fact that these distinctions are indeed only` distinc-
  at present is : what is the significance of bhurch mem-        tions. If is improper to speak of a visible church,
  bership in the fear of the. Lord.? And it was with a           proper to speak of the church visible. Improper it iI,%
  view to  $hat question that  it became necessary. to           to speak: of a militant church, proper to- speak, of the
  briefly call attention to the fundamentals. of. the Chris-     church :mliiitant, that is, the church from the a&pect
  tian faith concerning-the holy catholic church. Iti is         of her miiitance. Improper it is to speak ,of an- insti-
  of the utmost importance that the child of God con-            tuted church; proper to speak of the church':institut&
  stantly. remember that the matter of =membership in             Proceeding from that standpoint  w'e:  :tiaF  -in@.@%
 Christ's Church,  in the holy catholic church,  is prin-        as to the relation betweeh the holy  cathoiib: Chu?dli
- cipaiiy at stake when- he deals With &he. various prob-        and the church organism and the  ch~Mli"ins&iit(,
  Jems ,and questions which arise in connection with the         may investigate the relation between `the hoi,+ cXthdlic
  church in the world and in, connection with his own            church and the church as she lives in the mid&' of the
  church membership and his attitude toward the church           world .and comes to tianifestation !in the. midst of the
  .and in the congregation to which he belongs. The              world. Above ail, however, also hele. we .rntist` b&r
  ma.tter is not to be played with, nor lightly dealt with.      `in niind that God has only one church.!          ..;:,,  `;, : I' I : . . :
  But as we approach the question of our church mem-                It is this.inquiry which will be our,+sescon&  steb in
 ' bership we niust be deeply conscious of the fact that         answering the question: what is the  S~nZfidahdB  o'f
                                                                                                                         . ..,
  it concerns the church of Christ Himself, that it con-         church membership in  `Hs fear?                    ;I--, : ,~,c; :;...;;;.
  cerns Christ, the Head of the church ; and our attitude                                                           b_j..  .:_,  _`-./  r~,
. must be deeply spiritual and earnest.                    .,                                           -
      For the fact of the matter is that while we may
  call this "church" and that "church",~  and tbhiie; tb be      The  Gad&e&g   of  the  Chtirch.  s         .'                   .
  sure,-and very properly and  necessarily,-&here  are            Considered in its entirety, the  church  include&  ali
  many congregations, there is nevertheless bniy one             the redeemed, safictifi?d, and glorified elect ;" a&$&s
 church. And again, while we make  distin&ons  be-               such it exists now yet only in the counsel'-&! God..:%
  tween true church and false church, or between true,           has not yet been fully realized. .But' this` &&in is
  truer, and truest over against false, falser, and falsest,     gathered in time. It is gathered from otitibi~t~e $h61&
  or between pure, purer, and purest, o<er against cor-          human. race, from every nation, tong&; and- tribe,
  rupt more corrupt and most corrupt;-and undoubted-             frolm the beginning of the world to the end, Sd that &
  ly here also with some justification;-Scripture knows          every generation the  chu&h exists  and is  &a&e&d
  of only one church essentially.                                and becomes manifest on earth. There will be a tiine;
      There are not .many churches `ess&iaiiy, therefore,        therefore, when the church shall have been kotipl'eteiy
   but in the, real -sense `of the wokd  only one Body of        gathered, when every last one of the elect- &h&ilil%$&
  Christ. Nor, as we emphasized in the conclusion of             been born and shall have been called otit off&&n.ess
   our last art,,cie,  must we make the mistake of muitipiy-     into God's marveiious light, and when too":i&e  "&htii&
  ing churches when we begin to make distinctions.-Not           shall  .be manifest completely and  peu;fectiy'  a~~`-&-&
  that these distinctions are not proper in themselves, .gathering and  shall no longer be  iocaii$  diTiidkd. ai$Yi
   and necessary. But they must remain distinctions,             temporally separated, but shall everlastingly i&e It?-
  and never .become' separations. `The distinctions we -gether in one place, in one glory, with the same Chri$,,
  make.upon the basis of Hoiy,,Writ,are  only valid within, fully and completely and unitedly enjoying the fellow;
  the limits of the concept holy catho,lic church; and they      ship of the one God. Then the full counsel  of. God


70        .'
                  _               .   --,  T H E -   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

concerning His church; as He has eterrially  conceived          is preached Christ's, ,in the sense that He .revealed it
her, shall be realized. I                                       an,d that He is its contents. But: the- gospel is never
       Now, however, the church is still in the pro_cess  of    heard unless Christ speaks it. And even when the
being gathered.                                                 calling comes through the preaching of the Word, it
  Concerning the  a@ of gathering the church,  -is              is Christ alon? who calls and sends apostles, prophets,
such, we do not intend to go into detail here. But I            evangelist& pastors and teachers. It is `Christ alone
deem it iinportant, nevertk;eless,  that we r,emind our-        who  ' prepares such preachers. And it .is Christ who
selves of several `elements in this connection.                 must and does speak HisWord by His Spirit through
       1) This gathering" of the church is the wonderwork       the preaching, and, Who thus calls His church. In
of  ,God. Go,d gathers His church in every generation           the secolid place, we,must remember that Christ thus
and from ,every nation .throughout history.. And thB speaks His Word and by His Word and Spirit gathers
wonder of the gathering of the chuich is- exactly that          His  church throughout the ages. It is the Word of
it consists in the resurrection. of _ the dead, in calling      Christ that is spoken throughout the old dispensation
light out  of darkness, righteousness out of guilt,             already. It was the Word of Christ which was realized
heaven  out of hell. And it is through that wonder-             in the fulness -of time, in the cross and resurrectioli
work of the gathering of the elect. church out `of a            and exaltation of the Son of `God in-the flesh. And it
race of damnable, corrupt, sin-darkened, dead men               is still, the Word of Christ which is spoken through
that  `God  re+eals  Himself as God, the Lord.  Froni           the apostles and evangelists and pastors and teachers
the point of view of our subject in these articles this         whom .He commissions &id sends throughout the neiv
truth is important, for it `means that the &u&h  is `in         dispensation.. The Son of God Himself by His Spirit;
,nq sense of $he wofd a human institution. Man does             through the Word'.of the Gospel, tihich is spoken and
in no sense bring the church into existence, or even            revealed from the beginning to the end of time, gathers
cooperate with God in building His church. Nor- does            His church throughout history. .
the church  exilst by the  c&s&t of its members. It               5) Finally, we must remember the principle that
is not a society, nor a school of philosophy, ,110~ even        in this world Christ gathers His church in the' line of
B, religidus movement among others. It is the living g e n e r a t i o n s .   -
body of the living Christ, the Son of God in. the flesh,          But our discussion of this truth together with our
Who died and rose again, and Who inparts His own                conclusions concerning the result of the work of the
life to the members of His body. `It is the `wonder-            gathering of the church we shall leave for the next
work of divine grace alone!,                                    issue, D. V.
       2) God accomplishes this work `of gathering ,the                                             H. C. Hoeksema.
church through I% own divine, irresistible, and effica-
cious calling. ~ Everywhere in' Scripture this truth is
emphasized. .God called His Son (Israel) out of Egypt.
Hos.  11,:l.. The -apostle Paul  addressess-   h&self to                     P E R I S C O P E
the communion of those who are ca&cl to be saints.
Rqm. 1 :i' ; I Cor. 1:2.` Hence the church is designated
in the New Testament Scriptures by  the Greek word              The A&umption.-lf Marp and the Protestant Reformed
`which means the gathering of those.  who are called            C h u r c h e s .
out. God calls His church efficaciously into existence!            It is.expkcted  that on the first of November of this
       3) This divine calli@ whereby the church is gath-        year the Pope will announce that l&e Assumption of
ered out of the world issues forth through Zesus Christ         the Virgin Mary is now a dogma in the Roman Catho-
our Lord. The Word by which the church is called is             lic Church. -This theory held as a pious belief for
th,e mighty Word of salvation. The Son of  ,God in              some  time by many in the Roman Catholic Church
the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, speaks the Word oft will now become an !infallible dogma' of the Roman
the' divine calling tihereby the Church is gathered oilt        Catholic -Church whtch no Roman Catholic may dare
of the world. The Son of God by His Word and ISpirit            to doubt `or reject. in order to understand this-it is
gathers the church.                                             necessary to remember that in 18'70 the Vatican Coun-
       4) This work of divine calling by the So? pf God         cil declared- that the Roman Pope was infallible, in-
through His Word and Spirit takes place through the             capable of error when speaking officially  "6x-  cathe-
preaching of the SGospel. It is of the utmost. import- dra". .Now tlie pope will us'e this supposed power to
ance, in the fir,& place, that we.understand  that also         make this dogma binding on the churches.
this is strictly a divine work. We must not do an                  This new dog&a  will insist that the body of the
about face here, and begin to say that here the work            mother of- Jesus was, after her death,' preserved from
of mad finds a place in, the gathering of the church.           corruption and. decay and in a short time "assumed"
For according to Scripture,.not  only is the #Gospel that       or raised'up into heaven, and there reunited with her


                                                                           A.  *,:  >,i  .y,  ,  ;  -.           :ii`  ",,,  (                        -.
                                                        it                                                                                            "
                 4                            .     *-,,      c.     "        p         .y".              -~.
                                                                                                                                                 1                                -,
                                                                                                                                                                  71
                                                                                                                                                                                         .`.
  s&l. This is but. one other step in the glorification' of                         6f Mr. Haan than he means to have there but if not we                               -
  the Virgin Mary.. Already in 1854 it was maintained                               have an example. of that same mental and spiritual
  as an official ,doctrine  that Mary, though not virgiti-                          attitude which carried to the extreme gives the l$oman
  born was kept from all stain of opiginal sin. N&w her                             Catholic Church her "&sumption  of Mary".
  bo<y is believed-kept from  corruptiob.   .' t                                                ,'                                $ :::  * 2:
     iiow certainly with this doctrine as such oU; -;v'ith
  the supposed `truth' which is expressed therein'tve-as                            The Southern Presbytertin  Church.
  Protestant Reformed have little `c&tact ~ancl`~the?e  ,is                                 Some tiine ago we pointed out the controversies
  little danger that we will believe or adopt such a ` doti-                        that were the'n current in the Southern Presbyterian
                                                                                                                                                            `.
  trine'!. Nor is this what we ,hadl in mind when ive .Church. At that time we pointed out that  agitatlsn
  wrbtc lhc above lleading.             _'                    .                     was @specially centered about  two points, the member-
     Cu'i what is behind such .a theory `of infall$bility,                          ship of this church in the Federal Copncil of Churches
  and what is behind the slavish adherence to such papal                            of Christ in America and most important of all, the
  l&onouncements ? It iS the cotifortable  ( ?) and easy ( ?)                       attempt to reunite the Southern Presbyteriah  with the
  assurance of the correctness of everything that the                               Presbyterian Church of the USA (The Northern Pres-
  church ,does. With this attitude we and especially our                            byterian Chukch) . . 8
  missionaries of the past have become familiar when                                        Still th&se issues are l&rning in the Southern Pres-
  we hear or have heard that oft repeated, "`Well if qur                            byterian Church' and' although there is supposedly a,
  Synod said that Common ,GraceIwas Scriptural and                                  five year moratorium on all remlion  effo@s.it becomes
  if our College and' ISeminary  prf.%essors   s'ay so too, --r increasingly evident that eventually these two churches
  and if my minister and my consistory also agree, tie11                            will reunite but that there will be a large segment of '
  than it must be so and I will believe it too."                                    the Southern Church which will refuse the merger and
     From this we, as Protestant Reformed; are  free and                            will form-a continuing Southern Presbyterian Church.
  insist. that every individual member not only has the                                     That this is indeed the tretit'is evident from several
right btit the calling, by virtue of' the office bf all be-                         articles -recently  appearing in the "Southern Presby-
  lievers, to search the Scripture and to try .the spirits                          terian Journal" organ of the continuing church movc-
  and to agree or. disagree with such ~prdnomiceinents,                             tient. They deal with that difficult maiter  of cinzrch
  but then always on the basis of the. Word of ,God. I                              property in the event of merger.
  say from this we. are free, at least- in theory, but I                            - The stand has been taken  semi-oficially in the
  som&imes  wonder about the practice..                                             church  *  ljublictitions  of  the Southern Presbyterian
     Of this I was reminded when I read the contribu-                               Church-that a local congregation holds %its property
  tion by A. H.~ Haan in the. October 1,issue of the Stan-                          only. as long as it stays in the demomination,  but .-that
  dard Bearer. This in answer to'kev. Blankespoor who                               if it withdraws it loses its property.
  asks several questions about the "lStateni&nC  of, Prin-                                  The background of this ,question is td be found in                                    ..
  cipies". Now it may pe that Rev. Blankespoor was                                  the fact that when in 1936 the Orthodox Presbyterian
  objecting to them ifi the guise of questioris., This I do                         Church' withdrew from the Presbyterian Church in                                               .-
not know. neither am ,I able td assume this from his                                the rjSA the Presbyterian church claimed and was able
  iuestions as such. But the point that I `wish to inake                            through court action to -keep possession of church
  is this-that Bev. Blankespoor is taken to task for ask-                           property, even when the entire congregation had with- ~
  ing questions. `iHe speaks about origin, `i,ntentions,                            drawn and it had not a single member in, the local                                       ,
  etc.,. but not one word about contents.`. I assume that                           congregatidn. Evidently this would be a strong factor
  he surely subscribes to the contents of this `declaration' in keeping the Southern church intact in case of a
  and I cannot understand why he should be so concerned                             merger. Some of the Southern Presbyterian congrega-
  about who forinulated  it, or who it is pointed at. He                            tions have been taking the matter into their,own  hands,
_ surely knows that It was adopted by our' Synod, and                               by reincorporating the local congregation, under a
  that it was formulated by the Committee of Pre-advice charter  whitih did not mention the denominational-
  with the'advice of the two seminary professors. Also,                             name, but asserted that all rights to the local property
  that it was re!xuested by'our Mission Committee, which                            were vested in the local congreiation.
  also represents our denomination in the Mission Field."                                   In the Southern Presbyterian Journal of Sept. 20
  So there you have it. It came from the Mission Com-                               is a nine page article on the legal. question of property
  mittee representing all our`churches, it was .drawn up                            rights in the S&therp  Presbyterian .Churches  written
  by  Synod,  with  the advice of its  Comtiittee  of  -Pr&                         by Henry, E. David. an attorney and member of the
  advice and the two Professors and now while you .rntiy                            group that is opposed to a meiger. We will not quote
s still question'( ?) the contents you may not even ask                             all the legal arguments which do not apply to us or
  questions about  the' way it:came to Synod. -                                     have a primary interest but would quote his conclusion                              _'
    Now perhaps we are reading more into the words                                  as indicative of the trend  which is present and the ,


                                                            i'
                                                             .                                 T H E                 STA'-NDAtiD.   B E A R E R   .:.
~__-___~-  _                                                                             -
     . . i I _ :
     `?           _          .     .     _     ,.
     $p!i.$ @ich is evidently widening in these chur.ches.                                                                       logical preaching. This is not difilcult to' understand.
                        "I say to the individual congregations of the South-                                                     To appreciate theological preaching. one must develop
    - ern Presbyterian, Church, incorporate iour churches                                                                        a taste for  it.  I           `a.\2 :
     and have all muniments of title, such as deeds, specifi+                                                                        `5,he average.congregation has not been exposed to
     ally state that the property is held for your i:ldivXual                                                                    enough of it to have  such1.a   taBte.  They have been
     congregatidn  and not in  trust for the  deno:nination  ;                                                                   given se+$,ons qn how to win.f,riends, how .to be a mag:
     and L I, challenge any merged C,hurch  to $a!:: : it, +wa;/                                                                 netic personality, how to forg& our worries,: how to
     &?q yo:yil, This is not congregational&m. `Lhis  is'-&+                                                                     feel good,  al?d how  to  sqcceed  in business. Though
     l&sbyteri@sl  that has been understood and, praz-                                                                           these top&, haye,,  sbme valuk, they do. not belong .to the
     ticed in the South since the first Presbyteyian' C::`,L&&                                                                   essence of the saving Gessage  ,of. the gospel..
     was established therein:                                                                                                       "Another reason is that theologidal pre8ching makes
                        "The contention that the prop,erty  of an i:ldividual                                                    one tliink and most people prefer not to think-it is too
     Presbyterian Chur.tih belongs to the denomination  .re-                                                                     laborious. Many moflern congregations, therefore, de-
     duces in .tbe !ast~ analysis. to prelacy and no! Presby-                                                                    sire sermons that are entertaining and oratorical rath-
    terianism . It was denounced years ago by Dr., Benja-                                                                        er than docti4nal.            ; .         .'
     min- MM, ,,l+il~e~, who has no-peer in any American pul-                                                                        "As Christian prea6hers we must be reminded that
     pit `.foday, ahd : every strict Presbyterian  should con-                                                                   Christ was a theological preacher. The Apostles were
     tinue to `deno.lince it and refuse to be driven into a                                                                      t&ological preachers. They exhorted us to preach doc-
   Church,  domieated   .by rules utterly foreign to the                                                                         trines. Oratorical and topical preachers may have a
    ' (Church  of our fathers."                                                                                                  larger addience;  but i$ is a well known fact that when
     ..`?his  qhebtion was also raised at  4he last  sG&neral                                                                    such pr.eachers leave the people leave; ~; . .
     -&sembly of the Sbuthern Presbyterian Church (com-                                                                              "Theqlogical preaching is brpadenirig.  It stretches
     parable to' o& Synod):.
     1                       ,  _ ,  -                                            The Westmi&er. :.Church of                     the minds of people. Its range is wider than `ethics'
     Atlanta of -which, the Rev. John R. Richardkqn,`cne  of
                                                                                                     ..___.                      or `religion';; Theology is broad  since it etibra&s the
     t&' c$%buting ,editors to ,the Southern Presb&rian                                                                          Christian'doctrines which deal with all. of man's rela-
     Journal, is pastor had taken this step qf. re-incorppra-                                                                    tions to IGod and the universe; Thtiology'gives  man a
     tion. The Presbytery of .,Atlanta. &l@d then Gengral                                                                        comprehensive wqrld and life view. This is especially
     Assembly to rule on the legality of this procedure. ?`he                                                                    true of Reformed,Theo!ogy. . . .
    : Assembly replied that this was -wrong but did not giire                                                                        "Theological preaching is satisfying. . . .
     reasons fbr $s being wrolig but instead  appointed"a                                                                            "Christian theology does .fiot deal with'speculations
     committee to study the question of church property.,                                                                        but with finalities. . . .
                        In this whole m&ter of church property and church                                                            "Theolqgcal preaching is serengthening. . . `.              .- . .
     merger it becomes eviden$`.that  th-e Southern Presby:                                                                          "&Iore thought should be given to the eternal things
     terian denomination if it unites with the Northern and less time to the ebhembrals. Let :us pray that our
     khurch wili try to retain all the property.now con&&-                                                                       Church will `be revitalized by a fiew)tippYeciation and
      id with the Southern Church. Even though local co;:
                                                                                                                          I .    a fresh iresentation of the- theological cbnvictions  set
     greg&ion$ in part or in whole refuse to participate in                                                                      forth so  martiel?usly in our  Westmi.&ter  Standards.
     the merger, and instead claim to be the continuation of                                                                     These Standards have served as museum- pieces : too
 !  - the Southern Presbyterian denomination, they  will                                                                         long. Let us take them off the shelf' and peYmit.theti
     have to fight for their property, and the .chances a&                                                                       to give their timeless message to our age which is be-
     pear good that they may lose it anyway.                                                                                     coming conscious of its theological and inoral.  bank-
     " We can well echo the sentiments of the editor .of                                                                         ruptcy, and its need of tested certainties and saving
     "The Presbyterian Guardian" from whom part of this                                                                          affirmations."
      inform&ion is received : "We hope tl!is propect  does`                                                                         This article by the Rev. Johri 8. Richardson men- _
     not dampen `their oppositiqn  to the proposed merger.                                                                       tioned above certainly indicates to Us, that in the pre-
      There are matters more important &en than church                                                                           sent struggle, the party represented by the "S&thern
   _ buildings. . . . Ours is a time that calis for courage,                                                                     Presbyterian Journal" must  have our sympathy and we
     courage to stand for the truth of God at whatever cost." hope that the sentiments expressed may take. root in
                        -                            .'           :j:     :i:      $     :s                    1     r           this group.                                     5; Howerzyl.
     Doctrinal &e&Gng.
                  An `interesting and striking sidelight td the above                                                                                       NOTICE! .,             .`
                                                                                                                                                                                     ..'
     struggle was presented in the Southern Presbyterian                                                                           The League of Prot. Ref. Meh's  So&ties was  to meet at' Hud-
      Journal. unaer the title ."Theology  to be Preached".                                                                      sonville,  Mich, Nov. 2. This date has been changed to Th.ursday,
                                                                                                                                 Nov. 9. Rev. Lubbers will speak on "The Raging of Satan,  in
             `Yin, some churches there is an  ,aversiqn  to  thee-                                                               the light of the Book ,of Revelation."
             1                                                                                  .


