                                              SEPTEMBER 1, 1959 - GRAND RAPIDS,  MICHIGAN                               NUMBER 20
    V O L U M E   x x x v


                                                                           But, besides these "regular" vows, there are many other

            M E D I T A T I O Nvows, which We -make to God, especially when we `are in
                                                                        distress.

                                                                            Such vows are ageless.
               THE VOWS OF CHRIST
                                                                           They ,were  uttered by David and his fellows ; they are

              "`My praise shall be of Thee in the great coflgrega-'     uttered by us.

                tion: I will  opaSy,  My  vows before them that fear       Listen to this, and see if you do not find yourselves in it:
                Him. The meek shall eat and  be satisfied: they         "I will go into Thy house. with burnt offerings : I will pay
                .&all  praise;  the Lord tht seek Hiutz:  your heart    Thee my vows,. which my iips have uttered, and my mouth
                slmll lizfe forever."            PsALM  " `25y  26      hath spoken, z&en  I zvas  in trouble."

   A Psalm of David 1               .'                                      Now then, all such ,special  vows are a weak shadow of

 Still, much of this Psalm cannot be attributed to David.               what Christ experienced when He had His sojourn among

   For instance :            "They part My garments among them, us.
                                                                                                    8 * * *
and cast lots upon My vesture." And: "They pierced My . ..I

hands and My feet."

   Hence, we have in this Psalm the prophecy of the suffer-                The vows -of Christ.

ing and death of Christ.                                                   .The vow is generally a promise to serve God, a promise

   But our text is taken from that part of the Psalm which              to hate His enemies, a promise to fear and love Him, and
speaks of Christ's victory over death and the grave;                    a promise to praise Him forever and ever.

   My text speaks of the paying of His vows when He was                    My praise!

in eternal distress.. '                                                    Praise is to honor and to express the excellency of the

   A vow is a prom-ise.                                                 object of praise.                                       .

   The Holy Scriptures often speak of the promise, but                     Of Thee!

mostly of the promises or the promise of God to us.                        Christ promises to speak and to sing of the living God!

   But the Bible also speaks of promises that are made by                  And, oh, how He knew Him!
the saints to God. Especially in the Old Testament. Almost
                                                                           He would sing of His wisdom;  love, everlasting loving-         -
all the patriarchs speak of their vows which they made to
                                                                        kindness, and His great goodness.
God. And also the prophets. But also in the New Testament

we hear of man's vows to God. Remember how Paul                            Yes, but also of His righteousness, truth and holiness.

travelled under a vow to Jerusalem.                                        And there is no one in the whole universe who knotis

   And, strictly speaking, every Christian makes a vow at               those virt:es as Christ knows them. He experienced every

his confession of faith before the congregation, and no less,           ope of them.

before God and His angels.                                                                          *    * + *

   And, likewise, every Christian makes a vow when he
sta'nds up before the congregation, God and His angels, and                And the sphere where these vows shall be paid is "in
holds his child for baptism.                                            the great congregation."

   Again, every Christian makes a vow when he marries.                     The congregation means a number that are gathered to-

the woman of his choice.                                                gether.


                    -


, 4 5 8                                      T H E   S.TANDARD   B E A R E R


     Here : the grelat  congregation, that, is, the whole Church     threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth

of God from Adam to the last saint that shall be drawn into          righteously."

the bosom of God.                                                        To be meek means that you will pray for those who kick

     That congregation is a great congregation whose number          YOU  around.

is a multitude comparable to the stars in the heavens and the            Now then, it is in the midst of those people that Christ
sand that is on the seashore.                                        pays His VOWS. In the midst of those that fear God, that
    And they are taken, gathered out of all nations, tribes,         seek Him, and that are meek Christ appears in all the ages.

kindreds  and peoples of the world.                                      I am thinking now of that wild, insane man, of whom

                                                                     everyone was afraid. But Christ came and made him meek.
    They are in reality the new world.
                                                                     They found him, sitting at the feet of Jesus. He was very,
    And in particular they are those who fear Him, who seek          very  meek

Him, and the meek.                                                                                ****

    Those that fear Him.

                                                                         There Christ exegetes God, which is the same thing as
     it is not easy to express the content of this term. Especi-
                                                                     paying His vows. When Christ pays His vows in our midst,
ally since the word "fear" is also used for its very opposite.
                                                                     God is declared. There Christ tells the great congregation
We all know that some people were rather cautious in draw-
                                                                     what and who God is.
ing near to Jesus "for fear of the Jews."
                                                                         There Christ is teaching the great congregation how we
    There is the "fear" of the slave for his master and his          should behave before`the great white Throne.
whip.
                                                                         There Christ praises God, in order that we may sing
    There is the "fear" of God which is pure.                        along with Him.

    However, when we read the various places where the                   Christ paying His vows in the midst of those that fear
word "fear" is used in the good sense of the word, we can            God, that seek Him, and that are meek, what. is it but true
come to some definite conclusions as to its exact meaning.          1 religion and undefiled ?
    First, the fear of the Lord is to love Him.                         When you go to church on the Sabbath, you hear Christ

     Second, the fear of the Lord is to know  Him.                   paying His vows to God.

    Third, and this comes closest to the exact meaning, the             And that is better than life.

fear of the Lord is to tremble before Him, motivated by the              It is a beginning of the heavenly life.
awe which He inspires in His child.
                                                                         Because heaven is nothing else but the everlasting
    Those that seek Him.                                             paying of Christ's vows .which  He made when He was in the

    That follows from the fear of the Lord.                          burning tornado of God's wrath.

    If you fear God, you know Him for what He is. And                   `Think of that when you sing Psalter Number 47, stanza

such knowledge is beyond description. It is described as the         1, "My God, My God, I cry to Thee ; 0 why hast Thou

"light  of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ."        forsaken Me?'

It is defined as "eternal life," John 17:3.                             And also stanza 11: "I live and will declare Thy fame

    At any rate, if you have that knowledge of God, you              where brethren gather in Thy name ; where all Thy faithful

want more of Him. You want to see Him, to have fellow-               people meet, I will Thy worthy praise repeat."

ship with Him, to listen. to Him, to sing and to speak of
                                                                                                  * * * *
Him all the day.

    And so you seek Him.                                                And what is the fruit?

    And the meek.                                                        I will tell you.

    They are a very special people.                                     They eat and they are satisfied.

    That condition of heart and soul and life follows from the           That is more than the whole world can offer you. There
fear of God and from the seeking of God.                             you also eat, but as you eat, you die. You die by inches.

    To be meek is to have a tremendous power to suffer.              You may take good, wholesome food; you may watch your

                                                                     diet; you may take all manner of correct vitamin pills: it
    If you are meek you are able to absorb all manner of
                                                                     will not avail. You grow old, that is, you are dying.
maltreatment.

                                                                         Neither do the things of the world give you satisfaction.
    The meek are those whom Peter describes : "who, when

He was reviled, reviled not again; when He .suffered  he                You are left destitute, hungry,. unhappy, empty.


                                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER                                                                                                                                                   459


      But the praises of God leave you satisfied, full to the

brim, and very, very happy.                                                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E - A R E R

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and that is Christ.                                                                                                   Editor - REV. HERMAN HOEKSEMA

       It is all comprised in two things.                                             Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                                                         .Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
       First, the Word of Life. And that is the Bible, the                                                                           Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

written record of the hidden manna, and the water of life.                            All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
                                                                                                              James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
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       Without that Spirit of grace the Bible will not profit in                      RENEWAL:  Unless a definite requesti  for discontinuance is re-
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       But when that Spirit enters your heart, all is well, for                         Entered as Second Cluss  matter at Grand Rapids, Michigan

then you will take heed to the Word of God. even as Lydia,

the seller of purple.                                                                                                                     C O N T E N T S

       Then you begin to praise God, even as Jesus does.                       MEDITATION -
                                                                                               The Vows of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  457
       And finally, their heart shall live forever.                                                       Rev. G. Vos

       Well, you cannot go deeper than your heart. Your heart                  EDITORIALS  -
                                                                                               About the Three Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
is you. Yes, and then it is you such as no one can see it ex-                                             Rev. H. Hoeksenna
cept you and God. It is the very depth of yob.
                                                                               As To BOOKS -

       If you se6 Jesus paying His vows to God, your heart will                                Philippians through Revelation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,462
                                                                                               The         Praying               Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
sing, being  eternally alive to God. And that state shall con-                                 Prediking en Uitverkiezing (Preaching and Election) . . . . . ...462
tinue forever and ever!                                                                        De Ouderling  en de Prediking (The Elder and the
                                                                       G.V.                         Preaching)                   .._ . . . . . . . . . ..__  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._........  464
.'                                                                                                        Rev. H. Hoeksema

                                                                               OUR DOCTR~VE  -
                                                                                               The Book of Revelation . . . .._... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
                                                                                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema

                                                                               h CLOUD OF WITNESSES -
                                                                                               Jacob's Prosperity in Haran  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
                                Notice of                                                                 Rev. B. Woudenberg

           ANNUAL MEETING OF THE R.F.B.A.                                      FROM HOLY WRIT -
                                                                                               Exposition of Romans 14, 15 (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
                                                                                                          Rev. G. Lubbers
      To be held Thursday evening, Sept. 24, 8:00 o'clock at
                                                                               IN HIS FEAR -
        HOPE PROTESTANT REFORMED CHURCH                                                        A Child In The Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m.469
                                                                                                          Rev. J. A. Heys

         1545 Wilson Ave., S. W., Grand Rapids 4, Mich.                        CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH -
                                                                                               The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . .._.__.............................  471
             Speaker: The REV. B. WOUDENBERG                                                              Rev. H. Veldman

                      of Creston  Prot. Ref. Church.                           THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS  -
                                                                                               The Canons of Dordrecht.. . . . . . . . . ..__... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
                                                                                                         Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
      Th.e?me:   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R ' S   W I T N E S S
                                                                               FEATURE ARTICLE -
                                                                                               What Is The Mass?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._ _. . . . . ,475
The Board of the R.F.P.A. invites all our Protestant Ref.                                                 Rev. R. Veldman
                                                                               ALL A+.ouNn  us -
members to join with us in this work of witnessing for truth                                   `Convergence                      of Two Denominatiotis".  . . __. . . . ,477
                                                                                               "Calvinism and Capitalism". . _. . . . . . . ,477
and urges all to .attend this important meeting.                                               `Converted Doctor Diagnoses                                               Roman&m!"..  . ..___  .._._.  . . 478
                                                                                                          Rev. M. Schipper

       Selection of three new Board members is to be made                      CONTRIBUTIONS -
                                                                                               Hagar and Ishmael not in the Covenant.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__ 479
from the following nomination :                                                                           S. D. V.

Messrs:  G. Schimmel, `G. Bol, J. King, J. Knoper, J. Dykstra,                 NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
                                                                                                          Mr. J. M. Faber c
Jr. and H. Velthouse.


460                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE-R


                                                                        "c. We repudiate the `social gospel' which is content with
II             E D I T O R I A L S                                  an outward reform, and we hold that the natural man is
                                                               / neither able nor willing to dispose himself to reformation
                                                                    (Canons III, IV, 3), and only such works as proceed from

                                                                    the. good root of faith are acceptable to God since they are
                   About The Three Points
                                                                    sanctified by His grace (Art. 24, Lord's Day 33).


      The "Third Point" adopted by the Synod of the Chris-              "3. Therefore, we propose a reformulation somewhat as

tian Reformed Church of 1924, reads as follows:                     follows :

      "Relative to the third point, which is concerned with the         "Concerning the so-called civic righteousness of the un-
question of civil righteousness as performed by the ,un-            regenerate, it appears from Scripture and. the Confessions
regenerate, Synod declares that according to Scripture and          that such good is performed by them. This civic good,
the Confessions, the unregenerate, though incapable of doing        although acceptable to us and beneficial to society in various
                                                                    ways, and in certain instances characterized by Scripture as
any saving good, can do civil good. This is evident from the
quotations from Scripture and from the Canons of Dordrecht,         `good' and `right' (II Ki. 10:29,  30; Lu. 6 :33), but.in  as
III, IV, 4, and from the Netherland Confession Art. 36,             far as it is not done from the root of faith, neither according
which teach that God, without renewing the heart, so in-            to the law of God, nor to God's glory, is sinful. Moreover
fluences man that he is able to perform civil good ; while it       this does not in the least change the sinner's depravity, neither
also appears from the citations from Reformed writers of the        the need for repentance from dead works, nor does it enable
most flourishing period of Reformed theology, -that.  our Re-       him to turn to God."

formed fathers from ancient times were of the same opinion."            On this we make the following remarks :

      What does the committee of the schismatics that con-'             1. It is evident that `the schismatics, although there is a

vened with the committee of the Christian Reformed Church           good deal of confusion and, perhaps, attempts .to compromise

for the purpose of discussing what could be done towards a          and juggling with terms in the above quotations, principally

reunion, have to, say about this ?                                  adopt the "Third Point."    They, too, speak of "civic good."

                                                                    They, too, adopt the distinction between natural or civic and
      We will quote them.
                                                                    spiritual or saving good. They appeal even to the confessions

      "1. We agree that the natural man does at times that          for this distinction. Even to the heading of Art. 14 of the

which is according to the letter of the law, in varying de-         Netherland Confession they refer which speaks of man's in-

grees shows regard for virtue and good deportment (Canons           capacity to perform what is truly good. They draw this in-

III, IV, 3). We are willing to call this civic or relative good.    ference in spite of the fact that the article itself states very

We do this in view of the fact that Art. 14 (its heading) ;         emphatically that the natural man is perverse and corrupt in

Canons III, IV, 3, and also IV, B, IV use the terms `truly          all his ways and that all the light that is in him is darkness.

good, ' `saving good,' and `spiritual good,' thus evidently dis-    They also refer to the expression "saving good" and draw
tinguishing saving good from other good.                            the inference that the Confessions also knew of another good,

                                                                    although it is very plain from the context that this was not
      "2. The difficulty lies here:
                                                                    in the mind of our fathers at all: they simply opposed the

      "a.    That the good works of the natural man in Point III    Arminians. That this is true is clearly evident from a

are lifted out of their qualifying context when Canons III,         further reference to the Canons; namely, III, IV, 4, to which

IV, 4'is not quoted in full. Hence, the antithesis between          they also appeal. There we read : "Who teach: That the

regenerate and unregenerate in respect to their works is not        unregenerate man is not really nor utterly dead in sin nor

expressed. We do not doubt (judging from the appended               destitute of all powers unto spiritual good but that he can

Testimony) that the antithesis is presupposed, but we believe       yet hunger and thirst after righteousness and life." From

that Canons III, V, 4 ought to be quoted in its entirety to         this it is evident that it was the Arminians that taught that

escape the danger of compromising the antithesis, especially        the natural man could still do spiritual good, that our fathers

when there is reference to the good that the unregenerate           opposed them, and that the distinction between natural and

sinners do.                                                         saving good was not before their mind at all. At any rate,

                                                                    it is evident that the schismatics principally adopt the "Third
      "b. Since the call of the gospel is not from a state of
                                                                    Point" and the distinction between natural and spiritual good.
already doing good to a state of doing more good works,

but from a state of disobedience to obedience (Tit. 3 :3),  from       2. This-is also evident from their own re-formulation of

darkness to light (I Pe. 2 :9),  as well as from death to           the "Third Point."    For there they refer to the same texts

life (Eph. 2 :l-6), therefore the relative good of the un-          which also the Synod of 1924 quoted in support of this

regenerate is such that except he-  repent he shall fall into       point. `They refer to II Ki. 10 :29,  30 and to Lu. 6:33.  In

the judgment of Christ (`Matt. 7:23).                               these passages, according to them, Scripture characterizes


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  461


  the works of the natural man as "good" and "right" although,         well. But if he employs all his talents and powers for his

  according to them it is, nevertheless, sinful. Although this         own glory or for some other sinful purpose, he sins while

  civic good may be acceptable to us, it is not such before God.       doing well. For all this no restraint or improving influence          .

     Let us look for a moment at these passages. How is it             of the Holy Spirit is necessary at all.

  possible that something is right -and  good and yet sinful ?            This fits exactly the case of Jehu. He was, evidently, a
  In II Kings 10:29, 30 we read: "howbeit from the sins of             wicked man, who cared not for Jehovah or His precepts.
  Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu             This, as we said before, is emphasized in the text. Moreover,
  departed not from after them, to wit the golden calves that          he was also a very able man, a man that was fit to execute
  were in Bethel and that were in Dan. And the Lord said               the command of the Lord concerning the house of Ahab.
  unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that             What he did, he accomplished quite thoroughly. But although,
_ which is right in mine eyes and hast done unto the house of          in this respect he did extremely well, yet in all this he sinned.
  Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of        That this is true is evident from the text itself which men-
  the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel."            tions that he did not depart from the sin of Jeroboam, `the

     What do these words mean? They certainly do not mean,             son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. But this is also clearly

  as the schismatics interpret them, that what Jehu did was            .proved  by the statement in Hos. 114:  "And the Lord said

  acceptable to us or to man but not to God. The text ex-              unto him, Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little while and I

  presses exactly the opposite. It was the Lord that said to Jehu,     will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and

  either directly or through a prophet, that he had done well,         I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel." In

  that he had done that which was right in the eyes of the Lord        other words, for the very thing which Jehu did well he was

  and according to all that was in his heart. What then? Do they,      punished as a matter of blood guiltiness.

  after all, signify that there was an operation of the Holy Spirit       As to the text to which also the Synod of 1924 as well             "
  on the heart and mind of Jehu so thatsin  in him was restrained      as the schismatics refer, Lu. 6 :33,  that -is no proof at all for
  and thus he was improved so that he could do well and right?         either the restraint of sin or for any good that a sinner may
  Also this is contradicted by the text in the strongest terms.        do. The text reads as follows : "And if ye do good to them
  For we read that Jehu did not depart from the sins of                that do good to you, what reward have ye? for sinners also
  Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made .Israel  to sin. He             do even the same."     It appears that the Synod of 1924 and
  still worshipped the golden calves. And this he did in spite         also the schismatics were-led astray by the very sound of the
  of the fact that he knew Jehovah and was well aware of the           word "good') and concluded that here there was a clear proof
  fact that the worship of the golden calves was an abomina-           that the sinner can do good works. But the text teaches the
  tion to the Lord. And, therefore, the interpretation which           very opposite: it teaches very clearly that when sinners do
  the Synod of 1924 attached to these words, cannot possibly           good they sin. Only then we must not be led astray by the
 `be right.                                                            mere sound of the word "good." The term here, evidently,

     We must find  an interpretation, therefore, that does             does not have the meaning of good in the moral sense of the

  justice to the entire text. We must explain, in other words,         word. It refers to .good  in the sense of benefit. Sinners do

  how it is' possible that the Lord can judge that Jehu was a          not do good, but they benefit others. Moreover, when sinners

  wicked man who lived wickedly and, at the same time that             do good in that sense of the word, when they benefit others,

  he did well and right in the sight of the Lord.                      they sin ; they are influenced by sinful motives. The Lord

     The answer is simple.                                             very plainly expresses this : sinners do good to them that
                                                                       do good themselves. In other words, they do good in the
    Jehu did neither spiritually nor morally nor ethically welL
                                                                       expectation of a reward. Is this good ,in the moral, ethical
  and right, but he did well in executing the command of the
                                                                       sense of the word ? Not at all. It is mere sinful selfishness.
  Lord in extinguishing the house of Ahab and, too, not for the
                                                                       And the Lord warns His disciples not to do good in the
  Lord's sake but for his own. Jehu had many talents and
                                                                       same sense that sinners do.
  great ability. He was an able leader and general and, besides,
  he was very zealous, not for the Lord but for himself. .He,             But, I repeat: in principle the schismatics .also adopted
  therefore, saw in the command of the Lord an opportunity             the "Third Point."                                          H.H.

  for his own exaltation. Many a wicked man has talents and

  ability which he uses in the service of sin. A man' may be

  a good business man, so that he handles all his affairs well.                              Announcement
  In that case, not only we, but also the Lord judges- that he

  does well and right. But he may, nevertheless, care only for            The Theological School of the Protestant Reformed

 his own advancement and nothing .for the Lord. In that                Churches will resume its sessions for the 1959-60 curriculum,
  case, he sins while doing well. A man may be a good
                                                                       D.V., on `September 15, 1959, at nine o'clock.
  mechanic -and  even invent a new machine. Again, in that

  case, the Lord as well as his fellowman judges that he does                                                           THE RECTOR


4 6 2                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


II -.                                                                gives a discussion of the Lord's Prayer. And the whole is
                     AS TO BOQKS                                II closed by a discussion of "The Merciful and Faithful High
                                                                     Priest" and of the often occurring injunction in the Old

                                                                     Testament: "Wait on the Lord." This last chapter offers a
    Philifip,ians  through the Revelation, by Kenneth S. Wuest,      very interesting study of eight. different Hebrew words for
Published by the Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand ,Rapids,             "wait."
Mich. Price $3.50..
                                                                         Heartily recommended.                                   H.H.
         This is the last of a three volume work on what the

author calls an expanded translation of the New Testament.
                                                                         Prediking en Uitverkiezing  (Preaching and Election) by
 It is not meant to be commentary, although, naturally, it
                                                                     Prof. C. Veenhof. Published by J. H. Kok, N.V., Kampen,
sometimes partakes of the nature of an interpretation. I will
                                                                     the Netherlands.
refer to one rather striking example of this. In his remarks

on II Thessalonians 2 :3, the author. explains the Greek word            This book is historical. It presents the history of the

apostasia  which in our version is rendered by "a falling            controversy in the Reformed Separated churches in the
away," as meaning "the departure."        He then explains- that     Netherlands about the place of election in the preaching of
 "the departure". is referring to the "rapture." Accordingly,        the Word and that, too, in the years 1850-1870.  As such it
in the expanded translation the author renders vs. 3 as              is an interesting book and also instructive and informative.
follows : "DO  not begin to allow anyone to lead you astray          The main body of the book covers only 139 pages but there
in any way because that day shall not come except the afore-         are almost a hundred and fifty pages of notes which the
-mentioned departure (of the church to heaven) comes first           reader should not omit for they are important and, besides,
and the man of lawlessness is disclosed (in his true identity)       they cover much more than the period between 1850 and
the son of perdition."        Thus the whole doctrine of "the        1870. The author even offers a brief sketch of our con-
rapture" is introduced here on the basis of what is,, to my          troversy here in America in 1924 and again in 1953.

mind, an arbitrary and also mistaken translation of the                  Even though I do not agree,with  the viewpoint of Prof.

word a$ostatia.  For this word means, indeed, a falling away,        Veenhof (as he certainly does not agree with the Prot. Ref.

apostasy. Besides, the following context, with which the             viewpoint) I recommend this book to our readers as far as

term apostmia must, no doubt, be connected, points to the            they can still read Dutch. But do not fail to.read  it critically.

same meaning : "and that man of sin be revealed, the son of          The author, even though he writes history, nevertheless,

perdition." It is evident that the ,apostasia  leads to the rev-     writes with a tendency and that tendency is not only very

elation of the man of sin.                                           extreme infralapsarian,       but also condemnatory of supra-

    I do not mean to discredit the work of the author. All           lapsarianism. Of this tendency I could refer to several

I wish to show is that the work is more than a mere ex-              examples, but `I will only refer to one. It is found on pp.

panded translation : it is also a commentary. Of this I could        SO, 81. At the Synod of Franeker,  1863, an accusation of

furnish many more examples than the above-mentioned. If              being un-Reformed was filed against Pieters and Kreulen

the reader wishes to consult this expanded translation, especi-      who had written a book about infant baptism, and the Synod

ally if he does not know the. Greek, he better study it              decided briefly as follows:

critically and in the light of the context of every verse.               1. That the brethren could not be accused of being in
                                                            H.H.     conflict with the Forms of the Church.

                                                                         2.. That the Synod must not be understood to express
    Tile.  Pr.aying  Christ, by James G. S. S. Thomson. Pub-
                                                                     hereby that the development of the doctrine of infant baptism
lished by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids,
                                                                     as presented by Pieters and Kreulen is in every respect the
Mich. Price $3.00.
                                                                     best expression of the sentiment of the Reformed Church and
    This book I may recommend heartily and without re-
                                                                     is of the opinion that there is no need, at present, to declare-
serve to all our readers. It is quite a thorough development
                                                                     anything more about the doctrine of the Sacraments than is
of the theme "The Praying Christ." It is based from be-
                                                                     already expressed in the Forms.
ginning to end on Scripture which, of course, is always com-
mendable. Anyone that is willing, not only t-o read about,              Now, Prof. Veenhof explains this negative decision (the
but to study this book on prayer, not only ministers and             brethren could not be accused) in such a way that the Synod
students but also the laymen, will find himself rewarded by          declared :

so doing.     In the first two chapters the author offers a study        1. That the sacraments seal, not anything that is present

of the teaching and practice of prayer as our Lord taught            in the one that is baptized, but the promise of the covenant.

about and practiced it. This is based on the four gospel nar-           2. That the promise of the covenant is meant equally

ratives.     Then follows a rather elaborate discussion of the       for all that are baptized.

prayer of the Lord which is recorded in J&n  17. -(By the               3. That the promise of the covenant is conditional.

way, I doubt whether the author's interpretation of "I pray             4. That the expression "sanctified in Christ" refers to a
not for the world," etc. is correct.) Thereupon the author                               (Continued on page 464)


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               463


                                                                        fact that God has now actually assumed His great power:

            OUR DOCTRINE`                                               "We give thee thanks, 0 Lord God Almighty, which art,              -
                                                                     II and wast, because thou hast taken toa thee thy` great power,
                                                                        and hast reigned." Surely, they knew His great power; but
             THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                     now He has fully revealed it and taken it on. And this

                          P A R T   T W O                               great power He has revealed in a two-fold way. .He has
                                                                        revealed it in His wrath against the enemies of His kingdom

                           CHAPTER IX                                   in the first place: "And the nations were angry, and thy

                                                                        wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should
             The Blowing of the Seventh TrawLpet
                                                                        be judged, . . . . .    and that thou shouldest destroy them

                       Revelation 11 :14-19                             which destroy the earth." Pr:leptically,  once more, the elders
                                                                        have seen how, during the time of the seventh trumpet, the

 The sovereignty that had been announced by the voices is               enemy made a last attempt, how they through all the history
 here, in the first place, acknowledged. They not only come             of this world warred against the holy city and trampled it
 down from their thrones. They not only kneel down before               under foot, how they allied themselves against God and His
 the Almighty. But ihey  bow down, fall down in the dust on             Christ and purposed to destroy His Zion. But He that was
 their faces, thus expressing that they are overwhelmed by              in the heavens laughed them to scorn. He has come to destroy
 the revelation of the sovereignty of God. 0, surely, they              them with the breath of His mouth. His power revealed
 knew that He was sovereign. They were aware of His great               itself against their power,    and they were completely de-
 power. They felt assured that He would overcome His ene-               feated. The devil, Antichrist, Babylon, Gog and Magog,  all
 mies to the last. But the reality of it is still so overwhelming       the enemies of the kingdom and the King have been de-
 that they all of a sudden fall down and bow with their faces           stroyed. They that oppressed the people of God are no more.
 in the dust. And they also. place themselves on the same               God has -revealed His power and now reigns forevermore.
 standpoint of that first great voice. Also they see the fulfill-       The representatives of the church triumphant give Him
 ment, the full carrying out, of all that is implied in, the            thanks' and worship because He has revealed His great
 seventh trumpet. And standing on that ground, from where               power. But, in the second place, He has also revealed His
 they see the complete carrying out of the mystery of God,              power and the grace shown to His people, the oppressed
 seeing how all. is fulfilled, they are overwhelmed with the            and faithful : "And the time came to give  the reward to thy
 reality of the things that have happened. And they fall down           servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that
 and worship. So shall reality far surpass our boldest.expecta-        fear thy name, the small and the great." Again, proleptically
 tion. Now we are children of God. Now we have a revela-                the elders see how all is accomplished. That same judgment
tion of the things that are to be, of the power of God and             that cast the enemies of the kingdom into the pool that
 of His Christ that is to be revealed in the future, of the glory      burns with fire and sulphur brought the reward to the faith-
of the children of God that is to be revealed in them, Now we          ful. They see the new heavens and the new earth realized by
can speak, nay, stammer, about these things in imperfection ;          the seventh trumpet.      They see how God's temple is with
 and joy fills our hearts when we speak of them. Now we fall           men and how He spreads His tabernacle over them all. In
down in humble worship and thanks whenever we obtain a                 that new creation they see the mighty prophets that have
glimpse of the glory of God's power and grace that is to be            witnessed in the old dispensation and that have shed their
manifested; but it has'not yet been revealed what we shall be.         lifeblood for the testimony of God. In that new creation they
If these glorified elders, who at least know far more of the           behold the saints of the new dispensation, they that have per-
glory that is to be expected than we in the church militant,           formed special service in the church of God. In that new

fall down at the blowing of the seventh trumpet, when they             creation they see the general mass of God's people, they that

saw all things realized, how much more will reality surpass            fear His name. And to be sure that they are not misunder-

our expectation while we are still in the period in which we           stood they add; "the small and the great." Not only the
are saved by hope.                                                     prophets and the special servants, not only Abel and Enoch
    That these elders actually do place themselves on this             and Noah and Abraham and Israel and Moses and all the

standpoint of the complete fulfillment of the seventh trumpet          heroes of faith, not only the great saints of the new dispensa-
and of the entire mystery of God is evident too from what              tion, the giants of faith, that shone like the stars already on
they say. We read that they give thanks to God Almighty,               earth, but also the small are-among them. Those that were
"which art, and wast."    In our version there is also added:          among the common of God's people, the little ones, the weak
"and art to come." But this is a mistake. In the original              and the timid, but faithful children of God that feared His
we merely read: "which art, and wast." He has come al-                 name, -they all have their reward, and not one is forgotten.
ready in the- fulfillment of the seventh trumpet. And there-           Is it a wonder that at the sight of this the elders fall on
fore'they now do not make'the addition which was made in               their faces and worship and give thanks ?

a former connection, and they giv,e  thanks to. God. for the               But this seventh trumpet is here shown also from the


viewpoint of the earth. We read in vs. 19: "And the temple          destroyed. Judgments must necessarily follow the opening

of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his              of the temple, judgments that will defeat the enemy and

temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightning%         make of the world a fit temple of the Almighty. And so we

and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great           actually iind it. Judgments issue forth out of that open

hail."    The meaning of this is rather evident. It shows in        temple, as we shall see in the future. Out of that temple

general the seventh trumpet from the viewpoint of the earth         comes the angel with the sharp sickle, 14:17.  Out of that

at this time. For the fact that the heaven is opened and that       temple come the seven angels that carry the seven bowls of

the-temple of God is seen plainly reveals that the viewpoint        wrath, ready to pour them over the earth, chapter 15, ff. Out

is on earth. And it tells us in general that the opening of the     of that temple comes the command to empty the vials that will

temple in heaven and the appearance of the ark of God's             bring the judgment of God over the enemies, 16 :l. And

covenant spells woe and judgm&t  to the inhabitants of the          out of that temple comes the voice that announces that all

earth, as symbolized in the lightnings.and  voices and thunders     is finished after the seven viais  of wrath have been poured

and the earthquake and great hail. Let us consider these            out, 17:l.  The opening of the temple spells judgment to

different elements for a moment.                                    purify the world and make it the temple of the Lord. And

    The temple of God in Jerusalem was made after the               for that same reason we read also in the words of our text

pattern of the heavenly temple, as it was shown to Moses on         that the opening of the temple is followed by lightnings and

the mount. The idea of the temple is that of a dwelling place       voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail, -all

of God. The temple was the house of God. It was the place           of them symbols of judgments that are about to strike the

where God dwelt in the holy place. But to this must be added        earth.                                                             H.H.

that it was a limited place, where God dwelt in distinction

from the world in general, in distinction too from the holy

city at large. It speaks of the fact that in the world at                                         A S   l-0  B O O K S
large, as long as it is the kingdom of darkness, God, the Holy                               (Continued from page 462)
One, cannot take up His abode. But that distinction is only
                                                                    covenant holiness and is given equally to all that are
temporal. God shall not remain in His temple in distinction
                                                                    baptized.
from the world. On the contrary, in the end that distinction
                                                                            I am quite sure that the Synod of Franeker declared
shall be wiped away. God shall come forth from His holy
                                                                    nothing of the kind. Veenhof here introduced his own inter-
temple in heaven, and He shall make of all the world His
                                                                     pretation of the Baptism Form into the decisions of the
dwelling place. That shall be ,realized  in the blowing -of        Lo..
                                                                     Synod of Franeker. And this interpretation is certainly false.
this seventh trumpet. And for that reason we here see the
                                                                            Hence, I say: by all means read the book, but read it
temple of God which is in heaven opened, symbolizing that
                                                                    critically.                                                        H.H.
the Holy One issues forth to make of all the world His

dwelling. Somewhat the same idea is expressed in the ap-                    De Oztdet&g  en de Prediking  ( T h e   E l d e r   a n d   t h e
pearance of the ark. Naturally, when the temple is opened,          Preaching) by Dr. Ph. J. Huyser. Published by J. H. Kok,
the ark is seen. For the ark stood in the holy place. It was        N.V., Kampen, the Netherlands.
in a most.specific  sense the symbol of the presence of God.          =.

It is called the throne of God in Scripture. It stood in the                This is, to my mind, a very good book which I recom-

immediate presence of God, as symbolized in the cloud, and          mend whole heartedly to all that still are able to read the

on its mercy seat the blood of atonement was sprinkled once         Holland language. Especially do I advise our elders to read

a year: It contained the law of the covenant as well as the         it. It does not only discuss the theory of the subject treated,

manna and the rod of Aaron. And therefore it is the symbol          but it is. also permeated with many practical observations.

of God in His covenant greatness issuing His law to His             Thus, for instance, I would call attention to what the author

people and blessing them with all the blessings of the cov-         has to say about the prayer before the service in the con-

enant in the blood of atonement. That ark now appears. It           sistory and especially about the length of that prayer. Writes

tells us that the time is come that the law of God's covenant       he on p. 172: "Indeed, many prayers before the consistory

shall appear and issue forth over all the earth, that the full      enters the church, are so broad that the minister may well

realization of that covenant is come, and that God shall have      ask himself sometimes: for what must I presently yet pray

His throne in all the world.                                       in the church ? Everything has already had a turn. For that

   But naturally, when the Holy One issues forth to make            reason, I give all the brethren elders in consideration to

of all the world His temple, and when He is about to issue         think once about a prayer that, during my vacation, I heard

His law and realize to the full His holy covenant, this must        once out of the mouth of a serving elder. It consisted of not

be accompanied by the final destruction of His enemies. In         more than eight words: `Lord, bless Thy servant and bless

the world into which the Holy One now issues forth, the            Thy Word.' "

enemy still reigns, and wickedness prevails. And before He                  But read the whole book. It is very instructive and it is

can make of that world His temple, these enemies must be           written in a very clear style.                                      H.H.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            465


                                                                    of his own with which he could provide for his family. He

 11 Pi CLOUD-OF WITNESSES 11 gave to Laban the terms under which he could continue to
                                                                    care for his flocks. It was a most unusual contract which he

                                                                    offered to make. He told Laban  that he would pass through

                   Jacob's Prosperity in Haran                      the flocks and separate from among them all the cattle that
                                                                    were not of solid color, all that were speckled and spotted.
              `(And the man  (Jacob) &mused  en-ceedingly,  a.nd    They would be placed in a flock by themselves and would
                   hd vm~ch cattle, and wmidsevvants,  amd  men-    constitute his possession. Thereafter, any cattle which were
               servants, a;utd camels, and uses."    GEN. 30~43     born as spotted and speckled in the flocks of Laban  would

                                                                    constitute Jacob's wages. Furthermore, should any solid
     Fourteen years Jacob labored faithfully for Laban,  and
 through his labors Laban's  possessions prospered immensely.       colored cattle be found in Jacob's flocks; they would be
                                                                    counted as stolen and returned to the flocks of Laban.  This
 At Bethel God had told Jacob, "And, behold, I am with thee,
                                                                    was a most unusual offer because it was known by Jacob as
 and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest." God
                                                                    well as by Laban  that the sheep and goats raised by them
remained faithful to this promise ; all through the years of
                                                                    were never, with rather rare exception, anything but solid
 Jacob's service for Laban  in whatever work he engaged it
                                                                    white or solid blackish-brown.
 flourished. But to Laban  was all the increase.' The terms                                             A solid color was their
                                                                    dominant characteristic.
 under which Jacob worked had been that for fourteen years
 of labor he would receive the two daughters of Laban  in              From a human point of view it was a rather foolish propo-             '
 marriage.    Laban  pushed these terms to the end. Though he       sition which Jacob offered to Laban.  There seemed to be little
 increased beyond the greatest expectation, Laban  relented         likelihood that he would receive. sufficient payment for his
 from the harshness of his agreement not one iota.                  work. Jacob realized, however, that twice before he had
     Patiently and faithfully Jacob kept his contract; but,         made. contracts with Laban.  Each time he had thought that
 quite naturally, no sooner was this done, than his thoughts        the wages were sufficient, and each time Laban  had pressed
 turned back to the home of,his  father and the promised land       the terms to his own advantage. Jacob no longer trusted
 of Canaan. The loveless presence of Laban  held for him no         Laban,  and he no longer trusted his own discretion. Jacob
attraction ; while, in the land of his fathers, the promise of      was beginning to learn the folly of relying upon his own
 God awaited. To .Laban  he said, "Send me away, that I may         wisdom. Remembering the promise of- God at Bethel, and
 go unto mine own place, and to my country. Give me my              believing that God was the only one who could control the
 wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and            birth of the cattle, Jacob made his offer. By so doing he
 let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done           placed his future well-being in the hand of the Lord. It was
 thee." These words afforded no pleasure to Laban,  for he          a matter of faith.
 could not escape the fact that all of his prosperity came             No sooner had Laban  heard these terms than very
 through Jacob. It was a hard thing for him to admit, and           quickly he accepted them. He fully expected that under them
 surely he had never expressed it before. It would have             he would prosper and Jacob would work for a minimum of             z*
 satisfied him more if he could have ascribed it to himself.        wages. With liberal and benevolent tones he voiced his

 But the facts were perfectly evident; and, even more, he had       agreement.

 consulted a magical oracle which guided by the hand of God            Then, once the contract was sealed, Laban's  avaristic

 affirmed it. Now, because he. knew it was true, and hoping         nature began to work. He would not allow, as had originally

 to regain the .favor  of Jacob, he, with-tones of false benev-     been suggested, that. Jacob should go out into the flocks to

 olence, admitted it. "I pray thee," he said to Jacob, "if I        separate the spotted and speckled from the rest. He went

 have. found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned        himself. With himself deciding what constituted a mixed-

by experience (OY I have divined RV) that the Lord hath             color animal and what did not, he could keep Jacob's flock to

 blessed me for thy sake . . . Appoint me thy wages, and I          a minimum. Neither after the separation was completed was

 will give it."                                                     he ready to trust his son-in-law. The flock which he-  had

     Laban  having admitted it, Jacob was not one to let him        separated for Jacob, he did not give into Jacob's hands but

 forget. So as to impress the truth upon Laban,  Jacob              into the hands of his own sons. These he separated by a

 elaborated on what had been said. "T.hou knowest how I             three days' journey from his own flocks which were under

 have served.thee,  and how thy cattle was with me. For it          Jacob's care. By this means he thought to insure his own

 was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now           prosperity. In prior times he had noted that always it

 increased unto a multitude ; and the Lord hath blessed thee        was the flock which was under Jacob's immediate care which

 since my coming."        Laban  was a Godless man ; that Jacob     prospered the most.    The blessing of God followed Jacob

 knew. Laban  having admitted that.all that he had was from         wherever he went. Laban  misunderstood the power of Jacob's

 God, Jacob did not neglect the opportunity to impress it upon      God. For he thought that by separating Jacob's flocks from

 his mind.                                                          ithe sphere of Jacob's care the blessing of the Lord would

     Jacob, however, was desirous of having some possessions        fall exclusively on his own. Further, from a more practical

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


           point .of view, by giving Jacob's flocks into the car&.,of  his    on& when the best and the strongest of the cattle were con-

           own sons and by removing them far away, he made it im-             ceiving.    This all he did on the supposition, for many ages

           possible for Jacob to mix spotted sheep and goats with his         considered valid, that things seen by a bearing mqther can

           own flock during mating time. Thus the spotted and speckled        leave an impression upon her young. Thus, instead of living

           characteristic of Jacob's flocks could not be passed on among      by faith, Jacob with his own strength and wisdom thought to

           his own. Being himself an untrustworthy person, he had no          assist God in fulfilling His promise.

           confidence in the honesty of anyone else, -not even his own            We can not help but be disappointed with Jacob ; yet,

           son-in-law.                                                        we should not be too harsh. In Jacob we see that same
                                                                              weakness which is so real with us. Jacob was .a child of
              Nonetheless, in spite of the efforts of Laban,  the blessing
                                                                              God, iut he also had his old nature of sin. His new heart
           of God fell to Jacob. From the solid colored flocks of Laban,
                                                                              of principle knew what was the way of faith and wanted to
           so carefully protected from the infiltration of speckled and
                                                                              `follow in it. But so often his natural mind would answer
           spotted characteristics, God brqught  forth  many sheep and
                                                                              back that there was-a wiser way and surer. For a time he
           goats of mixed color.    Laban  did not understand .that  the
                                                                              would stand firm, but then when the temptation of his flesh
           blessing of God was on Jacob personally and did not just go
                                                                              became strong, he would falter and walk in the way of sin.
           along in a magical sort of way with his presence. Learning
           that hk could not manipulate the blessing df God to satisfy his    Jacob would have appreciated so much the later cofifession
                                                                              of Paul, "The good that I would I do not; but the evil which
      0    own selfish desires, Laban  became almost desperate. When
           the time came to divide out Jacob's portion of the newborn         I would not, that I do."     With deep meaning Jacob said at
           sheep and goats, he began to hedge on the terms of their           the close of his life to Pharaoh, "Few and evil have the days
           agreement. Jacob was not'to receive all those which were of        of the years of my life been."

           mixed color, he said ; Jacob was to receive only those with            But God is a merciful and longsuffering God ; merciful

           distinct spots and specks; the striped and- ringstraked were       and longsuffering was he also with Jacob. It had been `so

           to remain his own. With stubborn determination he clung to         when Jacob deceived his blind father; it had been so when

           this until the next group of sheep and goats were born.            with self-willed determination he insisted on having also

           These were in a large part striped and ringstraked with but        Rachel to wife ; and it was so now when he returned to

           a comparatively few of spotted and solid colors. Then he           Laban  evil for kvil. At first it might appear to us that God

           hedged again, the other way, claiming that Jacob was only          passed by the  sin of Jacob unnoticed leaving him to think

           to have the spotted while the striped w&e to remain his            that it was quite all right and even effective.- More careful

           own. So with all the ingenuity at his command, Laban               study reveals, however, that such was not so. One time when

           maneuvered. Ten times over again he changed the terms-             Jacob was manipulating his spotted sticks before the cattle,

           of contract trying to outwit the blessing of God. But all his      God sent to him a dream. Jacob described this dream thus,

           efforts were in vain. God had promised to bless Jacob, and         "And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived,

           bless him He did. For fourteen years Jacob had labored             that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold,

           without any just wage at'all. Yet, in a matter of but a few        the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, and

           years, God controlled all things so as to give Jacob the full      speckled, and grisled."    Now Jacob knew that in actual fact

           and just wage that he had earned. God took the cattle which        all the rams of the flock were solid in color. Nonetheless

           He had given Laban  in the first place and gave them to Jacob      God was telling him that as far as the hereditary characteris-

           according to his promise.                                          tics of these rams which could be passed on to their young was

              All through the maneuvering of Laban,  Jacob, of course,        concerned, they could be considered ringstraked and speckled.
           did not remain unaffected. Having begun in faith, Jacob            It is a fact of creation  that parents can pass on to their young
           was first resolved to wait patiently on God. But as more-and       hereditary characteristics which are not apparent in the ex-
           more he observed and felt the cheating dishonesty of Laban,        ternal appearance of the parents. Thus God with ,this vision
           he began to falter. It is a hard thing for us to return good       was telling Jacob in effect that it was not his rods that
           unto our enemies. It was hard for Jacob tad. Jacob was of          brought him prosperity but the mating of the cattle as guided
           a competitive nature, and his flesh cried out to meet Lab&n        by His all-powerful hand.

           move for move. He saw Laban's  ingenuity.in attempting to             It was in this way that Jacob was instructed and returned

           thwart the promise~of  God and became worried. As so often         once more to faith. He was brought to see that it was not

           before, Jacob began to plan how he could help God along in         his own wisdom that gave him what he had but only the

           the keeping of His promise. At last he hit upon a plan. First,     grace of God. At the conclusion of six years of such labor,

           he took sticks and cut away pieces of .bark to m&e  them ap-       he could say to his wives in .faith, "I see your father's
           pear striped and spotted. These he put.  in the watering           countenance, that it is not toward me as before ; but the God
           troughs where the flocks would be sure to see them. Sec-           of my father hath been with nie . . . And your father hath

           ondly, he separated groups of, the young sheep and goats           deceived me, and changed my wages ten times ; but God

           which were spotted and striped, and made the older cattle to       suffered him not to hurt me . . . Thus God hath taken away

.-         gaze on them. Finally, he did not do this all the time but         the' cattle of your father, and given them to me."         B.W.


                                              T H E   STANDAR.D   B E A R E R                                                        467


                                                                      many! Thus the strong are not to please themselves, but to

                                                                      be pleasing to their brother in Christ, unto edification!
Ii1         FROM,HO-LY  W R I T II                                        The text here in Romans 15 :l-6  reads in part as follows :
                                                                      "Now  we that WC strong ought to bear the injirv&ies of

                Exposition of Romans 14,15                            the weuk and not to pleme  ourselves. Let each of us please
                                                                      his neighbor for t&t which  is good, unto .edijying  . . ."
                                ,v. .'                                    It is quite evident that Paul is still speaking of how to

                          (Romans 15 :l-6)                            treat our brother or sister who is weuk in the faith, that is,
                                                                      one who cannot apply all the freedom which is ours in Christ
       We now come to our study of Chapter 15 of the book of          to the matters of meat and days in a good conscience. Their
 Romans. We would.make  a few remarks of an introductory              conscience is weak. Before God they do not dare to account
nature at the outset.                                                 all days the same and eat everything. Such a conscience is
       First of all; after a second thought it seems better to -US    not the ideal. However, it is not evil intention on their part

not to go off on a tangent on what has been considered the            but weakness. It is the "feakness  of the weak" with which

interpretation of the term "faith" in the phrase in Romans            the strong must reckon ! The translation "infir&ies  of the.
14 :23, "for all that is not out of faith is sin," whether this       weak" is a very good translation. These brethren are weak

 refers to faith in Christ, justifying and sanctifying faith, or      in the faith. From this weakness spring forth certain "in-

whether this refers simply to subjective certainty of doing           firmities."     .The .Luther's German translation has "Gebrech-       ,
the-`right thing in relationship to the things indifferent, the       lichkeit."     `These infirmities are fears, scruples, wrong prej-

adiaplz-o,ru.  For it is quite evident, that, shall faith mean the    udices, tendencies to criticize the strong because of their

latter of the two just mentioned alternatives, it still cannot        very weakness ! Such people are the touch not, taste not,

be aught else but the faith whereby we are justified and have         handle not Christians. They call themselves ultra-conser-

peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ.                        vative. The plain truth is that the leaven of legalism is not

       Secondly, in close connection with the foregoing, we will      wholly `overcome by such. They do not live wholly out of

also forbear to enter upon what we called "directives for             faith in the Gospel-promise!

Christian psyckiatvy,"     a term unknown in the vocabulary of            Such must not be despised, nor must we ignore them or

Scripture, since this would lead us too far afield from our           walk over them and brush their scruples aside as being of

present objective in this study of Romans. Suffice it to say,         no account. To them these scruples are very real- and

the testimony of so-called Christian psychiatrists to the con-        burdensome! They are not wholly the easy yoke and light

trary, that many a Christian has come to the cross-roads of           burden of Christ, these scruples. Hence, we must be useful

life, because, what he- did, could not square with a walk             to the weak, bear long and patiently iyith  them, and live

which is out of faith, and, therefore, walked subjectively in         in hope that under the gracious nurture and love of God

sin and with an accusing conscience. The Lord is not mocked,          they will, presently too, come to a richer season of grace.

 Gal. 6 17. What a man sows that shall he reap ! And no high-         Meanwhile we are to study ourselves to be approved of God

 sounding and flattering words of an unbiblical psychiatry            in relationship to such. For all that we are we are by God's

 can erase that reality, least of all in him who is brought by        grace ! Is not the law of faith such that it excludes all boasting

the Lord to these "cross-roads."                                      in our own native strength, boasting only in the Lord ?

       The principle that all, which is not out of faith is sin,      (Romans 3 :27)  And does not this faith establish the law

is maintained by Paul also in this fifteenth chapter of Romans.       of God, being epzergized  by love? (Gal. 5 :6) And is not

       Forsooth  Paul does not really begin a new subject in          the entire law fulfilled in one word, namely, thou shalt love
 this chapter. He only takes a little different approach and          thy neighbor as thyself? (Gal. 5 :14)

 argumentation to the same matter of the Christian attitude               How easily do not the strong forget that knowledge

 which is necessary in the body of Christ, the church, of the.        puffeth up and that only knowledge and faith energized by

 strong members in relationship to the weak members. Had              love edifieth ! (See I Cor. 8 :l. ) when such puffed-up atti-

 Paul in the foregoing chapter motivated his admonitions by           tude is present then we live to plea.se  ourselves, and that,

 pointing the weak to the fact that the strong are accepted           too, at the price of wounding our brother's conscience which

 of God, and are, therefore, not to be judged or condemned by         is weak. And thus, "sinning against the brethren and wound-

 them, and the strong that they must by their meat not                ing their conscience when it is weak, we would sin against

 destroy the work of God in the weak, now he will admonish            Christ himself !" Why disquiet the conscience of the weak?

 them unto a likemindedness in the Lord by pointing out to            Christ s~died  to give them peace of conscience. Shall we by

 them that such is the quintessence of a Christian life, pat-         our reckless strength disquiet their conscience? Shall we
 terned after, and incited by, what Christ did `for us on the         become the occasion for their being wrongly, yet sincerely

 Cross of Calvary!                                                    disquieted ? ! Is such a reckless conduct in harmony with

       Christ did not please hht.self!  He came not to be. min-       faith which is energized by the love of God ? ! No, that is,
 istered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for        simply self-pleasure! It is making the liberty which is ours

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


  in Christ an occ,asion  for the fleshy  (Gal. 5 :13). Grace cer-      seat of Christ. And then the question is: Did you restore
  tainly cannot be the fountain-head from which fleshly actions         the erring in the spirit of gentleness? Could Christ be seen

  receive their incentive ! God forbid !                               in us, who pleased not himself but who complains already

         Nay, let us by love serve one another !                       through David in the Holy Spirit in Psalm 69 :9: "the re-

      And, in this case, let the strong serve the need of the          proaches of them that reproached thee fell upon me"!
  weak neighbor in the Lord. That need is his edification!                  When a brother erf-s  in the faith (not to be confused with
  He must be edified, that is, he. must come more and more             .willfully  walking in false doctrine and life), do we feel that
  to see that Christ is all and all for him. He must learn to          that is a sin first of all against God ? Or do we feel like
  seek all in Christ, and hold on to the Head. In this he               Samuel often, who feels low and outraged, because the people
  must be built, made strong. Meanwhile we must bear his               ask for a king? Is our zeal truly the "zeal of God's house
  weakness. Paul includes himself among the strong. He says            that consumes us"? That is the question. That is not a
  ."we"! And these infirmities of the weak we must bear, that          question of dogmatics and the confessions. They must stand
  is, we must bear the injustice, scruples of this infirmity. The      .as Paul says : Nevertheless the sure foundation of God
  weak cannot carry the strong. Such is the duty of                    standeth. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth.
                                                           US who
  ,are strong. Think of Gal. 6 :l where we read, "Brethren, even       But the truth must be spoken ipz  love! Then we will see
  if a man be 0vertaken.m  any trespass, ye who are spiritual          that the sin of schism is first of all against God and his
  restore such an one in the spirit of gentleness ; looking to thy-    Christ! Does the honor of God and of his Christ cause our
  self lest thou also be tempted." In the -German translation          zeal to glow? Then it is possible to bear with the infirmities
  we read that the strong must "carry" the infirmities of the          of the weak. Christ did this par excellence ! And this was
  weak. We then                                                        `written also for our learning that through patience and com-
                     Zijt the brother over the hurdles rather than
  casting them up before him!                                          fort of the Scriptures we might have hope.
      The question is then not: how can I coddle the -weak                  Tone down doctrinal distinctiveness? God forbid! The
  brother, pamper him in his infirmities. Such love will not           foundations stand. That `is love  for the weak brother. Christ
  do. It will always seek the real benefit of. the brother. It         laid them in his blood, in the deepest reproaches of hell. It

  is to change his condition of infirmity into one of strength.        was a reproach against God that came upon him. And he
  It seeks. his wal adva~ntage. No one will say that one is            took it. The zeal of God's house consumed Him. And He
  coddling a little'child if he does not maltreat him, would he?       cleanses the temple in this pz&re  zeal. And this zeal alone
  But. when he corrects his child, bears with much of his              gives us patience with the weak. And looks in hope toward

  whims and fancies that originate in his immature mind, then          the-  day when the house shall be completely and perfectly
  he seeks the edification of the child.                               built !

     I believe that we-are  touching here upon a principle in               Only when God gives such patience and comfort will the
  our life of sanctification that may well be underscored. Dog-        zeal of God's house consume us and not our own sinful self-
                                                                       will, pleasing ourselves.
  matics and ethics by no means coincide.           The doctrinal
  difliculty  and the czt,re from this doctrinal weakness are two           Well may Paul end this section with the prayer: "Now
  diff e?ent  matters ! Right is right and wrong is wrong ! We         the God of patience and comfort grant you-to be of the same
                                                                       mind one with another according to -Christ Jesus, that ye
  are saved by grace and are free ! Yet, we are free not to do
  our own will, but free to love the brother, who is weak.             with one accord may with one mouth glorify the God and
  Has that distinction always been kept in mind by us in the           Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!" Verses 5, 6.
  recent history in our churches ! We can almost spit out the               Out of Him and through Him and unto Him are all
  word schismatics!  But do we bear with any possible weak-            t h i n g s   !
  ness in those who were deceived by leaders who should know               Here all man's pride is abased and the Christian thank-
  better? Is our writing and speech always such. that we give          fully ascribes all that he is to God's grace.
  evidence that we have nothing to boast in and of, save in the            And Paul says in this consciousness : "but I labored more
  mercy of God. And are we always so conscious of the fact             `abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God
  that our not being "schismatics" is, if it `is for principle's       which was with me" ! I Cor. 15 :lO.                        G.L.

  sake and consciously, only the grace of God ? Let us beware

  lest we be like the elder brother in the Parable who said,               Post-Scripturn: On September 7, it will be twenty-five

  among other things, "Lo, these many years do I serve thee,           years ago that the writer of these lines was ordained in the

and have never transgressed a commandment of thine . . "               Ministry of the Word. Before his mind passes Doon, Pella,

  Right is right and wrong is wrong, and sin must be co:-              Randolph, Creston, Loveland, Isabel-Forbes. He cannot

  fessed. Also the grievous sin of schism in the body of               make the former boast of Paul that he "labored more abun:

  Christ ! But how is it healed ? Certainly not by coddling a          dantly than they all," but he does confess `the latter that what
 brother who has walked in, or is walking in the sin of schism,        small or great labors he may have performed it was "the

  etc. Sin cannot be winked at. God is not mocked. However,            grace of God which was with me"! Soli  Deo Gloria!

  let us remember that we must'all  stand before the judgment                                                                     G.L.


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              469



                                                                     to the matter. `He sees his children as children of the cov-
Ii -             IN H,lS FEAR                                   II enant. He says with the psalmist in Psalm 127:3-S, "Lo
                                                                     children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the

                                                                     womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty
                     A Child-In  The Way                             man ; so are the' children of the youth. Happy is that man

                                                                     that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed,
        You will find our theme in the Scriptures.
                                                                     but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." The cov-
        However we have here a clear example of what you can         enant parent sacrifices for his child. That child does not
do with the Scriptures when you take a passage out of its            stand in the way of his joy. That child is his joy. He con-
context. Skip over that which precedes these words and come          siders himself highly blessed of God to receive from Him a
to a full stop at the end of them ; and you get a statement          child to train in His fear and to watch develop into a living
that means something entirely different from that which it           member in the body of Christ. He has a treasure that he
does in the text.                                                    will enjoy also in the life to come! Death will not rob him

        As it stands there it suggests a child that is in the way    of this joy. There shall be a blessed reunion in the New

of his parents. It suggests that this child interferes with their    J e r u s a l e m .

freedom and that they secretly (and perhaps even openly)                    We must understand that `(the way" that is mentioned in
-wish that the child had not been born. It ties them down            our theme is God's way. About that we wish to write at
too much. It limits them too much in the pursuit of their            this time: A Child in God's Way: For the full text from
own happiness.                                                       which we borrowed our theme is, "Train, up a child in the

        There is such a thing to be sure.                            way in which he should go: and when he is old, he will not

        Paul wrote of its coming to a special degree in the last     depart from it." Proverbs 22 :6. There, my dear readers,
days. To Timothy he wrote in II Timothy 3 :l-4, "This know           you have your calling spelled out for you by that man of
also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men       great wisdom, Solomon. But there you also have the wis-
shall be lovers of their own selves . . . Without natural affec-     dom of the infinite, almighty God held before your .eyes.  He
tion . . . lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God . . ."         tells you through Solomon what your calling is with your
How much of that you see today ! Natural affection even is           children: Train up your child in the way in which he should

wanting to a great degree in the world. Mothers can forget           go-

their suckling children. They can give them out for adoption                We must take careful note that it is the way in which he
- especially if they are unwed mothers, because then these           &to&d  go and not the way in which we might like to have.

children stand so much more in their way of getting a hus-           him go. The carnal mind is enmity against God and by

band and of having a good time. They can kill them in cold           nature a parent can only want his child to go in a way of

blooded murder. They can tie and -chain them up in rooms             enmity and rebellion against God. We have many carnal am-

and mistreat them, as a beast would never be found doing.            bitions for our children. We want them`to have a good

Children are in their way. As lovers of pleasure rather than         education in the things natural. We like to see'  them at the

lovers of God- they cannot even`find time to be decent and           head of the class when it comes to reading, writing and

civil to their own flesh and blood, to that which God gives          arithmetic. Their knowledge of geography, modern and an-

them in a very miraculous way, and to that which only God            cient history, European and American history, science and

can give them. There are parents who see their own children          civics must be the very best and as comprehensive as pos-

in their way and take steps to get them out of that way!             sible. We want them trained in all the things that will

Without natural affection . . . . !                                  help them to live a prosperous and happy life here below.

        And- then we do not have in mind a family as described          But what about the way in which he should go ?

in Holy Writ so that the wife is as a fruitful vine and there          Oh, I know the oft-repeated yet erroneous excuse. Why
are a dozen, more or less, of these "olive plants round about        do I not send my children to-a Christian school so that they
thy table" (Psalm 128 :l-4). We are not thinking of the man          may be taught all things in the light of man's lofty and in-
that is so blessed by God that these little feet and bodies are      escapable calling before God? Well, you do not find the best
there all coming to the table for their daily bread and then         teachers in the Christian Schools. They cannot pay the high
in a ph,ysical  way they occasionally get in your way and in          ( ?) salaries that teachers in the public schools receive and
each other's way and trip over each other's feet. We are             consequently do not draw the best teachers.
thinking of the world that lacks even this natural affection
and one child in a rambling house of some ten to fourteen                   Is that so ?

rooms is in the way of the social "obligations," political                  Granted that an individual is not as fully skilled and

antics, pleasure seeking and carnal entertainments of its            educated in the ways of the world, does that mean that, when

parents.                                                             he has dedicated his life to teaching your child the way in

        The covenant parent takes an entirely different approach     which that covenant child should go, that he is not a better


        470                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   3EA.RE.R  .'


       teacher for your child ? The man who signs up to teach                 training took many a tedious hour of repeating the same

       children in the ways that the world wants him to go rather             things over  and over in an unwavering pattern. The trainer

       than in the Christian school that has for its purpose training         could riot depart from the usual steps and procedure lest he

       in the  way that God wants His children to go, and does                confuse these animals. To train one in a certain way you
                                                                        SO

       for a few paltry pieces of silver, for filthy lucre's  sake,           have to continue to lead hind  in' that `one particular way. And

       because he places more value-on the things material than the           we are not training our children when we bring them `to the

       things spiritual and is more interested in laying up for him-          world five days a week where they are taught to iay up for'
       self treasure on this earth than in heaven is far from the             themselves treasures here below and then add to this sonic

     best teacher for yotir  child. Train -up your child in the way           side instruction in seeking the. things above. To train them

       he should go, in the way that God wants and commands that              in the way thaf they should go, we must see to it that in all

       he go. That is your calling.                                           their instruction they are pointed in that way.

            Surely the Scriptures do not lie. God does not speak                  Another school season has begun. Are you seeing to it

       foolishness. Nor is He ever mocked. He has declared that               that your children are being trained in the way that they           -

       the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Bring                 shoztld  go ?. Trained in that way you have. God's promise

       your childreti  where they are not taught in His fear and              that they will .not depart from it when they are old. And if

       you yourself perform not an act of wisdom but of foolishness.          you have not trained them or provided for their training in

       That is strong language indeed. But let us understand that             that way and when they are old they go in a way in vhich

       we have no choice in the matter. Either the fear of the                they should not go, you have no one else -to blame than

       Lord is the beginning of wisdom or it is not. And if it is-            yourself. Do not blame those who have unsuccessfully tried

       and it is -then that which is not in His fear is not wisdom            to counteract that training in the ways of the world.

       but foolishness.              And before we are ready to rise up in        We must train them while they are children. We must

       protest and condemn the statement above that to bring our              not treat theti-as children that are in our way. We must not

       children where they are not taught in the fear of the Lord             count the cost and say that their training in God's way stands

       is foolishness, let us realize that to say that this is not true is    in. the way of our material prosperity. It may mean that we

       to say that God does not know what He is talking about.                will have to deny ourselves some of the pleasures and luxuries

       Be careful lest you say that with your mouth. Be on your               of this abundant life which is ours. But that does not remove

       guard' that your heart does not entertain that rebellious              the command of God that He has placed over us: Train

       thought. And by all means see to it that you do not say.               them in the fear of the Lord. And let nothing stand in the

       it by your actions of sending your children to be instructed           way: A child in t'he way, that is, a child in the way of the

       where they are not trained in the way that they should  go:            Lord is a priceless blessing to the covenant parent. It is a

       iti God's way.                                                         child on the way to glory. Do you not covet that?

        Y o u   a g r e e .                                                                                                            J.A.H.

            You .say,  with'all the above. I am agreed. How can I call

       God a liar? Of course the fear of the Lord is the beginning

       of wisdom ; and I surely want my children trained in the
      way in which they shou.ld  go. I do that too. I take them                      SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS MASS ME.iTING                   .
                                                                                                will be held at Creston  Church
      along to church. I send them to their catechism or Bible
      class. I teach them every day, give them good Christian                                  September 25, 1959 at 8:00 P. M.

      literature to read. I make them prepare faithfully for their

      Young People's Society and learn their catechism questions

      perfectly and do their written work thoroughly. That all                            '     Notice for Classis  West
      counteracts all that which they receive in their school room
                                                                                 Classis  West OT  the Protestant Reformed Churches will
      and supplements and supplies that which is lacking in their
     -school room. I do not neglect their instruction in His fear             convene, ,the  Lord willing, in Edgerton, Minnesota, Wednes-

      simply bkcause  I send them to another school than the                  day, .September  16, 1959. The consistories are reminded of

C h r i s t i a n   s c h o o l .                                             the rule that all matters for the classical agendum must be

            Let us look once again at-&wisdom  which God speaks               in the hands of the `Stated Clerk not later than thirty days

      lest from a new angle we tell Him that He does not know                 before the meeting of Classis.    However, whereas the under-
      what it is about which He is talking. He says,, "Train up a             signed will be on vacation in August and has accepted thk
      child."      A few weeks ago we had the occasion- to take the
                                                                              call to Redlands, California, the consistories are requested to
      children to the Marineland of The Pacific near San Pedro,
                                                                              send their material to the secretary of the classical committee,
      California, to see the trained seals, porpoises, dolphins and
      whales. One marvels at the things which these irrational                R&. G. Van Baren,  Doon, Iowa.

      water -creatures can be trained to do by .man, And that                                                 Rev. H. Veldman, Stated Clerk


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D .   BEA.RER                                                   471


II                                                                    have not the power of binding and loosing ; or, that not
           Contending For The Faith                             -II priests alone are the ministers of absolution, but that, to all
                                                                      and each of the .faithful  of Christ it is said : Whatsoevw  you

                                                                      shall bind @on earth shall be bolmd a&o  in heaven;  and
            -The Church and the Sacraments                            whatsoever YOU  shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also

                                                                      i?a heavert;  and, whose sin-s you shall forgive, they are for-

      VIEWS DURING THE THIRD PERIOD (750-1517 A.D.)                   given them; and whose sins you sha.11  Fetain,  they am re-

                                                                      tained; by virtue of which words every one is able to absolve
                 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS.                                from sins, to wit, from public sins by reproof only, provided

                     PENANCE (continued)                              he who is reproved yield thereto, and from secret sins by
                                                                      a voluntary confession: let him be anathema.

                            CANON VI.
                                                                                                CANON XI.
      If any one denieth, either that sacramental confession was         If any one saith, that bishops have not the right of re- s
instituted, or - is necessary to salvation, of divine right ; or      serving cases to themselves, except as regards external polity,
saith, that the-manner of confessing secretly to a priest alone,      and that therefore the reservation of cases hinders not, but
which the Church hath ever observed from the beginning,               that a priest may truly absolve from reserved cases: let him
and doth observe, is alien from the institution and command           be anathema.
 of Christ, and is a human invention: let him be anathema.
                                                                                               CANONS  X I I .

                           CANON V I I .                                 If any one saith, that God always remits the whole punish-

      If any one saith, that, in the sacrament of Penance, it is      ment together with the guilt, and that the satisfaction of

not necessary, of divine right, for the remission of sins, to         penitents is not other than the faith whereby they- apprehend

confess all and singular the mortal sins which after due and          that Christ has satisfied for them : let him be anathema.

diligent previous meditation are remembered, even those
 (mortal sins) which are secret, and those which are opposed                                   CANON XIII. j

to the two last commandments of the Decalogue, as also the               If any one saith, that. satisfaction for sins, as to their

circumstances which change the species of a sin ; but (saith)         temporal punishment, is nowist made to God, through the

that such confession is only useful to instruct and console the       merits of Jesus Christ, by the punishments inflicted by him,

penitent, and that it was of old only observed in order to            and' patiently borne, nor by those enjoined by the priest, nor

impose a canonical satisfaction ; or saith that they, who strive      even by those .voluntarily  undertaken, as by fastings, prayers,

to confess all their sins, wish to leave nothing to the divine        alms-deeds, or by other works of piety ; and that, therefore,

mercy to pardon ; or, finally, that it is not lawful to confess       the best penance is merely a new life: let him be anathema.

venial sins : let him be `anathema.
                                                                                               C A N O N  X I V .

                           CANON VIII.                                   If any one saith, that the satisfactions, by which penitents

       If any one saith, that the confession of all sins, such        redeem their sins through Jesus Christ, are not a worship of

as it is observed in the Church, is impossible, and is a human        God, but traditions of men, which obscure the doctrine of

tradition to be abolished by the godly ; or that all and each         grace, and the true worship of. God, and the benefit itself of

 of the faithful of Christ, of either sex, are not obliged there-     the death of Christ: let him be anathema.

unto once a year, conformably to the constitution of the great
 Council of Lateran,  and that, for this cause, the faithful of                                CANON XV.

 Christ are to be persuaded not to confess during Lent: let              If, any one saith, that the keys are given. to the Church,

him be anathema.                                                      only to loose, not also-to bind; and that, therefore, priests act

                                                                      contrary to the purpose of the keys, and contrary to the in-
                            CANON IX.
                                                                      stitution of Christ, when they impose punishments on those
       If any one saith, that the.  sacramental. absolution of the    who confess; and that it is a fiction, that, after the eternal
priest is not a judicial act, but a bare ministry of pronouncing      punishment has, by virtue of the keys, been removed, there
 and declaring sins to be forgiven to him who confesses ;             remains for the most part a temporal punishment to be dis-
 provided only he believe himself to be absolved, or (even            charged: let him be anathema.
though.) the priest absolve not in earnest, but in joke ; .or

 saith, that the confession of the penitent is-not required, in          From these decrees and canons of the Council of Trent,

 order that the priest may be able to absolve him: let him            in which the Roman Catholic Church sets forth its doctrine

 be anathema.                                                         on its sacrament of Penance, we may make the following

                                                                      observations and draw the following conclusions.
                             CANON X.
       If any one saith, that priests, who are in mortal sins,           First, the Romish. doctrine of the sacrament of Penance

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


  considers this sacrament as consisting of three parts : contri-       our old nature and walk in a new and godly life. We must

  tion, confession, and satisfaction. Rome emphatically denies          walk in all good works, deny ourselves and the things that

  that there are only two parts of .penance,  to wit, a smitten         are of the flesh,' and fight the good fight of faith. However,

  conscience because of the burden of sin, and the faith which          all these things.we  must do, not as contributing anything unto

  is generated by the gospel of Christ. whereby the sinner be-          our salvation, but as the fruits thereof. Never can anything

  lieves that his sins are forgiven him only for the sake of            we do ever serve as a substitute for the blood of the Lamb

Christ and His atoning blood. These three parts, contrition             of Calvary. Jesus alone is our forgiveness. Through faith

  and confession and satisfaction, constitute the matter of this        alone we' receive this forgiveness. Justification is bestowed

  sacrament. The form of the sacrament is the act of absolu-            upon us as a free gift of grace. Only, this faith in Christ

  tion on, the part of the priest.                                      Jesus, through which we receive the forgiveness of our sins,

                                                                        is a living faith. It is this truth that is emphasized in the
         Secondly, this confession must be auricular and include        epistle of James. James does not contrast faith and works,
  all our mortal sins (when Rome speaks of mortal'sins it refers        but he d,raws a sharp contrast' between a living faith and a
  to sins  that are deadly, sins that incur the penalty of eternal      dead faith. This living faith in Christ imparts -unto us a new
  death, as opposed to .venial  sins, sins that are excusable,          life. And to live out of Christ Jesus, by a true and living
  pardonable, slight and trivial). This confession must occur           faith., necessarily implies that we walk in a new and godly
  to the priests whom Christ, when about to ascend from earth           life.
  to heaven, appointed to be His vicars upon the earth, in
  order that they, in accordance with the power of the keys,                     Rome, however, views penance as necessary, of itself, unto
  may pronounce the sentefice  of forgiveness or retention of           salvation and to procure the forgiveness of sins and pardon.
  sins. These priests do not merely declare a sinner's sin to           Rome, we know, ascribes meritorious value to our works of
  be forgiven. They are presidents and judges, who actually             satisfaction.      Rome anathemizes anyone who clings to the
  forgive or retain sin. Rome declares that this sacramental            blood of, the cross as the sole forgiveness of his sins. Rome
  absolution of the priest is a judicial act, not merely a bare         places intermediaries between Christ and the sinner. It is
  ministry of pronouncing and declaring sins to be forgiven.            evident that Rome denies the complete efficacy of the cross of
And Rome anathemizes  anyone who denies that the priest                 our Lord Jesus Christ. Rome denies the keynote of the
  absolves sins in earnest. We teach that the power of for-             gospel: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
  giving or retaining sins does not 1i.e  in a priest, in any office    saved, repudiates the apostle Paul when he declares that he
  bearer, but only in the Word, and that this Word, as the              was. determined to know nothing else in the Church of
  Word. of Christ, is enforced by Christ in the consciences of          Christ than Christ and Him crucified.

  men. When, therefore, the. Church declares to a person,                        It is indeed true what Hodge writes in his Systematic

  upon the basis of the Word of God, that he stands  within or          Theology, Vol. III, page 494, and we quote: "This doctrine

  outside the Kingdom of God, that his sins are `either forgiven        that no real sin, committed after baptism, can be forgiven

  him or not forgiven, then it is not the office bearer who has
                            . .                                         unless confessed to a priest; that the priest has the power to
  the power `to forgive sins or retain them, but it is Christ           remit or retain ; that he carries at his girdle the keys not only

  alone Who has the power of those keys -and also exercises             of the visible Church on earth, but also of heaven and hell ;

  those keys in connection with and through the Word of God.            and that he opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man

  It is exactly here that we have a very clear and marked               opens, is one of the strongest links of the chain by which the

  distinction between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.              Church ofi Rome leads captive the souls of men. No wonder

  The former stresses the. Word of God and the latter lays all          that she says that the power of a priest is above that even

  emphasis upon the Church, that is, upon the Roman hierarchy           -of angels and archangels." Y end of quote.

  and priesthood. Upon this element of the priesthood the                        This concludes our articles on the -Roman Catholic dot-
  entire structure of Roman Catholicism is built. This is also          trine on its sacrament of Penance. Next time, the Lord
  characteristic of Rome's doctrine of the sacraments.                  willing, we will call attention to another sacrament of Rome,

     Thirdly, Rome declares that this sacrament of penance,             namely, the sacrament of Extreme Unction.

  as including the three parts mentioned above (contrition, con-                                                                           H.V.

  fession, satisfaction), is necessary unto salvation. Now it

  is true, of course, that there are things which we must do

, that consti&e  a very necessary and vital part of salvation;

  We are certainly not stocks and blocks. We must surely                                Come, hear, all ye that fear the Lord,        *

  confess our sins in order to enjoy their  forgiveness. One                            While I with grateful heart record

  that refuses to confess his sin can never taste or experience                           What God has done for me;

  the blessedness of forgiveness and justification. And the                             I cried to Him in deep distress,

  Heavenly Father will not forgive us our trespasses if we                              And now His wondrous grace I bless,

  forgive not the brother his trespass. We must certainly crucify                         For He has set me free.           ~
                                                                                             r


                                                                                                                                 I


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                473


                                                                   this purpose in more than one way too. A frequent method

        The Voice of Our. Fathers                                  of the tempter is to cause misunderstanding on the part of the
                                                              II saint as to his state and his condition. As to his state, the
                                                                   saint is perfectly righteous in Christ; as to his condition, that

               The Canons of Dordrecht                             same saint is far from perfection in this present life. The
                                                                   devil will take advantage of this situation and emphasize that

                          PART Two                                 in the light of all his sin and imperfection that saint cannot

                                                                   possibly lay claim to justification before God. And if by
                 EXPOSITION OF THE CANONS
                                                                   means of these accusations the devil can cause that saint to

                                                                   look away from Christ and from the fact that he is righteous
                 FIFTH HEAD OF DOCTRINE
                                                                   in Christ by faith only, he can cast that saint into terrible

          OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS                        doubt. But it may also be that the devil takes advantage of

                                                                   the imperfect condition of the child of God and tempts him
                          Article 11                               to walk in sin for a time. The only result of such a walk in

                                                                   sin can be the lack of .assurance.  The way of assurance is the
               (Continued from July 1 issue)
                                                                   way of sanctification ; the way of sin is the .way  of doubt.

   Having noticed what was the occasion for this article,          But whatever may be the various forms of these carnal

and having given our attention to the general lines thereof,       doubts, and whatever may be the method used by the tempter

we may now give our attention to the details of its contents.      in planting the seeds of doubt, we may be certain that
                                                                   somehow the doubting child of God is not walking in the
   We may notice, first of all, that the article speaks of
"various carnal doubts" and of "grievous temptations." These       way of assurance described in Article 10. Whether the devil
terms refer to the same reality from two different viewpoints.     attacks directly, or whether he takes advantage of our carnal
The term doubt looks at the reality under discussion in this       nature to lead us into temptation, or whether he arouses mis-
article from the viewpoint of the saint himself: he doubts.        understanding on our part as to our state and our condition,
The term temptgtiovt  looks at that same reality from the          or whether he capitalizes on our lasity in watching and
viewpoint of its cause and occasion: the tempter comes             praying, somehow he succeeds for a time in luring us away
                                                                   from. the God-ordained way of assurance. Then' only do
and sows the seeds of `doubt in the soul of the believer.
                                                                   doubts arise.
These doubts that are sown by the tempter and that arise in

the soul of the child of God are sinful: the article character-         Now what is the solution for this doubt?

izes them as carnal. We must always remember this: doubt                The problem does not concern the objective certainty of
is sin. It is principally unbelief. And because it is prin-        perseverance. That remains. The fact that the saints shall
cipally unbelief, doubt is uncertainty: it is the opposite of      surely be preserved, the fact that the Holy Spirit is never
assurance. If we ask the question, "How is it possible that        wholly withdrawn from God's people, the fact that they never
a believer doubts ?" the answer must be found along the            lose the grace of adoption nor forfeit the state of justifica-
following lines. In the first place, we may bear in mind that      tion, the fact that the incorruptible seed of regeneration can
we are not now speaking of the essence and power of faith,         never be lost, - these all remain. But the subjective as-
which is never done away, but of the consciousness and             surance of faith that I am and ever shall remain a living
activity of faith, which may vary and which may temporarily        member of the church of Christ, that no one can pluck me
be defeated and disappear. And, in the second place, we must       out of Christ's hand, -this is lost when I am cast into a
remember that the saint is imperfect, that he is not yet           state of doubt. That is the problem. And it is not necessary
delivered from the body of sin and the infirmities `of the         at all to elaborate on the misery of one who is subject to
flesh. And the believer arrives at a state of doubt when in        such doubts. Any child of God can find  his own doubts and
his consciousness the infirmities of the flesh gain temporarily    fears back in the expressions of many of the psalms.
the upper hand over the consciousness of faith. These doubts
                                                                        Nor is the ultimate solution of the problem to be found
may, as the article indicates, assume various forms. Some-
                                                                   in the counsel to return to the God-ordained path  of as-
times the child of God finds himself in a. very painful and
                                                                   surance. That this is necessary cannot be questioned.. And
crucial struggle to believe the Scriptures themselves. The
                                                                   that it is necessary-to admonish one who is assailed with
devil, using the philosophy of vain man-and the learning of
                                                                   doubt to examine himself as to the spiritual reason for that
so-called science, attacks the very veracity of the Scriptures
                                                                   doubt and to turn from that way of doubt also cannot be
and tempts the child of God to reject the Word of God. Some-
                                                                   questioned.
times the temptation of the devil causes God's child for a time

to fail as far as the personal appropriation of the truth of       -    The problem is in the deepest sense:. how is it possible

Scripture is concerned. Then that saint may say, "I be-            to escape the clutches of the evil one and the despair of

lieve that God's Word is true all right, but I doubt whether       doubt and to regain the blessed peace of assurance? How is

I myself' am a child of God." The tempter may .accomplish          it possible that the believer in his "struggle with various

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


  carnal doubts" gains the victory over those doubts ? IS the           But he can never cause the saints to reach spiritually the

  outcome of that struggle against doubt always a ,question,             "point of no return."
                                                                  SO                              He can never tempt them in such a

  that it might just as well be that carnal doubts are victorious       way that their faith as to its being, its power, is destroyed.

  as that faith is victorious ?                                         He can cause them to fall very deeply, but never so deeply

                                                                        that the principle of the new life is totally lost. And this
     The basic answer to this question is given by our fathers          means, in turn, that the devil can never tempt in. such a
  in this article. And whatever may be said about the spiritual
                                                                        way that ultimately the believer loses the spiritual power to
  cure for doubt, it must always be viewed against the back-            overcome the temptation. The power of the new life may
  ground of the truth that is here laid down. That truth is,            retreat for a time and seem to be defeated. In the final
  positively speaking, that God is the author of all assurance,
                                                                        analysis it triumphs, and the child of God returns into the
  not only initially but also in its continuation. And therefore,
                                                                        right way of earnest repentance and conversion.
  all our temptations take place absolutely within the limits of
  His will and in such a way that they can never be victorious              In the second place, however, the text from Corinthians
  ultimately in the life of the saints. Of this preservation of         teaches us that God also "with the temptations will make a
  the elect to salvation, and of their perseverance in the faith,       way to escape." The situation, therefore, is not thus merely,
  true believers for themselves may and do obtain assurance             that God provides the saints with a certain amount of spirit-
  according to the measure of their faith." The outcome, the            ual ability and power and that He does not allow them to be
  final issue, of the believer's struggle with. various carnal          tempted beyond their power, but that it is entirely up to
  doubts is always assurance. He may struggle against doubt.            them to use that power and to escape the snare of temptation.
  He may even lose his assurance altogether for a time. He              Nor does the text in referring to a way to escape refer in
 may fall deeply into temptation. But God Himself takes care            general and objectively ta the Scripturally designated `way of

 that His child returns to the state of assurance ultimately.           repentance and prayer etc. God does not simply point out
 He is the Farther  of a21 consohtion!  All consolation must and        the way to escape temptation. He does not merely provide a
 does "come from Him, in Christ Jesus, through the Spirit.              possible way to escape. He provides an actual way of escape.

 In .your  deepest temptations and doubts, therefore, turn to           Otherwise we would never escape. How is it that a child of

 Him !                                                                  God, who has in him the indestructible seed of regeneration,

                                                                        but who falls deeply into temptation and. continues in sin for
     The fathers quote here a very fitting word of Scripture            a time, -how is it that suddenly such a child of God forsakes
 from I Corinthians 10:13. The entire-text reads: "There                his sin and-returns to God? You say: "The principle of the
 hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man :            new life `gained the victory." Yes, but that seed of regenera-
 but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted             tion was there all the time. You say: "He was admonished
 above that ye are able ; but will with the temptation also             and heeded the admonition." Yes, but he was admonished all
 make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." Over            along, and he also had essentially the power to heed the
 against our temptations, which are "common to man," or,                admonition. You say : "The devil finally stopped tempting
 literally, "human,"stands  God. The contrast is not between            him." Yes, he did ; but what caused that man to rise up out
 the power of temptation and our merely human strength.                 of the depths into which he had been tempted and where the
 Then the situation would be hopeless. For we succumb to                devil had left him at the end of that temptation ? The answer
 the~temptations.  We are faithless. But God is faithful ! And          is : God provides the way of escape. God by His Word and
it is the power of His divine grace that is the solution to our         Spirit certainly and effectually renews that saint unto repent-
 temptations and their resultant doubts.                                ance, to a sincere and godly sorrow for his sins. God Himself

     And the text teaches us, in the first place, therefore, that       causes His child to return to the God-ordained way of as-

 God Himself determines and limits the measure of our                   surance. And the end can only be that by His Holy Spirit

 temptations : "he will not suffer you to be tempted above that         God again inspires him with the comfortable assurance of

 ye are able."    The devil in all his assaults upon the faith of       persevering.                                             H.C.H.

 the saints is strictly limited. He cannot do what he wants.

 He would like to destroy the faith of the saints, but he can

 never succeed.. He would like to deprive them permanently

 of their assurance, but this he can never do. God says to

 him : "Thus far, and no farther." When He does so, the                                     Announcement
 devil's temptation must cease. God says: "This long, `and

 no longer." When He does so, the devil has no more leave                  All correspondence with the Classical Committee of

 to tempt. And the absolute limit of all temptation of the              Classis  East is to be addressd to its new secretary-

 saints, beyond which the devil can never go, you. have de-
                                                                                          REV. G. LANTING
 fined here: not above that they are able. This does not mean
 that the devil can never tempt successfully for a time ; he                              1000 Slayton  Street

 surely can. We have already seen this in another connection.                             Grand Haven, Michigan.


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 475


                 WHAT IS THE IQASS?                                 Where these four things are present you have a complete
                                                                    mass, whether it be the simple requiem mass, the briefest of

   This subject, to me, is most intriguing. True, it does           them all, or the elaborate pontifical mass of an hour or more ;

not affect us quite as directly and forcefully as it did our        whether it be said by an army chaplain in the mud of a

forefathers four centuries ago. For them the question of            trench on an altar of ammunition boxes or administered in

the mass was all-important. They had been part of it. They          the great cathedral of Notre Dame. A priest dressed in

had been raised in that doctrine and fed its heresies from          ordinary clothes, standing at an ordinary table, consecrating

infancy on. Then, by the grace of God, they had been de-            bread and wine, consuming these elements in communion-

livered from its errors through the wonder of the Protestant        that's just as real a mass as the one with all the trimmings.

Reformation. In fact, the mass was one of the main issues           If only the four above-mentioned essentials are there.

in the whole Reformation. One Catholic authority puts it this          The reasons for all the trimmings that frequently go

way, "The history of the Protestant Reformation is largely          with the mass are twofold. Mainly, no doubt, the Catholic

the story of the new religion's efforts to destroy the Mass and     Church wants to make the mass as much as possible like the

the Catholics' `efforts and determination to save the Mass."        Last Supper of Christ and His disciples. As stated, they

This statement contains much truth. Today all this belongs          want to imitate everything Jesus did that night. Therefore,

to the more distant past. No longer is the mass our chief           as Christ proceeded from the womb of Mary, so the priest

stumblingblock. Other issues have our concern. Even                 marches in all dignity from the sacristy (where the robes and
                                                             SO,

the question is interesting, and practical too, for at the basis    holy vessels are kept) to the altar with the chalice in his

of the mass lie principles of abiding significance. In this         hand. As Christ washed His hands, so the priest washes

essay our main purpose is to familiarize ourselves with the         his hands as a symbol. As Christ washed the feet of the

thing itself.                                                       disciples, so the priest begins with an act of humiliation, con-

    What is the mass, of which the Catholics make so very           fessing his sins at the foot of the altar. As Christ lifted His

much and against which the Protestants have set themselves          eyes to heaven, so the priest lifts his eyes to heaven. As Christ

so determinedly?                                                    prayed, so the priest prays.    Besides, the Catholic Church

    The derivation of the name "mass" is not entirely clear.        feels that in the mass it has something so precious, that it

According to some Catholic theologians the name is derived          cannot be made too beautiful. Therefore the most beautiful

from the Latin word $$cesna,  meaning "table," and has              music ; the gorgeous vestments of the priest ; the burning of

reference to the idea of a supper, a feast. This is perhaps the     incense, from the Old Law, and the burning of candles, from

more distant derivation. According to others the immediate-         the catacombs ; a host of attendants, all immaculately robed

connection is with the Latin word pxissio,  meaning "to dis-        and each with his own function. Too much cannot be made

miss, send away," and the reference is to the last part of          of the mass nor can it be too beautiful.

the form for the celebration of the mass, when the church is           Even so, trimmings or no trimmings, the essentials of
dismissed with the words: "Go now, the sacrament, the holy          the mass are the four elements enumerated above.
sacrifice, the Mass is ended."                                         There is first of all the CONSECRATION `of the bread
    `The mass is the heart of the Catholic religion. It's the       and wine into the real body and blood of Christ, the
one thing every Catholic must do to be saved j the central.         Eucharist. This consecration takes place in the following
act of devotion in the Catholic Church ; the chief glory and        manner. There are the bread and the wine. To the wine
center of their entire worship.. Missing the mass is a deadly       a drop or two of water is added. The Catholics claim that
sin, that must. and will be most heavily punished. People           the wine which Jesus and His disciples drank was mixed
need not go every day, although they are urged to do so.            with water. Especially is the water added to symbolize the
Missing the mass on Sundays or holy days, however, is               blood and water that flowed from the wound of Jesus. In-
fatal.                                                              stead of the bread they now have the wafer. You can ap-
    The mass is the Roman Catholic Lord's Supper, to them           preciate the reason for that. Since that bread changes into

an exact duplicate and repetition of that first Supper in the       the very body of Christ, it obviously becomes sacrilege to

night wherein the Lord Jesus was betrayed. So much so,              allow it to crumb, fall on the floor, be eaten by mice or rats,

in fact, that in some form or other, largely by way of              etc. Hence, the `wafer. These means are now placed on

glittering symbolism, they seek to imitate all Jesus did that       the altar. Then, at the moment the priest, who reads the

night. A study of the mass with this in mind is -positively         form, utters the words, "This is my body," a miracle of God

intriguing. It immortalizes and perpetuates that first Lord's       occurs whereby the natural bread is actually consecrated to

Supper. It does not only represent it, it re-presents it, - day     the very body ,of Christ. The same takes place with the wine

after day, till the end of time.                                    the moment the priest says : "This is my blood." Mind you,

    Excluding all embellishments and matters of incidental          the priest utters these words in the place of Christ. So com-

importance from our discussion, it may be noted that the            pletely does he lose his personality in that of Christ, that for

`mass contains four elements, which are essential: the conse-       himself and the .congregation  it is as if the priest no longer

cration, the sacrifice, the adoration, and the communion.           existed and Christ Himself were standing there.

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


    Hence, Catholicism .certainly  maintains, that the signs          wine, but the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We are

 change into the things signified, and that after the consecra-       nourished by divinity itself."

 tion Christ Himself is really present on that altar.
                                                                                                 8 * * *
    Then there is the element of SACRIFICE. In the mass=

 Christ repeatedly sacrifices Himself anew for the salvation
 of sinners. How they like to talk about the unbloody sacri-              It is difficult to see how something so simple and ob-
 fice of Christ in the mass! Therefore they have the altar            vious as the Lord's Supper could have changed into some-
 rather than the table. To the Catholics Calvary, the first           thing so complex and fantastic.
 Lord's Supper and the mass are all essentially the same. On              The basic error of Catholicism on this point is, of course,
                                                                      that the mass is based on-a wrong interpretation of the words :
Calvary Christ sacrificed Himself in a bloody manner. There
                                                                      "This is my body."
He actually shed His blood and body and blood were separ-                                    They take the phrase literally ; it should
                                                                      be understood figuratively. This stands for My body, rep-
ated from each other, and that, to them, is really death. In the
                                                                      resents it, symbolizes it. As I might say of someone's picture:
first Lord's Supper Christ did the same thing in an `unbloody
                                                                      This is my father, or wife, or child. As Paul says to the
way. Also here body and blood were separated. Therefore
                                                                      Corinthians : "The rock is Christ."
Christ did not take the bread and wine together and say:
                                                                         Moreover, if it is as the Catholics would have it, the
This is my body and blood. Rather, he first consecrated the
                                                                      logical implication would be that all who partake of the
-bread ; then, and separately, He consecrated the wine. Thus
                                                                      holy sacrament are saved. Theoretically they reject this con-
the two were separated mystically and Christ sacrificed then
                                                                      clusion. It is possible to eat the very body and drink the
and there without the shedding of blood. Now, what Christ
                                                                      very blood of Christ and still be lost forever. Does not Paul
did in that first Supper the priest does every mass in the
                                                                      say that we must eat and drink worthily? Practically, how-
place of Christ. He first consecrates the bread and it be-
                                                                      ever, the church has quite well fallen into this fallacy and
comes the body of Christ. Then he consecrates the wine and
                                      .i^'  )                         self-deception. If only they partake of the mass all will be
it becomes the blood of Christ. Thus the `two are separated
                                                                      well. With the physical mouth they eat and drink Christ.
and Christ sacrifices Himself anew every time the mass is
                                                                      And Jesus Himself says:
celebrated. .Thus the latter is not a mere representation, but                                       "Whoso  eateth my body and
                                                                      drinketh my blood hath everlasting life."
a re-presentation of the cross of Jesus.
                                                                         "The mass," says our Catechism, "is at bottom nothing

    This sacrifice is the heart of the mass, even as the mass         else than a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus

is the heart of the Catholic religion. It is a sacrifice of atone-    Christ."    That it is! Scripture teaches: in His sacrifice on

ment just as truly as was the cross, meriting forgiveness and         the cross Christ once and for always atoned for the sins

life, not only for the living but also for the dead in purgatory.     of His people.    "For by one offering He hath perfected for-

Therefore the altar, not the pulpit, is the heart of the church.      ever them that are sanctified"-Hebrews 10 :14. "Now where

One Catholic leader put it this way: "Our most beautiful              remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin" -

cathedrals have no other purpose than to shelter an altar."           10:18. In the mass, however, Calvary is and must be re-

    The third cardinal element constituting the mass is that          peated constantly.    With a blindness that can neither be

of ADORATION. By virtue of the consecration Christ                    explained nor excused Rome contradicts the very Word of

Himself, sacrificed anew, now lies on that altar. That Christ         God.

must be worshipped, of course. Wherefore the church kneels               Finally, and undeniably, the mass is nothing but "ac-

before that altar to worship what to them is the Christ, but          cursed idolatry." What Rome imagines to be the Christ is

actually is only bread and wine.    They strike their breasts in      in reality nothing else than bread and wine. Those means

token of repentance in the presence of that Christ. In this           they worship. Accursed idolatry ! The Bible teaches : Christ

way one heresy leads to another. Transubstantiation converts          is in heaven, at the right hand of God, and there will He

the wafer and the wine into `Christ Himself. This leads to            be worshipped. Pitiful blindness! Is if a wonder that in such

worship, inevitably.                                                  a religion there is less need of Bible study and preaching?

                                                                      They have and receive Christ in the mass. What more do
    Finally, there is the COMMUNION proper. The con-                  they need ? How deeply the church can fall when once it
gregation eats the real body and drinks the real blood of             departs from the way of implicit trust and childlike faith in
Christ, under the taste and shape and, color and texture of           the infallible Word of God alone.,
bread and wine. Rather, the priest partakes of both elements
                                                                                                                                   R.V.
while the people receive only the sacred wafer. The chalice

is withheld from the laity, for several reasons : to prevent the

sacred blood from being spilt ; to declare thereby, that Christ

is present, wholly and entirely in each element, every crumb
and every drop ; to make a proper distinction between. the                    SUNDAY SC:HOOL  DELEGATE BOARD MEETING
laity and the clergy. However, the important thing is, - they                 will be held at Hudsonville Church at 8 :00 P. M.

really eat and. drink Christ. "We no longer receive bread and                               September 14, 1959.


                                            T H E   .STANDARD  B E A R E R                                                      477


                                                                     "Calvinism and Capitalism"

            ALL AROUND US                                               Under the above title Rev. Irving E. Howard .writes  in
                                                                     Chris&z Economics,  an article intended to remember the

 "Convergence of Two Denowhutions."                                 450th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. The article
                                                                    is brief, and we quote it in its entirety for its merit.
     Rev. H. J. Kuiper writes on the above subject in the July-         "This year marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of
 August, 1959 issue of TOY&  and TrztuuLpet.  The two denom-        John Calvin, benefactor of Western Civilization in many
 inations referred to are the Christian Reformed Church             surprising ways. One must hasten to acknowledge that some          ,,
 and the group that followed the Rev. H. De Wolf in the             of the benefits which are usually traced to John Calvin may
 schism of 1953 when they left our churches. The Rev. Kuiper        also be credited to Martin Luther, but nevertheless, the
 is very hopeful of a reunion of these two groups.                  Reformation came to England and -America in a Calvinistic
     What was striking to us in the article of Rev. Kuiper          framework and Calvinistic Puritanism was the major force in
 was the fact that he correctly conceives of the group that left    the making of America. It is therefore fitting this year to
 us as not being Protestant Reformed. He tells his readers          pay tribute to this logically precise reformer.
 that the De ,Wolf  group "broke away from the denomina-                "The enemies of capitalism have delighted in pointing to
 tion by that name (Protestant Reformed- M.S.) which                a connection between the capitalistic economic system and
 since 1925 has been headed by Rev. Hoeksema." In the next          the teachings of John Calvin. They have reasoned: Calvin-
 paragraph of his article`he tells the readers: "A few years        ism is in disfavor in the modern world; therefore, we will
 ago a number of the churches belonging to the Protestant           demonstrate the relationship between Calvinism and capital-
 Reformed Churches were expelled from the denomination be-          ism. However, the method has backfired ! The theological
 cause they could -no longer agree with the doctrinal extremes      fashions have gone full cycle and Calvinism is in favor again !
 of Rev. Herman Hoeksema and his followers." ;'
                                                                        "Max Weber was the first to explore the connection be-
    We would presume that the followers of De Wolf will
                                                                    tween Cal_vinism and capitalism in The Protestant Ethic and
 not like this observation by Rev. Kuiper, simply because it has
                                                                    the Spkit of Capita,lkm     His purpose was not to discredit
 been and still is their contention that they, and not we, are
                                                                    capitalism, but to refute Marxian  materialism. R. H. Tawney
Protestant Reformed. In all the court trials that resulted
                                                                    took, Weber's thesis and used it in his book, Religion and the
 from the split they have avidly sought to take away our
                                                                    Rise of Capitalisutz,  as an oblique attack upon capitalism. In
 properties, and they did this by seeking to prove to the
                                                                    this, Tawney set a precedent which others have followed,
 courts that they were the true continuation of the Protestant
                                                                    but neither Weber nor Tawney defined what they meant
 Reformed Churches. Rev. Kuiper evidently does not believe
                                                                    by `capitalism.'
 their contention that they are Protestant Reformed. He
 believes that Rev. Herman Hoeksema and his followers are               "If by `capitalism' one means an economic system in
 the Protestant Reformed denomination since 1925, and be-           which man uses his ingenuity and accumulated wealth to in-
 cause the De Wolf group`brpke  away from" and "were ex-            crease production, that system began when the first cave man
 pelled from that denomination" are no longer Protestant            made the first stone tool. If by `capitalism' one means the
 Reformed. This is exactly what we have always maintained.          market system based on money, credit, division of labor and
 Rev. Kuiper -has done us a service by calling this to `the         exchange of goods and services such as has developed in
 attention of those .who  are no longer with us.                    Europe and America, the Protestant Reformation contrib-
                                                                    uted to its birth, although the European society had been
    Moreover, that Rev. Kuiper does not believe the De Wolf
                                                                    gestating such a system before the 16th century. In a crude
 group to be Protestant Reformed, is also evident from the
                                                                    form, it existed in the cities of northern Italy long before
 fact that he conceives of them as being doctrinally one with
                                                                    the Protestant Reformation.
 the Christian Reformed Church. True, he understands that

 all the differences between the two groups have not yet been          "John Calvin's chief contributions to the development of

 ironed out. But these are differences which will ultimately        the capitalistic system in the second sense of the word are

 be erased by continued conversations. He believes that in the      his doctrine of calling, his ethic of work and thrift and his

 main the De Wolf group also embraces the Three Points of           defense of interest and credit.

 Common Grace, and therefore there is no reason for separate           "The Puritans applied Calvin's doctrine of calling to all

 existence. Also `this we have always maintained.                   vocations. Calvin himself had spoken highly of vocation as a

    Kuiper closes his article with the following paragraph:         service to God, but the Puritans wrote such treatises as

 "We hardly need to say that, as we see it, the Protestant          Navigation Spiritua.lked,  Husbandry  Spi&mlized and The

Reformed Churches, with.their strong emphasis on theological        Rekgiosus  Wea.vveP.  Making everyday work a joyous service

conservatism, on the antithesis, and on the necessity of being      to God became a characteristic of Calvinistic people. Further-

Reformed`would be a very welcome addition to the Christian          more, the man in the small house could not resent the man

Reformed Church."                                                   in the big house as long as he believed that God had called

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


     them both to their respective stations in life. Calvinism              "Converted Doctor Diagnoses Romanis%!"

     negated the class conflict that communism has incited. Calling
                                                                                Under the above title we read the following article in
     also implied a Divinely ordered universe, which faith has
                                                                            Protestant Nezvs,  a new newspaper in the Grand Rapids area,
     been at the foundation of capitalism. Adam Smith spoke of
                                                                            the July, 1959 issue.
     it as `the hidden hand.' When faith -that the universe is a

     harmonious order disappeared from the West, capitalism                     "Dr.  Frederick E. Milkie, M.D., of Lima, Ohio, a former

     became ill. It is this illness, resulting from lost faith in the       Roman Catholic but now a Bible-believing Christian, con-

     sovereignty of God, that has brought us to the brink of chaos.         ducted a `forum on Romanism' at the Lincoln Lake Baptist

                                                                            `Youth Camp on Memorial Day. Dr. Milkie, who previously
              "John Calvin's ethic of work and thrift contrasted sharply
                                                                            served as psychiatrist for the Ohio Penitentiary, was invited
     with the Medieval virtues of leisure, meditation and charity
                                                                            here by the Michigan-American Council of Christian
     for th,e `poor. While Calvin taught charity and made careful
                                                                            Churches, a group which believes in `contending for the
     provision for the poor in Geneva, he also called upon the
                                                                            F a i t h . '
     poor to improve their own situation. He made no virtue of

     poverty and he frequently quoted a statement of Paul's rarely              "Dr. Milkie declared :       `Romanism, directed from the

     heard in modern pulpits : `If any would not work, neither              Vatican, is the greatest danger to our way of life. It is an

     should he eat.' Calvin also condemned indiscriminate alms-             insidious infiltration.'    A former member of the Knights of

     giving because of its effect upon the recipient. If the Cal-           Columbus himself he described the K' of C as a mere `front
        `.
     vimstic  ethic contrasted with Medieval life, it contrasts much        for the priesthood' to promote R. C. objectives.

     more with modern welfare statism. The indolence and im-                    "He stated that one `of Satan's most effective tools is the
     providence which Calvin denounced as sins, present day                 argument that there is `nothing bad in religion' when in
     politicians encourage to-get votes. Too much credit cannot             reality there are `terrible religions.'     Dr. Milkie's forum
     `be given this Calvinistic ethic of work and thrift for the            follows, in part.
     capital accumulation in the West, without which Western
                                                                                "QUESTION: What ways is R. C. hierarchy working
     technological progress would never have been possible.
                                                                            to make American Catholic ?                         _.-
              "Not the least among Calvin's contributions to capitalism
     was his endorsement of `usury' which the Medieval author-                  "ANSWER : Two ways principally -The Educational
     ities condemned. Calvin argued that it was as just to charge           system and their Hospital system. Rome grows through in-
     interest for money as to charge rent for land. He made rules           come from R. C. hospitals.        Protestants would be appalled
     to protect the poor from exploitation which a free market              if they knew how many of their babies have been baptized
     economist would consider unnecessary interventions, but                Catholics in the R. C. hospitals.

     nevertheless, his influence was on the side of the credit system           "QUESTION: How does the Roman Catholic church
     which became the heart of the Western market economy.                  operate in the community ?

         "How Calvinism, which regimented life in Geneva and                    "ANSWER: Rome is being given more and more con-
     in Puritan New Haven,' finally became the strongest cham-              cessions. The law in Ohio says no bingo, yet the R. C.
     pion of economic freedom and political liberty is a story too          Churches have Sunday and Wednesday nights for bingo.
     long to tell here. The fact remains that Calvinistic Puritan-
                                                                             " Q U E S T I O N :   D
     ism did just exactly that.                                                                         oes Roman Catholicism have control
                                                                            over papers ?
_        "Whittaker Chambers in Witness reminded us that the
     most revolutionary question in history is : God or Man? and                "ANSWER : Definitely ! Most -newspapers do not even
     that whoever answers `Man' shares the Communist vision                 accept advertising unfavorable to R. C.`s.

     whether he is aware of it or not. John Calvin answered                     "QUESTION: Are there conversions out of the priest-
     that question unequivocally: God! The strength of his an-              hood ?
     swer furnished iron. to the Western struggle for political
                                                                                "ANSWER: Many leave the priesthood and come out
     and economic freedom."
                                                                            of nothing into nothing. They're afraid. Some have threats
       The above article clearly demonstrates that Calvinism is             of being committed to a mental institution if they leave the
     more than a theological system. It is a way of life. If                R. C. Priesthood. Only the truly saved ones will stand up.
     practised  properly, it affects the whole of life in all of its
                                                                                "QUESTION: How can churches best reach Roman
     departments and necessarily our economy. It stands to reason
                                                                            Catholics for Christ ?
     therefore, that where Calvinism flourishes, communism has

     no ground in which to embed its roots. We agree with                       "ANSWER: Door to door visitation. Some will slam

     Cl&&an  Economics that our American'way of life with its               doors. Don't argue.          Express appreciation that R. C.`s

     o.riginal  Puritanic and Calvinistic principles is fast fading         teach the virgin birth,of  Christ, verbal inspiration of Scrip-

     into a socialistic-communistic system in which all of our real         tures,, etc., which many modern Protestants no longer be-

     liberties will ultimately be destroyed.                                lieve."                                                    M.S.


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               479


                                                                    come ; again a fact that he has no part in the promise, for he
                 CONTRIBUTIONS                                      hated the true God of Israel.
                                                                        Neither did Hagar have grace in her immortal soul, for

                                                                    she broke loose from her mistress, whom she supposedly

      Hagar and Ishmael not in the Covenant                         loved. If we do not love the people of God we cannot love

                                                                    God. However, the Lord told her: return to thy mistress
    Esteemed .Editor  :                                             and submit thyself under her hands.                .

     In the process of time, in the last year, much attention           And as the two fugitives were cast out by Abraham at

 wis given in The Standard Bewer  in regard to Hagar and            the command of God, they traveled in the direction of E,gypt,

 Ishmael.                                                           Hagar's country, through the wilderness of Paran,  and in

    The Rev. B. Woudenberg wrote on this subject under              Paran  they made their home. And at the time Ishmael was

 the theme : "A Cloud of Witnesses,,' and Rev. R. C. Harbach        ready for marriage Hagar took him a wife, not of friends

 wrote two articles under "Contributions"; and as I look at         from Abraham and Sarah ; but out of Egypt; and Scripture

 these two views, they differ as much as light and darkness,        does not inform us that they ever turned back. And how

 blessings and cursings, to be a covenant friend of Jehovah, or     could it be otherwise ; they were excommunicated, and never

 a friend of the ,Prince  of darkness.                              repented.

    Now, as a common uneducated man, permit me, Dear                    Galatians 4 also speaks of the two sons of Abraham, the

 Editor, to present also my view ;, not as if it should lay any     son of the bondmaid  and of the freewoman. Here Paul speaks

 weight in the balance, but to bring to light that we as common     to the Church of Galatia, but also to the Church of all ages,

 men do a little thinking of ourselves and leave it not alto-       and warns, not to seek salvation by works, for it can only be

 gether to preachers and thinkers in dogmatics ; and no one         obtained by grace for it is the gift of God, lest any one should
 will blame us for this : I am sure of that.          -.            boast. He who seekssalvation  by-the .wdrks  of the law is

    As you have noticed: I do not agree with thosewho give          condemned .Ziid"%ll  be cast out.

 Hagar and Ishmael a place with the elect of God, for it is             Isaac was a wonder child. He came into this world as

 my contention that you ever can deduct from the pages of           life from the dead. He was born through the power of the

 Holy Writ this to be the truth.                                    promise, and he represents the whole elect church, the true

    We must not make the mistake to quote Scripture,out  of         spiritual seed of Abraham, as they are chosen, redeemed, and

 its connection, or quote texts at random to prove our point.       saved `in Christ.

 The text must be explained in the context, and. brought in             Ishmael is a type of the whole carnal reprobate seed that

 harmony with the whole of Scripture. We may not reason             always is opposed, and persecutes the Church of the living

 (as is done frequently) reverting now to the subject we treat :    God in the midst of this world. He was born outside of the

 God blesses the elect only, consequently Hagar and Ishmael         promise.

 are elect people of God. You know: By faith Isaac blessed             Also in Galatians we meet the two seeds ; the seed of the

 Jacob and Esau, but we know that the covenant blessing             woman and the seed of the serpent, and God put enmity be-

 rested only upon Jacob, and Esau received what was left,           tween the two, Gen. 3 :15.

 n.m. the corn and the wine, earthly prosperity ; and to my             Do you still believe that Ishmael was a child of God ?

mind this is all that Ishmael ever received in accordance               I can not find it in the Word of God. And I refuse to

with Gen. 17:20. I for one can not gather from Scripture            believe that Jehovah, the Triune Covenant God of His elect

 that Ishmael was blessed with the spiritual blessing of his        people, made the mistake, that He chose one of His children

father Abraham as the father of all believers. In Gen. 16:12        to be a type of the carnal race, the seed of the serpent. God

he is pictured as a wild ass among men, and in Job 39:.5-S          is God.                                                      S.D.V.

1 we hear the same language : Whose house I have made. the

 wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. His hand                                 WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

will be against every man, and every man's hand against
                                                                       On September 11, 1959, our dear parents
him; which means that he was a quarrelsome person, and did
                                                                          MR. and MRS. OTTO VANDER WOUDE, nee Hanko
 not have the meek spirit of Moses the Mediator of the Old
                                                                    will celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.
Testament. In the wilderness he cried, but it was not the
 cry of repentance but only the cry of despair. Later on we            We give thanks to our Heavenly Father for sparing them through
                                                                    these many years for us and for each other. Our sincere prayer is
 see him as he really is: Gen. 21:9. And Sarah saw the son
                                                                    that the Lord may continue to bless them, and keep them in all
 of Hagar, at the great feast where Isaac was weaned, mock-         things, in their remaining years.
ing. And remember: this mocking was not a child-like sport,                                         Mr. and Mrs. John Vander Woude

but a deep-rooted, bitter, sinful act which is to be expected of                                    Mr. and Mrs. Tom Redder
this wild ass. He sneered with a devilish sneer, for his carnal                                     Mr. and Mrs. William Corson
                                                                                                    Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Byker
mind had no eye for the reality that in this wonder child the                                       8 grandchildren
 salvation of all the elect was promised in the generations to      Grand Rapids, Michigan.


                                         - --~ -.-----~-__  ~_~ _.__ I_-~- ___._~~ .-___.__
                                             .---  T    H    E         STANDAR.D               B    E    -    A    R    E    R
      is0 -                                                                           . .--

                                                                              prayers for' God's guidance and blessing will the ultimate

          NEWS FROM OUR CHURC-H.ES-                                           goal be reached."
                                                                                 Hollands "many hands" made light work of the cleaning
                     "All the saints salute thee . . ." ,PHIL.  4 :21'
                                                                              and painting of their place of worship.
                                                                  ,:
                                                 A u g u s t   20,195?   ,       An example of a demonstration of, that new term,- "to-
                                                                              getherness,." is revealed in Hudsonville's' bulletin. The teacher
          Rev. M. Schipper, of Southwest Church, has declined the             of the first grade'in`Sunday  School has her husband print the
      call from. Edgerton, and Rev. H. Hanko, of -Hope Church,                memory verse in the bulletin, thereby enlisting the help' of the
      has declined the call from South Holland. Holland's new                 parents. in teaching the little ones the verse of the week. The
                                                                                                                                  . .
      trio is Revs. G, Lanting, G. Vanden  Berg, and B. Wouden-               teacher is' Mrs. %. Vos.                              .
      berg. Edgerton  has named the following trio: Revs. H.                    -We  gather from Lynden's bulletin, from the order of
      Hanko, J. Heys, and G. Vanden  Berg.                                    worship at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, that the
          Rev. J. M. Mc Collam has severed his connection with                minister breaks the bread and pours the. wine in the sight
      Holland's Consistory, as he is no longer a minister in the Prot.        of the congregation, thereby completing the symbolism of the
      Ref. Churches, inasmuch as he has resigned his pastorate in             broken body and poured out blood of our Savior. We
      Holland and has accepted a call in one of the United Pres-              wonder why this practice has not found universal acceptance
      byterian Churches. (cf. 2 Peter 2 :22.)                                 in our whole denomination.

          The Radio Committee of First Church has come to the                     Because Rev. H. Hanko filled a Classical appointment

      conclusion that they definitely need a Prot. Ref. Radio Choir           in Randolph July 26th' Hope had the unique experience of

      to furnish the musical portions of the Reformed Witness                 attending an afternoon service that day. This gave Rev.

     Hour. The Committee reasons that the Radio Program is                    Schipper opportunity to occupy their pulpit without sacri-

      becoming increasingly more and more a denominational proj-              ficing his own in the evening.

      ect, because the Synodical  Mission Committee is using its                  Although the Young People's Societies in the Grand
.     facilities-and is planning on adding more stations --;  be-             Rapids area recess for the summer, those of South Holland
      cause some of our churches are desirous of sponsoring one or            and Oak Lawn meet every Sunday evening. Grace Ipema,
      more stations ; because various ministers of the denomination           of Oak Lawn, was scheduled to give an essay Aug. 16th on
      are called upon to preach on the air; and, musical talent is            "Temperate Use of Alcoholic Beverages."
      already recruited from other than First Church members.                     The South Holland-Oak Lawn Church Extension Com-
      The Committee is confident that when this need is known                 mittee recently issued. a two page report of their activities.
      among the churches the response will be such that a Radio               Among other things, they distributed two thousand copies of,
      Choir will be organized in the near future. They ask us to              "The Unbreakable Bond of Marriage" by Rev. H. Hoekse-
      await further developments regarding such proposed organi-              ma ; and are regularly mailing out fifty copies of The Stm@-
      zation.                                                                 qrd Bemm.,  The Committee asks "for your continued
          .By this time the Young People's Convention is past.                prayers and support of this work that the testimony of the
     Be sure to read the Beacon Lig7cts  Convention number:                   truth `may be extended far and wide.,' They conclude their
     - Show your young people that you are interested in their                news letter, "by expressing a word of appreciation .to all
      activities.                                                             who have helped our committee and co-operated with us in

          Many of our ministers did not have a summer vacation                making this program possible . . ."

      in the accepted sense of the word. They merely exchanged                   D,id you know ,. . . that all of our consistories have mailed

      pulpits, in two- or three-way trades ; in that way their                a Synodically written letter to those who have left us in the

      congregations might enjoy the lively preaching of the Word              `53 schism; that this letter, in part, tells of our sorrow of s

      instead of its inferior counterpart, Reading Services..                 heart that they were deceived by their leaders and have de-

          Be sure to attend First Church the evening of September             parted from `the truth which they had loved, confessed, and

      fourth! Rev. H. C. Hoeksema will then be installed in the               adhered to for many years ; that it gives a six-part evidence

      office of Professor of Theology at 8 p. m., D.V. This will be           to support that charge ; and, that a partial quotation reads

      a "first" in the history of our denomination. Let's' make it            like this: "When we see all these things . . . we cry, `Lord

      necessary to open the balconies to seat the audience 1 Rev. G.          have mercy on our beloved brethren and sisters !' Believe us,

                                                                              .we fervently wish for your return, for your repentance and
      ~OS,  of Hudsonville, will read the installation Form, and Rev.

      H. Hoeksema will preach the sermon.                                     confession before God, for again clasping the hand of brother-

          The Steering Committee for Prot. Ref. Secondary Educa-              hood . . . Dear ones in the Lord . : . come back to us. We
      tion sent out their first news letter July 26th. A quote from           will gladly accept you as from the Lord Himself, so that we
      this letter : "A great amount of work and planning has yet to           once more may continue our walk together to heaven . . .,'

      be done. Only through our collective. efforts, and constant                     . . . . see you in church.                         J.M.F.


