            _-  *
    VOLUME XXX                      _               FEBRUARY  1, 1954 i  GRAND-   RAPIDS,.~%XT.IGAN'          '                 NUMBER      9


                                                                                 .73.  -In the prophecy of Isaiah this is marvelously portrayed
          M E  D.1.T A T. IO N                                                   in verse 11 of the fortieth chapter in these words : "He shall
                                                                                 feed His flock like a shepherd, He shall gather the lambs
                                                                                 with His arms, and carry them in His bosom,  -and shall
                     Father's   ~Gop'd  qleasure                                 diligently lead them that are with young."
                     "Fear not little  flock;  for it is your Father's good          And when the Shepherd did appear He in His discourses
            pleasure to give you the kingdom."                L u k e   12:32    apart from the text' under consideration, often used this fig-
                                                                                 ure. How He portrayed Himself as the good shepherd,
   A flock . . .-a little one !                                                  spoke of His labor as gathering the- lost sheep  ; gathering
    God the Father. . . and His good pleasure!                                   His Own, who knew-His voice, into one fold!
   The Kingdom . . . His gift !
    The above given fragments of the text, rightly  under-                           `And how applicable this natural figure is to the Church
stoo,d  and in their proper relation to each other, spell a                      of Christ! Points of comparison abound. As a flock is a
peace and tranquility for the Church of Christ in the midst                      unity, so is the Church., The many sheep, varied in charac-
of the world, that no poverty can -disturb, no overwhelming                      teristics though they may be, belong together. So, too, the
foe can  pqssibly diminish. Essentially that puts heaven in                      believers form a unity and essentially are one. Though oft
the soul., gives songs in the night and causes smiles through                    it is torn apart into all kinds of opposing segments. They
the tears of the weary trudging pilgrim-gives hope in                            are one flock, are fed by one Shepherd  ; graze in the same
deepest despair.                                                                 pasture . . . .
                                 *  *  *  *                                        In a flock there is variation of adult and young  ; strong
                                                                                 and feeble. In the Church, as manifested in  this-wi$-ld, there
   For, that apparently `there is all reason for doubt and                       are the oak trees and  then  smoking flax  ; those demanding
despair none will deny. This will become evident when                            strong meat and those. requiring milk.
the addressees are understood from their  -name and as to                            Further,-and this aspect is repeatedly emphasized by our
their calling. staking  their name of "little flock" in conjunc-                 Saviour, there is the peculiar relationship between flock and
tion with the context, cf. verse 22, it is plain that they are                   shepherd. Sheep follow not strangers  ; know them not; do
the disciples of Jesus. Disciples are those that imbibe the                      not recognize their  ~.voice-but gladly, spontaneously rec-
teachings and follow the directions of their leader and there-                   ognizing the shepherd's voice, follow him wherever he leads.
fore, in this case, the followers of Christ. . . His church.                     So the Church, disdaining the `subtle imitation of speech of
   That church,, essentially one throughout the ages, is, a                      pseudo shepherds, immediately react with zeal when the
"flock". A scriptural and very apt description of the church,                    voice of shepherd Jesus resounds and they unhesitatingly
thisname  is. A thoroughly scriptural term as applied to the                     follow. . . . "knowing" His voice.
church, for such she was already called in the Old Testa-                            Finally, and this element seems to -be vital in this con-
ment scriptures time and again. Beautifully, in the form of                      nection, the  flock needs a shepherd  forits  .protection' and
a personal confession,  you  have this expressed in the open-                    very life. Pasture he finds to sustain them-his power and
ing words of Psalm 23. "The Lord' is my Shepherd." It                            knowledge he utilizes to their defense and safety. How true
is also the repeated testimony of the Lord Himself when                          spiritually! Where would the Church find pasturage, if He
He denotes the relationship between Himself and -His people                      did not give' it ? Upon what could possibly the "sheep's  Saul"
as, e.g., in Ezekiel 34 :31-"And ye, My flock, the flock of                      feed, if it  could  not, assuredly say : "Thou hast the words of
My pasture . . ,  ." In the same chapter this prophecy of the                    eternal life"  ? And how could she ever hope to continue
Lord already makes mention of the coming Great Shepherd,                         safely and not fall prey to lurking foes abundant, if  .He were
Who shall feed them and so they shall be saved. Cf. vss. 22,                     not the good, . . the faithful shepherd, Who, even in the


 194                                          .THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                    e

 laying aside of His life for His sheep was the MIGHTY                  of God's wonderful ways, It is given because that too, is
 one ?                                                                  the testimony of the Word that cannot lie. "Wide and broad
                            *  8  *  +                                  the way is leading to destruction and many travelers it has
                                                                         . . . narrow the way that leads to glory land . . . and few there
                                                                        be that find it.
        This latter idea, of dependency, is accentuated by the                                     * * *         *
 further descriptive word "little": To emphasize this idea of
 "littleness" the `Holland translation gives the diminutive                 To this "little flock" Jesus addresses the words : "Fear
 form of flock and renders the expression in full : little flocklet.    not".
    And how truly this characterizes the cause of Christ!                   That admonition certainly is not superfluous.
    True, one cannot escape the fact that pften the Church                  0, we realize, the lesson first of all, to the disciples and
 is presented as numerically beyond man's comprehension                 the Church, in these words regards care as to eating and
 . . . . and called an innumerable host. Such is already the            raiment. That is clear from the context. And surely, from
 instruction of the Lord in His promise to Abraham, proph-              the instruction as to God's intended and surely to be realized
 esying that  his seed should be as the stars of heaven (the            good pleasure, peace must permeate the soul of each of His
 sum  of which who can tell  ?) and as the sand of the sea shore        sheep, also in regard to things natural and temporal. For
 (what mortal would attempt to render account of them  ?)               the Shepherd cares !  ' He will realize the good pleasure of
 for multitude.                                                         Father. Then there is no cause to fear.
    And as this prophecy becomes reality it is even so ! So                 But we want to add that just exactly because of these
`J ohn, in Revelation, views the Church at any given point of glorious facts, there follows too, the assurance that ALL is
 time in history as one hundred and forty-four thousand                 well in EVERY respect . . . in all circumstances of life.
 strong. Sealed these are unto the fold of Christ, separate                 How-to explain this ? What the sure basis for this "fear
 from the followers of the beast. Multiply that by the  ful-            not" can be ? Whence the certainty that ALL fear is un-
 ness period of `"one thousand years", and you must receive             called for  ?
 an inkling of the vast number of Christ's flock that is as a               There is, and there can be, only one answer. And that
vast sea, whose united hallelujahs echo and reecho through              answer lies in the fact that God is WHO He is. That means,
 the mansions of glory forever. Truly, how great, the army              that first of all, we must not forget that here the very Son
 of saints as through history and in their final cumulation,            of God is speaking. How different His Word from the
they go marching home!                                                  empty word of attempted comfort of mere man. There is
    And yet . . . small . . . little ! How insignificant their num-     power in this speaking. He is the TRUTH, His word shall
ber, comparatively speaking. Small in comparison with the               surely stand ! With all the implications and details involved :
world at any given time. W llen millions find their grave in            Fear not. . .-ever . . .  'in any way or respect!
the deluge, by those waters a mere remnant of eight souls               But there is more too. Even the "little flock" after all
is uplifted from among them ! Many nations there were in                is God's creation. 0, as long and according to the measure
the time of Abraham, but only one family was called from                we deem  .the Church to be the work of men, the result of
among them all. The "minority `of a remnant" continued to               our gallant efforts and great sacrifices (  ?) . . . it must be
characterize the number of the flock in all of Israel's anxious         plain that the least adversity drives to despair. And well it
history. As to the new dispensational manifestation of this             may, for the "house of men" shall tumble to ruin surely!
flock-how easily numbered was it at its -inception  ; how               But, how different when that flock is exclusively His product
sharply it has contrasted ever since with the hosts of the              and handiwork; the realization of HIS design! The flock
children of darkness. The one striking fact, when through-              is small, not in spite of His efforts to save more, or in spite
out the ages this flock stands directly over against the vast           of His promised design to save if only "many" will take
majority that will have none of this strange, this peculiar             God at His word! It is small because He wills it so ! Each
movement, is that it is so small, so very, very small ! For let us      manifestation of decimation is God's own work! According
remember well that the line of demarcation between what is              to His counsel it is God that severs one large segment after
nominally church and the openly wicked world still fails to             another and makes his flock  `%ttle".
give the true. picture. That line runs right through the                   And from that point of view, being little is, if occasioned
church institute! All is not "flock" that runs under its ban-           by truth, a sign post that we are in the right way and not a
ner. Within the church institute reformation after reforma-, cause of lamentation. Fear not, therefore, as little small, in-
tion only tends to make the fact of the "littleness" of the             significant movement-for your being so is altogether ac-
flock to stand out all the more.                                        cording to pattern. God's design cannot but be attained.
    And finally, from the nature of the case, and according             Even the hordes of darkness are subservient to that.
to the word of our Lord, how small in comparison even that                                        *: *  * 4:
great throng soon in glory is, with the still greater number of
the damned. We cite this not to give occasion for criticism                That end or purpose of God is expressed in the glorious


     I                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                19.5
          intention, the good pleasure of our Father: "to give you the
          kingdom".                                                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
              How all embracing that good pleasure is as to content;                  Semi-montltly,   except  wtonthly   dwing  July  and  August
          how irresistable as to its power!                                          Published by  S&c  REFORMED  FRFX   PUBLISHING  ASSOCIATION
              The  .content  is the giving of the kingdom. No, not the            P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
          `promise of receiving A kingdom among many kingdoms  ;                                       Editor  -  REV.  HERMAN  HCJEKSEMA
          an earthly, even though excelling kingdom. Of such there                Communications relative to contents should be addressed to Rev.
          are many, there have been and shall be others. They, how-               H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., SE., Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
          ever, because they are of time, this worldly, soon fade away            All jnatters  relative to subscriptions should be addressed to M;.
                                                                                  G. Pipe, 1463  Ardmore St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Michigan.
          and the one succeeds the other, only to be pushed into ob-              Announcemems  and Obituaries  must be mailed  to, the above
          livion by its crowding successor. Such a kingdom  carnal~               address and will be published at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
          Israel always longed for and never received. For such, in               RENEWALS  : Unless a  definte.request for `discontinuance is re-
          its own -peculiar conception, the apostate church of today              ceived, it is assumed tihat the subscriber wislhes the subscription
                                                                                  to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
          yearns and strives. . . with attending failure . . . and that is                                Subscription price : $4.00 per year
          h e r   u n d o i n g !
              Nay, this kingdom is THE Kingdom. It stands in a                       Eutered  as Second Class matter at  Gvcltcd  Rapids,  Michigan
          class all by itself. There is no other like it. There can be
          no comparison from any point of view between this and other
          kingdoms. Who would be a King to even dare be com-
          pared to the Lord of Glory, the King of THE Kingdom?
          The mere thought is blasphemy. And though it is true that                                                    C O N T E N T S
          here the subjects are not the noble or the rich. . . what sub-
          jects in  an$other  kingdom are to be compared with the              b4xrlm4TI-oN  -
          heavenized- subjects of this? Seek wherever you will,                       Father's Good Pleasure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
          throughout all the vast universe for the most ideal and                      -. Rev. H. H.  Kuiper
          beautiful place for a Kingdom. . . where can possibly be
          found a sphere anywhere near approximating the realms of                    Bulletin No. 3.. . . . . . . . . .  : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
          glory? No it is  tkev   lzingdortz.                                         Bulletin No. 4.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
              And concerning that one and only Kingdom God has                        Earmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...197
          eternal designs as to its disposition. He will give it away.                More Interpretation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
                                                                                             Rev. H.  Hoe&ma
          It is gratuitously brought into' possession of this little flock.
          And the glory of it all is, that it is not a mere intention as       0~1~  DOCTRINE-
          man intends actions. It is "Father's" good pleasure. That                   Tmhe Triple Knowledge.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . . . . .200
          makes it sure and certain'forever. For, Himself says, that                         Rev. H. Hoeksema
I         He shall do  ALL.HIS  GOOD PLEASURE.                                 lkmr  HOLY  WRIT  -
              And as to the actual deed of -"giving" that Kingdom                     Exposition of I Peter 1:2&25.  . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..205
          there  cannbe no doubt either. We have  the'realized gift in                       Rev. G. Lubbers
          Christ in principle and the kingdom by the work of His
          Spirit is placed "within" us. Further, His giving  is  all the
          continuous work of shaping the little flock. For, in a sense,               Afraid of the Gospel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2w
                                                                                             Rev. J. A. Heys
          the giving of the Kingdom and the calling into being of the
          flock is identical. Still He gives, preparing for the final en-      CONTISNI)ING  FOR  THE FAITH -
          trance. He takes from us what cannot enter; He adds  Whdt                   The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
          is meet. And finally, when the last "little sheep of the little                    Rev. H. Veldman
          flock" has been brought into the fold . . . HE  .GIV.ES . . .        `I`III.:  \~OICE  ov  O U R   FATHERS-
          forever to be Heirs of our King in His Kingdom.                             .The Canons  ,od  Dordrecht. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
                                                                                            Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
                                       *  *  *  *
                                                                               DIXXNCY  AND ORDER-
              Because the above is all immutable, all is now also safe.               Novices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
          Little flock, whose `very essence is His Divine, causal crea-                     Rev, G.  Vanden  Berg
          tion, Who are what you are because of His eternal design,            AI.I.  AI<OUND Us  -
          whose ever faithful Shepherd is God's Own Son, whose
          testament is title to THE kingdom as eternal heirs: Why                     The Good in the Totally Depraved.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215
                                                                                             Rev. M.  Schipper
          worry? Fear not!
                                                                  H.H.K.


  196                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            _.

                                                                                       How in the world could they ever tolerate such a man,
                EDIYORIALS                                                        and that too, for almost thirty-four years.
                                                                                       And how could the churches ever dedicate to the same
                                                                                  Reverend Herman Hoeksema the book that  &as published
                               Bulletin                   No.        3            on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Protestant Reformed
                                                                                  Churches in 1950 in the following words : "To the Reverend
         The undersigned hereby  solemnly swear before God and                    H&man  Hoeksema, whose capable leadership by the grace
 men :                                                                            of our God played such a prominent part in our history dur-
         " T H A T   I N   T H E   F I R S T   P R O T E S T A N T   R E -        ing the past quarter century, we dedicate this book."
 F O R M E D   C H U R C H   T H E   G O V E R N I N G   B O D Y   I S                 In other words, who is wicked  ? Is the Reverend Herman
 T H E   C O N S I S T O R Y   SOCALLED   A N D   T H A T   F R O M               Hoeksema, or are the persons that do not hesitate to swear
 T I M E   T O   T I M E   P E R S O N S   A R E   E L E C T E D   T O            this utterly false oath  ?
 S E R V E   O N   S A I D   C O N S I S T O R Y   W H O   A R E   C A L L -                                                                              H.H.
 E D   E L D E R S .   T H A T   A   L A R G E   M A J O R I T Y   O F   T H E
 C O N G R E G A T I O N   O F   S A I D   C H U R C H   W A S   N O T
 I N   H A R M O N Y   W I T H   T H E   C O N D U C T   O F   T H E
 S A I D   H E R M A N   H O E K S E M A ,   W H O .   WAS   T H E                                              -                      -
 P E R S O N   K N O W N   A S   T H E   H E A D   O R   F I R S T   P A S -
 T O R   O F   S A I D   C H U R C H ,   A N D   T H A T   A S   N E W
 M E M B E R S   O F   T H E   C O N S I S T O R Y   W E R E   E L E C -                                      Bulletin  No.  4  I
 T E D   T H E   C O N G R E G A T I O N   W A S   E L E C T I N G   P E R -          The undersigned solemnly swear before God and men:
 S O N S   W H O   W E R E '   M O R E   O R   L E S S   I N   O P P O S I -
 TION TO THE- SAID HERMAN HOEKSEMA. THAT                                              " T H A T   A   L E G A L   C O N S I S T O R Y   MEE.TING   WAS
 B Y   R E A S O N   O F   T H E   F A C T   T H A T   S A I D   H E R M A N      HELD ON THE 22nd DAY OF JUNE, 1953, AT THE
 HOEKSEMA COULD NOT CONTROL BY HIS DOM-                                           C H U R C H   E D I F I C E   C O N C E R N I N G .   T H E   A B O V E
 I N E E R I N G   M E T H O D S   C E R T A I N   P E R S O N S   W H O          A P O L O G Y   W I T H   R E L A T I O N   T O   T H E   S O - C A L L E D
 W E R E   E L E C T E D   T O   T H E   C O N S I S T O R Y   O F   T H I S      ADVICE OF  CLASSIS, AT WHICH A MOTION WAS
 C H U R C H   T H E   S A I D   H E R M A N   H O E K S E M A   S E I Z -        P U T   T H A T ' T H E   R E V E R E N D   D E   W O L F   A P O L O -
 E D   U P O N   A  P R E T E X T ,   W I T H O U T   M E R I T ,   TO-           G I Z E   A C C O R D I N G   T O   T H E   M E A N I N G   O F   T H E
 CAUSE  A   S C H I S M   A N D   SPLI'T  I N   S A I D   CHURCH                  C L A S S I C A L   D E C I S I O N ;   T H A T   S A I D   M O T I O N   D I D
 W I T H   T H E   P U R P O S E   I N   V1E.W   O F   S E C U R I N G            NOT, CARRY AND THAT THEREUPON THE. SAID
 T H E   P R O P E R T Y   T H E R E O F   A S   S E T   F O R T H   I N          C R O S S   D E F E N D A N T   H E R M A N   HOEKS%MA,   I N   A
.   P L A I N T I F F ' S   B I L L   O F   C O M P L A I N T . "                 D I S P L A Y   O F   A N G E R ,   L E F T   SAID  M E E T I N G ,   A N D
                           H u b e r t   D e   W o l f                            L A T E R   T H E   E L D E R S   S U P P O R T I N G   T H E   P O S I -
                        F R E D E R I C K   S Y T S M A                           T I O N   O F   S A I D   H E R M A N   H O E K S E M A   W H O   A R E
                        H E N R Y   K N O T T                                     T H E   O T H E R   C R O S S   D E F E N D A N T S   H E R E I N ,   R E -
                        W I L L I A M   STUURSMA   _                              MAINED FOR A WHILE BUT MADE CLEAR THAT
                        LAMBERT   M U L D E R                                     U N L E S S   T H E   DEMANiD   O'F  T H E   S A I D   tiERMAN
                        A N D R E W   D Y K S T R A                               H O E K S E M A   W A S   A C C E D E D   T O   T H E Y   W O U L D
                        H E N R Y   B A S T I A N S E                             A L S O   S E P A R A T E   T H E M S E L V E S ,   A N D   T H E   O T H -
                        S I D N E Y   D E   Y O U N G                             E R   C R O S S   D E F E N D A N T S   T H E R E A F T E R   L E F T
                        A D O L F   V E R M E E R                                 SAID CHURCH."
                        G E R R I T   SIKKEMA                                                          Signed by the same as before.
                        J O H N   B O U W M A N                                      -How  they dare lie under oath!
                        A N D R E W   VOSS                                            I am not referring now to all kinds of inaccuracies that are
                        By Hubert De Wolf                                         found in this part of the cross bill. But I am referring to
                                                                                  downright lies, as follows:
     All this the above solemnly swear.                                               1. That I left the meeting after a motion that the Rev.
     What a wicked person that Rev. Herman Hoeksema                               De  .Wolf  should apologize according to the decision of
 really is. He not only dominates the whole  con&tory  so Classis was not carried. That is not true, and they know it
 that for a long time they meekly submitted as dummies to                         is not true. I did not leave until the whole business was
 his will. But he also was so wicked that  whe;  he could no                      finished, and also the elders by their illegal voting had
 longer control the  consistory,  he intentionally caused a                       showti.  that they did not want to apologize.
 schism, a split in his own congregation, and that for the                            2. The cross bill states that I left "in a display of anger."
very purpose that he might seize the property of the First                        That also is a lie. I displayed no anger whatsoever, not by
Protestant Reformed Church.                                                       my speech, nor by any gestures, nor even in the appearance


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     197
                                                                                    -
of my face. I stood by the door and told the  meeting that I                  It is deceiving to use the same term in the same sentence
would not be in this consistory meeting any longer because               in a double sense without indicating it.
I felt that it  had become entirely illegal. The only display                 But let me continue to quote De Wolf:
of real anger was given by the Rev. De Wolf after I left.                     "And now for proof of the fact that  -you speak-and,
Ac_cording  to all of my elders he raved for about -twenty               Mr. Chairman, I am not pleading for this thing, for I will
minutes; or a half hour, against me while I was absent and               frankly admit that I said more on the pulpit than what I
against the Rev. D. Jonker who had died.                                 npw realize I said, but I will not admit that I preached false
    3. The cross bill-lies, and they all know-it,  i+hen  it states      doctrine. I am more convinced now that I didn't. I am more
that "later the elders supporting the position of said Her-              convinced of that now. I didn't realize all the implications,
man- Hoeksema who are the other cross defendants herein,                 and I'll frankly admit, and I suppose almost any minister
remained for a while but made clear that unless the demand               will. We sometimes talk about things that we don't under-
of the said Herman Hoeksema was acceded to they would                    stand so very well, until we  are,put on the spot, and we have
separate themselves, and the other cross defendants there-               to start investigating them, and then we find things that
after left said church." This is a double lie. It is a lie be-           we haven't found before."
cause it leaves the impression, and the impression. is un-                   What does all this mean?
doubtedly intended, that my elders also left the meeting,                    Did De Wolf go to the pulpit, that particular Sunday
while the fact  i,s that they stayed until the end, and that the         evening, without knowing what- he was talking about, with-
Rev.  Schipper,  member of the classical committee,  closed              out realizing the implications of what he said?
the meeting in their presence. And secondly, it is a lie be-                 And did he, nevertheless, express himself very  cock-
cause it  leayes  the impression, and the impression is un-              surely about conditions and prerequisites ? Did he not him-
doubtedly intended, that they left the  .church. In other                self state that he knew, before he went to the pulpit, that he
words, they became schismatic. And they certainly did not.               was going to offend some in the congregation exactly because
-They never. left the First Protestant Reformed Church, but              he was going to preach conditions and prerequisites  ?     .
are still the only legal consistory and the only true members                And now he says, nevertheless, that he said more on
of said church.                                                          the pulpit than he realized he said, that he  talkkd  about
   And  fherefore  I once more say: how dare they lie, and               things he didn't understand very well and didn't realize all
that too, under oath!                                                    the implications of what he  said   ?
                                                               .H.H.         Yet, although he didn't quite. realize what he said, he
                          -              -                               preached  the- truth, a marvellous truth at that, the truth that
                                                                         our act of conversion is a prerequisite to `enter into the king-
                         EARMARKS                                        dom of heaven!
                                                                             What is all this? Does De Wolf mean to say that, al-
   Notice.  how De Wolf plays  lzocus   pqcus   when he says,            though he did not study the text very well,  -and although he
in his replies to the examination questions that were placed             did not quite realize what he said, yet the Holy Spirit so
before him by the consistory : "If you say that regeneration             inspired him, without the Word, that he could preach very
is a  prerecjuisite  to entering into the kingdom of  .heaven,           emphatically and  cock-surely.about  conditions and prerequi-
you must also say that conve-rsion is a prerequisite to enter-           sites ?
ing into the kindom of heaven."                                              I suppose it is -true that almost any minister sometimes
   The  IZOCU.S   poclrs  lies in the fact that for the guileless and    goes to the pulpit without quite understanding himself  the
unsophisticated reader, he plays upon the  terni  prerequisite           entire contents of his sermon.
in connection with the terms  v&genevntio?h  and  conzrers-sion.             That may be due to two reasons. The one is that he does
   In the one case (regeneration), he employs the term                   not prepare himself properly, that he goes to the pulpit with-
prereqwisitc  in the improper sense of the word, as I evidently          out having thoroughly studied his text. If I ever would do
did in  lily typewritten sermon on Matt.  18:1-4.  Then the              a thing like that, and depend on the Holy Spirit to inspire
term is improperly used to denote; not something that is                 and lead me into the truth on the pulpit, I am quite sure,
required of us to do in order to enter into  th6 kingdom of              as Claus Harms expressed it once, that the Holy Spirit
heaven, but something that God does before  pe can ever                  would say nothing to me but: "Herman, Herman, how lazy
enter into the kingdom.                                                  you were  !"
   But in the other case (conversion  j,  he uses the term                   The other reason  is that, during the  week:  we are spir-
prereqt&ite   in the sense of something that man must do                 itually dull, work and work with the text but without much
before he enters the kingdom of heaven and in order to en-               fruit. But even  ihen, the Holy Spirit does not inspire the
ter it. For, in his sermon, De Wolf preached that our act                minister, who has not and does not  understaid  his text, to
of conversion is a prerequisite  to. enter  into the kingdom of          preach as emphatically and cock-surely as did De Wolf on
heaven.                                                                  that particular Sunday evening..
   That is  IZOCUS pocus.                                                    But let De Wolf himself explain this..

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

       Fact is that he claims that, although  he` did not quite          Let us ask, first of all: what is the preaching of  the
realize what he said on the pulpit, he is now more convinced         Word  ?
than ever that  he spoke the truth.                                     It.is the chief means of grace. What does this mean, ac-
       He continues as follows :                                     cording to the Catechism  ? It means that, through the preach-
       "Now, Mr. Chairman, if the elders will please turn to         ing of the Word the Holv Ghost works faith in our hearts,
question S3 of the Heidelberg Catechism, and the point I             conscious faith. Question  tj5.
am trying to make here, Mr. Chairman, by all this, is this,             The preaching of the Word is the declaration of the holy
that you cannot easily accuse a man of heresy when he says           gospel, of the sure and unconditional promise of God unto
that conversion is a prerequisite to entering into the kingdom       salvation, by  the Church, and in the service of Christ through
of heaven. You have to be very careful with that, I assure           the Holy Spirit.
you. It isn't so easy to say that all of a sudden. I say simply         In other words, when the Word is preached, the promise
the only point I am trying to make, and that is why I am             of the holy gospel is declared to all the hearers. But the
trying to develop this a little bit. Notice, Catechism, Ques-        preaching of the Word is much more. It is not only a dec-
tion 83: "What are the keys of the kingdom of heaven?                laration of the promise by mere men, but it is the Word of
A. The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian  .disci-           dTod.   C;od speaks through the preaching. His Word is  efi-
pline, or excommunication out of the Christian church ; by           cacious. When He speaks unto salvation His Word is heard.
these two-(notice)-the kingdom of heaven is opened to                By whom ? By those in whom the' Holy Spirit works the
believers, and shut against unbelievers." That means, Mr.            power and the act of faith. The others are hardened through
Chairman, every time the gospel-is preached, the kingdom             the same preaching. The opening of the kingdom of God to
is opened to believers over and over again. Why  ? So that           the consciousness of believers, according to the Heidelberg
they enter in, and, Mr. Chairman, I was speaking of the              Catechism, is,  ther.efore,`only  and purely an act of God. He
daily, conscious entering into the kingdom of God when I             declares the promise. He speaks His powerful Word.  tie
preached that sermon. I was not speaking of conversion in            worl&  faith as a power and as a conscious act. He causes
the initial -sense. I wasn't concerned about it, but I was           them to enter.
speaking exactly of that fact."                                         And there are no prerequisites!
       This last is simply not true. It is an afterthought of De        Before a man enters into the kingdom  oi: God, lie can do
Wolf as can easily be shown and as I did repeatedly prove            nothing but sin and love the darkness. He does not and can-
from the rest of his sermon. But we will let this pass. It           not believe. He does not and cannot convert himself.
makes no difference anyway, for no matter in what sense one             He is in the kingdom of God, whether initially or contin-
takes conversion, it is never a prerequisite to enter into the       ually, before he can believe and before he can convert himself.
kingdom of God. That act is performed,, not outside, but                I can put it still another way.
within the kingdom. But let us finish the quotation:                    The kingdom of God, according to the Heidelberg Cat-
       "Now, the question-well, I will come back to that, per-       echism, is  opened  by the preaching of the gospel, to believers.
haps, later-I want you to notice here that it- is opened so             That means' that, when De Wolf preaches the Word; he
that believers may, and do enter consciously-consciously,            must declare to believers : you  aYe  i?~  the  kingdonb  of God.
because it is the preaching that does that. It is the preach-           He certainly may not say: faith is a condition or pre-
ing that opens that door, and that. closes that door every           requisite to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Then he shuts
time the gospel is preached, and every  -time it is preached         the kingdom to believers.
God's people turn from their wicked ways; they convert                  Now, what is logically first: faith or  conversibn,  belief
themselves, if you want to use that, perfectly  allright with        or our act of conversion  ? You  say, of course: the former.
me. I believe that. They turn, through the grace of God,                Well, then. if the act of conversion is the fruit and man-
they turn all over again, and they enter into that kingdom."         ifestation of faith, and if the preaching of the gospel declares
  -According to De Wolf, therefore, even- question and an-           that~  believers  (II'C in the kingdom of heaven, is the act of
swer  53 of the Heidelberg Catechism teach that our act of           conversion then performed  <in  or  outside  of the kingdom,  be-
conversion is a prerequisite to enter the kingdom of heaven.         foye we enter or  after  we have entered into the kingdom of
       But by his conditional preaching that evening  .and;  `in     heaven?  You  say, of course, the latter.' But then, our act
fact, by all conditional preaching the door of the kingdom           of conversion is not and cannot `be a PRE-requisite to enter
of heaven is exactly closed tight to believers, to those that are    into the kingdom `of God.
converted and that convert themselves daily, to the elect, for          It makes no difference, whethkr you speak of initial or
it is  made, dependent upon an act of man, his' act of conver-       of continual conversion. conversion always takes place, not
sion, whether or not he shall enter into the kingdom of              before we enter, but  iql the kingdom of God.
heaven.                                                                 To preach, as De Wolf did, and still wants to do, that
   Is that the teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism in               our act of conversion is a prerequisite to enter  into the king-
question and answer  83?                                             dom of heaven, exactly closes the door to all true believers.
   `God forbid !                                                                                                                H.H.


                                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                               199

                           More  Interpretation?                                           2. His refusal to acknowledge authorities  ? Is this not
                                                                                       always to be condemned  ?
          We found the following item in the bulletin  .of the schis-                      3. His refusal to accept their decrees and pronounce-
      matic group of the First Protestant Reformed Church of                           ments : chiefly THE THREE POINTS  ?
      Grand Rapids,  Mich.  :                                                              4. His causing schism? Do they not  kriow  that,  -to cause
          "In the latest issue of the Standard  Be&rev,   the editor                   schism in the church  is.always  sinful and even worthy of ex-
      attempts to convince his readers that we have repudiated the                     communication, according to the Form for the Lord's Sup-
      denial of the error of common grave by a certain statement                       per? And that they really employ the term in this evil sense
      which we have made to the court. The fact is that we have                        is evident from the whole context, from the expression that
      done nothing of the kind. The statement is merely a formal                       the Rev. Hoeksema  cazl.sed  a schism, and their own distinc-
      statement of fact with respect to the history to which it refers                 tion between "schism" and "splitting of membership."
      and does not express any judgment:. The editor of that paper                         If they had not intended to BLAME the Rev. Hoeksema,
      has drawn his own conclusions on the basis of the implica-                       if they really still  as&tie `responsibility for the "schism" in
      tions which he makes and  not upon the statement itself.                         1924, they should have addressed the court as follows :
     These implications  are his own; we deny them and-assume                              "WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, UNDER THE  LEAD-
      no responsibility for them. A fuller  clarificatioli  will be made               -ERSHIP   O F   T H E   R E V .   H O E K S E M A   A N D   W H I L E
      in the  Refor<?%ed   Gztardian."                                                 HE WAS OCCUPYING THE PULPIT IN THE EAST-
          Let us see.                                                                  E R N   A V E .   C H R I S T I A N   R E F O R M E D   C H U R C H ,   B Y
          The "certain statement" from the cross bill I quote again :                  O U R   O W N   A C T S   A N D   C O N D U C T   A N D   B Y   O U R
          " D E F E N D A N T S   F U R T H E R   S H O W   T H A T   T H E            R E F U S A L   T O   A C K N O W L E D G E   T H E   D U L Y   C O N -
      S A I D   H E R M A N   HOEKSEMA,   W H I L E   O C C U P Y I N G                S T I T U T E D   A U T H O R I T I E S   O F   S A I D   C H U R C H
      T H E   P U L P I T   I N   T H E   S A I D   E A S T   S T R E E T   H O L -    A N D   I T S   D E C R E E S   A N D   P R O N O U N C E M E N T S ,
      L A N D   C H R I S T I A N   RE??ORME.D   C H U R C H .   B Y   H I S           ~CAUSED  A   SCHIS;1I   I N   S A I D   C H U R C H   A N D
      ACTS AND CONDUCT AND BY HIS  PEFUSAL TO                                          S P L I T T I N G   O F   I T S   M E M B E R S H I P .   A N D   W E
      A C K N O W L E D G E   T H E   D U L Y   C O N S T I T U T E D   A U -          S T I L L   A S S U M E   F U L L   R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y . "
      THORITIES OF SAID CHURCH AND ITS DECREES                                             Of course, the statement as it, appears in the cross bill.
      AND PRONOUNCEMENTS, CAUSED A SCHISM IN                                           is not true. The Rev. Hoeksema; in 1924, did nothing with-
      S A I D   C H U R C H   A N D   A   S P L I T T I N G   O F   T H E   M E M -    out his consistory.' Never did he refuse to acknowledge the
      B E R S H I P   W H I C H   A T T E N D E D   S A I D   C H U R C H              duly constituted authorities, which consisted in his own  con-
      W H I L E   H E   W A S   I T S   P A S T O R . "                                sistory. Never did he cause a schism  ;  classis did by depos-
          A mere formal statement of fact with respect to the his-                     ing him and his consistory.
      tory to which it refers?                                                             But let that be.
          It does not express any judgment?                                                Let the  Refoused   (Deformed)  Gzta:~~dian   assume re-
          Suppose that the statement of fact is correct (which it                      sponsibility for the above statement as changed by me.
     is not), does no? the very fact that they can- make such a                            Perhaps, we -will then believe them, although it is rather
      statement of fact, put them outside of  the Protestant Re-.                      l a t e .
      formed Churches ? Will anyone admit that by making this                              It would be much better  ior them to apologize  .for the
      kind of a statement of fact, they, Hubert de Wolf and the                        whole lie.
      cosigners of this cross bill will, utterly repudiate all  respon-                    But that is, I am sure, too much to  ekpect.
     sibility for  th& "acts and  condtict" of said Herman  Hoek-                                                                                             H.H.
      sema, and for his "refusal to acknowledge the duly consti-
      tuted authorities of said  churdh  and its decrees and pro-
      nouncements" ? Can any Protestant Reformed man conceive
      of the possibility of making such a statement of fact? Will
      any unprejudiced outsider, reading such a statement-of fact,                                                 IN MEMORIAM
      not judge that it was made by an outsider, and certainly not                        As it has pleased our Lord to take unto himself on Jan. 17, 1954
      by those that, in 1924, assumed all responsibility for the "acts                                      MRS. EVELYN VELDMAN
-     and conduct" of the Rev. Hoeksema and for his refusal to                         beloved mother of our pastor, the congregation hereby expresses
      acknowledge the duly constituted authorities, their decrees                      its deep sympathy to the Rev. R. Veldman and family with the
      and pronoucements  ?                                                             hope that God  mZy be their strength and comfort.
          But there is more.                                                              Luke  20':36, "Neither can they  die anymore, for they are equal
                                                                                       unto the  ang&, and are the children of God, being the children
      . Will the  Refomzed   (Deformed)  Gzta:ydiaut be able to play                   of the resurrection.
     so much  IZOC~GS   poc.zbs that they make many of their poor read-                                                 Consistory of 4th Prot. Ref. Church
      ers believe that by this formal statement of fact they did not                                                      *  Vice Pres., Gerrit, Pipe.
      condemn and intend to condemn the Rev. Hoeksema for :                                                                   Sec., Ryven Ezinga.
          1. His acts and conduct, whatever these may be ?
                     _-


200                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                       _~

                                                                    must not demand of him  to  dd anything at all. All this
            O U R   D O C T R I N E                             II denies the very  principie of obedience, which is exactly
                                                                    respect for, and submission to authority for God's sake.
                                                                    This, we repeat, is not found in the world, but only in
              THE  TRIP&  KNOWLEDGE                                 the church.
       AN  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  HEIPELBERG   CATECHISM                 This virtue of obedience must first of all  be inculcated
               P                                                    in the home.
                    ART  III  -  OF  THANKFULNESS
                           L                                           For this purpose the parents must look upon their
                                ORD'S DAY 39                        children as principally sanctified in Christ, but neverthe-
                                Chapter 2                           less, as children that have only a small principle of the new
               Obedience and Promise (cont'd)                       obedience in their hearts. Certainly, they do not consider
       We must constantly remember that this commandment            their  children as principally good by nature.    On  the. con-
is preached, not to the world, but to  the church. It is the        trary, they confess with the Baptism Form that "we with
law of liberty that finds a response in the heart of the re-        our children are conceived and born in sin, and therefore
generated Christian, whose principal delight is in the pre-         are children of wrath, insomuch that we cannot enter into
cepts of his  ,God.     It is certainly not the law to which the    the kingdom of God except we are born again." On the
apostle refers in the first epistle to Timothy, chapter  1;         other hand, they also confess that even as the children are
verses 9 and 10: "Knowing this, that the law is not made            without their knowledge partakers of the condemnation in
for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient,           Adam, so they are again received unto grace in Christ. In
for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane,        the first question they are required to answer when their
for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for              children are baptized, they "acknowledge, that although our
manslayers, for  whoremongers,  for  .them that defile them-        children are conceived and born in sin, and therefore are
selves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for per-           subject to all miseries, yea, to condemnation itself; yet
jured persons, and if there be any other thing that is con--        that they are sanctified in Christ, and therefore as members
trary to sound doctrine." The law is preached. to the church        of his church ought to be baptized." They consider their
of Jesus Christ, to those that live not after the flesh, but        children, therefore, indeed as saints in Christ Jesus, but
after the Spirit. And, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,       as very imperfect and sinful saints. And, it is the calling of
peace,  longsuffering,  gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,      the parents to instruct their little saints and to train them
temperance: against such there is no law." Hence, when in           in the way  pf obedience. The children must learn to obey
connection with the preaching of the law we speak of obed-          their parents in the Lord, and to respect and honor them
ience, we refer to spiritual obedience, a virtue which is           and be in submission to them for Christ's sake.
the fruit of the grace of God. This virtue of obedience is
not found in the world of the unregenerated at all. There              This is indeed a difficult task. It requires much patience
may be an outward  sembl&ce,  an imitation, of it,  an at-          and longsuff ering, and therefore, constant prayer.
tempt to practice civic righteousness also in this respect.            The term  obedience  and  to obey  in Scripture represents
But even this outward imitation of obedience  ins the world         a very concept. The English word  obedience  is derived
often deteriorates. Fact is that modern education and               from the Latin  obedientia,  which evidently has the meaning
modern pedagogy, especially since the time of Rousseau              of "to hearken to a summons, to follow up a call, to submit,"
and the latter part of the 18th century, must have nothing          and hence, "to obey."    Principally this is also true of the
of parents imposing their will upon the child, and of teach-        Greek word in the New Testament that is translated by
ers exercising their authority in the classroom,  - an author-      the noun  obed,ience  or by the verb  to obey.  It also de-
ity to which the child must simply submit.          Rousseau and    notes compliance, submission, the hearkening to a command.
those that followed him proceeded from the false  prihciple         He whom one obeys is his master, and the one that obeys
that the child by nature is good. The evil that in later life       is a servant, Rom.  6  :16: "Know ye not, that to whom ye
becomes manifest is not due to his nature, but rather to            yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to
the environment and to the example of others.             Hence,    whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience
the child must be left alone as much as possible. He surely         unto righteousness  ?" Scripture speaks of obedience to the
must not be ordered about by precept upon precept. As               faith, Rom. 1  5. 16  26, which evidently  mean.+ a hearken-
much as possible the child must learn to follow his own             ing to, a compliance with, a submission to the faith of the
will and his own mind. Parents and  ediicators prostrate            gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.       In the same sense it
themselves before the throne of the child, and `ask him,            speaks of obedience of .the truth, I Peter  1:X?. Believers
"Lord, what wilt thou have us do  ?" By all means, you              are called in Scripture children of obedience, I Peter 1  :14,
must not simply  commarid  the child. You must show him,            a phrase that is translated by "obedient children," and
before you  silnply demand  o_f him, the reason why he must         which denotes that believers, as children of God, are char-
do a thing. And unless he plainly sees that a  thing  is            acterized  by obedience. They walk in obedience, and do
reasonable and just according to his own judgment, you              not fashion themselves according to the former lusts in


                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 201

their ignorance, but strive after holiness in all their walk           may be  weli  with thee,  and thou mayest live long on the
and conversation.           Paul speaks of the obedience of the        earth."    The same order is followed in Colossians 3. Al-
Gentiles by word and deed, meaning evidently that through              so there the apostle first admonishes the wives to be in
his preaching the Gentiles have submitted themselves to                submission unto their husbands.           knd then he writes :
the gospel in ail their walk and conversation. Rom.  15.:18.           "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well
Of the Philippians we read that they were always obedient,             pleasing unto  .the Lord."      Notice that the apostle in this
meaning, of course, that they were obedient and submitted              last verse adds the  phrase "in all things."          In the book,
to the precepts of the gospel  which Paul had preached to              "The Home Beautiful," there is a chapter on "The  Chilcl-
them.     Phil.' 2  :12.     Abraham, according to Heb. 11 :S,         ren's Part."    In this the author writes : "This obedience
"was called to go out into a place which he should after               is to extend  .to `all things', .the things that are agreeable
receive for an inheritance," and he "obeyed; and he  went              and the things that are disagreeable.            Though he may be
out. not knowing whither he went."              Here too obedience     unjustly treated, the child is not to rebel. He may know
is presented as the act of hearkening to, and `compliance              that his parent is unkind or oppressive or even cruel, but
with an  authori@tive  summons, the call of God, and the               his duty is not thereby changed. Wrong on the parent's
blind following up of that summons by faith. In Acts 6  :7             part will never justify wrong on the part of the child. There
we read that a great company of priests were obedient to               is only one qualification: children are to obey their par-
the faith, meaning, of course, that by faith they submitted            ents `in the Lord.' If the parent commands the child to
themselves to the gospel of Jesus Christ  as preached by the           commit a sin, of course it is not to obey. Herodias was
apostles. And in Rom. 6  :17 the apostle writes that the               under no moral obligation to obey when her cruel and
Roman Christians "obeyed from the  heart that form of                  bloody mother bade her ask for the head of John the Bap-
doctrine which was delivered you." Supremely  obedie'nt                tist. No human authority is ever binding when it bids
was, of course, Christ  Himsklf, of Whom we read that He               us break a divink law. No true parent will  kno-wingly  ask
was found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself, "and                   anything of his child that is not right; hence, the law of
became  obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."             parelital  govermlient  requires obedience in all things."
And in Heb. 5  :7 the Scriptures teach us that "in the days of            This relation of submission and obedience to parents
his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications            lasts as long as the child is in the home. Although it is
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to                 true, of course, that when the child grows- up and becomes
save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;                  a young man or young woman, the relation gradually be-
Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the                  comes one of greater `freedom, yet this freedom never means
things which he suffered."              And in Luke 2  :5 1 we read    that now the child can take the law in his own hands and
that Christ Himself was obedient to his parents: "And he               disobey the parents. This also implies, of course, that as
went down with them, and came to Nazareth,  and  was sub-              soon as the child marries and establishes his own home, he.
ject unto them."                                                       becomes sovereign within the sphere of his own home. And
    In brief,' we may say that obedience, the obedience  oE            the father-in-law or mother-in-law may not attempt to. en-
love, is our part of the covenant. It is a thoroughly cov-             croach upon that sovereignty.         This does not mean that
enant conception. But let us remember that all true obed-              even then the child is not called to honor and respect his
ience is submission to authority for God's sake in Christ.             father and his mother, and even to seek their good advice.
Always obedience is compliance with the gospel of Christ,              But the relation of submission to their authority ceases.
with the precepts of the Lord our God, with the truth  a>              There is what. is called in Dutch "sovereiniteit in eigen
it is in Christ Jesus. It is the hearkening unto the Word              kriiig," a sovereignty in its- own proper sphere.        And that
of God in  Chi-ist  Jesus our Lord, the unconditional surren-          sovereignty must always be respected.
der to that Word, and the following up of its summons.                    This relation' of obedience and submission to authority
It is the doing of that Word in all our walk and conversa-             is maintained, according to Scripture, in all other spheres
t i o n .                                                              o f   1iEe. In  IXphesians  6  :5-S the apostle writes :  "S&-vants,
    This, then, is also the. meaning of obedience when the             be obedient to them that are your masters- according to the
Scriptures admonish us to be subject unto authorities,                 flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart,
whether it be in the  nome,. in church,  iti school, or in the         as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers  ; but
state.                                                                 as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
    The home relation  -is, of course, fundamental. With it            heart; With good will doing service, as  tb the Lord, and
the apostle Paul  .begins   tihen he admonishes the church to          not to men : Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man
submit and be obeclient. In Ephesians 5 and 6, after he                doeth, the same shall receive of the Lord, whether he be
has exhorted wives  to  sub+t themselves unto their own                bond or free." Notice in this admonition the strong em-
tiusbands,  he writes : "Children, obey your parents in. the           phasis on the truth that all submission and obedience, even
Lord: for this is right.  L Honor thy father and mother;               to our worldly masters, is principally an obedience to Christ.
which is the first commandment with promise: That it                   Servants must be obedient to their masters as unto Christ.
                                                                                                                   .
                                   .

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

They must act not as menpleasers, but  5 the servants of           on pp.  25ff. : "Starting from the Christian postulate that
Christ. And in their service unto their masters they must          in social life generally only the government has the right
do the will of God from the heart. They must perform               to use coercion, to enforce its decisions, to compel obed-
their service not as unto  men,.  but as to the Lord. -And         ience, we are constrained to say that the boycott, the strike,
from the Lord they will receive their reward. The same             and the  closdd  shop, as means by which the unions seek to
admonition, and with the same emphasis, namely, that all           enforce their demands, contain an element that is decidedly
submission and obedience and  se&ice  must be "as unto the         wrong, resulting from the principle that might is right, and
Lord" is repeated in Col. 3 :22-25 : "Servants, obey in all        that every man is his own judge."  _ And again he writes :
things your masters according to the flesh ; not with  eye-        "Now I desire to make two strictures on this idea of -the
service, as menpleasers  ;  but in singleness of heart, fearing    strike as a general  propositiori. In the first place, the la-
God: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord,         boring men. are either laboring under a contract or they
and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall re-            are not.    If they are, they have no right to' strike, except
ceive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve  the Lord        when the employer breaks the contract; and in case they
Christ. But he that  doeth,  wrong shall receive for the           are not., they can lay down their work, but do not retain their
 wrong which he hath done : and there is no respect of per-.       right to the job. And in the second place, even if the right
 sons." In I Peter 2 the same admonition is addressed to           is all on their side, they are not, generally speaking, jus-
the church, now,  hGwever,  emphasizing that even if the           tified in forcing their demands by intimidation or violence."
servant has to suffer wrongfully,  he has no excuse to  re-        The strike, as commonly conceived, therefore, is to be con-
Iuse submission or obedience to his master: "Servants, be          demned in the light of Scripture, which admonishes us that
subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good        servants shall be subject to their masters.
and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is  thankwor-            The same principle of obedience and submission to
thy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief,              authority is applied by Scripture to the state. According to
suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, when ye be             the first epistle of Peter, 2  :13~17,   then  Christian must sub-
buffeted  fsr your faults ye shall take it patiently ? But         mit himself to every ordinance of man, not for man's sake,
if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patient-        nor for the fear of man, but for the Lord's sake. He must
ly this is acceptable with God." This was  writen, we              submit himself to the king, as supreme; or unto governors
must not forget, when the relation between master and              that are appointed by the king, because it is the will of
servant was that of freeman and  bondman.         The servant      God that by well-doing he may put to silence the ignor-
was a slave, who belonged bodily to. his master.        In our     ance of foolish men. He must reveal himself in the true
present system of society this is, of course, no more the case.    sense as standing in the freedom of Christ and in the ser-
Master and servant, employer and employee, stand as free           vice of God. The same is true of the well-known passage
men over against each other. The employee simply sells             in  Ram.  13  :l-6. Because the  .powers of the government
part of his time and effort to his employer. But this does         are ordained of God, therefore it is the Christian's calling
 not mean that during the time a'ncl in the place of his em-       to be `subject unto those' powers and assume the position
 ployment he does ndt stand in the position of obedience to        of obedience with respect to them for Christ's sake,
his employer. The employer is certainly master in his                  Needless to say, although the authority of the church
 own sphere, and has authority over his employees. Within          `is of a different  .nature  than that of the family,  .of society
 the terms of his agreement with the employer he may, of           or of the state, although the church does not have the  sword-
 course, quit his position or job. He may even agree with          power, but the key-power, nevertheless, the member of the
 the entire group of employees that work in the same place         church also stands in a position of obedience to the govern-
 to refuse to work any longer, because he considers the            ment of the church, and that too, for Christ's sake, Who is
 wages not sufficient or the working conditions too unequal.       the Head of the church not only in the organic, but also
 But when he' or they thus quit their job or position, they        in the juridical sense of the word.        Hence, when in our
 may not assume the attitude that they still have a claim to       churches a member makes public confession of his faith,
 the job, or prevent others from working in the same place.        he promises that he will submit, to the government of the
 This is nevertheless the usual meaning of a strike. The           church,  .and if he should fall into sin, submit also to the
 strike is simply a means of coercion on the part of the em-       discipline of the church.
 ployees to force their demands upon the employer. And                 It lies in the  v&-y nature of authority that submission
 by a strike the former attempt to close up the shop until         and obedience to it has one important limitation. Because
 their demands are granted. To this they have no  iight.           all authority is principally God's  *and because God has
 It is rebellion. an infringement upon the authority of the        conferrecl all authority in heaven and on earth principally and
 emploler,  which he has the right to exercise  in- his  .own      centrally upon Christ, therefore it stands to reason that as
 place of employment. It is based upon the principle that          soon as those in authority would demand something of
 might is  riglyt. We agree with Berkhof, in his "The Christ-      the Christian that is in conflict with the Word of God and
 ian Laborer in the Industrial Struggle," when he writes,          the precepts of the gospel, he  c&not  and may not obey.


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               203

  In that case the principle of Scripture is clearly announced:      most part, have the truth of this  promike verified in their
  we may- not obey men rather than God.          Besides, in such    case. Promises of temporal blessings, too, must be under-
  a case those that stand in a position of authority do not          stood as making an exception respecting chastisements and
  function as such, that is, as officebearers, but as mere men.      the cross. And still further, an early translation to another
  Pond therefore, disobedience to them is in that case no re-        and better life, even a heavenly life, is a most ample  rec-
  bellion against God-instituted authority.                          oi&pence  for a long life."
      The question must still be asked: what is the meaning              Anyoie   will admit that it can hardly be said  that these
  of the promise that is attached to this  fifih commandment,        arguments of Ursinus hold water. The fact remains that if
  "that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy          this promise added to the fifth  comandment actually refers to
  God giveth thee."                                                  a long. life in this world, it certainly cannot be said, in the
      Ursinus, in his "Commentary on the Heidelberg Cate-            light of the universal facts of life and death, that the promise
  chism," insists that the meaning of this promise is that           is fulfilled. It simply is not true that those that obey their
  they who obey their parents shall have a long life upon            parents and are  in subjection to authority live longer in the
  the earth.      He answers various objections to this' inter-      world than the ungodly and disobedient.
  pret&ion as, follows :                                                 Dr.  Iiuyper,  in his  E  T/`&o,, and others following him,
      "But long life does not seem to be a blessing, in view         have clearly recognized this `fact. And therefore they at-
  of the miseries which  are connected with this  pl'esent           tempt another interpretation of this promise that is added
  state of being. Therefore it is a useless promise. -Answer:        to  the fifth commandment. Writes Dr  Kuyper,  E. Yoto,  IV,
  That a long life seems not to be a blessing, comes to pass         44ff. (I translate) : "Now  this promise would not have a
  by an accident; for in itself it is a great blessing, although     hold  upon   your conscience if it must be explained exclusively
  it is connected with much misery and suffering. To this            in the sense that an obedient child would become old, and
  the following objections are brought forward: 1. A  goocl          a naughty child would die young. This cannot be the essen-
  connected with great evils is rather to be deprecated than         tial significance of these words for us, who see in these words
  desired.      A long life now is connected with great evils.       a promise given by God; for  everyone knows how God the
  Therefore it seems, on account of this accident, rather to         Lord continually calls obedient children early to His heaven,
be deprecated than to be desired. We reply, that a good              while he allows naughty children to become very old." And
  is to be deprecated, if. the evils connected with it are great-    thereupon he himself offers  an interpretation that to us is
  er  -than the good itself. But God promises to the godly,          still less acceptable than that of Ursinus. He interprets that
  in connection with a long life, a mitigation of the calami-        this promise added to the fifth comandment is addressed, not
  ties to which we are here subject  ; and a long enjoyment          to the individual Israelite, but to the people, to the nation as
  of his blessings, even  in this life. Then, too, the constant      a whole, and that it refers to the long existence of Israel as
  worship and praise of God in this life is a blessing of such       a state, as a commonwealth in the world.  He. figures from
great value, that the various calamities to which we are             the exodus to the destruction of Jerusalem, and computes that
  here subject. are not worthy to be compared with it. Ob-           Israel as a state existed 1500 years, while even the mighty
  jection 2. But the wicked and disobedient are also often           Roman Empire existed only approximately' 1000 years. He
  blessed with a long life. Therefore it is not a blessing pe-       adds that the only state that existed longer than that of
  culiar to the godly. Answer. A, few exceptions do not              Israel was that of the Chinese: But he insists that this is all
  overthrow a general rule  ; for the wicked and disobedient,        the more proof for the correctness of his interpretation, be-
  for the most part perish prematurely and suddenly. `The            cause  the Chinese as a whole were always characterized by
  eye that mocketh at  his father, and despiseth to obey his         obeying their parents and keeping the fifth commandment.
  mother, the ravens of the valley shall pluck it out, and the       All kinds of objections. can be urged against this interpre-
  young eagles shall eat it.'  `Whoso-curseth  his father or his     tation. In the first place, it is not true that Israel as a state
  mother, his lamp  @all be put out in obscure darkness.' (Prov.     existed 1500 years. The ten tribes existed as such only a few
  30:17;   2O:ZO)  Againi temporal blessings are bestowed            hundred years, while the independent existence of the king-
  upon the godly for their salvation, and are therefore evidences    dom of Judah virtually ceased with the, captivity. After the
  of God's favor towards them  ; whilst they are conferred           return from the captivity Israel was virtually a plaything of
  upon  the  mYgodly  partly that they may be rendered inexcus-      the nations. Besides, it is not-true that the law is addressed
  able, inasmuch as they have been in this way called to re-         to Israel as  8. nation, but throughout it is addressed to the
  pentance, and partly that the godly and the elect, who are         individual Israelite.  Nbr could this promise be applied to the
  mixed with them, may enjoy these things. Objection 3. But          new dispensation, as if those states that were characterized
  many obedient and godly children die at an early age, and          by obedience to and submission to authorities existed the
  do not live to enjoy the blessing of a long life. Therefore        longest in the history of the world. But the main objection is
  the promise is not universal. Answer. We may here reply            after all that the law is not a code of common  grace,?  applied
  as we did to the former objection, that a few exceptions do        equally to the people of God and to the heathen, as Dr.
  not destroy the force of a general rule. The godly, for the        Ruyper's interpretation would  have it. But God's promises


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   are  al>vays  and only to the elect, and the law of God is                          self, nor  wilfully expose myself to any danger. Where-
   spiritual. The promise of the fifth commandment is only for                         fore also the magistrate is armed with the sword, to
   those that keep this commandment in the spiritual sense,                            prevent murder.
                                                                                       Q. 106. Rut this commandment seems  o'nly to speak
   from the heart, from the motive of the love of God, and                             of murder ?
   principaliy  obey this comandment as well as all others for the                     A. In forbidding murder, God teaches us, that he
   sake of God in Christ. For them, and for no others, are ail                         abhors the causes thereof, such  a.s envy, hatred, anger,
   the promises of God, and it is also this promise that is added                      and desire of revenge; and that he accounts all these
   to the fifth commandment.                                                           as murder.
                                                                                       Q. 107. But is it enough that we  do, not kill any man
       We therefore understand  this promise as being ultimate-                        in the manner mentioned above?
   ly fulfilled in the new heavens and the  new earth. Of this the                     A. No: for when God forbids envy, hatred, and
   land of Canaan, to which the promise refers, was a type,                            anger, he commands us to love our neighbor as our-
   according to all the Word of God. This is evident especially                        selves ; to show `patience, peace, meekness, mercy,
   from Heb. 11  3-10:  "By faith Abraham, when he was called                          and all kindness, towards him, and prevent his hurt
                                                                                       as much as in us lies; and that we do good, even to
   to go out into a place which he should after receive for an                         our enemies.
   inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he                                        Chapter 1
   went. By faith he sojourned- in the land of promise as in                         The Meaning of the Sixth Commandment
   a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
   Jacob, the heirs  w&h  him of the same promise: For he                      The Heidelberg Catechism is rather elaborate in its dis-
   looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and             cussion of the sixth commandment. While it devoted only
   maker is God." And although they never received the land                one question and answer to the preceding, that is, to the
   of Canaan in their own personal possession, they  neverthk-             fifth commandment, it devotes no less than three questions
  -less died in faith, "not having received the promises, but hav-         and answers to the sixth, "Thou shalt not kill."
   ing seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and                     In Question and Answer  105 it elaborates rather in detail
   embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers  -and             on the sin of murder itself, on the meaning and implication
   pilgrims in the earth. For they that say such things declare            of this sixth commandment. It explains that the sin of mur-
   plainly that they seek a country.  Atid truly, if they had been         der consists in dishonoring, hating, wounding, or killing my
   mindful of that country from which they came out, they might            neighbor: that this may be done either in thoughts, words,
   have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire              gestures, or in deeds, either by one's self or by another. Be-
   a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not             sides, it tells us that this sixth commandment also demands
   ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for                that we lay aside all desire of revenge, and that we hurt  *not
  them a city." Indeed,  the meek shall inherit the earth. But             ourselves, nor wilfully expose ourselves to any danger:  Ancl
   it is not the earth that is found in this world, but the new            it concludes by saying that the magistrates are armed with
   earth,  mlder the new heavens, in the new creation, where the           the sword to prevent murder.
   tabernacle of God shall be with men. Such is the hope of the               In the next question, the Catechism calls attention more
   elect. And to this hope principally and ultimately the promise          particularly to the spiritual side and the spiritual roots of
   that is added to the fifth commandment refers : `That thy days          murder, and insists that also these are really murder in the
   may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth                 sight of God. God abhors the causes of murder; such as envy,
t h e e . " The law is not a matter of common grace, but it is             hatred, anger, and desire of revenge.
   the law of liberty, which only those can perform that stand                And finally, in Question and Answer 107, the Catechism
   in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free.  Ant<              calls our attention to the positive element in this sixth  corn--
   even as the law is not a matter of common grace, so neither             mandment. The positive opposite of murder is spiritually
   is the promise. It is not for all men, but only for the elect,          that we love one another, that we love our neighbor as our-
   for the believers in Christ Jesus. And'it always ultimately             selves. and that in that love we assume the attitude of
   refers to the final realization of God's eternal kingdom and            patience, peace, mercy, meekness, and all kindness towards
   tabernacle on the new earth and under the new heavens,                  the neighbor. We must, according to the  sixth comandment,
   where we shall see God face to face, and know Him as we                 always seek the welfare of our neighbor, prevent his hurt,
   are known.  '                                                           and do good even to our enemies.
                                                                H. H.         This, therefore, that we love the neighbor's person and
                             m-d--                                         do good to him, is the positive element of the sixth command-
                             L                                             ment. This commandment deals emphatically with the person
                                  ORD'S  DAY  40                           of the neighbor. Just as the seventh commandment deals with
               Q. 105. What doth God require in the sixth com-             the neighbor's marital relationship, the eighth commandment
               mandment ?                                                  requires respect for the neighbor's goods or possessions, and
               A. That  neithei-  in thoughts, nor words, nor gestures,
          c    much less in deeds, .I dishonor, hate, wound, or kill my    the ninth commandment requires of us that we love the
               neighbor, by myself, or by another; but  `tha.t I lay       neighbor as ourselves in his name, so the sixth commandment
               aside all desire of revenge: also, that I hurt not  my-     `clemands  that we love the neighbor in his person.


                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                     205

       I/                                                                       see that we are to walk in "our part" by virtue of what God
               F R O M   H O L Y   WRIT                                     II has done for us in Christ in His "part". The new and ever-
                                                                               lasting foundation of the Testament is once and for all  layed
                         Exposition   of  I  Peter  1:2&25                     for  LE.  The law is fulfilled. We have been perfectly and
                                        III                                    completely redeemed by Christ who became unto us from
             The reader should diligently keep in mind that the                God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and complete re-
       Apostle is here addressing the living church of God. He is              demption.
       not addressing potential candidates for heaven and hell,                    In the verses 22-25 the Apostle brings up the salient
       confronting them with  %vo ways". But he is admonishing                 point of the Gospel of what God has done in  zts in Christ,
       the living church to work out her salvation with fear and               realizing the work of salvation in Christ in our hearts. We
       trembling since it is God that worketh in her both to will              are those who are such that we are born again. And this
       and to do of His good-pleasure! The sacred writer stirs                 must be the incentive unto  .the perfect life of hope in Christ's,
       up  the living church to walk in the faith and daily, pro-'             blessed return so that we love our brother in the Lord fer-
       gressive conversion !                                                   vently and without hypocrisy. For, notice well, that only by
             The only  laofiive for such a life of conversion is the living    virtue of the hope do we live a life of conversion, and only
       hope upon the day of Christ Jesus. We must not say that                 do we hope by virtue of regeneration as this comes forth
     -_ the more we keep God's commandments the more we shall                  from incorruptible seed by means of the Word of God.
       hope. Our hoping does not  cop>a~  forth  out of keeping  the           Apart from this work we are without hope and without God
       Collc~rza,nd`l,~tents,   but our keeping the Commandments  co??Les      in this world ! For except a man be born again by the Spirit
      forth  out  of  o'ztr  looping.  For the Scriptures say not vainly:      Who blows where He  pleaseth no one can see the Kingdom
~      "And everyone that  hntlz  this hope upon him (of seeing God)           of heaven. Such is the manner of the love of God. Behold !
       pwiji.etlz  himself as He is pure." Only thus conceived of              then, and take careful note of the import of the verses 23-
       will we walk in the liberty wherewith Christ has made  us-              25 of I Peter 1.
       free, and not become entangled in  a. yoke of bondage! Gal.                 It is a great truth of the Gospel that God's people are
       5:l;  I   J o h n   3:3.                                                a different people than the world. We are a peculiar treas-
             Such is also the clear teaching of Peter here in this             ure unto God in all the earth. Ex. 19  :6  ; 23  22 ; I Peter 2  :9.
       Chapter  .as we have repeatedly pointed out to you in these             We have been called out of darkness into  Godis  marvelous
       essays.                                                                 light to declare His praises. Such is the truth of the Gospel.
             According to Peter hopeful living is holy living.  Rom-           Scripture does not simply teach that salvation has been made
       anism would change this about. Jesus warned against this                possible in Christ but it teaches that salvation has been made
       evil tendency of our proud human nature when he said to                 a reality. Christ has ascended on high and  bath given gifts
     I-Iis disciples: beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. It is             unto men ; He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
       true the disciples were slow to see the import of the warning           in heavenly places even as He elected us from before the
       of our Lord, but Peter really learned this lesson later. May            foundation of the world that we would be holy and blame-
       we not be slow to heed this warning of our Savior as this               less before Him in love!       We are regenerated!
       comes to  us- in very page of the sacred Gospel of good                     Such is the clear teaching of verse 23. This verse reads
      -things. Standing in this liberty our hearts shall not be trou-          as follows : "Being  regenera,ted  ones  not  o,ut of  cowuptible
       bled. tempest tossed with doubts and fears. Let us stand                seed but of incorruptible (seed)  tlwozrgh  the Word of the
       on the rock and see that sanctification follows from a living           living God  and  the abiding-  (zvord)"
       hope. He that readeth let him understand.                                  We would like to call attention yet to the following in
             This hopeful living is the only motive of daily conversion,       the text.
       which is heartfelt and true sorrow for our sins, and true joy              In the first place we should point out to you, especially
       in God through Jesus Christ, and more and more with the                 to the ministers in our churches, who can check on this in
       delight of hope to live for God.                                        the sources. that the concept here of regeneration is not an
       In this hopeful living there are two considerations that                abstract  one: Peter is not speaking of the "subject" regen-
       constantly spur  us  on to a full-orbed life of dying unto sin          eration in the abstract sense. He does not speak of regen-
       and living unto God. They are the health `affording words               eration  as a concept  here at all. He is speaking of living
       of what God has done for  21s and  in  `US in His wonderful             people. He speaks of these living people in such a way that
       work of grace in Christ Jesus.                                          he speaks to them. He is speaking to these living people as
             In the verses 18-21 the Apostle brings forward the sal-           they have been made alive and are very much alive. They
       ient point of the Gospel what God has. done for  ~4s in Christ          are those  zvho   aye  stick that they possess and therefore will
       so that our faith and hope might be in God. That is a great             surely receive more and have abundance. Compare Matt.
       incentive to a life of daily conversion. Appropriating this             13  :12. And as regenerated ones they stand in the midst of
      great truth by faith we are filled with the almighty power               those who are not regenerated, who are not the Pilgrims
     of God that spurs us on to being holy as He is holy. We                   seeking the things above in a living hope.


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        Peter is speaking to regenerated people, and he is not          itate against the sickly playing out of "theory" and "practice"
 talking about the  sztbject   regeneration. This passage,  it is       as this is done by those who really feel that "regeneration"
 true, affords material for such a subject and' we must also            `is a dormant entity which somehow man's efforts must bring
 have correct dogmatic construction. But in our exegesis we             into action, rather than that it is the entire living Christian
 don't begin there. We arrive there.
                                   .                                    as he blossoms out into a full-orbed Christian life of hope and
     Lef us remember then: regenerated ones.                            conversion. Regeneration is a "matter of fact", the most
    These "regenerated ones"' are  not  viewed as they are in           glorious fact without which there is no factness of blessed
 the  one  moment   in which they were  h&ally  transplanted  out       hope and the consequent walk in daily conversion and  sanc-
 of darkness into God's light, becoming the abode of the                tification.
 Spirit of Christ, but rather  as they  a,ye in  tht  "monient" and         Go to then all those that would disparage this  factness
 what they are ever afterwards by  virtue  of the "seed" that          of "being  regeherated  ones" which gives blessed consolation
 remains in them and as they concretely live under the means           and solid comfort to the weary Pilgrim lest he despair on
 of grace", the preaching of the Gospel! Thus they are the             the way ; let no one distrub you, regenerated ones ! Keep
 objects who are very concretely warned  to  live out what they        this great boon in your heart and mind. Let this spur you
 +YC in'  Clwist.  Never are they told to become what they are         on. Let it  be,I'eally  a matter of fact, that stands as the rock
 not yet. The inexorable rule of Matt. 13  :12 is here main-           of Gibraltor. And let all the hosts of hell rage. He that is
 tained.  .The elect obtain more and more while the "rest" are         in you is mightier than  the  enemy. No one can pluck you
hardened !                                                             out of the  .hand  of your almighty God and Father. Let the
    That we have here the  .Yegenerated  ones" as they are             devil and his agents sneer : "theory" !  You  confess in blessed
new creatures from the first contact with Christ by virtue of          assurance : it is a matter of fact : we are the regenerated ones.
the coming of the Holy Spirit into our hearts is evident from          Therefore we press on in hope and conversion from strength
the usage of the  ~perfect  passive participle. Three things           to strength until we appear before God in Zion above.                  ~
stand out in this use  of, the perfect passive participle.                 In this conversion and life of hope rooted in regenera-
    In the first place the participle indicates not so much            tion we `make our calling and  election  sure. We don't begin
what we do but rather what  WC  a,ye. See  John 3  :16; Rom.           with nothing. We are such that have and thus we receive
1: 16  ; 4  :2/1 (Holland version)                                     more. We have faith and to this we add even as a chorus .
    Secondly. the passive idea of the participle indicates that        leader adds  voices in the chorus until it is full-orbed,  ;he full
it is God who constitutes us what we are, not simply in the            harmony being  worked out. So too we press on in hope as
inception and beginning, but also in the p&severance. He               the regenerated ones."
preserves us by His almighty redemptive power in the state                 But to return to the text.
of new birth, energizing us from on high with incessant                    The text says that we are such "regenerated ones" out
power.                                                                 oE the seed that is incorruptible and through the word of the
    Thirdly, the perfect tense in  greek in this passage em-           Living God, that abides forever.
phasizes not that  God has once and for all made us children,              We will D.V. call attention in the next essay on this pas-
but rather that we are constantly up to the present moment             sage to the means whereby we are constituted concretely
in.  the state and condition of being reborn ones. We  are not         such "regenerated ones" who work out a full-orbed salva-
simply such  as a dead concept, but we are very much living            tion as wide as the law of God to which there really is no encl.
children with constant appetites for  tile pure milk of the                1Ve will then also show that  when  we work out our sal-
Word, and who  mus,t  constantly be stimulated to a great              vation under the means of grace, the living word of God,
appetite and growth in conversion and holiness. In verse 3             that we will not fall into the error of confusing "basis" and
Peter employs the tense in Greek known as the Aorist tense.            "account" of the hope that is in  ~1s. Forsoothe, the working               .
This is the point tense emphasizing that God has done once             out  ol our salvation is hot the  basis  of the hope, but it is the
and for all. But here we see this  w&-k of  Gocl in the con-           e&cncc  of the hope as. this is rooted in and stimulated in
tinuity of time, in its true  existency  !                             us by the knowledge of being God's reborn children, who
   When Scripture teaches and we confess that it is a matter           will surely be preserved in God's power even to the end.
of factness that we are regenerated then this may not be                   Wherefore  .lift up the loins of your mind and be sober.
stigmatized as being, mere theory overagainst existential                  Without this sobriety of hope and sanctification  .no one
reality. This  ~concrete   ,existential reality of regeneration is     shall  see the Lord. For such  sanctif&ation  is the fruit and
also very much a "matter of fact" in our confession that we            evidence of the unchangeable election of  Go-d in our lives.
are regenerated. It surely is not a matter of fiction, is it? It           Unto this God "conditions"  us by means of the Word,
is the true experience of every child of God. When we say              out of incorruptible seed. He molds us as the potter molds
"existential" we do not mean  Barthian "Existentialism" in             the clay into vessels of honor through the Gospel  aclmoni-
the sense  of'the  Barthian "moment", but we mean the Chris-           tions,  warning us to walk in the ways of the elect, through
tian as he constantly is indwelt by the Holy Spirit  of-Christ         which He works grace in our hearts showing us forth as
in His  mincl and will, in all his "inward man". We here  mil-         I-Tis  Legenerated  ones !      .                            G.L. .


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  207

                                                                       till the day of Christ, they will become careless and profane.
                                                                           "The pedagogical approach", which it is claimed ought
                                                                       to be practiced in the Protestant Reformed Churches in this
                                                                       twentieth Century, is sure that to tell people he truth of Phil-
                    Afraid   of  the  Gospel                           ippians 1  :6 is to encourage them into all manner of care-
                             (11)                                      lessness and profanity. "The pedagogical  approach"~  insists
                                                                       that you have to tell people that there is something they
      "The pedagogical approach".                                      must do. or else He Who hath begun a good work in them
      The Apostle Paul  never heard  of. such a thing !                will do no more until they once again fulfill the condition.
      How could he have heard of it? It is a twentieth Century         Instead of God performing it. till the day of Christ, it is
  discovery. Indeed the Apostle was not ignorant of  peda-             presented as though God will perform it only if man first
 gogy.`l'  How could he be? The Holy Spirit, the All-Wise              does something.
 and Divine teacher Who leads us into all the truth, the Mas-              Conditional theology is based on the pedagogical prin-
 ter of all pedagogy, by means of organic inspiration used             ciple that He Who hath begun a good work in man will per-
  the Apostle Paul to teach the Church the truth. A more               form it further only  uftel:   man has fulfilled God's conditions.
able teacher, one whose pedagogical approach is superior               Yet the defenders of conditional theology hasten to add, when
  to  .that of the Apostle Paul, you will not find in the world        it becomes necessary for them to defend themselves as Re-
 today. But "The pedagogical approach"-please note the                 formed men, that we fulfill these conditions only by God's
 quotation marks-which requires conditional theology as                grace. As we have pointed out before, that little addition
its principle and method of instruction was not known to the           overthrows their "pedagogical approach" by laying down an
 Apostle Paul. In his training by the Spirit of Christ, train-         entirely different principle. By adding that we fulfill this
 ing in that subject was not given at all ! "The pedagogical           "condition" only by God's grace, they approach their listen-
 approach" which is  based;`on the theory that to preach the           ers with the Scriptural principle that God performs His
 gospel to man unconditionally will make him careless  and             work in us unto the day of  Christ.without  conditions for us
 profane,_the  Apostle never used. And we refer you to our             to fulfill, that He first gives us grace to believe, to convert
 last article, that to use the conditional form in your speaking       ourselves, to sorrow for our sins and perform all spiritual
 does not necessarily mean that you preach conditions and              activities. Because they  want  you to believe that they are
 conditional theology. Do not rush fbr your Bible to quote all         Reformed, they will throw away their "pedagogical ap-
 kinds of texts with "if" clauses in them and say that Paul            proach" when you begin to smell the evil in their conditional
 not only knew but also used the "pedagogical approach."               theology. But if you do not press them and criticize them,
 Just read on a few minutes and carefully weigh the matter.            they will preach that there is something you must do before
      "The pedagogical approach".                                      something God will do can happen. They will approach you
      Or otherwise said, Whenever God speaks concerning His            in the preaching with the idea that even though God has
 elect, the promise is presented as unconditional, but when-           begun a good work in you, He will continue that work in
 ever He speaks of  theF8mise  to His elect, He always-in              y.ou conditionally. Let them not deny that as long as they
 the pedagogical approach- makes the promise conditional.              defend the statements of Rev. De Wolf in their literal form!
      Such a "pedagogical approach" reveals nothing less than             The argument will perhaps be raised that Paul is writing
 that those who practice it and maintain it are AFRAID OF              to a congregation that is very strong in the faith, that to
 T.HE  GOSPEL! They dare not preach without resorting                  such a  con&egation  you can say such things, but that to say
 to  that  "pedagogical approach".'                                    it to those who are weak in the faith and wayward in their
                                                                       walk is to encourage them into all manner of  carelesness  and
      The Apdstle Paul  ?                                              profanity. Nothing is farther from the truth.
      The Spirit Who guided him and illumined him ?                       Is it so (if this "pedagogical approach" is the right ap-
      Listen to the very opposite presented to  us by both the         proach) that these Philippians are not in need of conditional
 Primary Author and this secondary author in their epistle to          theology because they are strong in the faith? Is it so that
 the Philippians! We read. "Being confident of this very               men strong in the faith do not need conditional theology and
 thing, that He Who hath begun a good work in you will.                that it is only for the weak  ? Then, surely, we have no diffi-
 perform it  utitil the day of Jesus Christ", Philippians 1  :6.       culty today as we look over those congregations, that were
 Paul is confident of that fact. The Holy Spirit is confident          formerly federated as Protestant Reformed Churches, to
 of that fact.  4nd there is no fear in the heart of either one        determine which of these congregations were and are the
 of them that now that me Philippians have been  to!d that             weakest. They are the ones that left us because they are
 since God began a good work in them, He will perform it               afraid of the Gospel and feel the need of conditional  theolo,
 -       -                                                             ("the pedagogical approach") to keep them in the faith and
 ";Webster  tells us that "pedagogy is the art, practice or profes-
 sion of teaching; especially systematized learning or instruction     in the narrow way.
 concerning principles and methods of teaching."                          But is it so that these Philippians had no sin ? And did


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they not need the  cdnditional approach lest they stay in those     will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ, the one who finds
sins for which Paul still rebukes them in this epistle  ? Does      the& in his life has also the testimony of God that He will
he not write in this very verse, which we already quoted            be saved to the full in the glory of Christ's kingdom. The
above, that God had  beg1r.n the work? It was not perfected         conditional form, indeed! But not conditional theology. The
yet. There was still  mutih sin in these Philippians also: How-     conditional form, indeed! But here is no "pedagogical ap-
ever, he is confiderit that GOD will perform it. And he pre-        proach" that is afraid of the gospel.
sents no condition the Philippians must fulfill in order to in-           Let us note well that Paul lays all the emphasis  upon
sure the  continued.work  of God. Is it so that the strong in       God. HE began the work. HE performs it to the day of
faith stand by their own strength and therefore need not            Christ. Paul is not afraid to the tell the Philippians that
the "pedagogical approach"? What can possibly be the                God does it all, and that salvation  iS sure because God does
reason why the Spirit moved the Apostle to write so confi-          i t   a l l .
dently about God's continued  work of salvation in these                  What is more, when you approach those who are walk-
Philippians ? It is exactly this, that the work of salvation is     ing in sin, who are walking contrary to their confession, as
not conditional but the sovereign, unconditional work of an         the Corinthians were when Paul wrote to them, then you do
Almighty and Unchangeable God.                                      not discard  .this truth of Philippians  1:6 to have a  differen?
   Indeed, one does not come to those who are walking in            peclagdgical approach. Paul rebukes, exhorts, warns and  acl-
sin and tell them that God will perfect the work of salvation       monishes these erring Corinthians exactly because he believes
in them. You do not come to those in whom there is no               `that the God Who began a good work in them will perform
evidence that God has begun a good work in them and tell            Ct till the clay of Christ, and that He will do it! through caus-
them God is going to begin that work in  them sometime in           ing those in  wlzo,~~~   7l.e did  begin  tlzg  zvo?R-the  rest shall re-
the future. Paul surely does say in Romans 10  :9, "If thou         main careless and profane-to heed these admonitions and
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt be-           warnings. The very basis for all exhorting and admonishing
lieve in thine heart that God raised Him from  the dead, thou       is the unconditional theology that  God, having begun a good
shalt be saved." But  are'we to understand by this that be-         work will perform it unconditionally till the day of Christ.
lieving is the condition we must fulfill before we are saved?       The approach is the same to the erring as to those strong in
Is this. the thing we must do before God will begin that            the faith and upright in walk.  `You come each  time-%th the
work of salvation in  us?  What then of that Reformed phrase        gospel, with Christ and not with conditions.
                                                                                                    .
which the defenders of unreformed conditional theology,                                                                    - J .   A .   H k y s
when forced to defend themselves as Reformed men present,                                      -               -
namely, that we believe and confess only by God's grace?
Is it not  so.very  plain that if God gives us the grace to be-           Should it be thought harsh to question the salvation of
lieve and to confess, that He has begun the work  befpre we         one who dies under the blindness of  Arminianism   ; as if a
performed the act of believeing and confessing ? And will it        man  wlio only robs God in part might miss  03: glory  ; let it be
not be that way all along the line as God performs that same        considered that, even on earth, if a person robs me only of
work until the day of Jesus Christ?                                 my watch,. or of a single guinea,  was forfeited his life to
   Instead of  the- conditional pedagogical approach, what          the law, as much as if he had robbed me of all that `I am
Paul writes to  the Philippians, here in Phillippians 1  :6 and     worth,
what he writes to the Romans in  Remans   IO:9 is essentiaily                                                                  - Toplady
the same Scriptural pedagogical approach which is based on                I know but of two  unihterrupted  successions. 1. Of sin-
unconditional theology and utterly void of all being afraid         ners, ever since the fall of Adam. 2. Of saints; for God al-
of the gospel. Romans  10:9 also says that He Who  hat11            ways had, and will always have, a seed to serve him.
begun a good work in the Church will perform it until the                                                                      - Toplady
day of Jesus Christ. That we believe with the heart and
confess with the mouth is to us the evidence that God has
begun a good work in us, and therefore we have the con-
fidence of that  which is declared in the last part of the                                    IN MEMORIAM
verse, we shall be saved. God will give  us the full salvation
when we shall be saved according to body and                             The Men's Society of the 4th Prot. Ref. Church expresses its
                                                    soul  in the    deepest sympathy to our  president,.Rev.  Richard  Veldman,   iH the
day of Jesus Christ. And though Paul uses the conditional           death of his mother,
form here, he does not present a condition man must fulfill                                 &IRS.  J. VELDMAN
before God will save him  0; even before God will  g-ive  him            May Rev.  Veldman  with the sorrowing family, experience
the consciousness of his sure salvation. Let us repeat: Paul        abundantly the  c&fort  of the Holy Spirit.
says here to the Romans that confessing with the mouth                                                    Plter Koster, Vice President
and believing with the heart is the undeniable evidence that                                              Gordon Van Tuinen, Vice Sec.
God has begun a good work and that, therefore, since He


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   209

II                                                                      them, know how to `ask' for salvation, that you may seem
           Contending  For The Faith  /I the Christians should remind us of  .the children drawn out
                                                                        of the water. And some have concluded from this passage
                                                                        that its writer advocated the baptism of children. However,
            The  Church  and  the  Sacraments                           this "proof" is hardly conclusive. The word "children" in
                                                                        this passage of Clement may simply refer to Christians, be-
       EARLY  VIEWS  OF  THE  SACRAXENT  OF  BAPTISM                    ing used by this eminent Church Father to describe Chris-
                                                                        tians from a certain point of view.

      The Protestant Church world,, we all know, is divided                 There are, however, some very definite references to the
upon the issue of the baptism of infants. In the churches of            baptism of children in the writings of Tertullian, Origin, and
Reformed persuasion there is general agreement with re-                 Cyprian. Tertullian wrote a treatise on the subject of Bap-
spect to the baptism of infants as such, but hardly unanimity           tism. Interesting, I am sure,  is the following paragraph
with respect to the grounds for this practice. There is gen-            which we quote from this treatise, entitled: Of The Persons
eral agreement with respect to the question whether infants             to Whom, And The Time When Baptism Is `To Be Admin-
should be baptized but not with respect to the reasons for              istered, and we quote: "But they whose office it is, to know
this administration of the sacrament. What a tremendous                 that Baptism is not rashly to be administered. `Give to every
difference, for example, between the Liberated conception of `one who beggeth thee,' has a reference of its own pertaining
the baptism of infants and the conception of our Protestant             especially to almsgiving. On the contrary, this  precept  is
Reformed Churches ! The former base the baptism of in-                  rather to be looked at carefully: `Give not the holy thing to
fants upon a general promise (and  the`Rev.  Kok, who de-               the dogs, nor cast  .your -pearls before swine;' and, `Lay not
plores the leadership of a man broken in mind and in body,              hands easily on  nxy;  share not other men's sins.' If Philip
recommended the criticism by the late Prof.  I<. Schilder in            so `easily' baptized the chamberlain, let us reflect that a man-
which the late professor distinguished between "promise"                ifest and conspicuous evidence that the Lord deemed him
and "prediction'`-according to the Liberated the promise                worthy had been interposed. The Spirit had enjoined Philip
cannot be a prediction for the simple reason that it is condi-          to proceed to that road: the eunuch himself, too, was not
tional; hence, when, in baptism, the Lord gives each child the          found idle, nor as one who was suddenly seized with an eager
promise, this does not necessarily mean that that child will            desire to be baptized; but after going up to the temple for
also receive the promised salvation inasmuch as that is de-             prayer's sake, being intently engaged on the divine Scripture,
pendent upon his embracing of the same through faith),                  was thus suitably discovered-to whom God, had, unasked,
whereas we maintain the particular and sovereignly uncon-               sent an apostle, which one again, the Spirit bade adjoin him-
ditional promise and proceed from the fundamental Scrip-                self to the chamberlain's chariot. The Scripture which  lze
tural truth that all is not Israel that is called Israel. Other         was reading falls in opportunely with- his faith : Philip, being
churches of the Protestant and Reformed Church world,                   requested, is taken to sit beside him  ; the Lord is pointed
however, such as the Baptists Churches and those who are                out ; faith lingers not ; water needs no waiting for  ; the work
Premillenarian in their conception, deny that  bapism must              is completed, and the apostle snatched away. "But Paul too
be administered to the infants of believers. And there are              was in fact `speedily' baptized  :" for Simon, his host, speed-
also others who deny the sacrament of Baptism in its en-                ily recognized him to be an `appointed vessel of election."
tirety, speak disdainfully of "water-baptism," and claim that           God's approbation sends sure premonitory tokens before it;
the Scriptures only speak of the "Spirit-baptism."                      every "petition" may both deceive and be deceived. And so,
      The general references that are sometimes thought to be           according to the circumstances and disposition, and even age,
found in some of the early writings of the Church Fathers               of each individual, the delay of baptism is preferable  ; prin-
with respect to the baptism of infants are admittedly vague.            cipally, however,  .in the case of the little children. For why
Many of them have really no weight as proof that  infant-               is it necessary-if (baptism itself) is not so necessary-that
baptism was practiced by the early Church. This vagueness               the sponsors likewise should be thrust into danger? Who
is clearly  eviclent  from writings of men, such as Iraneus and         both themselves, by reason of mortality, may fail to fulfill
Clement of Alexandria. The former, for example, had writ-               their promises, and may be disappointed by the development
ten that  Jesus  was Redeemer in every stage, of life and for           of an evil disposition, in  those for  zvhovtz.   they stood?  The
every stage of life. Upon a statement of this kind a conclu-            Lord does indeed say, `Forbid them not to come unto  n1e.j
sion was based that  tms Apostolic Father believed in the               Let them `come,' then, while they are growing up  ; let them
baptism of infants. However, this statement of Iraneus does             `come' while they are learning, while they are learning
not necessarily teach that the Lord Jesus redeemed children             whither to come  ; let them become Christians when they have
by the  ewnter   of  baptisut;   neither can this passage prove any-    become able to know Christ. Why does the innocent period
thing against this usage or practice. The latter, Clement of            of life hasten to the `remission of sin  ?' More caution will
Alexandria, had written that the fish on the signet ring of             be  esercised in worldly matters; so that one who is  ,u~ot
trusted with earthly substance  is trusted with divine! Let             `(at least) to have given `to him that  asketh.  For no less

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

cause must the unwedded also be deferred-in whom the                 children are conceived and born in sins, are children of
ground of temptation is prepared, alike in such as  ~~zever  were    wrath by nature, and indeed worthy of everlasting death
wedded by means of their maturity, and in the  widowed  by           and condemnation. We must not say that our children are
means of their freedom-until they either marry, or else be           t,oo pure and innocent to suffer everlasting condemnation  ;
more fully strengthened for continence. If any understand            fact is, they are by nature children of disobedience and wor-
the weighty import of baptism, they will fear its reception          thy of eternal punishment. The error, however, that our
more than its delay: sound faith is secure of  salvation."-          children are innocent also characterizes us from another
end of quote..                                                       viewpoint. It is sometimes so difficult for us, as parents, to
       It is evident from this learned Church Father (who died       see any wrong in our children. The- fact that they are our
either in 220 or 240 A.D.) that he opposed the baptism of            children blinds us to the reality that our children, too, are
infants. From his opposition it is very evident that the prac-       conveived and born in sins and trespasses. We can easily
tice to baptize children must have been general in his day.          see sins and shortcomings in other children. But it seems to
His arguments against the baptism of children are especially         be extremely difficult for  us  to recognize in our own children
five in number. They are :  (1) the importance of baptism  ;         what  we'can so readily discern in others, And at times we
(2) the consequent responsibility to the sponsors  ;  (3,) the       will even go to the extreme of defending our children in
innocence of infants ; (4) the necessity of previous instruc-        their presence.` We do well, however, to recognize the Scrip-
tion  ; (5) the great responsibility involved for the recipient      tural truth that our children are conceived and born in sins,
of baptism.                                                          and that this Scriptural truth also applies to the children
                                                                     whom the Lord has given us.  We'must  be constantly on the
       Looking at these grounds a little more closely, we may        alert against any deviation from the truth of our original
observe that they reflect the great importance which was as-         guilt and pollution. Terrtullian certainly errs when he ad-
cribed to the sacrament of baptism during the days of the            vocated the innocence of the child  `as a ground for his op-
Church in its New Testament. infancy. And please do not              position to the baptism of infants.
infer from this that we, in our day,  seeks to minimize this
Scriptural truth. Tertullian, however, writes literally : "If                                                                       H.V.
any understand the weighty `import of baptism, they will
fear its reception more than its delay: sound faith is secure
of salvation." I believe that the importance which was as-              Christ's sheep do not contribute any part of their own
cribed in those days to the sacrament of Baptism was. to a           wool-to their own clothing. They wear,, and are justified by,
large extent of a mystical nature. Another ground which this         the fine linen of Christ's obedience only.      -
eminent Church leader advances for his opposition to the                                                                       - Toplady
baptism of infants is their innocence. To quote him again:
"Why does the innocent period of life hasten to the remission           Mere moral preaching only tells people how the house
of sins  ? This reminds us of a phenomenon in the Church             ought to be built. Gospel preaching does more, for it actually
of God whicli is so common and yet impossible to under-              builds the house.                                         - Toplady
stand except for personal and sentimental reasons. I refer
to the argument of Tertullian that he was opposed to  infant-           If then we are justified by the alone imputation of Christ's
bajtism because an innocent age needs no cleansing from sin.         righteousness, it more evidently follows that good works on
Now we know that this Church Father was certainly a stren-           our part are in no sense meritorious of heaven, neither as
uous  advocate of original sin. And yet he speaks of the age         causes nor conditions, for, however plausible and innocent
of infants as the age of innocence. How often does it not            the word condition may sound, a condition is no more than
happen that parents, although they profess to believe in             a softer name for cause, as being something on account of
original guilt and pollution, nevertheless view their children       which something else is given or done. And that works can
as being innocent? And I believe that the same error often           be neither causes nor (which amounts to the same thing)
characterizes us when  speakin,(+ of our little children. How        conditions of justification is clear, because the performance
often did this reasoning not influence parents when children         of a condition necessarily precedes the reception- of a benefit
were taken from them in their infancy  ? They "believed,"            suspended on that condition  ; whereas, good works (and
then, that these children were saved and they based their            works are then only evangelically good which proceed from
"faith'! upon their innocence. How could these parents come          the united principles of faith in Christ and love to God,
to any other conclusion. than the salvation of their children        which faith and love are the fruits of grace previously be-
whom the Lord removed in their infancy, especially when              stowed) do not go before, but follow after justification, which
these children were viewed in the  .light  of their innocence        is the express doctrine of the Scriptures.           '
and purity  ? They had done no wrong. They were so in-                                                                         - Toplady
nocent. This reasoning, we understand, can hardly be con-
sidered to be in harmony with the truth of Holy Writ. It is             1 should as soon expect to be saved by my sins as to be
surely not in `harmony with the Scriptural truth that our            sax&l by my good works.                                   - Toplacly


                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      211

                                                                         the general truth that God is not the author of sin to the
             The Voice of Our Fathers                                    specific truth that God is not the author of the sin of unbelief.
                                                                         But it is also to be explained from the fact that the  Armin-
                                                                         ians separate the sin of unbelief from all other sins. There
                 The Canons  of Dordrecht                                were those who taught that the atonement of Christ covered
                                                                         all other sins, so that not a single man need be condemned
                              PART TWO                                   because of sin. But there was one exception : the sin of unbe-
                   EXPOSITION OF THE  CANONS                             lief was a sin that was not atoned for. All other sins would
                                                                         not make a man liable to punishment, if only he believed.
    FIRST  HEAD OF  DOCTRINE OF  DIVINE  PREDESTINATION                  But through the sin of unbelief a man remained liable to
              Article 5. The cause or guilt of this unbelief as well     punishment. Over against this error the fathers directly
              as of all other sins, is no wise in God, but in man        maintain the unity of all sins. Unbelief may stand at the head
              himself; whereas faith in Jesus Christ, and salvation      of all sins, but it is still sin. It may  be< the apex of the pyra-
              through him is the free gift of God, as it  is.written:
              "By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not         mid of sin  ; but it still belongs to the pyramid.
              of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Eph.  2.23. "And        Now the "cause or guilt" of this unbelief is no wise in
              unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only     God, but in man himself. The language of this proposition
              to believe  ou him," etc. Phil.  129.                      is to be carefully noted. The article does not simply use
     The English version given above is substantially a correct          "cage", since there is certainly a sense in which then it
 rendering of the original Latin.                                        must be said that the cause of unbelief is in God, not in man.
     This article treats the question: whence is unbelief; and           He is sovereign also with -respect to the vessels of wrath.
 whence is faith? As such it forms the first step in the Scrip-          Nor do the  Canons say "cause  and  guilt" : for this would
 tural answer to the all-important question which was raised             identify cause and guilt in every case. But they very care-
 by the preceding article, namely : who are they that, believe?          fully state : "cause  0Y guilt". In other words, the term  g&t
     We may notice that there are two main propositions                  here further defines the term  ca'zhse.  The guilt-entailing cause,
 here given, which stand in contrast with each other:                    the cause in the sense of the blame, is not in God. The ques-
     1. The cause of guilt of this unbelief (the unbelief men-           tion here, therefore, is one of the spiritual, ethical cause of
 tioned in the preceding article) is no wise in God, but in man          all sin, and of the sin of unbelief specifically  ; a question of
 himself.                                                                the authorship. It is the question : from whose heart does.
     2. On the contrary  (autetiit in the Latin  ;, and the Eng-                                                                       .
                                                                         the sin of unbelief arise, God's or man's?
 lish "whereas'! is correct if thus understood), faith in Jesus           It is important that we understand, this distinction. For
  Christ, and salvation through Christ, is the free gift of God.         the Scriptures, certainly do not exclude sin, including the sin
     What, therefore, do these two propositions together teach           of unbelief, from the sovereign determination and  po'wer of
 us in answer to the question: who are they that believe?                God. Everywhere they testify the very opposite, namely, that
     In the first place, it is to be observed that the fathers here      sin and darkness and all the powers of evil come into exist-
mention unbelief in one breath with all other sins when they             ence and act only according to the sovereign decree of God
 insert the clause, "as well as of all other sins." Unbelief,            and under the direction of His almighty providence. To men-
 therefore is  s&l.. And unbelief, though from a certain point           tion only a few passages from Holy Writ, thing, for evample,
 of view it may be placed in a special class (it shall be more           >f  I~aial-!  45  :;`: "I form the light, and create darkness.: I
 tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than                make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things."
 for those' who have heard the proclamation of the good ti-              Or again, Proverbs 21  :l  : "The king's heart is in the hand
 dings), nevertheless it is essentially to be  placecl  in the  com-     of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it  whither-
 man  classification of sin. As sin unbelief may be described as         soever he will." Or think of that central sin of the ages,
 the contrary reaction of the heart and mind and will of the             the crucifixion : "Him; being delivered by the determinate
 natural man against the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It.& there-            counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by
 fore, not a mere intellectual something (for it implies that            wicked hands have crucified and slain." Acts 2  :32. And
 the mind is confronted by, and understands from a purely                again Acts  4  :27  : "For of a truth against thy holy child Je-
 natural point of view the gospel), but basically the spiritual,         sus.  whom thou hast anointed, both  Herod,  and Pontius
  ethical attitude of a man's heart. It is not a natural and in-         Pilate. with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were
 tellectual ignorance of the gospel, but is essentially enmity           gatherecl together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy
 against   God. This sin entails guilt. And guilt is liability to        counsel determined before to be done." Or, with direct re-
 punishment. And thus it is to be explained that the wrath               ference to the sin of unbelief, we may quote John 12  :39, 40 :
 of God abides on those who believe not  the'gospel.                     "Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said
     The fact that this article so intentionally places unbelief         again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart;
 in a class with all other sins is perhaps not only to be ex-            that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with
 plained from the fact that  the.fathers  want to reason from            their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." I t


  212  -                                          T H E   sTANDARD   B E A R E R

  is beyond contradiction, therefore, in the light of Scripture,            was. necessary to quote the Scriptures. This is a crucial
  that sin and evil exist according to God's  dwn  decr&, and               point.  And so we have two Scripture passages, of which the
  that too, for the purpose of the  .glo;ification of His  own              first is  Ephesi.ans  2  $3  : "For by grace are ye saved through
  great Name: for God wills to glorify the virtues of His                   faith  ; and that not of yourselves, it  i,s the  gif!: .of God." We
  sovereign grace and love by the revelation of those virtues               need not enter into  dFtai1  about the question whether the
 through the deep way of sin and grace, death and resurrec-                 word "that" refers to "faith" or to the fact that we are
  tion, fall and redemption. Even sin is but a means in God's               saved through faith. Briefly we mention the following: 1.
  hand unto the realization of His eternal purpose,  nahely,                Arminians make separation here between salvation and faith  :
  the glorification of His own name through the salvation of                salvation by grace,  then, is not of ourselves, but is the gift
  His elect people in Christ. Call this position supralapsarian             of God, while the latter cannot be said of faith, which is of
  if  you  like. But remember that also the infralapsarian, even            man. This is the position, for  esample,  of A. T. Robertson
  though he likes to speak of the "permissive will" of God,                 in his "Word Pictures in the N.T.," IV, p. 525 :  "Tlwough
  cannot escape the implications of the fact that whether ac-               fa,itlz (din  fiisteos).   This phrase he adds in repeating what
  tively or  "permi&ively",  sin is strictly within the confines            he said in verse 5 to make it plainer. `Grace' is God's part,
  of God's decree. In fact, we may safely assert,  Sven while               `faith'  ours.  Arzd  that  (kni  toztto).   Neuter, not feminine
  we grant that the  Cnnons  are infralapsarian in their ap-                taute,  and so refers not to pistis (feminine) ("faith", H.C.
  proach, that it is for the very reason that the Fathers in-               H.) or to  charis feminine also) ("grace", H.C.H.), but to
  cluded also the sin of unbelief- under the decree of God, and             the act of being saved by grace conditioned on faith on our
  were therefore charged with making God the author of man's                part." This is rank  Arminianism.  2. The question cannot
  unbelief by the Remonstrants; that they felt constrained in               be determined on- the basis of grammar, since the neuter
  this fifth article to emphasize that the  "C(IMSB  OP  guilt"  of this    "that" can refer to the feminine "faith", and still be' perfectly
  unbelief,  as  well  a.s  of  all  other  sins, is no wise in God, but    sound Greek grammar: 3. There are many Reformed men,
  in man himself.                                                           Calvin among them, who refer the term "that" not to "faith",
      God. therefore, is not responsible for man's sin. Man                 but to the whole idea of salvation  -by grace through faith.
  himself, the natural man, is the author of his own unbelief.              And it may be added too that good reasons may be produced
  Never will he be able to rightly assert: "I wanted to believe             for this position. Furthermore, it cannot be contended that
  in Christ, but God prevented me." He may  wicke.dly  charge               the  Ca.rtous  refer "that" to "faith", since in their statement
  God with this in this present time, as does the objector in               they also niention "salvation through him." 4. Personally,
 Remans  9  :19. But ultimately,  Owhen  he appears before the              I am inclined for various exegetical reasons to adopt the
  Judge of heaven and earth;  "every mouth shall be stopped,                view under  "3", and maintain that it, as well as the view
 and all the `world  will  become  gui.lty before God." Then the            which explains faith as not. of ourselves, but the gift of God,
  unbeliever  <hall have to acknowledge the wickedness and the              excludes the Arminian position also. But I will not quarrel
 .blame  of his own unbelief, and the strict justice of his- con-           with -those other Reformed exegetes who adopt the alternate
  demnation. God is not the  author.of sin, for He cannot sin.              p o s i t i o n .
  But sinful man is always unbelieving!                                         -Certainly, as-far as the gift of faith is concerned the quo-
      One more remark in this connection: the  Cunons   in this             tation of Philippians 1  :29 is quite sufficient: "And unto you
  instance offer no direct Scriptural proof. The texts quoted               it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on
  are offered in proof of the second  proposi6on of this article.           him. . . . . " The fathers quote only part of this verse, since
  The reason for this failure is not that the Scriptures  camlot            it is the part which constitutes the clear proof, literal proof,
  be quoted to sustain this position, but rather in that there              that faith is the gift of God.
  was no controversy between the fathers and the Remonstrants                    In conclusion. therefore, let us note that we have here
about the specific question of the guilt of unbelief. The fa-               the first' step in the Scriptural and Reformed answer to the
 thers therefore simply state that it is also their position,-and           question : who are they that believe ? The answer is that
  not uniquely the  hrminian  position, that the blame of this              since faith is a gift of God, it is God  mJho  decides who shall
unbelief is man's, not  God's.                                              and who shall not believe. Only they believe who are graced
      About the second  propotiition,  namely, that faith in Je-            with the gift of faith by God. And that gift is free  ; it is of
  sus  Christ, and salvation through Him, is the free gift of               grace.
  God, we may be brief. As we remarked before, the  Canons                       The question still remains, however, to, be answered :  h.o&~
  treat the subject of faith later in detail. Here they  &ply               does God-determine this? To whom does He impart the gift
  Inake  a declaration concerning the  brigin  of faith : it is. the        of faith, and to whom not?
  gift of God.  An.d we must note that this stands in direct                                                                           H.C.H.
  contrast with the preceding : "Whereas  _ . . but. . . mhm."                                        -             -
  The natural  man is  unbelieying and an unbeliever; BUT
  faith in Jesus Christ is the free gift of God.                                 Weak faith says, "God can save me if he will." Strong
     To sustain this contention over against the Arminian it                faith says, God both can and will save me."            - Toplady


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           2 1 3
 II                                                                    rule of  $fe and conduct, they would "lay hands suddenly
               DECENCY and ORDER --                                    (meaning ordination) on no man" (I Timothy  5  :22) "and
                                                                       let these also first be proved" (I  Tilnothy 3  :lO). Thus of
                                                                       course prescribed in Article 9 is both proper and necessary.
                             MOV%CES                                    It is interesting to notice <hat according to the original
       Article 9  y "Preachers without fixed charge, or others who    formulation of this article those priests, monks, etc. who
 have left some sect, shall not be admitted to the ministry of the    sought admission into the ministry of the Protestant Churches
 church until they have been declared eligible, after careful         are called "novices". This has been elided from the ar-
 examination, by the classis with -the approval of synod.",           ticle as  we at present have it for this speaks only of "preach-
       When we consider that the thrust of the preceding article      ers without fixed charges". This omission is to  be regretted
of the church order is to &press that only those who are              especially because the word  `bovice"  as originally used here
 adequately qualified for the office of the ministry of the Word      contains a reference to the apostle's usage of that  term in I
 are to be admitted thefeto, we feel immediately its connection       Timothy 3  :6 and this should be retained here because it
 with the article quoted above. Reformed churches have al-            gives us the directive of the thrust of the entire article. It
 ways held the office of the ministry in high esteem and ac-          is not as though the apostle in this passage is speaking of
 cordingly were careful as to' whom they could admit as               the same situation as that confronting the Reformed fathers.
 worthy pastors. They advocated that the clergy be trained            Yet, a comparison here is very striking. In the passage of
 and educated. They requested every candidate  td give evi-           I Timothy 3 the apostle sets forth the requirements of the
 dence of certain spiritual, intellectual and physical  qualifica-    offices in the church. Among other things he states that a
' tions. They insisted upon thorough examinations. And, they          bishop (elder) is not to be a novice. Novice means some-
 allowed for a possible exception (Art.  S)m although even then       thing new and in this connection refers to those who had just
 the requirements were made as rigid as possible. History             recently been converted  -from paganism and had joined the
 has shown and continues to show that in the endeavor to              church. They were new in the faith. These should not be
 safeguard her offices the church cannot be too meticulous.           considered niaterial for the offices  i; the church. Calvin
       Originally the ninth article of our church order was com-      writes concerning this :  "There  being many men of distin-
 posed in  oraer to apply the same cautiousness to groups and         guished ability and learning who at that time were brought
 individuals who came from without and desired to be ad-              to the faith, Paul forbids that such persons shall be admitted
 mitted into the ministry of the Reformed Churches. In its            to the office of a bishop, as soon as they have made profession
 original  f&m this article read quite differently than our           of Christianity. And he shows how great would be the dan-
 present redaction which was so revised in 1914. We quote             ger  ; for it is evident that they are commonly vain, and full
 it here in its entirety:                                             of ostentation and, in consequence of this, haughtiness and
       "Novicest  priests, monks and others who have left some        ambition will drive them headlong." They should first un-
 sect shall not be admitted to the ministry of the church ex-         dergo a period of seasoning in the faith.
 cept with great  c%refulness  and due consideration and after            Now the fathers of the Reformation also spoke of nov-
 they have been on probation for some time."                          ices although  by this term they did not have reference to
       Both the original and the revised articles do not forbid       newly acquired converts from heathendom. Rather they
 the ministry to these outsiders but only emphasize that due          had in mind the newly acquired converts from the clergy
`caution must be taken in receiving them. All is not gold that        of Rome. There is, of course, a difference. Many of the
 glitters ! During the sixteenth century the Protestant Church-       latter are sincere and genuine Christians. Mixed with them
 es were bitterly persecuted by the power of Rome. In that            were those who did not love Christ but were moved by selfish
 era there were not many who of the priests and monks  songht         and worldly interests. All of them, however, were tyro as
 office in the  Protes'tant Churches and those that did the           far as the faith propagated by and in the Protestant Churches
 churches could safely receive for they were moved by convic-         was concerned or, if there were a few who were founded in
 tion and acted at the risk of life itself. When the power of the     that faith, the churches had no way of knowing this. In this
 Papacy began to decline, however, and the movement of the            respect they could be called  :`novices"  and so had to be
 Reformation gained impetus and, in some instances, also              barred from the office until after a period of seasoning they
 state recognition, this situation changed. Flourishing churches      proved themselves worthy and established in the faith.
 were established and it was then that an increasing  num-               In 1914 this article was revised by eliding the phrase
 ber of priests and monks forsook the church. of Rome and             "novices, priests, and monks" and inserting in its stead
 joined themselves to the Reformation in  the hopes of gain-          "preachers without a fixed charge." This change reminds
 ing new pastorates. Many of them did so only to improve              me of an dld saying.: "All change is not improvement." The
 their economic position. Others of them were entirely un-            original of this article was so designed as to safeguard not
qualified for the office. To admit them without restriction           only the office of the ministry from the novices but also
would have been extremely detrimental to the churches. Act-           that of elders and deacons. This is evident for it speaks of
ing, therefore, in accord with the Word of God, the infallible        novices not in connection with the  ."m~ni~try"  but in  con-

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

   nection  with the  "kerkendienst."  And these two are by no         examination of doctrine and life which is as thorough as
   means identical. The latter includes more than the  .former.        that which any candidate receives under- the provisions of
   In close connection with this we may easily see why many            the 4th article of our church order.
   churches today have a ruling that one must be a member of              Too great care cannot be exercised in keeping the offices
   the church for a stipulated period of time before he can            of the church pure and all undue attempts to enter upon those
   be considered for either  the'office of elder  or deacon. The       offices in another than the normal way ought to be greatly
   revision, however, limits the broader scope  and-  intention  of    discouraged.
   the article to the one office which should not be done. It             "Let all things be done decently and in good order  !"
   were better that the article had been left in its original form.                                                     - G.  Vanden  Berg
          Furthermore, according  to  the commentary of  Monsma
   and Van  Dellen, the phrase  "prea,chers   witko~ut  `a fixed
   charge" refers to ministers, not of the Christian Reformed
   denomination, but of some other Reformed denomination,
   who for some reason are no longer serving their congrega-
   tion and who seek to enter our pulpits and are desirous of
   obtaining a  ~~11 from one of our churches." Such a person
   in relation to the church into which he seeks admittance is
   also a "novice" whose case is fully covered by the original
   wording of the article and, consequently, there is no need of
   this change. Nothing essential is gained by the `new formula-

 e tion.
          It might, however, be objected that part of. the original
   article has become obsolete. We refer to the part that
   mentions "priests and monks." Reformed churches today
   are not confronted with the situation of a few centuries ago
   when there was an exodus of this class from the  Romish
   Church. This may be true but the Papacy. is very  much in              Cavilling publications are not  always to be regarded. Who
   existance  yet today and what is to be gained by the omission       would be at the pains to kill an insect of a day? Let the
   of these words ? Is there not a decided advantage in retaining      poor creature alone, and it will soon die of itself. Do not
   them in that they indicate the historical occasion which            make it considerable by taking notice of it. If a child of four
   brought this article forth? This our present rendering  does        years old comes against me with a straw, that is no reason
   not do but simply provides a way for one time ministers to          I should knock him down with a poker.                   - Toplady
   be admitted into the ministry of a church without following
   the prescribed course of training.  .4nd this was evidently
   not the intention of the original article nor  & it the practice                              *     Q     *     6
   of the Protestant Reformed Churches as our past precedent
  clearly shows.                                                         Grace finds us beggars, and always leaves us debtors.
          Article 9, as it now appears in our church order, makes                                                              - Toplacly
' mention of a Classical Examination and a  Synodical  Approb-                                   *  *  *  *
   ation. The article of  1615-19 which we quoted earlier does
   not mention these but speaks only of "great carefulness and            Grace cannot be severed from its fruits. If God gives
   due consideration and a period of probation." However,              you St. Paul's grace, you will soon  have St. James' works.
  previous Synods in 1574 and again in 1578 did mention this                                                                   - Toplady
   provision. Why it was omitted later is not known. Perhaps                                     Q     *     *     *
  .it is not necessary in the light of other articles in the church
   order that this be specifically mentioned in this article as
   it certainly is implied that one seeking admittance to the             Some  harbours have bars of sand which lie across the
   ministry under Article 9 will also be examined and approvecl.       entrance and prohibit the- access of ships at low water.  -
   The "great carefulness and due consideration" would require         There is a bar, not of sand, but of adamantine rock, the bar
   this. That this would be done by the  Classis and Synod is          of Divine  Justice;  which lies between a sinner and heaven.
   not open to question in light of Article 4. However, there          Christ's righteousness is the  highwater, that carries a believ-
   is no harm in stating this anew as is done in the revised           ing sinner over this bar, and transmits him safe to the land
   article. It should then also be borne in mind that this             of eternal rest. Our own righteousness is the low-water
   examination does not refer to  an investigation of certain          which  Will fail  us  in our greatest need, and will ever leave us
   credentials which the applicant may possess but is to he an         short of the heavenly Canaan.                           - Toplady

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

                                                                          Now, he doesn't  want to call the, "natural virtues" of the
                                                                      ungodly "vices", nor does he want to deny total depravity.
             ALL AROUND US                                            So to get out of  this, conflicting circumstance he must find
                                                                      some, way to make the "antipodes" come together . And that
                                                                      is what he tries to do in his series of articles. He is going
   The Good  in the  Tofu.@   Depmved                                 to prove' to  you  that the natural man is totally depraved.
      It appears that the Rev. H. J. Kuiper, editor of the  Ban-      Then he is going to show you how to explain the good in the
  oner, is aware of the fact that there are some in his churches      totally depraved.
   who are slowly waking up to the truth that there is a  plain          He asks first of all : Does the sinner -hate God 7 and im-
   contradiction between the doctrines of Common Grace and            plied in this question, of course, he also includes the  neighbor.
   Total Depravity. And because the Rev. Kuiper is a true son         He warns that we must not play around with the truth ex-
   of the Christian Reformed Churches he is not going to allow        pressed in the Catechism which asserts that man is  `<prone  by
   the pet child,  calleil Common Grace, born in 1924, to be          nature to hate God and his neighbor." We must not say
   tagged  - -illegitimate. The editor of the Banner attempts         that "prone" means that man has merely an inclination to
   to defend both of these doctrines in a series of editorials.       hate God, but in reality he doesn't. That certainly cannot
   We hesitated to. comment on his articles until he was finished,    be the meaning of the Catechism. No, man  aciually  is a hater
   but now' that he has apparently completed them, we wish to         of God and his neighbor by nature. Kuiper asserts emphati-
   call the attention of our  2'readers  to some of the salient       cally that "according to Scripture the depravity of the  u"n-
  points he offers in defense of both doctrines.                      regenerate  exten.ds  to their entire inner life : their emotions,
      The editor tells his readers that he, is not averse to a        their will, and their intellect. Their emotional life is governed
  brotherly discussion on the doctrine of Common Grace: Of            basically by enmity toward God and man  ; their will is en-  _
  course, he wouldn't like at all to see the discussion end up        slaved by sin so that they are free only to do evil but not
  in a violent controversy and maybe another split in his             to do good ; and their minds are darkened so that they can-
  churches. It was, no doubt, for that reason that he and the         not receive the things-of the Spirit of God." "Total depravity
  leaders in the Christian Reformed Churches have remained            means that the sinner is not just a potential but an actual
  almost silent all these years on the subject. But now that          enemy of God and his neighbor; that this hatred is  .always
  several heads are bobbing up in his churches that refuse to         present in his soul though he may not always be conscious
  be duped into silence any longer and are crying for a  reyiew       of the  fact and though his enmity does not always come to
  of this doctrine,. he cannot do much about it except to make        the surface." And  I&per  makes bold to prove this both
- some kind of a defense. `And because his churches have              from Scripture and the writings of theologians' of the past,
  traditionally embraced also the doctrine of Total Depravity,        among whom are Ursinus and Hodge.
  he must defend also that doctrine, for he sees how the wind
  is blowing. If Common Grace must be maintained, then                   Man's total depravity," according to the editor, "includes
  Total Depravity must go. And if Total Depravity is main-            three things : enmity against God and man, total inability,
  tained, then Common Grace is foolishness.  Kuiper must by           and spiritual blindness." When he speaks of "total inability"
  all means save  Cot&on  Grace and at the same time keep the         he also explains what he means by this vague expression.
  name  REFORM.ED  for his  chtirches, and therefore, he must         He says, "It is wrong to conclude from the word `total' that
  maintain the  doctrine'of  Total Depravity also.                    man's corruption, in his natural state, is complete only ex-
   - Rev. Kuiper calls the two doctrines "antipodes" and he           tensively, meaning that all the faculties, of his soul have been
  explains : "we call them antipodes, not because the one is          touched by  sin,  but not that these are  z&olly  polluted and
  opposed to the other but because they denote truths which           perverted." He insists that the term "total depravity" means
  seem to be contradict&y. In reality the one complements             "total loss." However, he hastens to add that "total loss"
  the other. These two are a good example of balance, so              need not mean complete destruction, and total depravity
  characteristic of the churches -that hold to the Reformed           does  ilot signify that every man is as  wicke,d as he possibly
  creed." He says further, "These two doctrines are related           can be or that all men are equally corrupt. He uses a rather
  to each other in somewhat the same way as divine sovereignty        cute illustration to show what he means by this. It was
  and human responsibility, or the  uni-ljersonality  and the two     suggested to him by the dictionary he used to determine the
  natures of Christ. In each case the one at first sight cancels      exact meaning of the word "total." In the insurance business
  the other. In reality, however, and in each  3nstance the one       the term "total loss" is used to describe the results of a fire
 is necessary,for a correct deiineation and the consistent  main-     or flood that has damaged a  ,building  and its  content$ when
  tainance of the other." Kuiper evidently, thinks that' unless       all the contents of such a burned or flooded building have
  you maintain the doctrine of common grace you cannot ex-            become valueless  to the owner thereof. So it is with total
  plain the outward good the unregenerate do and you will have        depravity. "Not only has every faculty of the soul been
  to call these "natural virtues" nothing but vices, or deny the      touched with the pollution of sin. All its powers have been
  doctrine of total depravity.                                        rendered valueless in the sight of God, the Owner. All are


 216                   -.                  -THE;               STANDARD-.BEA.RER                                  _

 worthless in his sight,  according  to the perfect standard of        meated the whole. man. Neither should we make these
 his law."                                                             "natural"  glimmerin&  "spiritual."  IiuipZ even wants us to
        But Kuiper doesn't stop there with-his illustration. He        see with our Confessions that this natural light also becomes
 says further, "On the other hand, the "total loss'! of goods          darkness. We must see,  says   Iiuiper,  that "were the sinner
                                                                          -..
 through fire does not necessarily imply that every -damaged           left entirely to himself  atid to the influence of corruption  with
 article has been consumed  by the  flanies and burned to a            which  he.is born, he would not have these glimmerings."
 crisp. Some of them, though valueless- to the owner, may                  He then asks : "What, then, explains their presence  ?"*
 have value for some one else, let us say a dealer in second           And he answers: "There is  c+ly one answer we can give in
 hand goods. Or a neighbor may desire them for repair mater-           the light of Holy Writ. These -traces or. glimmerings are
 ial or at least  for'kindling  wood. Total loss need  nit mean        present in the sinner because. of God's  corn&n  grace." By
 complete destruction." And then he makes the statement we             a general operation of the Holy Spirit this grace came to the
 quoted before : "Thus total depravity does not signify that           sinner  imnied$ely  after the Fall. For Scripture reference
 every man is as wicked as he possibly can be or that all              he gives  you  Genesis 6  :3 and I Samuel  16:14 which I will
 men are equally corrupt. As streams from the fire hose h&e            not quote nor  .cr?ticize here because of lack of space.
 prevented the house and its contents from being completely                Rev. Kuiper closes `his discussion with a section in which
 consumed by the flames, so the common grace of God pre-               he attempts an answer to the question: Why is common
 vents the sinner's total moral disintegration and makes it            grace not mentioned in. our creed  ? His answer is : All the
 possible for him to  bi of  spme use  iri the world. And so we        elements  of'the doctrine of  commoti grace are to be found
                                                                         -       .
 may thank  God that life on  earth is far more tolerable  than        in the Canons. That the term is not used  is due to the fear
 the existence of the damned in hell."                                 of our fathers for Arminianism. The latter used the term.
        What Kuiper means by this is clearly stated in the Ban-        He closes his articles with this statement: "They (fathers of
 ner of January 1, where he declares : "though total depravity         Dorclt  - M.  S:) say that the glimmerings of natural light,
 does not mean  &sol&e  depravity, it does mean that in prin-          and what is included in them remain in man after the Fall.
 ciple the sinner is thoroughly corrupt. Yet he has not reached        They do not say wky  thei have  remked.   The Synod of
 the extreme limit of wickedness. The development of the               1924, interpreting this Article 14, said : Those glimmerings,
 principle of sin within him is being retarded by the common           those traces, are the fruits of common grace. If that is not
 grace of God. We can elucidate this by a comparison'with              the proper interpretation of this article, then it is a virtual
 the Christian in his spiritual -condition here on earth.  In          denial of the  totality  of man's depravity, taught so  eniphat-
 pl-lnciple  he is already holy and- sinless. John says that he        ically in the self-same creed." Well, maybe someday  some'
 who  is born of God  sinneth not. Nevertheless, as long as            one in his church will prove it to `Rev. Kuiper that common
 he is in this life he is far removed from the full development        g&ceis such a denial of-total depravity. I hope so. He won't
 of that principle (Romans 7)  ."                                      listen to us.                                       -  M..  Schipper
                                                                                                 - d e = = - -
        Now, striking it is that when Rev.  I<uiper.wants  to prove
 that man is totally depraved he quotes the Scriptures  &l                                        psjJ-&~   is-."'  j_v::---
 the Confessions, which, of course, throughout teach this                               Lord, to me Thy ways  r&k,   known,,."'
 doctrine in no uncertain terms. But when it comes  .to the                                Guide in truth  ,and teach Thou  1~1;  ;
 invention of the "doctrine of total depravity in principle"                            -`Thou my Savior art  &jne,
 you have no Scripture or Confession, but only Iiuiper's                                   All  the day I wait for Thee.
 philosophy. Did not Kuiper ever stand in the rear of the                               Len-d, remember in Thy love
 sanctuary with the  publican and hear him cry out:  "God be                               -411 Thy  mkrcies manifold,
 merciful to me a sinner  !" ? Does he believe that the  publican                       Tender mercies from above,
 believed in total depravity in principle? or that David-  in                              Changeless from the days of  .old.
 Psalm 51 conceived of his natural depravity in the sense that                           Sins of youth remember not,
 `it  ivas only in principle  ? After reading Iiuiper's philosophy,                        Nor my trespasses record  ;
 I believe I would rather let David tell me what total depravity                         Let not mercy be forgot,
 is.                                                                                       For Thy goodness' sake, 0 Lord.
        Finally, Rev. Kuiper also. has something to  say of the                         Just and good the Lord abides,
 "small traces of good" which are to be found in the naturally                             He His way will sinners show,
 depraved man. He refers, of course, to.  what our Confession                           He the  mek in justice guides,
 speaks of as "glimmerings of natural light." He warns that                                Making them His way to know.
 this expression must not lead us to'say that because  the na-                          Grace and truth shall mark the way
 tural man possesses these so-called glimmerings that he is                                Where the Lord His own will lead,
 therefore not totally depraved. No, according to  Kuiper,  man                         If His Word they `still obey
is totally  deprave'd,  and this depravity has thoroughly  per-                            And His testimonies heed,


