     VOLmIE  x=vIII                          DECEIIBER  15,  1961 - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN                               NUMBER 6


                                                                          How long what ?

                                                                          He must go around about Israel, and preach this : "`Make

                                                                      the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and

                                                                      shut their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with
                THE WONDER OF GRACE                                   their ears, and understand with their hearts, and convert and

                                                                      be healed."
         "Therefore the Lord Himself  shall -give  yoti  a sign;
        Rehold,  a. virgin  shall conceive, .and  bwar  a Son, and        Then Isaiah says: "Lord, how long ?"            D
        shall call His Name,  Iwmwanztel!"  Isa. 7 :14                    And here follows the extent of Isaiah's preaching: "Until

    It is the custom of the Church of Jesus Christ to preach          the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses with-
and to listen to Advent sermons.                                      out men, and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have
                                                                      removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the
    This meditation will be in the nature of such advent              midst of the land."
preaching. For it will be some ten days before the date
                                                                          Isaiah must speak in parables to this wicked people, unto
fixed for the celebration of Christmas.
                                                                      hardening. That was his main task. He must go,to wicked,
    Advent! What does it mean? It is a foreign word,                  reprobate king Ahaz, with a message from the Almighty.
meaning: to come towards.                                             And also in a critical time when Rezin of Syria and Pekah

    Towards what are we moving ? Towards the celebration              of Israel plot to overthrow Judah. As a result both Ahaz

of the birth of Christ. Towards that which we will com-               and Judah are moved and perturbed.

memorate.                                                                 Ahaz was very wicked. He had his own altar next to the

    What is it ?                                                      altar of the, Lord.,
                                                                      ./.. in                 .
                                                                          Now;;"Isaiah  must go to. King Ahaz together with his son
    The most'important  THING in all history, and the most
                                                                      Shear Jashub, and prophesy.
important THING in all eternity : "And without controversy
great is the mystery of godliness: GOD MANIFEST IN                        Note the name Shear Jashub, which means "the remnant
                                                                      will return."    The name of that boy means: a testimony of
T H E   F L E S H  1'~
                                                                      God's eternal love to save.
    You might also interpret it in the phrase: The Wonder
                                                                          And make no mistake ; that testimony means, as it always
of Grace!                                                                                                                      :`:7,
                                                                      means, that there is delivery only in the way of repentance,
    And that is my title today.                                       in order to experience the eternal love of God.
                           8 Y * *                                        King Ahaz, ask a sign of the Lord! In the depths or the

                                                                      heights !
    The revelation of my text came to the people of Israel in
                                                                         But. Ahaz is a hypocrite. He refuses a sign of the Lord.
a period which was characterized by apostasy and all manner
                                                                          What does this mean ? It means that.he  wants deliver-
of wickedness.
                                                                      ance by the way of Assyria. See II Kings 16:7.
    The true church of God was like a cottage in the vine-
                                                                          He does not desire deliverance and salvation in the old-
yard ; a lodge in the garden of cucumbers. The historical
                                                                      fashioned way of Jehovah. Oh no. But he takes the arm, of
Israel was full of apostasy and idolatry.
                                                                      flesh to his help.
    And here comes the prophet Isaiah.                                    Ahaz refuses the help of the Lord. Seems pious, but

    He has a hard task to perform. Listen to him: "Lord,              is wicked.

.how  long?'                                                                                       * * * *

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


   And so the Lord Himself gives a sign nevertheless.             her a public example, but to put her away privily. The poor

                                                                  man was at the end of his wits. And I can understand him.
   Notice that word: HIMSELF.
                                                                  There was only one answer, and that was: Mary had con-
       `Twas ever thus.                                           course with another than he.

       Salvation is of the Lord. And make no. mistake: from          Do not wonder at the thousands and thousands who re-
the Lord ALONE!                                                   fuse to believe God's work of salvation through Mary's Son.

   A sign. Sign and signs. What are they ?                           The virgin birth is so utterly impossible!

   The whole kosmos is a sign. You walk in signs. You                Ask every doctor in every age of the history of mankind.
are signs yourselves.                                             Ask all the renowned scientists, or for that matter, any man

   All things are signs. They are signs of the heavenly,          in the street. Everybody KNOWS that you cannot bring

the spiritual, the glorious, the eternal.                         forth a child from a virgin except by the will of man.

   But there are special signs to portray particularly sal-          Did not Paul say that the Gospel is foolishness ?

vation, the fulfilling of the promise. In general there are          Yes, I know that he was speaking of the cross. Well,
the signs, f.i., the rainbow, the flood and the Red Sea. There    you can extend that to the beginning of salvation too. The
are particular signs of the same thing: the Lord's Holy           Gospel is foolish when you would save a whole WORLD
Supper and Baptism.                                               of men by a worm on the cross, but it is also foolish when

   But the central sign of all signs is the Incarnation. God      that Saviour is born of a virgin without the will of man.

manifest in the flesh. Bethlehem's Miracle.
                                                                                             * *    * 9
   And that is the message of Isaiah to Ahaz, to Israel, to

all the, children of God of all the ages.                            But ah, we have here an act of the living God.

   But this King refuses the sign.                                   The Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary. And the Holy

   And you ? Do you refuse it also ? The sign which says          Ghost takes the place of the human father. Was it not the
that man cannot do anything to get out of his terrible            Holy Ghost who brooded upon the face of the deep when
scrapes ? The scrape of eternal death and damnation?              the worlds were created ?

                                                                     And again: bare your head, bow your head and soul
   I said there: the sign which says that you cannot do
                                                                  and spirit: God is at work to work salvation.
anything !
                                                                     And Jesus is born.
   Well, listen to the sign: A VIRGIN SHALL CON-
CEIVE AND BEAR A SON!                                                His name indicates exactly what I am trying to tell you.
                                                                  Jesus. means Jehovah salvation !
   Be very still now. Bow your head, your body, your ,soul
and spirit. You are hearing terrible things in righteousness !       That name means salvation for His elect.

                                                                     At the very beginning the heavenly messenger has in-
   Look at that sign and tell me: is it not ludicrous, laugh-     dicated the same truth. He told Mary that the name of her
able, utterly insane ? How can a virgin conceive and remain
                                                                  Child would have to be Jesus, for, said he, He shall save His
a virgin ? How can such a virgin lie down and bring forth
                                                                  people from their sins.
a son?
                                                                     I cannot understand that there are people in Christianity
   Don't you see in this SERMON of God that salvation is
                                                                  who cannot and will not believe- in election and reprobation.
exclusively a Divine work?
                                                                  The very name of Jesus tells us that. The Arminians can
   A child is born without the will of man, but through the       read. It says distinctly and clearly that Jesus saves His
conception of the Holy Ghost.                                     people only and exclusively.

   Let me assure you that this work is a little like the cre-        Whenever and wherever I hear or read of this unbelief
ation of the heavens and the earth, only more so.                 in election and reprobation, I think of the unbelievable re-

   A virgin conceives, is heavy with child. Forsooth  ! Who       port of Isaiah: "Who hath believed our report?"

is going to believe that? When Mary walks the streets of             God's ways are past finding out. That means that the
Nazareth who will believe that this activity was not the          whole world of the wise and the scientists are baffled as

work of some man, any man ?                                       soon as they undertake to follow His footsteps in Holy Writ.

   Ask Joseph.                                                       Even we who have the Holy Ghost in our heart and mind
                                                                  have to exclaim in the end : 0 the depth !
   That poor, pious, God-fearing man has deep thoughts.
Mary, how could you ? I was so sure that you loved me                But we do know the NAME !

only. What shall I do 7 Oh yes, he knew the law of the               In that name we taste a salvation -which shall outlive

Almighty. But we read that he was minded not to make              time and space and history.


                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                                                                   123


   The Isaiah version of the name is IMMANUEL.

                                                                                                                THE   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
   God is very close to us, near us.                                    I .,                 Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and  August

   What does t`hat mean, beloved ?                                                            Published by the R~~ort,wn,  FREE  PUBLISIBNG  ASSOCLUION
                                                                                             P. 0. Box 881, Madison Square Station, Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
   It means that we are saved.                                                                                          Editor - REV. H~ZRMAN  HOEKSEMA
   And what is that?                                                                         Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                                                          Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E.,
   It means that the greatest evil is taken away from you.                                                                              Grand Rapids 7, Mich.

And the greatest evil is sin with all its consequences, which                                All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to Mr.
are, guilt, death and damnation. In hell.                                                                      James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.
                                                                                                                                  Grand Rapids 7, Michigan

   And positively, that you receive the greatest good.                                       Announcements and Obituaries must be mailed to the above
                                                                                             address and will be published at a fee of $2.00 for each notice.
   It is Immanuel: God with us. God is very near us.                                         RENEWAL: Unless a definite request for discontinuance is re-
When I am asked to specify salvation in the positive sense,                                  ceived it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscription
I stammer. I cannot go far beyond what we taste here on                                          to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
                                                                                                                         Subscription price: $5.00 per year
earth. And that is sweet beyond compare.
                                                                                                     Second Class postage paid at Grand Rapids, Michigan
   Take one thing: the company of them who with us love

the Lord. The gathering in God's House. The singing of
the Psalms of David. The walk in the light.                                                                                                    C O N T E N T S

   But the sweetest thing of all is the company of Christ,                                 MFJXTATION  -
                                                                                                     The Wonder                     of Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  121
and through Him, with God. Blessed Christmas!
                                                                                                             Rev. G. Vos
                                                                               G.V.
                                                                                           EDITORIALS  -

                                                                                                     Hoogland On Infallibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._.................  124

                                                                                                              Rev. H. Hoeksema

                           Announcement                                                    OUR DOCTTUNE-
                                                                                                 Regeneration                       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .__.  . __..... X27

   Classis  East of the Protestant Reformed Churches will                                                     Rev. H. Hoeksema

meet, the Lord willing, January 10, 1962, at 9 :00 A. M. in                                A CLOUD OF WITNESSES -

the Creston  Protestant Reformed Church. Consistories will                                           Moses As I n t e r c e s s o r   .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
                                                                                                              Rev. B. Woudenberg
please take note of the time and place in the appointment of
                                                                                           FROM HOLY WRIT -
delegates.                                                                                           E,xposition            of I Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.31

                                R E V .   M .   S C H I P P E R ,   S t a t e d   Clerk                       Rev. G. Lubbers

                                                                                           INHISFEAR-

                                                                                                     God's Royal Priesthood                                          (15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  I33

                                                                                                              Rev. J. A. Heys

                            IN MEMORIAM                                                    CONTENDING `FOR THE FAITH -

   The Men's Society of Redlands  e`xpresses  our sympathy to mem-                                   The        Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__......................  I35
bers Edwin Gritters and Gerald Feenstra. Mr. Gritters'                                                        Rev. H. Veldman
                                FATHER
and Mr. Feenstra's  father-in-law,                                                         THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS -

                                                                                                     The Belgic Confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__.....__..  I..; . . . .._... I37
                           REV. H. H. KUIPER
                                                                                                               Rev. H. C. Hoeksema
passed away.

   May the Great Physician heai their wounded hearts, and may the                          DECENCY AND ORDER -
God of mercy grant them the assurance in this time of grief, that                                    Preaching from the Heidelberg Catechism.. .._ .__.  _._ __..__  _.. ,139
the sufferings, and the disappointments of this present time are not                                           Rev. G. Vanden Berg
worthy to be compared to the glory and the riches that await us in
Christ Jesus, our Lord.                                                                    ALL AROUNJJ  us-
                                              Redlands  Men's Society                                Christian            Schools In British Guiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__._..................  141
                                              William Feenstra, Secretary
                                                                                                     Guilty          Or       Not . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

                                                                                                     Prescribtion                 for          Annihilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

                             IN MEMORIAM                                                             The Problem of Christmas. ._._................................................                                                                                           142

                                                                                                               Rev. H. Hanko
    The Board of the Loveland Prot. Ref. Christian School in the
name of the School Society expresses its heartfelt sympathy to our                         CONTRIRUTIONS  -
fellow Board member, Mr. Dale Kuiper, our Teacher, Miss Ruth
Kuiper and family in the loss of their father,                                                       The Hymn Question. . ._ . ._...__...___  143
                           REV. H. H. KUIPER                                                                   M r .   S .   D e   V r i e s

whose earthly pilgrimage ended November 14, 1961.                                                    F
                                                                                           NEWS        ROM OUR  CrrURCHES  ._____.____.._........................,.......................                                                                                    144
   John 6:47: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on
                                                                                                               Mr. J. M. Faber
me hath everlasting life."
                                                 Gilbert Griess, Secretary


                                                                      stantiated, and the President was reappointed for another

                                                                      year. . . ."

                                                                          This, namely, that the protests against the Seminary

                                                                      President were in the main unsubstantiated is only partly

                                                                      true. The question that was before Synod at the time was

                                                                      whether the matters that concern the "periphery" (the outer
        The readers will probably remember that Hoogland, who
                                                                      items in distinction from the chief contents of Scripture)
at that time, i.e., in 1958, was a student in Calvin Seminary,
                                                                      were also infallibly inspired, and were without errors. Dr.
and still is, wrote an article in the student magazine Stro-
                                                                      Kromminga had, in connection with the article written by
~nnfa  on the subject "Infallibility Questioned," which was
                                                                      Hoogland in Stuo,lzata,  left the impression that these matters
followed by a second article on "Infallibility and the Re-
                                                                      that were on the periphery were not without errors aid
formed Tradition."
                                                                      were not to be regarded as infallible. Against this Dr. M.
        These articles, which were approved by Dr. Iiromminga,        Wyngaarden protested. Later, after being questioned by the
professor at Calvin Seminary, created quite a stir in the             Advisory Committee, Dr. Kromminga altered his statements
Christian Reformed Churches, as might be expected. For,               and it was on the basis of these altered statements that the
in those articles, Hoogland clearly expressed that there are          Synod of 1961 declared the protests against Dr. Kromminga
errors in Scripture and, therefore, virtually took the posi-          were unsubstantiated. I think that the whole matter was
tion of higher criticism.                                             rather succinctly and clearly expressed on the floor by Prof.
        To be brief, the matter was brought before the Synod          R. B. Kuiper  as follows:
of the Christian Reformed Church in 1959 ; a committee                    "There was a protest before the Synod of 1959 by Dr.
was appointed to study the matter; and the report of this             Wyngaarden on the subject of infallibility. Instead of con-
committee was discussed at the last Synod, 1961.                      sidering that protest as such the Advisory Committee in that
        Now, the same student Hoogland wrote an article in The        matter questioned Dr. Kromminga. Then Dr. Kromminga
Rcfor-wed  Joz~nzaZ  of November, 1961, in which he virtually         altered some of his statements and Synod, instead of dealing
expresses that Synod justifies his position taken in the arti-        with his original statement, proceeded to deal with the mat-
cles that were written in Stromatn  in 1958. He does this,            ter on the basis of the altered statements by Dr. Kromminga.
too, with quotations taken, ret from the Acts of Synod 1961,          The fact is that Dr. Wyngaarden was right in his protest
but from the Report of the study committee as it occurs in            and Dr. Kromminga's original statement was in error. I
the Agenda.                                                           don't think the Synod of 1961 should repeat an error made

        I do not know whether this was done intentionally, so         by the Synod of 1959."

that we may believe that the final decision of Synod 1961                 It evidently is on the basis of the same error that the
on the matter was also in his possession when he wrote the            Synod of 1961 declared that the protest of Dr. Wyngaarden
above mentioned article in the Jo~zwrtnl, or unintentionally, in      was unsubstantiated.
view of the fact that, at the time when he wrote his article,             In parentheses, I may remark that it is evident from
he was not yet acquainted with the final decision of the Synod        the above quotation by Hoogland that he had already in his
of 1961. (But see below.)                                             possession, not only the report of the study committee as it
        At any rate, the report of the study committee was some-      was in the Agenda, but also the decision of Synod itself.
what ambiguous and might probably be explained by Hoog-                   But let me quote a little more from the article in the
land as being somewhat in favor of the former's position in           Jozu-nn2  :
the matter as expressed in the articles in Stmmata..                        "The decision of Synod to `commend' to the church the
        This, however, can hardly be said of the final decision of    report on "infallibility and inspiration in the light of Scrip-
the Synod of 1961.                                                    ture and the creeds' is evidently intended* to counteract the
        But let us, first of all, make a few quotations from          understandable inclination to leave the issue interred in the
Hoogland's article in the Refomncd  Journal and then com-             Agenda and Acts of Synod. The hope of Synod is that the
pare with it the decision of the Synod of 1961.                       report will serve `to remove misunderstandings that have

        The very first two paragraphs were already written with       arisen' and will be `a framework for further study of the re-

a certain tendency in the direction of justifying Hoogland's          lationship of inspiration and infallibility.' If the synodical

position in regard to the infallibility of Holy Writ. Writes          report can effectuate both of these objectives, it will perform

he :                                                                  a notable service in the church. Even though the report does

        "The 1961 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church is           itself not resolve all the differences which exist among us,

a matter of history; a committee's report on the relation             it does provide a wide and fundamental basis on which all

of inspiration and infallibility has been received with gen-          of us can stand without reservation and without distrust of

eral if not absolute approbation; the protests against the            one another. The report has apparently set the mind of the

Seminary President were in the main found to be unsub-                church at rest and should create an atmosphere conducive to


                                                T H E   STAND~ARD   B E A R E R                                                        125


     our carrying on further discussions and airing differences            land is justified. Again I wonder what H. J. Kuiper will

     with mutual confidence in one another. On the assumption              answer to this interpretation of the report of the Study

     that that atmosphere has already been created, I proceed to           Committee.        Although he makes the remark that the re-

     express and defend certain conclusions whic$  I feel the
                                                                    L      port as a whole was never adopted by Synod, yet he also
     synodical report warrants."                                           approves of it.

        This, then, is thk evaluation of the synodical report and              3. The question is asked by Hoogland whether by defining
     the decisions made by the Synod of 1961.  which Hoogland              infallibility in terms of redemptive intent and purpose of
     makes. The Synod did not condemn any person or view.                  Scripture, any limitation is set upon the meaning and ap-
     It merely provided a basis for further discussion. And this           plication of infallibility.

     discussion Hoogland initiates in his article in the Journal.              In answer to this question, the synodical report is not

        He does this wholly on the basis, not of the decisions of          only ambiguous, but plainly contradicting itself, i.e., namely,

     Synod, but on the report of the study committee. This                 if Hoogland quotes and interprets the report correctly. It

     report is so full of ambiguity and contradictions that it             claims that there are errors in Scripture which are no errors,

     is, to my mind, extremely difficult to understand it. `More-          inconsistencies which are no inconsistencies, inaccuracies

     over, this report as a whole was never adopted by Synod.              which are no inaccuracies!

     Of this report Hoogland is speaking when he initiates his                 This is either  so deep or so nonsensical and absurd that
     further discussion of infallibility.                                  I am convinced that the common members of the church to

        I will attempt to put this discussion by Hoogland in the           whom this report is commended will never grasp it. I, at

     form of a few propositions in my own language as follows:             least, do not.

         1. Scripture is completely infallible to its whole extent             But let me quote from the article by Hoogland once

     and in all its parts ; it is without errors. But . . . and this is    more :

     a very' significant but . . . this is true only with regard to            "Once it is recognized that Scripture does intend to
     "the extent, nature, and purpose of inspiration." This means          speak on a certain matter of fact, we must assume that it
I    that infallibility is limited to Scripture's being a trustworthy      speaks infallibly. But whenever we face a difficulty of this
     "rule of faith and practice."     Scripture "witnesses to Christ      kind, the question that arises is whether Scripture intends
     and the way of salvation."       Only to this extent, namely, in      to speak on the particular matter involved. Take an example
     as far as it is revelation of Christ, is Scripture inspired and       referred to in pages 131-132 of the report. In Acts 13:19
     infallible. The report states : "The adequacy, perfection and         Paul states the number of the nations whose land Israel in-
     sufficiency of Scripture is geared to its redemptive intent           herited was seven, taking this number from Deuteronomy
     and purpose, which is also true of its infallibility". And            7:l. Is Scripture here speaking on the matter of fact re-
     Mr. Hoogland adds: "There is no question of applying this             garding how many nations there were? Our first impres-
     kind of infallibility only to certain parts of Scripture to the       sion is likely to be that Scripture is obviously speaking on
     exclusion of other parts, for Scripture has a redemptive in-          that matter of fact, sinCe the words are clear. But when we
     tent and purpose in its whole extent and in all its parts."           see that elsewhere the Old Testament speaks of ten nations,

         Conclusion: There may be all sorts of errors in Scrip-            we must conclude that Scripture's intention was not to speak

     ture, according to the synodical report as quoted and in-             about a matter of fact we first thought it was speaking about.

     terpreted by Hoogland, as long as it does not deny the re-            In this way the report forewarns us not to be too hasty in

     demptive intent and purpose of Holy Writ. The report                  deciding on what matters of fact Scripture `finds it neces-

     justifies Hoogland.    I wonder what the Rev. H. J. Kuiper            sary to speak'."

     will have to say on this. He also approves the report.                    (In parentlieses, I wish to say that I consider it some-

         2. Hoogland also defends what he wrote in the article in          what silly of the synodicai  committee that composed the re-

     Stromata  : "Infallibility and the Reformed Tradition." There         port to mention the example of the seven nations which

     he wrote: "If the term infallible is to be at all useful in con-      Israel must destroy, while ten nations are mentioned in an-

     servative theology, it must be very precisely defined and             other part of the Old Testament, in order to "forewarn us

     limited to a theological context." This, Hoogland maintains,          not to be too hasty in deciding on what matters of fact Scrip-

     is quite in harmony with the synodical report which also              ture finds it necessary to speak." Suppose it were true that

     limits the question of infallibility to the redemptive intent         the Old Testament speaks of ten nations in one part of the

     and purpose of Scripture. And he writes : "By tenaciously             Old Testament and of seven in another part, why could riot

     maintaining this limitation of the meaning and application            both be true ? Suppose that when Scripture spealis of the

     of infallibility to Scripture, the report places the question of      ten nations, it merely mentions their existence, while, when

     infallibility in its proper perspective. Within this frame-           it speaks of seven nations, it instructs Israel to destroy them,

     work set by the report further study and progress in under-           would not both be matters of fact? But, fact is that I can

     standing the implications of infallibility can be stimulated."        find only a single passage of the Old Testament that speaks

         Conclusion: On the basis of the report to Synod, Hoog-            of ten nations and that is in Gen. 15 : 20, 21. And this pas-


 126                                       T H E   STANDAkD   B E A R E R '


sage speaks of the promise of God to Abraham that his seed          are nonsensical statements in Scripture which, nevertheless,

would inherit all the land from "the river of Egypt unto the        are not nonsensical, and "in the same way, many of the

great river, the river Euphrates." This promise was, there-         statements in Scripture may be inaccurate, inconsistent or in

fore, also a matter of fact, which was not realized till the        error when judged from a ~+~ercly  historiographical point of

time of David and Solomon. But if the committee wants               view. But in the same way, this `admission' of inaccuracy

to find statements in the Old Testament that are supposed to        in Scripture by no means alleges inaccuracy or error against

 be matters of fact and are not, especially in regard to the        Scripture."

question concerning the seven or ten nations, I will add               I do not know whether the reader can understand this
another 8 "deep problem."    The Old Testament, namely, does        language. How can the same words of Scripture be accurate
not only speak of seven and ten nations, but also of six.           and inaccurate, without error and yet erroneous ?
Cf. Ex. 3 :8 ; 17 ; 23 :23 ; 33 :2 ; Deut. 20 :17. And also this       I will, to clarify the matter, give a few examples:
is a matter of fact. But, I have no doubt that the committee           Was Adam created out of the dust of the ground and
can solve this problem for themselves.)                             Eve from a rib of Adam? The answer of the synodical com-
    But this is only an interlude.                                  mittee (approved if not adopted by Synod) is Yes and No.
        Perhaps it is good for the reader in view of the incon-     Yes, if you mean that the Spirit presents these facts for a
sistencies and inaccuracies that are no inconsistencies and in-     revelational purpose ; No if you mean that this account actu-
accuracies to which the synodical report, as quoted and in-         ally presents historical facts.
terpreted by Hoogland, refers, to have this little interlude.          Were the two trees in Paradise, the tree of life and the
        Hence, we quote again;                                      tree of knowledge of good and evil, real trees, that you

        "When the report proceeds to apply t& understanding         could touch and whose fruit you could eat? The answer of

of infallibility concretely to Scripture, the limitation which      the committee is again Yes and No. Yes, if you understand

the redemptive purpose of Scripture places on infallibility is      that Scripture uses Scriptural language, i.e., language which

 clearly seen. In terms of the precepts, doctrines, promises        the Spirit uses for His own revelatory purpose; No, if you

and predictive prophecies of Scripture we must confidently          understand this language in the real, historical sense of the

 expect perfect consistency, compatibility, and trustworthiness     word.

 (pp. 156, 157). Without qualification Scripture is speaking           Again, did the devil come in Paradise to tempt the wom-
 of the will of God for men when it gives these. But we find        an in the form of a serpent and did he really speak in lan-
 a different kind of `accuracy' and `consistency' .when  we         guage which Eve could understand ? The answer of the
turn to the historical, psychological, and phenomenological         committee again is Yes and No. It is Yes if you only re-
 facts given ,in Scripture. The demand here is only that `we        member that all these so-called "facts" are used by the Spirit
 must confidently expect that Scripture possesses such ac-          for the purpose of revelation ; No, if you mean that these
 curacy and consistency as is required by the Spirit's purpose      facts were facts in and of history.
 for speaking of such facts' (p. 157). The reason that a dif-           Is it true what we read in Joshua 10 :12-14 : "Then spake
 ferent kind of accuracy is demanded here is that these kinds       Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up
 of facts have no independent revelational significance in          the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the
 themselves, as precepts, doctrines, and promises do, but have      sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon  ; and thou,
 significance only as a 1xEans  toward communicating the self-      Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and
 disclosure of God. Hence we have no right to demand strict         the moon stayed," etc. The committee would answer again:
 accuracy, inerrancy, and consistency in the Sense that `the        Yes and No. Yes, if you only mean that the Spirit somehow
 historical, psychological, or phenomenological statements of       uses this account for His own purpose of revelation (what-
 Scripture conform precisely . . . to events or circumstances or    ever this may be) ; No, if you mean that the standing still of
 nature or parallel statement, but that they completely ful-        sun and moon was an actual fact in history.
 fill the Spirit's purpose for making these statements'."               Thus, finally, you have to interpret all the wonders that

        I will not quote the article of Hoogland word for word      are mentioned in Scripture, also the wonders which Jesus

on this particular matter, for this is not necessary and it         performed : the feeding of the five thousand, the raising of

 would require too much space. The report of the synodical          Lazarus, Christ's own resurrection, His ascension into heav-

 committee, at least as quoted and interpreted by Hoogland,         en, etc.

 makes it abundantly clear that there are historical errors or          Such is the content of the report of the synodical com-

 inaccuracies in Scripture. "What from a Scriptural point of        mittee, that is, if the interpretation of Hoogland is correct.

 view is accurate and inerrant  need not be accurate and iner-          Next time, the Lord willing, we present and discuss the

 rant from a z*terely  historical point of view." (This is Hoog-    decision of Synod on this matter.
 land's interpretation of the report of the synodical commit-                                                              H.H.

 tee, and it seems to me that his interpretation is correct.)           P.S. Lack of space makes it impossible to finish my arti-

 According to the report, as interpreted by Hoogland, there         cles on "The Protestant Reformation."


                                               T H E   STAND.ARD   B E A R E R                                                 127


                                                                    for he will not glorify and thank Him. And in this way he

11  O U R   D O C T R I N E   jl is being maintained as a rational, moral creature, and remains
                                                                    without excuse before God.

                                                                       The same is true of the first chapter of the gospel accord-

                                                                    ing to John, to which we referred. The Word is indeed life ;

                    REGENERATION                                    and that life is the light of man. And that light also shines
                                                                    in the darkness. Man by nature is indeed darkness,  but not

                                                                    in the sense that through the Word he does not have any
                         C H A P T E R  I I                         remnant of natural light. Through sin he did not turn into

                                                                    a brute or into an irrational creature. His ethical conscious-

                         The Calling                                ness was not lost. Even when he walks in the lie and loves
                                                                    it, even when he is become totally depraved and loves un-

                                                                    riglnteousness, even when he is wholly incapable of doing any

                                                                    good and inclined to all evil, so that he does not will the
   In Romans 1 we read : "For the wrath of God is reveaIed
                                                                    good and is incapable of willing it, the fact remains that this
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
                                                                    Word of God, of which John speaks in the first chapter of
men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that
                                                                    his gospel, shines before him and in him in such a way that
which may be known of God is manifest in them ; for God
                                                                    he knows himself as a rationai, moral, responsible creature.
hath shewed  it unto them. For the invisible things of him
                                                                    He also knows in general lines the difference between good
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being under-
                                                                    and evil. He does not sin because he does not know this
stood by the things that are made, even his eternal power
                                                                    difference; but knowing it, he also chooses for the evil. For
and Godhead ; so that they are without excuse : Because that,
                                                                    the Word of God is true Light, which lighteth every man
when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither
                                                                    that cometh  into the world. John 191  But although the
were thankful ; but became vain in their imaginations, and
                                                                    Light thus shines in the darkness, the darkness has not com-
their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to
                                                                    prehended it. There is, therefore, indeed a calling to every
be wise, they  became fools, And changed the glory of the
                                                                    man through the Word that is in the world, in creation. But
uncorruptible  God into an image made like to corruptible
                                                                    the darkness does not comprehend the Light, and sinful man
man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
                                                                    holds this calling in unrighteousness.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through

the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies           Thus also is the presentation of Romans 2 34, `15. The

between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a             heathen do not have the law, that is, they have no objective

lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the           revelation of that law as Israel did. Yet they do by nature

Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." You understand,             the things that are of the laiv and show the work of the law

of course, that this calling is not through the gospel, but is      written in their heart, their conscience also bearing witness,

through the things that are made. God calls even to all the         and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing

world that He must be glorified and thanked. And that               one another. These words of the epistle to the Romans

calling, of course, can never be unto salvation. Sin is a matter    may not be understood as if the apostle ivould  teach here

not of pure ignorance; it is not even a matter of the mind          that the heathen accomplish the law by nature, and that the

only. Sin concerns the heart and the will of man. The heart         law is written in their hearts for that very purpose. It is not

is corrupt and inclined to all evil. It wills unrighteousness       the intention of the apostle- to teach anything of the kind.

and loves the darkness rather than the light. And because           Whoever accomplishes the law and has the law written in his

it wills unrighteousness, it also loves the lie and rejects:-&6     heart in that positive sense of th6 word is righteous before

truth. For the truth condemns the., sinner. Only the lie            God: And the apostle intends exactly the very opposite, that

allows him to walk in the way of unrighteousness. And               is, to include all under sin. But the heathen do by nature

because he loves the lie,, therefore he holds. the truth in un-     the thin&  that are of the law. That is, what the law as it

righteousness. He stands in opposition to the truth and at-         was expressed in the Decalogue did for Israel, that the

tempts to change it into the lie. And this must be revealed         heathen did of themselves, by nature. The law clearly re-

in order to maintain the righteousness of God in judgment.          vealed what was good and evil, and the law demanded the

It must be revealed that sin is not a matter of ignorance, or       good. In this sense the heathen have the work of the law -

a mere matter of the mind, but an ethical, moral evil that is       not the law itself, but the work  of the law-written in their

in the heart of man. And that is why in the things that are         hearts. By their natural light they know in general lines what

made there is a calling of God. Through that calling- man           is good and what is evil.    Hence, they can by nature do the

receives that God is, and that He must be glorified and             things which are of the law, that is, they can distinguish be-

served.    But the natural man rejects this calling of God.         tween good and evil and place themselves before the demand

He shows that he s<aqds  in opposition to the living Creator:       to do +he  good, their thoughts meanwhile accusing or ex-


128                                      T H E   STANDAXCD.   B E A R E R '


cusing  one another. And this the heathen do indeed. They          calling that is in the works of God's hand, in creation. It

reach even a very high degree of development, as, for in-          opens the way of redemption and salvation and gives the

stance, in Roman jurisprudence. But although they possess          hope of eternal life in the way of faith and repentance. In

all this, yet they do not the good, but choose for the evil        this way, however, the judgment of the ungodly is aggravated

and love unrighteousness. They will not serve God and              if he does not repent. We must not forget that by virtue of

glorify Him. Hence, they develop from bad to worse, from           the remnants of natural light that are in him he certainly

sin unto sin. For whoever does not want to serve God               understands this calling of the gospel. Also in regard to

presently bows himself before wood and stone, before ox and        understanding this calling of the gospel there is indeed all

serpent; and he casts himself in the way of the lie, and           kinds of difference of degree among natural men. Some have

presently into all the corruptions which the apostle enumer-       so little comprehension that they can understand only the

ates at the close of the first chapter of his epistle to- the      first principles of the Word of God, while others are illumi-

Romans.                                                            nated, taste the gift of the Holy Spirit, and feel in them-

   This is also true with respect to the proclamation of ihe       selves the powers of the age to come. But this does not
gospel, or, with respect to the external calling through the       alter the fact that, organically considered, the natural man
Word. This calling too is in a certain sense general, al-          has remnants of natural light, through which he can under-
though it does not reach all men, but only those to whom           stand the preaching of the Word. And when he does not
God in His good pleasure sends the gospel. Also the calling        receive grace,    when God does not call him efficaciously
through the gospel does not come only to the elect, but also       through the operation of the Holy Spirit, he never embraces
to the reprobate, according to the good pleasure of God. And,      that gospel in a saving sense. He declares in word and
of course, this tailing  is important and has significance not     deed that he would rather be lost than be sorry and serve
only for the elect, but also for the reprobate. But this           and glorify the God that saves His people. He does not
significance certainly is not, as some have it, and as the         come to the light because he loves the daikness  rather than
Christian Reformed Church expressed it in the Three Points,        the light. In this way the preaching of the gospel becomes
that the calling is grace for all that hear the gospel. Scrip-     to him a savor of death unto death. He is fully revealed as
ture, as well as experience, teaches the very opposite. Just       a sinner that stands in rebellion against the living God. And
as it is no grace when the darkness does not comprehend the        thus God is justified when He judges him.                         H.H.

Light, so the preaching of the gospel is no grace for them

that are lost. Neither on the part of God, Who causes the
                                                                                              I N   MEMORlAM
gospel to be preached unto them, nor on the part of those
                                                                      The Board of the South Holland-Oak Lawn Protestant Reformed
that hear the preaching of the gospel, who, without the            Christian School expresses its sympathy to two of the faculty mem-
regenerating and illuminating grace of the Holy Spirit, al-        bers of our school, Mr. H. W. Kuiper and Miss Hulda Ktiper, in
                                                                   the recent loss of their beloved father,
ways reject that gospel, can it be called grace when the
                                                                                        THE REV. H. H. KUIPER
reprobate is under the calling of God through the gospel.             May the Lord turn  their sorrow into joy, comforting them by
Grace is never general, but always particular. However, this       His Holy Spirit and giving them to "know that all things work to-
                                                                   gether for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
does not alter the fact that the Lord God has a purpose and        according to His purpose." Rom. 828.
that this purpose is also attained when He causes men to be                    The Board of the Protestant Reformed Christian School
under the preaching of the gospel without changing their                       South Holland-Oak Lawn, Ill.
                                                                                                          D. Poortenga, President
hearts through regeneration and illumination. Also through                                                G. Vanden Berg, Secretary

this calling the responsibility of man and his ethical char-
                                                                                              IN MEMORIAM
acter are being maintained. God speaks to him through that
                                                                      The Mary-Martha Society of the Redlands  Hope Protestant Re-
gospel. In that gospel He calls him to repentance, conver-         formed Church wishes herewith to express its sincere sympathy to
sion, and faith. And in a way that is very clear and not to        one of its members, Mrs. Gerald Feenstra,  in the death of her father,
be denied He presents to him the way of sin as a way that                                  REV. H. H. KUIPER
                                                                      May our heavenly Father, Who does all things well, give coq-
displeases God and that makes him the objkct  of God's wrath,      fort and peace by His Word and Spirit.
as a way in which he gathers unto himself treasures of wrath                                           Rev. H. Veldman, President
                                                                                                       Mrs. Dick Van Uffelen, Secretary
in the day of the revelation of God's righteous judgment.

       Moreover, in that gospel He opens to him that repents                                  IN MEMORIAM ,
a way to be reconciled to God and to return to the heart of the       The Board of the Association for Christian Education hereby es-
                                                                   presses its sincere sympathy to two of its fellow members, Mr. Ryan
Father, and assures him that he will never be cast out, and        Harkema, in the death of his
promises him eternal life. No sinner that repents shall ever                                       SISTER
                                                                   and MS. Richard Teitsma, in the death of his
be able to say that God has delight in his death. All this                                         FATHER
is preached in the gospel, and is preached without distinction        "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that
to all that are under the gospel, also the reprobate. Moreover,    call upon him in truth." Psalm  145:X
                                                                                                    Cornelius Jonker, President
this calling through the gospel is distinguished from the                                           Robert W. Pastoor, Vice Sec'y-Treas.

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


                                                                   hast brought forth out of the land of E,Tpt with great power,

11 A CLOUD OF W.ITNESSES  11 and with a mighty hand ? Wherefore should the Egyptians
                                                                   speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay

                                                                   them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of
                 Moses As Intercessor                              the earth ? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil

                                                                   against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
        And Moses return&d unto the Lord, and said, Oh,
      this people have sinned a great sin, and have ,vade tlmz     thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and
      gods of gold.                                                saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of

        Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin - ; and if not,    heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give
      blot TtLe,  I pray  thee, out of thy book which thou kast    unto  your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever." It was

      when.                                                        all that he could say. There had been a day wheti  he might

    With a frightening abruptness the tone of God's revela-        have forsaken the nation of Israel ; in fact, he had when he
                                                                   fled from Egypt to Midian.  In that day he might have been
tion to Moses on Mt. Sinai changed. He said, "Go, get thee
                                                                   enticed by the thought of becoming himself a great nation
down ; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land
of Egypt, have corrupted themselves : they have turned aside       before the Lord. But that had been long ago, and much had
                                                                   happened since then. In Midian  he had learned to know
quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have
                                                                   himself for what he was, a sinner unworthy of God's cov-
made them a molten calf, and have worshipped  it, and have
sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, 0 Israel,       enant and grace. How well he now knew that he was no
which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. I             better than the rest of Israel, and his seed could never be
have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:    any better than Abraham's. His life was bound to Israel,
now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot              not because of the excellency of the people, but because to
against them, and that I may consume them : and I will make        them belonged the covenant and the promises by an unchange-
of thee a great nation."                                           able oath from God. He loved Israel and could not stand
   For Moses, this announcement, coming so abruptly, was           aside. He must plead for them. But what could he plead ?
almost more than his mind could grasp. For forty days he           He could not plead their virtue ; in forty days they had fallen
had been engaged in peaceful communion with God concern-           from grateful obedience into the depths of grossest sin. He
ing the tabernacle, God's holy dwelling place, which was to        could not plead their merit; the journey from Egypt had been
be established in the midst of Israel's camp. It was a promise     one unending series of murmuring, complaining rebellion.
of spiritual blessings uncompared  in depth of spiritual mean-     There was only one thing he could plead: that was the un-
ing and richness of spiritual implications.     The glory of       wavering faithfulness of Jehovah to His promises. God had
Gospel revelation would shine forth from every portion of          promised to reveal His glory by bringing His people out of
this holy dwelling place. And now this. Israel had proved          bondage to the richness of the land of Canaan ; this promise
itself unworthy. The wrath of the Lord was waxed hot.              had to be realized, that God's glory might shine to the ends
The soul of Moses was overwhelmed. How could he com-               of the earth. He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
prehend it? He had left Israel spiritually enraptured by the       to make their seed great in the land of their inheritance ;
glory of God's revelation in the law and the covenant. Could       this oath had to be fulfilled lest Jehovah be found unfaithful.
they have turned so soon to commit such gross transgression ?      Humbly Moses set these truths before God, and from His
How could Moses conceive of it? But he could not deny the          wrath He relented.

word of God, There was God's wrath. For forty days Moses               Almost unconsciously Moses was being brought to fulfill

had heard nothing but the love of God for Israel as His            the function of his office as a type of Jesus Christ. He was

chosen people. It was an unchanging love, as the whole             but a man, and had he come upon Israel engaged in this sin,

structure of the tabernacle testified. And now, suddenly, he,      totally unprepared, the very repulsiveness of their act would

Moses, stood before God's righteous indignation against this       have turned him away from them in utter disgust. Now,

same people because they had sinned. And the Word of God           before he was able to feel the full impact of Israel's terrible

could not be questioned. And still there was more. God had         act, he was being brought very emphatically to understand

said that if he, Moses, would stand aside, Israel would be         that regardless of Israel's deed the faithfulness of Jehovah had

consumed and a great nation would be brought forth from his        to be maintained. Even more, he, being the representative of

own loins. But how could he-the mere man that he was -             God before the people and the typical figure of the perfect

stand in the way of the will of the Most High? And, if a           mediator to come, had to remain faithful unto the people of

nation were to be brought forth from him, would it be any          God in love, to admonish them for their iniquity, but also to

different or better than Abraham's seed ? For moments Moses        lead them in the way of salvation.

stood pondering the depths of all these questions.                    Sadly Moses turned to make his descent unto the people.
   Finally, faintly faltering, he presumed to answer. "Lord,       Had he not known what he did, he would have gone down in
why doth thy wrath,wax  hot against thy people, which thou         joy. Now he went in sorrow. Still, he went quickly, feeling


130                                       T H E   STANDARD   B E A R E R
                                                                    _-. -w  _.__  __


drawn to the people of God even in this hour of their great        cameout this calf."     Aarpn's  excuse, so evidently false, only

sin. Soon he came to the place where Joshua had throughout         made more evident his w?akness.  andi guilt.

the forty days and nights been waiting, unaware of the                Dismayed at his brother's duplicity, Moses turned to the

glorious revelations which had been made known above and           people. Most of them had fled to the privacy of their tents,

of the wretched transgression that was being perpetrated           afraid and ashamed before Moses' accusing gaze. But still

below in the valley. He saw the sorrow written on Moses'           there were some who, caught up in the pleasure of their sin,

face but in proper meekness withheld himself from asking           would not leave it alone even in the presence of God's

questions. Silently they descended together until the sound        servant. In bold defiance they continued to dance nakedly

of the camp began to reach their ears.                             in the aisles between the tents. Quickly Moses took up their

   Innocently, Joshua offered the only explanation he could        challenge, and, standing at the camp's gate, shouted, "Who

imagine, for the noise was very great. "There is a noise of        is on the Lord's side ? let him come unto me." Soon the men

war in the camp," he suggested.                                    of Levi, Moses' own tribe, took courage to come and stand

   His heart wrenched with anguished dismay, Moses an-             by his side. Moses' command was uncompromising, "Thus

swered, "It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery,       saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by

neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome:       his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the

but the noise of them that sing do I hear."                        camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his

   But it was only after they had rounded the mountain's           companion, and every man his neighbor." Israel's only hope

edge and stood overlooking the camp that the full magnitude        for salvation could be through renouncing their sin and all

of Israel's transgression struck Moses and was understood.         those who continued in it without regard of persons. As

There in the middle of the camp on an ornate pedestal stood        Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even

a golden calf, an idol like those kept and worshipped by all       every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he

the heathen. Around it were the people whom he had so              may bestow upon you a blessing this day." By nightfall three

shortly before left with the promise upon their lips, "All that    thousand men lay dead in the camp.

the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." They were            It was an entirely different people that gathered before

engaged with the idolatrous, adulterous orgies of the wicked.      Moses the next morning. The bitter pangs of guilt and shame

They shouted and sang and danced a wild, sensuous dance.           were beginning to touch their hearts. Accordingly Moses

Suddenly the tables of the law which Moses unconsciously           now spoke to them in love.        "Ye have sinned a great sin:

had been carrying seemed to hang like lead on his arms, a          and now I will go up unto the Lord ; peradventure I shall

weight too heavy to carry. It seemed utterly incongruous           make an atonement for your sin."

and impossible to bear God's holy commandments to a people            Soon Moses stood again on the mountain in the presence

that had broken every one of them already. With an angry           of God. Though he had thought much, he hardly knew what

thrust he threw them from the ledge on which they stood to         to say., Slowly he began, "Oh, this people have sinned a

be dashed to pieces below on the rocks. Then with an angry         great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if

dash he descended what remained-of the mountain.                   thou wilt forgive their sin-." The sentence faltered and

   Like an arrow Moses pierced the multitude of the people,        broke. It could not be finished. Had he intended to say that,

scattering them with the vehement glint of his eyes and the        if God would overlook this sin, the people would hereafter

resolute determination of his face. Straight to the golden         abide by His law? But he could not make that promise.

image he went, and by the strength of his own arms tore it         Those who had sinned so greatly once would surely do SO
pedestal and all into shreds. The golden metal he ground           again. The only thing left was for Moses to express the only
into powder, and its dust he scattered into the water, com-        other possibility he saw. "And if not, blot me, I pray thee,
manding the people to drink. Let them taste the bitter results     out of thy book which thou hast written." It was a beautiful

of their sin with their mouths before they tasted it with the      prayer permeated with love.       It anticipated the cry of Paul
pangs of their guilty hearts.                                      the apostle, "I could~.wish  that myself were accursed from

   Only then  did Moses speak, a searing accusation of             Christ for my brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh."

Aaron.    "What did this people unto thee, that thou hast          It anticipated the teaching of Jesus, "Greater love hath no

brought so great a sin upon them ?"                                man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,"

   Aaron's answer was juvenile and naive. "Let not the                But it could not be so. Moses was a mere man arid could

anger of my lord wax hot," he plaintively pleaded. "Thou           not make atonement for the sins of others. God answered

knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they        him, "Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot

said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for          out of my book . . . nevertheless in the day when I visit I

as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land      will visit their sin upon them." Every sin committed would

of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said             have to be paid for by another than Moses. God would visit

unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it of?.         every one in judgment. For some of Israel this day of visita-

And they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there                              (Continued on page 144)


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                131


                                                                      sats," the fundamental principle and rule of conduct in the
I FROM H.OLY WRIT                                                     church. -4nd what is this confession ? It is that which is
                                                                -I summed up by Paul in the well-known "Great is the mystery
                                                                      of godliness." Godliness is a secret of God which he has made

                Exposition of I Timothy                               known to His people. It is not to be equated with the "sweet
                                                                      mystery of life" of which the world sings. It is that which

                       (I Timothy 3 :l-7)                             we know only by grace through the Spirit of Christ, what he

                                                                      reveals to us in the Gospel, the glad-tidings of salvation.
                                b.
                                                                          The mystery  of godliness is not simply a subjective ex-

   It ought to be kept in mind that the office of either an           perience ; it is an objective.re&y  of what God is in Christ,
overseer (bishop) of that of a deacon is one which has the            the Son of God in the flesh, in his death and resurrection, in
sanction of God in His church.                                        his ascension to the right hand of God, his gathering of the
                                                                      church, and the final glorification of the.church,  and of His
   That the office is very important is directly stated by
                                                                      Self-glorification in Christ in this church.
Paul in verse 1 of I Timothy 3, where we read: "Faithful is
the saying, If a man seek the office of a bishop, he desireth a           Of this mystery that is great, far above human invention
good work." Just how "good," honorable and useful this                and realization Paul sings (possibly it was a song in the
work is becomes the more evident from what Paul writes                church at that time) : "God is revealed in the flesh, justified
in the latter part of this chapter, in the verses 14 through 16.      in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached (heralded) among the
                                                                      nations, believed upon in the world, received up into glory."
    Paul reminds Timothy that he writes "these things" to
him that he may know "how men (or thou) ought to conduct                  This "mystery of godliness" is the fundamental principle
themselves (thyself) in the house of God, the church of the           and rule of conduct in the church. It is all-controlling ! It
living God."    The church is not a human institution! It             determines what Paul speaks of when he delineates upon the
can not be placed upon one line with earthly, temporal in-            office of the elder as being a "good work," and therefore
stitutions, such as a school society, or any mere organization        lifts this office to a unique class, distinguishing it from all
of men in secular life. These all pass away; but the church           other offices on earth in human organizations.

abides forever. She is constantly being gathered, defended                The office in the church fits with what is promised us

and preserved by God, as the elect unto everlasting life, in          in one sum in the Holy Gospel, as briefly expressed in this

the unity of faith. And the members of this church are                song, "Great is the Mystery of Godliness." We here have

called "living members" which are and shall $~eve~  rewmin            in essence all that is expressed in the Apostolic Confession,

such !                                                                the Twelve Articles of Faith!

    To see the glory of the church we must remember that                  Truly the very nature of this "Mystery of Godliness" is

she is the "house of God," that is, she is the place where God        such that here in the church one must take the shoes from

makes His constant and- abiding dwelling-place through                off his feet. Into this mystery and the unfolding of the same

Christ in the Spirit of Christ.. She is the lzoly  church of          before their wondering eyes, angels are looking with rapt

God, because God dwells in her through the Holy Spirit and            attention. I Peter 1 :13. And in this church women must

sanctifies her. Such is the glory of God in the saints! The           have a covering upon their head for the sake of the angels.

living God dwells in this church ; she is no temple of devils !       I Cor. 11 :lO.

As church she is composed of l&.&g  stones, a spiritual house             Whoever desires an office of overseer in this church places
of king-priests unto God. I Peter 2 :5.                               his affection upon a truly good work!

    In view of the church being such, each has his own place              Small wonder that the qualifications are high here !
and office and function in the church; prayers must be offered            When we study these qualifications, enumerated by Paul
by men in the services ; women and mothers have a great               in the verses 2-7, it strikes us that there are two matters
place, yet they are not to rule; those who are to rule and            which, by way of introduction, ought to be singled out. The
desire such an oflice  desire a good work - for it is an office       first is that what is said of the office has relevancy only for
in the church, a gift of God to her for her spiritual edification,    the church on earth. What Paul here states is indeed
that she may arrive at her final maturity in faith here, and          "Ci~~~~lvch-O,rde-"    and is not to be viewed simply as a
her ultimate glory in the ages to come.                               `Constitution," to show how the organ&&on  is put together

    There is a certain "pillar and ground" of the truth which         and runs smoothly and effectively. It is what both the

Paul points out in the verses 14-16. This "pillar and ground"         Holland and the German fathers underscored when they

of the truth, it seems to me (having taken cognizance of the          called it: "Iierkenorder" or "Kirchenordnung,"  that is, an

various exegetical attempts to explain this dimcult  section)         "order" which is given by Christ as belonging to the very

is what is embodied in the universal confession of the church.        nature of the church upon earth, as the mother of believers,
This confession contains what the Germans call the "Grund-            and as she is the house where the living God makes his

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


abode by His Word and Spirit. Secondly, we ought to ob-               the number- of wives which he has. He must be strictly a

serve that the qualifications here enumerated, though belong-         man loyal to one wife ; he must be' no philanderer. In this

ing to the very nature of the office, are nevertheless chosen for     respect he must be of unquestionable integrity. It is not

the church as she lives in the midst of an evil world, sinful as-     sufficient that he Izas  but one wife; he must be such that no

saults of the devil, and the weaknesses of the flesh of the           evil mention is made of him, and men must not whisper

children of God in this life, particularly as these weaknesses        about him. Should there be such then men must immediately

and assaults are experienced by such a "shining target" as an         discard it by virtue of the entire walk and attitude of an

office-bearer in the church of the living God!                        office-bearer. Such is the irreproachableness required in one

   As to the qualifications themselves, permit us to point out        who desires the office of a bishop in the church of the living
the following :                                                       God.
                                                                         This explanation also at once disposes of the question
       1. That Paul first singles out the qualities in the over-
                                                                      whether a minister or elder is permitted to remarry should
seer which I would call the essential and ~&z&z&  attributes
                                                                      his first wife die. Much ado has been made about this
of an office-bearer, who must teach and rule in the church of
                                                                      in the church in the past, especially amongst those who hold
the living God. They are: be the husband of one wife, tem-
                                                                      that the "bishopric" is an oflice  in the church, overseeing
perate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to
                                                                      other office-bearers in the church. At the same time it under-
teach. Verse 2.
                                                                      scores the fact that a man not married must also be a "one'
   2.     Secondly, we observe the moral qualities, the spiritual-    wife man," that is, he must not be a philandering bachelor.
ethical self-control which is requisite in an office-bearer in           Besides the qualification just mentioned, an aspirant to
lz~~~a~t-re&ions.  They are : no brawler (not given to wine),         the office  of, minister or elder in the church must also be
no striker; but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money,           tewtfeTate,  sober-minded, orderly. The term "temperate" is
able to rule his .own house well. Verses 3-5.                         translated in Holland language "wakker" and in the Ger-
       3. Thirdly, Paul enumerates two aspects of the office as       man translation it is "niichteren"! It possibly refers to a
it can become, because of the weakness of the flesh, a great          man who has a very watchful, calm and collected spirit, a
stumbling-block under the temptations and assaults of Satan.          man of vision, who sees the entire picture of things, and who
They are: a. The temptation of a novice, one who is not a             is not easily deceived by appearances. Such a man sees what
seasoned believer, having seen -much of the reality of life,          is end and what is means to attain that end. Closely allied
and will therefore from the giddy heights of the office fall          to the former is the term: sober-minded. Such a man is not
into the judgment which God pronounced upon the Devil in              easily moved by passion, impulses, but is self-controlled.
his fall. b. The temptation of one who has a bad rep&a&z              There is a proper measure to what he does. He seeks proper
from those without, and who, by becoming an office-bearer,            "objectivity." And this all culminates in what is translated
would be a peculiar target of derision from evil men. Such            "orderly" !    Such a man has all the parts in the right place
a man does better not standing in the foot-lights. Verses 6, 7.       in his inner soul-life and thinking. He is put together well ;
       Concerning each of these we would say just a word.             he lives with decorum ; his inner life is such that it expresses

       First of all then we must try to explain some of the           itself in good outward conversation. He grows up to be
esSe&at  qualities.                                                   the "grand old man"!      The Dutch have the nicely flavored

       The question may be asked : what does Paul mean when           word : eerbaar !

he says "the husband of one wife"? I would call attention                Paul also mentions yet in this series of essential qualities
to the fact that in the Greek we do not read: "A man, having          in an aspirant to the office: love for strangers. The Hol-
but one wife." That is how I read it for thirty years or more.        land translation has "gaarne herbergende," while the Ger-
When, a quarter century ago, a brother came to the con-               man translation has "herberget gern." It is the quality which
sistory requesting that his name be removed from nomina-              Abraham evidenced when he entertained angels unawares.
tion for office-bearer, and when I inquired at the consistory         What would a minister or elder do in the office in the
meeting for his reason, he said: "I have no wife, I am not            church if he did not love to help people. A minister who is
married."      When I insisted that was not a good enough             interested only in his own personal comfort is a sad spectacle
reason, he countered by quoting this text of Paul. He felt            in the church. It reminds me of the minister who said, when
that the Bible taught here that a man must have a wife to be          asked whether he would drive his new automobile at the
an office-bearer in the church! I answered that Paul only             funeral of one of his parishioners : "I will, if it doesn't rain" !
means to say that a man must not have more than one wife;             Besides, he must be "apt to teach." He must like to teach
he must not be a polygamist !                                         others, and he must have the ability to teach others. I do not

       I question that former explanation which I then gave to        believe that one who does not love to entertain strangers has

this phrase, "the husband of one wife." In the first place            the ability to teach in the church. His sermons on love for

because'in the Greek we really read: "A one wife man." The            the brethren would fly back in his own face.

emphasis falls on the quality  of the man and not so much on                                                                        G.L.

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


                                                                  would be opposed to the living God and His kingdom of light.

i----%                   HIS  F E A R                             Man decided not to live under God and be His. willing sub-
                                                                  ject, `His friend-servant, but instead to stand next to Him

                                                                  and in opposition to Him, to decide for himself what is good

                                                                  and what is evil. And that very thought and desire was evil,
                God's Royal Priesthood                            for by it he already set himself up in opposition to the God

                                (15)                              Who made him, and Whom he was obliged to serve. We still
                                                                  would have no struggle, however, if that were all. But God
      "Onzmrd, Chr/istian  soldiem,  maclzing  as to way,         comes with His regenerating grace and implants in the
       Judith the woss  of Jeszts  g0in.g  on. befol-e.           hearts of His people a new life, the life of His kingdom in
       Christ, the royal  Master, leads  against the foe;         Christ; and therefore He declares to Satan that there will be '
       Forzvafrd  into battle, See, His bannws  go."              a struggle and enmity between seed and seed, a battle through

   So we sing, but not too often do we mean it. The next          all the ages, a spiritual warfare that does not cease until God

stanza begins with the words, "Like a mighty army, Moves          sends His Son at the end of time to bring it to an end. It
the Church of God: Brothers we are treading Where the             is a struggle in which the Church suffers persecution, and
saints have trod."    There was a time when the Church of         the Son of God in flesh, which He receives from the seed of
God did consider itself an army. Today there is a universal       the woman, is brutally and with a hypocritical cry of piety
tendency to deny that fact.       And it is not because of the    nailed to the tree of the cross. Not on the feast days. No
next sentence in that hymn, "We Bre not divided, All one          appearance in the judgment seat itself, lest they sin against'
body we, One in hope and doctrine, One in charity." There         God ! What folly ! What hypocrisy ! And yet the seed of the
is a strong and universal movement to be one in doctrine at       serpent is seeking to kill The Seed of the woman!
the expense of the truth, with loathing to fight for the truth       Because of this Christ all the Christians became a mighty
and to foster a love or charity that does not love the truth      army, marching, not as to war, but unto  war. It is war. Jesus

but the flesh of men.                                             says, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I

   What is so easily overldoked and even denied today is          came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set

that the Church here on earth is still the Church Militant.       a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against

Onward Christian Soldiers expresses that fact, and it is one      her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in

of the more often sung hymns at that. But that militant call-     law. And a man's, foes shall be they of his own household.

ing and position of the Church today, we do so readily deny.      He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy

0, we do not wish to deny that the Church here on earth is        of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is

already the Church Triumphant! She most assuredly is.             not worthy of me." Matthew 10:34-37.

Paul declares that we aye more than conquerors in Romans             Because we are God's prophets and know Him in the

S :37. Does he not in that same connection declare that all       revelation that He gave of Himself we find ourselves in this

things work-work right now-together for our good?                 struggle. If we did not believe the truth, the seed of the

Does he not close this song of triumph with the comforting        serpent would look very pleasing and friendly to us. We

truth that nothing is able to separate us from the love of        could give our sons and our daughters to their sons and

God in Christ? We have that love. Nothing is able to sep-         daughters. We could live in peace and work together for

arate us from it. We are the Church Triumphant now. In            some common goal. But we are, and qur covenant seed are,

that same vein, John says in I John 5 :4 that faith is, not       the prophets of God. And the lie fills us with righteous

realizes, but is the victory. And that faith we now have;         wrath and drives us away from the ungodly. We find it

therefore that victory we,now have. To be sure, there is a        necessary to oppose the world in that lie. Notice that in

richer manifestation and enjoyment of that victory. But the       this passage of Matthew 10 Jesus had prefaced the words

victory is ours already in this life. We are the Church Tri-      which we quoted above with the statement, "Whosoever shall

umphant. But although it can be said of the Church in this        confess me before men, him will I also confess before my

world that she is already triumphant, although it is true that    Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me

in this life she is both the Church Militant and the Church       before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is

Triumphant, it is only in this life that she is the Church        in heaven."    As prophets of the living God, we surely will

Militant. In the new Jerusalem we shall never sing, "Onward       not deny Him. Instead we confess Him and oppose the lie

Christian soldiers, marching as to war . . ." `The war will       which the world propagates. Doing so we will soon find

be over.                                                          ourselves on the battlefield, "Marching unto war, like a

   But now today we are still in the struggle. That struggle      mighty army."

began the very day that man fell into sin and a kingdom of           And because we are His priests who are dedicated unto

darkness was organized. The whole human race in Adam              Him in love, because we are presenting our bodies a living

decided to set up, as suggested by Satan, a kingdom that          sacrifice, we will find that we have to fight the lie, the


 134                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B,EARER


 world, the devil and his host, the antichrist and his followers       things in His name and for His glory. Matthew 7:21-23.

 and our own sinful flesh. Being dedicated unto God we                 Why is it that those who want to stress so strongly this love

 cannot possibly give ourselves over to sin. Being dedicated           for man and for the brother are so, lacking in showing it to

 to Him we give ourselves and all that which we have to the            those who are so deeply concerned with the glory of God?

 glory of His name.      And since sin always denies Him this          These above all should be the object of our love. Why is

 glory, and we live in a sinful world, we iind  that there is          it that men have such a passion for the souls of far-off

 always this warfare that we must wage. We will find it as             heathen in strange lands and cannot speak respectfully of

 soon as we wake up in the morning. Every step of our                  confessing brethren who want to be sure that in their doc-

 earthly way we will meet the enemy. And the enemy will rec-           trine they are pure, because they know that God is pure and

c) ognize us also as its enemy.    Truly the Church is a mighty        can be glorified only by the truth? Why sneeringly call them

 army always marching unto  war from paradise to the par-              Calvinists or even Hyper-Calvinists ? Those whom they

 ousia.                                                                know to harbor false doctrines they can treat in the most

                                                                       friendly terms under the banner of a love we must show to
        But it is also because we are kings of the most high God
                                                                       all men. These heretical tendencies must be ignored to mani-
 that we find ourselves in this relentless struggle. In fact
 it is as kings that we fight and wherein we have our calling          fest the love of God to the brother. But the man who seeks
                                                                       in every possible way to avoid heresy must be avoided and
 to fight. We pointed out before that the Heidelberg Cate-
                                                                       be ridiculed, maligned and hated. It does not make sense.
 chism says of Christ, as far as His kingly phase -of His
                                                                       And it is not an act of onward Christian soldiers, marching
 threefold office is concerned, that He "governs us by His
                                                                       to the war to which God has called them.
 word and Spirit, and . . . defends and preserves us in (the

 enjoyment of) that salvation, He has purchased for us." And              It is not living as God's royal priesthood. It is not

 in regard to our calling as kings, it likewise states, "and also      functioning in the kingly phase of the threefold of&e of

 that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin          every believer. And it does not serve a healthy and proper

 and Satan in this life." When, as Christian soldiers, march-          ecumenicity. A king who favours those who advocate harm

 ing'unto war,  we fight the good fight of faith, we are serving       to his own citizens is not doing his kingdom any good. A

 God as His kings. Because as prophets our minds are filled            king must defend and preserve and not promote harm to his

 with the truth- concerning Him and are controlled by that             kingdom. And the Kingdom of God is not served by water-

 truth, and because as priests we are dedicated in love unto           ing down doctrinal distinctions to find a common ground on

 Him and desire to be pleasing in His sight in all that which          which all can stand, but exactly by stating it more and more
 we do, we will as kings fight this good fight of faith.               specifically as new problems and new denials arise. When

                                                                       we talk love, love, love to the brethren, let us be sure that
        Then we do not love father and mother, brother and sister
                                                                       we are not showing hatred to those who love God and desire
 more than God, and we do not practice a false love, but we
                                                                       to speak doctrinally as He speaks. If we are going to fight,
 fight for the glory of this God Whom we love. Then we
                                                                       and as His royal priesthood we must, let us not fight against
 are not first concerned with hurting the brother's feelings but
                                                                       God and His glory but rather for His glory.
 with denying God His glory. Then we are not first con-

 cerned with making the Church a "mighty army" but with                   Our calling as His kings is not to lie upon a bed of roses

 keeping the enemy out of our ranks for the truth's sake and           and rock away in our easy chair. Our calling is as soldiers

 for the glory of God's sake: A word of warning might be in            to be on the battlefield, ever alert for the enemy in no,

 order: Be careful what your attitude is toward the man who            matter what form he comes. We are to look for the in-

 desires doctrinally to cross every t and dot every i, to oppose       filtrators as carefully in this battle as in any physical warfare.

 every threat against the truth of the Word of God. Before             We are to have our passwords and identification signs. Let

 you join the army of the devil and call such narrowminded,            us beware lest we in our personal Ambitions  for ecumenicity

 just sit down and ask yourself how narrowminded God re-               and bigness take into the Church fifth columnists and spies
 veals Himself to be in His Word. He slew Uzzah who-we                 who now from within can attack our children, the covenant
 would say-meant so well when he sought to keep the ark                seed, with our sanction and so that we are helpless to get
 from falling off the cart. He forbade Moses to enter Canaan,          rid of them after they reveal their ambitions. If we love our

 after forty years of taking the dirt and insult of the Israelites,    children, and if we serve our kingly phase of our threefold

 because of one rash deed into which he fell after almost un-          office, we will fight the lie in every form and we will welcome

 bearable temptation and grief at the hands of the far more            the help of others to fight for the truth. `We will not shun

 wicked Israelites. He is the God Who moved and guided                 them, malign and ridicule them, but we will say with them,

 men to write His Word so that it would be recorded exactly            Onward Christian soldiers, marching to the war. In His

 as it was written. He is the God Who will say in the day              fear let us seek the glory of the God Whose royal priesthood

 of `days, "Depart from me ye workers of iniquity" to many             we are!

 who will cry that they did this and that and so many other                                                                      J.A.H.


                                             T H E   STAN'DARD.   B E A R E R                                                        135


                                                                       to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (I
     II Contending For The Faith                                       Tim. 2 :4 j, therefore it is necessary that there always should
                                                                   II have been, and should be at this day, and to the end of the
                                                                       world, a Church-that is, a company of the faithful called

                                                                       and gathered out of the world ; a communion (I say) of all
              The Church  and the Sacraments
                                                                       saints, that is, of them who truly know and rightly worship

             THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                               and serve the true God, in Jesus Christ the Saviour, by the
                                                                       word of the Holy Spirit, and who by faith are partakers of
                   VIEWS ON THE CHURCH                                 all those good graces which are freely offered through Christ.

                                                                       These all are citizens of one and the same city, living under

                   THE PROTESTANT VIEW                                 one Lord, under the same laws, and in the same fellowship

        The Westminster Confession of the Church in England            of all good things ; for the apostle calls. them "fellow-citizens
     has an article on the Church, Chapter 25, of this confession,     with the saints, and of the household of God'" (Eph. 2 :19)  ;
which we quote : "I. The catholic or universal Church, which           terming the faithful upon the earth saints (I Cor. 4:1), who
is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that         are sanctified by the blood of the Son of God. Of these is
have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ           that article of our Creed wholly to be understood, "I believe
the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness  of        in the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints."
him that filleth all in all. II. The visible Church, which is             And, seeing that there is always but "one God, and one
also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to          mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ"
one nation as before under' the law) consists. of all those,           (I Tim. 2 3) ; also, one Shepherd of the whole flock, one
throughout the world, that profess the true religion, and of          Head of this. body, and, to conclude, one Spirit, one salva-
their children ; and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ,         tion, one faith, one Testament, or Covenant, it follows
the house and family of God, out of which there is no or-             necessarily that there is but one Church, which we therefore
dinary possibility of salvation.        III. Unto this catholic       call CATHOLIC because it is universal, spread abroad
visible Church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles,               through all the parts and quarters of the world, and reaches
and ordinances of God, for the gathering and per-                     unto all times, and is not limited within the compass either
fecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world:         of time or place. Here, therefore, we must condemn the
and doth by his own presence and Spirit, according to his             Donatists, who pinned up the Church within the corners
promise, make them effectual thereunto. IV. This catholic             of Africa, neither do we assent to the Roman clergy, who
Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible.              vaunt that the Church of Rome alone is in a manner
And particular churches, which are members thereof, are               Catholic. (Notice, please, that the authors of this confession
more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is         condemn the Donatists who would pin up the Church within
taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public              the corners of Africa. - H.V.)
worship performed more or less purely in them. (Notice,                   The Church is divided by some into divers parts or sorts ;
please, in this article of faith of the Westminster Confession,       not that it is rent and divided from itself, but rather dis-
that mention is made of particular churches as being more             tinguished in respect of the diversity of the members that
or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught       are in it.     One part thereof they make to be the Church
and embraced, etc. - H.V.) V. The purest churches under               Militant, the other the Church Triumphant. The Militant
heaven are subject both to mixture and .error;  and some              wars still on earth, and fights against the flesh, the worSd,
have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but           and the prince of the world, the devil ; against sin and against
synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a            death. The other, being already set at liberty, is now in
Church on earth to worship God according to his will, VI.             heaven, and triumphs over all those things overcome, andi
There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus               continually rejoices before the Lord. Yet these two churches
Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense be head                have, notwithstanding, a communion and fellowship between
thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of           themselves.
perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ,           Moreover, the Church Militant upon the earth has ever-
and all that is called God."                                          more had many particular churches, which must all, notwith-
                                                                      standing, be referred to the unity of the Catholic Church.
       The Second Helvetic  Confession expresses on this sub-
ject of the Church in Chapter XVII. This is a very lengthy            This Militant Church was otherwise ordered and governed
article which we wish to quote in full.                               before the Law, among the patriarchs ; otherwise under
                                                                      Moses, by the Law; and otherwise of Christ, by the Gospel.
ON THE CATHOLIC AND HOLY CHURCH OF GOD,                               There are but two sorts of people, for the most part, men-
AND OF THE ONE ONLY HEAD OF THE CHURCH
-                                                                     tioned : to wit, the Israelites and the Gentiles ; or they who,
                                        .
       Forasmuch as God from the begmning would have men              of the Jews and Gentiles, were gathered to make a Church.

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


There are also two Testaments, the Old and the New. Yet               and teach that Christ our Lord is, and remains still, the only

both these sorts of people have had, and still have, one fellow-      universal pastor, and highest bishop, before God his Father;

ship, one salvation, in one and the same Messiah ; in whom,           and that in the Church he performs all the duties of a pastor

as members of one body, they are all joined together under            or bishop, even to the world's end ; and therefore stands not

one head, and by one faith are all partakers of one and the           in need of any other to supply his room. For he is said to

same spiritual meat and drink. Yet here we do acknowledge             have a substitute, who is absent; but Christ is present with

a diversity of times, and a diversity in the pledges and signs        his Church, and is the head that gives life thereunto. He did

of Christ promised and exhibited ; and that now, the cere-            straitly forbid his apostles and their successors all superiority

monies being abolished, the light shines unto us more                 or dominion in the Church. They, therefore, that by gain-

clearly, our gifts and graces are more abundant, and our              saying set themselves against so manifest a truth, and bring

liberty is more full and ample.                                       another kind of government into the Church, who sees not

                                                                      that they are to be counted in the number of them of the
       This holy Church of God is called "the house of the living
                                                                      apostles of Christ prophesied? as in Peter, II Epist. 2 :l, and
God" (II Cor. 6 :16), "builded  of living and spiritual stones"
                                                                      Paul, Acts 22:29; II Cor. 11 :13; II Tkess.  2 :8, 9, and in
(I Pet. 2 :5), "founded upon a rock" (Matt. 16:18), "which
can not be moved" (Heb. 12 :28),  "upon a foundation besides          many other places.

which nope can be laid" (I Cor. 3 :ll ) . Whereupon it is                Now, by taking away the Romish head we do not bring

called the "pillar and ground of the truth" (I Tim. 3 :15),           any confusion or disorder into the Church. For we teach

that does not err, so long as it relies upon the rock Christ,         that the government of the Church which the apostles set

and upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles. And             down is sufficient to keep the Church in due order; which,

no marvel if it do err, so often as it forsakes Him who is the        from the beginning, while as yet it wanted such a Romish

alone truth. This Church is also called "a virgin" (I Cor.            head as is now pretended to keep it in order, was not dis-

11 :Z), and "the spouse of Christ" (Cant. 4.:8),  and "his only       ordered or full of confusion. The Romish head doth maintain

beloved" (Cant. 5 :16).  For the apostle says,. ."I have es-          indeed his tyranny and corruption which have been brought

poused you to one husband, that I may present you as a                into the Church ; but in the mean time he hinders, resists, and

chaste virgin to Christ" (II Cor. 11 :2). The Church is               with all the might he can make, cuts off the right and lawful

called "a flock of sheep under one shepherd," even Christ             reformation of the Church.

(Ezek.  34 :22, 23, and John 10 :16)  ; also, "the body of Christ"
                                                                         They object against us that there have been great strifes
(`Cal. 1 :24),  because the faithful are the lively members of
                                                                      and dissensions in our churches since they did sever them-
Christ, having him for their head.
                                                                      selves from the Church of Rome ; and that therefore they can

       It is the head which has the pre-eminence in the body,         not be true churches. As though there were never in the

and from whence the whole body receives life ; by whose               Church of Rome an,y sects, any contentions and quarrels ; and

spirit it is governed in all things; of whom, also, it receives       that, in matters of religion, maintained not so much in the

increase, that it may grow up. Also, there is but onei  head          schools as in the holy Chairs, even in the audience of the

to the body, which has agreement with the body ; and there-           people. We know that the apostle saith, "God is not the

fore the Church can not have any other head besides Christ.           author of confusion, but of peace" (I Cor. 14 :33),  and,

For as the Church is a spiritual body, so must it needs have          "Seeing there is among you emulation and contention, a& ye

a spiritual head like unto itself. Neither can it be governed         not carnal ?" (I Cor. 3 :3, 4). Yet may we not deny that

by any other spirit than by the Spirit of Christ. Wherefore           God was in ~that  Church planted by the apostle ; and that the

Paul says, "And he is the head of the body, the Church:               Apostolic Church.  was a true Church, howsoever there were

who is the beginning, the first born from the dead ; that in          strifes and dissensions in it. (We will pause with this quota-

all things he might have the pre-eminence" (Col. 1:18).               tion at this time. - H.V.)

And in another place; "Christ," saith he, "is the head of the            We consider the point in the concluding words of the
Church: and he is the Saviour of the body" (Eph. 5 :23).              preceding paragraph very well taken. Rome points to its
And again, "Who is the head of the Church, which is his
                                                                      oneness as a sure sign that it is the true Church. But there
body, the fulness  of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1 :22,       were surely dissensions within the Church of Corinth. Does
23). Again, "Let us grow up into him in all things, which
                                                                      this mean that the apostle does not address that Church of
is the.head,  even Christ: by whom all the body being knit
                                                                      Corinth as a true church of our Lord Jesus Christ? Of course
together, receiveth increase" (Eph. 4:15,  16). And there-
                                                                      not! And this is also applicable to other portions in the
fore we do not allow of the doctrine of the Romish prelates,
                                                                      Word of God. All we need do is read what the Scriptures
who would make the Pope the general pastor and supreme
                                                                      have to inform us of the seven churches in Asia Minor,
,head  of the Church Militant here on ,earth, and the very
                                                                      whereof we read in Revelation 2 and 3.
vicar of Jesus Christ, who has (as they say) all fuliness of

power and sovereign authority in the Church. For we hold                                                                         H.V.

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


                                                      --------?I with -the scope. or limitation, or sufficiency, of this second
        The Voice of Our Fathers                                     means when it teaches that God makes Himself known to us
                                                                     to His glory and to our salvation "as far as is necessary for

                                                                     us to know in this life."

                 The Belgic Confession                                   Now what is the meaning of all this ?

                                                                         In answer to this question, we must see that even as a
                    ARTICLE II (continued)
                                                                     tremendous change was wrought in the knowledge of God
Secondly . . . By His Ho2y  AuJd D&&se Word                          and in the first means mentioned by our Confession through

    We are busy, let us remember, with a discussion of the           sin and the fall and the curse, so an even greater change was

means whereby we know God. And in our discussion of the              introduced through the revelation of God through His Son

first means we considered especially the following questions.        in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. And even as through

First of all, what is that means 1 Secondly, why does it             the fall and the curse the true knowledge of God through the

serve as a means whereby we know God ? Thirdly, what                 first means became in the deepest sense of the word impossible,

does that means make known concerning God? And, fi-                  so that through that first means fallen man can know only

nally, we also considered the limitation of that means, etn-         enough that he.may  be damned, thus through the revelation

phasizing that because of the fall, as it affected not only that     of God in Christ Jesus the true knowledge of God becomes

means of revelation itself but also the man who must read            in the highest sense of the word not only possible, but a

that book of creation, that first means is altogether inade-         reality. This is the meaning of that clearer and fuller knowl-

quate to bring man to the true and full knowledge of God. The        edge of God to which this article refers, first of all. In

things which he knows from that "most elegant book" are              Christ Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, Who is the very

sufficient to convince him that God is, and that He is to            revelation of the Father, in the whole Christ,-in His Per-

be thanked and glorified, and thus to leave him without ex-          son, in which is the union of His divine and human natures,

cuse in the just judgment of God. But that is the limitation         and in His work, that is, in His suffering and death on the

of that first means.                                                 cross, in His resurrection on the third day, in His exalta-

    As we discuss the second means, we must try, in general,         tion at the right hand of God, in His reception of all power

to answer the same series of questions. And after we have            in heaven and on earth, in His reception of the Spirit and

answered these, we must add one more, namely: what is the            His return in the Spirit to dwell with His church, and in His

relation, if any, between these two means ?                          coming again to finish all things, to judge the quick and the

    And although this statement of Article II concerning the         dead, and to usher in the new and perfect and everlasting
second means is very brief, there are nevertheless several im-       order of things, -in that Christ God makes Himself known
portant elements here which demand our attention before we           in the midst of the darkness of sin and death as the God of
proceed to the subsequent articles concerning Holy Scrip-            our salvation. In that first book God makes Himself known
ture. Notice, in the first place, that in answer to the ques-        as the Creator, Who calls the things that are not as if they
tion, what is this second means, the Confession answers :'           were ; in His holy and divine Word the Almighty makes
`his holy and divine Word," that is, of course, the Scrip-           Himself known as the Reconciler, as the God Who calls life
tures. The following articles will have more to say on this          out of death, light out of darkness, righteousness and holi-

subject. But even now we may note that this second means is          ness out of guilt and corruption, glory out of shame. While
also a book, a "Word,"-and that it is God's Word, that is, the       in that first book there is no revelation of grace and mercy,
Word which He speaks and of which He is the author, and              in this second book God reveals Himself as the God of all

which therefore is holy. In the second, place, we may notice         grace. This Word of God, the good tidings of salvation, was

that our Confession here -is speaking not of a book in the fig-      proclaimed in paradise, afterwards published by patriarchs

urative sense of the word, as it did in connection with the first    and prophets, and represented by the sacrifices and ceremo-

means, but of an actual, literal Word or book, a book in             nies and all the types and shadows of the law. But it is cen-

which God makes Himself known to us, speaks and writes               trally realized and spoken by God- to men directly in the

concerning Himself. This, therefore, answers the question            fulness of time in the cross and resurrection and exaltation

as to why this second means is a means whereby we know               of the Word made flesh.

God. In the third place, in answer to the question as to the            In this sense, therefore, first of all, we must understand
content of this book, this brief statement tells us: 1) That         the statement of our Confession that by His holy and divine
God makes Himself "more clearly and fully known" by this             Word God makes Himself "more clearly and fully known
book. 2) That God makes Himself known as the God of our              to us." To be sure, it is the o,ne  and only God of our salva-
salvation, that is, therefore, reveals Himself in Jesus Christ       tion Who makes Himself known to us through both the
our Lord. And, 3) that God makes Himself known to us. "to            means here mentioned. And His revelation is one, even as
His glory." In the fourth place, our Confession also deals           He is one. Always He purposed to reveal Himself through


r


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


     His Son in the flesh, and that, too, as the Firstborn of eVerY              Still more must be said, however.
     creature and the first-begotten from the dead, as the God of                For we must bear in mind that our Confession insists
     our salvation. But when you compare these two means as                   that "we" know God by these means, and that He makes
     such, you must remember that the first is by itself altogether           Himself more clearly and fully known to "us" by His holy
     inadequate, and that the difference between these means is               and divine Word. Not all men, not the mere, natural man,
     not merely one of quantity and degree, but of quality.                   are able to know God even by this second means. For the
                                                                     BY
     that second means God makes Himself so much more clearly                 natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
     and fully known that it must be said that He makes Himself               Hence, even as there is an altogether new speech of God
     known in a way in which He could not possibly be known                   heard by His holy and divine Word, so it requires an al-
     by the first means.                                                      together "new" man, the new man in Christ Jesus, regener-
                                                                              ated and enlightened by the Spirit of God, to receive that
            In the second place, however, we must not overlook the            speech and thus to attain to the knowledge of God which
     element that by this second means God makes Himself                      is life eternal, To be sure, the natural man comes into con-
     known in the form of F;LVPUX~  speech. The contents of the               tact with that Word. He reads and understands it from a
     speech of God in Christ we possess in the inspired record of             natural and intellectual point of view. But the things of the
     Scripture. This is very important. And this also belongs                 Spirit of God are foolishness to him. And therefore, if in ad-
     to the "more clearly and fully" of this article. Adam in the             dition to that first book, by which he is left without excuse,
     state of rectitude was able- perfectly and intuitively to read           the natural man also possesses that second book, it can only
     that most elegant book of creation. He could detect the                  tend to his greater condemnation. But he who has received
     Word of God in each of the creatures of God's hand. He                   the Spirit of Christ and all His benefits of light and wisdom
     was able to identify, as it were, all the characters, or letters,        and knowledge and spiritual discernment,-he, and he alone,
     in that book by which God spelled His name. But we can-                  learns to know God, the overflowing fountain of all good.
     not even read that book properly. At best we can read it                 by His holy and divine Word.
     but very poorly and part?dlly, and we can learn from it only
     a little of the knowledge of God, sufficient to leave us (as             The Relatiion  of These Two Means

     we are by nature) without excuse. In fact, we cannot prop-                  Just a few thoughts we may give, in conclusion, as to the

     erly read that first book at all without the light and the as-           relation of these two means of knowledge, even though our

     sistance of the second book. But in the Holy Scriptures God              Confession does not express itself directly on this subject.

     makes Himself known directly in human speech. We need                       In the first place, in the light of our Confession and in

     not first read and interpret that book and then ,laboriously             the light of what we have stated previously, it must be plain

     attempt to translate it into human speech. But very clearly              that while we may  distinguish two means, there is in the

     and precisely and accurately God spells His name as the God              deepest sense of the word but oni knowledge of God and

     of our salvation in Christ Jesus in that book. And He does               one revelation of God by these two means. And the unity
     so "as far as is necessary for us to know in this life." To be           of these two means is "in Christ Jesus, the Word Incarnate.
      sure, in comparison with the measure of the knowledge of                    In the second  place, the believer in Christ Jesus must
      God which we shall enjoy hereafter, we now see `<in a glass             not abandon that book oi the creation, preservation, and go&
     darkly." Then we shall see face to face, and know even as                e&ment  of the universk altogether. On the contrary, it is his
     we are known, But in comparison with that first book, His                c&ng to `read it,Obut  always to read it in its strictly subor-
      holy and divine Word is for the present quite sufficient for            dinate position, and always to read it in the light of God's

      us to know Him "to His glory and our salvation." In it is               revelation in Scripture.

      made known not merely a little "thumb-nail" gospel of salva-             In the third place, the true meaning oi that first book
      tion. Not only Christ and salvation in the strictly limited,            is not to be discovered by an empirical study of that book
      soteriological sense of the word is made known there. But               in &iv&cement .from  Go&s  holy and divine Word, as if the
      the whole- counsel of God concerning our salvation and the              effects of the fall both upon us and upon that'book have been
      whole revelation of God's glory as the God of our salvation             completely removed already in Christ. For the fact of th'e
      in Christ Jesus is made known in that second book. Christ               matter is that neither the real meaning of that first book

      in all His fulness,  Christ in His relation to His people.              tier its significance can be discerned without the Scriptures.

      Christ in His position as the Firstborn of every creature,              To use a concrete example, it is impossible to say, "The

      Christ in His relation to all of life and all of history, the entire    heavens declare the glory of God," except in Christ Jesus and

      Christ is revealed ; and all the contents of that book, from            by His Word. But by faith in Christ Jesus and having our

      Genesis to Revelation, concern Him and the God of our                   basis in the Holy Scriptures, we can hear not merely the

      salvation in Him. An infinitely rich gold-mine of the knowl-            Word of God's power and divinity, but the Word of th&

      edge of Himself God has given us in His holy and divine                  God of our salvation through the book of the creation and

      Word, the Bible.                                                                            (Continued on page 143)

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


                                                                      that kind of preaching as such but is rather to be found in

11 DECENCY and ORDER 11 the general spiritual condition of the church at that time.
                                                                      The "volkskerk"  was very weak. Many had joined the Ref-
I'                                                             -.q
                                                                      ormation movement who did not belong with it. There was
      Breaching from the Heidelberg Catechism                         a lack of real spiritual hunger for the Word of God. They

                       (Article 68, D.K.O.)                           simply did not care to go to church more than once on Sun-

                                                                      day. In our day this spirit of spiritual laxity and indifference
      One of the oldest customs in Reformed Churches is the
                                                                      is also very much present. Churches are crowded for the
practice of preaching once a Sunday from the Heidelberg
                                                                      morning service and the Sunday School but the evening
Catechism. It is said that the practice began as early as
                                                                      services are but sparsely attended. No wonder that some
1566. Twelve years later the Synod of Dort decided that
                                                                      Reformed Churches have all but eliminated Catechism
after the Lord's Supper had been served on Sunday after-
                                                                      preaching in preference to the popular topical preaching.
noons the minister should proceed to preach on the Catechism
                                                                      Others are about to do so -a mark of still further decline.
as usual but it was not until 1586 that a synodical  decision
                                                                         In an attempt to correct this situation the synod of Dort
governing this matter was incorpor&ed  into the Church
                                                                      passed several resolutions. We find these in Jansen's "Korte
Order. At that time the Synod of `s Gravenhage adopted the
                                                                      Verklaring."
following :
                                                                          "1. Synod reiterated the decision of the Synod of 1586
      "The ministers shall everywhere on Sunday, ordinarily
                                                                      regarding Catechism preaching. Ministers who should fail
in the afternoon sermon, explain briefly the summary of
                                                                      to do their duty in this respect would be censured. Catechism
Christian doctrine contained in the Catechism, which at this
                                                                      sermons should be brief and understandable to the common
time has been accepted in the Netherland Churches, in such
                                                                      people.
a way that this explanation may be finished annually follow-
                                                                         "2. No minister should neglect to maintain this service
ing the division of the Catechism itself as made for this
                                                                      because the attendance is small. Though only the minister's
purpose."
                                                                      own family should be in attendance, he should proceed. This
      If we bear in mind that the Catechism was not written
                                                                      would be a good example.
and adopted by the synod until 1563 and, according to the
                                                                         "3. The government was to be asked to forbid all un-
intention of Frederick III who had requested its composition,
                                                                      necessary Sunday labor, and especially sports, drinking par-
it was originally designed to be used for the instruction of
                                                                      ties, etc., so that people might learn to hallow the Sabbath
the youth in the churches and schools, it is rather remark-
                                                                      day and come to church regularly.
able that this practice of preaching from the Catechism
                                                                         "4. Every church should have its own minister as much
sprang up so soon.
                                                                      as possible and unnecessary combinations of two or more
      At first, however, this practice was not generally accepted.
                                                                      churches should be severed, or else the catechism sermons
In his "Church Right" the Rev. Ophof tells us : "But in many
                                                                      should be maintained at least every other Sunday afternoon.
places the congregations did not like it, so that, when the
                                                                         "5. Church Visitors were charged to take close note of
preaching was from the Catechism, the attendance was small.
                                                                      this matter regarding every church. Negligent, unwilling
In some places no one went to church when there was Cate-
                                                                      ministers had to be reported to Classis  for censure. Con-
chism preaching. The result was that many ministers stopped
                                                                      fessing members who refused to attend the catechism ser-
preaching Catechism sermons. That the Netherland Reformed
                                                                      mons seemingly had to be censured also."
Churches of that time included a large carnal element is

evident from the complaints of the churches of Vriesland and             From all of this it is evident that the Reformed fathers

Overijsel on the International Synod of Dordrecht, 1618-19.           regarded Catechism preachin g as an important and necessary

They complained about the failure of the ministers to preach          thing. By incorporating      the above quoted article in the

Catechism sermons, among whom were also those, they said,             Church Order they made it a mandatory practice. With only

who held but one service on the Sabbath and that in the               slight modification this article has been preserved in our

morning.       They complained about the failure of many min-         Church Order unto the present day.

isters to admonish the people to attend divine services, and             In 1905 the synod of the Christian Reformed Church in

of the difficulty of keeping the people on the farms from             our country added to that part of the article which speaks
their play and work on the Sabbath ; and about the dislike            of explaining the catechism annually, the phrase, "as much
of the Remonstrants to Catechism preaching. They com-                 as possible."    Then in 1914 the phrase "which at this time
plained too about the lethargy of the government in main-             has been accepted in the Netherlands Churches" was dropped

taining the rest of the Sabbath and its allowing work on the          since this. was not necessary for the churches here. At the
farms."                                                               same time the synod omitted the provision that the preaching

      It appears from this entire quotation that the real causk       of the Catechism take place during the afternoon service and

for opposition to Catechism preaching was not the dislike of          it inserted the word "Heidelberg" before "Catechism." Thus

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


  our present redaction reads as follows:                             gether  with the .Lord's  Day division of the Catechism as text
         "The ministers shall on Sunday explain briefly the sum       for the sermon? No.        This practice may lead some people
  of Christian doctrine comprehended in the Heidelberg Cate-          to think that a catechism sermon is really not a sermon on
  chism so that as much as possible the explanation shall be          the Word of God. This erroneous conception should not
                                                                      be encouraged in the least. Furthermore, no Lord's Day
  annually completed, according to the division of the Cate-
                                                                      division of the Catechism is based on a single Bible passage.
  chism itself, for that purpose" (Art. 68, D.K.O.).
                                                                      If a minister desires to quote the Biblical foundation for any
         Our readers undoubtedly know that in late years the
                                                                      given Lord's Day division, then he shall have to quote a
  Christian Reformed Church has been considering a rather             good many passages. And in some instances the doctrine
  broad revision of the Church Order. In this proposed revi-          deduced is not found in so many words in any Bible pas-
  sion we find this article:                                          sage, b;t is rather the legitimate conclusion based on certain
         "Art. 57. In the services of the Word, Holy Scriptures       facts clearly revealed.
  shall be explained and applied. At one of the services each             "We deem that it is better, far better, for the minister to
Sunday the minister shall briefly explain the doctrine of             quote and interpret Scripture in the body of the sermon so
  Holy Scripture as summarized in the Heidelberg Catechism,           that the congregation feels instinctively that the minister is
  in consecutive order, without omissions, according to the           really bringing them God's own Word.
  division of the Catechism into its Lord's Day sections" (The
                                                                          "At the beginning of the catechism sermon, as he an-
  Bcmner,  Dec. 1956).
                                                                      nounces his sermon, let the minister use some statement as
         The expression "Catechism preaching" is in F certain way     follows: `The Word of God, congregation, as I expound and
  a rather unfortunate one. It might leave one who is not             apply it for you at this time, is summarized for us in Lord's
  acquainted with the customs of Reformed Churches with a             Day division . . . of our Catechism.' Then let him read the
  wrong impression.      Critics have seized upon it and accused      Lord's Day division."
  those who support the idea of failing to preach the Scriptures.         We said that we cannot e-ntiwl;y agree with this. Our
  They contend that preaching must be preaching of the Word           point is that we believe that the authors are mistaken when
  and not of any man-made confession. Now we will certainly           they hold that a single Bible text cannot be chosen and
  agree with this contention but we .deny  the inference that         quoted together with a given Lord's Day. We hold that this
  catechism-preaching is not the preaching of the Word. The           is very proper. Then the text is preached and the congrega-
  Heidelberg Catechism is not a book that is next to or apart         tion feels instinctively that they are receiving the Word of
  from the Bible but it contains in systematic order an arrange-      God. Then the truths expressed in the particular Lord's Day
  ment of the truths of the Word of God and that from the             are brought out in connection with the exposition of the
  viewpoint of the conscious experience of the child of God. It       Word of God and the congregation is given to understand
  does not aim to be dogmatical although it necessarily con-          that the Confession certainly expresses the truth of the Word
  tains all the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith.,        of God. Now it may be granted that in so preaching from
  These doctrines it arranges around the general theme of the         the catechism, one cannot cover all of the material of every
   Christian's all comprehensive comfort. It depicts the awful        given Lord's Day. This, however, is not necessary and it
  reality of sin and sets forth the truth with regard to the          is even impossible unless this is done in a very superficial
  believer's experiences in that misery of sin wherein he finds       manner. But the catechism is preached again and again,
  himself "incapable of doing any good and inclined to all            year after year, so why not approach this beautiful confes-
  evil." It describes elaborately the redemption of the believer      sion from different viewpoints and in doing so one can easily
  in Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. It ex-            extract from the Lord's Day the particular phase of the truth
  plains the various soteriological truths in their proper rela-      he desires to emphasize in a given exposition, and then using
  tion to each other. Finally, this beautiful confession points       a singular text from the Word of God he brings his point
  to true Christian living when it expounds the law of God as         across. Neither is it necessary then to quote a good many
  the norm for a life of gratitude and explains the meaning and       passages of Scripture. A single text will generally suffice
  necessity of prayer for the' child of God. All these truths         if only that text is rightly divicled  and expounded for the
   (doctrines) are based upon the Word of God and when,               instruction, correction, comfort and admonition of the church.
  therefore, they are preached in their proper succession, it is      In the course of the sermon other passages of God's Word
  indeed the Word of God that is preached. Perhaps it would           may certainly be brought in to substantiate and enrich the
  be better to speak of the preaching of the catechism as based       truth being explained but the basis of the sermon remains
  upon God's Holy Word.                                               the text chosen. And the truths of the Confession will be-
         In this connection we cannot entirely agree with the con-    come richer to the church as she more and more understands
  tention of Monsma and Van Dellen  as found on page 279 of           that these truths have their inerrant  basis in the gospel that
   "The Church Order Commentary." Here they write:                    is preached unto her.
         "Should a text from the Bible be chosen and quoted to-                                                             G.V.d.B.


                                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                            141


                                                                                  no doubt the history of British Guiana should be a warning

                                                                                  to us to forget the aid. It is true that the take-over of schools

                                                                                  in this South American country came only with a change of

                                                                                  government which is probably communistic; but this does not

                                                                                  rule out the possibility of some government coming to power

                                                                                  in this country with the same designs on private schools.
         Recently Dr. Cheddi Bharatt Jagan  was elected premier                   Better it is to pay for our own schools and retain all the
     of British Guiana. The Western nations were somewhat                         control over them we possibly can than to become indebted
     alarmed by this, for there was reason to suppose that Dr.                    in some manner to the government with possible grave
     Jagan  was and is a communist. The reasons for alarm as                      dangers in the future.
     listed in Etwr&y  are:                                                                                        -

              1) British Guiana would make a perfect center for Com-
           munist infiltration of all of Latin America, for it is on the main-        Modern psychology has long denied the reality of sin. If
           land and not isolated by water like Cuba. It borders the               an individual becomes guilty of some crime against the law
          important countries of Venezuela and Brazil.
              2). Jagan, quite the opposite of Castro, is an attractive,          of the land, this is not clue to the presence of sin ; it is
           re6ned  nerson.                                                        rather the fruit of mental disorder and disease. This has come
              3) British Guiana is the only English-speaking nation in
           South America. What propaganda value the Communists could              to mean that all sin is sickness at bottom, that sin can be
          find  in this!                                                          cured with mental treatment of one kind or another because
              4) Guiana would be the first country to become Com-
          munist by peaceful means.       Jagan was elected legally under         it originates in personality disintegration and psychological
          the supervision of a British colonial government.                       maladjustment. This modern concept of mental disease and
              5) British Guiana is predominantly Protestant and would
          be the Grst  Protestant nation to embrace Marxism.                      sin has also had its influences on Christian institutions of
                                                                                  mental healing. There is a growing tendency among Chris-
        Of more interest, however, is what happene'd to the                       tian psychiatrists to follow this teaching and to advise that
     private schools in this South American country. The church-
                                                                                  Consistories should not censure for cases of theft or adultery,
     related schools have, throughout the years, accepted aid
                                                                                  but should send the "guilty" persons to the mental hospitals
     from the government. With the election of Dr. Jagan,  the
                                                                                  for treatment since censure would only aggravate the mental
     schools have been seized by the government just because
                                                                                  disease obviously at the bottom of this "sin." This same
     they had been bought and built with government funds. The
                                                                                  idea has permeated the concepts of justice and punishment
     report of what happened as given in Eternity is, as follows:
                                                                                  in our land where, e.g., murder is often called mental ilhless
              Education in British Guiana has always been the domain of           so that the murderer, rather than being punished for his
          the churches. There are presently more than 300 church-
          related schools in Guiana.     Through the years the churches           crime, is sentenced for a time to a mental institution.
          have received aid for education. The government has given                  An article was recently quoted in the Torch c~zd  Tmw#rt
          building and maintenance grants and has often supplied money
          for the purchase of property and original construction. The             which originally appeared in the Golden Anniversary issue of
          government also pays teachers' salaries.                                the Christian Sn~zat&z~.~~z  Qwytedy,  a public&ion of a Chris-
              Shortly before the August elections, the goverement seized
          51 church schools that had been bought and built with gov-              tian sanatorium located in Wyckoff,  New Jersey. The
          ernment funds. This brought the church leaders to their feet.           quote is as follows :
          The battle still continues, but the government is still planning
          to take over all the schools, leaving the churches without a                     Extreme guilt feelings are generally prominent in mentally
          major means of witness.                                                       disturbed people. The reason given for these feelings is often
              The P.P.P.  (the initials of the People's Progressive Party,             inappropriate, e.g., failure to wash something, or irrational,
          the party headed by Dr. Jagan,  H.H.) manifesto declares,                    e.g., sin against the Holy Spirit.  However, it is a proven  fact
          "Education is . , . recognized as the greatest liberating force              th;;i-  the o&red  reason -tur&  ont to be a- substituie  or cover
          in the struggle against ignorance, reaction, bigotry, supersti-              for the real reason, that the guilty feeling attaches to an actial
          tion and economic exuloitation. . . . The system of dual control             moral transgressicn  which the patient is loath to face. There
          of schools whereby denominational bodies control the appoint-                 is thus a diIference  between guilt feelings and real guilt, and
          ment and promotion of teachers on a denominational basis, while              the latter may have more to do with mental "illness" than is
          the Government uavs the salaries of the teachers and makes                   generally thought. . . .
          large grants to t&se schools will be eventually abolished."                      The Bible gives us at least one clear example of personality
              James Davison, head of the Methodist Church in Guiana,                   disintegration due to unrepented sin in the case of Saul, the
          belikves  that this is part of a plot to stamp out Christianity.             first king of Israel. He showed symptoms which would indicate
          Most other clergymen with whom I talked agreed with him.                     a manic-depressive  reaction, and the record makes clear that
                                                                                       his overt &kedness,  which he tried to cover with a false
        There is an ominous note of warning in this. VVhile  it                        piety, lay at the root of his troubled spirit. The great difFer-
     is true that no federal legislation is pending in this country                    ence  between Saul and David was not that David was less a
                                                                                       sinner, but rather that David knew how to repent while Saul
     which would make federal aid to education available to                            did not.
     private schools, the fact remains that the issue is far from                          Perhaps we have been thinking too much in terms of "sick-
                                                                                       ness" with its implications of "not responsible," and not enough
     dead. The Roman Catholic Church is campaigning loudly and                         of "Sin" with its implication of "responsible." It may be that
     strenuously for such aid to be given to their schools as well                     the whole truth does not lie exclusively on one side, that &e
                                                                                       line can not always be sharply drawn. But sin, in its Christian
     as to the public schools. What the outcome will be remains                        meaning, is undoubtedly the basic disruoter  that alienates man
     to be seen. But should such i time come when federal aid                          from Glad,  self, and o&ers,  and it mu&  have a place in the
     is made available to our own Protestant Reformed Schools,                         nsychiatric  vocabulary from which it has been banished too
                                                                                       long.




L

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


         The point of this brief quote is, of course, that mental           could produce radioactivity that would last five years -long

  disease is the result of sin, that perhaps specific di.+eases  may        &ough for it to be carried all over the globe before it would

  be the result of specific sins. A case in possible support of             lose its power to kill. It would take only 50,000 megatons

 this contention is cited, the case of King Saul. Although it               to kill theoretically every one on earth.

  may be seriously questioned whether the "evil spirit" which                  There is also the so-called neutron bomb which would

 the Lord sent upon Saul can be called a case of manic depres-              only destroy life. It would have no explosion in the usual

  sion, the point of the author is no doubt true. And from this             sense of the word so that no cities would be destroyed by its

  it would follow that it would be wrong to speak of sin as                 blast and fire. Its rays only would flash about unseen to kill

  being the result of mental disease in every case.                         all that lived within its range.

     The dangers of refusing to recognize the reality of sin                   Considering        all these things which lately have filled

  and excusing all sin on the basis of mental disorder are                  our daily newspapers and news magazines, it cannot help but

  many,      The whole idea is based upon the age-old Pelagian              impress the child of God that man at his wisest is an awful
  concept of sin's being only a sickness of relative degrees                fool. Sin is, by its nature, foolishness. And even the wisest

 which somewhat weakens man's moral nature but leaves him                   of men cannot shake off the shackles of their own folly.
  with the ability to do good in the sight of God and initiate              Wonderful and amazing powers they discover in God's
  his own salvation. To the extent that sin is explained in                 world ; wonderful and powerful inventions they are able to

  terms of mental disease, sin can also be cured by drugs and               fashion ; but they use them all to kill their fellow men. Al-

  treatments and therapy of one kind or another; but then                   ways the threat of destruction hangs as a cloud over the

  there is not room left for the cross of Christ. Further ex-               laboratories and test areas of men. They seem to be able to

  pected advances in medicine and psychiatry will conceivably               use what they uncover in this creation only for self-destruc-

  complete the restoration of man and obliterate completely                 tion. This is the foolishness of sin.
  the need for the cross.                                                      Yet, how good it is to know that the hands of men who
         When modernists speak this way it is to be expected,               make weapons and fire missiles are hands guided sovereignly
 for they deny the blood of atonement. When Christians speak                by Jesus Christ Who rules in heaven and loves His church.
  this way, it is startling and bodes no good for the future of             Shall all these happenings be a means in the hands of our
  Christian psychiatry. All this points to a crying need for                Lord to save us and all those who love His appearing?

 a soundly Reformed and Scriptural development of the                       Indeed they shall. This is the serene confidence of faith.

  science of the body and soul, of psychology and psychiatry.               TtiE  PROBLEM OF CHRISTMAS

  PRESCRIPTION FOR ANNIHILATION                                                Always the church, in her celebration of Christmas, faces
                                                                            the grim prospect of competing with the world which destroys
         In a recent article in Tiuvze,  a report is given of an article
                                                                            Christmas with its crass commercialism and gross carnality.
  written in the Bull&n1  of the Afomslc  Sciientists  in which is
                                                                            How to commemorate Christmas as it should be commemor-
  discussed what are called "Doomsday Machines." These
                                                                            ated is a perpetual problem of God's people.
  "machines"       are weapons that could conceivably destroy
                                                                               In a recent issue of the Gu-apLd  R@ids  Press a news re-
 mankind. The author of the article claims that it is already
  within the ability of the largest nations possessing nuclear              lease quoted a Lutheran clergyman who offered his solution.
                                                                            The entire clipping reads :
 weapons to make these machines. But more terrifying, ac-

cording to the author, is the possibility that these weapons                         The churches should ignore Dec. 25 and leave Christmas
                                                                                 completely in the hands of the business world which has in-
 can now  be made so cheaply that almost any nation, no                          creasingly taken it over, says the director of worship for the
 matter how small, can build them given sufficient technolog-                    United Lutheran Church in America.
 ical know-how which even the underdeveloped nations are                             Writing in "The Lutheran," official weekly paper of the
                                                                                 church, the Rev. Dr. Edgar S. Brown said:
 rapidly acquiring.                                                                  "The Babe of Bethlehem . . . represents an investment to
     Some of these weapons are described.                                        be protected.
                                                                                     "Christmas, the annual pious salute in the direction of
     There is the possibility of exploding a nuclear bomb oi                     religion, is now the property of the business world, and I say
 about 20,000 megatons on the ocean bottom just off the coast                    -it's hi&  time that the church said in unmistakablv  clear words
                                                                                 that it' intends to divorce itself from the whole mess.
 of some nation. The result would be a wave with a crest                             "Let the churches simply ignore the 25th of December the
 still 100 feet high after the wave had traveled 200 miles.                      way most of them pass by -Ascension Day.
                                                                                     "Then everyone could have a merry Christmas without
 This would be sufficient to wash most coastlines bare and                       having to go to church, and the church wouldn't have to sit
 ride far inland.                                                                like a stood-up female wringing her hands."

     Another type of weapon is a bomb made as radioactive                      While the characterization given of Christmas is sadly

 as possible. Depending upon the material used and the size                 correct, the solution is like throwing out the proverbial baby

 of the bomb, its destruction reaches fantastic proportions. One            with the bath water. According to our Church Order, it is

 bomb mahe  of sodium could contaminate 200,000 square miles                the calling of the Church to commemorate the birth of her

  (four times the area of New York State) so badly that even                Savior with special services. This is as it should be. This

 basement fallout shelters would be useless. Another type                   should continue to be the center of Christmas for the church.


                                          T H E   STANDARD  BEARER                                                                     143


If the world chooses to corrupt Christmas, let's have the           be heard. I advise those who are in favor of this plan let

courage to be different and resist the swiftly moving currents      them speak, and speak with conviction. But let us do it in

of our time. This we must do anyway, not only on Christmas,         the Spirit of Christ, as humble followers of Him. Let

but in all our life.                                  H. Hanko      brotherly love prevail amongst us.

                                                                        The tone of brother Broekhouse of Edgerton, in the

                                                                    Dec. 1 isSue  of Tl'ze Standard  Bearer, was not becoming

                                                                    in some respects. I am sure the brother meant well ; but it

                                                                    came not enough to the fore in his contribution.

                        The Hytin Question                              Thanks a lot dear Editor for your patience.
                                                                                                                             S. De Vries
Esteemed Editor :

    Permit me, in accordance with your request, to write a

few lines in regards the Hymn Question.                                              THE VOICE OF OUR FATHERS

    In the first place I would like to make the remark that
                                                                                           (Continued fTom page 138)
there is nothing wrong in singing hymns. Why should there
                                                                    preservation and government of the universe. We can dis-
be, providing they are Reformed. For also in such singing
                                                                    cern in the symbolism of creation the promise of redemption.
God is glorified.
                                                                    We can discern in the government of the universe the ful-
  In the second place, dear Editor, I am of the opinion that
                                                                    fillment of the good pleasure of the God of our salvation. we
we need no hymn singing in our public worship ; especially
                                                                    can discern in the whole creation as it groans `neath tie
not now when the end of the ages is upon us. Today our
                                                                    Word of God's wrath the expectation of the creature of its
church activities lie in a different direction which is of more
                                                                    participation in the liberty of the children of God.
importance.
                                                                        And finally, in view of the above, we must always adhere
    God, in His mercy, has given the church the inspired
truths also in the `Psalms of David, and let us be satisfied        strictly to the principle that all our would-be conclusions
with it, unless we can improve upon it. You may claim               from the reading of that first book must be put to the test
that the versification,  the poetry is not inspired but man-        of the Word of God in Christ Jesus, that is, the Scriptures.
made, and who will deny it. However, regardless of this             If they meet that test, they may be adopted ; if they fail to
fact, as they come unto us in this way, God saw fit tliey           meet the test, the Word of God must stand, and our own
withstood the test of ages, and the singing of Psalms is most       concIusions  must be resolutely rejected. For Christ is the
essentially in our church services. Can you imagine a church        way, and the truth, and the life. No one cometh  to the
service without singing the Psalms of David ? And is it not         Father, but by Him.                                          H.C.H.

an undeniable fact that singing of Psalms gives strength to

the feeble, comfort, to the comfortless, joy fdr the distressed,

and they enrich the humble in their pilgrim journey. They                                      ANNIVERSARY

give songs in the night, and visions of eternal bliss. `And             Our beloved parents
have you never noticed, dear reader, that in special occasions                 MR. AND MRS. REINDER L. REGNERUS
as persecutions, hatred, and the like, the psalms speak to us       will celebrate their 45th Wedding Anniversary on January I, 1962,
in a special way. I am convinced that hymns do not have             the Lord willing. With gratitude and thanksgiving to God, we
                                                                    acknowledge His gracious goodness to them and to us for sparing our`
this power, for God must work.                                      parents these many years for each other and for us. It is our prayer
    In the third place dear Editor, let us not forget in this       that His mercy be and abide with them the remainder of their
                                                                    earthly pilgrimage.
our controversy, what our Fathers had to say about hymn                                             Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Bruinsma
singing in our worship services. They frequently warned                                             Mr. and Mrs. Louis R. Regnerus
the church of the dangers involved. We like to listen to their                                      Mr. and Mrs. Jacob W. Regnerus
                                                                                                    16 grandchildren
advice. Why not now? And where are the churches today                                               2 great-grandchildren
                                                                    Oak Lawn, Illinois
which allow hymns sung in their public worship ? In some of

the churches of the Chr. Ref. denomination they sing more

hymns than psalms. I maintain that a church without psalms
is a dead Church.                                                                              IN MEMORIAM

   And must we also shut our eyes for all the unrest it creates        We, the Congregation and Consistory of the Loveland Prot. Ref.
                                                                    Church herewith express our heartfelt sympathy to Mrs. H. Kuiper
in our churches 7 United we stand, but divided we are not           and family in the death of their husband and father, our beloved
able to exist. And let us not lose sight of the fact either that    pastor,
                                                                                                H. H. KUIPER
it costs money to add hymns to our Psalter. Also our money
                                                                       May the Lord comfort the hearts of the bereaved in the truth
must flow through the right channels.                               that death is but complete victory over sin, through Jesus Christ, our
   I agree with the Editor that we must have more contribu-         Lord.
tions in this our controversy. The voice of the churches must                                            Loveland Prot. Ref. Consistory
                                                                                                         Wm. A. Griess, Secretary





                           -

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


                                                                   rendered .D:V., Dec. 21, and will be presented under the

       NEWSFROMOURCI-KIRCHES                                       theme, "0 Worship The King."                -~-
                                                                      From Redlands  we learn: 
               "All the                                                                             that on a recent Ladies' So-
                        saints salute  thee . . :' PHIL; 4:21      ciety after recess program their pastor answered the question,

                                                                   "Will a person appear in Heaven with all his physical de-
                                         December 5, 1961          formities ?' The announcement was accompanied with a
       The Protestant Reformed Seminar held its third session      reference to the prints of the nails in Christ's hands after
this season, Nov. 24. The subject for discussion was intro-        His resurrection. Aad that Mr. and Mrs. Marion Paauwe,
duced by Mr. L. Lubbers' with a paper which dealt -with            with their six baptized children, were re-admitted into their
correct methods of instruction.                                    membership after a separation of several years.

       Rev. H. Veldman, of Redlands, conducted the funeral            On November 19 Rev. Kortering was on classical ap-

service for Rev. H. H. Kuiper  in Loveland. Because his            pointment in Pella ; Rev. Van Baren preached in Hull in the

own congregation could not attend this service Rev. Veldman        afternoon ; and, the P.M. service in Doon was conducted by

repeated his sermon in his church the following Sunday eve-        Rev. R. Veldman of Grand Rapids' Southeast Church. This

ning. .This kindness of Redland's pastor reflects in no little     was possible because of Rev. Veldman's stay in Doon  to

measure the close bond of unity existing between OUT               attend the funeral service for Rev. Kuiper  in that city, on

churches.                                                          Saturday.

       From Isabel, S. Dak., comes this welcome contr&&n:             Hull's Nov. 29 meeting of the Ladies' Society featured
"The Hope  Bible Study Society of Israel began their Fall          on its program an introduction to the subject, "Thanksgiving
meetings on Oct. 9, and will continue every Monday evening         In Prosp.erity"  by Mrs. J. De Boer.
through March.       There are twelve members. New officers           Rev. M. Schipper  was the speaker at a lecture scheduled
are, Pres., Hiram Streyle; Gen. Adj., Ephraim Reichert;            to be held in South Holland, Dec. 14. Rev. Schipper's topic
Sec'y-Treas., Mrs. Milton Collmann. For our Bible discus-          was "The Four Horsemen of Revelation."
sion we are studying St. John 3. After our business meeting           From Oak Lawn's bulletin we learn that "The church
each family in turn has charge of the program for the week."       extension committee is planning an extensive program of
                                                                   mailing our literature, beginning the first of the year." Mr.
       Sample copies of Beacon.  Lights were placed at the dis-
posal of the members of Doon's  church so that those who are       L. Regnerus also put out a call for an addressograph operator
                                                                   and typists to help the committee in this work.
not subscribers might examine the magazine to learn its true
                                                                      Hope's congregatibn  gave their consistory permission to
value. We wonder how many new subscriptions this pro-
                                                                   purchase lots adjacent to the church for possible future build-
duced.
                                                                   ing needs.
       Hope's School paper, "Highlights" carried this short
                                                                      At First's annual congregational meeting it was decided
editorial in its November issue: "Christian schools, where
                                                                   to concur in the request of the 1961 Synod, and $4,000.00
children of the covenant are trained and instructed by
                                                                   was contributed from their Mission Endeavor Fund to
dedicated teachers, are often taken for granted. We have
                                                                   Synod's Foreign Mission Fund for broadcasting in the
become so accustomed to Christian education that we often-
                                                                   British Isles.
times forget our schools. In this Thanksgiving and Christmas
                                                                      Bulletin quote (Lynden's) : "The best proof of love
season do not f,orget  our school. By the grace of God we
                                                                   which one Christian can give to another is to `edify him in
have Protestant Reformed Christian schools where our
                                                                   love,' to help him grow in knowledge, and faith, and zeal,
covenant children may be educated. We, the teachers,- ask
                                                                   and humility and usefulness." Rev. John Brown.
that you remember this. institution and the staff as your
                                                                      Remember - that Jesus, the root and offspring of David,
prayers ascend daily to the throne of grace." And, this in-
                                                                   the bright and morning star said, "And behold I come
formation : Plans are crystallizing so that instrumental music
                                                                   quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man ac-
will soon be given and Hope will have a school band.
                                                                   cording as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.
   Did YOM.  Know that our newest school in South Holland
edits a monthly school paper called, "Reflector" ?                    . . . . see you in church.                           J.M.F.

   Bea.con  Lights Singspiration is scheduled to be held in

Hope Church, Dec. 17. The program will include many                                  A CLOUD OF WITNESSES

Christmas carols and three special numbers. The announce-                            (Continued from  page 130)
ment reminded the people that attending this singspiration         tion would be very soon, even as they proceeded on their
would be a good way to express the true Christmas spirit.          wilderness journey, for they were not true Israel. For others

       First Church auditorium was chosen to contain the           the day of visitation would be yet many years to come when

crowds espected  to come out for the Christmas program             God would visit the sins of His chosen people in the visitation

given by the Hope school children. The program will be             of Calvary.                                              B.W.


