      V O L U M E   XXX1                           JUNE  1, 1955  - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                                   NUMBER  17

II                                                                         dispensation. For its beams were cast over the events and
        M E D I T A T I O N   `~  11persons of the age of promise, and, under the guidance of the
                                                                           Spirit of Christ that was in him, the sweet psalmist of Israel
                                                                           taught the people to sing: "0 Lord, Thou hast ascended, On
                     Christ's Royal Ascent                                 high in might to reign." And therefore, under the guidance of
               Wherefore he ,saith,  When he ascended up on high,          that same Spirit of Christ, beholding the very same glorious
               he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.          light of victory, only now more clearly, in the age of fulfill-
               (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he -also         ment, the apostle to the Gentiles can take-up the refrain of
               descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He       those triumphant words of the sixty-eighth psalm : "Captivity
               that descended is the same also that ascenddd up far        Thou leadest A captive in Thy train."
__             above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
                                                           Eph. 4 :8-10        0 yes, the ascension is victory, divine victory !
                                                                                                        *  *  *
      Victory !
      The resurrection certainly means that Christ,-and His                    Ascension by way of descension !
people with Him (for you cannot separate Christ and His                        Ascension presupposing descension ! `,
people), - emerges triumphant out` of death and the grave.                     Ascension on the basis of descension!
But the ascension signifies that Christ, -and His people
with Him (for again : you- cannot separate the Christ from                     Ascension as a distinctly divine wonder of grace !'
His elect people), - enters into the victory,. is exalted into                 To these the text points when it tells us that the fact that
heavenly glory. Christ is set at the pinnacle of all created               he ascended means that he also descended first in to the lower
things. And His people are exalted with Him, though it be                  parts of the earth, and that the One who descended is the
under Him. The ascension of our Lord is the complete vic-                  same also who ascended up far above all heavens, that He
tory of Christ and all His elect !                                         might  fill,all  things. It speaks of Christ, and that too from
                                                                           the viewpoint of the central truth that He is the Son of God,
      The revelation of the exceeding greatness of God's power             God Himself, in the flesh. For a mere man does not descend
to- us-ward who believe !                                                  in order to ascend. He cannot : for he is already on the earth,
      God wrought it in Christ, when He raised Him from the                and therefore cannot descend to the lower parts of the earth.
dead, and set Him at .His own right hand in the heavenly                   Hence, the text can refer to only one thing, namely, that it
places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and              is God Himself Who ascended up far above all heavens. And
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this                   it is only thus, too, that the apostle can properly apply the
world, but also in that which is to come. In the descension                sixty-eighth Psalm here. For that psalm speaks throughout
into hell you behold the depth of misery and suffering, the                of the ascent of Jehovah, not of a mere man. In the second
experience of being utterly forsaken of God. In the ascension              place, this descension into the lower parts of the earth is the
into heaven, - and that too, exactly as the ascension through              basis, the ground of Christ's ascension. Such is the thrust
descension, - you behold its victorious opposite, the height               of the statement in verse 10 which points to the identity-of the
of glory and bliss -and triumph !                                          One Who descends and the One Who ascends. And thus,
      Divine triumph!  For it is "according to the. working of
                              -`-c.                                        in the third place,,is  captivity led captive.
his mighty power !"                                                           An unspeakable wonder of the God of our salvation!
      Glorious victory  !.                                                    To Christ, His Anointed King, God gave an inheritance,
      So glorious- is its light that it was seen by the people of          and that too from before the foundation of the world. He
God who in faith yearned for the promise already in the old                anointed His only begotten Son in the flesh to be King on


3%                                               TH.E  STANDA.RD   B E A R E R

Mount Zion. He declared the decree: "Ask of  -me, and I             death, in order to ransom His inheritance. It was a battle not
will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the utter-    of  might? but of right, -in the cause of the righteousness of
most ends of the earth for thy possession." God promised            God. And the-only sure way to victory was the way of obe-
Him a people, an inheritance, out of all the nations of the         dience, complete and perfect obedience to the Father, obe-
earth. And He appointed Him the Head over all things, so            dience even unto death., And thus He descended all the wzy.
that as Head of all creation and as Servant of Jehovah He           Having entered the stronghold, He faced the enemy and
should reign eternally over all things, to the glory of God the     fought the good fight. He descended in His incarnation. And
Father.                                                             from that point on His way led steadily downward too to the
      But Christ would reach that glorious position,  - and         depths of hell and death and the grave.
mark well, that was also a part of that same decree, in order           His ascension, what does it mean, but that He first de-
that the glory of God might reach its highest possible revela-      scended also into the lower parts of the earth ?
tion, -only- in the way of sin and grace, hell and heaven,              Saving descension !
captivity and liberation. That inheritance of Christ was cap-           What matchless grace is God's !
tive. In the first Adam the entire human race, and with it                                                              0
also the elect inheritance of the Son of God, fell captive to                                    * *  *
the power of sin and death. It was bound with the fetters of
death. There was a guilt, a mountain of black guilt, which              And He that descended is the same also that ascended . `. .
no man could ever remove. And there was a dominion of the
power of darkness that man could never break. As long as                Up far above all heavens . . . .
that guilt remained, the power. of darkness and death legally           And when He ascended, He led captivity captive!
could and did ho1.d an unbreakable dominion over that people            He came, as God in the flesh, to pay the guilt of His in-
that. had been promised to Christ. And so complete was the          heritance. God in Christ descended into the lower parts of .-
dominion that this elect people were willingly the slaves *of       the earth, in order that there, in the obedience of love  He
the prince of darkness. iBesides,  the whole creation was cap-      might descend even further, to that depth where the cry of
tive to the prince of darkness. It was made subject to the          being God-forsaken was pressed from His soul. And having
curse because of man's disobedience. And thus, the entire           borne the wrath of God willingly and completely, ITe was
inheritance of Christ was captive in the stronghold, the for-       heard by God. God did not leave His soul in death, but raised
tress, where he who had the power of death held dominion;           Him up. That was the indubitable testimony that He was
    That. He ascended, what is it but that he also descended        righteous, that He had taken the tremendous burden of tile
first into the lower parts of the earth ?                           guilt of His  inheritancesupon  His mighty divine shoulders,
                                                                    and carried it away!
    The stronghold of the prince of darkness must be broken
into. It must be destroyed ! Captivity must  be. led captive!          Thus it is-that He ascended up on high. That means
The kingdom of the King of Zion must be delivered out of            heavenly glory.- There was no place for such an One on this
                                                                    sin-cursed  ~globe.  When He had risen, there was but one
the prison of death and hell.                                       place that was proper for Him, one place glorious enough, one
    He descended !                                                  place that would befit `His new and glorious and heavenly
  The God of our salvation, i be it in the likeness of sinful       and powerful Self. That was heaven! Yea, the ordinary
flesh !                                                             heaven was not good enough, not high enough for Him. He
    God Himself ! He descended !                                    ascended up far above all heavens ! Exalted He was. in that
    To the lower parts of the earth He descended, that is:          ascension, to the position of highest possible glory. To the
to the lower parts, namely the earth. Nay, He did not actually      Father's right hand ! And He received a name above eveiv
leave His eternal divine position as the Son of God. That           name ! The Lord over all things !
would be both impossible and valueless. But God Himself,               And captivity He led captive !
the Person of the Son, came to dwell among men, became                 The expression is a figurative one, borrowed from  the-
man as well as God, was bound inseparably and personally            terminology of war and conquest among the kings in the old
to the human nature, here on the earth, through the womb            dispensation. A conquering king would frequently come back
of the Virgin Mary.                                                 in a triumphal march to the royal city taking along with him
    And thus He entered right into the stronghold of our            captives and the spoils of the war in his victory march, as
captivity!, There, in the lower parts, in the earth, was His        concrete evidences of his victory and testimonies of his tri-
inheritance. There it was held captive by the power of dark-        umph. So the Lord Jesus Christ ascends with captivity a
ness. And to take possession of His inheritance- He must            captive in His train.
enter into the very sphere of that captivity.                          Captivity itself is captive !
    A necessary descension . . . .                                     That means not merely that Christ has ransomed and
    And there He joined battle with the forces of sin and           delivered His people out of the power of sin and death. It


                                               TfiE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                        387

is not thus, that Christ delivers His people, but leaves the
power and dominion of sin atid death and darkness and the                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
devil still existent and in full sway, so that actually they               Semi-monthly, except monthly  dwiwg  July  aJld  August
would be able to come and conquer again, and to wrest the                Published by the RJWORM~I  FREE PUBLISHING A~~OUATION
royal inheritance out of the power of Christ. On the contrary,         P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7,  Mich.
the very power of that captivity, the dominion of sin, the                                 Editor  - REV. HERMAN  HOEKSEMA
power of death, the control of the devil, the dread force of           Communications r&tive  to cotients should be addressed to Rev.
hell, -they all are Christ's captives. When we behold Christ           H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
our Lord ascending to heaven it is as though we see Him               All matters rela&%o  subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                     G. Pipe, 1463 Ardmore St., S. E.,  tid Rapids 7, Michigan.,
as the triumphant King leading in His victory march so many            Announcements and Obituaries  mu*  be mailed to the above
captives. Sin, death, the prince of darkness, hell, -they are         address and till'lbe  ptiblished  at a fee of $1.00 for each notice.
all in His procession. He leads them captive. They are all             RENEWALS:  Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-
completely in His power. He has the keys of death and of               ceived,  it is assumed th& the subscriber wishes  the subscription
                                                                       to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
hell. So complete is His victory that He has not only ran-                                  Subscription price : $4.00 per year
somed His inheritance, but He has completely put- to nought
the power of captivity itself. No more is there the slightest.          Entered  as Second  Cta.ss   matter at  Graord  Rapids,  Mtihigcm
                                                                                                                     ;
possibility that His inheritance should ever again be taken
captive. Yea, so completely- are all the dark legions of our
captivity absolutely subject to' Him tliat they can only serve                                         COhTTENTS
His purpose. Thus He ascends as the absolute victor, to             MEDITATION-
exercise His power from the throne promised Him of the                    "Christ  Royal Ascent". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .            . ..385
Father, and to the end that He may completely redeem and                         Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
deliver His inheritance and cause them to enter into the full       EDITORIALS -
and final realization of the victory over the enemy !                     The Wellmeaning Offer of Grace.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                         . ..388
                                                                                 Rev. H. Hoeksema  -
    The battle is decided ! He decided it !                         As  TO  BOOKS-
    The victory, not only of Christ, but of all His people with           "Calvinism" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    . . .390
Him, is already achieved!                                                 "Man en Vrouw" (Voor en in het Huwelijk) . . . . . . . . .                                   . ..390
    The matter of our freedom, our salvation, our liberation                    Rev. H. Hoeksema
from captivity into the glorious liberty of the children of God,    OUR  DOCTRINE-
                                                                          The Triple Knowledge (Part III  - Of  Tihankfulness)                                         . ..391
is absolutely settled !                                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema
    There is no deiril, no combination of devils, no power of       THE DAY OF  SHADOWS-
sin, no death, no wicked man or combination of wicked men,                The prophecy of Haggai . . . . . ..>....................                                     . ..393
no persecution, no famine, no nakedness,. no peril, no sword,       FEATURE  ARTICLE --
-yea, there is absolutely nothing that can ever wrest you                 "The Social Principle(s) of the Epiitle to Philemon.. . . . . . ,396
and me out of  the gracious dominion of' ours ascended Lord.                     Rev. E. Emanuel
Yea, it all must serve His purpose to glorify us with Him-          IN HIS FEAR-                                                                                . .
self !                                                                    Silence Reigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..%.................. 398
   The promise is centrally fulfilled !                                         -Rev. J. A. Heys
    He led captivity captive !                                      CONTENDING FOR THE-FAITH -
                                                                          The Church and tihe  Sacraments.. . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . .400
   He, our ascended Lord! He, the revelation of the God                         Rev. H. Veldmgn
of our complete salvation !                                         THE VOICE OF OUR  FATHERS-
    Glory to His name alone!                                              The Canons of Dordrecht (Art. 17, Cont.). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .402
   To all eternity . . . .                                                       Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
                                                         H.C.K      DECENCY  AND  ORDER -
                                                                          Good Chr@ans  Schools.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .404
                                                                                Rev. G. Vanden  Berg
                                                                    ALL AROUND  Us-
                              NOTICE                                      To Wbom the Church belotigs..  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .406
                                                                          Wo,man Suffrage in the Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iic
   During June, July, and August, there will only be one                  "Love the Lord Thy God". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                Rev. M.  Schipper
issue of the Standard Bearer. AlthoGgh  I expect to be on my        CONTRIBUTiONS  -
vacation, the copy can be sent to my address as usual, pro-              Farewell but not good-bye.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .407
vided it is strictly on time, i.e. on the. 20th of each month.                  S. D. V.
                                                     The Editor


      388                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
II                                                                           H.H.) An absolutistic easily comes to this proposition if he
                   E D I T O R I A L S                                  II does not pay close attention to the Scriptures. He twists
                                                                             Scripture within the framework of his thinking and thus he
                                                                             reaches the wrong conclusions that does violence to Scripture.
                 The W&meaning Offer of Grace                                One of those wrong conclusions is that there is no general
             Under this heading the Rev. Van Halsema, editor of "De          wellmeant offer of grace, that is, God does not show in any
      Wachter," recently, wrote an editorial in answer to a con-             respect favor, whatever it may be, to those that are lost (to
      tributidn.  of a certain brother, and defends the position of          the reprobate, if you will, H.H.) The Synod of 1924 opposed
      .1924 and, of course "common grace" in general.                        this false notion as if all the grace of God is limited only
             It is rather striking that everybody nowadays, some thirty      to the elect. The Synod showed that "apart from the saving
      years after 1924, writes again about the problem of `Common            grace which concerns only the elect, there also comes to
      grace." About two years ago, "Torch and Trumpet" sent                  manifestation a certain grace, goodness or favorable disposi-
      me a committee of their editorial staff and invited me to              tion of God toward a circle of men that is broader than the
      write an article on the subject. Since that time, several ar-          elect, and that this, among other things, is also clearly evident
      ticles have, indeed, appeared in that magazine by various              from the fact that God calls wellmeaningly every one to whom
      authors. However, my contribution which I sent in very                 tiomes  the kind invitation of the gospel."
      promptly about two years ago was never published nor did                   I will not reflect on all the Arminian elements in this
      I ever hear of them. Will the staff of Torch and Trumpet,              paragraph. It is all old material that has been thoroughly
      please, send back my article if they do not intend to publish          threshed out again and again. And Van Halsema's case is
      it  ? I am not deeply interested in the publication of the article.    hopeless anyway. He blindly follows 1924. Just let me briefly
      But I think it is, to say the least, rather strange if not hardly      accentuate a few elements :
      decent, to ask someone for a contribution and then promptly                1. Grace, according to Scripture and the Confessions, is
      lay it aside without even informing the writer of the article          never general but always particular, i.e. only for the elect. I
      why it was never published and returning it to him. So,                challenge the editor of  De  Wachter  to prove the contrary.
      please, return it to me.                                               Mark you well, this is not a preconceived notion but con-
             Besides, the  Reformed  Joztrnnl  and also  Cal&  Fomm          cerns Scripture and the Confessions.
      writes about the subject, and even books are written about it.            2. Grace is never an offer (which depends on the ac-
      How to explain this phenomenon. Do, after all, the theo-               ceptance and the will of man, but it is always a work of God
      logians in the Christian Reformed Church feel that the prob-           which He sovereignly and unconditionally works in whomso-
      lem was not settled in  1924?  It would almost seem so for             ever he wills. I challenge Van Halsema to disprove this
      they do not only write about it, but they also rather severely         statement, not on the basis of any preconceived notion but
      criticize one another in so doing. I have thus far refrained           on that of Scripture and the Confessions.
      from interrupting, although my name was mentioned several                 3. Grace is never meant for all men, and therefore, God
      times. One thing is, to me, a cause of gratitude: they rec-            cannot possibly wellmeaningly offer it to all. God is not a liar
      ognize that I have not changed my views.                               or two faced. I challenge Van Halsema to disprove also this
             But let me return to the article by the editor of  `De          statement, not on the basis of any preconceived notion but on
      Wachter.                                                               that of Scripture and the Confessions.
             The article offers nothing new. From this viewpoint it is
      not worthy of any special attention. He is simply a faithful              4. Even the preaching of the gospel is'never  meant for
      son of 1924 and presents its conception without any criticism          all, but only for comparatively few, to whom He sends that
      or further developments.                                               preaching according to His good pleasure. Let Van Halsema
             But there are one or two things to which I nevertheless         disprove this statement if he  .can on the basis of Scripture
      want to call atte'ntion.                                               and the Confessions. But if this is so, how can he base the-
             One is that he simply repeats the old, utterly absurd and       theory of a general grace on that preaching of the gospel ?
      unfounded accusation that our conception of "common grace"                5. The preaching of the gospel is, according to God's
      or rather of "grace" is based, not on the Word of God, but             pleasure, a savor of life unto life for the elect, but also a savor ~
      on a preconceived notion or proposition.                               of death unto death for the reprobate. What  gra:e, then,
          Writes he (I translate) :                                          do the reprobate receive through the preaching of the gospel.
             "The bigmistake of the brethren that left us (sic ! We did      Let Van Halsema explain, not on the basis of any precon-
      not leave them, but they cast us out. H.H.) in 1924 and of             ceived notions, but on that of Scripture and the Confessions.
      all that still walk in their footsteps is that they proceed from          6. The preaching of the gospel is never a kind invitation
      a preconceived proposition. They say that God never, either            to all men, but the means of grace through which God,
      in this dispensation or in the future, shows any favor to the          through His efficacious Word, softens the hearts of the elect,
      ungodly that goes to perdition, to the reprobate, if you will.         while, at the same time, it is a means whereby He hardens
      (Why the "if you will"? Does not the editor will this  ?               the hearts of. the reprobate. Let Van Halsema disprove this,


                                             `T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                389

  not on the basis of some preconceived notion, but on that of        however, is not that I quote a few isolated texts, but that I
  Scripture and the Confessions.                                      take the whole of the Word of God, comparing Scripture with
     7. The Synod of 1924 dealt with  ,the problem of the             Scripture. The method of quoting some isolated texts, often,
  Kuyperian  common grace. Because they could not find an;--          in fact, usually without any exegesis, is the method of heretics,
  thing in the Confessions on that subject but, on the contrary,      especially of all kinds of Arminian teachers and preachers.
  found nothing but emphasis on total depravity, yet wanted to        This was also the method of the Synod of 1924 through which
  condemn us, they inadvertently distorted the Confessions so         they reached their Arminian conclusions. For instance, they
  as to teach the Arminian conception of the preaching of the         quote Ps. 149 :9: "The Lord is good to- all ; and his tender
  gospel. This proposition I am willing to prove if Van Halse-        mercies are .over all his works." They not only failed to in-
  ma challenges me and offers space in  De  Waclztm-   for  this      terpret the term "all" in the text in the light of the second
  purpose.                                                            part of the text, so that "all" does not mean "all men" but
                              * * *                                   "all his works," but they also forgot to quote vs. 20 of the
                                                                      same psalm: "The Lord preserveth all them that love him;
     But all this is old straw.                                       but all the wicked will he destroy." Such is the method of
     What I intended to criticise  especially in the editorial of     heretics, such was also the method of 1924. But the Reformed
  Van `Halsema is the accusation that I proceed from precon           method is that of considering the whole Word of God and of
  ceived notions instead of from the Word of God.               -.    comparing Sdripture `with Scripture.
     It is true, this is also old straw.                                 4. This method has been the method of all that believe
     But I consider this very important, because if this could        in double predestination ever since Augustine and Calvin. It
  be proved to be true my entire theological cpnception  especi-      is a striking fact .that the Pelagians in the days of Augustine
  ally as it concerns the very fundamental idea of grace, would       produced some of, the same texts against him that the Synod
have to collapse.                                                     of 1924 quoted to maintain their .theory of common grace and
     The Word of God as it is reflected in our Reformed Con-          of the well-meaning offer. But Augustine answered them by
  fessions is the only basis of all Reformed theology. Hence,         exegesis and by comparing Scripture with Scripture.. But
  in regard to this accusation, I make the following comments :       the trouble with most in the Christian Reformed Church is
     1. Let Van Halsema prove this very serious accusation            that they must have nothing of the truth of double predestina-
  which really presents me as a rationalist rather than as a          tion, especially not of reprobation.
  believer in the Word of God. I claim that this accusation is           5. I offer to produce and exegete hundreds of texts from
  utterly false, and I can prove this. But the accusation of          the Word of God to prove .that Van Halsema and the Synod
  Van Halsema is a very general statement. It stands there            of 1924 are in error, texts which, I am sure, the editor of
  without any proof. As a general statement it is probably in-        De Waclztw -will  never touch or try to`explain.
  capable of proof. Perhaps, this is the sole reason why it is           This about the accusation` that I deal with preconceived
  made. Nevertheless, I must ask the editor of De Wachter to          notions instead of with the Word of God.
  produce concrete proof from my writings that his accusation                                      * * *
  can stand. He ought to have no difficulty to produce such
  proof from my writings for ever since 1918 I appeared in               `One more observation.
  print and wrote hundreds of articles, many books and pam-              In the end of his editorial Van Halsema writes: "That
  phlets, and Van Halsema ought to have no difficulty to lay          the brethren that departed from us in 1924 (sic !) have not
  hold on them and find his desired proof. If he cannot do            been willing to acknowledge, and up to the present day they
  this, I expect him to publish an apology in  De Wad&r.   If         persisted in their error, although it must be said that hun-
  he does neither the one nor the other, I will,write  again and      dreds of families, among whom a congregation of two
  publicly tell him what I think of him.                              hundred families, have come to another insight in the course
   *  3Y. I will assure him, however, that he will never be of years and have returned to our churches."
  able to furnish such proof. Every one that is at all acquainted       I About this the following:
  with whatever I wrote knows that I always base my views on             .l. How many families, Van Halsema ? The congrega-
  the Word of God, in the light of the Reformed Confessions,          tion of two hundred families are only-"among them." So the
  and that, too, in the way of-thorough exegesis. My public           impression is left that there are, indeed, many hundreds .of
  writings are simply full of this and so are my' Dogmatics,          them. Can you tell us approximately how many? A thousand,
  which I teach in our theological school. This work, too, is         five hundred, four hundred ? Or do you, perhaps, already
  virtually ready to be published and when it is, every one will      anticipate that many of the schismatics that left us or were
  acknowledge that `in it I not only produce so-called proof-         expelled, after the decision of the Supreme Court is published
  texts, but that many of them I exegete. Hence, I feel con-          and happens to be in-ourfavor, will return to the Christian
  fident that it will be quite impossible for Van Halsema to          Reformed Church ? If so, you can have them. We do not
  produce proof for his false accusation.                             want people that stay with the brick.
     3. My method of basing my conceptions on Holy Writ,                 2. How did those hundreds of families return to your


390            1                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R '

church, Van Halsema  ? Did they all confess publicly their sin      subject by the late Dr. A. Kuyper, and also from the would-
of schism or did you just receive them without any apology  ?       be- Calvinism in  De  Gepaeene   Gratie.  In other words, it is
    3. Are you not ashamed to mention that return of the            more truly Calvinistic.
congregation of two hundred families, the church of Kalama-             One remark. On page 37, the author writes: "But even
zoo, to your church ? How did that congregation return ? Did        over this modified form of Pelagianism  (Semi-Pelagianism,
they all apologize and sign the "Three Points'! of 1924?  Do        H.H.) the truths which Augustine had preached and ad-
you mean to say that also the Rev. H. Danhof apologized             vocated ultimately triumphed, and Semi-Pelagianism gradu-
.and that he also signed the "Three Points"? Yet, did not           ally withered and died down, leaving the teaching of Au-
you receive him and allow him to preach in his own church 7         gustine . . . . paramount in the Church . . ." I do not believe
    Shame on you !                                                  that this opinion can stand in the light of history. Already
    I understand that your church likes to expand and be big.       during the lifetime of Augustine some of his strongest disciples
For this I warned repeatedly, when I was still in the Chris-        (Prosper, for instance) began to weaken and waver. The
tian Reformed Church. But they refused to listen. The result        Synod of Orange, 529, certainly cannot be said to have
is disastrous. You have all kinds of elements in your church        maintained the teaching of Augustine. And do not forget the
that are anything but Reformed, and you know it. And what           figure of. Gottschalk, who rotted in prison because he main-
about the Union question, and the divorce problem; etc. ?                                                                 a
                                                                    tained double predestination.
    We do not care for mere numbers. After all, the church                                                                      H.H.
are the seven thousand that do not bow their knee to Baa].
                                                          H.H.         Man  em  Vrouw,  Voor en in het Huwelijk. (Man and
                                                                    Wife-or Woman  - Before and in Marriage), by Dr. A. C.
                    AS TO BOOKS                                     Drogendijk. Published by J. H. Kok, N. V., Kampen, the
                                                                    Netherlands. Price f 5.90.

                                                                       The reader may notice that I am somewhat doubtful about
                           .*
    Cah&i.sm, by Ben A. Warburton. Published by Wm.! B.             the translation of "Vrouw" in the title. Should it be "Wife"
Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Mich. Price              or "Woman." The reason is in the sub-title: "Before and in
$3.00.                                                              Marriage." In Dutch you can easily speak of "vrouw"  before
    The sub-title of this book is : "Its History, Basic Prin-       marriage as well as in marriage: the term remains the same.
ciples, Its Fruits and Its Future, and Its Practical Applica-       But in English that is not the case: a wife is a married wo-
tion and Life." Personally, I am not acquainted with the            man. Hence my hesitation.
author of this book, and it would have been a help if in the           This is a very good  ,book written about a difficult and
book itself he. would have. been briefly introduced to the          somewhat delicate subject. Throughout, the author deals with
American reader. All we learn to know about him is that he          the subject from a Christian viewpoint and he does so in sober
is "an English student of Calvinism, and editor of Tlze Chris-      and proper language. That it is very pop.ular  may be gathered
tian.Patlzway."                                                     from  .the fact that, since 1941, it has already had five re-
    As to the book itself, I heartily recommend it to the           prints. Of this it is worthy. The book offers a clear and very
American reader that is interested to know more about Cal-          sober and Christian answer to many questions concerning
vinism. It is written in a very clear style, easily available to    sexual life of both men and women before and after marriage.
everybody. Although for the theologian there is nothing                To those that can still read the Holland language I
especially new in the book, I am convinced that for the gener-      heartily recommend this book.
al reader it will prove to be both interesting and instructive.                                                                 H.H.
As to the contents, after an introduction, the historical back-
ground of Calvinism is briefly treated. Then. after two chap-
ters on Arminius and the Synod of Dordt and Divine Sover-
eignty respectively, the Five Points of Calvinism are discussed
following the orders of the Canon. The book concludes with                                     IN MEMORIAM
two chapters on Calvinism in the Inner life and The Fruits            The Eunice Society of Grand Rapids, Michigan, mourns the
of Calvinism. The author is, evidently himself a Calvinist, and     loss of a member and wishes to express its sympathy to the
although he realizes that, in our modern age, Calvinism is not      family of
                                                                                       MRS. PLEUNE ROOBOL
very popular, he defends it, both from a principal and practical
viewpoint, and that, too, over against much of the calumny          who passed away at the age  o,f 54 years.
that has been directed .against  it.                                   Ps. 73 :2-`"Thou  shalt guide me with thy counsel and after-
                                                                    ward receive me to glory."
    Once more, I heartily recommend the reading of this book.                                           Mrs. B. Yonker, President
.It is quite different from the Stone Lectures on the same                                              Mrs. G. Spruit, Secretary


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  391

                                                                       receive the impression that they are really no prayers in the
           O U R D O C T R I N E                                 II real sense of the word. Just because they all pertain to God,
                                                                       we are probably tempted to imagine that they are not peti-
                                                                       tions : for it seems hardly possible that we should ask some-
              THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                                     thing for God, and His cause, and His will as it is always
                                                                       surely accomplished in the world. And perhaps it would seem
     AN EXPOSITION  OF  THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM                       better, as undoubtedly these petitions are often considered, to
                                                                       look upon them as certain pious wishes, rather than as pray;
               PART  III  -  OF  THANKFULNESS                          ers. In that case, the-first petition, "Hallowed be thy name,"
                        L                                              would mean that' we stammer the wish, "0, that thy name
                             ORD'S DAY  47                             may be glorified." We simply express the desire of our hearts,
            Q. 122. Which is the first petition?                       but we hardly ask for something from God. And the same
            A. "HaUowed  be thy name" ; that is, grant us, first,      may then be applied to the second and third petitions. This,
            rightly to know thee, and to sanctify, glorify, and
            praise thee; in all thy works, in which thy power, wis-    however, is not correct. All these petitions that pertain direct-
            dom, goodness, justice, mercy and truth, are clearly       ly to God and His cause are very really prayers in the proper
            displayed; and further also, that we may so order and      sense of the word. In them we really express very definitely
            direct our whole lives, our thoughts, words and ac-        the desire to receive something from God. We understand,  of
            tions, that thy name may never be blasphemed, but          course, that in these first three petitions, although they pertain
            rather be honored and praised on our account.              to God, we do not mean to ask something for Him. God has
                              Chapter I                                no need of our prayers for Himself. Prayer always means,
                       God's Holy Name                                 and can never mean anything else than that our soul drinks
                                                                       out of the fountain of all good. We need something] We de-
    A comparison may very properly be drawn between the                sire something. And that need and desire is also expressed
 Law of God and the Lord's Prayer. There is a certain simil-           in the first three petitions.
 arity between the two. In the Law God speaks to us; in the               In the first petition, therefore, we express the need, the
 Lord's Prayer we speak to God. You know, of course, that in           need of our heart and  sodl,  that God's name be hallowed.
 the Decalogue we distinguish two iables. The first table of           And the position of this first petition teaches us very clearly
 the Law demands that we love the Lord our God with all our            that the glory of the name of our God must be uppermost in
 heart and mind and soul and strength. The second table has            our minds. Otherwise we can never pray this. It teaches LIS
 reference to our relation to the neighbor. The two tables of          at once that the chief and only purpose of all things is the
 the Decalogue, therefore, are so related that the first table         glory of God, and that the desire for the realization of this
 dominates the entire Law: for the love of God is the prin-            purpose should be uppermost in our minds and hearts, and
 ciple also of our love to the neighbor.                               should occupy, therefore, the first place in all our prayers. Un-
    Now if we turn -to the Lord's Prayer; in which the Lord            less we rightly. know the name of ,God, we cannot pray to the
 teaches us how we ought to pray and for what we ought to              true God at all. And unless the earnest desire that God's
 pray, you- will  find that in that prayer there is the same           name may be hallowed occupies the chief place in our hearts,
 fundamental relation. Also the six .or seven petitions of that        so that all our other desires are strictly, subservient to it, we
 prayer fall into two groups. And just as in the Decalogue the         cannot possibly ask anything that is according to His will.
 first table has reference to God alone, so the first three peti-      Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things. What-
 tions of the Lord's Prayer pertain entirely to God, His name,         ever may betide,-therefore, to Him must be the glory forever.
-His kingdom, His will. And so the Lord teaches us in this             Rom.  11:36.
 prayer that God and His cause ought to be our chief concern              In the discussion of this first petition, we do well, first of
 at all times. And the second group of petitions pertains to our       all, to consider its meaning, or, its objective aspect. We must
 relation to one another, to ourselves and to earthly things.          ask and answer the question: what do we really pray for in
    There is, therefore, a very clear similarity between the           this petition ? And secondly, we must also contemplate the
 Law of God and the Lord's Prayer. In the Law God speaks               subjective disposition of our heart when we pray this petition.
_ to us, and demands of us that we shall love Him -above all.          How is it possible ? In what state of mind and heart can we
 But in the Lord's Prayer we speak to God, and also in the             possibly present this prayer to our Father Who is in heaven ?
 Lord's Prayer the Lord teaches us very plainly that our, pray-           The name of God in Scripture is God Himself as He has
 ers shall be motivated above all by the love of God.                  revealed Himself to His rational, moral creature, which He so
    We must remember, however, when we consider the first              created that he can know Him and express His name.
 three petitions of the Lord's Prayer, -"Hallowed be thy                  God is God. He is, as Barth often expresses it, the Wholly
 name ; Thy kingdom come ; Thy will be done on earth, as it            Other. We can never find Him out. It is only when God
 is in heaven," -that they are nevertheless very really  peti-         reveals  IIimself to us that we can possibly know Him and
.tions. When we read these three petitions, we may probably            have fellowship with Him. When, in his sinful pride, man

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

  refuses to be instructed in the knowledge of God from His            flow." Ps. 147 :16-l% With sovereign power He goverZtihe
  own revelation, and makes instead his own puny mind the              destinies of man and beast, of individuals and nations. And in
  measure of all things, it is inevitable that he reaches the con-     all the history of tlae world we may indeed behold the name of
  clusion that God is-unknowable, as  Herberf  Spencer attempts        God.
  to prove by sheer logic. Then he is swallowed up in the                  Nevertheless, in this world of sin and darkness and death
  quicksand of agnosticism and atheism. God dwells in an in-           we would never behold the beauty and wisdom and full power
  accessible light. We cannot approach to Him. He is infinite          of that name, and surely could never know it as a name of
  in His Essence and all His virtues. And we are finite. And           salvation, had it not pleased Him to manifest Himself to us in
  the finite can never comprehend nor establish any fellowship         still another, a higher,  and more glorious name, - a name of
  with the infinite God. God is the eternal One: He transcends         highest wisdom and power, of holiness and righteousness and
  all time. And we are children of time and of the moment. It          truth, of abundant mercy and boundles grace and fathomless
  is impossible for time to comprehend eternity, and to reach          love. It is the name of Jehovah, into which the righteous run
  out for and establish fellowship with the eternal. If, therefore,    and are safe. Prov: 18 :lO. That name of God is revealed in
  we are to know God, it is necessary that He reveals Himself          Jesus, Jehovah-Salvation, the Son of God come in the flesh,
  to us. He must descend to the level of the finite. -He must,         Immanuel, God with us, Who fully revealed the Father, Who
  as it were, come into time, which He Himself has created.            bore our sins and bore them away forever on the accursed
  And there the eternal One must speak to us concerning Him-           tree, Who was raised from the dead on the third day, and is
  self.                                                                seated at the right hand of the majesty in heaven, in Whom
      This Self-revelation of God to a creature which He Him-          we have righteousness and life eternal, and Who will come
  self has created with such a nature that he can know Him is          again in glory, to become manifest as the Head over all things
  God's name.                                                          in the new creation. That is the central and the highest rev-
      This name of God,  a&ording  to Scripture, is in all the         elation of Jehovah. In the light of that name we see the true
  works of His hands : in creation and providence, as well as in       meaning of the. name of God in all the works of His hands.
 the wonders of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.                    -And it is the name of God as it is revealed to us and as we
      The ,psalmist  sings : "0 Lord our Lord, how excellent is        know it from the Holy Scriptures that is meant in the first
 thy name in all the earth ! Who has set thy glory in the              petition of the .Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be thy name."
 heavens." Ps.  8:l. And again: "The heavens declare the                   What does it mean when we pray that God's name be
 glory of God ; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day           hallowed ?
 unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth                   Perhaps we had expected that the Lord would rather have
 knowledge.". Ps. 19 :l, 2. And again : "Unto thee, 0 God, do          used the word "`glorified." Yet, as we examine the meaning
 we give thanks, unto thee. do we give thanks: for that thy            of the term  h&owed,  we soon discover that it is both the
 name is near thy wondrous works declare." Ps. 75  :l. All             deeper and the more comprehensive term, and that to glorify
 creation is His handiwork, and He so made all things that             God presupposes that we hallow His name.                   .'
 they might be a revelation of His marvellous virtues. They               The fundamental presupposition in this first petition is
 spell the name of the Most High.                                      that God's name is holy, that we must always recognize it as
      And not only did He call them into being by the Worcl            holy, and that because of this His name must be glorified,
 of His power in the beginning, but He also continually dwells         and His name alone. The name of God is holy because God is
 in them, sustains them, preserves them, and-governs them ac-          the Holy One. And this means that God is One, and that
 cording  to-His eternal purpose. It is He that "sendeth the           there. is no god beside Him. It means that He is the infinitely
 springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give        perfect One,  matc'hless  in His infinite power, sovereignty,
drink to every beast of the field : the wild asses quench their        holiness, righteousness, truth, love, grace, and mercy. It
 thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their .habi-       means that He alone is consecrated to Himself, loves Himself
 tation, which sing among the branches. He  water-eth  the             andseeks  Himself, that He do.es.all  things .for His own name's
 hills from his chambers : the earth is satisfied with the fruit of    sake;""and  that therefore all creation must be consecrated to
 thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and           Him, and can be blessed only in as far as it serves the pur-
 herb for the service of man : that he may bring forth food out        pose of His glory. That God is the Holy One signifies that
 of the earth ; And wine that maketh  glad the heart of man,           He is the incomparable One, infinitely exalted above all that
 and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthen-        is called creature. He is Jehovah, the I Am, the eternally
 eth man's heart." Ps.  104:10-15. It is He that causeth the           Self-existent and independent- God, Who is of and by Him-
 sun to rise every morning, that covers the heavens with               self. He is God! His name is holy. The name of God stands
 clouds, that "giveth snow like wool ; he scattereth the hoar-         entirely apart and by itself. It is a separate name. It has
 frost ,like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels : who        nothing in common with other names. It is the name of all
 can stand before his cold  ? He sendeth out his word, and             names, by which all names exist in heaven and on earth.
 melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters                                                                       H.H.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    393

                                                                       He, His gracious presence - to, establish all'the work of their
11 THE DAY OF SHADOWS  11 hands.And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel . . . and
                                                                       the spirit of the rest of the people, (14) -All were mightily
                   The Prophecy of tiaggai                             inspired by the prophet's message. Not the prophet but the
                                                                       Lord did the inspiring through His word that He spake
    The rebuke bears fruit. The temple is built, Chapter               through the prophet as His organ and sanctified to their
1 :12-15.                                                              hearts.  And they  cawae   and did  the  woyk-  Their revival
    12. And Zer&babel the son of Shealtiel,, and Joshua the            was not momentary but abiding. For it was of the Lord and
son of Josedech,' the highpyiest,  m'th all the rest of the people,    not of man. And being of the Lord, it was genuine. For it
listened a.ttentively to the voice of Jehova,h  their God, and the     translated itself into action. They did the work.
words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God ha,d sent                In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month (15) -
him, and the people did fear before Jehovah.                           On this day they began to work, just twenty three days after
    13. Then spake Haggai Jehovah's nzessenger  ,in the mes-           Haggai had admonished them.
sage of Jehomh unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith                                           C h a p t e r   I I
J e h o v a h .                                                            The Glory of the New Temple, l-9.
    14. And the Lord stirred'up the spirit of Zerubbabel the               1.  In the seventh .month, in the twentieth and one day
son of Shea.ltiel govemor of J`udah, and the spirit of Joshua          of the month, came the word of the Lord by the hand of the
the son of Josedeck, the highpriest, and the spirit of all the         prophet  Haggai, 
rest of the people; and they ca.me and did work in the house                                saying,
of Jehovah of hosts their God.                                             2, Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, gover-
                                                                       nor of Judah,. .and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high
    15. In the fo,ur  and twentieth day of the s&h month, in           priest  and to the rest of the people, sa.ying.
the second year of Darius the king.
                                                                           3. Who is left  avmng you that saw this house  ipa  hw
    Zerubbabel - the names mentioned are'those contained in            first glory? And how do ye see it now? Is it not  iu  your
verse 1 (see there).  All the rest of the people-  Not the             eyes in compa:rison with it as nothing?
people soul for soul, but the true Israel, the remnant within
the remnant. They took the words of the prophet to heart.                  4. Yet now be strong, 0  Zcmbbabel,  sa.ith Jehovah;
Pondering his message, they were profoundly impressed and              And be strong, 0. Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest;
immediately resolved to resume building operations.  The               a.nd be strong all ye people of the land, saitk Jehovah, and
voice of  Jehova,h  -They discerned in the words of the pro-           work: for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts.
phet the voice of God speaking to them. As Jehovah their                   5. The word that I covenanted with you when ye came
God had sent h.&n - The sense is causal. They listened at-             out of Egypt and my spirit remaineth avvtong  you: fear not.
tentively because Jehovah had sent the prophet and laid his
words upon their hearts. And the people did fear- Jehovah                6 . For thus saith Jehova.h  of hosts: Yet once, it is a little
was not an object of.dread  to them as He is to the wicked.            while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, avad the
For their fear was at bottom love. But the meaning is that             sea, and the dry land;
they stood in awe of God and trembled at His word.                        7. And I will shake the na.tions,`and  the desirable things
    Then spake Haggai (13) - In reply to the changed at-               of the nations shall conae:and  I will fill this house zen'th glory,
titude of God's people. They had repented of their sinful              saith Jehovah of hosts.
apathy regarding God's house and were now resolved to
build it.  Jehovah's messenger-  So called because Jehovah                8. The silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah
sent him and put His word in the opening of his mouth. In              of hosts.
the message of Jehovah  -The prophet comes with a fresh                   9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than
message now that the people have repented. And he is in it             that of the formel?, saith Jehovah of hosts: and in this place
and does not depart from it to speak his own word. He is in            will I give peace., saith Jehovah of hosts.
it with his whole heart and mind and will. It is part and
parcel of him. It issues, from his soul as a word frought with            In the seventh vlzonth (1) - Called Tishri and answering
the power of a mighty conviction. Saying, I am with you,,              to September and the first part of October.  The one and
saith Jehovah _ The message is brief, but it is precisely what         twentieth day - Not quite a month after the recommence-
they have need of hearing. It is their only comfort in this            ment of the work. Came the word,of the Lord by the hand of
crisis. Though He is not seen of them anymore by that vis-             the prophet - It was the second of four separate communica-
ible manifestation of His presence-the pillar of cloud, the            tions from God to the prophet. Speak now to Zerubbabel . . .
angel of the covenant  - yet He is with them nevertheless  -           (2)  - The names mentioned are again those contained in

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

chapter 1  :l. (See there).  ,V%o  is  left  mzong  yo'u. . . . . (3)    power and therefore are less than nothing in His sight. Their
-How these aged ones within the community had reacted                    hearts devise their way, but He directs their steps (Pro.
sixteen years ago; when the foundation of the temple was laid,           16 :9).
is known from the book of Ezra. They had wept with a loud                    There has been a large variety of opinions among com-
voice on that occasion (Ezra 3 :12). The cause of their tears            mentators regarding the right construction of the following
was not that they were overjoyed at the thought that the                 verse (5). But its general sense is not affected by whatever
house of God was being rebuilt, nor that they were being                 that construction may be. To my mind the thought conveyed
reminded by the undertaking of the hardships through which               is this, "I &will be with you, saith Jehovah (vs. 4)) a,ccording
they had passed. But they had seen the first temple. And they            to the word that I cut with yo'lt when ye cawze out of Egypt,
perceived that the prevailing circumstances would prohibit               a.nd  my  spil-it  a.bideth  a.pvLong   YOU; fear  not." So Calvin and
the new work from attaining to the magnificent beauty of                 others and our versions.
the old. Their sorrow was carnal. They  clave with their                     The word that I c-zrt - the covenant that He made with
hearts to the earthly splendour of the first temple. As the              them.  TVhen ye  caq+Le   o,ut  of  Egypt  -From this clause it is
time was drawing near for the Son of God to appear in hu-                plain that the reference is to the covenant of Sinai. Essentially
man flesh, the typical things of the first covenant would soon           and in the second instance this covenant comprehended the
have served their purpose. Already they had vanished away                following promises for the Israel according to the election of
to a large extent as has already been pointed out. This                  grace : a) That He is their God and they His people ; b) That
.troubled these aged people. They were looking back with                 on the ground of Christ's atonement they have the pardon of
longing eyes to the typical splendour that had characterized             all their sin ; c) That for Christ's sake and in the way of their
the theocracy especially during the reign of Solomon. They               obedience, His gracious work in them, He will cause them to
seemed to have little understanding of what it means that                experience all the blessings of the law; d) that in His love
God, being Spirit, must be worshipped in spirit and truth.               He will' chastise them for their correction .when they depart
Not that they were particularly. carnal in comparison with               from His ways, even driving them out unto the uttermost
the younger generation that had shouted for joy when the                 parts of heaven  ; e) that from thence He will bring them
foundation of the temple was laid. This generation would                 again into the land which their fathers possessed, do them
have wept instead just as well, had it seen the glory of the             good, multiply them above their fathers, and circumcise their
first temple. For it must be remembered that the Spirit was              heart and the heart of their seed to love the Lord their God
not yet to lead into all truth in that Christ was not yet come.          with all their heart and with all their soul that they may live ;
       A number of these "ancient men" were still living. Their          in the final instance that in the Gospel period He will build
attitude, as could be expected, had remained unchanged. In               His temple, that is, gather His elect out of every nation and
their eyes the house of God that was now in process of being             from the four corners of the earth, both Jews and Gentiles,
built was nothing in comparison with the house of God in                 and cause them to inherit life in glory on the new earth; d)
her first glory. And so they had not the proper regard for               that, finally, He will put all the curses of the law upon the
it. Being mostly priests and Levites and chief of the fathers            adversaries of the church, that is, He will destroy them and
(Ezra 3 :12'), they were a bad influence. Their despondency              thereby deliver His people from their clutch. Implied is the
was contagious. And it was discouraging. It was retarding                promise that His Spirit will abide among them to impart
the work of building the temple.                                         unto them the virtues of Christ's cross and to stir them up
       Yet uzow be strong, 0 Zeqbbabel  . . . Joshua . . . . a.11 ye     unto every good work, Deut. 30 .
people (4) -In the work of building the house of God,                        Now such in the final instance is the word that He cov-
God's people and their leaders must be courageous and in-                enanted with them at Sinai. See particularly the books of
flexible in His strength. They must not allow themselves                 Exodus and Deuteronomy. According to the standard of this
to be distracted by men, whoever they be, the despondent                 word, these promises, He will be with them. All therefore
ancient men within their community, or the skeptical and                 will come to pass. The temple shall be built, His church
profane persons in their midst, or the hostile people of the             shall be gathered, His heavenly kingdom shall come. For He
land or even the mighty kings of Persia. Sa:ith Jehovah -                cannot deny Himself. His promises therefore are sure. If so,
Necessity is laid upon them. For it is Jehovah that speaks.              there can be no reason why they should fear.
/lna!  work -They must be continuously at it with all their                  This is not the place to enter upon a detailed explanation
might until the work has been brought to completion. Fo?, I              of the covenant .of Sinai. It requires a much fuller treatment
al+z   with  yoz+,   saith  Jehova.jz  of  hosts  -For one thing this    than is here practicable. We only remark that if this covenant
assures them that in building the temple they do His will                was truly conditional, if essentially and in the last instance,
and are pleasing in His sight. Also implied is that the work             its promises concerned things earthly and not the realities of
is His and not theirs and that He therefore must see to it that          Christ's heavenly kingdom, our prophet had no understanding
it succeeds. And that He shall. As to His servants, what He              of this covenant, and His message to the church of that post-
demands of them- courage and consecration for the work -                 exilic era was utterly vain and comfortless. What real value
He will give. And as to the adversaries, they exist by- His              and significance could his message have had, were it true that


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    395
                      _ ._ _-_ _
  the realization of Jehovah's word depended upon the will of             And the desirable things of all nations s/ml1 come - The
  man-and this it did, if the covenant of Sinai and its promise        desirable things, `that is, the gold and the silver ( see the fol-
  were conditional-and if all that he was occupied with in             lowing verse), shall come and not the desire of all nations as
  his discourse is the erection of an earthly temple  ?                our versions have it. As correctly interpreted, this scripture
      The following verses (6, 7) shows the way in which He            statement lends no support to the view that in the ages that
  will realize the word that He covenanted, by what working            preceded the coming of the son of God in the flesh there
  of His.  Fo+  tkm  saith  the  Lo?,d of Hosts, Yet once  mope, it    was always present in the Gentile world a nucleus of heathen
. is a little while, and I reFil1 shake the heavens . . . . and the    men whose heart as sanctified and illuminated by the light of
  dry land; (6) 1 He has already once shaken the earth, de-            the logos shining in them and not by the light of the Gospel
  finitely Sinai when He descended upon the summit of. this            were thirsting after Christ. The naked truth contained in
  mount in fire. (That the statement contains an indirect refer-       this scripture is that, during all the dispensation of the Gos-
  ence to-the shaking of mount Sinai is plain from the context         pel and while Christ is shaking the heavens and the earth and
  of Hebrews 12 :26). But once more He will shake not alone            the sea, and coming in judgment over the nations, the elect
  the earth, as He had then done, but the heavens and the sea          in every nation, both Jews and Gentile, will come to the flock
  as well. This shaking, universal as to its character, will make      of Christ, to Zion that is now above, as drawn by the. Gospel
  an end of the dispensation of the law that was ushered in by         and as driven by holy fear. But they will not come empty
  the shaking of Sinai, and will signal the -commencement of           handed but as well supplied with gold and silver for the  sup-
  the dispensation of the Gospel ; it will be coextensive with         port of the service and the ministers of God's house.
  this dispensation and will be climaxed by the removal of the            And I will  fill  this  Imuse with glory,  saith the Lord of
  heavens and the earth and the appearance of the kingdom of           hosts -The idea is not that the Lord would again honor
  Christ in heavenly glory (see once more Heb. 12  :26 and con-        that earthly temple with that visible manifestation of His
  text). Our prophecy must thus be taken literally. In view            presence  - the pillar of cloud. Nor is the meaning that
  of the fact that the heavens and the earth are due to be             Zerubbabel's temple will be a thing of surpassing earthly
  shaken and thereby removed actually, it is hard to see why           splendour as compared with the one that was destroyed. The
  our prophecy should not be taken literally. And that this            values here are heavenly and not earthly. The expression,
  shaking began soon enough to justify the view that it sign-          "this house" looks to the church, the spiritual temple of which
  alled the commencement of the dispensation of the Gospel is          the true worshippers within the community were at the time
plain from the Gospel narratives. While Christ hung on the             the manifestation. And her glory is her God. For His  ful-
  cross, there was darkness over the whole land from the sixth         ness dwells in her through Christ in His spirit. Artd I will
  to the ninth hour. Thus was the sun darkened, the heavens            give peace in this place -The peace to be given is the peace
  shaken, in a word. In the moment of His crying out upon              of God that passeth all understanding. It will be the portion
  the cross, "It is finished," the earth quaked and the rocks rent.    of His people as reigning in their hearts everlastingly. Hence
  In the morning of His resurrection there was a great earth-          there will be peace in whatever.place  they dwell. For a short
  quake. Thus was the earth shaken. Also the view that this            while that place will be Zerubbabel's temple and in the final
  second shaking is coextensive with the dispensation of the           instance the new earth.
  Gospel is. well founded in the Scripture. What violent com-                                                                    G . M . O .
  motions are not in store for the heavens and the earth and
  the sea in the book of Revelation all during this Gospel period
  and especially as it draws to a close ? And the entire mass of
  phenomenon is preindicative of the final world catastrophe,                           WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
  and must be regarded as expressive of God's wrath con-                  On June 9, 1955, the Lord willing, our dear parents
  cerning the world that lies in darkness.                                     `             MARTIN DOEZEMA
      And  will shake the nations  (7) -He will come in judg-                                         and
  ment over the nations. Also this shaking betokens in its way                         TENA  DOEZEMA, nee Wegter
  the commencement of the Gospel period, is coextensive with           hope to commemorate their 35th wedding anniversary.
  it, and will be climaxed by the complete removal of the na-             We thank our God for the many blessings He has bestowed
  tions according to their reprobated shell in the final judgment.     upon them in the past. It is our hope and prayer that they may
  Thus will the earth be cleansed from the race of men that            be spared for each other and- for us for many years to come.
  now corrupt it in order that it may be inherited in a glorified                              Their grateful children :.
  state by the just. As the people of Israel as the typical city                                        Mr. and Mrs. John Timmer
  of God are included in this shaking of the nations and are                                            Mr. and Mrs. Jay Doezema
  even among the first to experience it, it spells the complete                                         Mr. ancl Mrs. Kenneth Doezema
  vanishing away of the symbolical-typical economy of the first                                         and 6 grand children.
  covenant.                                                            2836 Knapp St., N. E., Grand Rapids, Mich.                      :-

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

       THE SOCIAL PRINCIPLE(S) OF THE                              "social principles ?" The term "social," (as it applies to our
               EPISTLE TO PHILEMON                                 discussion) according to the "New Century Dictionary" is de-
                                                                   fined as: "living OP disposed to Sive in a community, mther
   To attempt to set forth the "social principle or principles"    than in isolkion" - pertaining to the life and relations OJ
of a particular portion of God's Word, `certainly presupposes      human  beings in a cowwmmity." The term "principle, (as it
that such "principle or principles" are to be found.               applies to our discussion) according to the same dictionary, is
   -But the question immediately arises, are there such prin-      defined as  : "`.a, beginning 01' co,wwxencevuzent; also, "an origin;
ciples ? Does the Word of God purpose to set forth. "social        at&g  04' actuating' agejzcy   or force;  also,  "a fundamental,
principles ?" Furthermore, is not this term "social" a danger-     priwaary, or general tmth, on which other trrrths depend; also,
ous one ? These, of course, are only a few of the many ques-       a fwndanrental doctrine op tenet" - "right rules of conduct."
tions that can and, no doubt, do arise when considering a              Combining the elements in these definitions, according to
subject such as the one assigned.                                  the conz,y~~on nnd hackneyed use of the phrase "social gospel,"
Perhaps the asking of these questions can be justified             it has come to represent a general call to any human being
when we consider the strange use to which the modern-day           who maintains social relationships with others and, to exercise
church has put that term "social." For, the fact of the matter     in these relationships, "right rules of conduct" as, of course.
is there is a fearful use of that which has been characterized     exemplified in Jesus Christ, the "Great Example ancl Teach-
as "social" and, this is especially so in some ecclesiastical      er."
circles. The matter has been aggravated by the additional             Actually, this is a very superficial, shallow, and therefore
fact that the term. "social" has been associated or employed       a very wicked understanding of the "social gospel" on the
with the term "gospel." We hear a great deal of the "social        part of those who would lay particular emphasis.upon  it, for
gospel." Therefore, to attempt the setting forth of any "social    the sake of stressing the necessity ,of exercising the "social
principle or principles" of the Word of God, necessitates the      principles" that that "social gospel" implies. Superficial and
elimination of any possible misunderstanding of such term-         shallow and wicked it is because they call upon all mezBy&  to
inology, as has been employed and now is employed by the           live fYom or out of the ~principles  of Christ. The wickedness
church worl.d, generally.                                          of this is seen in the fact that they assume that all men can
  `Hence, we must ask the question: Is there any sense in          do tlaij, i.e., live out of the principles of Christ, which is sim-
which we have a "social gospel 7" We ask this question be-         ply another way of saying from the principle of new l,ife. You
cause. the Gospel, being the good news of Salvation for God's      can see, too, how that  &F&ianisvtz is nothing but  incipient
people, embodies the principles according to which those           yutodernisw~, For the Arminian also has a general call to
people of God live. It is the good news of Salvation in Jesus      everyone "to come to Jesus" - "accept Him as your  Savi-
Christ, the Lord  ; and in this Gospel  - in Christ is that        our" and "let Him show you the way." The Arminian, too,
principle of new `life which He imparts to the hearts of His       wickedly assumes that all this is possible for man to do. There-
children. Well, then, may we speak of a "social gospel ?" &lay     fore, essentially, he speaks the same language as the  modern-
we speak of the gospel with social implications ? If you mean      day churchman who invites everyone' to come and embrace
"social gospel" as the modernist understands his gospel to be,     and practice the teachings of Jesus.
then.we certainly ma.y not speak of such a gospel, for then the       Now, we must not `hesitate to note that we have a social
gospel,' and its principles take on new meaning. With his          Gospel,". but-. `i$ is the true - the biblical - the God-yivelz
gospel, the modemist has, a "religion" for the entire world.       "social  Goq?$  It is the Gospel  first. That is, the good
Because its principles are "social," the modern-day religionist    news-the promise of God that He will surely save His
stresses that false idea of doctrine being relatively unimpor-     people from their sins, in Jesus Christ, their Lord. Further-
tant and emphasizes the prime significane  of "life." Jesus, he    more, it is the good news that He will also bless them with
will say, taught men how to live. And, ,when pressed for an        all the blessings of this Salvation, and He will so work in
explanation, he will point to the life of Jesus as the "Great      them "to will and to do His good pleasure" that His people
Example and Pattern" in whom are set forth all the principles      will live out of that principle of new life which He imparts
for proper social conduct and intercourse among men. Hence,        unto them, in Jesus Christ. And this, they will do so that
this  "social gospel" purports to reach all men - calling them     they reveal themselves as the children of Light. It is the
to follow this "Great Example" and to exercise the same            Gospel  jht  and then it becomes "social," as the principles of
"principles" which were enunciated and applied by Him.             this Gospel are applied by the people of God in the midst of
   You can see, then, if you mean "social gospel" with its         the world.
"social principles" in this sense of the word, then we can            Here, we .see the error of the modern-day church world.
never subscribe to such a notion.                                  It fails to see that you must have a people of God if the true
   Nevertheless, the question is still there. May the Re-          "social principles" of the scriptures are to be -exercised or
formed man-may. the Protestant Reformed man speak of               applied. As J. G.  Machen  stated in quoting an article en-
"social principles" -implying, of course, a "social gospel  ?"     titled, "Christianity and Today" by F. S. Downs : "there can
If he may, then just what does--he mean when he speaks of          be no applied Christianity unless there be a Christianity to


                                                                                        i.

                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                397

apply." In other words, those who prate about the "prin-            From v. 11, we learn he is "now profitable." Paul no longer
ciples of Jesus" and endeavour to mold the sinful natures of        considers him a servant, but  "a brother beloved." Must
men by the application of these "principles" are completely         Onesimus again return to Philemon  ?
blind to the biblical truth that there must be a radical spirit-        One immediately senses how complex the problem truly
ual transformation.                                                 is. But Paul, in his own inimitable way, resolves all these
   The Reformed man has the only true "social Gospel" with          questions involving "social principles" or, the "right rules
its- "social principles." And, again, by "social Gospel" he         of conduct" -resolves them all into the  one  questi0.n  of
means the application of all the truths of scriptures in his        "Love." What does the fundamental principle of the Love of
entire walk and life and therefore, in all his contacts with        God, in Jesus Christ require of us ? Whatever the "social
men - whether they be the spiritually-minded or the ungodly         principles," they are to viewed in the light of God's love to
and the profane.                                                    His people, in Jesus Christ. And Paul means to convey this
   This is beautifully illustrated for us in Paul's Epistle to      idea to Philemon  ; that all our doings are not only to be
Philemon. In this letter to Philemon, a "fellow worker," the        prompted and permeated, but are to be a demonstration of
apostle concerns himself with the matter of Philemon's slave        the  greet love $zer&&h God leas loved US. Therefore, Paul
who, having run away, had come into contact with the apostle,       proceeds- takes his departure from the great doctrine of
and had also been called upon to perform the unheard of act         the Love of God to His people and purposes to apply this
of voluntarily returning to Philemon and putting his neck           principle of Love and thereby, very tactfully and diplomatic-
once more beneath the yoke of servitude.                            ally, show Philemon what his attitude should be toward
   This letter, of course, is genuine and not' a mere piece of      Onesimus. And this, he does without the use of any flattery
"fiction," as some higher critics have considered it to be -        nor any failure to counsel high duties, but reflecting upon that
receiving it only as "the embryo of-a Christian novel, in which     Love of God in Christ, which has called us  friends, Paul
the author purposed to illustrate by a short narrative this         exhibits the perfect model of Christian friendship.
great idea: that that which is lost in this world and for time,        Again, it must be borne in mind, that Onesimus is a
is found again in Christianity for all eternity."                   "brother beloved," not only to Paul, but to Philemon: "both
   `On the other hand, we certainly cannot agree with such          in the flesh, and in the Lord." Hence, Paul heeding his
men as A. McLaren  who, in commenting on this Epistle de-           own injunction, "Let your speech be always with grace seas-
clares : "If the N. T. were simply a book of doctrinal teaching,    oned with salt" (Col. 4 :6), pleads in the name of Christ, his
this Epistle would certainly be out of place in it; and if the      Lord, for Onesimus; and he does so as though the "greatest
great purpose of Revelation were to supply material for             interests of his apostleship were involved."
creeds, it would be hard to see what value could be attached           Nevertheless, he doesn't approach his brother and friend,
to a simple short letter from which no contribution to the-         in Christ, clothed with his apostolic authority. This, it seems,
ological doctrine or ecclesiastical order can'be extracted. But     is so when he addresses his Epistles to the Churches and
if we do not turn to it for discoveries of truth, we can find       when he knows the opponents will challenge him, as in
in it very beautiful illustrations of Christianity in action."      Galatia.
Here, again, we see the repeated error of those who desire to           In such instances, he defiantly claims to have received his
divorce doctrine from practice or life. For, what kind of           *`commission" not of man,- but directly from heaven -by the
"Chistianity  in action" does one have if `it is not founded        revelation of Jesus Christ. But here, he purposely limits his
upon "truth 7" All of which we read in the Epistle to Phile-        apostolic authority even though. he declares : "I might be
mon is rooted and grounded in -doctrine. The "social prin-          much bold in Christ to enjoin (order or command, EE)
ciples" in this Epistle, and there are many, find their basis in    thee." Of course, whatever authority he has is in Chist; he
doctrine.                                                           has nothing in himself. In quietness of voice, Paul thus
   Consider the problem. Paul finds himself in possession of        speaks to Philemon - even as Christ had spoken to him, and'
property belonging to another. Onesimus, according the              waives his authority as an apostle and, instead of command-
awe-inspiring institution of Roman slavery, is nothing more         ing appeals on the basis of Love. That, alone, is the ground
than mere chattel. If we were to consider the "social prin-         for his pleading in behalf of Onesimus ; "for love's sake" (v.
ciples" involved in this problem, we would be compelled to          9) -not simply  becaztse of  Itis  love to  Philemon  or because
enumerate them and inquire : Does the apostle have a right          of the love of Plzilewwvt to Paul, but because of that strong
to retain possession of this slave, Onesimus ? What does he         bond of love that unites all the people of God together, and
owe, not.only  to Philemon, but to Roman society, in general,       binds them to Christ. That is the principle that motivates the
which has sanctioned the institution of which this Onesimus         conduct of the apostle so that he puts away his authority,
is a member ? What is the relation of Christianity to slavery ?     and "beseeches" or "entreats."
May the apostle retain Onesimus without sinning against the            Where the bond is Love- the Love of God in Christ,
Eighth Comandment ? Furthermore, what about Philemon ?              then "grace is poured into the lips," and "I order" or "I corn-.
What should his attitude be toward one such as Onesimus,            mand you" becomes  "`I pray." This is the way the Lord
who has offended him ? Then, too, what about Onesimus ?                                  (Contiwued   on  @ge 408)

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

                                                                        the Declaration of Principles would vote for his statements?
                I N   H I S   F E A R                                   Q, it was so plain to all-of us at that time already that the
                                                                        West was voting as a solid block and that they could easily
                                                                        get eight delegates sympathetic to Rev. De Wolf without
                         Silence Reigns                                 even trying. Subsequent history substantiates that. He would
                                                                        have had half the votes of Synod on his side. And all he
       It. was our original intention to use the columns of our         would need is one delegate from  Classis  East, elder. or
department to treat the doctrinal and political issues in our           minister-and the delegates from First Church would be
recent struggle for the truth-until the decision was rendered           ineligible to vote since it was their case- so that victory
in the court case of the Superior Court of the city of Grand            was pretty sure.
Rapids, Nlichigan.                                                         But God did not want it that way !
       At that time we did not dare to ascribe such folly to those         He did not want us who loved the Protestant Reformed
who left us that they would appeal to the Supreme Court of              truth, who did not overstep our bounds by the decisions of
the State of. Michigan. Realizing that their case was a very            Classis  East in May and DID NOT initiate discipline, He did
weak one, since they had the decisions of the Classis  against          not want us to be put out by those who were secretly drag-
them, we expected them to abide by the decision to be ren-              ging into our churches the conditional heresy of the Liber-
dered. And after the trial once began, the confusion presented          ated. But surely from a human viewpoint the possibility was
especially by Rev. Kok and the forthright admission of Rev.             there that if Rev. De Wolf had walked the Church Political
Gritters under oath to his honor Judge Taylor that  Classis             way of appeal, he could have won his case before men.
West had no jurisdiction over anyone in  Classis  East and                 The same is true of  Classis  West. Had it walked the
that no one in Classis  East might appeal his case to Classis           church-political way of drawing up a protest to be presented
West led us to believe `that they themselves were wise                  to the Synod, it would have had half the votes of the Synocl
enough to see the folly of such an appeal to the Supreme                and with the help of one in Classis  East, it could have SLIS-
C o u r t .                                                             tained Rev. De Wolf and put us out. But blinded by hatrecl
       But we underestimated the folly.                                 and in love with conditional theology it could not even see'
       After all, as it was presented to us by different individuals    the folly of Rev. De Wolf's sinful walk and simply tried to
at different times and in widely separated parts of this coun-          defend si,n with more sin.
try of ours, after Rev. De Wolf did such a  f&&hthing  as                 It. is better then to be silent and not try to defend such
to try with only half of the consistory to set himself up as            e v i l .   '
a consistory and declare as no -consistory those whom they                 If they were so foolish as to do these things, they are now
never treated, never had under discipline and who did what              with worldly wisdom wise enough to see that any defense
the  Classis  advised ; and if Classis  West did such a foolish         they might make of these foolish and sinful deeds would only
thing as it did in September of 1953 to usurp more power                show up their folly and sin `that much the more.
than the Synod has and decide a case for Classis  East before              That is the way it goes with defending foolish and sinful
Classis  East itself could finish the case ; then you can expect        deeds.
them to do almost any foolish thing.                                       There really is only one way out of such foolish and sin-
  And so after the decision of Judge Taylor became known,               ful deeds. That is the way of confession and repentance. That
those who left us continued to walk foolishly and sinfully.             is the solution to this problem.
       Reluctantly we continued our writings concerning these              And so, since all our efforts to bring them to the consci-
doctrinal and church political matters.                                 ousness of their foolishness and sinfulness are  ignored-
       Our purpose always was to bring these matters out in the         though we have reasons to believe that they were not ignored
open where they might be discussed, where the arguments                 in private - we will also with this article bring to a close
might be weighed.                                                       our consideration of these matters until and unless future
       Those who walked this way of folly and sin refused to            developments warrant such treatment.
discuss to the matter. They chose the way of silence as safest             If the  "Classis East" of those that left us is sincere in a
f o r   t h e m ,                                                       desire for fraternal discussion then let their constituency re-
       Can it be that they now see themselves that their works          veal that by giving answer to the many inconsistencies of their
were so very, very wrong? Can it be that they see now that              stand which we presented. We would close our discussion of
their tactics were so very, very foolish  ? Is it not plain to          the matter on these pages with a plea to them to give answer.
everyone that had Rev. De Wolf submitted to his suspension                 We could list a number one on our list of points that they
and appealed to the Synod, that he could easily have won                ought to answer : Show us from Scripture and Church Order
there the vindication that he sought? Did he not know when              where a Classis  may take a stand in regard to the constituency
he refused to apologize that the West would vote delegates              and discipline case in a consistory of another Classis.  Show
to Synod who were sympathetic toward him and his con-                   us where that may be done before that Classis  wherein this
ditional theology  ?' Could he not see that all the opponents of        Consistory resorts has itself had opportunity to take a stand


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               399

in that case. Show us how the act of  Classis  West of Sep-           sible.  Classis  West separated from  Classis  East by taking
tember 1953  Itzaintained   the  autonovtzy   of First  Ckurch  of    the case of  Classis  East and deciding it before  Classis  East
Grand Rapids which was resorting in a different Classis.              could even finish the matter. But explain and discuss the
   Silence on that matter before men does not take away the           legality of half of one consistory that, according to the un-
guilt of that sin. Silence in this instance is and can be due         animous-decision  of 11 to 0 was being treated for defending
to nothing else than that any answer which would try to               heresy and for exonerating Rev. De Wolf by motion with-
defend so glaringly sinful a deed would only expose.more sin-         out first rescinding by two thirds majority the motion already
fulness and open a few eyes of those not versed in  these             on the books that condemned his sermons explain the legality
church-political matters.                                             of that half of  the consistory setting itself up as the  con-
   We place this set of questions first because it more than          sistory of that church and declaring those who walked the
anything else led to the schism on a denominational level. We         way of the advice of Classis  outside the denomination and no
made that statement once in print, only to be chided for it           Zong~~~  in  ofice in that church. Explain and show from the
and demanded to apologize. Our answer was to write under              Church Order that this is the proper way to depose office
the dateline of September 22, 1953 to the individual.who  said        bearers. If the contention is that Rev. De Wolf and his sup-
we were guilty of maligning and traddcing   Classis  West --          porters were illegally deposed and suspended from office,
fancy words for one who engineered one of those instructions          show that the Rev. Hdeksema, the Rev. Hanko and their elz
to Classis  West to commit such a horrible sin. We gave him           ders were deposed and suspended properly in conjunction
seven reasons for our stand and why  Classis  West was guilty         with a neighbouring church by Rev. De Wolf and his sup-
of all that we said.                                                  porters.
   A great silence reigned !                                             You want discussion ? Fraternal discussion ? Then dis-
   We heard not another word about it, nor a single wdrd of           cuss these very unfraternal actions ! Defend them with Scrip-
any kitid from this individual until he requested having his          ture and Church Order, if you can! Be positive then, as the
name on the list for the Court records. So, he did read our           new Reformed Guardian claims to be. Do not criticize the
articles in the Standard Bearer!                                      actions of the Rev. Hoeksema, the Rev. Hanko and their
   When you have no answer, it is better to keep still. It            elders; but be positive and show that these actions of Rev.
is still better, of course, to confess your error.                    De Wolf and of Classis  West in 195'3 are according to Scrip-
   But the point we wish  alsq to make here is- that after            ture and the Church Order. Otherwise admit that you do
those seven reasons were given, the matter was dropped 1 We           not want discussion, fraternal or otherwise.
were no longer accused of maligning and traducing Classis                As to the doctrinal side we could present the following
West. The case was not made pending with the  con&tory                for positive discussion: Show that there -is one whit of dif-
of the undersigned.                                                   ference between the statements that God sincerely offers sal-
   Incidentally evil rumors have been circulated of cases             vation to all who hear the preaching of the gospel and the
made pending with fhe undersigned's consistory which are              statement that God promises salvation to everyone that hears
purely fictious  and therefore also very devilish. There Is not       the preaching of the gospel. And ba positive so that you can
one iota of truth in them. Those in doubt may write the con-          show us that this statement that God promises salvation to
sistory of the undersigned either of his present or former            all who hear the preaching of the gospel leaves any more
charges and will find that it is all devilish propaganda and          room for the doctrine of election than the "common grace"
nothing more.                                                         statement that God sincerely of?ers salvation to all who hear
   As a, second point for discussion we would present the             the preaching of the gospel.
action of Rev. De Wolf and h& supporting deposed elders.                  Show us where Scripture ever presents any of man's
Let us assume, for the sake of discussion and for that reason         .works as prerequisites unto any phase of salvation. Do not
only, that the whole thing was wrong. Classis  had no right           come with texts that speak of demands and even of requisites.
let us assume, to give the advice it did of demanding apolo-          Rev. De Wolf defended the word "prerequisite" ; and when
gies and suspension and deposition. Let us assume that for            asked on the floor of  Classis  whether he could not agree with
discussian  of the matter's sake. Let us assume that half of t%e      us that the word prerequisite was wrong stated, "Mr. Chair-
consistory of First Church in a sinful and hateful way exe-           man, I'd rather not. I might be sorry for it later on." Ther:
cuted the advice of Classis, or let us even assume that they          are any number of delegates to Classis  that May of 1953  who
misunderstood or deliberately distorted the advice of  Class&.        will testify to it that this was his reply. And Rev. Kok has
Make plain to us even then that the action of Rev. De Wolf            the stenographic report of the whole discussion of that Cias-
and his supporting deposed elders was Scriptural and ac-              sis in re these statements of Rev. De Wolf. How come we
cording to the Church Order. The decision of June 1 cannot            never saw one line of it in print?
be  s'et aside. Unanimously the consistory  appi-oved  the advice         It does not look very good for Rev. De Wolf does it?
of  Classis.  Did Rev. De Wolf et al submit  and appeal that              Discussion? Plenty of room for it. .
action to the next  Classis   ?'  Classis  West, of course, messed        There has been too much silence on the main issues.
the. thing up further by making ,a Synodical  meeting impos-                               (Con,tiwcd  OA page 401)




                        .


400                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE.ARER                        ~_ -_-.

                                                                     they have remissions of sins, through faith in Him." As for
11 Contending For  The Faith                                    I the false Church, she ascribes more power and authority to
                                                                     herself and her ordinances than to the Word of God, and will
                                                                     not submit herself to the yoke of Christ. Neither does she
            The Church and the Sacraments                            administer the sacraments as appointed by Christ in His
                                                                     Word, but adds to and takes from them, as she thinks proper ;
   VIEWS DURING THE SECOND PERIOD (300-750 A.D.)                     she relieth more upon men than upon Christ; and persecutes
                                                                     those, who live  holily  according to the Word of God, and
                 THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                          rebuke her from her errors, covetousness, and idolatry.
                                                                     These two Churches are easily known and distinguished from
       In our preceding article we had begun to call attention to    each other." - end of quote. It is not the purpose, of course,
another phase of the doctrine of  the Church during the              of these articles to explain Articles 27-29 of our Confession of
second period, 300-750 A.D., namely the importance of mem-           Faith in detail. We merely wished to quote them iri connec-
bership in this true church.  And we quoted Articles 27 and          tion with the subject with which we are busy at present. Al-
28 of our Confession of Faith. Continuing with the articles          though we ;ead, at the close of Article  29, that it is easy to
of this Confession of Faith which relate to this subject, :\t-t.     distinguish between the true Church and the false Church,
29 confesses the marks of the true Church and also sets forth        this applies only when this absolute distinction between true)
wherein she differs from the false Church, as follows: "We           and false is clear and easily discernible. One of the charac-
believe, that we ought diligently and circumspectly  io discern      teristics of the true Church, for example, is the pure preach-
from the Word of God which is the true Church,, since all            ing of the gospel. Nevertheless, we know that the de-
sects which are in the world assume to themselves the name           parture from the Word of God and the denial of the fun-
of the church. But we speak not here of hypocrites, who are          damental truths of the Scriptures does not occur as in a
mixed in the Church with the good, yet are not of the Ch~ch,         moment, "over night." The modern church today denies that
though externally in it (it would be interesting to know how         Jesus is the eternal Son of God, coeternal and coequal with
the Liberated explain these words, inasmuch as they have             the Father and the Spirit. Yet, we do well to remember that
condemned in the past the terminoldgy of true and false              the church which proclaims this today was once sound and
church, in the sense of visible and invisible, and  wou!d main-      that. the departure from the truth, although inexorable, is
tain that all the baptized are equally in the Church  ; they' nevertheless gradual. Hence, there are  cetainly  degrees of
certainly did not approve of any distinction between those           falseness as far as the manifestation of the false church is
who are in the Church actually, really, and those who are in         concerned. One more observation we wish to make in connec-
the the Church merely externally- H.V.)  ; but we say that           tion with Article 29. The Roman Catholic Church of today
the body and communion of the true Church must. be distin-           stands condemned, of course, by this article. This is under-
guished from all sects, who call themselves the Church. The          standable. The article declares that thecharacteristic of the
marks, by which the true Church is known, are these: if the          true Church, briefly summarized, is this: if all things are
pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if she main-        managed according to the pure Word of God. How different
tains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted        it is in the Roman Catholic Church ! In that church the
by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in punishing of         church determines what the pure preaching of the Word of
sin: in short, if all things are managed according to the pure       God is. The Church, specifically the pope, proclaims what is
Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and Jesus         in harmony with or contrary to the truth. In this article,
Christ  acktiowledged  as the only Head of the Church. Hereby        however, the Word of God determines what the true or false
the true Church may certainly be known, from which no man            Church is. Here the Word of God is championed as the sole
has a right to separate himself. With respect to those, who          rule of life and of doctrine. This was surely the guiding
are members of the Church, they may be known by the marks. principle of the Reformation, and it must continue to be the
of Christians : namely, by faith ; and when they have received       guiding principle in the life of the Church throughout the
Jesus Christ, the only Saviour (to receive Jesus Christ is not       ages.
the same as "accepting" Him ; to accept Him emphasizes an               Relative the importance of membership in the true church,
action which proceeds from the sinner, but to receive Him            as advocated in the second period of the Church, 300-750
means that Jesus Christ is given to him - H.V.), they avoid          A.D., we may say that it was generally held that member-
sin,  folloti after righteousness, love the true God and their       ship in this Catholic Church was strictly necessary unto salva-
neighbour, neither turn aside to the right or left, and crucify      tion. This was also the view which was maintained by earlier
the flesh with the works thereof. But this is not to be under-       Church Fathers, such as Cyprian, and it was maintained also
stood, as if there did not remain in them great infirmities ; but    in this period. Fact is, our own Confession of Faith, in' Ar-
they fight against them through the Spirit, all the days of          ticle 28, when speaking of the calling of every child of God
their life, cbntinually  taking their refuge in the blood, heath,    to join himself to the true Church, called the Catholic Chris-
passion and obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, "in Whom             tian Church in Article 27, declares that "this holy congrega-


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   BAE,ARER                                                   401
                                                                                      _.
  tion is an assembly of those who are saved, and that out of it     spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," yet if they are corrected,
  there is no salvation." And the Fathers certainly  .advocate       and confess that they approached to baptism.most unworthily,
  that no one can be saved who separates himself from the true       are not baptized again, but belong to the dove, through whose
  Church in the midst of the world..                                 groans those sins are remitted which were retained in them
     Gregory the Great, the first monk to become pope, and           who were estranged from her peace ; so those also who are
  who ruled over the Church from 590-604, and is said to have        more openly within the Church,. if they have received the
  been the first to use the humble-proud title: servant of the       same sacraments, are not freed from their sins on coming,
  servants of God, declared that "Heretics are unworthy of life      after correction,`to  the unity of the Church, by a repetition of
  and cannot escape the wrath of God unless they come into           baptism, but by the same law of charity and bond of unity.
  the Catholic Church." Augustine certainly maintained the           For if "those only may baptize who are set over the Church,
  principle that membership in the Catholic Church (not to be        and established by the law of the .gospel and ordination as
  confused with the Roman Catholic Church) was absolutely            appointed by the Lord, "were they in-any wise of this kind
necessary unto salvation. He declares, for example, that             who seized on estates by treacherous frauds, and increased
  "Whoso is not in this Church does not receive the Holy             their gains by compound interest ? I trow not, since those are
_ Ghost." This great Church Father has declared, in opposi-          established by ordination as appointed of the Lord, of whom
  tion to the Donatists, the issue to have been: "The question       the apostle, in giving them a standard, says, "No greedy, not
  is, indeed, discussed between us, Where is the church,             given to filthy lucre." Yet men of this kind used to baptize in
 Whether among us or among them ?`! He held that the great           the time of Cyprian himself, and he confesses with many
  church is the one Ca,tholic church by virtue of the distribu-      lamentations that they were his fellow-bishops, and endures
  tion of the latter throughout the whole world and by virtue        them with the great reward of tolerance. Yet did they not
  of -its connection with the church of the apostles, whose suc-     confer remission of sins which is granted  .through the prayers
  cessors the bishops are. "Outside of this one Catholic church,"    of the. saints, that is, the groans of the dove, whoever it be
  he continues, "the body of Christ, there is no truth, no salva-    that baptizes, if those to whom it is given belong to her peace.
 tion. Separation from it is a sacrilege. Only chaff is blown        For the Lord would not say to robbers and usurers, "Whose
 off by the fan ; only pride and lack of love can impel a Chris-     soever  sins ye remit, they shall be remitted to him  ; and
 tian to split the unity of the church." This declaration of         whose  soever  sins ye retain, they shall be retained." "Outside
 Augustine rests upon the thought that it is only in the Ca-         the Church, indeed, nothing can be either bound or loosed,
 tholic church that the Spirit and love are bestowed upon man,       since there is no one who can either bind or loose ; "but he is
 and that the saints are to be found only in the Catholic            loosed who has made peace with the dove, and he is bound
 church.             *                                               who is not at peace with the dove, whether he is openly with-
                                                                     out, or appears to be within." -end of quote.
     In connection with this question of the Church, we wish             Continuing with our quotations from the writings  oi
 to present to our readers the few quotations of Augustine           Augustine, we read the following: "But if martyrdom is of
 which he wrote in his struggle with the Donatists. The first        no avail for this reason, because it has not charity, neither
 quotation reads as follows : "AS my Father hath sent Me,"           does it profit those who, as Paul says, and .Cyprian further
 says our Lord, "even so send I you. And when He had said            sets forth, are living within the Church, ivithout charity in
 this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye          envy and malice ; and yet they can both receive and transmit
 the Holy Ghost. Whose  soever  sins ye remit, they are re-          true baptism. "Salvation," he says, "is not without the
 mitted unto them ; and whose soever  sins ye retain, they-  are     Church." Who says that it is.7 And, therefore, whatever men
 retained." Therefore, if they represented the Church, and           have that belongs to the Church, it profits them nothing to-
 this was said to them as to the Church herself, it follows that     wards salvation outside of the Church." - end of quote.
 the peace of the Church looses sins, and estrangement from                                                                     H.V.
 the Church retains them, not according to the will of men,
 but according to the will of God and the prayers of the saints
 who are spiritual, who "judge all things, but themselves are
 judged of no man." ,For the rock retains,. the rock remits ;                                    IN HIS FEAR
 the dove retains ,the dove remits; unity retains, unity remits.
 But the peace of this unity exists only in the good, in those                              (Continued from page 399)
 whp are either already spiritual, or are advancing by the              These main issues were covered up with slander and mis-
 obedience of concord to spritual things; it exists not in the       quotations.
 bad, whether they make disturbances abroad, or are endured             Let us have discussion.
 within the Church with lamentations, baptizing and being               But then let it be of these fundamental church-political
 baptized. But just as those.who are tolerated with groanings        and doctrinal issues and not personalities and fabricated
 within the Church, although they do not belong to the same          moral issues.
 unity of the dove, and to that "glorious Church, not having                                                                  J.A.H.


402                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
II                                                                   these passages we may note: a) That none of them concerns
           The Voice of Our Fathers - II itself directly with infants who die in infancy. b) That all deal
                                                                     with the children of believers. c) That, in the light of the rest
                                                                     of Scripture, none of them intends to teach that the promise
                 The Canons of Dordrecht                             and salvation are for  aZZ the children of believers. d) That
                               PART TWO                              the fathers in their opinions give ample reason to believe that
                   E                                                 they thoroughly understood that these Scriptural passages did
                        XPOSITION OF THE CANONS                      not refer to all children of believers, but I only the elect seed.
                    FIRST  HEAD  OF DOCTRINE                         And. finally, with this background. information it becomes
                   OF  DIVINE PREDESTINATION                         evident that the Synod by no means intended to express as a
                           Article 17 (cont.)                        hard and fast ecclesiastical statement of doctrine that all chil-
                                                                     dren of believers who die in-infancy are elect and saved on
       The quotations made from the opinions of the very fathers     the'basis of Scripture, but that the Synod exactly avoided
who drew up the Canons serve to furnish us with information          such a statement.
as to the background of Article 17. In the first place, it be-           Turning to the article itself, then, we may notice, first of
comes evident that the basic question with which the fathers         all, that there is a lack of clarity and precise definition that a
were occupied was not the narrow question of the salvation           cannot be denied. And for this reason the article is of little
of children of believers who die in infancy, but the fact of         doctrinal or confessional value. In a confession the  church
the Arminian denial of either election or reprobation of chil-       gives expression to what it believes concerning the truth of
dren. And it is only in connection therewith that the Synod          God's Word according to the Scriptures. And it can scarcely
felt constrained to make some kind of statement also about           be said that this is done here. Surely, had the Synod been
the salvation of infant children of believers. In every case the     of the intention to make such a clear and precise formulation
quotations show this to be true. In fact, some of the opinions       of the objective truth of Scripture, it had the ability to make
did not even mention the subordinate matter which is treated         such a statement, as the rest of the Canons abundantly proves.
in  Catzofts  I, 17, but simply treated the broader question of      Thus, for example, had the Synod believed that all children
the election and reprobation of children. In the second place,       of believing parents who die in infancy are elect, according
.the negative and subjective viewpoint of this article is largely    to Scripture, then we would not have the present formula-
explained by the fact that none  of the fathers quoted makes         tion of Article 17, but a positive statement to that effect, to-
a purely objective and Scripturally established statement in         gether with Scriptural proof. In such a case we might ex-
regard to the salvation of infants of believers who die at an        pect a statement like the follo.wing  : "We believe that, since
early age. Some avoid the question. Others rather pointedly          we are to judge of the will of God from his Word, which
observe that the line of election and reprobation cuts directly      testifies that the children of believers are holy, not by nature,
through the generations of believers, citing proof for their         but in virtue of the covenant of grace, in which they, together
observation. Some call attention to the fact that after all the      with the parents, are comprehended, all children of believing
element of age has nothing to -do with election and reproba-         parents which are called out of this life in infancy are- elect,
tion essentially, since predestination'is sovereign and has no       and, therefore, saved." Or, if the fathers had known of some
regard to works. Others use expressions such as "we judge,"          means whereby we might definitely determine whether or
or "the children ozt.glzt to be reckoned . . ." Some point to the    not our children that die in infancy are saved or not saved,
judicial ground of the condemnation of infants, namely,              they could have, precisely formulated an article giving ex-
original sin. One opinion warns against "curiously  investigat-` pression to such a doctrine. But this they did not do. They
ing" whether reprobation also takes place among children of          gave expression to no objective article of faith here. They
-believing parents who die before committing any actual sin,         merely say:  ". . . . godly parents ought not to doubt of the
and admonishes God's people to be satisfied with the Scrip-          election and salvation-of their children, whom it  -pleaseth  God
tural testimony that the promise is for believers and their          to call out of this life in their infancy." And we can come
seed. But there is not a single instance of an objective state-      to no other conclusion than this, that .the Synod intentionally
ment that all children of believers who die in infancy are           avoided making such an objective statement of doctrine be-
elect, and, therefore, saved. In the third place, we learn from      cause such a statement was impossible.
these quotations what Scriptural passages the fathers had in             The above is indeed significant. It means that no support
mind, when they said in Article 17: "Since we are to judge           can be found in Article 17 for the view of those who never-
of the will of God from his Word, which testifies that the           theless want to maintain that it is objectively certain that
children of believers are holy, not by `nature, but in virtue of     all children of believers who die in infancy are saved. And
the covenant of grace, in which they, together with the              there are not a few, both among parents and among ministers,
parents, are comprehended . . . -.". They are such passages          who seek to maintain this. Not infrequently.do  parents who
 (also cited in our  Baptism  FOWE)  as Genesis 17  ~7, Matf.        bring  a'little. one to the grave express without hesitation that
19 :14, Mark 10, Acts 2 :39, and I Cor. 7 :14. And concerning        `their infant is saved, and that this is their comfort also. And


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 403

often in funeral services ministers will seek to comfort the        delight in the damnation of little babies. And therefore, in
parents of children who die in infancy by assuring them that        view of the fact that while we do know on the basis fo Scrip-
all such children are saved. And it is even surprising in some      ture that the Lord establishes His covenant in the line of
instances how old a child is classed as an infant. And of           continued generations, taking His seed from our seed, and in
course, the only conceivable. objective ground for such a claim     view of the fact that we know nothing about the election or
would be that somehow, either on the ground of a presup-            reprobation of an infant child of believers while it is an in-
posed regeneration or on the ground of a general covenant           fant, a  judgment  of love concerning such children of be-
promise guaranteeing to all children of believers, head for         lievers who die in infancy -is possible, and may be taken for
head and soul for soul, the objective right to the blessings        what it is worth. But there is nothing else to-say with ob-
of salvation, all the children of believers are heirs of salva-     jective certainty than that the Lord takes His seed out of our
tion. And in this sense they then take up the first part `of        seed.
Article 17 also. Naturally, if it is actually the case that all        In this light we can also understand somewhat the sub-
children of. believers are -heirs of the blessings of salvation,    jective and negative language of Article 17 : "godly parents
then the whole question is easily dissolved. There is no            ought not to doubt." In the first place, it is not simply be-
problem then.' But we repeat: the Synod could not possibly          lieving parents, but godly parents, that is, parents who are
have had this in mind in view of the indefinite, negative, and      godly in the capacity of parents, that are mentioned here. In
subjective language which is `employed in Article 17. And           the second place, they are negatively admonished not to doubt
since they were well aware that there was no definite Scrip-        concerning the election and salvation of their children who die
tural ground for saying that all such children are saved, and       in infancy. And in the third place, they are pointed to the
were aware, on the contrary, that there were Scriptural             fact not simply that their children "die," but that "God calls
grounds for saying that divine predestination makes a distinc-      them' out of this life, in infancy." Now godly parents are
tion also among the children of believers, they made a sub-         certainly parents who live godly in relation to and with their
jective  and.negative  statement.                                   children. They bring children into the world in the conscious-
   If the question be asked, then, why the fathers were moved       ness that the Lord graces them with the privilege of bringing
to make such a statement at all, I believe the reason is to be      forth children for His covenant. Thus they live even before
found partially, at least, in the fact that the Arminian op-        their children are born, committing them to the blessing of
ponents employed what is called an argztwzentum  ad komineln        the.Lord in prayer. They want to serve the Lord also in the
over against the Reformed fathers. And it was a  double-            bringing forth- of children. For  .their  children they pray. They
pronged argument. On the one hand, they appealed to the             pledge those children to service of the Lord. .They  beseech
people emotionally with their own doctrine that all such in-        the Lord for grace so that their children may live to the
fants are saved. And on the other hand, they besmeared the          glory of His name in the, midst of the world. As they grow
fathers in the public eye by picturing them as monsters who         up, their children are instructed in the fear of the Lord ac-
even delighted in teaching that God-  would damn not only           cording to their capacity at the earliest possible moment. Such
some infants, but some infants of believers. It was indeed a        are godly parents. And if God removes a little one from their
foul argument which they used, and one not based at all on          family circle, that is, an infant who is not yet able to assume
calm reasoning from the Scriptures. After all, objectively          a conscious position toward the covenant of God, then such
considered, first of all, it was not a question of who was a        parents ought not to doubt. Surely, they may hope that their
monster in whose opinion, nor a question:of who taught what,        little one is elect of God, and they may do so for the sake
but a question of what the Scriptures teach. And if the Scrip-      of God's covenant too, being spiritually minded. But they
tures teach that God also damns infants, then it behooves no        are conscious of the fact that the covenant Jehovah has Him-
one to call, that teaching monstrous' and cruel,' nor to call       self called that child out of this life. And therefore as godly
those monstrous who maintain such Scriptural doctrine. And          parents they do not say:  !`Our child is a child of believing
in the second place, calmly and objectively considered, is it       parents, and therefore saved." But they acknowledge at the
any more cruel and monstrous that infants who die in in-            grave of their little one: "Lord, we have in Thy name
fancy are sovereignly reprobated and sovereignly damned             brought forth this little one, and we received it with thank.+
than that infants who grow up are sovereignly reprobated and        giving from Thee. To Thee we consecrated that child, that
damned ? Is it ever easy for the flesh of believing parents to      it might be a child for Thy covenant. It has now pleased Thee
know or to think that there is a possibility that their own         to remove that child from this life. And therefore, in the same
children, their own  flesh  and blood, go lost? Or, to cite a       faith whereby we received the child from Thee and dedicated
Scriptural  .example,   was it easy for Rebecca to' carry rep-      it unto' Thee, we rest satisfied in Thy way, without being
robate Esau in `her womb even though she also knew that             filled with fearful doubt about the salvation and election of
Jacob was elect- in the same womb? Gen. 25 :21-23;  Rom.            the child, knowing that Thou, according to Thy good pleas-
9 :lO-13.                                                           ure, which through faith we acknowledge to be always good,            "
    But the fathers knew that the argument  tias false and  ~ dost save Thy children out of our seed."
wicked, and that they were not guilty of such an infernal                                                                    H.C.H.

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

II                                                                   home and the church. These three are not to be confused.
              DECENCY and ORDER                                      Although they are intimately related and each one is con-
                                                                     cerned about the labors of the other, their separate sphere and
                                                                     objective of labor must be kept distinct. The school must not
                   Good Christian Schools                            perform the functions of the former. This danger is more
                            (Continued)                              than imaginary and when it becomes a reality the result is
                                                                     disorder which is never good. Let each perform the duties of
       The word "good has a wide variation of meaning de-            its own sphere according to the- calling of God and the result
pending upon how the term is used. It may mean perfection            will be the complete training of the man of God.
as, for example, when we say that God is good. He is Light               Whereas, in this connection, our main interest concerns
and there is no darkness in Him. He is the sum total of all          the school, we may dispense with an elaborate discussion on
virtue and perfection. In this sense there is none that is good      the home and church. A few brief remarks in this  connec-
but one and that is God.                                                                                 -.
                                                                     tion will suffice.
       The term may also have a strong ethical connotation and
then it denotes such things as are in harmony with the moral             Concerning the home, it may be stated that .it is the oldest
law of God. It forms the contrast of all that is vile.and  cor-      and most basic of all institutions of learning. It is established
rupt. Such things as uprightness, integrity, honesty, humility,      in creation itself and upon it revolves the solemn duty to
sincerity, etc. are good. They are the opposite of such evils        "train up the children in the way they should go.' Parents may
as pride, deceit, lying, etc. Although such virtues are not          never `relegate this obligation to others although they may
found in the natural man, they are possessed by the children         employ others to assist them in this prodigious task. When
.of God who, by virtue of the grace of regeneration, are made        this is done the matter of accountability to God remains with
good.                                                                the parents and is never pushed off on the assistants. Were
      In common conversation the word rigood"  is generally used     this regarded with more seriousness, many parents would be
to designate that which is adapted to the purpose for which          more careful in the means employed for the training of their
it was made or brought into being. Thus, for example, we             children and more devoted and zealous in procuring the very
may speak of an automobile, as it rolls from the assembly            best means possible. More concerning this we will write un-
line of one of the huge industrial plants, as good only when,        der a separate heading of "Parental Responsibility."
after a test drive, it is evident that there are no mechanical           The church, too, is an institution but, unlike the home,
defects and that it will serve as a reliable means of transporta-    has its origin not in the creation but in grace. She is con-
tion. We may speak of a good tree as -one that is productive ;. ceived in the eternal counsel of God. Her entire constituency
of good food as that which nourishes the body; of a good             is given unto Christ before t.he foundation of the world ac-
watch as one that will reliably give the time of day ; etc. In       cording to the sovereign and unchangable  decree of election.
this sense we also read in Scripture that man (and all things)       In time she is separated from the-world through regeneration
was created good. Although this expression also denotes that         and called out of darkness into the marvelous light of God.
man was created in excellency and virtue ; that he was with-         She is called to manifest herself as the body of Christ, show-
out sin and endowed with many excellent gifts; it also signi-        ing forth the praise of the glory of His grace amidst the dark-
fies that he was created so that he was adapted unto the             ness of, men. Upon the church is laid the duty to preach the
purpose of serving and glorifying His Creator.                       Word of God and to indoctrinate the `seed of the covenant
       In this last named sense we speak then of a good Christian    in the truth of that word and so prepare them through the
school. In all things it conforms to and is adapted unto the         word to occupy their place in the Kingdom of Heaven. An-
purpose for which, it is brought into  existance. And the            other calling the church- does not have. She must. declare the
christian school does not have the same reason for its exist-        mighty works of her God. She must witness unto the world
ante  as schools in general. Its purpose is distinctively chris-     of His power and grace. She does not tell the world what
tian. It is not materialistic or humanistic but emphatically         God in Christ would like to do and tries to do but cannot
God-centered in all of its aims. It has its objective in train-      unless He receives the consent and cooperation of man but
ing the children of the covenant in the fear of the Lord and         rather she proclaims the Gospel of Christ in which that which
thus to prepare them to live in the midst of this present world      God has done and will continue to perform until the day of
as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. They must be thor-             Jesus Christ is preached. By the power of that Gospel, the
oughly furnished unto every good work. The school that suc-          lives of the true members of the church are brought into sub-
ceeds in this endeavor is good. Only then is it worthy of            jection to and the service of Christ. The church is not a
the beautiful name "Christian."                                      social or civic center. Its interests and aims' are not of this
      The task of the school is somewhat curtailed by other          world. She does not seek world reformation., The cultm-e  of
vital training centers in the life of the covenant child. The        her members is spiritual, their citizenship is heavenly and in
school is only a part of that important triple alliance which        the `communion of saints the things of the Kingdom of God
cooperatively is called to train him. To this belongs also the       are sought in and through all things of this present time, The


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                                            405

  church must confine her labors to teaching and preaching and          pective of life regardless of the field or vocation he chooses
  indoctrinating in the realities of the Kingdom of Heaven.             to enter. He must be trained in the fear of the Lord. This,               .
  Her subjects must be instructed and prepared to rightly oc-           a good Christian school does !
  cupy their place in that Kingdom, even now while they are                In light of all this, it should be evident that the most
  in the present evil world.                                            important single factor in a good Christian school is the
     The Christian school is. not a subsidiary to the church and        teacher. Such things as buildings, physical facilities, size,.
  must not be conceived of as a sort of mission station as is not       etc. are relatively  unimiortant.  The significant factor is the
  infrequently done. The school is an extension of the home             teacher. A staff of competent, Godfearing teachers makes a
  and is born out of practical necessity. There was a time when         good school. Without them the ideal in education cannot be
  all of the secular training of the child was done by the parents      reached. Teachers who are able to inculcate the Protestant
  in the home but that time is no more. Life, with all of its           Reformed world and life view into the minds of succeeding
  complications and involvements, makes this a p_ractical im-           generations are ever in demand. The meaning of Article 21
  possibility. The specialized training that ii requisite to most       would require that "Consistories see to it that there are such
  occupations today the parents are not able to provide. Con-           teachers." This is quite different from consistorial super-
  sequently, the school is a cooperative enterprise in which            vision and control of the schools. What this means and how
. parents together furnish those services for their children            this can be accomplished we will, D.V., write next time.
  which as individual parents they are unable to provide.                                                                        G.V.d.B.
  Worldly schools are the outgrowth of worldly homes and                                             -           -
  Christian schools are the proper extension of Christian homes.                          WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
  (Note : The state has taken cognizance of the gross neglect              On June 9, 1955, our beloved  parents  and Grandparents
  of worldly parents to provide for their children and, conse-
  quently, taken the matter of education into its own hands.)                           EVERT VAN VOORTHUYSEN
  The school, in distinction from  tht: church, aims at furnishing                                        and
  the child with the necessary preparation and training  so `that           ELIZABETH VAN VOORTHUYSEN, nee Groeneveld
  he is able to fill his place in the present industrial, political     will commemorate the 40th anniversary of their marriage.
  and social world. The Christian school aims to prepare the               We are grateful to our C'ovenant  God for all the blessings He
  child to do this as a Christian. It purposes to so train the child    has bestowed upon them and us; and we trust and pray that, if
  that it is thoroughly equipped to serve God in whatever voca-         it be His good pleasure, they may be graciously spared for one
                                                                        another and for us, for many years to come.
  tion of life it is called. To express it with-other words, the
  Christian school that is worthy of its name, aims at preparing                      Their thankful children :
  the citizens of the Kingdom of  heaven.to rightly occupy their                                 Mr. and Mrs. Nelvin Kooimrin
  temporal place in the midst of this present world. They must                                   Mr. and Mrs. John Ekema
                                                                                                 Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Van Voorthuysen
  be trained to live the antithetic life in business, in labor, in                               Mr. *and.Mrs.  Everett Van Voorthuysen
  government, in society.                                                                        Mr. and Mrs. John Kimm
     It is evident then that the school aims at the temporal. It                                 15 grandchildren.
  does this, not exclusive of the spiritual- and eternal, but so        Redlands, California.
  that the purpose of its establishment is after all earthly. Just                                   -           -
  as the home is not an eternal institution but will pass away                 0 GOD, REGARD MY HUMBLE PLEA
  with the things of this earth for in heaven thei-e will be no
  marriage or giving in marriage, so also it is with the school.                     0 God, regard my humble plea ;
  It serves it purpose in this present order ?f things and if it                     I cannot be so far from Thee
  is to do this well, it must never loose sight of the heavenly                         But Thou wilt hear rny cry.;
  and eternal but rather, in its earthly form and character, serve                   When I by trouble am distressed,
  them. Then it is a good school.                                                    Then lead me on the rock to rest
     The task of the.good  Christian school is also, therefore,'                        That higher is than I.
  related to the calling of the church. Not so, of course, that                                                              Psalm 61 :l
  the school must preach the gospel or indoctrinate as such but
  if we remember that the truth of  ,the gospel is expressive of a             0 GOD, REGARD  MY'HUMBLE  PLEA
  wa.y  of life, we may characterize the duty of the school by                       Before Thy face shall I abide ;
  saying that it is her task to apply in a practical way this world                  0, God, Thy truth and grace provide              '
  and life view of the church unto every single phase of the                            To guard me in the way ;
  child's secular education. Whether the child is then taught                        So I will make Thy praises known,
  geography, history, mathematics, reading, or whatever it may                       And, humbly bending at Thy throne,
  be, he is taught these things in the light of the truth of the                        My vows will daily pay.
  Word of God and from the Truth he gains the correct pers-                                                                  Psalm  61:4

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

                                                                    spiritual polity" by. which she must be governed (art. XXX).
               A L L   AWOliND  Us                                  In the Heidelberg Cateclzisvz we confess similar truths con-
                                                                    cerning the church (Lord's Days XXI and  XxX1).  And
To  Wko~m The  Church Belongs                                       even the Canons of Dordt, which do not deal directly with
                                                                    the doctrine of the church, stress the need of faithfully serv-
   `In the May issut of "tbrch and trumpet", page 16, appears       ing Christ (II, 9) and being "much more careful and solici-
a  shott article by the hand of Rev. Peter Y. De Jong, min-         tous to continue in the ways of the Lord, which he has or-
ister of a Christian Reforined  Church in,Pella, Ia., which we      dained" (V, 13).  -
enjoyed reading. We believe the article merits a reprint in             Such truths are far from popular in our days of self-will
these columns in its entitey. The `Rev. Mr. De Jong writes          and self-expression.
regularly in  Yhis periodical under the' rubric "Fathers and            Many members seem to resent an authoritative  proclams-
Brethren  !" Under the above named sub-title he writes the          tion of the Word. .When admonished concerning doctrine or
following :                                                         conduct by the officers, some will even speak boldly of the
    "Protestants seem peculiarly apt to fall into a dangerou?       curtailing of their Christian (  !) liberties and the unwarranted
and dishonoring practice, when they speak about the church.         prying into what they consider to be their private affairs. As
   Every day we .can hear people talking about "the Rev.            a result `some who have been clothed with Christ's ruling
Smith's church" or "Dr. Jones' congregation." Although we           power hesitate to carry out their commission. The danger of
may not be ready to condemn these phrases too severely, they        closing our eyes to weaknesses and sins in the congregation
do betray a lamefitably  superficial attitude to the church. Af-    is not imaginary. The sin of hesitating worldliness threatens
ter all, the church belongs to no man or group of men. It be-       to sweep the church from her spiritual moorings.
longs solely to the Lord Jesus Christ who is .her Savior allrl          Our only weapon against these defections is the daily,
gead.                                                               prayerful reminder that Christ wills to rule his people through
   Scripture is abundantly clear on this. Paul tells us that        lawfully appointed and elected officers. The authority with
God has put all things under Christ's feet "and gave him to         which ministers, elders and deacons are clothed is not their
be head  over all things to the church" (Eph.  1:22). John          own but his. Let us then remind ourselves constantly of the
emphasizes this truth `repeatedly in Revelation, when he calls      blessing of living by faith and laboring according to this
the Savior "the Lord of lords and  King of kings." Pkter            major principle.
calls Christ "the Shepherd  and-.E$hop  (overseer) of your
souls" (I Peter 2 :25). And Jesus reminded his disciples at             First of all, it' affords a  sztre foztndnfi~ort  for carrying out
the time of -the Last Supljer, Ye call me Teacher and Lord :        our God-given calling. Officers although elected by the con-
and ye do  weli;  for  so I am" (John 13  :13). This claim he       gregation, receive their mandate from the King of the church.
explicitly exercises after the resurrection, when he bestows        They are servants of the people only for Christ's sake. And
His peace, gives'them  the Holy Spirit, sends them out to be        they cannot serve  the people well, unless they are conscious
his witnesses, and entrusts to fhem the keys oi-the  kingdom        of serving Christ above all.:
(John 20 :21-23). In summarizing the arguments for speak-               Moreover, it clothes us with proper 1zuwiiZity.  The danger
ing of Christ's rule over his church, Berkhof mentions the          of "larding it over -the flock" is ever present. It was already
following points: (1) Christ himself instituted the church,         present in Peter's day. One writer warns, "Power will `in-
which is not a purely voluntary organization rooting in the toxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads." We
wishes and will of men (Matt. 16  :18). (2  j  He has instituted    will only rule in proper fashion and seek the proper goal,
the means of grace which spiritually nourish the church             when we remember that we are but representatives of the
(Matt.  28:19,20; Luke 22 :17-20; I Cor.  11:23-29).  (3) He        heavenly King.
gave the church both hex constitution and her officers, cloth-          This truth also-gives the necessary enco,uvagement.  Those
ing them with his authority (Matt. 10 :l ; 16`:19;  Eph. 4:11,      who rule in Christ's name may often be plagued with a sense
12). (4) This same Christ is always present, when the               of their unworthiness and inability. Yet let them look to
church meets for worship (Matt. 10 :+O; II Cor. 13 :13).            Christ who has promised the needed wisdom, zeal and love.
In our Reformed confessions we hear the clear-toned                    And finally the Bible assures us of the p?-olnised  reward.
&hoes' of this Scriptural teaching. The  Belgic  Confession         The words of the officers  may be resented; their interest in
acknowledges that the* church "has been from the beginning          the flock. criticized  ; their admonitions rejected  ; their persons
of the world, and will be to the end thereof; which is evident      vilified. But Christ himself promises all those who rule
from this.that Christ is our eternal King, which without sub-       wisely and well for his sake "the crown of glory that fadeth
jects He cannot be" (art. XXVII). Believers are obligated           not away."
to join the true church where the marks are maintained,                We consider the above article, with which we wholly
"submitting themselves to the doctrine and discipline thereof ;     agree, both timely and to the point; and at the same time
bowing their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ" (art.            worthy of consideration especially by all office-bearers in the
XXVIII). Likewise, Christ has given her in his Word "the            church.


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                                                                                                                           .
                                                T H E      ~TA~N~ARD   B~E~RE~R                                                  407

    During the course of our ministry we have from time to           has gone in the Reformed Church of America. We are told
time had occasion to deal with people who have assumed a             that in one of their churches in his city (which condones
rather loose  .position overagainst the authority invested in        Woman Suffrage), they have already a lady elder in the
the of&es  of the church. This is probably due to the peculiar       church. What hinders them from soon producing women
times in which we live when people generally speaking ap-            candidates for the ministry in their seminaries ?
pear to be under the spell of independentism and very readily
cast aspersions on all who are clothed with authority. Even          "Love the Lord Thy God."
children today are given to disrespect for authority. No                    Such is the title of Rev. H. Hoeksema's latest volume on
doubt this is the result of loose talking and criticism of and the Heidelberg Catechism. Already eight volumes on this
disrespect for authority evidenced by parents in the home.           noteable  Work have been written by our esteemed brother;
But, as I said, also in the church one comes upon  peop!e            and, the Lord willing, two more will follow before the work
who care not a whit when the church exercises the Key                is complete.
Power over them. To avoid the "nuisance" of careful and                     In a very colorful jacket this latest volume appears. As
Godfearing discipline, some will even seek to escape by asking       to contents, it covers  Lord%  Days XXX11 to XXXVIII of
for letters of dismal to flit quickly to another church where        the Catechism. We will not now review. the book. Our pur-
they are not so well known. It is well, therefore, that we           pose is only to acquaint the reader with the fact that this
learn again what the Scriptures and our Confessions have to          volume is now available at the Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
say on this subject.                                                 Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. All those who have read the
                                                                     first seven volumes will also want to add this one to their
 Wovlzan  Suffrage' in the Church.                                   library.
    Also in the May issue of "torch and trumpet" appears                    On the inside of the jacket the publishers give us the
another article .written  by the Rev. Martin Monsma on the           following information.
subject of Woman Suffrage in the Church. The readers of                     "Love the Lord Thy God" by the Rev. Herman Hoekse-
this column of ihe Standard Bearer will recall that we called        ma. - The eighth volume in the Rev. Hoeksema's widely
attention to Rev. Monsma's first article on this subject which       recognized exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism, the first
appeared in "torch and trumpet" in the October-November,             full scale treatment the Catechism has received in more than
 1954 issue of this paper.                                           a generation. Love the Lord Thy God begins the discussion
    What Rev. Monsma wrifes now is a continuation of this            of the believer's gratitude. to  ,God for his redemption, the
former article. In fact, most of the present article is quota-       third and last part of this classic doctrinal standard.
tion of the work of a committee which has been charged to                   Treating here, Lord's Day 32 to 38 (in the Heidelberg
study this matter and advise the Christian Ref. Churches.            Catechism the doctrines of the Christian religion are treated
We are not going to quote any of the article  this time since        in fifty-two sections which, in Reformed Churches, provide
there has been really no new development over that already           the basis of a sermon for each Lord's Day of the year)) the
written. The reader will probably remember that the com-             author divides the response generated by the believer's grati-
mittee advised the Synod of 1950 to seek advice from the             tude into two parts. The first of these is thenecessity of good
Reformed Ecumenical Synod of  Edinburg,  Scotland. Rev.              works, with the Decalogue used as a basis of discussion ; the
Monsma  promises to tell us in his next article. what this           second is the necessity and true requisites of prayer, with `a
 Synod did with their inquiry and also what the Synod of             discussion-of prayer as it is taught us' by Jesus. Filled with
 1954 of the Christian Reformed Churches did with this ad-           valuable insights and always provocative, `Rev. Hoeksema's
vice. We will try to keep our readers informed if there are          exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism is a rewarding ex-
any new developments on this subject. Most particularly we           perience."
are interested in what the Rev. Monsma himself will have to.                We urge you to procure this volume if you have not al-
say on the subject of Woman Suffrage in the Church. He is            ready done so, and study it carefully. We are assured, that
the advisor of this committee and professor of Church Polity         you will be greatly rewarded.
at Calvin Seminary. No doubt his advice will be very ef-                                                                        M.S.
fective in the final decision by the church.                               ___-----
    In our former article we predicted that Rev. Monsma
would advise his churches to follow the precedent of the             I/                 CONTliIBUTION.5
Reformed Churches of the Netherlands who have already
decided to allow Woman Suffrage in the Church, thus setting                            Farewell  but not good-bye
aside an old tradition that disallowed this. It will be interesf-
ing to see if our prediction comes true.                             Esteemed Editor :
    Incidentally since we last  wrbte  on this subject, we re-              In the Editorials  of "Concordia", April  7, W. Hofman
ceived a missive from one of our faithful readers informing          extends a farewell word to the readers of Concordia. This
us of how far this matter.of  Woman Suffrage in the Church           baby was born, January 15, 1944, with the purpose to com-


                                                    j      i                       I


                                                          -  --~.__~-~~ .______- __ ~______
                                           THE  5TANDARD   B E A R E R                                                 .

plete what is lacking in the public life of our Protestant Re-                   THE SOCIAL PRINCIPLES OF THE  EPIS+LE
                                                                                                  TO PHILEMON
formed Churches. That is what Hofman wrote in the last                                        (C01hh~d   from page  396)
Concordia. However, it was a complete failure.                            deals with His people. .He deals with us after the tenor -of
    And now the forces of Concordia- have. been joined with               His Covenant. `As someone once said. speaking of Christ:
those of the Reformed Guardian which took the place  ,,f                      "He too does not merely impose commands, but stoops to
Concordia.                                                                    entreat, *where  He indeed might command. "Henceforth
                                                                              I call you not.servants,  but friends ;" and though He does
    P. De Boer promised to write the-Editorials  for a while                  90 on to say, `"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever  I
in this expected to be famous paper. Well go ahead De Boer.                   command you," yet His cotiandment  is so padded \$it?:
In the past you have done wonderfully well by slandering                      love that His yoke -is easy. His burden is light, ,because
your former minister, spiritual father and esteemed -Professort               it is laid on His servants' shoulders by a loving hand ; and
and that without a cause.                                                     so, as St. Bernard says, it is a burden which carries him
   The aim of the Reformed Guardian is to guard the truth.                   who carries it."
Now, by the way, if this means the Protestanf  Ref@ned                        Thus Paul entreats Philemon to receive Onesimus -:-not
truth, I have my doubts, for in the past its-pages meic full              merely because this is right btit because in so doing, he reveals
of conditional lies.                                                      his love for Christ.
   De Boer writes : We shall seek to take cognizance of ali                   Society knows no&&g of this. That is, the "social prin-
that the Reformed fathers from Calvin on have written and                 ciples" of the society of the world are nothing but cold,
                                                                          momlistic  abstractions 
thought.  If you  try to perform this noble work,  De Boer,                                           oj duty. There is nothing of that "in
don't forget to take cognizance of all that, the Protestant Re-           Clzrist".  of which we read in Scripture. In substance, Paul
formed fathers have wfitten; and write, in. the Standard                  tells Philemon that he now has this Onesimus, the slave, for
                                                                          his brother, in the Lord.
Bearer.                                                                       Outwardly, the relation of Philemon and Onesimus was
  De Boer also writes in his first Editorial, that -they stand            not altered. But inwardly, it was transformed by the fact that
committed to the Three Forms of Unity. That sounds big,                   both were "in the Lord."' Apparently, the Scriptures do not
De ,Boer, but why did you and your co-workers discard the                 condemn the institution of slavery. Perhaps this accounts, in
Declaration of Principles ?                                               part, for the  apostle  refraining from criticizing this institu-
   De Boer, and his co-workers shall also seek to write the               tjon.  Never'theless,  he doesn't seem to hesitate to remind
truth and `nothing but the truth, "as before God's" face and Onesimus of that principle that he should not "abandon the
seek to do so in love and mercy." How wonderful, how                      calling in which he had received the call of Christ." What he
praiseworthy. In the past it was not even mixed with, love,               does in reminding him of it, of course, is apply that principle
and the mercy of Jesus Christ was not in it.                              to him. (1 Cor. 7 121, 22). Then, too, embodied in his letter
   Now, De Boer,  as I see it, you are not able to defend                 to  Philemori,  is the reminder that in Christ Jesus, there is
the truth anymore; and'to be sure not in the Editorials of the _  neither bond nor  free-`"Fov  bj  one  Sfiivit  aye we  lmptized
Reformed Guardian Y and by the way that name is also falie.               into one body; wlzethh tie be Jews or Gentiles, whether we
                                                                          be bond OY +ee; and hatie. been all yvtade to drink ,into one
  It seems H. De Wolf will  be.a co-worker of-this paper                  Spirit." (  ICor. 12  :13) And  thus, Paul writes-not only  tti
too. He tries to tkach his readers to be on guard; but I assure           Philemon but "to the Church in thy house" (v. 2) for love is
you Zhat a yes-no-man, can not guard the truth, and he has                "toward all saints." Therefore  Onesimus  is commended to
lost this jewel-virtue. You have trampled under. foot our                 the confidence and to the love of them all.
Protestant Reformed truth while you were  pastor  in_these                   The  key  +vote  is Love. It makes no difference what the
very same Churches, De Wolf.                                              "social principles" may be and who it is that is involved. As
   De Wolf will also guard the truth honorably. I suppose                 far as the child of God is concerned, his attitude, approach
you have forgotten the Court case. Have you also forgotten                and resultant conduct is to be determined by the Love of God
that general promise  ,on condition of faith? 0, yes, in the              in Christ, to His people ; that same Love which has drawn
Reformed sense, it is meant for everybddy  and not for every-             him to His  S&iour,  and of which the Spirit bears  hitness
body. It is yes and no.                                                   with his spirit, and tells him that he is a child of God. If "the
                                                                          Love of God. is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
   Well, the Reformed Guardian is here again to fight the                 which is given  .unto us,"'then whatever "social principles"
Protestant Reformed truth, to corrupt the truth, and dis-                 are implied in our Gospel will'resolve  themselves in the one
honor the Name of our  covepant  God. This we have wit-                   fmda:mental.  question:  What does the Love of God require
nessed in  -the  past, and therefore Jehovah God is not  a.ell- of thee  ? For, as Luther reminds us in his Preface to this
pleased with this so-called  Reforlped Guardian.                  '       Epistle, we are all the Owes&i  of Chist.
                                                                S.D.V.                                                        E. Emanuel


