                                                  JULY 1, 1963 - GRAND F~APLDS,  MICHIGAN                               NUMBER  18


                                                                        supplied the "or" in italics. Any man or Thy people Israel.

                M E D I T A T I O N                                     So everybody is included. Any man's prayer . . . or . . . by
                                                                        all Thy people Israel. That is, any prayer by the world or

                                                                        by the church! And so the distinction between the elect
                    ACCEPTABLE PRAYER                                   and the reprobate is wiped -out.

          "What  prayer and supplication soever  be ma.de  by any           However, that little word "or" is not in the text.
           man, by all Thy people Israel>  which shall know                 Any man is the same as Thy people Israel.
           event  inan the plague of his own heart, and spread              The prayer of every man is not welcqme.
           forth his hands toward'this  house: then hear Thou  in
           heaven `Thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and             First, because the worship of natural man -is abomin-.
           give  to eveq  mm according to his ways, whose heart         able in its nature.
           Thou knowest; (for Thou, even Thou only, knowest                 Second, God only has delight in perfection,
           the heclrts of all the children  of m.en;)  that they may
           fear Thee all the days that  they live in the lund               Third, because prayer is a matter of the heart and the.
           which Thou gavest unto our fathers."                         heart of man is only evil continually and desperately wicked
                                                   I Kings 8:38-40      ( Gen. and Jeremiah).

        Well, the temple of the Lord was ready.                             No, what is meant is the heart of Thy people Israel.

                                                                        That is all!
        And all the elders, heads, of the tribes, and the chief
     fathers of the children of Israel were ready too. They were            And there.never is, was or shall be any exception to this
     called to a great conclave, and king Solomon would ad-             rule.

     dress them and pray for them and .with them.                           Even those who came of the Gentiles, the New Testa-

        They take up the ark of the covenant and, before any-           ment Church of God out of all nations of the world are
     thing else is done, they sacrifice before the ark. And then        Thy people Israel. They are called the Israel of God.
     the ark is placed into the oracle, under the wings of the          Listen to Paul: "But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly,
     cherubim.                                                          and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not
                                                                        in the letter." Rom. 2:29; and also: "Even us, whom He
        Then the king spoke to the assembly.                            has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.

        And finally he knelt and spread his hands to heaven and         As He saith also in Osee, `I will call them My people, which

     prayed.                                                            were not My people; and her beloved, which was not

        And that-prayer was an acceptable prayer.                       beloved." Rom. 9:24,  25.

                                                                            And how are we to know whether or not we belong to
        And why?
                                                                        this Israel of God? Here is the answer: all that shall know
        Because it came from the heart, it was addressed to the         the -PLAGUE OF HIS OWN HEART! Note here that
     House, and it tended to the fear of Jehovah.                       Solomon proceeds from the fundamental truth. that every

                             e * 0 0                                    man's heart has a plague!

                                                                            Now, what is the heart?
        Yes, it was a prayer from the heart.
                                                                            The heart is not the face, nor your outward behaviour.
        Whose heart?                                         _'         The face, the outward behaviour is rather nice. Christ said
                                                                        of this: You indeed look beautiful outwardly to all men,
I       Well, that is easy (according to some). Simply look at
     the text: "what . . . soever  any man"! And the translators        but within you are full of dead men's bones.

     have unwittingly helped this erroneous view when they                  But the heart is the inward man, the real you!


     410                                       T H E   S'rANDAEi-fi   B E A R E R


         Plague is used 120 times in the Old Testament and 60         ,elect  from before the foundation of the world. And in that

     times for leprosy, that is, the corrupting power unto death.     foreknowledge of love He gave all the elect to Jesus Christ

     Here it is used to describe the spiritual power of corrup-       as a present. And that present includes all their sin, guilt,

     tion.                                                            and death eternal.

            Now, if you know that plague for what it is you go to         And this Innocent Lamb of God came into the world to

     God.                                                             carry away their sin, guilt and death by dying the awful

         And you send up to heaven's God prayer and supplica-         death of the cross.

     tion.                                                               And all that was prefigured in the sacrifices. And the

         Prayer: what is it?                                          chief sacrifice of the Old Testament was the sacrihce  which

         It is the opening of the heart and soul and mind to          was offered once each year in the Holy of holies  on the
     God. Prayer concerns itself with God primarily. And it is        mercy seat of the ark of the Covenant.
     motivated by the love of God which He spread abroad in              And Jesus came in the fulness of time to fulfill all these
     your heart. Then you are as a sunffower  that opens itself       types, figures, symbols and shadows.

     to the warm sun.                                                    And the Blood of the great Innocent was sprinkled on

         Supplication is the same thing, only more so. You sup-       the mercy seat, and that mercy seat is the heart of God.

     plicate God when there is great urgency.                            Now do you understand that all prayer acceptable to

         By any man of the Israel of God.                             God must be toward that  house?

         You are welcome with God!                                       Today we would say: pray always toward the mercy
                                                                      seat, that is, the heart of Jehovah where the blood of Jesus
                                0 0 0 0                               was sprinkled. And that blood stays there even unto all

                                                                      eternity.
         Now let us look at the second element in the text: YOU
                                                                                                0 14 8 0
     must pray toward this House. Well, that was in Solomon's

     case the Temple which he had built. And that seems to be
     rather important. Remember Daniel.                                  The final element of my text is this: all our prayers
                                                                      must be unto the fear `of God.
         Verse 19: A House unto My Name! And there is re-                                                   .b
     peated  reference to this House: verses 29, 30, 31, 33, 35;         What does that mean?

     38, 42, 43, 44, 48.                                                 God's Israel prays.

         And then you pray toward this House in all circum-              They spread their hands towards His House, i.e., God in

     stances, calamities and miseries which befall you in your        Christ.

     life.                                                               They long, hunger, thirst, and yearn for His forgiveness.

         Now what is the central significance of that House?          We may say here that this is the deepest current of all our

         It is this: see verses 4 to 7. That speaks of the ark of     Christian lives on earth.

     the covenant, plus the sacrifices, verse 5: sacrificing sheep       And God hears: verse 39.

     and oxen. As the basis for forgiveness of sin, communion            He hears in heaven; He gives every man according to
     with God, and dwelling with Him in the unity of peace.           his ways; and He forgives.

-        Its fulfllment  is Jesus Christ the Lord.                       And here again, the ways of man is not first of all the

         Listen to Jesus: But I say unto you, that in this place      way he behaves outwardly. Honestly, God is more con-

     is one greater than the temple! Matt. 12:6;  Destroy this        cerned with your heart than with your outward behaviour.

     temple, and in three days I will raise it up. John 2:19; For     I am sure that the outward behaviour of the Pharisee was

     the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of             far superior to the outward behaviour of the publican.

     it. Rev. 21:22.                                                  Those fellows were very shrewd and careful and prudent.

         Let's try and explain that.                                  No one could lay a finger on them.

         As seen in I Kings 8~4-7 and especially verse 5, the es;        No, the way of man begins in his heart. Out of the

sence  of the temple was the ark of the Covenant. And its             heart are all the issues of man.

     heart is the mercy seat on whose surface the blood of the           In the depth of his way, in that heart, the man of God

     innocents was shed. And that innocent blood pre-figured          hates the world, the devil and his own flesh. He even hates

     the blood of the great Innocent, the Lamb of God.                his own life for God's sake.

         You see, the Israel of God is no better than the repro:         And he watches God. He watches God in all His ways.

     bate world of all the ages. Every man and woman born of          And in his heart he sings the song of God, the song of the

     Adam and Eve are damn-worthy. And that includes all the          Covenant.

     elect, f.i. David and Manasseh. And Peter.                          And God hears that song, beholds that way, and rejoices

         Now here is the love of God, in that He loved His            in the work of His own hands in the sinner's heart.


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                                                                       411


   He hears, and forgives.
                                                                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
   And you cannot fool the Almighty: He knows the heart
                                                                            Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August
of every man, even better than the man himself. "He                          Published by the REFORMED  FREE  PUBLISHING ASSOCXATION
knows all our heart, and the secrets within!"                                                             Editor - REV. Hn HOEESEMA
   And this is all unto the fear of God.                                     Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                             Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin  St., S. E., Grand Rapids `7,
   No, not the slavish fear, for that is essentially hatred.                 Mich. Contributions will be limited to 300 words and must be
                                                                                                               neatly written  or typewritten.
   But the fear of God is clean, pure, and beautiful.                       AII  church news items should be addressed to Mr. J. M. Faber,
   It is awe, reverence, inspired by God's greatness of                                         1123 Cooper, S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mich.
                                                                              Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 fee included
love and goodness.                                                          must be mailed 8 days prior to issue date, to the address below:
   All their days.                                                            AU matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
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   Not one day of worship, and then business as usual.                                                              Grand Rapids 7,. Michigan

No, but all the days of their life. They really pray without                       &NxWAL: Unless  a dei?nite  request for discontinuance is
                                                                            received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the subscrip-
ceasing.                                                                       tion to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
   Doing that they live in the Zund.                                                                      Subscription price: $5.00 per year
                                                                                     Second Class postage paid at Grand Rapids, Michigan
   And that is heaven. Even now: a little bit of heaven.

Amen.                                                          G.V.


                                                                                                                            C         O          N          T          E         N          T         S

                                                                       MEDITATION  -
            CANDIDATE FOR THE MINISTRY                                             Acceptable                 Prayer              . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__..  409

                                                                                              Rev. G. Vos
   The Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches con-

vened in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on June 5, 1963, has                  EDITOR&S -
examined brother David J. Engelsma and declared the                                Synodical Action? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._................................................  :.412
aforementioned brother a Candidate for the Ministry of the                         Single Or Double Track Theology?                                                                   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
                                                                                              Rev. H. Hoeksema
Word and Sacraments in the Protestant Reformed Churches.
                                                                                   Seminary Graduation                                    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
   Candidate D. J. Engelsma's eligibility commences on                             Our Theological Conflict Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
July 11, 1963, one month after the completion of his                                         Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

praepartior examination.                                                           The Fundamental Significance o f Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
                               REV. G. VANDEN BERG                                            Candidate D. J. Engelsma

                               Stated Clerk of the Protestant

                               Reformed Churches                       OUR  DOCTRINE-

                                                                                   The Doctrine o f the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__.._.. 420

                                                                                             Rev. H. Hoeksema

                       Announcement
                                                                       FROM HOLY WFZT -
   Classis  East of the Protestant Reformed Churches will                          Exposition of I I Peter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
meet Wednesday, July 10, 1963, at 9:00 a. m. in the Hud-                                     Rev. G. Lubbers

sonville Protestant Reformed Church.
                                                                       I
   Consistories should consider this an official announce-             N HIS FEAR -
                                                                                   My Father's World (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
ment for,the appointment of delegates.                                                        Rev. J. A. Heys
                             REV.  M. SCHIPPER,  Stated Clerk

                                                                       CONTENDING FOR THE  FAIXX-

                                                                                   The Church and the Sacraments                                                                   . . 426

                                                                                              Rev. H. VeIdman

                         1N MEMORIAM
                                                                       DECENCY  AND  ORDER  -
   It has pleased the Lord in His inscrutable wisdom and un-                       Censurable                  Sins         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
fathomable grace to take unto Himself a devoted and faithful
                                                                                              Rev. G. Vanden Berg
member of our consistory,

                      ELDER GEORGE VINE                                ALLARouNJJus-
We are grateful to our God for the labors he might accomplish in                   Synod of 1963 _____: __.__...._....,..,................................................                                                                                 430
our congregation and we commit the bereaved wife and children to
                                                                                              Rev. H. Hanko
His fatherly care, knowing that our Lord provides for His own
far above all that we can ask or think.
                                                                       N
                      The Consistory of the First Prot. Ref. Church         EWS    FROM OUR CHURCHES . . . . . . . . . . .._..._...........................................                                                                                    432
                      of Grand Rapids, Michigan                                               Mr. J. M. Faber

                             Rev. C. Hanko, President
                             Mr. P. Decker Jr., Clerk     -
                                                                       P                                                                                                                                                                                    -

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


                                                                                                                  "We declare, moreover, that we not only reject all errors

                  E D I T O R I A L S   _] that militate against this doctrine and particularly those
                                                                                                              that were condemned by the above mentioned synod, but

                                                                                                              that we are disposed to refute and contradict these, and to

                                Synodical Action?                                                             exert ourselves in keeping the Church free from such errors.
                                                                                                              And if hereafter any difficulties or different sentiments
       Classis  Orange City adopted the following overture to                                                 respecting the aforesaid doctrines should arise in our
the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church which, at the                                                      minds, we promise that we will neither publicly nor pri-
time of this writing, is already meeting in Grand Rapids:                                                     vately propose, teach ,or defend the same, either by preach-
       "Classis adopted an overture to synod regarding the
                                                    _- - __                                                   ing or writing, until we have first revealed such sentiments
position of Professor Harold Dekker, as expressed in ar-                                                      to the consistory, classis  and synod, that the same may be
ticles of the Reformed JournaZ,  December, 1962, and Febru-                                                   there examined, being ready always cheerfully to submit to
ary, 1963, under the title `God so loved - All Men.' Classis                                                  the judgment of the consistory, classis  and synod, under
is of the conviction that the position of Professor Dekker                                                    the penalty in case of refusal to be, by that very fact,
regarding redemptive love, as expressed in these articles                                                     suspended from our o5ce.
is contrary to the creedal  statements in articles 8 and 9 of                                                     `And further, if at any time the consistory, classis  or
chapter II in the Canons of Dort. Since Professor Dekker                                                      synod, upon su5cient ground of suspicion and to preserve
has signed the Form of Subscription, classis  petitions synod                                                 the uniformity and purity of doctrine, may deem it proper
that it require Professor Dekker to give further explanation                                                         I
                                                                                                              to reauire of us a further explanation of our sentiments
of his position, so that if Professor Dekker's position is truly                                              respecting any particular article of the Confession of Faith,
Reformed and scriptural, synod may clear him of suspicion;                                                    the Catechism, or the explanation of the National Synod,
and should synod find his position not in harmony with the                                                    we do hereby promise to be always willing and ready to
Scriptures and the creeds, that synod take appropriate ac-                                                    comply with such requisition, under the penalty above men-
tion, to preserve the uniformity and purity of doctrine in
         - _ -                                _.                                                              tioned, reserving for ourselves, however, the right of an
our church and seminary."                                                                                     appeal, whenever we shall feel ourselves aggrieved by the
       We note:                                                                                               sentence of the con&tory, the classis  or the synod, and until
       1. That clasds  Orange City virtually already condemns                                                 a decision is made upon such an appeal, we will acquiesce

here the position of Professor Dekker by stating that it is                                                   in the determination and judgment already passed."

not in harmony with the Canons of Dort.                                                                           I quoted the entire Formula, for, although many of OLX

       2. That,. however, it gives him an opportunity to clear                                                readers are able to consult and read it in our Church Order,

himself of suspicion by allowing himself to be examined                                                       I proceed on the assumption that the majority of them have

by Synod.                                                                                                     no Church Order.

       3. That, if Synod should find the examination of Prof.                                                     But, I repeat, that this Formula is very complete and

Dekker unsatisfactory, it then should "take appropriate                                                       c o n c i s e .

action."                                                                                                          That Prof. Dekker himself does not realize that by his

       4. This action of classis  Orange City is based on the                                                 articles in the Refotrm.ed  Joumzal  he violated this Formula
Formula of Subscription to which also Prof. Dekker sub-                                                       is almost unbelievable.
scribed when he accepted the position of professor in the                                                         But what is the synod going to do now?

Calvin Seminary. This Formula is rather strong and con-                                                           As soon as we know the answer to this question we will

cise. It reads as follows:                                                                                    inform our readers.
       `We, the undersigned, professors of the Christian Re-                                                                                                      "    H.H.

formed Church, ministers of the gospel, elders and deacons

of the Christian Reformed Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    of
                                                                                                                          Single Or Double Track Theology?
Classis  _........_..........._..  do hereby sincerely and in good con-

science before the Lord, declare by this our subscription,                                                        Emeritus Professor R. B. &riper  has a very long article

that we heartily believe and are persuaded that all the                                                       in Torch and Trumpet  in which he discusses the present

articles and points of doctrine, contained in the Confession                                                  controversy in the Christian Reformed Church occasioned

and Catechism of the Reformed Churches, together with                                                         by the articles in the Reformed Joumzal  written by Profes-

the explanation of some points of the aforesaid doctrine,                                                     sor Harold Dekker and Dr. Henry Stob, the former on the

made by the National Synod of Dordrecht, 1618-19, do                                                          love of God to all men, the latter on the theme that God

fully agree with the Word of God.                                                                             hates no man.

       "We promise therefore diligently to teach and faithfully                                                   However, he devotes several paragraphs to a discussion

to defend the aforesaid doctrine, without either directly or                                                  of the well-known "common grace" controversy and criticizes

indirectly contradicting the same, by our public preaching                                                    my and the late Rev. Danhof's view on the subject of `%om-

or writing.                                                                                                   mon grace." Our view is "single track theology" implying,


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            413


of course, that the only proper conception (which is also          in 1924. He even admits that they are not beyond criticism.

and emphatically so Professor Kuiper's ) is "double track          Nevertheless; according to him, Synod upheld the doctrine

theology." And he accuses me of rationalism and abso-              of common grace "without detracting in the least from the

lutism.                                                            historic Reformed doctrine of special or saving grace." I

   This cannot be left unchallenged. And, therefore, I             ask: is this true? For an answer to this question the reader

intend to offer my criticism of the article of Professor           must wait till I offer my criticism.

Kuiper and his "double track theology."                               After this long and very untrue criticism directed at me,

   First of all, I will present a brief outline of the article.    occasioned perhaps by the fact that I wrote, in my articles

   He writes under the theme "Is the Glory Departing?"             on Prof. Dekker's view that, if the matter ever came before

By the glory he refers to the glory of the Christian Re-           Synod, he could always appeal to the First Point of 1924,

formed Church, and that glory consists especially, as the          he, Kuiper, comes to the present controversy in the Chris-

whole article shows, in the double track theology of which         tian Reformed Church.

Kuiper is one of the chief champions.                                 He introduces this matter by a paragraph under the

   In his article he starts out by referring to the well-          heading "Our Present Plight." In this paragraph he asks

known biblical narrative of the priests, Hophni and Phine-         several questions, which, however, all amount to the same

has and their taking the ark into the camp of the Israelites,      thing, namely, that we must always subject our human

the result of which was that the ark was taken by the              logic to the whole of Scripture even if Scripture presents

Philistines.  And when the wife of Phinehas, who was               what Kuiper calls "complementary truths," but which I

pregnant, heard of this she gave birth to a premature son          would designate as flat contradictions. And, by the way, I

and, dying, she called his name Ichabod expressing that            do not believe that the Bible ever contradicts itself.

the glory had departed from Israel.                                   But of this later.

   Now, Kuiper hastens to explain that he does not mean               In a following paragraph Kuiper briefly mentions the

to say that the glory has departed from the Christian Re-          subject of the infallibility of Scripture. This subject was

formed Church, but he raises the question nevertheless.            discussed, as most of us know, at the Synod of the Christian

   He, then, explains that the glory of the Christian Re-          Reformed Church in 1959. In this paragraph, however, he

formed Church is its theology and that its theology is             expresses doubt as to, whether or not there is still "discord

eminently biblical. Scripturalness is the essence of the           among us on so basic a doctrine as Scriptural infallibility."

theology of the Christian Reformed Church.                            Next, Kuiper briefly discusses the articles of Prof.

   In the next paragraph he briefly reviews the Arminian           Dekker in the Reformed Journal on the subject "God So

controversy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.            Loved - All Men." He mentions in this connection the

Kuiper characterizes Arminianism as universalism; and              following items:

universalism, according to him; is based, not on Scripture            1.    The conception of Dekker's universal love in relation

but on human logic.     But the fathers of Dort must have          to the atonement of Christ is not Scriptural, or to quote him

nothing of this. They were convinced that both doctrines,          verbally, "did not excel in Scripturalness."

predestination and the sincere offer to all men of salvation,         2. Dekker as well as Hoeksema "obviously . . . . employ

were taught in Scripture. And to this they adhered.                the same logic," with regard to the conception of the love

   Next, Prof. Kuiper discusses the "common grace" con-            of God, even though they fundamentally differ.

troversy. The issue in 1924 concerned again the question              3. He quotes from the Canons to show that God's love

of particularism and biblical universalism. Danhof and the         for the elect is not the same as His love for the reprobates.

undersigned surely believed and taught the truth of salva-         Writes he: "In reality there is nothing strange about the

tion by sovereign grace.     But they denied Scriptural uni-       fact that many reject the gospel. The depravity of the

versalism.    But thus they subjected Scripture to human           human nature fully explains it. The wonder is that not all

logic. They adhered to a single track theology. They de-           men do so. And that is a wonder indeed. It is a wonder of

stroyed certain Scriptural paradoxes. `In short, in their          divine grace." Here he quotes the Canons once more as

interpretation of Scripture, they failed to subject finite  and    well as some Scriptural passages.

faulty human reason unreservedly to the divine logos." He             4. Nevertheless, Kuiper contradicts the immediately

is well aware, evidently, that I vehemently would and do           preceding when he quotes from Berkhof and H. J. Kuiper

deny such insinuations, for he writes that I `would resent         that God's love is one. This, indeed, is also the contention

any and all of the foregoing statements." And he asks the          of Prof. Dekker. But this, according to Kuiper, is a mystery.

question: "Yet, are they not true?" My answer to this ques-        "That there is a mystery here need not be denied. In study-

tion is an absolute NO!                                            ing the transcendent and incomprehensible God we are be-

   But let me not now criticize. At present it is my purpose       set by an unfathomable mystery." Kuiper forgets that we

simply to acquaint our readers with what Kuiper writes.            `are not studying and never can study God. We are dealing

   He further mentions, without quoting them, the noto-            with God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. In-

rious "Three Points" adopted by the Synod of Kalamazoo             deed, the Word of God deals with profound mysteries. But

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


a biblical mystery is something q,uite  different from a con-      errors in the Christian Reformed Church find their cause in
               -  I
tradiction,  which is the mean&g  of the term in Kuiper's          the decisions made by the Synod of Kalamazoo in 19.24 and

article. But about this later.                                     in the pernicious Three Points? My answer is emphatically

       Kuiper briefly sums- up what he wrote on Dekker's con-      No!

ception of the love of God in the following paragraph:                The rest of the article is of little signticance.  First
.-
       "Professor Dekker errs in emphasizing Scriptural uni-       Kuiper mentions the student paper Strom&a,  become noto-

versalism as expressed in the universal and sincere offer of       rious in connection with the infallibility question. And

the gospel, to the detriment of Scriptural particularism, as       &rally,  he has a paragraph on "Of Babes And Theology."

summarized in the five points of Calvinism, notably limited        And he concludes with the following paragraph:

atonement and e5cacious grace."                                       "Such is the glorious heritage of the Christian Reformed

       Now Professor Kuiper devotes some space to "Dr. Henry       Church. Shall we not maintain it uncompromisingly? Shall

Stob on God's hate."                                               we not in complete loyalty to the Word of God seek to aug-

       As our readers know, Prof. Stob denies that God hates       ment it? Shall we not with holy zeal impart it unsullied to

any man.                                                           others? God grant that we may do all that in deep humility,

       Kuiper, first of all, asks the question: where does Stob    as mere babes."

get his definition of hate. Certainly not from Scripture for          Next time I hope to begin my criticism, the Lord willing.

the Bible clearly teaches that God hates certain persons.                                                                   H.H.

       However, Kuiper fundamentally agrees with Prof. Stob,

for he claims that God loves all men. He differs from him

in that he proposes that God also hates the same persons                              Seminary Graduation
whom He loves. Writes he: "The Bible tells us that God

hated Esau . . . It also tells us that God loves all men, Esau

of course included." This, of course, is another mystery.

Stob cannot accept this because, like Hoeksema he em-

ploys human logic, and, like Hoeksemds,  his exegesis is

marred by absolutism. But we shall see later about this.

       In another section of his article, Kuiper speaks of the

equal ultimacy of election and reprobation. By this he

does not mean that God takes delight in the damnation of

the non-elect as-he does in the salvation of the elect; nor

that He effectuates the damnation of the reprobate as he

does the salvation of the elect; but that the salvation of the

elect and the damnation of the reprobate are equally cer-

tain: both are unalterably determined in God's eternal

counsel. To deny this is a serious departure from the truth.

Perhaps, Kuiper refers to such views as those of Weidenaar

C.S.  This is also taught in Calvin College and no one takes

action against it, not even Kuiper.

       Another paragraph tells us that some in the Christian

Reformed Church are of the opinion that love is the all-              It is a significant and hopeful event when our Theolog-
controlling attribute of God in distinction from His justice.      ical School has graduation exercises.
In this connection, Kuiper writes: "May God keep-us from              Significant it is, for one reason, because our school is
Modernism. To say the very -least, we are. in peril of in-         small and our students few, and because graduation does
cipient Modernism." But while Kuiper knows all this, does          not occur very frequently. In this particular case, it was
he do anything about it? He does not, except that he dis-          three years since the last graduation exercises were held.
cusses it.                                                         Significant it is, too, because of the shortage of ministers in

       Again, another error in the Christian Reformed Church       our denomination. This graduation means that soon, `the

consists, according to Kuiper, in the denial of the kingship       Lord willing, one of our pastor-less churches will have its

of Christ in every sphere of life. Writes he: "Am I wrong          needs fulfilled. Significant this graduation was, too, be-

in surmising that there is an inclination among us to              cause it meant for the graduate, Candidate David J. En-

distinguish between two areas, the one under the direct            gelsma,  that he had finished his three years of preparation

rule of Christ, the other religiously neutral, and to seek to      for the ministry at our seminary, had successfully been

justify that limitation of the rule of Christ by an appeal to      examined at our Synod, and was now about to achieve his

the fact of common grace?"        But I would also ask a ques-     heart's desire to enter the ministry. And significant it was,

 tion: Am I wrong in declaring that, principally, all these        lastly, for the faculty, because particularly they were be-


                                           T H E '   S T A N D A R D   BEAR.ER                                                 415


holding the fruits of their instruction of one of our young          interestedly nevertheless. We must at all times remember,

m e n .                                                              therefore, that the various theological and ecclesiastical

   Hopeful this graduation was, not only for the above               developments of our day are all part of a crucial and age-

reasons, but also, and above all, because it is an indication        old conf&ct.  We Protestant Reformed are not mere by-

that the blessing of our covenant God rests yet upon our             standers. We are active participants in that conflict. In

small and struggling denomination and its -school. There             fact, we stand at the center of that conflict and in the heat

was a time when graduation was more frequent and when                of the battle. To that conflict I wish to call your attention

our graduates were more numerous. And undoubtedly we                 briefly at this occasion, as I speak on:

all wish and pray that the Lord will give us more gradu-                           Our Theological Conflict Today
ates and candidates for the holy ministry. Nevertheless,                Let us note:
we thankfully acknowledge that He is still providing for                      I. That There Is Such A Conflict
our needs in His faithfulness and love.                                      II. The Battle-lines Of That Conflict
   The Theological School Committee prepared an appro-                      III. The Victory In That Con&t
priate program for the occasion. .Besides  the addresses by

the rector and by the candidate, which will appear in our            I. That There Is Such A Conflict

Standard Bearer, there was music by our Radio Choir and                 There would seem to be many indications today that

by the Choir of Adams St. School. And a capacity audience            -there is no theological conflict, or at least that it is fast

gathered in our Southeast Church to celebrate this happy             coming to an end. I refer, first of all, to what seems to be

occasion.                                                            a vast movement toward ecclesiastical peace, the movement

   In conclusion, we express the hope that also this occa-           of ecumenicism. And let me emphasize in parentheses,

sion may serve as an incentive to more of our Protestant             that it is an "`ism."    This movement is very active in our

Reformed young men. And, may the Lord bless Candidate                age. You find it in protestantism generally. You find  it in

Engelsma, give him grace, as presently he enters the min-            the Reformed community. You find indications of it even

istry, to stand fast and to be a faithful Verbi  De;i Mini&v.        between protestantism and Rome. The movement takes as

   That also in our outlying churches our people may some-           its slogan the apparently commendable and scriptural goal,

what participate in this occasion, the Standard Bearer staff         "that they all may be one."      And there are certain char-

decided to publish the graduation addresses and to present           acteristic efforts and strivings of this movement which may

a photograph of Candidate Engelsma.                                  be noted. One of these characteristics is the deliberate at-

                                                         H.C.H.      tempt to ignore fundamental issues. This is always closely

                                                                     allied with the attempt to find a basis of union between

                                                                     two or more ecclesiastical groups regardless of the truth

             Our -Theological Conflict Today*                  -     and regardless of confessional basis. There is, if you will,

                                                                     the striving to find a low common denominator as far as
Mr. Chairman, Fathers and Brethren of the Synod,                     doctrine and polity and liturgy are concerned. And ap-
Graduate Engelsma, and Friends:                                      parently this movement is successful when we take into

   We of the seminary have often had occasion to remark              account the large number of denominational mergers being

that we live in interesting times from a theological and ec-         accomplished and the ambitious preparations being made

clesiastical point of view. Times they are in which there            for still more and larger mergers. One who speaks of war

are many developments - if not much progress and positive            and of battle, rather than of ecclesiastical peace, would

development-on many fronts. And times they are, too,                 seem to be a warmonger today.

therefore, in which there is much food for thought, much                In the second place, and in close connection with the

material for study and discussion - so much, in fact, that it        above, I refer to the subjective aspect of the same move-

is virtually impossible to keep pace with all the various            ment, to the attitude that afflicts the church and its mem-

developments of the day on the ecclesiastical and theolog-           bership and that sometimes has not left us unaffected. I

ical front.                                                          refer to the attitude of an unwillingness to fight. Sometimes

   It is important to remember, however, that the times              also we become unwilling and reluctant to fight. We be-

are more than merely i!nteresting.  When one considers the           come such, not because there is no conflict and not because

times and their manifold developments merely as interesting,         we cannot truly.see  that there is a conflict and reasons for

then he assumes the attitude of an observer, of a mere by-           conflict, but because, perhaps, we do not want to recognize

stander. Then he discusses and appraises and studies the             the facts. We assume that attitude partly, perhaps, because

various developments of the ,day in a rather academic way;           it is not popular to fight; it is much more popular to take

and though one. may find matters engaging in their in-               part in the peace-movement of modern ecumenicism. And

terest, he studies and appraises and discusses rather dis-           partly, we sometimes grow battle-weary, become tired of
----__                                                               fighting, .discouraged,  inclined to give up in what seems
"Rectoral  Address at the graduation exercises of the Theological    to be a never-ending battle.
 School of the Protestant Reformed Churches, June II, 1963.

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


       Hence, I want to emphasize, positively, that it is simply    may perhaps view other studies in such a manner to an

a fact that the church throughout the ages has a battle to          extent. Thus, for instance, you might view political science.

fight. The church of Jesus Christ in the midst of the world         But certainly you can never assume that attitude toward

is always the church militant. It is a fighting-church. Mark        theology. Theology is always basically a matter of the

you well, I am not now saying merely that the church                truth, the truth of God, of His revelation, over against the
ought to fight. I am maintaining that it is a fact that the         lie. For that reason also theology is always a matter of

church is the church militant and that the church has a             personal involvement, a matter of the heart, from which

warfare to wage.       This is an unavoidable and undeniable        are the issues of life.

fact. This lies in the very nature of the church. There is a           It follows, too, and it can stand emphasis, that this battle

principal reason for this warfare. The deepest cause of this        is strictly spiritual in nature. It is not a battle that aims at

battle is that the church represents the cause of the Son           natural and earthly ends. It does not aim at world-power

of God in the midst of the world - also a religious and ec-         and world-conquest. The battle is not one for self-aggran-

clesiastical world-that lies in darkness, that stands in            dizement or human glory. The courage required in this bat-

spiritual alliance with the devil, in enmity against God, and       tle is not physical. And the victory does not depend on the

in opposition to the cause of His Son. The church repre-            numerical strength of the church's armies, nor upon the

sents the cause of the Son of God in the midst of a world           mighty and superior equipment used, nor, in fact, upon

that is anti-Christ. In the deepest sense of the word, there-       carnal weapons whatsoever.      The battle of the church is

fore, the church does not have a choice: to fight or not            spiritual. It has a spiritual cause, a spiritual purpose and

to fight. No, it lies in the very nature of the church of           aim, the glory of God and the cause of the Son of God. It

Jesus Christ in the midst of the world that it is the .church       is fought by spiritual power and spiritual weapons. It is

militant.                                                           fought by the power of fa.i?h  and by the sword of the

       There is a very practical observation to be made in this     Spirit, which is the Word of God. In that battle the church

connection, namely, that if in last analysis one refuses to         and its members are called to take to themselves the whole

fight, refuses to face up to the fact that the church is the        armor of God, of which armor the girdle of the truth is

church militant, refuses to recognize the fact that there is a      significantly the unifying element. Ephesians 6:10-l&

battle, refuses to bear arms in that conflict, it simply means
that he has taken sides with the opposition, with the powers        II. The Battle-Un.es  Of The Conflict
of darkness. That battle is there, whether you acknowledge             Now we may ask the question: where are the lines of
it or not. Moreover, you cannot possibly be neutral in that         battle? Where in the battle do we stand? Where are wz
conflict. You either stand with those who represent the cause       called to stand? And what are the issues in the battle? For

of God's Son, or you stand with those who are the enemies           what, and about what, are we fighting?
of His cause. And if you fly in the face of facts, of reality,         In general, my answer is, first of all, that this battle
and insist that there is no conflict and that there are no          concerns the whole of the truth, the truth of God's revela-
issues and no reasons for conflict, you are simply taking           tion, and every aspect of that truth. And while we some-
sides with the opposition!                                          times make distinctions between more important and less

       Now I referred in my subject to a theological con@&          important phases of the truth, we should remember that the

By this I mean, first of all, to emphasize that as a spiritual      truth of God is never unimportant. Basically there are no

battle this conflict is always ultimately theological. In this      unimportant truths. In the second place, in answer to the

respect we could better call it, perhaps, theocentric,  God-        question concerning our place in the battle, I would say

centered. That is, it is a battle that concerns the cause of        that as surely as we believe and are convinced that we as

God, the name of God, the honor and glory of God, the               churches represent, by the grace of God, the purest mani-

Word of God, the Son of God. But I also intend, in the              festation of the church on earth - and we do, according to

second place, to emphasize that this conflict is theological in     the well-known "marks of the true church" - so surely we

a narrower sense, in the more restricted and more technical         also must believe and do believe that we stand at the front

sense of the term theology. By theology, then, I do not             battle line and in the heat of the conflict. In the third

merely mean dogmatics, or the first locus of dogmatics, the         place, I would answer that the battle is wherever and when-

doctrine of God. But I refer to the whole body of the               ever in the ecclesiastical world God, the God of His

truth as it is confessed by and maintained by and practiced         church, brings about contact and creates an issue. At such

by the church, as it is taught and studied in our Theolog-          a point and at such a time the church has the opportunity

ical School, and as it is controlled by and always comes            not only, but emphatically the divine calling to do battle!

down to the truth concerning God, the doctrine of God.              That may be within the confines of one's own denomina-

   Moreover, I would emphasize that theology is not a               tion. That may also be with others, with whom one stands

matter of various theological views and opinions, of which          `more or less related by history and by heritage. But wher-

you can perhaps take your pick as to which appeals most             ever and whenever God brings about contact with the foe,

to you. It is not something that is merely academic. You            there the battle is.


                                              T H . E   S T A N D A - R D   B E A R - E R                                      417


   We may ask the further question: can we define these             flict, even at present, as we all know. It is noteworthy too

battle-lines more specifically?                                     that very recently the truth of the infallibility and authority

   My answer to this question is affirmative.                       of the. Scriptures -really the same fundamental issue as

   In the first place, we have a specific battle to fight as        that of the Jansen case shortly before 1924-was  in con-

members of the Reformed community, and particularly,                flict, and admittedly still is in conflict. And do not forget

ever since 1924, over against our ecclesiastical mother.            that the issue of hierarchy and of the movement toward a

There lies our chief opposition; and there is our primary           sort of super-church is still very much an issue in all this

calling as churches. In the second place, the issue in that         history too.

battle is specifically our peculiar Reformed heritage as em-            I consider this to be a significant phenomenon. These

bodied and expressed in our Reformed confessions, our               are signs that we were indeed in the heat of the battle

Reformed liturgy, and our Reformed polity and order, and            circa 1924. And they are signs that the battle is still the

that too, in the light of our origin and history and in the         same, that it is not by any means over, and that the issues

light of the present historical situation.                          are fundamentally the same as they were in the beginning

   Let me spell that out briefly.                                   of our history.

   The central issue is that of the truth concerning God
Himself. It is the issue of God's sovereign grace. But it is        III. The VictortJ  In That Battle

not only that. I do not believe that the truth of God's                 The victory in that conflict is assured. No matter what
sovereign grace is the sole issue, nor. that that truth can be      appearances may seem to be, no matter how we may ap-
maintained all by itself, without that other characteristic         parently go down to defeat, no matter how small and in-
truth of the Reformed faith, namely, the truth of God's             significant we may be and become, no matter how hope-

covenant. Hence, we may state the issue this way: it is the         less that conflict may sometimes seem to be, no matter how

truth that our covenant God establishes and realizes His            overwhelming and powerful and apparently successful the

covenant of friendship with His people in Christ Jesus in           opposition may seem to be, the cause of the Son of God

absolute sovereignty, along the lines of election and repro-        and those who. represent His cause are victorious. TheJ

bation, through the means of faith, unconditionally, and            not only shall be victorious and shall be vindicated; but

antithetically, leading His own infallibly to everlasting           they are victorious. We are more than conquerors!
glory.                                                                  This assurance is in our Lord Jesus Christ. He fought

   And always there are certain inevitable concomitant              the battle and obtained the victory through His cross and

issues. In the iirst place, there is always the issue of the        resurrection and exaltation at the right hand of God. He

authority of the infallible Scriptures and of exegesis. The         obtained the victory for all His own, according to God's

question of the truth is always in the deepest sense of             decree. Principally and centrally, therefore, the victory is

bowing before the authority of Holy Scripture, the Word             already attained in Christ Jesus our Lord. And by His

of God. There is never any conflict in which the Scriptures         grace and Spirit our victorious Lord rules in and over His

and the meaning of the Scriptures are not necessarily in-           church; and by His mighty power He lords it over the

volved. The reason for that is very simple: those Scrip-            world, so that even the powers of darkness and opposition

tures are our only infallible rule of faith and life. In the        to His cause are made subservient unto His purpose in

second place, there is always the concomitant issue of the          spite of themselves.     Christ has the victory and has over-

government and discipline of the church according to the            come the world! And by faith in Him we have the victory

ordinance of Christ. Or, if you will, there is the battle to        and are more than conquerors even in the midst of the con-

reject every attempt to maintain hierarchy and the super-           flict!

church, with their corruption of and misapplication of the              In conclusion, therefore, our calling is plain. Stand fast,

key-power. In the third place, because the church of Jesus          and be of good courage. Stand fast, above all, in the truth.

Christ is a confessing church, there is always the con-             And take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that ye

comitant issue of the confessions of the church and of a            may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done

healthy, living respect for and adherence to those confes-          all, to stand. That is the calling of our seminary -our

sions.                                                              "`war college," if you will - where men are trained and

   These have been the issues in our battle ever since 1924,         equipped for leadership in the conflict, and where the

when the Three Points were adopted.                                 battle must first of all be fought. That is the calling of

   And it is a striking phenomenon to me that even as all            our ministers and of all our officebearers, who are ap;

these issues were at stake in our mother church at the time         pointed watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem. They

of the origin of our Protestant Reformed Churches, so in            may never hold their peace day nor night. They must make

very recent years all these issues emphatically arise again.         mention of Jehovah, and keep not silence, and give him no

In the few years of my own professorate at our seminary all         rest, until he establish and until he make Jerusalem a praise

these issues have been on the foreground. The fundamental            in the earth. Isaiah 62:6,  7. And that is the calling of all

truth of God's sovereign and particular love is again in con-        our people.


418                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   .BEARER


       And above all, pray! Pray that the Lord give us grace         interpretation of Scripture by believers generally, depends

to.be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work             directly upon the exegesis of the proclamation of the gospel.

of the Lord. And pray that the Lord may give us men,                    In the light of this limitation, it appears all the more.

men who may be trained as watchmen on Zion's walls!                  clearly that exegesis and nothing else has the preeminence.

Amen.                                                    H.C.H.      One must preach, not merely read Scripture. How is he to

                                                                     know what he must say? Simply by leading out of the pas-

                                                                     sage of Scripture the meaning of the Author. From this it

  The Fundamental Significance                                       becomes apparent that exegesis is not identical with preach-
                                             of Exegesis*            ing but is rather the indispensable requisite for preaching.
       We view this topic as a proposition to be defended.           To find the meaning of the Author is not the same as to
There are other conceivable methods of treating this sub-            preach that meaning but the latter is impossible without
ject. One might, for example, explain what this theological          the former. Exegesis owes its importance to the utter grav-

discipline is or analyze the mode of its operation or relate         ity of the preaching which is based upon it. To distort the
its development in the history of the Christian Church. We           meaning of Scripture carries fearful consequences. Destruc-
will not concentrate on answering the question, What  is             tion is for the prophets who come in God's name, .who
the significance of exegesis, or, How does exegesis operate,         preface their sermons with "Thus saith the Lord," but who,
or, What linguistic, textual-critical, and Biblical-historical       in fact, are neither sent by God nor preach what "He
abilities must an exegete have. Rather, our concern is to            saith" at all (cf. Jeremiah 14, 23). And the people that
answer the questions, Is exegesis fundamentally important,           suffer themselves to be deceived reap the bitter harvest. In
and, Is exegesis important in distinction, say, from a knowl-        order to speak one must interpret and when this is done
edge of the eminent theologians of the day, in distinction           according to the Spirit, the Author of Scripture, the min-
from an awareness of the `mind" of the modern Church-                ister is the proclaimer of the power of God unto salvation
world, in distinction from a thorough familiarity with even          (Rom. 1:16).
the best of dogmatics.     To deal with the subject in such             The Word that is preached is Gods. For this reason
a way is justified, iirst, because of the prevalent disregard        exegesis is significant. The exegete, the interpreter, there-
for and active opposition to exegesis. Churchmen do not              fore l&tens.  All who would interpret Scripture must be
contest what exegesis is nor do they dispute the operation           silent. "The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth
of sound exegesis but they deny that exegesis has funda-             keep silence before him" (Hab. 2:20) certainly includes in
mental significance.    They replace it, especially in their         its scope, the exegete. Anyone who runs to Scripture jab-
preaching, with past decisions of their church federation            bering his own words precludes the possibility of exegeting.
and substitute for it that which `a majority of their congre-        In silence, the interpreter attends to the whole of God's
gation seems to like. Secondly, a solid conviction that exe-         Word. This has been expressed in one of the cardinal rules
gesis is of fundamental importance is the basic defense              of the method of exegesis, tota  scripturu,  the whole of Scrip-
against false methods of exegeting. One who believes that            ture. Closely related to this is another maxim, scr@t~~~a
the matter of one's friends is extremely important is well           scr$tura.e  interpres,  Scripture interprets Scripture. In si-
on his way towards a good ch.oice of friends. Finally, to            lence, the exegete listens to #God's  Word exclusively. IIis
view the topic as something to be defended is justified be-          ears are closed to all other words. The relevant principle,
cause this is highly relevant to the Church as a whole. The          here, is soZa scriptzcru,  only Scripture. Only then may the
congregation has a stringent calling to insist that her              exegete become the preacher for only then may he say,
preachers and teachers maintain the priority of exegesis.            "Thus saith the Lord."
       For our purpose, the meaning of exegess  can be the              Where the word of man, the thoughts of man, the good
literal translation of the word, "a leading out" or "inter-          intentions of man impinge upon the Word of God, there is
pretation." To the question, "A leading out of what?" the            demonic chaos. This is not to be understood as hyperbole.
answer is, `Out of Scripture." Exegesis is the interpreta-           It is demonic because man's word is jalfen.  man's word
tion of Scripture.    Although one might, in other circum-           which has the devil as source and hell as end; and it is
stances, speak of exegesis of poems, novels, and essays, we          chaos because the word of fallen man is always the dis-
refer to exegesis of Scripture as is implied by its being            ruptive, disintegrating word of the lie. As its root, the
described as "fundamentally significant." But we may limit           incessant attempt to impose man's word upon God's has
the sphere of the topic still more. All believers interpret          arrogance.    Man may doubt the wisdom of something God
Scripture. They do it in their preparation for societies, in         says. Proud man may suppose, for example, that it is more
their individual meditations, and in their instruction of            conducive for morality to preach salvation by works than
their children. We, however, are concerned only to stress            to preach salvation by grace. Arrogating to himself a higher
the significance of exegesis in respect to the preaching of          wisdom than that demonstrated by the Holy Spirit, such a
the Word. This limitation is not quite arbitrary since the           one replaces exegesis with his own imaginations. Or man
- - - - - -
"Address at the graduation exercises by Graduate David Engelsma..    may soften the thunder of God's Word as he strives to do,


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       419


for example, when he minimizes and explains away eternal,         er profits because he daily seeks and finds new pearls in

double predestination.                                            the treasure chest of Scripture. In the way of faithfully

   If the root is pride, the fruit is desolation. Either there    interpreting Scripture, he obtains the unshakeable assur-

is exegesis or there is the word of man which no matter           ance of the apostle Paul, "I am pure from the blood of all

how wise, how eloquent, how understandable, indeed, no            men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the

matter how successful, is always foolishness with God.            counsel of God" (Acts 20:26,  27). And through exegesis,

   The people of God, desiring to hear God in Christ, have        the minister develops and becomes more and more attuned

the obligation to insist that exegesis is fundamentally im-       to the perfect knowledge of God. The Church, coming

portant. It is not farfetched to conceive of apostasy work-       under exegetical preaching and teaching, radiates God's

ing from the bottom up rather than from the top down.             glory as her members confess what is taught. Her members

Disdain for sound exegetical preaching on the part of the         are equipped to live and to die in the power of the

preacher may simply be his response to the itching ears of        only unchanging Word. Besides, the confession of faith,

the congregation. The sophists in old Greece taught that          the credo, of the Church deepens and broadens through-

no truth of dogma or morals was absolute but that all was         out the ages as she advances in the wisdom of God to

relative, dependent upon the whims of each individual             which there is no end. Last and (for once) -least, although

Greek. Socrates pointed out that these sophists were merely       not unimportantly, seminarians profit from the impression

the result, not the cause, of what the Greek people already       on their souls that exegesis has fundamental significance.

believed and wanted to be taught. This process of deterior-       They are sent out to learn, in every case, before they teach

ation also threatens the church. Not only does Paul inveigh       and to listen before they speak. They are sent out to ask

against heretical preachers who enter the sheepfold of            themselves, under the judgment of Scripture, in regard to

Christ as devouring wolves (Acts 20:29)  but also against         every proclamation, "Who says this? Do I, do other men,

slack congregations who "`will not endure sound doctrine;         or does God?"

but after their own lusts . . . heap to themselves teachers,         `Where thou must believe, thou must not cling to what

having itching ears" (II Tim. 4:3). Especially ought the          thy thinking or feeling telleth thee, but what the Word of

people of God to demand that sermons in their entirety be         -God  telleth thee, however little thou feelest  it." So Luther.

led out of Scripture, that is, exegetical. Not talks on the.      And that, I venture, expresses the central beauty of our

happenings of the week, not expressions of the preacher's         seminary, teaching fledglings to listen to the Word of God,

feelings, not dissertations on dogmatics, but the living          the Word with all its "rough" edges, the Word in all its

Word of God must be sought after and esteemed.                    power, the Word alone, to the shutting up of the mouth of

   For the preacher, submission to what the Word says is          man. When men speak, they deny God. When men speak

of the essence. For, strictly speaking, exegesis cannot be        about God, they create a puny god in their own image. But

done when faith is absent. Only faith listens; unbelief is        when God speaks of Himself, He reveals Himself, majestic,

always speaking. Faith alone says "Yes" to the Word of            glorious, and mighty to save. Listening to Him speak de-

God; unbelief opposes with its resounding `No." He who            iines both the task and the significance of exegesis.
understands that the cause of the faulty explanation of              Perhaps, Rev. H. Hoeksema will not mind my quoting
Scripture by proponents of false doctrine is not natural          this charge of his, made in class, not soon to be forgotten:
ignorance but rebellious unbelief has no difficulty with the      `You must preach the Word and for that you must have
sharpness with which the great Reformers castigated their         exegesis.    Let nothing stand, to the detriment of exegesis,
opponents on this score. Luther compared the Roman Cath-          between you and the Word, not your likes or dislikes and
olic efforts to prove justification by works from Scripture to    not my dogmatics, nothing. And if this means that our
the rooting of swine in a sack of feed. Calvin, in a similar      churches some day put you out as a heretic, let the Word
vein, complained that Pighius trampled Scripture like a pig       stand."                                                           D.E.
tramples the muck in his pen. To be sure, such men pro-

pound errors but they are condemnable iirst of all for their

careless and profane handling of the Word. The reverence

of faith lets Scripture speak, each passage in the specific
                                                                                       Teacher Needed
context of the chapter, in the general context of the book,

in the context of the whole of Scripture, each passage with          The Loveland Protestant Reformed Christian School- is
its own unique revelation of God's counsel according to the       still in need of a teacher for our school  this coming school
-meaning  of the Holy Spirit, each passage as infallibly in-
                                                                  year, 1963-64. Any Protestant Reformed Teacher interested,
spired and, thus, in harmony with the one revelation of
the God of our salvation in Christ.                               please write to:
                                                                                                       P    A    U       L         GRIESS
   At this juncture one can speak of the significance of
exegesis for different parties, inasmuch as diligent and con-                                           845 Jefferson

tinual exegesis in the Church bestows benefits. The preach-                                             Loveland, Colorado


420 -                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   BE.ARER


                                                                   Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my

11  O U R   D O C T R I N E   11 people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it
                                                                   shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto

                                                                   them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the

        THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH                                 children of the living God." It is very evident that in this

                         CHAPTER II                                section the apostle speaks of the church of the new dispen-
                                                                   sation, the church as it is gathered and called from Jews
         THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
                                                                   and Gentiles both. The significance of this ought to be
                         (Continued)                               very plain to all that read and interpret the Scriptures. Here

   Now, surely, the child that has grown up into an adult          is a passage from the prophecy of Hosea  that evidently

is still the same person. It is, therefore, the clear and unde-    refers to the ten tribes of Israel. Yet it is directly and

niable teaching of the Word of God that there is only one          literally applied to the church of the new dispensation.

people of God, the seed of Abraham in Christ, and that this        Hence, Jehovah's promise to Israel that He would restore

seed is not the Jews, but the believers in Christ, both of the     them to favor and that the seed of the children of Israel

old and of the new dispensation. The unity of the church           would be as the sand of the sea is fulfilled when God

of all ages is incontrovertibly established.                       calls His church out of all nations in the new dispensation.

   I know the objections of the millennialists, or dispensa-       Passages like these can be multiplied. Compare, for in-

tionalists. They aver that you hnd  many passages in the           stance, Jeremiah 31:31-34  with Hebrews 8:8-12.  The pas-

Old Testament that very clearly apply only to the nation           sage in Jeremiah reads as follows: "Behold, the days come,

of Israel, that speak of a restoration of that nation, that        saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the

promise them specifically the land of Canaan for an ever-          house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according

lasting possession. These passages, according to them, may         to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day

not be spiritualized so that they refer to the church of the       that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land

new dispensation.                                                  of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was

   This objection, however, surely is not valid. This will         an husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be

be evident if you compare certain passages of the Old              the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel;

Testament with applications of these same passages in the          After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their

New Testament. Compare, for instance, Hosea 1:lO and II            inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their

with Romans 9:24-26.  In the former passage we read; `Yet          God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach

the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand          no more every man his neighbour, and every man his

of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and             brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me,

it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said         from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the

unto them, Ye. are not my people, there it shall be said unto      Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember

them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the            their sin no more." Also this passage evidently must be

children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered to-       applied to Israel of the old dispensation. But now turn to

gether, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall            the text in Hebrews. There we read: "For finding fault

come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of             with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,

Jezreel." It is evident from this passage, if taken by itself,     when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel

that the prophet speaks only of the people of Israel, and          and with the house of Judah: Not according to the cov-

not of any other people. In fact, he speaks particularly of        enant that I made with their fathers in the day when I

the ten tribes. It is to them that the Lord had said, `Lo-         took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of

ammi, ye are not my people," and again, "Lo-ruhamah, ye            Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I.

are not the objects of my mercy." This was said unto them          regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant

because of their apostasy and their iniquity. However,             that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,

these ten tribes, according to the-presentation of the Old         saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and

Testament, will be restored to the favor of God, and will          write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God,

be called the sons of the living God. Thus it is in the            and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach

prophecy of Hosea.     Now let us compare this passage in          every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,

Hosea with Romans 9:24-26.  It is evident from the text in         Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the

Romans 9 that the apostle refers to the prophecy of Hosea.         greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,

Yet in this chapter of the Romans the apostle refers to            and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

this passage in Hosea and quotes it in application to the          The entire context shows that the author of the epistle to

church in the new dispensation. In the passage from Ro-            the Hebrews refers not to the Jews but to the church of the

mans we read: "Even us, whom he hath called, not of the            new dispensation. One more passage of the Old Testament

Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? -As he saith also in          I wish to compare with another passage of the New Testa-


                                           T H E   S T A N - D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      421


ment. In Amos 9:ll we read: "In that day will I raise up             visibly proclaimed in the shadows and types of the old

the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up. the            dispensation, in temple and altar and sacrifice, in prophet

breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will          and priest and king, in the land of Canaan and Jerusalem

build. it as in the days of old." Also this passage evidently        and Mt. Zion. It is fulfilled in Christ, in His death and

refers to the children of Israel of the old dispensation, as         resurrection and exaltation at the right hand of God, and

well as to the tabernacle that was among them. However,              in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pente-

the passage in Acts 15113-17  reads: "And after they had             cost. It is the promise of salvation, of the forgiveness of

held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and breth-             sins, of everlasting righteousness and eternal life, of the

ren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at                adoption unto children of God and perfect justihcation,  of

the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people       the resurrection of the dead, of heavenly glory, of the land

for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets;           of Canaan for an everlasting possession, of the inheritance

as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again.    of the whole world, of the eternal kingdom of Christ and

the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will            the tabernacle of God with men, of the heavenly perfection

build again the ruins thereof and I will set it up: That the         of Jerusalem and Mt. Zion, on tine  which our Lord Jesus

residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gen-           Christ shall reign forevermore.

tiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who                  This promise is certainly one and indivisible. It is the

doeth all these things."                                             promise for the one seed of Abraham, for all the children

   The church, according to the Scriptures, therefore, is            of the promise, both of the old and of the new dispensation.

not two, but one. The church is not a mere interim,                  The promise is to the one people of God, that is, to the holy

gathered only in the new dispensation, but one flock under           catholic church. Often the Scriptures simply speak of the

one shepherd, the one and only body of Christ, called out            promise, in the singular, to denote its unity, while the

of the world in every age, from the beginning of the world           plural, promises, is also employed to express the manifold

even unto the end. There are no two different kinds of               riches of the one salvation God prepares for them that love

Abraham's seed: a literal, the Jews, and a spiritual, the            Him. However, always the promise is the same for all, that

church. But only the children of the promise of the old              is, for all the elect, for all the children of God. There are

and new dispensations are counted for the seed. And these            no two sets of promises, one for Israel, the other for the

children of the promise are found in the generations of              church, the former earthly and the latter heavenly in char-

Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel until the               acter. There is one promise for all. The saints of the old

promise is fulfilled in the great seed of the woman, the one         dispensation lived by the faith in the same promise as do

seed of Abraham, our Lord Jesus Christ, after which this             the saints in the new dispensation. They saw the promise

same seed of the promise is gathered from the generations            afar off: for it was the time of the shadows. And it is not

of all nations. The line certainly runs through. The unity           yet fully realized; but we look forward to the hnal realiza-

of the old and the new testaments cannot be broken. The              tion of the promise, expecting one and the same revelation

church may not be separated from Israel. There is one                of the Lord Jesus Christ at the day of His coming.

God and Father of all and in all, one Lord Jesus Christ                                                                                H.H.

rich over all that call upon Him, one Spirit of that one

Lord dwelling in all, one body of Christ, one kingdom of                                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
God, one people of God gathered throughout the ages, the                The Priscilla Society of the First Protestant Reformed Church of
holy catholic church.                                                Grand Rapids, Michigan, hereby wishes to e`xpress  its heartfelt sym-
                                                                     pathy to one of our members, Mrs. George Vink,  in the death of
   Besides, let us also note that according to Scripture             her husband,
there is one promise for that one people. In many passages                                     GEORGE VINK

of Scripture we read of that one promise. In fact, the                  John 14:l  and 2: "Let not your heart be troubled: Ye believe
                                                                     in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many man-
gospel is the glad tidings concerning the promise; and the           sions: if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare
whole of Scripture is the glad tidings concerning that prom-         a place for you."
                                                                                                         Mrs. H; C. Hoeksema, President
ise. The Bible principally and centrally is the revelation of                                            Mrs. R. C. Ezinga, Secretary
the promise of God and of its realization. This promise is

already announced in the third chapter of .the book of                                     WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Genesis, immediately after the fall of Adam and Eve. In                 The Lord willing, on July 5, our dear parents,

fact, it is announced to the devil: "I will put enmity be-                           MR. AND MRS. JOHN KNOPER

tween thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her               will commemorate their 40th  wedding anniversary.
                                                                        We, their grateful children, thank our heavenly Father for His
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise its            loving kindness in sparing them these many years for us and for
heel." I say: this is the one promise that is repeated fre-          each other. Cur sincere prayer is that the Lord may continue to
                                                                     bless them in the remaining years of their earthly pilgrimage.
quently in Scripture. And the rich implications of its con-                                            Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Bouwkamp
tents and meaning are set forth and unfolded to the patri-                                             Mr. and Mrs. Donald Knoper
                                                                                                       Rev. and Mrs. Herman Hanko
archs and prophets, to Israel and Judah and David. It is                                                    and 16 grandchildren

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


                                                                            Peter here speaks, one which the churches had not been

               F'R0.M.  H O L Y   WR1.T                                     instructed in by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They
                                                                            had been instructed earlier. Now they must be reminded.

                                                                            Of these things Peter too can write: `though ye know them

                         Exposition of II Peter 3                           and be established in the present truth" ( 1: 12). The church

                                                                            must `beware- lest , . . being led away with the error of
                                       a.
                                                                            the wicked" they fall "from their own stedfastness"  (3:17).

           It is our intention to write a few sketches in this rubric       Fact is, that they must grow in the grace and in the knowl-

        on this third Chapter of II Peter. We believe that this             edge of Jesus Christ" (3:18).

        section of II Peter lends itself very well to a separate dis-           The point of contact with these churches is their "pure

        cussion in a short series of essays. Without fear of contra-        minds."    The term translated "pure" in the King James

        diction we may affirm that the subject on this passage is:          Version really means `unmixed with error." Such a mind

        the certainty of the coming (parousis) of the Lord in the           will not allow Satan's error to be mingled with the truth

        face of all mockers and denial, or in spite of the impatience       nor will it allow the lie to supplant the truth. The term

        of the saints who account that the Lord is tardy and slack          mind (dianoian)  refers to the mind as it is a penetrating

        concerning .his  promise. On the other hand the purpose of          mind; it grasps the truth of God in Christ as this pertains

        this writing is to stir up the pure minds of the saints by          to all things in heaven and on earth, and particularly, in this

        means of Scriptures, so that they may not be moved from             case the truth concerning the coming of Lord Jesus Christ

        their own steadfastness, but may grow up in the grace and           as the fulfilment of the promise: This mind is enlightened

        knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.                      by the Spirit of truth; it is really the portion of those who

           We need not quote the entire section of verses 1-7 of            have the mind of Christ and who can put spiritual things

        this Chapter at this time.    We deem it sufficient for our         with spiritual (I Cor. 2:10-16).  Certainly there is no

        purpose to quote only the verses 1 and. 2 for the present,          spiritual point of contact with those who are of a reprobate

        where we read "This second epistle, beloved, I now w+rite           mind. For the natural man does not understand the things

        unto you: in both which I stir up yoz&r  pure minds by way          of the Spirit. They are foolishness to him. Certainly the

        of remembrance: that ye `be mindful of the words which              natural man cannot be stirred to remembrance. He never

        were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the com-            grasped the spiritual truths and realities in Christ in the

        mandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior . . ."           ilrst  place, and, therefore, he cannot be "stirred up" to

            Peter is an aged man when he writes this epistle. He            remembrance. When the mind of the wicked is "`stirred up"

        will not long remain in this tabernacle anymore. Of this            it is a very evil mind. It merely stirs up all his latent

        he speaks in chapter 1:14.  It is because he knows that he          hatred and mockery. It never has a wholesome and saving

        must shortly put off this his tabernacle, that he writes to         effect.

        the churches; he will stir up their remembrance of all that             What are the means which Peter employs to stir up the

        pertains to a walk of hope and godliness in the midst of            remembrance of these believers in Christ?

        this world. He is very certain concerning the reality of                Peter will use the twofold testimony of the Old Testa-

        these things; he and the other apostles have not been fol-          ment Scriptures as well as of the New Testament Scrip-

        lowers of cunningly devised fables; on the contrary they            tures. I know he does not put it quite in this form. In-

        were eye-witnesses of his glory, which glory they beheld            stead of speaking of the `Old Testament Scriptures" he says,

        on the mount of transfiguration. On that holy mount they            "the words which were spoken before by the holy proph-

        beheld the power and coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus            ets," and instead of speaking of the "New Testament Scrip-

        Christ.                                                             tures" he writes: `the commandment of us' the apostles of

           At the--head of this chapter Peter once more speaks of           the Lord and Saviour." In passing we must observe that

        making the church mindful. The Word of God must dwell               for Peter the words of the holy prophets are the end of all

        richly in these churches. It must be a lamp unto their feet         contradiction. They are the "`more sure prophetic word."

        and a light upon their pathway. And this Word shines                They have been made "more sure" through their fulfihnent

        more and more unto the perfect day.                                 in the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. For in

           Writes Peter to the churches that this is the "second            Christ we see the veracity of their words `spoken before."

- -- .----letter" which he writes to them. The reason for expressing        The term "spoken before" in the Greek (proeireemenoon)

        this is, evidently, not that the churches did not know that         refers to all the united testimony of all the prophets. It is

        this was the second letter, but Peter intentionally calls at-       action completed up to the present time. These prophets

        tention to this fact to impress upon the minds of these             all spoke. Each spoke in his own manner and time, and

        churches the seriousness of the matters of which he writes.         each added to and stood upon the testimony of the former

       Both are of such a nature that they stir up the minds of the         prophets. For they were all led and filled with the one

        churches. These churches are not hearing the word for the           Spirit of Christ which was in them and did signify to them,

        first time, nor is the matter' of the return of Christ, of which    when they searched out the time and the manner of the


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   .BEARER                                                      423


time of the suffering of Christ and of the glory to follow.          `after their own lusts" indicates &at they do not make the

Moreover, we should too observe that for Peter there is no           law of God- the rule and standard of their life. They are

difference between the "commandment" of us the apostles              a rule and law to themselves. They are proud, boastful,

of the Lord and Savior and these Scriptures as far as they           haughty and`full  of all manner of wickedness. -They.  are

are the norm for the life of faith and hope of the church,           controlled by the prince of this world (Eph. 2: l-3). They

and as they are the means  of grace to work the grace of             are the children of disobedience upon whom the wrath of

steadfastness and immoveableness from .the  hope of the              God is come! They are entirely corrupt these mockers and

Gospel. It is very interesting and worthy of note that Peter         scoffers. And this walking after their own lusts explains

places the writings of Paul on a par with "all the Scrip-            their deepest attitude toward God as they lift their voice

tures" in verse 16 of this chapter. There we read: "As also          against heaven!

in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in                In the second place they are scoffers. They act like

which are some things hard to be understood, which they              children. They are childish fools. They do not take the

that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the           reality of heaven-and hell seriously. Hence, they mock.

other scriptures, unto their own destruction."                       They wag their tongue against the Lord. And the subject

   What the apostles had taught and commanded they had               of their mockery and song is the promise of the Lord's

done in the name of Christ whose apostles they were. They            coming.    In this mockery they really mock with the hope

were "sent" by him, led by His Spirit into all the truth.            of Israel, the hope of the righteous, and with all that is

Hence, their name apostles.       They had been eye-witnesses        promised in both the Old and the New Testament Scrip-

and ear-witnesses of the miracles and works of Christ. And           tures. It should be noticed that they direct their mockery

thus both the words spoken before by the prophets and                to the church and about God. The saints place all their

the commandment of the Apostles are unified in Christ.               confidence and joy upon the faithfulness of God who has

Both are the words of Christ. In the one he prom-                    promised, and this is the exact point that these mockers call

ised one to come and in the other we have him speak-                 in question. The fiery darts of the wicked are aimed very

ing who did come in his power as the Son of God, and who             carefully. Should they succeed in having the saints doubt

shall come with clouds in his day.                                   the faithfulness of the Lord, then they would have the

   There is one point which is of paramount and of actual            victory. Yet, thus they are only mockers and are not men

importance for the believers. It is that there are men and           who stand four-square in the reality of God's faithfulness

women in the midst of the church of God in this world who            and sure mercies.

are not those hoping for Christ's return on the clouds of                Lastly, it should be noticed that this is a phenomenon

heaven, but are mockers walking after their own lusts.               which is peculiar to these last times. The only point left

Writes Peter in verses 3-4 as follows: "Knoting this first,          on the agenda of the Lord is his final return. All the other

that there shall come in the lust day scoflers,  wa:lking  after     great savings acts of the wonder of God's grace are past

their own lust, and saying, Where is the promtie  of his             realities. Christ has been born, has suffered, has died, has

coming? for since the fathers fell aslt?ep,  all things contin,ue    risen again, did sit down on the right hand of God. But

as they were  from the beginning of creation."                       Christ `must still come to judge the living and the dead and
   The phrase `knowing this first" means that it.is a point          to make all things new. We still look for a new heaven

of great importance. It is the chief thing to know concern-          and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And this

ing the enemy and the times in which we live. Peter                  article of faith of the believers, for their final vindication,

employs a simular construction concerning the nature of              the wicked have made their jest and scorn. They really

the holy Scriptures in chapter 1:20: `knowing this first,            say: "Where is thy God?" You trust in God, but He will

that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private inter-           not come to save you.

pretation . . ." The first thing to know is the chief element            Let this word sink deep into your hearts; such is your

in Peter's stirring up their pure minds by way of remem-             enemy, says Peter. Let them not draw you away from yo~u

brance. The full meaning and danger of these scoffers as             own stedfastness.

a New Testament phenomenon must be understood. The                                                                                G.L.

believers must understand that these men are:

       1.    Such that walk after their own lust.

       2. They are scoffers.                                                            RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY

       3. They are a peculiar manifestation of the anti-                ?he Radio Choir of the Protestant Reformed Churches expresses

             christ in these last days.                              its sympathy to one of its members, Mr. Kenneth Vink,  in the %dss

   Concerning each of these elements we must say just a              of his father,
                                                                                           MR. GEORGE VINK
few words.                                                              _:
   These men who walk after their own lust are they who                 De&. 32:4: "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His
                                                                                                                                           ..--_--
                                                                     ways are judgment: A God of Truth and without iniquity; just-and
say: let us eat and drink and be merry, for tomorrow we
                                                                     right is He."
die. They are men who are haters of God. The term                                                             Mr. I. Korhorn, President

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


                                                                          JEWS. This must be borne in mind by those who want

                I N -l-l I S F E A R                                      to maintain an everlasting (distinction between Jew and
                                                                          Gentile believers, so that the Jews are the Kingdom of God
I                                                                         and the Gentiles are the Church of God.
                                                                              Paul in Ephesians 2 speaks very clearly of the middle
                       My Father's World - "                              wall of partition being broken down and of Christ making

                                                                          of twain one new man and of aE the believers forming onB

                                   (7)                                    temple. Mind you, the Gentiles are in this passage pre-
                                                                          sented as a temple together with the Jews. Peter declares

        Behind all history is God.                                        the same thing on the day of Pentecost when he addresses

        It is His hand that raises up kings and puts them down.           Parthians and Medes, Jews and proselytes and declares to

     He named Cyrus before he was born. Isaiah 45:1-4.  He                ALL of them that the promise to Abraham is also to them

     gave Nebuchadnezzar all the kingdoms of the world for                and to their children and all that are afar off, even as many

     his. realm. Daniel 2:37,  38. But no less is this true of all        as the Lord our God shall call. Acts 2:39.  He uses the

     the other kings of this earth.                                      ' singular, "promise," and that can refer only to the cov-

        It is Gods world to do `with as He pleases, to place'on           enant promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

     `the throne whom He will and for as long as it pleases Him.             But to return to Hebrews 2:12,  the Spirit very plainly

     And our children must see that all historical events are the         identifies through the mouth and pen of the author of this

     work of His hands. That is of extreme importance. We                 epistle the congregation of the Old Testament believers

     may not deny God before them by ruling Him out of any                with the Church of the New Testament believers. Psalm

     event whatsoever.                                                    22:22  which speaks of the Old Testament congregation

        But in all history also is God.                                   speaks as well of the New Testament Church. And that the

        Implied in the expression that this is our Father's world         author made no slip of the tongue is also evident from his

     is the truth that every single historical event in this world        further quotation in Hebrews 12:22  and 23 as he is still

     realizes His good purpose. He moves all things and men,              writing-to the Jews, the Hebrews, and declares to them,

     causes all historical events to take place because of what           "But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto  the city of

     HE has in mind with that world.                                      the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an irmumer-

        And although we can distinguish between church his-               able company of angels.     To the general assembly and

     tory and world history, we are never to consider world               church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven and to

     history apart from church history. We are not to identify            God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of men made per-

     any particular nation upon the face of this earth with the           fect."

     kingdom of heaven. But neither are we to consider church                We may therefore say that church history as well as

     history and world history as two parallel lines that run             world history begins in Paradise. From there two seeds

     through time from creation to the end of the world with              appear. In the one we find in the narrow and strict sense

     an occasional converging of these lines for short periods of         of the word church history. And following the actions and

     time. The Church and the world began in Adam and Eve.                course of life of the other seed we trace world history. Un-

     Church and world history "converged" again in the ark                til, as we said a moment ago, these two are again com-

     when the worlds population was the Church's membershcp.              bined at the Flood; and from the ark issues forth the church

     In some lands Church and State were for periods of time              with its own peculiar history-which is recorded in Holy

     united and seemed to share the same history. However                 Writ until shortly after the ascension of Christ. But in the

     these are not parallel lines or even converging lines.               loins of those that came out of the ark there is also that

        We need not take much time again to point out that                other seed that will be considered to be the world.

     the Church was not born on Pentecost, as it so widely but               What we find from then on is not two parallel lines

     erroneously maintained. Stephen in Acts 7 speaks of `the             that have no connection or relation and only cross each

     church in the wilderness." This was no oversight on his              other occasionaly  to part and become parallel again. Nor

     part. This was not a slip of the tongue. He was infallibly          is it correct to look at world history as a trunk of a tree

     guided by the Spirit of Truth. Likewise, of all things, the          with church history one of the branches that touches the

     author of the epistle to the Hebrews quotes Psalm 22:22              trunk at a certain point and contributes to that world his-

     with this significant variation, or should we say clarification,     tory. It,. world history, is not a line from Paradise to the

     "I will declare Thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of           Parousia with the church and its history a line that shoots

     the church will I sing praise unto Thee." We say, "varia-            off from it and aims in another direction as the branches

     tion" because the Hebrew in Psalm 22~22  declares: ". . . in         on the tree may reach east or west, north or south while

     the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee." This              the trunk points upward. There are not divergent goals of

     again is no slip of the tongue. And remember that the                church history and world history as far as this being God's

     author of the epistle to the Hebrews is writing to the               world is concerned. Both end in the Parousia, the ap-


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   `BEA'RER                                                        425


pearance of Christ. And both are pointed also to that end             can be no doubt about it that Noah made use of the tools so

or goal. The world, the ungodly in the world, do not have             devised; and with a view to that ark God gave this wicked

this as their conscious and willing aim in life. They do not          son of Lamech the ingenuity to be "an instructor of every

live in its consciousness and longingly hope for its realiza-         artificer  in brass and iron." More clearly still is the curse

tion. But nevertheless, exactly because this is our Father's          upon Canaan the son of -Ham an indication of this truth

world, and He moves all His creatures with HIS goal in                of the world serving the Church. Ham's descendants, the

mind, the goal of all history is the coming of Christ. That           Canaanites settled in the region east of the Mediterranean

which happens in the Church is God working by His grace,              Sea between Egypt and the River Euphrates. They cleared

in that segment of the human race that He has chosen and              the land of stones, prepared themselves farms, vineyards

redeemed in Christ, to present it to Him as His bride who             and oliveyards. They digged wells and laid out roads. They

will live with Him on the new earth in holiness and per-              built cities and constructed houses. Yet they did this for

fection. World history is the work of that same God in His            the Church that was still in the wilderness. In due time

providence whereby He leads all the ungodly also upon a               God gave all this over to Israel, and His promise through

definite prescribed course to serve that Church and the               Noah that Canaan and his descendants would be servants

coming of Christ.                                                     to Shem's descendants was fulfilled. Unconsciously and

   If we are to use any figure then to illustrate this truth,         surely unwillingly they in their history served the Church

it is not as though world history is a river that rushes              in her history. No parallel lines here, though for a time it

through time ever downward towards its goal and that                  was parallel lives. No Church contributing to the stream of

Church history is a tributary of that river which contributes         the world; but very particularly the world serving in its

to its %ow  although for a time at least remaining quite dis-         history the Church in her journey from Paradise to Para-

tinct from that river. It would be more correct - although            dise, from one tree of life to the everlasting tree of life.

not the full picture - to call that main stream Church his-              So also the world served that most glorious of all his-

tory, and world history, even though it embraces thousands            torical events: Christ in His birth, atoning work and royal

of thousands more people, deals with events of global                 priesthood! From the confusion of tongues onward in world

magnitude, is a tributary to that stream and serves it by             history man strove to unite and fought in bitter nationalism

emptying its content into that stream.                                against the neighboring kingdoms. Nations appeared and

   Better still it is to visualize a series of concentric circles,    disappeared. Kingdoms grew and kingdoms vanished.

a series of three  circles, some larger than others but all           Mighty nations subdued other nations only to be subdued
having the same center-if you will visualize a bull's eye             themselves by a still mightier nation, until Rome ruled the
-and then put Christ in the very heart of that series of              whole world, united it commercially, politically and lin-

circles. Next to Him and centered in Him place the Church             guistically. Travel was possible from one end of the then-

which also is facing Him. All its life %ows  out of Him and           known-world to the other. People could speak Latin, the
all its life flows  unto Him in service and praise and adora-         language of commerce or Greek, the language of literature,
tion. The outer circle then becomes the world that did                and make themselves known in their travels and business

have its physical inception in Paradise and after the %ood            transactions. All the world is under Caesar. All must be

in the very sphere of the Church; and although it does not            taxed. The fuhress  of time has come; and Joseph and Mary

intend to do so, nevertheless serves that Church.                     must go to Bethlehem.       Church history is and must .be

   There are so many, many examples of that in Holy Writ;             served by world history! Caesar sends Joseph to Bethlehem

and all this is true exactly because it is GOD'S world.               that the glorious event of Church history may take place as

World history is HIS work, and that just as surely as                 prophesied by God ages before.

Church history is His work. The Book of Acts is usually                  Pilate gives the death sentence! Roman soldiers drive

misnamed. It is' called "The Acts of the Apostles" while              the nails in His hands and feet! A Roman sword pierces His

actually it is the Acts of the Glorified, Ascended Christ. And        side as He hangs on a cross furnished by the Roman gov-

world history as well is His work, which Revelation 5 and             ernment! World history serves the Church in its history!

6 clearly maintains. HE has the book with the seven seals,            And the way is now prepared after the resurrection and

and He causes all that which is written in it to take place           ascension of Christ for the gospel to be spread ever farther

that He may return and glorify His Church in the new                  from Jerusalem, unhindered by national boundaries but

creation,                                                             instead made possible by world history as the ungodly with

   But let us see that once, that we may appreciate this              their own sinful ambitions yet serve the fulness  of time.

work of our Father Who is in heaven. It was the ungodly                  And no different is it today. We hope next time to point

world that led man in the invention of tools and devices              this out, for this is one fundamental truth that covenant

that were necessary for the building of the ark. Tubal-               seed must know and see. The world in.its history always

Cain, who is the father of all who work in brass and iron,            serves the Church; and together they go in the direction of

who taught the use and power of fire  to melt and mold                Christ and His return in glory.
metals for the production of "labor saving" devices. There                                                                     J.A.H.


        426                                           TH%"   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                              My body," and in the context of John 6, quoted by the

           : Contending For The Faith                                         Romish Church as a main support for their doctrine of
                                                                          J transubstantiation, where Jesus declares to His disciples
          I..                                                                 that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood, there is
                                                                              not the slightest mention of His resurrected body which

                      The Church and the Sacraments                           was endowed, according to Rumble and Carty, with quite

                                                                              new qualities proper rather to spiritual entities than to
                      THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION                             matter as we know it. Understanding the text, that we must

         VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENTS. (LORD'S SUPPER)                             eat Christ's flesh and drink His blood, in the literal-natural
                                                                              sense of the word, one can never conclude anything else

                                THE ROMISH VIEW.                              from this passage than that the Lord is speaking of His

                                                                              body as before His death and resurrection. Besides, if we
                 At the conclusion of our preceding article the Romish        must "eat His %esh  and drink His blood," what must we
        Fathers Rumble and Carty were confronted by the Scrip-                do with that Scripture that informs that "flesh and blood
        .tural  expressions that Christ is the door and also the vine.        cannot inherit the kingdom of God," I Cor. 15:50?
        We will recall that Rome contends that the Scriptural pas-               771. Where does the blood come from? A spirit has
        sage: "This is My body," must be understood in the natural            no blood.
        sense of the word. The meaning is that the bread of Com-                 `Christ did not rise from the dead in a purely spiritual
        munion has actually become the body of the Lord. Faced                state. He rose in His material body, even though His
        with the objection, that this same natural interpretation must        material substance was subject to new conditions and qual-
        then also be applied to such Scriptural expressions as: "I            ities. And He retained the very substance of His %esh  and
        am the door," or: "I am the vine," they replied that this             blood. But your question, `Where does His blood come
        assertion of Protestantism is wholly erroneous and illogical.         from? is dictated by a grossly materialistic outlook on the
        In addition to our remarks on this in our preceding article,          merely natural plane from which the Catholic doctrine com-
        we would also like to remark that the Romish clergy would             pletely abstracts. Any notion of a liquid stream of blood
        find it extremely difficult to apply their interpretation of          %owing  from Christ now must be put aside altogether. For
        the passage: "This is my body," to another Scriptural ex-             the idea of liquid, or of ffowing,  has to do, not with the
        pression where Jesus calls the wicked Jews white-washed               substantial reality of blood in itself, but qualities and space-
        sepulchres. Were those evil Jews such sepulchres in the               time notions which are inapplicable to the Eucharistic
        literal-natural sense of the word? And did not our                    Presence.    The substance of Christ's, body and blood is
        Lord's audience know exactly what He meant with that                  present without the manifestation of those ordinary exter-
        expression? Or, what must Rome's explanation be of that               nal quailties we usually asociate  with a body or with blood
        word which Jesus speaks to His disciples when, referring              in a merely natural state. So it's useless to appeal to natural
        to Herod,  He says unto them: "Tell that fox." Does this              external qualities."
        mean that Herod  had been changed into a fox? Or, more in                So, Jesus arose from the dead in the sense that He re-
        harmony with Rome's doctrine of transubstantiation, does              tained the very substance of His flesh  and blood. Yet, the
        the Lord mean that a fox had been changed into Herod                  substance of Christ's body and blood is now present with-
        while at the same time retaining the appearance and all               out the manifestation of those ordinary qualities which we
        the characteristics of a fox? And now we continue with the            usually associate with a body or with blood in a merely
        Radio Replies by Rumble and Carty.                                    natural state. And, although according to Rumble and Car-

                 770. Is not Christ, since His resurrection, a spirit?        ty Jesus arose in the sense that He retained the very sub-

                 `Christ rose in His complete human nature, and, there-       stance of His flesh  and blood, the holy apostle declares in

        fore, in His material body. It was after His resurrection             I Cor. 15:50  that flesh  and blood cannot inherit the king-
        that He said to the Apostles, "See My hands and My feet,              dom of God.
        that it is I Myself; handle and see: for a spirit hath not               772. Has your Church ever proved her claim by chem-
        %esh  and bones, as you see Me to have." Luke 24:39.  At              ical analysis of a Host?

        the same time it is certain that, whilst Christ rose with                "No chemical test could possibly prove or disprove the

-    -_....the same body and blood, His material substance had un-            Catholic doctrine. Chemicals could affect only the qual-
        dergone a radical change, and had been endowed with                   ities of bread, and at best would prove that the qualities

        quite new qualities proper rather to spiritual entities than          of bread remain. As the Catholic Church declares that they

        to matter as we know it. So His body could enter a closed             do remain, no progress is made by chemical tests. The in-

        room without any hindrance from doors and walls. But,                 ner substantial reality cannot be reached by chemicals."

        though subject to different conditions, it was still that same
~                                                                                This is a most interesting question. Questions 773 and
        body in which He had lived and died."                                 774 also deal with this problem. But why shouldn't Rome

                 This is all well and good. But, in the text: `"rhis is       submit the Host to a chemical analysis? Doesn't Rome


                                           T ' H E   ` S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          427


teach that the bread is no longer bread and the wine is no              775. Is there a separate presence of God in the Eucha-

longer wine? But, notice the following.                    . . .    rist?

   773. How would the process of decay act in a c&Se-                   "There is not a separate presence of God in the Blessed

crated and an unconsecrated Host?                                   Sacrament; but there is a new and distinct mode of pres-

   "In exactly the same way since the qualities of bread            ence. He is equally present there, but in a new and addi-
remain the same before and after consecration."                     tional way. Thus, since God is everywhere, in Him we all
                                                                    live and move and have our being. And the humanity of
   774. Would there by any material difference between
                                                                    Christ did this just as the human nature of any other in-
the two substances after decomposition?
                                                                    dividual man. But there was an additional mode of God's
   "Possibly not. In the process of decomposition, as- the          presence in Christ which has never been realized in others,
proper qualities of bread undergo their change and cease            insofar as the very personality of Christ was the Second
to be the qualities of bread as such, the substantial pres-         Person of the Blessed Trinity. And the complete Christ,
ence of Christ's body is withdrawn by Divine Power, God             body, blood, soul, and divinity, is present in a new sub-
providing the connatural substance to the new character of          stantial and sacramental way in the Blessed Sacrament."
the corrupted qualities."                                               So, the bread and wine of the Eucharist have been
   We understand, of course, the problem here. And the              changed into the complete Christ, human and Divine.
Fathers Rumble and Carty understood it also. That they                  776. Where and what is this human soul of our I&d
understand it is beyond the shadow of any doubt. That ap-           at this present time?
pears from the way in which they begin their answer to
                                                                        "It is still His human soul, forming an integral part
Question 774: "Possibly not." They could have added or
                                                                    together with His body of His glorified human nature. As
stated: "Of course not." Imagine what we have here. Why
                                                                    Christ ascended into heaven in His human nature, His
should the process of decomposition set in after the bread
                                                                    human soul is in heaven as part of that human nature;"
had been changed into the Body of our Lord? There is no
bread anymore.      It may look like bread, taste as bread             777. We are told that, in the Eucharist, we receive His
tastes, act as bread acts, but there is no bread. That bread        body and soul, as well as His divinity.

has been changed into the body of Christ. But the body of              "That is true, The substantial presence of Christ in the

Christ is incorruptible, is it not? The resurrected, glorified      Eucharist requires that.      But we must note that in the

body of Christ is a spiritual body (this does not mean that         Eucharist we have the presence of the body and soul of

Jesus is a spirit), above all powers of corruption and decay.       the risen and glorified Christ, which abstracts from merely

That is what the apostle teaches us about this body of our          earthly conditions as we know them. And also, our Lord's

Lord in I Cor. 15. So, what must Rome do? They concede              presence is according to His substantial being in a way

that the bread that has not been eaten is subject to decay          which further abstracts from accidental modihcations  such

and decomposition.    So, what is their solution? The bread,        as those which enable us to calculate dimensions, shape,

once changed into the body of Christ, now undergoes .a              color, resistance and other phenomenal manifestations of

second change. Having changed into the body of our Lord,            ordinary material things."

that body of the Lord is now changed into ordinary bread.              778. How many persons are there present in the Holy
God withdraws from the consecrated bread the presence of            Eucharist?
Christ's body. This is nothing else than baseless and wicked
                                                                       `All three Divine Persons are present in the Holy Eu-
sophistry. But, this is not all. Presuppose once that that
                                                                    charist, for God is there present. But the Father and the
bread, before its consecration, contained poison. Having
                                                                    Holy Spirit are there by associations. When the priest con-
been changed into the body of Christ, it certainly must
                                                                    secrates the Host, the immediate effect is the presence of
have been delivered of this poison. Of course! It is no
                                                                    the body of Christ. By direct association His soul and His
longer bread. It has become the body of our Lord. What
                                                                    divinity are present.    By indirect association owing to His
would happen to us should we eat of this bread after its
                                                                    divinity, the First and Thrd Persons are present together
consecration? We would surely become sick and die. Final-
                                                                    wth the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
ly, does not Answer 722 concede that a chemical analysis
could not possibly prove or disprove the Catholic doctrine             779. Is the Trinity received in Communion, or the Sec-
exactly because such a chemical analysis could only effect          ond Person only?

the qualities of bread? And this means, does it not, that               Since we receive Christ in Holy Communion, and since

the bread not only retains the appearance of bread but also         Christ is God, we receive God. And in receiving God, we

its very qualities. In other words, to state it simpIy and          receive all three Divine Persons. But where we receive the

succinctly, the bread has not undergone any essential               Second Person directly by reason of His immediate union

change whatever.      Such a chemical analysis would only           with the body of Christ, we receive the Father and Holy

prove that the bread is exactly what it was before the con-         Spirit indirectly by reason of Their association with the

secration. So, the whole Romish theory is a big hoax, fraud.        Second Person in the Divine Nature."                    H.V.


428                                       THE   S T - A N D A R D   B E A R E R


                                                                  ing. Therefore a collection. of rules requiring for their un-

       DECENCY andA ORDER.                                        derstanding expert training would be unusable in the circle
                                                                  of Reformed churches. The more rules, the more confu-

                                                                  sion. We do not have .for  the home and for the school

                    Censurable Sins                               lawbooks  naming every conceivable sin and misdemeanor-
                                                                  requiring punishment. The church must have no such book.
   "Furthermore, among the gross sins, which are worthy           For discipline is not the same as punishment. It is the civil
of being punished with suspension or deposition from of-          magistrate that punishes. But the home, the school and the
fice, there are the principal ones: false doctrine or heresy,     church discipline.    And the purpose is pedagogical; the
public schism, public blasphemy, simony, faithless deser-         purpose is the salvation of the sinner, the Lord willing, and
tion of office or intrusion upon that of another, perjury,        certainly the exclusion from the Christian church of the
adultery, fornication,    theft, acts of violence, habitual       obstinately recalcitrant. Hence, in the execution of censure
drunkenness, brawling, filthy lucre; in short,. all sins and      the church must not be bormd by forms. For the forms
gross offenses, as render the perpetrators infamous before        cannot be the same. The form of censure varies with the
the world, and which in any private member of the church          purpose of censure in conformity with circumstances and
would be considered worthy of excommunication."                   persons to which censure must be applied.
                                         - Article 80, D.K.O.        "But this does not mean that in the sphere of church

   This article of the Church Order is the last in a series       discipline all is arbitrary. Valid also for this sphere are

of ten articles that deal with the general subject of Chris-      definite principles of right, laid down in the Scriptures,

tian discipline. It lists a number of sins that are considered    borne witness to by human conscience and therefore gen-

the proper cause of suspension or deposition from office. It      erally accepted. There is also in the church a definite usage

is evident from the article itself that the purpose of this       regarding the manner in which the church proceeds in the

listing is not to give an exhaustive or complete enumeration      exercise of censure. This usage is not a law of the Medes

of sin that calls for disciplinary action, but rather to serve    and Persians. It is not infallible. It is not unmixed- wit%

as a sort of guide so that by it the church may know what         error. Yet it is to be honored and consulted. For it is the

kind of sins may not be tolerated in office-bearers. This is      result of the wisdom of preceding generations.

plain from the concluding statement, %I short, all sins and          "`As to the principles of right, they are laid down in the

gross offenses, as render the perpetrators infamous before        Church Order. From these principles can be deduced some

the world, and which in any private member of the church          general rules.

would be considered worthy of excommunication." It                   "1) Before the consistory (Classis  or Synod) renders de-

should not be overlooked, however, that the article does          cision, it must properly investigate the case. This stands to

refer to the sins enumerated as "the principal ones."             reason. The judgment must be right. If so, the judges

   In The Church Order  Commentaq a brief definition of           must properly acquaint themselves with the case to be

each of the sins mentioned in this article is given. This we      judged. This calls for investigation.

hardly deem necessary and choose, rather, therefore to con-          "The obligation to investigate has given rise to questions:

clude this section of the Church Order with a lengthy quo-           "a) Must the consistory in investigating a sin that was

tation from the writings of Rev. G. M. Ophoff who sets            reported, limit itself to the content of the charge, or go

forth some general principles with respect to the matter of       beyond? The latter to be sure. The investigation of the

discipline. He writes:                                            speciiic charge may bring to light still .other  `bad situations

   "With this article the rulings regarding church discipline     in the church. These the consistory may not disregard, but

end. Their number is comparatively small, namely Ar-              must in turn investigate. For its task and calling is to take

ticles 71-80. Ten in all. This was purposely done. The            and keep oversight over the flock of God and to exercise

Reformed fathers purposely refrained from supplying the           censure.

churches with a massive and complicated penal code. The              "b ) Then there is the question of the manner of in-

Roman Catholic church possesses such a code. It was               vestigation. The investigation must be carried on quietly

brought into being gradually through the continuous multi-        and without ostentation, thus in not such a way that a stir

plication of ecclesiastical rules. It is a code so large and      is created, and as a result the matters investigated receive

complicated that an adequate understanding of it requires         wider publicity. This certainly must be avoided. The per-

years and years of study. As this was impossible for most         son to be approached is first of all he against whom the

ecclesiastics, church discipline in the Roman hierarchy was       charge was lodged. Secondly, the persons who know of the

left to a few expert jurists in the church.                       guilt of the offender must be interrogated. Witnesses must

   "But in the Reformed churches the task of applicatron          be heard but only such of whom it is known that they are

and execution of church discipline is that of the elders, who,    reliable. This has reference to witnesses who do not belong

with the exception of the ministers of the Gospel, are taken      to the church. They may be heard, and their witness must

from the rank of common members without special train-            also be taken into consideration, but only if they are known


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               429


to be reliable. For they do not witness, as in t&civil  court,     accurately to record in writing a discussion. This requires

under an oath. And the church cannot punish them. for              an expert shorthand writer. Besides, taking down a discus-

bearing witness that is false. If the guilt -cannot  be:suf-       sion can be to no'  real purpose. All that really counts. are

ficiently established through investigation, the consistory       the decisions to which the discussions lead.

must postpone applying censure.                                       "5) Fifthly, does a common member (or members) who

    "c) Thirdly, no one may be pronounced guilty and cen-         cannot agree with the decision of his consistory regarding

sured who has not been heard. If he refuses to appear in          a censure case, have a right to appeal the case to classis?

behalf of himself or to be interrogated or to reply to letter,        "Indeed he does have this right. He has this right ac-
he must, of course, take the consequences.                        cording to Article 31 of the Church Order. This has always

    "There are still some points that must be treated in con-     been regarded by the Reformed as a general rule covering

nection with the article bearing on church discipline.            all possible decisions of all the ecclesiastical meetings, if

    "1) It is asked whether the accused one may demand            the decisions cause differences; thus also the decisions of

that the consistory reveal to him the name of the accuser?        a consistory regarding a case of discipline that is the cause
                                                                  of differences in the congregation. The article gives not
    "This question cannot arise at all if the stand is taken
                                                                  only to the censured one the right of appeal, but also to
that the accuser is obliged to speak with the offender be-
fore reporting his sin to the consistory. This is also the        every member aggrieved by the decision.

stand of the late Dr. Rutgers.                                        "However, the aggrieved ones may not appeal simply
                                                                  because they do not like the decision. They must be able
    "However, several may have spoken to the offender, so
                                                                  to prove that the decision is in conflict with the Scriptures.
that he still does not know which of these persons reported
his sin. In this case the-  offender has no right to demand       If they cannot, they are bound by it, according to this same
                                                                  Article 31.
that he be told which of the persons brought his case to
the consistory. The issue is not who reported his sin but             "As a rule, the members should be most reluctant to
whether he is guilty.                                             appeal to Classis  a decision of their consistory, especially
                                                                  a decision regarding cases of censure. For it is not likely
   "`2) Secondly, does the accused have the right to avail
                                                                  that the decision is wrong especially if it has received the
himself of an assistant to speak for him before an ec-
                                                                  sanction of Classis.  In this. case the appellant should refrain
clesiastical assembly - consistory, classis  or synod?
                                                                  from going further. At least this should be the rule.
   "It has always been -conceded that an accused one
                                                                      "6) Sixthly, how soon must the aggrieved one appeal?
should be given this right, if he asks for it. And with good
                                                                  How long may he wait?
reason. The accused one may be a person more or less in-
                                                                      "The Church Order does not specify. But according to
articulate, so that he is sorely in the need of one to speak
                                                                  usage, he must appeal as soon as possible, that is, before
for him. Such an assistant must submit himself, to be sure,
                                                                  the first following assembly to which  the appeal is to be
to the stipulations laid down by the assembly before whom
                                                                  made. If the appeal is from consistory to classis,  the latter
he must appear.       The idea is not, of course, that the ac-
                                                                  must decide if the time was too short for the appellant to
cused shall not speak or that he may absent himself.
                                                                  prepare his protest.
   "3) Thirdly, is it necessary to put the verdict in writing
                                                                      "7) May only the aggrieved censured appeal the case
together with the grounds?
                                                                  or is the right of appeal to be extended also to the ag-
   "This is necessary, absolutely. The verdict with its           grieved consistory whose decision was not upheld by the
grounds should by all means be incorporated in the min-           Classis?
utes. And the accused must be supplied with a copy of
                                                                      "Such a consistory also has the right of appeal. In
the minutes, if he so requests.
                                                                  denominations whose church government is hierarchical,
   "4) Fourthly, if he so requests, must the accused be           this is not permitted. For in such communions the Classis
supplied with a written statement of all the testimony that       is the higher court vested with the power to destroy the
was brought in against him?                                       decision of the consistory. But in Reformed communions

   "He must, of course, be supplied with such a statement,        the consistory has the right of appeal. And while it ap-

if he requires it.    To refuse him such a statement would        peals it also continues to exclude the censured one from

militate against the principle of right according to which        the Lord's table. In other words, it continues to maintain

an accused one has the right to know what is brought in           its decision over against the Classis.  And in the event the

against him. He has a right to know all. Such a written           Synod upholds the verdict of the Classis,  all that the

communication does not, of course, include the minutes of         Classis  may do is to refuse to receive on its meetings the

the consistory that bear on his case. It is not the part of       delegates of the consistory involved. It may not penalize

wisdom, of course, to put in the minutes all the discus-          the consistory by deposition in case it cannot for con-

sions of his case. No more should be written in the minutes       science' sake yield to the verdict of these broader assem-

than is necessary. It is diflicult,  if not next to impossible    blies."                                                G.v.d.B.

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


                                                                     -There' is now only one student, Mr. Robert Decker, in

                                                                   our seminary. Still the need is great that young men seek

                                                                   the office  of the ministry. In fact, this lack of students was

                                                                   a problem which faced Synod on more than one occasion

                                                                   in its sessions. It was strongly expressed that our ministers

                      SYNOD OF 1963                                and officebearers and people ought often and continually
                                                                   to pray that God will send us young men to study in our

                                                                   seminary. And it can very well be added that parents ought
       In many ways it was a good Synod.                           to point their young men to this noble and lofty calling.
    With one exception, all the primi delegates were present          Perhaps in this connection it is not amiss to express a
throughout the sessions. This is always conducive towards          word of thanks to our seminary professors for their faithful
good work on the Synod, for none of the delegates come             and diligent labors on behalf of our students. All our people
unfamiliar with the work which Synod faces. The delegates          have reason to be grateful for the seminary of our Churches
worked hard throughout all the sessions so that the more           and for the instruction that our students receive in it. Its
"`routine" matters were taken care of with dispatch. But           fruit is evident to all our congregations.
problems that involved policy and principles were thor-               While the examination of our student was no doubt
oughly discussed with adequate time for reflection, so that        the highlight of Synod's sessions, mission matters occupied
Synod avoided hasty decisions on important matters. There          almost as much time as the examinations.
were no difhcult  problems that came out of our congrega-             There was somewhat of a change in Synod's discussions
tions on this Synod; no controversies and troubles that            on mission matters over previous years. Considerable time
needed the advice of our ecclesiastical assembly. An ex-           was spent on the entire question of whether or not we
cellent spirit prevailed throughout - the delegates working        should continue our mission endeavors. There were some
in close unity and in the spirit of love. All these things         opinions expressed on Synod to discontinue our work out-
made for a very' enjoyable and profitable Synod.                   side the borders of our own denomination, to concentrate

       The pre-synodical prayer service was held Tuesday eve-      instead upon the vacant congregations within our Church

ning in First Church.      Rev. C. Hanko, president of last        sphere. The question of whether or not to continue our

year's Synod, preached the sermon. He took his text from           mission program did not hinge on our calling to do mission

Zechariah 4:6: `Then he answered and spake unto me, say-           work- that we have such a calling was the unanimous

ing, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,         opinion of the delegates.     Rather, once again the question

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the            centered in the shortage of students and the comparatively

Lord of hosts." That the work of building the Church of            many vacant Churches. There was a very profitable discus-

Jesus Christ (a work in which Synod was also engaged) is           sion of the whole problem. Yet Synod was firmly `con-

the sovereign work of God through Christ was the theme of          vinced that to discontinue our mission work and turn in

the sermon and the confident spirit of our synodical  sessions.    towards ourselves would eventually have the effect of dis-

    No doubt, all the delegates (and also our churches) will       couraging young men from seeking the ministry as well as
agree that the high point of the Synod was the examina-            leaving us to stagnate.      Synod was strongly of a mind to
tion of student David Engelsma. This examination took a            continue our work at all costs. And this was done. Yet how
considerable amount of Synod's time, time that conclusively        important it appeared that our seminary enrollment he in-
proved that the students in our seminary receive an educa-         creased - and that in the immediate future.

tion that is surely formally comparable to any seminary,              With respect to specific decisions taken by Synod, the

but is unique in that the education is soundly and con-            following are especially of interest:

sistently Reformed.     Our seminary is surely used by our           1) Synod decided to send Rev. C. Hanko and, prefer-

God to prepare our young men for the calling of the min-           ably, an elder to Jamaica in the near future to contact the

istry of the gospel in our Churches. Unanimously Synod             Churches there and determine definitely whether we can

passed a motion to approve of the examination and declare          and should continue with work in this field. If this work is

student Engelsma candidate for the ministry of the Word            to continue there, Synod decided "To work in Jamaica with

of God. Rev. J. .Heys,  the president of the Synod, spoke          a view to establishing there an indigenous church, i.e., a)

the mind of all the delegates as he expressed the hope and         That we organize there a Protestant Reformed Church of

confidence of God's blessing upon our new candidate. The           Jamaica. b) That this church be institutionally separate

graduation exercises were held in Southeast Church Tues-           from our denomination, but that it maintain fraternal rela-

day evening of the second week of Synod. The Church was            tionships with our churches; i.e., that we exchange dele-

full; the committee had prepared a delightful program. And         gates at ecclesiastical assemblies, that we help them finan-

now we may expect that .the minister shortage in pur               cially, etc. 2) That we accomplish this: a) by sending a

Churches will be eased by the addition of one more min-            minister to Jamaica to labor for. two months who will aid

ister.                                                             in organization; b) by obtaining men from ,that  area who


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              431
                                                          _ _.        ;___
                                                          . ,.
                                                                      _-`.
will study here in preparation for the ministry in these          letters in the past year; while letters were also received

churches."                                                        from other countries in Europe, from Australia and Tas-

  .2) The work of Rev. Lubbers is to be continued in the          mania and from South Carolina in our own country where

Houston, Texas area for some time yet. This was because           this broadcast was heard.

Rev. Lubbers had reported that there were those to be                5) At this Synod a proposed Constitution of the Foreign

found there who were interested in the truth. Several more        Mission Committee was also presented. This Constitution

months of labor would show whether there was actually a           was not yet adopted but was referred back to the Commit-

possibility of organizing a Church in that area. Especially       tee for further study - especially with respect to the ques-

this area of mission work in which we have a missionary           tion of what precisely constitutes foreign mission work in

in the field is commended to our people.                          distinction from Domestic Mission work.

   3) An interesting letter was received from the vicinity           There were other matters that occupied Synod's time.
of Paterson, New Jersey, which became, in part, the basis         Some of the more important ones:
for a decision to instruct the Mission Committee to in-              1) The question of revision of the Student Aid Commit-
vestigate this area to determine whether there is a field for     tee Constitution came up again. This question which deals
work. The letter reads:                                           with aid to married students has appeared on our Synod
         Please accept my most appreciative thanks for            before. At these times Synod decided that no aid should be
     mailing me the most inspiring messages from the Prot-        given to married students. The sentiments of the delegates
     estant Reformed Church of America, truly Calvinist,          this year seemed however to be somewhat more inclined
     truly Reformed, truly American, and more of all, truly       to give aid also to married students. The matter was re-
     Christian.
                                                                  ferred back to the Student Aid Committee to come with
         How refreshing are these messages of truth in con-
     trast to the modern apostasy which today is offered in       recommendations next year after studying Synod's past
     the so-called Reformed Church in the East of today.          decisions.
     How our ancestors, who founded the Reformed                     2) The Committee for Foreign Correspondence was in-
     Church in America would wonder at the doctrine               structed to continue its work of writing to several Reformed
     preached from the pulpits of the United Church of
                                                                  Churches in the Netherlands in an attempt to establish of-
     Christ, which at one time was the German Reformed
     Church, but whose doctrine today is neither United,          ficial correspondence with these Reformed bodies.
     nor at times really Christian.                                  Last year's Synod appointed delegates to attend the Re-
         It would be greatly appreciated if you would send        formed Ecumenical Synod which will meet this year in
     me a dozen copies of your Protestant Reformed                Grand Rapids. The Christian Reformed Church is the
     Church bulletin called `LWhy Protestant Reformed?"
     and also `Calvinism - The Truth." I wish to give             host Church. These delegates reported to this year's Synod
     them to friends who are greatly distressed about what        that we had not been invited by decision of the Christian
     is today preached-in the East as Calvinist doctrine. It      Reformed Church taken last year. This decision reads:
     would be a great blessing to America, if your board             "The Protestant Reformed Church (Hoeksema) is also
     of inner missions could establish true Reformed and              omitted from our list of recommendations for these
     Calvinist churches in the East.
        I am enclosing three dollars toward the cost of               reasons :
     printing and mailing.                                            1) They have maintained no sister-relation or cor-
                              Yours-in the Calvinist Faith,           respondence with other Reformed groups.

 4) Synod decided to continue its radio work - although               2) Their history is consistently schismatic.

also concerning this work there was considerable discussion.          3) The present status of the church is uncertain."

Transworld Radio will be continued another year. Under-              Synod felt very deeply the untruth of these statements. It

signed and Rev. C. Hanko had opportunity to talk to a             is a fact that we have, more than once, attempted to estab-

representative of Transworld Radio during one noon hour.          lish correspondence with other Reformed bodies, and, in

This representative told us (which we had previously aiso         fact, with the Christian Reformed Church itself. There is

been told) that the time we have for broadcasting from            no proof offered at all that our history has been consistently

Monaco is the very best time offered. Previously our              schismatic. This becomes, in fact, a very vicious lie. And

broadcast was on this short wave station from 8:OO  to 8:30       there is surely no uncertainty as to the present status of 0m

in the morning. We were informed last fall that we were           Churches. Synod decided to answer the Christian Reformed

to be transferred to an earlier hour. At that time our Mis-       Church and point out the errors in their grounds.

sion Committee wrote Transworld objecting to this earlier            There were other matters brought up at Synod and de-

time and reminding the station of their promise to give           cided upon -not the least of which were matters of finance.

us better time. This promise is now kept, and our broad-          Especially our Needy Churches budget is increasing; and

cast is beamed from 11:OO to 11:30  a.m.                          Synod faced the need of holding our budget down as low

   In connection with this, it is of interest to note that the    as they possibly could. But all these decisions can be found

mail response to this foreign broadcast has exceeded ex-          in the printed Acts.    Our e5cient  Stated Clerk will, no

pectations. From England alone the committee received 66          doubt, soon have the Acts ready for distribution. You ought,

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


                                         "-
bv all means, to purchase your own copy and read it:                 also were reminded that all believers are exegetes as we

       In conclusion, there-was abundant evidence of the bless-      prepare for our society meetings and as we instruct our

ings of our covenant God in all the affairs of Synod. Some-          children, but when exegesis declines in the official preach-

times we are, it seems, inclined to become somewhat pes-             ing of the Word of God the believer's ability to exegete also

simistic about the future of the Church of Christ. Some:             suffers. The Candidate said to exegete was to listen to the

times we are concerned with our own comparative small-               Word of God, letting Scripture explain Scripture. After an

ness. Yet our faithful God has given us every indication             interval of choir music the Rector of the Seminary, Prof. H.

that He is with us. Especially He has preserved us in the            C. Hoeksema, gave a speech on, "Our Theological Conflict

way of His truth. .It is not in very many places any. more           Today." The Professor stressed the fact that there i!s such

today that this truth can be heard in all its clarity. This          a conflict; he spelled out the battle lines of the conflict;

truth God has committed to us. It is our calling to be               and, comforted us with the sure promise that we a&victors

faithful to it, to speak of it to others, to witness to it every-    in that conflict. The speaker delineated the -issue of this

where, to teach it to the children that follow us, to preach         conilict  to be our peculiar heritage in our Reformed Con-

it from our pulpits, to carry it in our hearts and lives, to         fessions as the embodiment of the Truth, specifically the

develop more fully its profound implications, and to remem-          Truth of God's Covenant of Friendship with His elect in

ber that the Church of Jesus Christ is gathered not by might         Christ in absolute sovereignty by means of faith, antitheti-

nor by power, but by the Spirit of Jehovah of hosts.                 cally and unconditionally to lead His people to glory. The

                                                         H. Hanka    Rector further pointed out that this conflict is the same as

                                                                     that of 1619, 1924, 1953 and would be the same to the end

                                                                     of days. The comfort we:  may take while occupied with this

                                                                     warfare was shown in the assurance that we are victors,
       NEWSFROMOURXHURCtiES                                          which victory was accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ
                "All the saink.  s&te  thee . . ." PHIL:  4 :21      as He told us, "In the world ye shall have tribulations, but

                                                                     1. have overcome the world." Finally the speaker admon-

                                                                     ished us with the Scriptural injunction to be constant in
                                               June 20, 1963
                                                                     prayer asking for grace to stand fast in the warfare of the
       Rev. B.. Woudenberg declined the call to Southwest            Church Militant until we shall be free in the Church
Church.                                                              Triumphant.
       Rev. C. Hanko also declined the call to Redlands, Calif.         The Reformed Witness Hour this month features Rev.
       Our Missionary, Rev. G. Lubbers, declined the call to         J. A. Heys of the South Holland Prot. Ref. Church in Il-
Loveland, Colo.                                                      linois. Rev. Heys' series of sermons will be under the gen-
       The 1963 Synod of our churches has completed its work         eral theme, "The Church of God." The schedule is as fol-
and it was refreshingly evident that a spirit of harmony and         lows: July 7, "The Certain Triumph of God's Church";
unity prevailed through all its sessions, which also spoke           July 14, "Gods. Remembrance of His Church"; July 21,
of confidence and hope for the future. From First Church's           "God's Victorious Battle for His Church"; July 28, "God's
bulletin we quote, "`What occupied much of Synod's time,             Church Filled with Glory." For copies of Rev. Heys' ser-
and stands out as a very significant event was the examina-          mons write to the Reformed Witness Hour, Box 1230, Grand
tion and graduation of Seminarian David Engelsma. After              Rapids 1, Mich.
having given evidence of his knowledge and understand-                  The Ladies' Auxiliary of the South Holland-Oak Lawn
ing of the Scriptures, his ability and desire to serve in the        School sponsored a Mission Emphasis evening, June 14, in
ministry of our churches, he was declared candidate and              the Illiana  Chr. High School auditorium. The program
made eligible for a call after July 11."                             featured the brethren H. Meulenberg and H. Zwak of our
       As a result of the above mentioned work of Synod Com-         denominational Mission Committee, who showed colored
mencement Exercises were held in Southeast. Church, June             slides of the work which they conducted on the Island of
11, at 8 p. m. The meeting was opened with Scripture                 Jamaica. There was a good turn-out *for this event and a
reading and prayer by Rev. C. Hanko, vice-president of the           generous offering for Missions was taken.         -
Theological School Committee. Music was furnished by a
                                                                        From a Newssheet of the Reformed Witness Hour we
children's choir from Adams St. School and the Radio Choir,
                                                                     learn that ten radio stations are the outlets for our radio
both under the direction of Mr. Roland Petersen. The Can-
                                                                     sermons. Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota,
didate spoke on, "The Fundamental Significance of Exe-
                                                                     Colorado, Michigan and some Eastern States are covered
gem.
       . " The speaker emphasized the fact that exegesis
                                                                     by our network. Transworld Radio and Radio Hoyer' are
was fundamental especially in this day and age when
                                                                     outlets for foreign broadcasting.
preachers no longer exegete Scripture but merely talk on

a subject more or less related to a portion of Scripture. We            . * ; . See you in church.                          J.M.F.


