                 XXXVII                                    15, 1960 -                                                         NUMBER  6
     VOLUME                                   DECEMBER                    GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

                                                                                Oh, let us not gloss over this awful fact. If you do, you

                                                                            will never be able to sing the Christmas carols of the heavenly

                                                                            host of angels. Exactly in the measure that you see the gloom

                                                                            of the night of sin and guilt, do you see also the glittering and

         THE DAYSPRING  FROM ON HIGH                                        the shining Light of the Dayspring from on High.

                                                                               The song of Zacharias is about those people that sat in
             "To' give knowledge of sa.lmtion  unto His people
               by the remission  of their sins, thyottglz  the tender       darkness and in the shadow of death!
              vtercy of 0,u.r  God; whereby the Da.ysp,r;irty  from
              on h'gh  l&l2  visited zu, to give light to them that                                   * * * *
              sit ipt davkness  and in the shadow of death, to                 But attend to the name which he gives to them, a name
              guide our feet into the way of peace."
                                                     L&e 1 :77-79           that spells singing and rejoicing, the jubilant cry and the
                                                                            God-given anthem of praise.
    The Dayspring from on High!
                                                                               What is it? It is the naine  "His people" !
    Whoever He may be, He came to dispel the -gloomy
                                                                               That possessive pronoun means infinitely more. than
darkness of death.
                                                                            mere possession. Does not God possess everything and'every-
    -Oh yes, when Jesus came it was night. Also that is                     one, be he wicked or good, be he elect or reprobate?
divinely ordained. Jesus must be born in the depth of night
                                                                               They are His people because He loved them from all
in Bethlehem. That is in keeping with the state and condi-
                                                                            eternity. It is a possessive pronoun indeed, but it tells us of
tion of those whQm  He would visit:
                                                                            the relation of loving possession. It tells of a love that never
    And what a night !           .: z. :-                                   knew a beginning. As old as Jehovah is, so old is the love

    There was deep darkness in Zion.                                        which sends you your Christmas, and your Christmas-Child,
                                                                            and your Christmas joy ! You are His people, and it is for
    Darkness' is absence of the light, and spiritually it is
                                                                            that reason that the Dayspring from on High will visit you
absence of all goodness and virtue. And it is also presence                 again and again.
' of ali &l,`aand  tiickedness.
                                                                               And that Dayspring, whoever we mean, will. visit you
    Darkness is utter impotence to see, to walk and to live.                because you became a sinner in time, and since He loves you
    And by Divine decree: those that walk in darkness shall                 eternally, He loves you even when you were sinness,  and
,not  have the light of life.                                               sat in the darkness of the shadow of death.

    And the objects of this wonderful song of Zacharias are                    You dare not speak any different on that glorious day
those that "sit" in darkness and in the land of the shadow                  when you remember the song of the angels. One of the most
of death. The picture is horribly complete.                                 important of the heavenly host has told it to Mary: "for He

    A horribly complete picture, for that word "death" teils                shall save His people from their sin !" And the host of angels
us the terrible quality of the darkness and the gloom that                  sang of the "men of God's goodpleasure."

surrounds them.                                                                It is because the "people" are so blessed that we com-

    Darkness of death! It is the folly of the natural mind,                 memorate the days of advent and the Christmas day.

the crookedness of unrighteous souls, and the corruption of                                           * * * *
the entire nature of man. It is the very opposite of the
beauteous image of God which adorned us originally.                            Look, if you.can, into the Face of that Dayspring !

    Such is the night of Bethlehem.                                            I say-: if you can, for it is tantamount with looking in!o


122                                            THE..STANDARD   B E A R E R


the golden lustre of Divine mercy! The Son of God comes                       But it is also the visiting of that Dayspring. It is the

with the glory of God's unspeakable pity and commiseration.            eternal mercy of your and my God, blessed forever!

       Let us look at that Dayspring!                                         He came.

   Yes, it is imagery.        It is the sun in his rising. The                He visited me.

Dayspring from on High is the sun when it appears at the                      And He proved His mercy in His coming. The dirty
horizon and sheds its golden lustre, prophesying of a day              stable, the animals, the sour-smelling manger, the swaddling-
when all shall be bathed in light, light, glorious light, all the      clothes, the poverty-stricken and forsaken mother and
Day of Eternity ! I would shout it from the housetops : There          "father" are so many proofs that He came in order to shine
shall be no night there! And why not? Because it is the                on me, and to continue to shine on me, until all rni darkness
place where the Dayspring has run His course. Eternally                is gone and I do not have to spend my eternity in the outer
He shall stand and shide  at the zenith of the heavenly heaven         darkness of hell. He went there for me.
of God.
                                                                              Such is the Light of the Dayspring that visited you and
       Oh yes, it is Jesus Christ the Lord.                            me.
       You knew it all along. You have heard of Him so much                   In accents sweet it is a song of mercy of God. He was
and so often. When you could scarcely speak, they told YOU             moved with our misery and absorbed it. Yes, that is the
of that Christ-Child. It was the theme of the whole life of            right word. It is absorbed.                In all my afflictions He was
your forebears, of your progenitors, your teachers, your               afflicted. Carry over this cipher and carry it over and over
pastors, your friends, your whole world of thought, expres-            again, unto all eternity, for He bore our eternal sorrows.
sion and action. Oh yes, we knew it! The Dayspring from                Reason why His name is also Man of Sorrows.
on High is the blessed Son of God who comes to us with
healing in His wings. Shall we then not make merry on                         Shall we then not sing on Christmas eve ?

Christmas eve ? If we did not, the very stones and the rocks                  We shall sing a&l we shall teach the little ones to sing
would organize their Christmas programs.                               until the sun and the moon shall shine no more.

       And we will continue to look into the golden lustre of                 And then He shall continue to shine.
Divine mercy, for that is Jesus Christ.                                       Oh yes, shine on Christ of God, Sun of ii-&hteousness,
       It is in the text : look at it ! Through the tender mercy of    Golden lustre, Bearer of Divine mercy of .T?& God !
our God I

       Mercy i Divine compassion ! It is God, tenderly COT-.                                           Q * * *

miserating with the miserable object of which we spoke                                                                                            .`p
                                                                              And the result?
above. Mercy always has to do with misery.
                                                                              Has Christmas a fruit?
       Jesus is the Mercy of Triune God!

                                                                              Zacharias shall sing also of that.
       And this mercy has visited us. God came to you "on
company."                                                                     Listen to him: To give knowledge of salvation unto His
                                                                       people by the remission of sins . . . to guide our feet into the
       He did so, long, long ago.                                                                          i
                                                                       way of peace!
       First, in the Word of Promise in the First Paradise.                                     __j      -' ii
                                                                              To give knowledge of salvation 
iOh,  that seed of the woman ! We&  here she is: the final                                                                     by the remission of sizs!

woman: Mary the mother of Jesus.                                              Who is there among you who has not tortured himself

                                                                       with the thought of his or her terrible sins ? Do you remem-
       The "people," His people, clung to that promise through-
                                                                       ber the nights when sleep fled and slumber vanished from
-out all the ages with their attending death and darkness. They
                                                                       your tearstained eyes ? Do you remember the nights when
loved to bring forth children, and they hoped for the redemp-
                                                                       you uttered unheard groanings, shed "dry" tears, gave vent
tion of Israel.
                                                                       to sighing and murmuring ?                     1-1            , *.
       Second, He came in the humble city of Bethlehem. There
                                                                              Man! No matter who you are: do you know your sins
is the Dayspring from on High. Careful, do not stumble here                                                           . . .               `,'
                                                                       and misery ?
in this smelly barn. Come, do not be afraid, come closer if
you want to see the "golden lustre" of a Sun that shall shine                 And have you learned to bewail them befoie  the Face
unto all eternity! Oh yes, you are right: He lies in the               of Him who KNOWS ALL AND EVERY SIN YOU
sour-smelling manger, the place where beasts of the field              COMMITTED ! A good qtie3ti6n  to begiri'ryour  festivities
slaver and munch and eat their fodder. Oh yes, you are right.          when the days of advent 3%sijiier  and when&e  ADVENT-
                                                                                                                .-
There is no mistake.                                                   ED ONE came !                       :;                         ,._" "
                                                                                                                             .' `.,>.
       All this misery, this poverty, this degradation is a picture           Well then: this is the G&$i -of Chiistinas.  This is the

.of the darkness of the shadow of your and my.death.:?  1.             result of the shining Dayspring'Ifrom  on I%gh:  He' took all


                                                    T H E   STANFARD  BE,AJ+R                                                                                                                                                                       123
                                                                                                    . . . r.


  your sins away, never to return. There ix remission of sins.

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      .                                                                                                                Editor - REV. HERMAN HOEKSEMA
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                                                                                                         Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
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     Because of Christmas !

     -And that knowledge He gives. And that knowledge we                                                   -.
  embrace.                                                                                                                                C O N T E N T S
                                                                               1.
                                                                               MEDITATION-
     And though we smile in that knowledge through .our tears                               The Dayspring From On High ._._.....__.._._____..........................                                                                             121
  of suffering, here in the midst of devils and wicked men, we                                          Rev. G. Vos

  smile nevertheless, for Jesus gave us the knowledge of salva-                EDITORIALS-
  tion by the remission of our grievous sins.                                         ~.    About Being Protestant Reformed ___.............__........................  124

                                                                                                        R e v .   H .   H o e k s e m a
                                 * * *        8
                                                                               O      U     R        DOC~~NE-

      But there is more: to guide our feet into the way of                                  The Rook of Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             :.126

  peace! .                                                                                              Rev. H. Hoeksema

                                                                               A 
     Peace is the harmony between your heart and the heart                           CLOUD OF %%'I'NESSES-
                                                                                            Moses in Mid& . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
  of God. When His heartbeat and yours beat in unison, and                                              Rev. B. Woudenberg
  you know that, then you taste peace. In a figure: when you                   FROM HOLY Wrur -
  sing a song with God and when your voices merge and you                                   Exposition of I John 2: 18-21. _____.  ._ .._............  .___.  __ .`. ________ 131

  sing as one. Then you'have peace.                                                                     Rev. 6. Lubbers

                                                                               I
     The way to that peace is the Christ-Child.                                     N HIS FEAR  -
                                                                                            Children of Our Age (2) _......._.._.._._.....................................                                                                         133

     His name is the Prince of Peace.                                                                   Rev. J. A. Heys

     And He has `made peace through His heart's blood. '                       CONTENDING  FOR THE FAITH-
                                                                                            The Church and the Sacraments ._................,_........................                                                                              135
      He is the great Peace-maker.                                                                      Rev. H. Veldman

      And Christmas tells me that He takes your hand and                                         OIJR 
                                                                               SHOULD                           ADOLESCENTS  BE ENCOURAGED TO PARTAJ~E                                                                                               137
  leads you on the way of peace to the place where your peace                               OF THE LORD'S ~WPER.....................................,..............:.......  
                                                                                                        Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
  will eternally flow like a river !
                                                                               DECENCY AND ORDER"
      Blessed night when Jesus was born !                                                   The Censure of Books _...____......................  . . . . . . . . . . . ..____.__.............  139

                                                                       G.V.                             Rev. G. Vanden Berg

                                                                                                                  -
                                                                               CONTRIBUTIONS 
                                                                                            A New Project ___......_..____.,....,...................................,...............                                                                140
                         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                            Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

     On Christmas Day, December 25, 1960, our dear parents,                                 Report of the Western Ladies' League . ..___.__._.__..___...........,.  141

                     MR. AND MRS. JOHN LANNING                                                          Mrs. Henry Huisken

  will, the Lord willing, celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.            ALL AROUND Us -
     With grateful hearts we thank our heavenly Father -for- His                            The Memorial Library.. __....  ._ ____ _____ ______ __ ______.._  ._ ___ _.... ._.._ ______ ..142
  loving kindness in sparing them these many years for us and for                           Nothing Accomplished ___ .__ __. _.... .:..  __ .___  ___ ___.__.  ,142
  each other. Our sincere prayer is that the Lord may continue to                           More Tendencies
  bless them,                                                                                                                             Towards E v o l u t i o n i s m .   _ _   _.. ___.  ..___  ..142
                   and keep them in all things, in their remaining.years.                   The Religious Issue in Puerto R i c o   .._________....................   1 4 3
                                  Mr. and Mrs. James Lanning                                            Rev. H. Hanko
                                    Terri, Tammi, and Tricia
                                  Mr. and Mrs. Robert TerMolen  and Jodi                    F
                                                                               NEWS  ROM OUR  CH~RCHES...................................................,..,.......~~~
                            '  W a y n e   Lam&g                                                        Mr. J. M. Faber
                                  Ruth Lanniug
                                  Anna Lynn Lam-ring


124                                         T H E   ST.ANDARD   B E A R E R


                                                                     such stress on the grace of God that human responsibility

                                                                     was simply an academic concern."

                                                                         Here I first of all want to make a few comments.

                                                                         1. First of all, what Dr. De Jong writes about the origin

                                                                     of our Protestant Reformed Churches is not quite true. In

                                                                     1924 it was not a question of infra- and supralapsarianism.

                                                                     How could it be ? We all know that the Three Forms of
       Recently my attention was called to an article in the
                                                                     Unity are infralapsarian. We all know too that in spite of this
il&ssionnry  Monthly of Nov. 1960 written by Dr. Jerome De
                                                                     fact the supralapsarian view was allowed in the Reformed
Jong. And since in that article he also mentions the Prot-
                                                                     Churches. So, that was not thi: question in 1924. No, but it
estant Reformed Churches I must needs reflect a moment
                                                                     simply was the question of the well-known Three Points.
on it.
                                                                     And these Three Points were and are not Reformed but
   `By the way, I used to receive the above mentioned maga-          Arminian and Pelagian.      We could not subscribe to theni.
zine regularly. In fact I thought it was an exchange paper           Yet, we would not have left the Christian Reformed Church
with The Standard Bearer. But for a long time now I                  if only the Classes had not demanded that we should sub-
received no more. Perhaps, Dr. De Jong will put forth                scribe to the Three Points or, at least (in my case), keep
efforts that the exchange is renewed.                                still about them. And because we could not conscientiously

       I cannot quote the entire article since that would require    do this, we were cast out. It, therefore, was not a question
too much space. However, I will quote sufficiently for our           of supra and infra, but of being Reformed or Arminian and
readers to know what it is all about.                                Pelagian.

       First Dr. De Jong expresses the opinion that "the glory          2. Secondly, I would like to ask Dr. De Jong a question.
of the Reformed theology is also its downfall," He explains          It is this: does Dr. De Jong agree that it, must be the con-
this statement by saying that Reformed people and especially,        stant effort of any church, its members and.&  officebearers,
I presume, Reformed theologians, like to set their own               to keep it as pure as possible? I think that Dr. De Jong,
conception and interpretation of Scripture on the foreground         considering the underlying note of his article, would answer
                                                                     positively to this question. But this raises another question.
and condemn those as heretics that do not agree with them.
                                                                     It is this: is it, then, not the calling of the, members of any
    And now I' will quote him somewhat at length:                    church, particularly of its officebearers, to protest against the

       "No doubt some of this interest in theological precision      preaching and teaching of false doctrine? And now the third"
is good, for a lack of understanding may very well lead to           question. It is this: if protest in the legal channels is of no
broadmindedness of the type that must find truth in every-           avail, so that it becomes evident that the church condones
thing .regardless  of cost. However this strong impetus toward       false doctrine or a worldly life, does it then not become the
theological precision has also been disastrous in the life of        calling of the faithful members and officebearers to break
our Reformed Churches. One group separated from a pre-               with such a church and organize a separate church? I hardly
viously united church in the Netherlands on the tenuous              think that Dr. De Jong is in a position to answer this question
doctrine of presumed regeneration. In our own country the            positively. If he did, he could not remain in the Reformed
subject of supralapsarianism with all its consequent logical         Church.

results brought about the division of the church  and saw the           3. I .do not believe what Dr. De Jong writes ab0ut.a  doc-
coming of the Protestant Reformed Churches. In that same             trinally pure church and missions. According to him such
circle  there was again a difference of opinion on the well-         a church camzot  make an impression "all by itself" on the

meant Gospel offer which again precipitated a crisis in the          millions lost. In fact, he evidently is of. the opinion that this
church and another division in the church of Jesus Christ. It        doctrinally pure church is responsible for the fact that mil-
is not the business of this article to press the one side or the     lions go to hell. Now, first of all, I wish to emphasize that
other, but we want to think of the necessity of Reformed             I do not take that responsibility. To be sure, we as Prot-
people taking moderate views on these subjects lest, for the         estant Reformed Churches believe that it belongs to the
sake of doctrinal purity, thousands go to hell every day. Here       calling of the Church to preach the gospel to every creature
is basically the tragedy of a divided Church, millions remain        and to all nations over the whole world. I do not believe that
unreached. How can a doctrinally pure church of 3000 mem-            we may shirk that calling and responsibility by saying as that

bers or of 100,000 or of 200,000 for that matter ever expect         man did to William Carey: "When it pleases God to con-

to make an impression all by itself on the millions lost and         vert the heathen he will do so without yio_ur  help." Never-
without Christ? Years ago when William Carey first plead             theless,' in the first place, I believe that God will show the
for India (1792) some clergyman repelled him by saying,              way and a place to work to preach the gospel to the heathen.
`when it pleases God to convert the heathen he will do so            In the second place, I do not believe that millions go to hell
without your help.' If this is your attitude then it bears           if a doctrinally pure church is not definitely shown a field
careful scrutiny. I have heard good Reformed people--lay             of labor for the time being or is as yet too weak in numbers


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              125


or otherwise to preach in a foreign field. And in the third        sionary activity. I believe that we also shall have to admit

place, and above all, I believe that only a doctrinally pure       that the grace of God to all His creatures is also a great

church can perform proper mission work, because no other           blessing for missions. We call that grace common grace.

church can preach a pure gospel and God will call His people       Perhaps it was the designation `common' that caused the dif-

out of the world, even out of heathendom, only by the pure         ficulty. All grace is, in a sense, supernatural. I doubt that
gospel. Even to the heathen must be preached the whole             anyone would quarrel with that statement. The fact that

counsel of God and nothing more or less. Only through that         God permits the Gospel to be preached to all men everywhere

whole gospel will God save His own elect and harden the rest.      is a token of His grace . . . ."

And I do not believe that any of God's elect will go to hell          In other words, Dr. De Jong, evidently, subscribes to the
because of a doctrinally pure church no more than any              Three Points of 1924: the preaching of the gospel is grace
reprobate will go to heaven by any compromise gospel.              for all that hear it. That is, of course, his privilege. But I

   This- is the correct conception of mission work.                wish that Dr. De Jong would answer a few questions.

   This is the Reformed view of mission work because it is            1. Does Dr. De Jong  believe the truth of election and
the only Scriptural view.                                          reprobation, whether in the supra- or in the infralapsarian

   4. We all admit that the absolute sovereignty of God, on        sense of the word, as it is expressed in the Canons of Dord-
the one hand, and the responsibility of the rational-moral         recht chapter I not oniy in art. 15, but also, for instance,
creature, on the other hand, constitutes a problem which we        in art. 6 of the same chapter where we read:. "That some
cannot solve. But this does not mean that we may place             receive the gift of faith from God and others do not receive
them side by side, as Dr. De Jong would have it. For that          it proceeds from God's eternal decree . . . According to
would mean that, in this respect, we would place God side by       which decree, he graciously softens the hearts of the elect,
side with man. This explanation always leads to a virtual          however obstinate, and inclines them to believe, while he
denial of the -sovereignty of God. Dr. De Jong writes: "I          leaves the non-elect in their own wickedness and obduracy."
have .heard  good Reformed people lay such stress on the           Will Dr. De Jong, then, explain how the preaching of the
grace of God that human responsibility was simply an aca-          gospel is grace for all that hear the gospel, also for those
demic concern."    But if we simply place the sovereignty of       that, under the preaching of the gospel are left in their own
God side by side with human responsibility the inevitable          wickedness and obduracy ?

result is that the former becomes an academic concern and             2. Does Dr.. De Jong believe that there is no preaching

is soon entirely forgotten. It is true that the Bible does not     of the gospel except when God Himself sends out through the

solve this problem for us. But it certainly sheds sufficient       preaching by the preacher His own efficacious Word and that

light on it to show that God sovereignly works out his counsel     by the eficacious  Word of God He not only powerfully

even by and through His rational-moral creature in such a          saves the elect but also hardens the hearts of "the others,"

manner that His sovereign counsel is realized while the            that is the reprobate ? How, then, can the preaching of the

creature remains responsible when it, too, willingly or un-        gospel`be grace to all those that hear ?

willingly, works out the counsel of God. This is the clear            3. Does Dr. De Jong subscribe to the teaching of the
teaching of Scripture everywhere. Let me quote just one            Canons in II, 10, where we read: "But that others who are
passage. It is found in Acts 4 :24-28 where the Church speaks      called by the gospel, obey the call and are converted, is not
as follows: "Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven,           to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby one
and earth, the sea, and all that in them is : Who by the mouth     distinguishes himself above others, equally furnished with
of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage,          grace sufficient for faith and conversion, as the proud heresy
and the people imagine vain things ? The kings of the earth        of Pelagius maintains; but it must be wholly ascribed to
stood up, and. the rulers were gathered together against the       God, who as he has chosen his own from eternity'in Christ,
Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy           so he confers upon them faith and repentance, rescues them
holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod  and         from the power of darkness, and translates them into the
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel,       kingdom of his own Son, that they may show forth the
were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and          praises of him, who hath called them out of darkness into his
thy counsel determined before to be done."                         marvellous  light; and may glory not in themselves, but in

   There is more in the article of Dr. De Jong.                    the Lord according to the testimony of the apostles in various

   For, although he wrote first that "It is not the business       places." And I ask: what grace do they obtain who do not
of this article to press the one side or the other," he, never-    receive this grace of repentance and faith under the preaching
theless, does exactly this in the rest of the article.             of the gospel ? Or, in other words, what sort of grace is that
   He first speaks briefly of "general revelation" and. then       so-called "common grace" whereby they are hardened ?
he makes this general revelation "common grace." Note what            There is still more in this article of Dr. De Jong. But
he writes :                                                        this must wait for our next issue.

   "General revelation is a necessary condition for all mis-                                                                H.H.


126                                         THE:&AN~ABD  ,`BEA.RER


                                                                   second place, that great, final world-power is of 1 the seven
       O U R   D O C T R I N E                                     in the sense that it is the culmination and the consummation
`                                                                  of all history, the climax of the history of these seven powers,
                                                                   the combination of all that Egypt and Assyria, Babylonia
            THE BOOK OF REVELATION                                 and Persia; Greece and Rome, and all the powers that fol-

                                                                   lowed have ever stood `for and realized. It shall be the ulti-
                        PART TWO
                                                                   mate product of all the aims. of the powers of the world.

                     CHAPTER SIXTEEN                               TO recapitulate in brief, therefore, there are to be eight
                                                                   world-powers in all. Six. have been, in Egypt, Assyria,
                  The Mystery of the Beast                         Babylonia, Persia; Greece; and Rome. The seventh is not

                                                                   yet, or, if it is today, it has not yet become plainly manifest.
                     Revelation 17 :7-14                           Its existence shall be peculiar in this respect, that it shall

     How then shall the final formation of the beast come to       aim at the unification and combination of all the powers that
its realization ? In order to understand this, we must, in the     exist at this time. And this shall lead to the final-league of
first place, understand the expression that there shall still      nations to realize the kingdom of Antichrist.          _ _

be a seventh powerful kingdom which has not yet been. For              Spiritually, our text plainly characterizes this league, this

a time it was thought by some- and personally, we have             final realization of the beast, as standing in direct antagon-

been inclined to think- that Germany might become that             ism against the Lamb and His people. For our text tells us

seventh head. But evidently that is not the way in which God       that these confederate kings shall make war with the Lamb.

has it. Germany's aim was extension of her own power and           Of course, they shall not fight Him in body: for the Lamb is

the Germanizing of the world ; and that was not the purpose        exalted in heaven. But they shall attack all that stand for

of the Almighty. No, but a mighty nation is still to appear,       the Lamb in this dispensation. They shall fight the Lamb by

it seems, in an entirely different light. For if we take in        fighting His Word, His worship, His.name, His blood, His

connection with this picture of- the seven heads the symbol-       cause, His kingdom, His people. They shall deny the truth

ism of the ten horns, and read that they are all of one mind       of His revelation. They shall refuse to believe His Word.
and shall give their power to the beast, we receive the im-        They shall refuse to accept His authority. They shall not
pression that the future realization of the kingdom of Anti-       worship Him as King of kings and Lord of lords, and they
christ shall rather be by way of confederation than by way         shall instead worship the beast, deify their own power, and
of conquest. Taking these two statements ,together,  then, it      set up the image of the beast. And so they shall also fight
seems that we are justified in drawing the following picture.      ,His people. Notice how beautifully and significantly these

The text speaks of a seventh mighty power that is still in the     people of the Lamb are designated in our text. They are the
future. It had not yet received its dominion at that time.         called, the chosen, the faithful. Because of their own effectual,
But there can be no question about the fact that it shall          irresistible calling they are also faithful. It is because Christ
receive its dominion. For a short while it shall show its          has called them that they consciously belong to Him. And
power as a separate power. For it must continue a little           it is because they are the chosen of God that the Lord has
while in the midst of all the other kingdoms or powers that        called them. Objectively, their. faithfulness rests in the
may exist together with it. But after this little while is         eternal counsel of God. They shall be faithful even unto
finished, whatever may be the history of it, the other powers,     death because the Lord Jehovah has chosen them to be His
indicated by the ten horns, shall give their power to the beast    people. And subjectively, their faithfulness is assured in the
together with that seventh head, thus forming the great,           irresistible calling of Christ Jesus, which can never be
final confederation or league that shall constitute the ulti-      changed. And therefore `the people of God shall be faithful
mate form of the antichristian world-power. It shall be a          also in those days. They may not be able to buy or sell, as
league formed of the seventh head together with the ten            it is expressed in the preceding chapter; but they shall faith-
horns. And then we can also understand the expression, ap-         fully cling to the name of Jesus because Jehovah of Hosts
parently so difficult to grasp, "The beast that was, and is        has chosen them, and because they have been called by the
not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven." That is,     Spirit of Christ irresistibly. Hence, in the midst of tribula-
the beast in its entirety, as a confederation of world-powers,     tion, persecuted and pressed from all sides, as social outcasts
all being of one mind and one purpose, and all giving their        in the world, they shall maintain, "The Lord Jehovah is our
power to the beast-that one great league is, in the first          God, and Christ alone is King."

place, as such an eighth power. It is distinct from all the           And they shall not be ashamed. Three times we are
seven heads separately, for they formed no confederation. It       assured in the words of our passage that the victory shall be
is the old kingdom of Nimrod over again in modern form.            ours. In the first  place, we read in verse 8 that the beast
First, therefore, the seven great powers, but the seventh          shall come up out of the abyss, but shall go into destruction.
culminating in the final manifestation of the antichristian        The same expression we read in verse 11. And finally, we
world-power, which as such shall be the eighth. And, in the        read in verse 14 that the Lamb shall overcome them. How,


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE:ARER                                                           127


in what way, we are told in a later connection. Now we are                 acter,  and at the same time the embodiment and center of the
simply told the fact that also this final attempt of the. devil            antichristian kingdom.

shall fail. And at the same time we are informed as to the                    The beast, so we found, is the same as the one that was
reason why: the Lamb is Lord of lords and King of kings.                   pictured to us in chapter 13 and that was already mentioned
And that explains it all. He stands on Mount Zion as the                   in the eleventh chapter of this book. Plain this was, so we
great victor, as the Anointed of God, destined to rule over                found, from its description as the beast with its seven heads
the kingdoms of the world. And when all these kingdoms,                    and ten horns, as well as from its origin as the beast that
though striving to establish the kingdom of opposition, shall              rises up out of the abyss, and finally, too, from his relation
have served the purpose of Jesus Christ, He shall consume                  to the inhabitants of the world and the saints of Christ. The
them by the breath of His mouth, establish the new heaven                  former admire this beast and wonder after him ; the latter
and the new earth, the kingdom of His people, and reign                    stand in opposition to him and refuse to bow before him as
in glory over them forevermore. And therefore, the picture                 their rightful king. It is therefore the world-power from its
is rather clear, especially with a view to the times in which              political aspect, as it shall finally give rise to the antichristian

we now live. Watch, therefore, and cling to the name of                    kingdom and all that it implies. Only, we also found that the
Jesus ; and have no fellowship with the great sin of Babylon,              point of view is different, and that we learn different details
namely, to be carried by the beast. For then you shall have                of this antichristian kingdom in the words of the passage we

no fellowship with her judgment. And be comforted with                     were discussing before. And we came to the conclusion that
this thought : the Lord is King of kings and Lord of lords !               this beast is here pictured both in his historical development
Our Lord is mightier than they all ! The victory is assured !              and in his final formation. His historical development

                                                                           is evidently pictured to us in the seven heads that represent,
                   The Kirzgdowz  of the Beast
                                                                           according to the interpretation of the angel, seven different
                       Revelation 17 :15-18                                manifestations of the antichristian world-power in the history

            15. -And  he saith unto me, The waters which thou              of the world, one of which existed in the time of John, five
           sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multi-        of which had already risen and vanished before that time, and
           tudes, and nations, and tongues.                                one of which is still to come. And we found that if we

            16. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the               started from the safe assumption, that the one that is was the
           beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her           Roman Empire in all its glory, as it existed in John's time,
            desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn          the five that had already fallen could be none other than the
            her with fire.                                                 Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Grecian em-

            17.    For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will,    pires, which had successively existed before that time, and
            and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast,           all of which had already perished. And we found too that
           until the words of God shall be' fuElled.                       it is a striking characteristic of the period of this dispensa-

            18. And tbe woman which thou sawest is that great              tion after the downfall of the Roman Empire in 476 that not
            city, which reigneth, over the kings of the earth.             one great empire has succeeded in obtaining and holding

   The harlot and the beast with the seven heads and ten                   sway over all the world, something that became well-nigh an
                                                                           impossibility after the discovery and settlement of the new
horns we have now discussed. And what remains to be con-
                                                                           world had become an accomplished fact. The seventh power
sidered is the relation between them and the judgment of the
                                                                           has not yet revealed itself in its full manifestation, but must
harlot as these are pictured in the entire chapter, and more
                                                                           still be revealed. And in the ten horns we have the picture
particularly in the words of our present passage. The woman
                                                                           of ten minor powers that shall exist simultaneously with the
as such, so we found, is, first of all, the symbol of the church
                                                                           seventh head, exist side by side for a short time, but ulti-
in this dispensation, the wife of Jehovah, the bride of Christ.
                                                                           mately shall give their power to the beast. That is, with the
But the woman pictured in the words of our passage is a
                                                                           seventh head, under its leadership, they shall come to one
harlot, and theref0re.a  woman that has forsaken her rightful
                                                                           great confederation of nations, thus realizing the beast that
husband and lives in most intimate, but illegal, relationship
                                                                           was in Nimrod's time, never was again, but again shall be
with strangers, that are not her husband. And as such, the
                                                                           in the future. That world-power shall stand antithetically
woman is symbolic of the apostate church, that has forsaken
                                                                           against Christ and His people, shall make war against Him,
her rightful husband, Jesus Christ, has fallen away from the
                                                                           but shall be overcome by Him and by the called and chosen
truth, and now surrenders herself as an institution to the
                                                                           and faithful, who shall reign with Christ in the New Jeru-
service of the world and of Antichrist. But still more, this
woman is also the figure of a great city that is to have do-               salem.
minion over the world and. over the kings of the earth. And                    In the present passage we find the judgment of the harlot.
we found that even as the true church is destined to develop               I think the general meaning of the words of our passage is so
into a city, the New Jerusalem, that is to come down from                  plain that after all we have discussed, it is scarcely necessary
heaven, so.also  the apostate, or false, church is to develop into         to give any direct and special explanation. In brief, they tell
a city, a great center, that is representative of her real char-           us that the ten kings and the beast, that committed fornica-


128                                         T H E   :S:TAND.ARD   B E A R E R


tion with the harlot for a long time and that mad&  the best          their sanctuary. Yea, you will find that not only the Word

of her for their own interests and lust-that these shall              but also the sacraments are administered. The membel's::Gf.

finally bitterly hate the harlot and destroy her very appear-         the church are baptized ; and odcasionally  they gather around

ance, kill her, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. And the        the table of communion solemnly to celebrate the supper of

text explains that this they do because God has given it in           the Lord. We may have our scruples as to the significance

their hearts to do so and perform His will, come to one mind,         attached to these things.    Fact is, -nevertheless, that the

the mind of the beast, and destroy the harlot they first loved.       sacraments as well as the Word are administered, as always

And it is only after the angel has spoken of the destruction          and just as well in the true'church of Christ. In a word, the

of the harlot as such that he explains the symbol of the              harlot woman represents the church, the church of Christ,

woman once more as the great city, which hath dominion                with the Word and the sacraments, ai she comes to mani-

over the kings of the earth. And in the next chapter the              festation here upon earth. The woman is the church as we

destruction of the city is pictured to us. Just as we have            know her. Just as well as any real harlot outwardly looks

learned to distinguish, therefore, between the woman as the           just like any other woman, so also does the harlot-church

harlot-church and the woman as the mystic city, so we shall           look like the true Church of Christ on earth in her  entire

also have to distinguish between these two in their end. And          appearance.

the order of events will evidently be thus, that the apostate            The same we must remember of the beast. In itself, the
church as a separate church institution will be done away             beast as pictured in the words of our passage is nothing
with first of all, so that the church shall no more exist, and        wrong.    It is simply the regular state with its regular, in-
that exactly this destruction of the church apostate shall lead       stituted government, as we all believe in the legality and
to the final unification of all so-called religion, and culminate     necessity of its existence in this dispensation. This is very
in the religion of the beast, without any church as such, but         plain from the heads. They are seven kings, and they con-
with Babylon, the great city, for its leading center. I think         stitute seven manifestations of different states and govern-
this order of events stands beyond all doubt, and is exactly          ments. As such there was nothing wrong with them. God
as the text describes it to us, and therefore as such really          wills that they shall be there. God has Himself instituted
needs no explanation. Yet we must make an attempt, in the             government for this dispensation, just as well as He has
light of what we see in the history of the world today, some-         established and instituted the church. It makes no difference
what to explain the possibility of this order, and try to picture     now what form of government is meant. It does not make
to ourselves how things are to develop, as far as we are              a particle of difference for our purpose whether the govern-
permitted to see. And in order to obtain a clear under-               ments referred to were empires or monarchies or republics.
standing of these things we must try to explain what is               Fact is that they are regularly instituted governments, with
really meant by the harlotry of the church with the beast.            their heads and officers, with their power and authority, with

       And then it will be necessary, first of all, that we obtain    their laws and maintenance of these laws, with their armies

a clear picture of the realities that are symbolized by the           and navies. So also the ten horns inform us: they shall be

woman, as well as by the beast. The woman, we must re-                ten kings, or ten governments,' in the world. And therefore,

member, in her outward appearance is the instituted church            also these represent nothing but regularly instituted, orderly,

of Christ on earth. Outwardly she is nothing but the church           God-willed governments, institutions of God in the world.

in her entire appearance in the world. In every respect she           And therefore, outwardly, as to the form of this womaq and

looks like the true church externally. She calls herself church       of this beast there is nothing wrong. The woman represents

of Christ. She has her church edifices, just as the true              the church as an institution of God ; and the beast with all

church. In those sanctuaries the congregation gathers, at             his heads and horns represents worldly government as God

least on every sabbath, for worship. As you enter, you find           has willed that it should exist. Regardless now of their

that on the pulpit lies the Word of God, the Scriptures, just         degenerate character, there is as such nothing wrong in either

as it is in the true church. There is no difference. Behind           of them. They are both institutions of God. They both have

the pulpit stands the regularly ordained minister of the              their work and their purpose in the world. And without

Word. Regardless now of what use there is made of that                neither could this dispensation continue.

Bible on the pulpit, regardless too of how the minister ac-               But the purpose of our chapter is undoubtedly to picture
complishes his task of administering the Word, fact is that           these two in a most wonderful combination, in a most inti-
outwardly there is no difference. The Bible on the pulpit             mate union. And it is exactly the nature  of this union, or
and the minister of that Bible behind it, pretending to ad-           confederacy, between the instituted church and the instituted
minister the Word of God to the congregation, and that                government which makes of the woman the harlot and of the
congregation too, in outward appearance look like the true            beast the antichristian kingdom. This is symbolically por-
church. They sing and pray, confess, and listen to the preach-        trayed in the fact that the woman is sitting on the beast-a
ing of the Word. And as they go, they receive the benediction         most intimate relation and combination of the two.
in the name of-God.  Regardless, again, of the nature of their
worship, they evidently gather for the worship of God in                                                           :.. :        H.H.


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               1.29


                                                                  .faithful  to the fkith  of their father. Chief among them was
   A .CLOUD OF WITNESSES /                                        Reuel, a friend `of God as his name implied. He served in
                                                                  the capacity of Ijriest  to the faithful. It was toward the home

                                                                  of this man Reuel that Moses by the hand of God's prov-

                    Moses in Midian                               idence was being led.

                                                                      As Moses sat by the well, the daughters of Reuel ap-
           Now Mqses kept the flock of Jethro  his father in
                                                                  proached to perform the daily task of watering their father's
           law,  the priest of Midian.           EXODUS 3 :1
                                                                  flock. There follows a meeting which reminds us of the

   With anguish and confusion weighing `upon his soul,            experiences of Eliezer and Jacob in Haran.  There were also
Moses made his way toward the wilderness of Midian.  He           those in Midian  who were antagonistic to Reuel and his
wandered almost aimlessly. His thoughts were not on the           household. It was their custom when Reuel's daughter came
place to which he was going but upon all that he was leaving      to water the flock to drive them away, forcing them to wait
behind. Behind him were all of the privileges of his child-       until everyone else was finished. So did they also on this
hood. No longer would he know the luxuries of Pharaoh's           day when Moses sat watching. However, within Moses there
court, the schooling which he had enjoyed and mastered, the       was a heart of kindness such as is peculiar to the people of
servants anxious to do. his every bidding, the countless op-      God, whether Rebecca, or Jacob, or Moses. He could not
portunities of influence and advancement. Behind him were         endure merely to look on amid such apparent rudeness and
all the dreams of his youth. More and more through his            injustice.    Although weary, he still presented an imposing
young life his mind had been dominated by plans of what           figure as he approached the men. There was the dignity of
he would do for the children of Israel. He had thought to         one raised in the royal court. There was the confidence of
unite himself with them. He had thought to lead them in a         one who understood full well what he was doing. There was
glorious demonstration of power. He had thought to be their       the determinatiqn of one incensed with a feeling for, justice.
savior. But now these dreams were all shattered and were          With a few sharp and threatening words he sent the men
being left behind. Behind him, and this hurt most of all,         scurrying away. Nor did his regal bearing prevent him from
were being left the people of God. The Israelites were his        stooping to the menial task of filling the troughs with water.
brethren and the fellow objects of God's promises. His heart      With dispatch the daughters of Reuel were soon on their
had cried for them in their suffering, and his prayer had         way. Enthused, as only young girls can be, they related to
been for their deliverance. abut now he was leaving the land,     their father how they had been saved by an Egyptian from
and they were being left behind -in bondage.                      the customary rudeness of the shepherds. Not wanting in
                                                                  hospitality and gratitude, Reuel quickly sent the girls again
   Quite conscious was Moses all of the time that he had          to invite the man to come to their home and stay.
made an irretractable choice. He was not sorry that it had
been made, but moment by moment he began to realize the               Surely it was not long before Reuel and Moses discovered
more the greatness of the consequences. By fleeing the land       the common ground that lay between them. They feared and
he was .acltnowledging  before .everyone  that he was guilty      worshipped the same God. Soon Moses discarded his courtly
in the murder of the Egyptian taskmaster. It meant that a         robes for the clothing of the  field to engage in the duties of
membe; of Pharaoh's own household had taken the part of           the household. Time went on and Moses was united in mar-
the Israelites over against the Egyptians. It was a personal      riage with Zipporah, one of Reuel's daughters. God had
disgrace to Pharaoh and surely aroused his greatest wrath.        provided him with a place where he could dwell. In the
Pharaoh would have been willing, even anxious, to have            household was the fear of God, and Moses could remain
Moses remain  and deny the charges so as to spare the             there without fear.

reputation of the royal court.. But that would have implied           Still, although-Moses was supplied with the needed com-
a false denial on Moses' part, and because he feared God          munion of saints, there was a facet of his spiritual life which
Moses knew that the present course was best.                      neither Reuel nor Zipporah could share. They were des-

   Weary from pondering this all, Moses came to rest at           cendants through Keturah and could  not appreciate the

the side of a well in Midian.  Little did he realize how care-    central place which Israel and his children held in the cov-

fully the invisible hand of God's providence was guiding him.     enant of God. They felt no special sympathy for the Israelites

While in Egypt Moses had been close to the people of God.         who laboied  `in the bondage of Egypt. They had no strong

Perhaps he had been allowed from time to time to return to        desire for the ,day  when the children oft Jacob would be

the spiritual fellowship of his parents' home. Now he was         delivered from the hand of Pharaoh. They did not see the

leaving this sphere of covenant fellowship to go, as it were,     need for Israel being  retuPned  to Canaan. But these were

into banishment alone. But God would not lkaie  one of His        .the things that dominated the mind of Moses. Moses tried

chosen vessels completely isolated from the communion of          to explain his concern to them but they could not seem to

saints. In Midian  thkrk  dwelt the descendants of Abraham        understand, and even resented the prominent place which

through Keturah, a small remnant of which still remained          Israel held in his heart and mind. Moses soon learned that


130                                       THE  .S:TANDA.RQ   B E A R E R
                                                                                                            -I._-

this burden of his heart had to be borne alone: More and             anguish. His days were dark from the sorrow of sin; his

more he began to withdraw himself with the flock into the            nights were sleepless from the light of God's holiness. He
solitude of the wilderness? there to commune with his God            had learned to know himself as never before. He was a sinner.

all alone. =                                                         He had sinned, not so much against the Egyptian, nor against

                                                                     the Israelite, but against God. How presumptuous it had

                                                                     been for him to endeavor to establish himself as a leader in
       The early years of Moses' sojourn in ,Midian  were hard
                                                                     Israel ; how foolish to think that he could save the people of
and .bitter  years. Outwardly he seemed to have adapted
                                                                     God. It would have been just had God allowed him to die
himself to the quiet life of a herdsman, but inwar'dly  his heart
                                                                     by Pharaoh's sword. Salvation would come to Israel, but
was often in turmoil. The ,royal robes of the court could be
                                                                     not by his hand.; it would be solely by the hand of the Lord.
laid aside, but a man's nature can not be shed like a garment.
                                                                     Moses came in repentance to God, and there he found peace.
The dreams and ambitions of his youth had been many.years
                                                                     Was it not in that day when his second son was born ? He
in developing ; they lingered with him still. As he guided
                                                                     named the son Eliezer, "for the God of my father, said he,
Reuel's sheep, he thought repeatedly of the greater flock
                                                                     was n&e help, and delivered me from the sword  of Pharaoh."
which he had longed to lead along those same roads. With

pent-up feelings approaching resentment, he questioned why              Forty years passed by in Mid&n,  and Moses was a
it could not have been so. Had not he had the ability, the           changed man. Gone .was  the refinement, the'kloquence,  the
preparation, the qualifications to lead the people of God?           dignity of the court. In its place appeared a common man,
And according to prophecy was not the time drawing nigh              almost crude after the manner of a shepherd. His clothes
when Abraham's seed should be delivered ? Earnestly Moses            were poor, dirty, and torn from much wandering in the
sought for the answers. With a sorrow so great that it hurt,         wilderness. His words were simple and few. Self-confidence
he thought on his rejection by the Israelites. Why had they          had given way to timidity. The-years had left their mark.
refused to receive him as one of their brethren ? Why had            The ambition and enthusiasm of y&h had subsided into
they defended the Egyptian over against him ? Perhaps he             quietness and patience. He now was a n@ content to be a
had. been a bit hasty.     Maybe he should have been more            mere shepherd. To all appearances the advantages of Mos&'
careful. But was that sufficient reason for them to treat him        youth had been wasted. What good was all of his schooling
as they did ? Time and again Moses felt as though he should          and royal upbringing, out here in the barren wastes ? Where
lzasten  back to Egypt to see if he could not establish himself      in .it all was the wisdom .of God ?
again. Bui he could not. Pharaoh would seek for his life ;
                                                                        Also inwardly there had come a change. Still there was
and his brethren would not receive him. Those were to Moses
                                                                     the same faith and hope which had been with him from l$
years of banishment. He felt rejected on every side. A son
                                                                     youth. The instruction of his parents had not been forgotten.
was born to him and he named `the child Gershom, "for he
                                                                     Still' his love was with Israel in. bondage. He longed for
said, I have been a stranger in a strange land."
                                                                     Israel's deliverance; he prayed for it from day  to day. But

                                                                     Moses himself no longer figured in these visions of deliver-
       Slowly the years passed by, and with them Moses' out-         ance. What could he possibly do, a.`mere  sinner? It was a
look made a change.       His confidence began to waver and          work that only God could perform. The dreams of his youth
slowly to slip away. Amid the solitude of the wilderness the         were but folly. The most for which he dared hope was that,
ability he had thought himself to possess did not se$m quite         if he lived, he might join himself to the people of Go+  `Tn
so convincing.     He had been mighty in !yord  and in deed          their deliverance. If the grace of God would  allow, he l&ged
while attending the schools of Egypt; but was that sufficient        to go with Israel to the promised land.                   `<
to lead the people of God ? A voice from the past which
                                                                        We look back over the ages, and at -first glance we tqo are
had long remained in the mind of Moses as an uncomfortable
                                                                     apt to. dismiss the years in Midian  as of little accoutit,  a
whisper began to grow into a loud, accusing roar, "Who made
                                                                     marking of time, a mere waiting for the proper time. Yet
thee a ruler and a judge over us ?" Those had been the last
                                                                     for Moses those years were the most important of all. In
words spoken to him in Egypt and for them he had never
                                                                     Egypt he was taught of man, and that had its importance and
found an answer. Try as he might he could not escape  their
                                                                     value. But in Midian  he was taught of Gpd. Moses learned
implication. How long did he try to forget them ? How often          to know himself as a sinner. He learned patience atid com-
did he try to resist their meaning? We of couise do not
                                                                     plete reliance upon God.
know; but if we may deduce from our own egperiences,  the
                                                                                                                               B.W.
admission was hard in coming. But Moses was a child of

God and the time of confession had to come. He had been

an impostor. He had gone beyond his right. There was no

more room for bitterness. There was no more room for                        The God of salvation shall righteousness give ;

resentment ,against  others. If he was in banishment, it was                That man ever blest of Jehovah shall live,

only a banishmknt  that was just.                                           For this is the people, yea, this is the'race,

That tias undoubtedly the time of Moses' greatest                           The Israel true that are seeking His face.


                                             T H E ' S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              131


                                                                   child. This is noteworthy. For do we not read in the Scrip-

          F R O M   H O L Y   W R I T                              tures that "many are called but few are chosen"? And there-
                                                                   for the phenomenon that "many antichrists have gone forth"
                                                                   should not be viewed by us as if the word of God had fallen

                                                                   out. Rather it must be noticed that also herein not one of
               Exposition of I John 2:18-21                        God's words falls unfulfilled upon the earth.

                                 cl.                                      That this child shall be "contradicted" does not simply

                                                                   mean that people will differ in opinion *with  Him (perish
    This essay will be the last that we write on this section      the thought), but it means that they will deny His very per-

 from the pen of the apostle John.                                 son ; they will deny that He is God, the Son come into the

    We have noticed in the three former essays that John           flesh! Did the Jews and chief-priests not cry "crucify him,
 points out to his readers that it is the "last hour." We have     crucify him" when He made the good confession that He is
 found that the last hour must be understood in the light of       the Son of God? Then He is declared worthy of death.

the Old Testament prophetical writings. It is the last hour               Thus only can it be understood that "many antichrists
 from the vantage-point of the Seers. We have also noticed         have gone forth." (They  are men and women who heard the
 that we must remember the meaning of the term "hour" in           word of God, who were once enlightened, and have tasted of
 the writings of John to see the peculiar point John is making     the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy
 when he speaks of the last hour. The term "hour" we saw           Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers
 refers to the God-appointed time when His Son will be re-         of the world to come - and have fallen away ! They are
 vealed in the flesh, through suffering and death, and in his      those who it is impossible to renew unto repentance, seeing
 glorious resurrection. It is the hour when God himself shall      they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put
 be glorified in the Son and when the judgment shall come          Him to an open shame! Heb. 6:4-6.  They are like the earth
 upon the earth, the "krisis" to make separation between the       that `having drunk in the rain bringeth forth and beareth

 living and the dead. And then, thirdly, we also noticed that      thorns and briers, and is rejected.

 John points out that the coming of the Antichrist, and the               Such are these antichrists !
 going forth of many antichrists from the bosom of the church
 is an infallible sign that it is the last hour.                          They are liars. Intentionally and consciously they corrupt
                                                                   the truth being condemned of themselves. Theirs is a bitter
    Concerning this last element, namely, the eavj%ark  of the
                                                                   hatred against God revealed `in Christ. And in their hatred
 last hour we must say just a word yet.
                                                                   they have gone' forth from the church. Up to the very mo-
     Writes John : (`and  even as ye have heard that Antichrist    ment in which `John writes this is an accomplished fact. In
 shall come, and now many antichrists have gone forth.             the first century of our Christian era this was already true.
 Whence we know that it is the last hour."                         And it is always the same "antichrists" who depart from

    There is a truth of Scripture which we really meet on          sound doctrine.'

 every page of the sacred record. It is the phenomenon that               And that these went forth from the church is as it should
 there are always so "many" that leave the bosom of the            be.
 church, depart from sound doctrine and deny the very Christ
                                                                          Writes John in verse 18, "Now" they have gone forth.
 of the Scriptures. And we ask : whence is this ? How must
 that be accounted for? Is this a setting aside of the intent             And he adds, "Wherefore we know that it is the last
 and purpose of God in His Son? Is this contrary to the            hour."     The entire church has a sure evidence and earmark
 plan and design of God? Has the word of God fallen out?           in this departure of these apostates. The church knows, KY-
                                                                   peviences  that it is the last hour. She lives through this
     The answer to this question is clearly given us in Holy
                                                                   event. She sees the date on God's calendar. She counts and
 Writ.
                                                                   numbers her days in the light of the great plan and, purpose
     We have but to recall the Word of God through the aged        of God, in the light of Him who is the Alpha and the omega,
 Simeon in the temple to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Remem-         the Lord God Almighty. And she is not unduly disturbed by
 ber that Simeon here was the mouthpiece of the Lord. He           `it all. She knows God's times and purposes and his `intent
 was a prophet. And holding the child Jesus in his arms he         in all of history. And she knows and experiences in the
 speaks of the "salvation prepared before the face of all the      departure of these apostates from the faith that it is the last
 nations, a light to enlighten (by revelation) the nations, and    hour. And she, is not mistaken !
 the glory of God's people, Israel:" `And what is said besides
 this ? This : "behold this child is set (appointed of God) for           She hears the Lord of glory above it all say: be still and
 a fall and rising of many in Israel, and unto a sign that will    know that I am God . . . .

 be contradicted." Luke 2 329-35.                                         For God's bztrpose  is worked out in this "going forth" of

     It will be "many" in Israel which shall contradict this       the antichrists. Says John in verse 19, "They went out from


132                                           T H E   STANDAR?   B E A R E R


us for they were not of us; for if they were of us, they WOL~C~        flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking

have remained with us." The word of God is not fallen out.             perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."

God hath never forsaken, the people whom he foreknew. Ram.                 Such is ever the history of God's church in every age.
9 :6 ; 11:2.  For it is ever of grace. There is ever a remnant
                                                                           It explains also our own recent experiences ! !
according to the election of grace. Thus it was in the days

of Elijah when he thinks that he alone is left. Then the                   There is one more thing that we must here notice.

answer of God to him is, "I have reserved to myself seven                  I refer here, of course, to the fact that there is a principle
thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image                 of knowledge in the church. The church knows the truth.
of Eaal." Rom. 11:4 ; I Kings 19 :lO. For those whom God               Reformed people have,  "Gereformeerde  voelhorens." They
had foreordained he hath also `called, and those whom he hath          have spiritual knowledge. They have the anointing of the
called he hath justified, and those whom he hath justified he          Holy One. They have the mind of Christ.
hath also glorified. Rom. 8 :30.
                                                                           Recently when I patiently set forth the Reformed position
       When those who go forth are antichrists then we must            in the matter of the "promise" as taught in the Heidelberg
not desire to keep them! Not those who declare by confes-              Catechism, Canons of Dort, and when I was all finished the
sion and walk that they are an&Christ.  They must go forth. It         party with whom I was speaking said : "If theologians cannot
is the divine intent to "manifest" them,. to show them up              agree, how will I know." Well, he did not stop the world
for what they really are. They went out that it might be               and get off. He took the side of those who want a promise
manifest who they are. The chaff must be separate from the             to all.
wheat. When that happens it has come to the end of the
                                                                           Now this is not what John teaches here. The "little chil-
season. It has become harvest time. And in this dispensa-
                                                                       dren" have the unction of the Holy One. They are not like
tion when we have the first-fruits of the full harvest, we also
                                                                       the natural man, the psychical man; who cannot put spiritual
see the first-fruits of the final manifestation of the judgment,
                                                                       things with spiritual.. It is revealed to the little children.
the "crisis" of God. That is a part of the "hour" of the Son
                                                                       They are not separated from the life of God. They are in-
of Man, the last hour !                                                dwelt by the Spirit of the Son, the Holy One. And thus they
       We all must be mau$esfed  before God's throne. II Cor.          even know the truth. And since no lie is of the truth, they
5 :lO..                                                                very well, distinguish the error of those who deny that Jesus

       Indirectly it is also true, when the antichrists leave, that    is the Son of God, from the truth that He indeed is the Son

those who are true believers are brought to manifestation.             Who came into this world. It is true that this is all foolish-
Such is the divine crisis in this last hour. Does not Paul             ness to the natural man. By his wisdom he cannot know

write in I Cor. 11:19: "For there must be also heresies                God. But we are enlightened. We all know.

among you, that they which are approved may be manifest                    There is a difference of reading. One reading has "and
among you."                                                            ye know all things." The other is "and ye all know." Per-

       The true believers become manifest.                             sonally I prefer .the latter reading. And "ye all" know. All

                                                                       the believers have the spirit and are prophets. It is the- office
       They are. the "little children" whose sins are forgiven
                                                                       of all believers. This does not mean that they need no in-
for Christ's name's sake, and who know the Father and over-
                                                                       struction. But when instruction is given they know whether
,come  the evil one in the battle of faith. They conquer the
                                                                       this is according to the rule of faith or not. The churCh is
world. The Evil One does not lay hold on them. And since
                                                                       not an orphan. She is led into all the truth. And when those
anyone in whom the seed is planted cannot "sin unto death,"
                                                                       who deny the central truth in Chist  speak out, they are
they cannot belong to the numbers of those who are "anti-
                                                                       known by all to be a&christian.
christs."
                                                                           John writes them no unknown truths. He writes them
       Had any of those who left, these antichrists, truly been
                                                                       because they know, and because of what they know. And
of the elect number, living members of Christ by true faith,
                                                                       they must abide in the truth. They are established in it and
they would never have left.         They would surely have re-
                                                                       they must remain standing. Then they shall not be ashamed
mained.
                                                                       in that day.
       But now they are simply dedicated to the negative prin-
ciple that they are                                                        For in this day, right now we know the time. It is the
                       against. They are against all the doctrine
of the Scriptures, corrupting them to their own destruction.           "last hour." We will know our times. And if for us to live
Thus Paul warned the church of Ephesus as recorded in                  is Christ, the Son of God in the flesh, then death will be
Acts 20:28-30:  "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and              our gain. We shall then rejoice in the great love of God, and
to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you              look for that day when we shall be like Him and see Him
,overseers,  to feed the church of God, which he hat11 purchased       as He is.

with his own blood.' For I know this that after my departing           i : ' .:.:                                                   G.L.
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the                                                                     .
                                                                                               ., ,: `Y.

                                                                                                                    ..-


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  133

                                                                         -
                                                                    Well,  t$age  does  it and being children of the gge, we do
            IN  H I S   F E A R                                     it too. But sl&tual strangers in this eaqth  whose bodies are
                                                                    temples of the Holy Ghost one would never imagine &"to bk.

                                                                    0, we do not want to be a peculiar  people-eyen  though God

                                                                    through the mouth of Peter declares that-we `are  "a chosen
                  Children of Our Age                               generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people" ?hat we

                                                                    should show forth the praises of .Him  Who- called 11s' out of

                                                                    darkness into -His marvellous light, I Peter 2 :9. We must

    Last time we began to point out to you how much indeed          not be different from the age in which we live. Our flesh

we are the children of our age.                                     which is part of that world wants to keep up with the world

                                                                    in all its fashions, its customs and habits. It -is so much
    Our flesh, we pointed dut, is not simply like the flesh of
                                                                    easier and more,  pleasafit  to drift with the tide. That we are,
this world, it is a part of that world. It is no different from
                                                                    by God's grace, children of the eternal age, we are so
the flesh of the .unregenerated,  and in itself it has all the
                                                                    reluctant to display. We wish to have the world'consider us
potential of evil that the world has. We do not always have
                                                                    to be one with them.
the same occasion and;opportunity  to sin.' Many of the un-

godly have little opportunity to sin compared with others.              And the same thing, of course, may be said of our cloth-

Even Adam in Paradise after he fell had not the same                ing as we are children of our age. No, we do not mean the

opportunity that you and I have today. We have not only             fabrics as such. In our age we have, indeed, some wonderful

many more means, but we also live in a far more complex             fabrics which the children of former ages never knew. We

world. Adam for a long time could not commit adultery and           have our nylon `and our dacron together with a whole array

never came to thq point where he had to honor the earthly           of wonderful synthetics that serve us so wonderfully in many

authorities that were above him.       There simply were no         ways. Nylon has all but caused our silk to disappear; And
authorities over him. All honor had to be ascribed to him by        in our age we have grown up to accept it in the place and

Eve, Cain, Abel and all his grandsons and great-grandchil-          to like it for our clothing purposes. And dacron whi&  sheds

dren. Re did not have the opportunity to evade the income           its wrinkles so easily and keeps such a fine press for us for

tax laws or any other forms of taxation.                            so long a time is also well received and finds a welcome place

                                                                    in our clothing  `needs. Children we are who have access to
   But  how things have changed today!
                                                                    many of these wonderful things.         '
   We have such an abundance of things wherewith fo sin
against God and so many situations in which we can practice            However it is not these things from that point of view
our evil and work out the evil dictates of our hearts and           that we have in' mind. Nor is it simply style ,and  design of
minds. Not only is this so with the worldly entertainment of        the clothing of this age that interests us at the moment. To
which we spoke last time, and which is so easy for us to            be sure these styles differ from those of ages gone by. Many
reach even while sitting comfortably at home in our living          a laugh, or at least much amusement, can be had by looking
room; but there are also so many other areas in which we            at the styles of clothing in ages that are past. Those high
have such abundant opportunity to follow the bent of our            button shoes coinpared with our slim and graceful low-cut
evil lusts and wicked hearts. We wish at this time to point         shoes of today are to us. in this age ridiculous. And our loud
out -seyeral  other instances of the fact that we are children      colored shirts tiith  their large figures are a far cry .frqm
of our age in that we walk in its sins, and even that we try        the subdued and stiff shirts of long ago. And so it is with

to defend these evils of our age. For that is the tragedy of it.    dresses and &its, not to say anything about ladies' hats.
Not only do we do the things but we find delight in them            What a difference! Yet about all this we do not write

that do them. As Paul writes to the church at Rome, "Who            even though as far as these things are also concerned we are

knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such            children of our' age and would not think of going back to

things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have          those styles! Nor would we advocate it and call it wrong on

pleasure in them that do them," Romans' 1:32.                       our part to dress diaerently  than our great-gxandparents did.

   It is thus so sadly true, even though it is often stated            It is that clothing and those styles that have ethical and
somewhat humorously, that whtereas  in another age the mis-         spiritual significance. And so much of it today does exactly
sionaries found it their task and calling to tell the heathen       have such moral and ethical meaning. Much of it is designed
to put off their paint and to put on more clothing, today the       with corrupt morals in mind. Much of it is bold and daring
heathen can point to our lack of modest  clothing and ridicule      in its feeding of the lust of the flesh and glorification of un-
our painted `faces. Not only must the lips be an unnatural          cleanness. Need we even mention the matter of swimmmg
bloody red or other unnatural hue but there must be green           suits ? Or perhips  the lack of them is a better way to put it.
on the eyelids and delicate shades of purple in the corners of      Contrast them with the swimming suits of ages gone by. And
the eyes. The toenails even must come in for their  bloody          then you may giggle or chuckle to see those hideous, styleless
red or green or blue decorations. And this in the church!           garments of yesteryear. But you will have to admit that'ihey


134                                    T    H    E         $-TANDA$@  ,BEARER


were worn and designed with quite the opposite ethical              alcohol and of devilishness, is what this age listens to in
motive from that which hatched the modern batch of peek-a.          order to "soothe" its morally perverted nerves. And yet you
boo wear that leaves very little to the imagination.                hear it in the homes of God's people ! Do you ? Or is it in
                                                                    the homes of those who profess to be God's people? Can
       0, you say, but we get so accustomed to such things that
                                                                    the new man in Christ, can that which is born from above
we are not affected by them the way children of ages past
                                                                    and is a citizen in the kingdom of ethical perfection enjoy
would have been. It is such a common thing today that it no
                                                                    that stuff? Would you find Enoch  and Elijah, Peter and
longer offends. And we find other ways to try to defend it.
                                                                    Paul carrying transistor radios along with them to hear that
Shame on us. Why should we try to deceive ourselves ?
                                                                    banging and clanging and jumpy, off-beat and off-color
What greater folly is there than to practice self-deception?
                                                                    excuse for music ? And so is this age corrupted in these
Is it because we are so accustomed to these things and they
                                                                    things that a pocket radio, a portable radio is necessary to
are so commonplace that we live in such an adulterous age?
                                                                    insure this scrapping, hissing, perverted sound every waking
Is it so that by making sin a more common thing we will
                                                                    hour of men in this age. And our flesh will find a- good
no longer be tempted by sin ? Where do you read that in the
                                                                    word for it also.
Holy Script&es ? 0, wretched children of our age that we
are, we try to defend all this wickedness and find pleasure                Pleasure mad, .fun  crazy and amusement minded is the
in `those that commit it.                                           age in which we live. Let the Church of God suffer want, let
                                                                    it be financially in difficult straits, but my money must be
       And we could continue And call your attention to other
                                                                    put aside for these things of the flesh. A long &nd  expensive
spheres of our lives wherein it becomes very plain thjt we
                                                                    vacation I must take, because that is the thing that is done
are children of the age in `which we live. It is an age of dk-
                                                                    in this age. In that too we must keep up with the Joneses,;
respect for the authorities, an age when man clamors for
                                                                    no; I must keep ahead  of them. It is too bad that the cause
freedo& and then  he means freedom to do as he pleases and
                                                                    of Christ has to take less than I am willing to spend ori that
away with  all la& and. restraints. That is, away' with all
                                                                    vacation, on my sports, for my smoking pleasure, for `my
laws a@- restrain&  -for  himself, but let there be laws and                                                                   .-..
                                                                    weekly bowling, my concert tickets or football game exQense.
restraints for his protection. The women clamor for a place
                                                                    Too bad that I do not have anything left for the'%hurch  and
on the level  with man. They must be' his equal in every
                                                                    that the Church will have to be satisfied with what I might
sphere and domain where God has elevated the man above
                                                                    have left after I have satisfied my flesh; but that is exactly
her. But she will still feel insulted if you do not treat her as
                                                                    what my flesh as part of the evil world in which WC: .livc
a lady.  She will claim to be able to do a man's day of work
                                                                    says.
and  take his .place in the office, in the shop-and in almost
every department of life. But then when weary men come                     0, wretched children of this age, take stock of yourselves.
home from  work, and the bus or commuter train is crowded,          Stand foursquare before the Word `of God. In His fear d?
she will' expect you to forget that she is your  equal and that     a little self-examination and take good inventory. We ARE
she should be given,a  seat. The days of yore when this was         children of our age. But let it not stop there. Let us resolve
done, when a man tipped his hat in politeness and removed it        by God's grace to fight this evil and to walk as children of
in the elevator is gone. The woman has clamored for a place         light, imitators of God, children renewed after the image of
equal to man, and she is getting it in ways that have their         Christ. And let us by all means cease trying to defend all
sting.                                                              this corruption. Instead let us begin to condemn it and fight

                                                                    it.                                                        J.A.H.
       But also as far as government is concerned. There is not

that honor of the authorities that God demands in His Word

and that could be seen in ages past. No, we must have free-

dom of expression and we must be given permission to make
any derogatory remarks we please about those through whom                     The Lord is good in all His ways,
God is pleased to. rule us. And we may freely poison the                         His creatures know His constant care ;
minds of our children against the God-given authorities, even                 To all His works His he  extends,
though the thing `comes back on our own heads so that we                         All men His tender mercies share.

find our children growing in disrespect also for us. Such is
                                                                              Thy works shall give Thee thanks, 0 Lord,
the s'pirit  bf`the age in which we live. And as children of
                                                                                 Thy. saints Thy mighty acts shall show,
that age our flesh approves of all this and seeks it in the                   Till o'er the earth the sons of men
slogan "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die."
                                                                                 Thy kingdom, power, and glory know.
 Music and painting also express this lawlessness. The
rhythm and harmony must be free from the restraint of the                     Eternal is Thy kingdom, Lord,,
,laws of music as man has always known them to be. Sug-                        Forever strong and ever sure ;
`gestive syocopation  and delirious dissonance which to wrik                 While ,generations  rise and die
a man must be drunken and to, play requires also a spirit of                     Shall Thy dominion still endure.


                                           TH+- STAND.ARD-BEAR-E:R~                                                                  135
                    _           _ .

                                                                     ciples of the Rkformation are usually considered to be two
        Contending FOP The Faith' - and are disting$ished as the formal and the material prin-
                                                                     ciple. The forhal principle implies that tlie  Reformers

                                                                     acknowledged only one source of authority: the Holy Scrip-

                                                                     tures.    With this principle they stood opposed to Roman
         The Church and the Sacraments                               Catholicism, False Mysticism, and also to Rationalism. We

                                                                     have already discussed the opposition to and their rejection
         THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION
                                                                     of Roman Catholicism (Rome acknowledges, besides the

               VIEWS ON THE CHURCH                                   Scriptures, alsd Tradition as a source of authority), and
                                                                     False Mysticisni. We will now call attention to the Reforma-
                  FORMAL PRINCIPLE                                   tion's rejection bf Rationalism.


                           (continued)                                   Rationalism and False Mysticism are closely related.

                                                                     There is one thing they have in common.. Both lower the
   In our preceding article we called attention to the many          Holy Scriptures to a subordinate position. Both deny to
objections against the theory of False Mysticism. We noted           Holy Writ the unique position that it alone is a sole rule for
that this Mysticism has no support in the Scripture. Wk also         all life and conduct of the Church and of the people of God
called attention to the fact that it is contrary to what we read     in the midst of the world. False Mysticism elevates the so-
in the Scriptures. And, in the third place, we noted that it is      called faculty of feeling (we do not speak of feeling as a
contrary to fact and experience. We will now continue                third faculty of the human soul; we believe that the human
with the listing of these objections.                                soul has two fticulties,  the mind and the will, and that our

   Fourthly, we must reject the doctrine of False Mysticism          feeling must be subordinated to them) above the Scriptures.

because it deprives us of the only true criterion, the only true     False Mysticism emphasizes the importance of the inner voice

standard for what is right and wrong. Are we going to                and assigns to this inner voice an importance greater than

determine what is right or wrong, true or false, orthodox or         the written Word of God. False Mysticism, therefore, ele-

heretical simply :by the inner operation of the Holy Spirit?         vates our feeling above the Bible and subbrdinates  the latter

Shall we believe a-man who defends and proclaims a certain           to the former. j Rationalism elevates man's mind -or reason

doctrine or a certain way of living simply because the Spirit        above the Scriptures. Hence, both (False Mysticism and

told him -what to believe or do ?. Wh,at  must we believe when       Rationalism) reduce the Word of God to a subbrdinate

there are varying o&ions and convictjons  among men who              position. And inany  of our readers will undoubtedly know

al\ claim to have been led by the Spirit  of God? Besides, is        that also our Protestant Reformed Churches have been ac-

it not possible that a man may be the victim of a delusion, of       cused of Rationalism. We have been accused `of this sin in

his own imagination ? How can we know that he was led by             our approach tb the Word of God and in OUT refutation. of

the Spirit of God, especially when he differs from others who        the theory of Common Grace and Arminianism as both of

also claim the guidance of the Holy Spirit? And how shall            these departures from the truth are embodied in the T$XZ

we test the spirits whether they be oi God ? What will be            Points of 1924. We have been accused that we are rakional-

our standard, our criterion?' Our own subjective feelings and        istic  in our interpretation of the Bible, that we have per&ted

emo$ions  ? There is only one certain. criterion, standard by        our Reason to tontrol  and dominate this interpretation, that

which we shall test whether the spirits are of God: the in-          we have attempted to explain the Word of God  so that that

fallible Word of God. And this principle was maintained              Word of God tiould  fit into our framework of human think-

by the Reformation over against this~ False Mysticism.               ing and logic. This, if true, would surely be a most terrible

   Finally, we must reject False Mysticism because it has            thing. It is surely terrible for insignificant man to force the
certainly led to all kinds of irregularities and evils. Mysticism    Word of God into the framework and "straight jacket" of
has always been productive of evil. It has led to the neglect        his thinking and reason, to allow and teach only such exposi-
or undervaluing of Divine institutions-of the Church, of the         tion of the Scriptures which he can comprehend and under-
mii-&try,  of the sacraments, of the Sabbath a&d  of the Scrip-      stand. We surkly  reject this accusation with all our heart
tures. History shows that it has also led to the greatest ex-        and believe that we want only the Word of God to be its
cesses and corruptions. Of course! If we depart from the             own interpreted.  This does not mean, however, as we shall
Word of God,as the only lamp before our feet and the only            note in due t&e,  that the Word of God is irrational, and
light upon our path and become a victim of subjectivism, we          that our reason has no role to perform iti our app&&h to
will invariably become a law unto ourselves, for we have             the infallible Sci-iptures.

departed from the Scriptures, the only law, God's sole guide'
                                                                         Ph'ilip Schaff  in his H,istd,ry  of the Christian  Church,  has
to lead and direct our path.
                                                                     an' interesting chapter on "The Reformation and Rational-
   r THE REFORMATION VS. RATIONALISM                                 ism" in Vol. VII, pages 26-42, and we quote this passage
   We have noted in previous articles that the main prin-            now in full.


 136                                         THE  STAND.ARD  BEAR.ER


                The  Refomution   a n d   Rationalims.                 Germany and of the Libertines in Geneva. An intelligent 4
                                                                       faith is the best protection against infidelity ; and a liberal -
        The Roman Catholic Church makes Scripture and tradi-           government is a safeguard against revolution.
 tion the supreme rule of faith, laying the chief stress on
                                                                          The connection of the Reformation with Rationalism is
 tradition, that is, the teaching of an infallible church headed
                                                                       a historical fact, but they are related to each other as the
 by an infallible Pope, as the judge of the meaning of both.
                                                                       rightful use of intellectual freedom to the excess and abuse
        Evangelical Protestantism makes the Scripture alone the        of it. Rationalism asserts reason against revelation, and
 supreme rule, but uses tradition and reason as means in               freedom against divine as well as human authority. It is a
 ascertaining its true sense.                                          one-sided development of the negative, protesting, antipapal

        Rationalism raises human reason above Scripture and            and antitraditional factor of the Reformation to the exclusion

 tradition, and accepts them only as far as they come within           of its positive, evangelical faith in the revealed will and word

 the limits of his comprehension. It makes rationality or              of God. It denies the supernatural and miraculous. It has a

 intelligibility the measure of credibility. We take the word          superficial sense of sin and guilt, and is essentially Pelagian ;
 Rationalism here in the technical sense of a theological              while the Reformation took the opposite Augustinian ground

 system and tendency, in distinction from rational theology.           and proceeded from the deepest conviction of sin and the
 The. legitimate use of reason in religion is allowed by the           necessity of redeeming grace. The two systems are thus theo-
 Catholic and still more by the Protestant church, and both            retically and practically opposed to each other. And yet there
1 have produced scholastic systems in full harmony with                is an intellectual and critical affinity between them, and Ra-
 orthodoxy. Christianity is above reason, but not against              tionalism is inseparable from the history of Protestantism. It
 reason.                                                               is in the modern era of Christianity what Gnosticism was in
        The Reformation is represented as the mother of Ration-        the ancient church - a revolt of private judgment against the
 .alism  both by Rationalistic and by Roman Catholic his-              popular faith and church orthodoxy, an overestimate of
 torians and controversialists,  but from an opposite point of         theoretic knowledge, but also a wholesome stimulus to in-
 view, by the former to its credit, by the latter to the dis-          qiry and progress. It is not a church or sect (unless we
 paragement of both.                                                   choose to include Socinianism and Unitarianism), but a
                                                                       school in the church, or rather a number of schools which
        The Reformation, it is said, took the first step in the        differ very considerably from each other.                 _I.
 emancipation of reason: it freed us from the tyranny of the
 church. Rationalism took the second step: it freed us from               Rationalism appeared first in the seventeenth century in
 the tyranny of the Bible. "Luther," says Lessing, the                 the Church of England, though without much effect upon
 champion of criticism against Lutheran orthodoxy, "thou               the people, as Deism, which asserted natural religion versus
 great, misjudged man! Thou hast redeemed us from the                  revealed religion ; it was matured in its various phases `after
 yoke of tradition: who will redeem us from the unbearable             the middle of the eighteenth century on the Continent,
 yoke of' the letter ! Who will at last bring us a Christianity        especially in Protestant Germany since Lessing (d: 1751)
 such as thou would teach us now, such as Christ himself               and Semler (d. 1791))  and gradually obtained the mastery
 would teach !" (This reaction of Rationalism, of course, need         of the chairs and pulpits of Lutheran and Reformed churches,
 not surprise us. Man would free himself from;  the` tyranny           till about 1817, when a revival of the positive faith of the
 of the church for the same reason as that which `prompts him          Reformation spread over Germany and a serious conflict
 in his desire to be free from the "tyranny" of the Scriptures.        began between positive and negative Protestantism, ' which
 .Man simply would be his own lord. - H.V.)                            continues to this day.

        Roman Catholics go still further and hold Protestantism           1. Let us first consider the relation of the Reformation
 responsible for all modern revolutions and for infidelity itself,     to the use of reason as a general principle. The Lord willing,
 and predict its ultimate dismemberment and dissolution. But           we will continue with this quotation from Philip Schaff  in
 this charge is sufficiently set aside by the undeniable fact          our following article.

 that modern infidelity and revolution in their worst forms                                                                   H . V .

 have appeared chiefly in Roman Catholic countries, as

 desperate reactions against hierarchical and political despot-                    Though in life he wealth attained,
 ism. The violent suppression of the Reformation in France                         Though the praise of men he gained,
 ended.  at ,last in a radical overthrow of the social order of the
   . . .                                                                           He shall join those gone before,
 church. In Roman Catholic countries, .like Spain and Mexico,
                                                                                   Where the light shall shine no more.
 revolution has become a chronic disease. Romanism provokes
 infidelity among cultivated minds by its excessive super-                         Crowned with honor though he be,
 naturalism.                                                                       Highly gifted, strong and free,

  _ The keformation  checked the skepticism of the renais-                         If he be not truly wise,
 sance, and the anarchical tendencies of the Peasants' War in                      Man is like the beast that dies.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARE.R                                                        137


          SHOULD OUR ADOLESCENTS BE                                        faith ; might be questioned on all the articles, and might give
            ENCOURAGED TO PARTAKE                                          suitable .answers  :- if he were ignorant of any, or did not
               OF THE LORD'S SUPPER?                                       fully understand them, he should be taught. Thus the church
                                                                           would witness his confession of the only true and pure faith,

                                 (2)                                       in which all the-  community of believers unanimously wor-
                                                                           ship the one God. If this discipline were observed in the
    At the conclusion of our previous article we stated that               present day, it would certainly sharpen the inactivity of some
our answer to the first question, namely, "Should covenant                 parents, who carelessly neglect the instruction of their chil-
youth .of 12 to 15 years old be encouraged to partake of the               dren as a thing in which they have no concern, but which,
Lord's Supper before they make confession of faith?' was a                 in that case, they could not omit without public disgrace.
decisive No. The reasons for this negative answer we now                   There would be more harmony of faith among Christian
state.                                                                     people, nor would many betray such great ignorance and
    1) This plan zwuld  b'e contrmy  to all Refomwd  prece-                want of information ; some would not be so easily carried

dent a.nd  con.traq  to the ltistosic  positiora  of tJ$e chatrc~  ever    away with novel and strange tenets ; in short, all would have
since  afiostolic times.                                                   a regular acquaintance with Christian doctrine." Here it is

    Let us begin with Calvin himself, and at the same time                 evident, therefore, that Calvin pleads for an early confession
dispel the idea that he ever taught any such thing. Writing                of faith, not for admission to the Lord's table `prior to con-
in connection with his treatment of the Romish sacrament of                fession of faith. Whether this was due to Calvin's Romish
Confirmation, he states in his Imtitutes, IV, 19, 4: "It was               background, even while he opposed the idea of confirmation
an ancient custom of the church for the children of Christians             as such, I am not able to state. It is significant, however,
after they were come to years of discretion, to be presented               that while he speaks of the age of 10 in the Institutes, he
to the bishop in order to fulfill that duty which was required             later fixed the age for confession and admission to the Lord's
of adults who offered themselves to baptism. For such per-                 table in Geneva at 14 years, as did also's  Lasco  in the Church
sons were placed among the catechumens, until, being duly                  of the Refugees. (Cf. H. Bouwman, "Gereformeerd Kerk-
instructed in the mysteries of Christianity, they were enabled             recht,"  II, 384.) But at any rate, the tale that Calvin favored
to make a confession of faith before the bishop and all the                admission to the Lord's table prior to confession of faith
people. Therefore those who had been baptized in infancy,                  cannot be substantiated.

because they had not then made such aconfession before the                    Moreover, the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands

church, at the close of childhood, or the commencement of                  took this same stand from the very beginning. The Convent

adolescence, were again presented by their parents, and were               of Wezel, 156S,  the early synods (Dordrecht in 1574 and

examined by the bishop, according'to  the form of the cate-                1578, Middelburg, 1581, and `s Gravenhage, 1556) and the

chism which was then in common use." This quotation at                     Synod of Dordrecht, 161%`19 all emphasized rather strongly :
once teaches us that it-was *the  practice in the ancient church           1) The necessity of confession of faith for admission to the

to require of those baptized in infancy a period of catechetical           Lord's Supper. 2) The necessity of catechetical instruction

instruction and a confession of faith prior to admission to the            for the children and youth of the church. 3) The necessity
Lord's Supper. And church historians all confirm this: Bap-                of an examination of one's faith as to knowledgeof doctrine,
tized infants were instructed along with adult converts -                  conviction of the truth, and willingness to be subject to the
such'instruction  being along the trinitarian lines of the bap-            discipline of the church.    And in connection with this, we

tism formula and later following the lines of our present                  may remark that in this early period the public examination

Apostles' Creed- and upon confession .of faith were ad-                    of those who made confession of faith was more extensive
mitted to communion.                                                       than it is today, And this was also connected directly with

   And that Calvin himself was committed to this rule is                   admission to the Lord's Supper. In.fact, the early editions of
plain from the following quotation (IV, 19, 13) : "I sincerely             the Form for the Administration of the Lord's Supper con-
wish that we retained the custom, which I have stated among                tained a rather elaborate formulary for this examination of
the ancients before this abortive image of a sacrament made                one's faith, in which inquiry is made as to one's knowledge

its appearance. But with not such a confirmation as the                    of Reformed doctrine, as to one's doubts on any aspect of
Romanists pretend, which cannot be mentioned without in-                   the truth, as to one's willingness to abide by the doctrine, to
jury to baptism ; but a catechetical exercise, in which chil-              forsake the world, and to lead a new and Christian life, and
dren or youth used to deliver an account of their faith in the             as to one's willingness to be subject to Christian discipline,
presence of the church. Now it would be the best mode of                   and also containing an admonition to peace, love, unity, and
catechetical instruction, if a formulary were written for this             reconciliation with the neighbor. (Cf. P. Biesterveld, Het

purpose, containing and statin,
                                  v `in a familiar manner, all the         Gerefomneerde  Kerkbock,  pp. 230, if. j

articles of our religion, in which the universal church of be-                The churches followed varying customs as to the age for
lievers ought to agree, without any controversy: a boy of ten              confession of faith, but from the very beginning the Reformed
years of age might present himself to make a confession of his             Churches have always insisted without exception on the


138                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   >B.EARER


necessity of confession of faith for admission to the Lord's        a right to the sacraments, organically considered. This ought
table.                                                              to be plain from Question and Answer 74, the beautiful ex-
                                                                    pression of our Catechism on infant baptism. In the second
    Now I have purposely entered into this aspect of the
                                                                    place, let me point out that almost all of the questions and
question in considerable detail because I consider this alone
                                                                    answers dealing with the Lord's Supper teach that this
to be a very strong argument. In fact, I would hesitate
                                                                    sacrament is for believers and for conscious partakers, and
long and seriously and investigate and weigh the arguments
                                                                    that the entire section presupposes a rather thorough under-
with extreme thoroughness before I would ever dare to
                                                                    standing on the part of these believers of the meaning of the
throw away a precedent of such long standing in the Re-
                                                                    sacrament and of the sacramental operation. In the third
formed Churches and a precedent that goes back all the way
                                                                    place, Questions 81 and 82 are of direct bearing on this
to the church of immediate post-apostolic times. Understand
                                                                    question, and certainly imply strongly the necessity of confes-
well : we do not live by mere precedent and tradition. If it
                                                                    sion of faith. In my opinion, one who is not a professed
could be shown conclusively that such a precedent is wrong
                                                                    Christian cannot qualify for a place at the Lord's table in
and anti-Scriptural and detrimental to the life of `the church,
                                                                    the light of these statements of our Catechism But our
then the precedent must be rejected and the truth and the
                                                                    Net/L&and  Confession  is still more explicit. In Article 35,
right way of the Word of God must be embraced.- But be-
                                                                    the last part, we read: "Lastly, we receive this holy sacra-
lieving, as we do, the unity of the church of all ages, and
                                                                    ment in the assembly of the people of God, with humility and
believing that the church in the past was led into all the
                                                                    reverence, keeping up amongst us a holy remembrance of the
truth by the Holy Spirit, we cannot lightly break with
                                                                    death of Christ our Savior, with thanksgiving: 
history. Any change that is made must be shown to be a                                                                  making tfzejpe
                                                                    confession of our faith, 
progression in the historical Reformed line, not a departacre                                    and of the Christian religion. There-
                                                                    fore no one ought to come to this table without having
from that line. Unless, therefore, this can be proved, we
                                                                    previously rightly examined himself; lest by eating of this
must not make the change.
                                                                    bread and drinking of this cup, he eat and drink judgment

       2) This plan wou.ld  be co&-ary  to ow  Reformed  doc-       to himself."    To me this quotation means nothing less than
uments, i.e., our Chwch  Order, ow  confessions, and our            that this whole plan is wrong from a confessional point of
liturgy. Let me cite two articles from the Church Order,            view. For while it does not state explicitly that confession of
first of all. Article 61 states: "None shall be admitted to the     faith must take place prior to our partaking of the Lord's
Lord's Supper except those who according to the usage of            Supper, it nevertheless states that at the Lord's table we
the church with which they unite themselves have made a             make confession of our faith and of the Christian religion.
confession of the Reformed religion, besides being reputed          It means that one must be able and ready to make such a
to be of a godly walk, without which those who come from            confession of faith when he goes to the Lord's table. And
other churches shall not be admitted." It is very- obvious          therefore, our Church Order is correct when it requires that
that this article would have to be changed radically in order       none shall be admitted to the Lord's Supper except those who
to introduce the plan we are discussing. However, Article 59        have made a confession of the Reformed religion.
is of indirect significance also : "Adults are through bap-             Finally, let me briefly point out that all the language of
tism incorporated into the Christian church, and are accepted       our Form for Administration of the Lord's Supper teaches
as members of the church, and are therefore obliged also to         the same thing by implication, namely, that this sacrament
partake of the Lord's Supper, which they shall promise to do        is for conscious believers who are able to examine them-
at their baptism." This article is significant: a) Because it       selves and able to discern the Lord's body, and that too, in
associates adulthood and partaking of the Lordfs  Supper.           a quite mature manner. To me, therefore, this part of our
b) Because in adult baptism confession of faith is made,            liturgy (and let me remind you that historically this is the
upon which celebration of the Lord's Supper follows as. a           background of this form too) can mean nothing less than
necessity.    c) Because Reformed churches, both here and in        that the Lord's Supper is for a professing bhever.
the Netherlands, have allowed infant baptism up to the age
of 14 and 15. Now you may disagree on the idea that a                   There is more to- be said ; but this must wait for the next
child of 14 or 15 should be baptized as an infant, and I            issue.
believe I would also ; but the significant fact here is that                                                                  H.C.H.

Reformed churches have considered such persons not to be

adults, and not ready for confession of faith and for the

L o r d ' s   S u p p e r .

       In the second place, let me refer you to our confessions.      Why, 0 my soul, art thou cast down within me,
I will not quote at length from our Catechiswt.  And then,
                                                                         Why art thou troubled and oppressed with grief?
first of all, let me emphasize that it is undoubtedly the posi-
tion of our Cateckip+%  that infants (and therefore also              Hope thou in God, the God of thy salvation,
adolescents) who are born in the church do have essentially              Hope, and thy God will surely send relief.                :


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 139


                                                                     creasing ,philosophies  of this age that lead to world conformity
1)  D E C E N C Y   a n d                   O R D E R   11 and are a menace and-deterrent to that spiritual transforma-
                                                                     tion and' renewal of the mind which, according to Holy

                                                                     Writ, is our reasonable service. Will we awaken to this our

                 `The eensuse of Books                               calling before we see our children wholly saturated with and
                                                                     carried away by these heresies we profess to abhor? If so,
                      Article 55, D.K.O.                             let us be well-founded in the truth and give all diligence

    "With each text the truth must.` be proclaiw$ed  in its         to ward off heresy in every sphere of our lives.

purity, errors must be refuted, heresies must be zvarned                Originally, however, the fifty-fifth article of the Church
against, and there must be an admoni&on  to loyalty."                Order had to do with a related; but different matter. It con-
                                                 - Joh. Jansen      cerned the censorship of books. This practice is indeed a very

    In our last installment we explained the duty of the            old one. The Papists used it very much during and following
church, through its office-bearers, to., be militant against        the Reformation of the sixteenth century although their
every form of heresy. This aspect of the Christian ministry is      efforts to ban the writings of the Reformers were not too
described in the fifty-fifth article of our Church, Order. The      successful. Philip Schaaf writes of this in The History of
work of combating heresy is not to be restricted to the              the Ckristiun  Church, from which we quote the following:
pulpit but may properly be extended to the catechism class              "The burning of obnoxious books by public authority of
and the work of family visiting. Errors are many and they           church or state is indeed as old as the book trade. A work
increase with astounding rapidity. Into every sphere of life        of Protagoras, in which he doubted.the  existence of the Greek
they creep to perform their destructive purpose. Officially,        gods, was burned at the stake-in Athens about twenty years
the church through its ministry, must fight them and in this        after the death of Pericles. .The Emperor Augustus subjected
battle she may never relent or grow weary.                          slanderous publications (libelli  famosi)  to legal prosecution
    We notice that the three means by which heresy must be          and destruction by fire.    Christian emperors employed their
fought that `are singled out here all have to do with the           authority against heathen, heretical, and infidel books. Con-
off~c&l                                                             stantine the Great, backed by the Council of Nicea,  issued
        whzistry of the Word. From this it must not be
concluded that there are no other occasions when this can           an edict against the writings of Porphyry? and Arms  ; Ac-
and should be done. Believers cannot limit the battle to three      cadius, against the books. of the Eunomians (39s)  ; Theo-
fronts. Life is a battle-field and as broad, therefore, as life     dosius;against  the books of the Nestorians (435). Justinian
itself is, there are opportunities to refute and warn against       commanded. the destruction of sundry obnoxious works, and
prevailing errors. The Church Order Commentary points out           forbade their re-issue on pain of losing the right arm. (636).
that ,`Our  Sunday Schools and our Christian Schools and            The oecumenical  synod of 680 at Constantinople burned. the
Colleges also have a very definite task, here. Our schools          books which it had condemned,. including the. letters of the
have wonderful opportunities to render a noble service to our       Monothelitic Pope Honorius.
youth on this score." We do not question the truth of this              "Papal Rome inherited this practice, and improved upon
if only it be kept in mind that these things do not fall within     it. Leo I caused a large number of Manichaean books to be
the province of the Church Order. Our schools and colleges          burnt (446). The popes. claimed the right and duty to
are-not governed by the Church Order but it is certainly true       superintend the religious and moral literature of Ghristen-
that as private, parental institutions they are founded for         dom. They transferred the right in the thirteenth century to
instruction in the truth and, consequently, must also militate      the universities, but they found little to do until the, art of
against heresy. We lament that this is not done. Heresy, in         printing facilitated the publication of books. The Council of
both a doctrinal and practical form, is not only tolerated but      Constance condemned the books of Wyclif and Hus, and
openly taught in many schools and colleges today that bear          ordered the bishops to burn all the copies they could seize
the Christian name. The students themselves are witnesses to        (1415).

this fact. They bring -often innocently - the most shocking            "The `invention of the printing-press (1450) called forth
and alarming reports of the things they are being taught in         sharper measures in the very city where the inventor, John
the schools. This does not especially surprise us for what          `Gutenberg, lived and died (1400-1467). It gave `rise also to
else can be expected when these institutions of learning are        the preventive policy of book-censorship which still exists in
controlled by the membership of the church that has grown           some despotic countries of Europe. Berthold, Archbishop of
pacifistic and shelters within her as pernicious a           as
                                                       heresy       Mainz, took the lead in the restriction of the press. He
that of "common grace"? What is alarming, however, is that          prohibited, Jan. 10, 1486, the sale of all unauthorized German
there are still members in our Protestant Reformed Churches         translations of Greek and Latin works, on the plea of the
who seemingly can close their eyes to these things and assume       inefficiency of the German language, but with.-a ho.stile  aim
an indifferent and even belligerent attitude toward the             at the German Bible. In the same year Pope Innocent VIII
establishment of our own schools where we can "render t,ke          issued a bull against the printers of bad books. The infamous
noble service  to our  youth" of. warning them.`against  the in-    Pope Alexander VI prohibited in 1498, on pain of excom-


140                                        T - H E -   S.TAND.ARD:.BEARER
                                                    - ,.;

munication, the printing and reading of heretical books ; and       official Index Libroruvvt  Prohibitomm;  Pius IV in 1564, an
in a bull of June 1, 1501, which was aimed chiefly against          enlarged edition, generally known as Index Tridentinus, as
Germany, he subjected all kinds of literary publications to         it was made by order of the Council of Trent. It contains a
episcopal supervision and censorship, and required the four         list of all the books forbidden by Rome, good, bad, and in-
archbishops of Coln, Mainz, Trier and Magdeburg, or their           different. This list has been growing ever since in size, but
officials, carefully to examine all manuscripts before giving       declining in authority, till it became, like the bull against the
permission to print them. He also ordered that books already        comet, an anachronism and a brutum,  fulmen."
printed should be examined, and burnt if they contained any             In the Reformed Churches attempts were also made to
thing contrary to the Catholic religion. This bull forms the        control the press so that erroneous writings and books con-
basis of all subsequent prohibitions and restrictions of the        taining heresies could be kept from publication. One cannot
press by papal, imperial, or other authority.                       criticize this aim but the methods employed to attain it cannot
                                                                    be approved. LThese  methods proved to be not only ineffec-
       "Leo X, who personally cared more for heathen art than
                                                                    tive but in some cases so unfair that they in effect accom-
Christian literature, went further, and prohibited, in a bull
                                                                    plished the very thing they sought to prevent. This we hope
of March 3, 1515, the publication of any, book in Rome
                                                                    to point out next time but it should be remembered that the
without the imprimatur of the wmgister  such pa.latii (the
                                                                    effective way to combat heresy is not through legislation but
book-censor), and in other states and dioceses without the
                                                                    by "teaching, refutation, warning and admonition."
imprimatur of the bishop. or the inquisitor of heretical deprav-
                                                                                                                            G.V.d.B.
ity. Offenders were to be punished by the confiscation and

public burning of their books, a fine of one hundred ducats,

and excommunication. Archbishop and Elector Albrecht of

Mainz was the first, and it seems the only German prince

who gave force to this bull for his own large diocese by a
mandate of May 17, 1517, a few months before the outbreak                                 A New Project
of the Reformation.      The papal bull of excommunication,             It is not often that you-receive-news from our Protestant
June 15, 1520,  consistently ordered the burning of "all the        Reformed Theological School. Nor.is it often that'our people
books of Luther." But he laughed it to scorn, and burned in         receive an opportunity to have an active part in the work of
revenge the pope's bull, with all his decretals, Dec. 10, 1520.     our seminary.    Hence,.  the appearance of this little article is

       "Thus, with the freedom of conscience, was born the free-    in itself a newsworthy'event,  and merits your careful atten:
dom of the press. But it had to pass through a severe ordeal,       tion.                .,-

even in Protestant countries, and was constantly checked by             Most of our readers will undoubtedly recall that the
Roman authorities as far as their power extended. The               committee on arrangements for the 45th Anniversary celebra-
German Empire, by the Edict of Worms, made itself an ally           tion of the Reverend `H. Hoeksema decided that the offerings
of the pope against free thought and free press, and con-           at that celebration would be used to establish a "Hoeksema
tinued `so until it died of old age in 1806. Fortunately, the       Memorial Library Fund" for our Theological School. The
weakness of `the empire and the want of centralization pre-         undersigned, having been asked by the committee to function
vented the execution of the prohibition of Protestant books,        as chairman of this fund, immediately enlisted the aid of the
except in strictly papal countries, as Bavaria and Austria.         Reverends C. Hanko and H. Hanko, the regular library sub-
.But unfortunately, the Protestants themselves, who used the        committee of our Theological School Committee. And now
utmost freedom of the press against the Papists, denied it to       the machinery is going into action.'
each other; the Lutherans to the Reformed, and both to the              At a recent meeting `of our committee we reached the
Anabaptists, Schwenkfeldians and Socinians. Protestant              following conclusions and decisions :
princes liked to control the press to protect themselves against        1. The idea of this "Hoeksema Memorial Library Fund"
popery, or the charges of robbery of church property and            is that a permanent fund be established for the maintenance
other attacks. The Elector John Frederick was as narrow and         and support and enlargement of a special section of our
intolerant as Duke George on the opposite side. But these           Theological School Library, to be operated independently of
petty restrictions are nothing compared with the radical and        our regular library but for the benefit of our seminary.
systematic crusade of the Papists against the freedom of the
                                                                        2. To make our committee a more representative one by
press. King Ferdinand of Austria ordered, July 24, 1528, all
                                                                    adding to our membership one member from the Midwest,
printers and sellers of sectarian books to be drowned, and
                                                                    the Rev. B. Woudenberg, and one member from the Far
their books to be burnt. The wholesale burning of Protestant
                                                                    West, the Rev. R. C. Harbach.
books, including Protestant Bibles, was a favorite and very
effective measure of the Jesuitical reaction which set in be-           3. To make known the existence and the needs of this
fore the middle of the sixteenth century, and was promoted          fund to all our churches and our people, in order to enlist
by the political arm, and the internecine wars .of the Prot-        their financial support for this permanent library project.
estants. Pope Paul IV published in 1557 and 1559 the first              4. To initiate this Memorial.Library  as soon as possible


                                                  T H-E    ST A No D A R.D: B E A R.E:X:                                              141


     by establishing, with the advice of the Rev. H. Hoeksema, a        ing from Hebrews 6 and prayer by our president, Mrs. Wm.

     special section in our seminary library devoted to worthwhile      Kooiker opened the meeting. Minutes of the previous league

     dogmatical works.                                                  meeting and the board and delegate meeting were read and

        But now the question remains : how shall. this project be       approved. During the offering, which amounted to $27.25,

     supported ? Our present modest seminary library is sup-            Psalter No. 88, "The Goodness of God Proved," was sung.

     ported through regular synodical  channels with a small an-            Our speaker was Rev. Kortering  and his topic, "Faith
     nual appropriation which amounts to less than 50#  per             the Anchor of Hope."         The subject comes as a figure: the
     family per year. This new project must receive all its support     soul is as a ship that is on the sea. Man is troubled by the
     from free  will  o#e&zgs! Here, therefore, is a splendid           perils of life. The soul, which is the ship, is anchored in
     opportunity for all our people to show their tangible support      faith. The anchor is hope and the chain is faith. Anchor has
     for our seminary, the main-spring of our churches, as well         depth and must fasten itself in the sea. It must be reliable,
     as to show their respect and thankfulness for what the Lord        not rusty. Hope is our anchor and as such is the goal
     has given our ministry and our churches through all these          of our life: the prize of the high calling of the children of
     years through the labors of the Reverend H. Hoeksema.              God. It must be weighty, reliable, and steadfast. Natural
     Many  of you could not be present at the celebration last          man has no goal to attain, has n6 anchor. The hope of the
     summer, and thus you had no opportunity to contribute. You         child of God is Christ; He is the object of our hope. Noah
     have an opportunity now ! Besides, your committee would            and Abraham had the promise, the veil in the temple pre-
     like ,to see a steady stream of contributions not only im-         vented fellowship with God for these patriarchs. When Christ
     mediately, but for years to come. This is a pwmawnt                went into the depths of hell the veil was torn. We can achieve
     project!                                                           the hope. Christ comes into our life through church attend-
        How can you give your support?                                  ance and societies. We have an anchor fixed in God, an
        In the first place, our congregations can give an occasional    anchor that is weighty because Christ is reliable. The storm
     special collection to this cause. Yes, we know there are al-       is ever upon the children of God. The `-pressure of life is
     ready many "specials."       But this is the first time your       severe.                                        ..Fi :.. :
     seminary has ever asked for anything special.                         We speak of the soul, body and spirit of~-inan,  that is the
        In the second place, all the societies in our churches could    outward and inward life of ma& The soul is the inner life.
     well keep `this project in mind when they make their annual        The desires, longings, joys and sorrows c6mprise  the soul.
     disbursements.                                                     When the- soul finds itself on the sea `df life it` needs an
        In the third place, we are banking strongly on generous         anchor. Trouble makes the soul restless and `tempest tossed.

     irtdiidual contmhtions.  Your committee feels that this will       As a ship needs an anchor, a soul needs hope. Without Christ
     peihaps  be the main source of income. Send your contribu-         a soul is without purpose and is utterly hopeless.
     tion directly to us.                                               The chain that binds us steadfastly is faith. Faith is

        And finally-from a more long range point of view -              rooted in hope and binds us with hope. There is no faith

     why not remember this project with a worthwhile bequest in         where there is no hope. All that we have in faith is anchored

     your will ? The church is often forgotten in this respect ; but    in Christ who went to Calvary and rent the veil.and  brought

     it need not and ought not to be.                                   His church to heaven. As surely as Christ went to heaven

        One final word. Would it not be wonderful if your free-.        there is the chain that leads us to heaven. The stronger the
     will support would be so overwhelmingly generous that this         chain the safer the ship.
     Memorial Library would soon outgrow our regular seminary              The Doon  ladies presented a duet, "Sa+ed  by Grace" and
     library ? YcjU  car.make  this a reality.                          then Rev. B. Woudenberg answered our questibns. The first
        Watch for progress reports!                                     was, Is it possible for anyone to die before his time? and was
I                                                                       taken from Ecclesiastes 7 :17.
                             On behalf of the committee,                   Amos S: To explain the point an illustration was used.
                                      PROF. H. C. HOEKSEMA              The U.S.A. is a !and  of prosperity and a melting pot of

     P.S. Address all correspondence and contributions to my            churches. In these churches modernism has taken over and
            address : 1218 Griggs St., S.E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.      the children of God left in these churches thirst `for the truth.
                                                                        We as churches are called to testify of the S&ereignty  of

                                                                        God.
                                                                           May we as women vote in the presidential election ? The
          Report of the Western Ladies' League                          principle involved is that the  head of the home should have

                 held in Doon, Iowa on October 12, 1960                 the voice in the government, in civic affairs as well as in

        "The Lord's Prayer," "                                          the church.
                                   One Sweetly Solemn Thought"
     and "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked," were played                  Our meeting was closed by singing Psalter No. 400.
as the organ prelude. Singing the theme song, Psalter No.                                                 Mrs. Henry Huisken, Reporter
     298 and No. 87, "God the Only Deliverer," Scripture read-                                            Edgerton, Minnesota

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


                                                                     formed Church had refused this request in substance and
I-
1AL.L  AROUND.Usj                                                    had emphasized the importance of the Three Points of 1924.
                                                                     Now the Synod of October 1960 merely asks the same thing

                                                                     once again,    De Wolf remarks that this could just as well
The  Memorial Library                                                have waited till the regular Synod of next year, and in fact

       At the anniversary celebration last summer of Rev. H.         that there is very little reason to expect that the Christian

Hoeksema's 45 years in the ministry, a collection was taken          Reformed Church will change its stand. By next July no

amounting to approximately $275.00. This money was set               progress whatsoever will have been made.
aside to establish a "Hoeksema  Memorial Library" for the               In connection with this request De Wolf offers his own
seminary of our Churches.       The Library Committee of the         personal opinion that "as far as I am concerned it (the Synod

Theological School Committee was given the task of starting          of the C. R. Church) does not have to go any farther than
this Library and purchasing the books for it. However,               it has gone in its letter to us in 1960. We need no more
rather than see this money spent immediately for books to            than that to live together."
start the library, the committee decided that it would be               2) The second reason given for the failure of the Synod
more valuable to make this a permanent fund kept alive by            is that the grounds originally offered in the overture of
collections, donations, bequests, etc. If this were clone,  the      Gritters were ignored. These grounds were: "a. There is an

library could constantly be strengthened and enlarged, and           urgent need to shorten the time between sessions, and Article

would not remain a small collection of books without any             50 provides for this. b. There is such an urgent need because

possibility of growth and improvement.                               of the situation in our churches due to declining membership,
       For this reason this brief article appears in "All Around     etc. c. An early synod is needed in order that we might act

Us." We would like to have our people bear this in mind              on this matter of contact unitedly and in an orderly way."

in time to come. The Churches in the West, and many of               De Wolf feels that the urgency of the situation was not fully

our people in the East have not had an opportunity to con-           recognized by the Synod, and that Synod did nothing to solve

tribute to this fund, and would perhaps like to do this now.         the problems of falling apart as Churches which warranted

Our societies could remember this fund which has been estab-         such urgency.

lished when annually they distribute the money they have col-           Undoubtedly it is true that their Synod failed to accom-

lected throughout the year. Our people could very .well  re-         plish anything constructive and to reach the purpose for

member this library and what it will mean in the future to our       which it was called together. The attempt on the part of

Churches through our seminary activities in donations to it.         some to return to the Christian Reformed Church as a denom-
  Although the Synod of our Churches has appropriated                ination failed completely. And it seems, as their history

this year a. certain amount of money to be spent on the              develops, that this was the last opportunity they will have

general library  of the Seminary, and although they will un-         had. For by the time the next Synod meets, it appears as

dotibtedly  continue to do this in the future, this "Memorial        if there will not be sufficient `Churches left to constitute a

Library" is td be kept separate from the rest of the books and       full Synod. And when congregations return independently,

is to be a library that contains books that otherwise would-         or ministers leave, any  future attempts Synodically will only

not be purchased, but which would nevertheless be important          be a mockery of their original intentions.

and valuable contributions to the studies of our professors             These Churches are making history fast. But it is such

and students. This fund is therefore called to your attention        strange history that one has to search far to find anything

with the heartiest recommendation of this column in The              similar; there seems to be nothing like it in all the annals

Standard Bearer.                                                     of the Church of the past. Whether the failure of their

                                                                     Synod will be the means of stirring more people to take a
Nothing Accon@ishsd                                                  firm stand against returning to the Christian Reformed
       In the November. 25 issue of the Reformed Guard&,             Church only time will tell. But when such a mockery is
Rev. De Wolf writes an article in which he offers an                 made of Church Polity and ecclesiastical purity, one cannot
analysis. of the recent "early Synod" held by the Churches of        help but wonder whether the people there who are faithful
his group. The gist of this article is .that in his opinion their    and wish to be faithful in the future are going to put up with
Synod was, 3 failure. He says- in conclusion, "Be this as it         it, or whether they will see that the only hope for them is to
may, the fact remains that the special synod of October, 1960        come back to the Protestant Reformed Churches.
failed to serve the purpose for which it was called. The
Synod is past. On!y its epitaph remains: Mission not ac-             More Tendepacies  Towa.vds  Evolattionism
complished !"                                                           In the December &sue  of TorcR and Trztvlzpet  there is a
       The reason why the author comes to this conclusion are        review of a book entitled "Evolution and Christian Thought
mainly two : 1) The Synod adjourned without doing any-               Today."    The book is a symposium of thirteen members of
thing moi-6  than the sending of a letter to the Christian           the American Scientific Affiliation, a group of some eight
Reformed Church for reunion on the basis of Scripture and            hundred evangelical scientists committed to Biblical Chris-
the Three Forms of Unity. The Synod of the Christian Re-             tianity. It was written  in connection with the one hundredth


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       143

                                                _.                            _ L :-;
anniversary of Charles Darwin's "Origin Of Species." The                          2.:
                                                                       I understand this correctly, it means that one cannot learn

book purports to be an evaluation of the theory of evolution           the nature of God's work of creation from a study of the

from the Christian viewpoint.                                          world as it is now. Any knowledge which we have now of

    The reviewer of this book is a certain Henry M. Morris             the creation cannot possibly be a clue to help us understand

who is now professor and head of the Civil Engineering                 how the worlds were formed. It is only by                that we not
                                                                                                                      faith 
Department at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The re-              only believe, but even understand the work of creation.

viewer is rather critical of the book because it makes too             The Religious Issue In Puerto Rico

many concessions to evolutionism. He points out that the                   Although the religious issue in the latest presidential

book supports such views as : "The geologic ages are accepted          campaign in our country has aroused considerable comment

in their entirety, implying an age for the earth of perhaps            and has been the occasion for many articles in religious

 some five billion years, and age for life on the earth of per-        periodicals, this issue was not limited to the United States

haps a billion years, and an age for man himself of at least           alone. In Puerto Rico the issue was sharply raised by the

 several hundred thousand years." The book suggests the very           Catholic Church itself in connection with the election of

 real possibility of an evolutionistic development of life -           Governor Munoz Marin.  Before the elections were held there,
living matter evolving from non-living matter. Almost all              the Roman Catholic hierarchy had instructed its members
the scientific arguments in various sciences in support of             not to vote for this man or his party since the Church was
evolution are admitted by the authors. The reviewer points             opposed to his policies-policies which opposed the allow-
out that the flood is completely ignored, that the genuine             ing of time off for public school children from their studies
historical validity of the Genesis account of creation is              to obtain religious instruction from the Romish Church, and
denied, and that there is a complete rejection of the im-              policies permitting the teaching of birth control. The hier-
portance of the curse of God upon the world.                           archy warned that to vote for this man or his party would be a

    One gets the impression from the reviewer that he is one           sin sufficiently serious to prevent those who did from partici-
of the few that still maintains a creation taking place in six         pating in the sacraments, and would require full confession.
days of twenty-four hours. If this is true, it is good to                 Because of the fact that Marin  was re-elected by a huge
know that there are still those who will not bow to the                majority, it soon became obvious that many Roman Catholic
idol of science and allow their worship of science to distort          people had defied their bishops and priests. The result %as
their interpretation of God's Word.                                    a showdown in which some of the hierarchy tried to enforce
 But that the authors of this book could claim to be                   their original stand. However, the archbishop of San Juan
representative of an organization dedicated to Biblical Chris-         criticized strongly the clergy of Puerto Rico and told them
tianity, and that they have the presumption to claim their             they might not subject their people to any penalties no matter
book as a Christian evaluation of evolutionism is almost               how they voted. The end of the matter has not come yet.
beyond credibility.                                                       This whole question raised here and in our own country
 It is becoming more and more apparent that once one                   concerning the relation of Church and state is not only very
has committed himself to interpreting Scripture in the light           interesting, but also quite difficult. After all, Article XXXVI
of science, and re-interpreting Scripture so that the days of          of the Belgic Confession takes the position that the State has
Genesis 1 are changed to long periods of time, one must go             the calling to enforce the first table of the law as well as the
all the way and capitulate completely to evolutionism. And             second, which includes the promotion of the true religion.
,this is not at all surprising. For the question of whether the        And although the footnote added later by the Synod of 1910
days of Genesis 1 are long periods of time is not simply a             defines once again the separation of Church and state and
.question  of the age of the earth, but it is also a question which    raises its objections against a State Church, nevertheless the
involves the nature-and'character  of God's work of creation.          principle of Article XXXVI still stands. Of course, the
And those who claim an old earth and periods' instead of days          problem is compounded by the fact that it has never happened
,do so simply to make room for .a creation developed through           in America and probably never will that a man of the Re-
evolutionary processes, ignoring a creation formed by the              formed faith becomes president. But we would certainly
Almighty,Word  of God.                                                 maintain at the very least that if such had ever happened,
    It has come to a point where there are only two alterna-           one would be obligated to function in this highest executive
tives : Cspitulate  to science and lose the Word of God ; or :         offic,e of our country according to his convictions and prin-
`"By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the            ciples. One cannot ,become  neutral in public office. And
Word of God so that things which are seen were not made                certainly, according to our Confession, he would be obligated
from things which do appear."                                 .Y       to promote the Reformed faith.

    I was pleased to see in the article of the reviewer this              The last word has not yet been said. on this whole ques-
statement : "Thus, the Creation was not accomplished by                tion. There are many aspects to the problem; and it is not at
-means  of the. natural processes prevailing at the present            all easy to come to any definite conclusions. It is, no doubt,
,time . . .-These processes . . . could~ not have-  been in opera-     a profitable subject for discussion in our societies, and per-
.tion in their present form in the.period  of the-Creation,"  If       haps inour  .Church  papers.         _                    H. Hanko


 _-_.-_-.....                                                        tacted  area will give our program  "receptive ears" and will
    NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES                                           welcome "distinctively Reformed" `radio'preaizhing  into their
                                                                     hbmes..  -
                 `%111  the saints salute thee . .' J' PHIL. 4:2l    S u n d a y   evening, Dec. 4, Rev. C. Hanko`preached in' First

                                                                     Church on II `Samuel 7:15, 19, tinder  the theme,  "David's.
                                                  Dec. 5; 1960       Joy  In The `Coming %hi-ist."  This was' the beginning of `a

                                                                     Series of Christ&  messages' d&i&ed  to help us keep. our.
   The consistory of Grand Haven has presented-a trio from           feet in the midst 01 the "business". of ihe- coming s'eabon;.  j
which the congregation will choose a minister-elect. The  trio       Season &ark&d with .cor&nercialisin  bf' the worst  sort.' May
consists of the Revs. G. Lubbers, M. Schipper  and G. Van            all of our pastors be used to the end that we. shail be able to
Baren.                                                               keep in mind that Christmas, though of pagan origin, may
   Hildsonville  has for years held its second service in            serve as a festival in which the true worship of Immanuel-
the evening instead of afternoon during the summer months.           God With Us- may be exercised.
Recently the congregation decided to maintain that summer                The Protestant Reformed Men's Chorus has announced
schedule throughout the entire year.            This decision was    the presentat& of a Christmas Program to be given in Fir.&
precipitated by the pastor's doctor who decreed that Rev.            Church  Christmas night, after the evening  service. `All of
Vos should space his preaching to that extent._-                     our people in the area who enjoy male voices lifted up in
   The November Beacon Lights Singspiration was held on              the p;aise  of. the Babe of `Bethlehem &ill mark this date dn

the,27th  at Hudso,nville Church, with Gerald Kuiper, of Hope        their calendars.
Church, leading  the singing.                                            The Ladies' Aid Society of Redlands, in an after recess

   At a recent I&-. and Mrs. Society meeting in Hudsonville          meeting recently, discussed this query from the Question

a representative from Bethany  Home, of Grand Rapids, ex-            Box: "Why was the Declaration of Principles formulated,
hibited colored slides  and gave a narration of the work of thit     and what purpose do they serve ?' We wonder how many of
institution. The occasion gave opportunity to remember the           our denomination can give a clear answer to this pertinent
Home with an offering.                                               question.

   Because of Rev. Lubbers' proximity to Hull he will be                 Loveland's Prot. Ref. School Society plans to open their

asked to fill Rev. Kortering's pulpit while he is on classical       school in time for the second semester if a teacher is procured.

appointment in South Dakota.                                         The bulletin announcement reads, "if at all in the realm of
   We note that Sunday School Teachers' meetings are held            possibilities."

on various days in the different churches. Some are sched-               Sunday, Nov. 27, Loveland welcomed visitors from our
uled for Monday evening, (Redlands, for one), giving the             Forbes, So. Dakota dhurch  and from our South Holland con-

teachers opportunity to study the material after the teachers'       gregation. In a denomination as small as ours it is a special
meeting ; and others are held Friday evening (First Church,          pleasure to meet members of sister churches.

for one), giving the teachers time to study before the meet-             Hudsonville's consistory requires individual responses to
ing. We wonder which plan affords the better results.                the questions put to the members of a group making public

    The men of Redlands  congregation are notified by bulletin       confession of faith, as seven young people of their congrega-

announcement which week they are expected to clean the               tion did November 27.

church, and to write to the serviceman. Those two tasks                  Rev. G. Vanden  Berg included with his bulletin contribu-
always fall on the same week- probably because such a                tion to this page a copy of an allegory presented to the
schedule calls for but a single bulletin announcement.               South Holland-Oak Lawn membership. The allegory was

More News from the Progmm  Comwittec?  of The Reformed               one which piytures  four men who had come to a seeming
                             Witness Hour                            impasse -on their way to the city called Prow&e.  But the
    Another sfation has been added to the seven outlets now          seeming impasse was overcome by the four men working in :
broadcasting our Radio Program. The eighth station is                unison. The allegory served to spur their members to con-
W.P.A.Z., in Pottstown, Pa., and our half hour  program              certed  effort to ove+come  any circumstances which might
over this station is sponsored by the First Prot. Ref. Church.       seem to prevent the realization of their own school. To date
With the addition of this radio station our program is now           the Board has procured land, the building plans are com-
heard over two stations east of the Mississippi River, and           pleted, and some $lO,OOO.OO  is in, or coming in, to cover the
four stations' to the West, besides the two foreign outlets          first expenses of the desired goal.

(Radio Hoyer,          Netherlands Antilles, and Trans-World             B&Zetin Quote:  "All the promises of man to man ought to
Radio, Monte Carlo, Monaco).                                         dbe conditional. It is only for God to make absolute promises,

    The Co&l&ttee  sinc&rely'covets  Gbd's b&sing  updn thkir        for He tilone  is .utichangeable  and omnipotent." `- .Toplacly.

radio- work and hopes that the listeners in this newly .con-             . . . . see-you in church.                           J.M.F.


