     VOLUhTE  XL                                           SEPTEMBER 1, 1964 - GRAKD RAPIDS,MICHIGAN                                NUIUBER  20

                                                                                      possible for God to love us. But if this were true, it must
                                                                                      needs follow that God is reconciled to us.
                                                                                         But how contrary this presentation is to all of the Word
                                                                                      -of God!
   RECONCILIATION' THROUGH THE. CROSS                                                    Do we not read in the Gospel of John, "For God so loved .,.
                                                                                      the world that he gave his only begotten Son . .  .?,, And
       `And, having made peace  through,   tl& -blood of his                          does not the Apostle Paul write to the Church at Corinth,
         cross, ~LJ him to exoncile all things unto himself, bz~                      "That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,
        -him, I sa.y, whether  thq be things in earth, or-things                      not imputing their trespasses unto them?"
         in heaven." Colossians i:20                                                      Indeed! God is never the object, but only and always
                                                                                      the subject of reconciliation! And the love of God  is- the
    All things!                                                                       cause, the eternal fountain of reconciliation. Without it
    No reason for limitation here. Not merely men and                                 there is no reconciliation conceivable.
angels! Not merely men, Jew and Gentile! .Not mere in-                                   And, as was said, at the bottom of reconciliation lies
dividuals!                                                                            the inviolable relation of the covenant. God's covenant,
    But  .a11 things, viewed organically, of course! All things                       that is, which is eternal and never to be broken. Though it
in heaven and on earth!                                                               surely can be transgressed, though the working of the cov-
    God purposed to reconcile unto Himself!                                           enant relation can be disturbed, though by the blood of
    Through Christ Jesus!                                                             the cross this working can be healed, yet the covenant does
    The Mediator of reconciliation! Through Christ Jesus                              not come into being by the blood of Christ, nor can the
in Whom it pleased the Father that in Him should all ful-                             covenant ever be broken.
ness dwell! Through Him, through the blood of His cross,                                 The cause of this lies in the fact that the covenant is
it also pleased the Father to make peace and reconcile. all                           Gods. It is never bi-lateral, but u&lateral; nevertwo-sided,
things unto Himself.                                                                  but one-sided. It does not exist through agreement. ,It is
    Such is the saving truth set forth in our text..-I                     r          notrealized through the fulfillment of a condition which
                                 a  *:  v  0 .                                        man  ful&lls. It exists and is realized  through'God  alone.
                        _  '                                                          It is not broken through the act of man's will by which he
    Reconciliation!                                                                   transgressed the covenant, but it stands eternally and  un-
    A divine act!                                                                     breakably fast because God maintains His, covenant.
    Wondrous revelation of divine love!                                                  Therefore it is correct to say that our covenant God rec-
    At the bottom of which lies the never to be broken rela-                          onciles us unto Himself. And the very basis of reconcilia-
tion of the covenant; God's covenant! .                                               tion is the eternal covenant of God.
    0, indeed, reconciliation is a divine act! It is that work                           How beautifully this truth is demonstrated in the rati-
of God whereby He translated .His elect from the state of                             fication of the covenant with Abraham. While the patriarch
enmity and wrath into a state of .eternal  favor and, friend-                         slept, God alone walked between the pieces of the slain
ship by removing their sin and guilt, land imputing to them                           beasts,  .piece laid overagainst piece. God alone makes and
e v e r l a s t i n g   r i g h t e o u s n e s s .   ,                         :,    keeps His covenant, upon which rests the friendship rela-
    It is an act, and, at the same time a marvelous revela:                           tion which is so necessary before, we can. ever speak of any
tion of divine: love!                                                                 reconciliation.
     Not so `is the truth, that the love of God is -the fruit of                         Moreover, it is. the very idea of reconciliation that it
reconciliation. Thus many would  .present  it today.  AC-                             removes all that would. hinder or disturb the life of that
cordingly, `Christ, came to merit that love and to make it                            covenant. It removes the guilt of sin, and the burden of


 458                                        T H E   Ki'ANDARD   B E A R E R

 God's wrath, yea, all that would deprive us of the right to         the justice of God, burn out His wrath, establish peace,
 dwell in His house and to taste His favor.                          and make reconciliation!
        0, indeed, the object of Gods love becomes the object                                 0  iz  0  0
 of His righteous wrath. Though, to be sure, love can never             To reconcile all things unto Himself!
 hate, love can be wrathful. How this can be' true is clearly             .
                                                                        Thmgs on earth! Things in heaven!
 demonstrated in the cross. How that love of God can be so              Things in heaven?
 wrathful that He can cause the highest object of His love              0 yes, also in heaven!
 to go under the vials of righteous judgment, we hear in                But is there need for reconciliation in heaven? Is it not.
 that fourth outcry from the cross: "MY  God,  my  God,  why  he  die&,             1
                                                                                 g p ace of the holy angels? Did not those obe-
 has thou forsaken me?" While the suffering Servant was              dient .ministering spirits always do the will of their Creator?
 conscious of the highest love, He was at the same time con-            Surely, it is true that a part of the angels never rebelled.
 scious  of the pain of burning wrath. ~This is reconcili.ation!     They are indeed personally righteous and holy. And there-
        Complete pouring out of the wrath of God over the            fore they have no need of reconciliation in the sense that
 object of His love! Over us this could never be,  .for we           their sin must be blotted out and atoned for.
 would sink away under the impact of wrath eternally. But               Yet there can be. no doubt that when Satan and his
 God Himself reconciles us with Him. He maintains His                angels rebelled and fell through their sin, the angel world,
 own covenant. He bore the burden of His `own wrath in               as a whole, was disfigured and disorganized in relation to
 our nature in the Person of His Son. This is reconciliation!        God. Through the fall of the devil, the angel world lost
        The  very  eSSe&e Of recOncihtiOn  iS atOneIne&,  Satis- its  head
 faction. A sacrifice of perfect obedience in love makes                And the *angels must have a head!
 satisfaction and atones. Therefore reconciliation took place           The order of heaven must be restored!
 in the blood of the cross, or rather, through the blood of             By the blood of the cross Satan and the powers of
 the cross.
                            0  0  0  0                               darkness are overcome! Satan and the spiritual powers in
                                                                     high places must be eternally condemned to the lake of fire.
        Through the blood of His cross!                                 The holy angels must publicly be declared righteous,
        So making peace!                                             and their order restored!
        Blessed state! Peace, where all t,he cause of. war is re-       Christy  Jesus, by His obedience on the cross, merited the
 moved! By the removal of guilt and enmity, peace is made            right and received the honor to become the Lord and the
 a glorious reality. Reconciliation is the declaration of peace      Head of angels!
 .through satisfaction.                                                 So the things in heaven are also reconciled unto God!
        Not merely through the cross, not even His cross, but           But also on earth!
 through the blood of His cross. Through the blood of                   The sin and fall of Adam caused a breach in the entire
  Christ, the Mediator of reconciliation. The blood of the Son       earthly creation. The ground was cursed for man's sake.
 .of God, that is the instrument which God uses to make              Thorns and thistles it produced to aggravate the ~work  of
 peace and reconciliation.                                           man, who in sweat must work until he returns unto the
        That that blood was so effidacious,  could accomplish so `dust from whence he was taken.
 much, was due, first of all, to the fact that it was guiltless,        Also among the animals, the creeping and the flying
 sinless blood. He who knew no sin was made sin. He who              things, is felt the burden of the curse. The whole creation
 never transgressed was numbered among, the transgressors.           groans and travails in pain, waiting to be delivered.
 He was the Lamb without any blemish.                                Bitterness, enmity, strife, and war mark the pages of
        Moreover, this blood was freely poured out! In perfect the history of the world since the day man rebelled against
 -obedience He shed His blood on the cross. Shall satisfac-          his God.
tion be made, He must bear the wrath of God in perfect                  Therefore Christ died and shed His blood on the cross
  love of God. This He did when He gave His life for His             to bring peace and reconciliation once more to the disorgan-
sheep. Where sin was an act of  wilful disobedience and              ized and. troubled world which is the object of God's love,
 rebellion, atonement is an act of perfect obedience in love. and in the center of which is the election of grace!
   What is more, His was a vicarious atonement. He died,                So that beautiful vision of Isaiah may be realized! The
  He poured out His life's blood `for His sheep. It was also         wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall
  for that reason a limited atonement. His blood was sufficient      lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and
  and efficient to satisfy for the elect. At the head of His         the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And
  people He stood when He poured out His blood.                      the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie
        To be sure, it was in human nature Christ suffered and       down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And
  died! But in this nature it was the Person of the Son Who.         the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the
  tasted .death on the very symbol of the curse!                     weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
        So that blood was. of infinite worth, and could satisfy      They' shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain


                                                        T H E   S T 'A N D A R D   .BEARER                                                                                                                                        459

 for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as
 the waters cover the sea.                                                                           `
                                                                                                       .THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R - E R
     Indeed, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto'                            Semi-monthly, except, monthly during June, July and August
                                                                                             Published by the  REFORMJZD F'mm  PUBLISHING ASSOCIA~ON
 Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;, and hath                                                          Editor - REV. HERMAN HOEX.SEM~
 committed unto us the Word of reconciliation!                                         Commtiirications  relative to contents should be addressed to
     In behalf of Christ therefore we are ambassadors as                               Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand -Rapids 7,
                                                                                        Mich.  .Contributions  will be limited to 300 words and must be
 though ,God  did beseech through us; `we pray in behalf of                                                                neatly written or typewritten.
 Christ: Be ye reconciled to God.                                                      All church news items should be addressed to Mr. J. M. Faber,
     For He hath made Him to ,be sin for us, Who knew no                                                     1123 Cooper, S. E., Grand Rapids 7, Mjch.
                                                                                             Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 fee included
 sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in                                must be mailed 8 days prior to issue date, to the address  below:
 Him!                                                                                        All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
     Blessed Mediator of reconciliation!                                                              Mr. James Dykstra, 1326 W. Butler Ave., S. E.'
                                                                                                                                Grand Rapids 7, Michigan
     Blessed and glorious Covenant God!                                                       RENEWAL:  Unless a  definite request for discontinuance is
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                                                                                                                       Subscription price: $5.00 per year
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                            A n n o u n c e m e n t   a
     The, 1964-1965 term of the. Theological School of the                                                                              C O N T E N T S
Protestant Reformed Churches will begin, D.V., Tuesday,
 September 15, at 9:OO A. M. -                                                    MEDITATION-
     May our churches be much in prayer for the needs of                                        Reconciliation Through the Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._._...____ _.___  457
                                                                                                           Rev. M.  Schipper
 our seminary.
     Consistories are reminded that all requests for student                      EDITORIALS-                                                                                                                :
 supply of pulpits and catechism classes during the school                                      In Explanation . .._ ___ _______._________  __..._______  ___ ____ ______ ______ 460
 term must be addressed to the Rector.                                                          Change of Climate? . .                                          .: . . . . . . .                                                   .460
                                       -P                                                       The Christian Reformed Synod on the `Dekker Case"........461
                                             ROF . H. C. H OEKSEMA ,  Rector                    The Dogmatics Project . . . . . . . ..___..______........................................  462
                                                                                                           Rev. H. C. Hoeksema

                     Meeting of Classis West                                      SPECIAL  &PORT   -
                                                                                                The Book "Honest to God" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
     Classis  West of the Protestant Reformed Churches will                                                Rev. B. Woudenberg
 hold its next meeting, the Lord willing, on Wednesday,
 September 16, `1964 at South Holland, Illinois. All material                     THE  LORD   GAVE  TIIE  WORD  . . .  -
 for this classical meeting must be in the hands of the clerk                                    The Evangelical Approach in Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .466
 30 days before the meeting of  Classis.  Delegates in need                                                Rev. C. Hanko
 of lodging must contact the president or clerk of the South                      ~~OMHOLYWIUT-
 H o l l a n d   c o & s t o r y .                                                      '        Exposition of Romans 5:  12-21~~~~~~~~~~~~........~...........................  468
                                 -REV.  G.  VAN  BAREN,   Stated Clerk                                     Rev. G. Lubbers
                             -233 Second Street
                                      Randolph, Wisconsin                         IN HIS  FJUR-
                                                                                                 Counting and Recounting . . . __. _.. . . . . . . . . ._._____. _..______._______  .476
                                                                                                           Rev. J. A. Heys
                       RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
     The Board of the Association for Christian Education express                 CONTENDINGFORTHE  FAITH-
 their sincere sympathy to our-fellow Board Member, Mr. E. Ophoff,                               The Church and the Sacraments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..__ ____._......._.____  _____ 472
 in the loss of his Mother,                                                                                Rev. H. Veldman
                       MRS. GEORGE OPHOFF, SR.
     "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom  ~shall  I fear? the            ?HE &IURCH'AT WORSHIP-
 Lord is the-strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" Ps.  27:l
                                                   J. Vander Woude, Secretary                   vows . . .  ..-..........  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
                                                                                                           Rev. G.  Vanden Berg
                       RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY,
     The Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of the First  ,Protestant  Reformed             ALLAROUNDUS-
 Church expresses heartfelt sympathy to two of its members, Mr. and                              A Church on the Move _.__........................................................                                                  476
 Mrs. Edward Ophoff, in the death of Mr. Ophoff's mother,~                                       Religion in School ____................................................................                                            477
                     MRS. GEORGE M. OPHOFF, SR.                                                            Rev. H. Hanko
     "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we
 die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we                 NEWS FR&  OUR CHURCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480    ~
 are the Lord's" Romans  I4:8.
                                                 Mr. C Jonker, Vice President                              Mr. J. M. Faber'
                                               Mrs. L. Dykstra, Secretary

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

                                                                           entire lecture: `Whoever is acquainted with the writings of
                   ,E D I T 0 R IA L S                                     Rev. H. Hoeksema since 1924-will  find nothing new inthis
                                                                           l e c t u r e . "
                                                                               Rev. Haverkamp then goes on to make a few remarks
                   ,          ,In  E x p l a n a t i o n                   about what I called an extraordinary event, without com-
                                                                           menting further on the lecture. These remarks will be of
             Undersigned  is. substituting in the editorial department,    interest to  -our readers; and I will quote them in full in
      temporarily due to the fact that our esteemed and beloved            translation, and then add a few comments. Haverkamp
      editor, Rev. H. Hoeksema, suffered a stroke on Monday,               writes as follows:
      August 10 and, at this writing, has been hospitalized for a              "Everyone knows that there has come in the last years
      little more than a week. For our readers' information, let           a change of climate in our theological school with respect
      me say that the .stroke was light, or moderate, producing a          to speakers who are invited at various occasions. About
      partial'paralysis of the left side. However, at present (this        thirty years ago, when undersigned was a student, there
      is written August 19) Rev. Hoeksema is making an ex-                 came at most once someone from the circle of Westminster
      cellent recovery and hopes to leave the hospital, D.V., by           Seminary. Now that the climate has changed and com-
      the end of the week. It is not possible to say now in how            munication is improved, we found it nice that also Rev.
     far and how soon he might be able to resume some of his               Hoeksema was invited to speak. Hoeksema, .as was to be
      labors. Meanwhile, our Lord, Who does all things well, is            expected, did not mince words and gave a clear explanation
      Rev. Hoeksema's confidence and stay also now. And to                 of his peculiar standpoint.
      Him he and we commit the way in faith.                                   "And now will there presently come also an invitation
             The Standard Bearer deadline had to be met neverthe-          once from the Protestant Reformed Seminary to one of our
      less, and therefore some substitute arrangements were hur-           men?"
      riedly made. Rev. Hoeksema's discussion of the Dekker                   Thus wrote Rev. Haverkamp.
      Case will have to wait for the time being; but I will offer              My comments are as follows:
      some information and comments on related matters. The                    I. I find it nice that the Reverend Haverkamp thought
      Reverend M. Schipper,  -who, by the way, has promised to             it nice that Rev. Hoeksema was invited to speak at Calvin
      be a regular contributor to that rubric in the coming vol-           Seminary. Perhaps this also constitutes a change of climate?
      ume-year, graciously consented to contribute a Meditation                2. As far as Rev. Haverkamp's evaluation of the lecture
      for this issue, thus relieving me of that duty. Welcome              is concerned, I would suggest three things. In the first
      back to our-pages, brother; and, Thanks!                             place, I consider it rather complimentary when he writes
             I also take this opportunity, regretfully, to say farewell    that whoever is acquainted with the writings of Rev. H.
      and thank-you to the Rev. G. Vos, who after many years               Hoeksema since 1924 will find nothing new in this'lecture.
      has laid  .down his pen as a  Stacda:rd  Beher  contributor.         That is a good testimony to Hoeksema's consistency, as well
      Though he did not know it atthe  time, he would not have             as to his perseverance in the truth. Personally, I would dare
      been able to- contribute a meditation to this issue even if          to improve on that- statement and -to say, "Whoever is ac-
      he had not resigned. For our brother Vos has been hos-. quainted with Hoeksema's preaching and writing since the
     pitalized also-first with pneumonia and then with a                   beginning of his ministry (pre-1924 as well as post-1924,)
     ,prostate  condition which required surgery. Though seriously         will find essentially nothing new in this lecture.". And, of
      ill, he also appears on the way to recovery at. this time.           course, brother Haverkamp's mention of the clarity of Rev.
      And he also is mindful of Father's love and well-dealing in          Hoeksema's -presentation is. also complimentary. Clarity of
      his present affliction.                  ./.                         thought and presentation is always a virtue, and without it
             Mayo  our God bless these -two veteran servants, and, if      a speaker's views cannot very well be understood. In the
      it be His will, keep them in our midst yet for `a time.              second place, it ought to be noticed that Rev. Haverkamp's
                                                               H.C.H.      evaluation is a testimony against and in `contradiction of
                                                                           those who left our Protestant Reformed Churches in the
                                                                           controversy of  1953:. They frequently voiced the claim that
_                         Change of Climate?                               Hoeksema changed~his  views. Haverkamp is evidently not
             In the department "Uit en Voor de' Pers" (De Waclztzte~,      of that opinion, for, according to him, this lecture represents
      July 28, 1964) the Reverend William Haverkamp, who is                nothing n,ew in Rev.. Hoeksema's teachings since 1924. -Well,
      also acting editor of that organ, comments on the  Standard          it must follow,- then, that the De Wolf. group, whom the
      Bkcarer's  report of the Rev. H. Hoeksema's lecture at Calvin        Christian Reformed Church embraced a., few years ago,
      Seminary on the subject "Particular Throughout." After               were the ones. who changed. In parentheses, let me add
      quoting in translation my report of the occasion,- he also           that I wish men like Rev. Haverkamp and others who be-
      cites the introductory paragraphs of, Rev: Hoeksemds lec-            lieve that we are still the same Protestant Reformed
      true, but.,gives the-following. general ,characteriZ~~on,of;4be.     Churches  .that -we always were would stand up and testify

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

of this in their own Christian Reformed Church: then per-          to ,this country. It has been our official policy expressed in
haps we would get our  synodical archives back once. In            more than one letter of admonition which our churches sent
the third place, however, I must nevertheless comment that         to  `, the Christian Reformed Synod. We welcome the op-
Rev. Haverkamp's evaluation is not very ,much to the point.        portunity. No matter what the change of climate really con-
After all, the real question is not whether there was any-         sists in, it cannot be h-armful to speak out and to have a
thing new in Hoeksema's lecture. I would reply to that:            good, basic discussion of the issues. And: it might be help-
knowing Hoeksema, what did you expect? But the real                ful!
question -far more important and serious for Haverkamp,               I Need I add that I say these things with all good-will?
for Calvin Seminary, and for the whole Christian Reformed             i4. Rev. Haverkamp ends his comments with the ques-
Church - is: did Hoeksema in his lecture present the truth         tion whether there will be an invitation forthcoming-to one
of Scripture and our Reformed confessions?                         of `their men from the Protestant Reformed Seminary. As
   3. As far as that "change of climate" is concerned, there       far as the faculty is concerned, I may freely say that we
are several comments to be made. First of all, I agree that        would gladly return Professor Dekker's invitation. We
there has been some kind of change of climate. I suggested         would like to hear him e,xplain his views and answer our
this in my earlier editorial note. It certainly is true that in    questions. Perhaps such a meeting can be arranged. Then
years gone by it would have been considered unthinkable            let Professor Dekker also  "geen  blad  voor de mond  ne-
that Hoeksema, the heretic, be invited to speak at Calvin          men, en een duidelijke uiteenzetting van zijn eigen stand-
Seminary. Rev. Hoeksema and we all are appreciative of             punt  geven." And I am sure that Rev. Haverkamp would
this change, thankful too, especially to Professor Dekker,         be welcome to attend.                                  H.C.H.
both for the invitation and the warmth of his reception, and
also happy that we have the opportunity to present the
truth. In the second place, however, I  .notice that Rev.
Haverkamp does not analize this "change of climate." What            -, The Christian Reformed Synod on the
is the nature of the change? What are its causes? What                                     "Dekker  Case"
is' its purpose? And what will be its effects? These are              : Our editor promised in the August 1 Standard Bearer
rather important questions, especially with regard to a            that as soon as the official report, on the "Dekker Case"
denomination's seminary.  -And brother Haverkamp and the           became available, he would inform our readers. That re-
Christian Reformed Church should certainly confront these          port is available, and I will quote it in full as it appears in
questions. Is the change merely due to the passing of the          The Banner, July 10,1964, pp. 9,10, under the title "Limited
years and the fact that the present faculty of Calvin Sem-         Atonement."
inary represents the second generation since ,1924? Is the            ' "Synod decided to appoint a committee to study, in the
change merely due to a kind of spirit of academic freedom,         light of Scripture and the creeds, the doctrine of lirnited
a broadminded willingness to hear what the other fellow            atonement as it relates to the love of God, the doctrinal ex-
has to say - whether that other fellow is Hoeksema or R. B.        pressions of Professor Harold Dekker beginning with and
Kuiper or a man  ,like  Markus Barth? Or  - and this. we           relative to his article entitled `God So Loved -All Men,'
would sincerely hope, because we love the Christian Re-            and other related questions that may arise in the course of
formed Church and long to, see her stand anew on the basis         their study, paying specific attention to:
of the truth - is, the change due to a genuine desire to dis-              "1. Whether the nature of the `atonement and the de-
cuss the truth, to get down to the basic .issues of the Re-        cree of election allow for the validity of making a-mqualita-
formed faith, and a willingness to be convinced of it on the       tive distinction between the general love of God and his
basis of Scripture and the Three Forms of Unity? I say             special love for the elect.
again: the latter is to be hoped, and, if true, then we will               "2. Whether there is scriptural evidence that the uni-
certainly doubly welcome an invitation to speak out.               versal love of God includes any intent to bring about the
   But let me assure Rev. Haverkamp and all the Christian          salvation of the non-elect or  .to perform any redemptive act
Reformed Church that any time that any of our Protestant           on their behalf.
Reformed men receives such a no-strings-attached invitation                "3. Whether the nature of the atonement as satisfaction
to speak, he will surely accept it,~whether that invitation is     reveals the universal love of God.
official or unofficial, whether it comes from a Calvin Sem-                "4. Whether the teachings of the Canons of Dort war-
inary professor or from other Christian Reformed groups            rant the use of such concepts as universal atonement and
or individuals, whether it is an invitation to speak' in the       limited redemption.
comparative privacy of a class-room or at a public gather-                 "5. Whether the efficacy of the atonement is determined
ing. We are-willing, too, to have discussion and questions,        by the good pleasure of God in distinction or abstraction
just as at Calvin Seminary. That has always been our policy        from the love of God.
as Protestant Reformed. It was our policy at the Pantlind                  "6. Whether `the do&me  of limited atonement as corn-.
Conference at the time of the late Dr. Schilder's first visit      monly understood and observed in the Christian Reformed

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

Church impairs the principle of the-universal love of` God                sion that an amendment to add Professor Dekker to the
and tends to inhibit missionary spirit `and activity.'                    committee to investigate Dekker's teachings, rather than
        "7. Whether it is consistent with the genius of the New           merely mandate the committee to consult with him, gar-
Testament evangelism to say to each and every man, `Christ                nered a good many favorable remarks and votes, though it
died for you, -and whether this statement. is productive of' failed to gain a'majority.
confusion and misunderstanding in this generation of  uni-                    For the present, I will not comment on this. decision,
versalism and Arminianism.                                                except to say that it is obviously a case of ."`Hurry up and
        "The grounds for the above decision are:             _          ' wait."                                                 H.C.H.
        "1. A mandate. to study these matters will allay much
of the unrest which prevails in the churches.
        "2. Such a study will help clarify the Reformed witness                              The Dogmatics Project
to our generation.                                                            Some months ago the  St&dmd  Bearer carried complete
        "3. This study may assist Professor Dekker in carrying            information about the aim of the Publications Committee
`forward his own work of carefully examining the various. (associated with the R.F.P.A. ) to publish in one large
matters which he has raised.                                              volume the dogmatics of the Rev. H. Hoeksema. (See
        "4. This carries forward the spirit of the report of the          Standard Bearer, May 1, pp. 358, 359.)
 board of trustees which reads, `After the discussion (with                   It is not our usual policy to editorialize on projects and
     Professor Dekker) the board concluded that there are issues          drives of various organizations. But because this project is
worthy of further inquiry, and it trusts that future ex-                  associated with the Reformed Free Publishing Association
changes of research and opinion on these issues will be                   and because it is so near to the life of our churches, we will
     profitable to the church.'                                           `do so this time. The aims and the needs of the Publications
        "5. A study of this nature is requested in the overture           Committee and especially of this first project, namely, to
 from the consistory of the First church of Orange City.                  publish the dogmatics, ought to be held before our people.
,       "It was decided that a committee of seven members is              I dare say this is even underscored by the present illness
 to carry on this study, and that this*committee  is to consult           of Rev. Hoeksema and the undeniable. reminder that he will
     frequently with Professor Dekker in order that a spirit and          not be always with us, and that therefore his writings -
     relationship. of full and' free exchange may exist between           especially his dogmatics - ought to be preserved and there-
 the professor and the committee. The committee is author-                fore published.
 ized also to seek the advice and counsel of the `professors                  First of all, how is -the project coming? The last in-
     in the departments of dogmatics and exegesis at Calvin               formation which I received was that our treasurer had on
     Seminary.. The committee is to make every effort to bring            hand approximately $3000. This is about half of the $6000
     a report to the Synod of 1965. Members of the committee              goal that was set. It is perfectly obvious that the.committee
     are: Dr. John H. Bratt, Rev. Adam Persenaire, Dr. Alex-              cannot go ahead when the minimum cost of the project is
     ander C. De Jong, Rev. George Gritter, Rev. John C.                  not even underwritten or guaranteed. And I want to em-
. Medendorp, Jacob De Jager, and John W. Borst."                          phasize that this $6000 goal is the bare minimum. There is
        Thus far the quotation from The Banner.                           no padding in that figure. Hence, the answer to .this ques-
        From other sources as well as from personal observa-              tion, how is the project coming, is: at present it is bogged
     tion, I can report:                                                   down for financial reasons. Perhaps this is due to the "sum-
        1. That the above was actually a kind of substitute               mer doldrums." I hope the reason is no more serious than ,
     proposal. Earlier the Committee of Pre-advice had come                that, and that with the beginning of fall activities in the
     with the advice, which, however, was not, I am informed,              churches also this project will get a quick boost.
     based on the Formula of Subscription, that a "theological                Secondly, what must be done?
     discussion" be held with Professor Dekker on the floor of                I would suggest two things in answer to this question:
     Synod. This advice met with so much opposition, however,                 1) In general, all of us must get behind this project to
     that the committee itself asked to have the matter recom-             the best of our ability and help go over the top in the drive.
     mitted. This was done, and the above proposal came to                 Pledges, outright gifts, and underwriters are needed. An
     Synod later.  --                                                      average contribution of only $10 from 600 families would
        2. It is correct that this entire matter was disposed of           assure reaching the $6000 goal. But if only 100 people
     by Synod in about a half hour, with very little basic dis-            would come across with $60 each, or 60 with $100 each, or
     cussion. What discussion there was centered on less                   30 with $200 each, the goal would also be reached. And
     significant details, such as when the committee must report,          mind you, you do not even have to give the money out-
     etc., and little or nothing was said about the mandate or             right. You may, of course; and it will be put to good use,
     .the grounds. The decision was also virtually, if not com-            and besides will be tax deductible. But underwiting, that
     pletely, unanimous.                              `.          i.       is, allowing the Committee to  use $100 or $200 of your
         3. I consider it an indication. of the spirit of ,the deci-       money until they realize their investment upon publication


                                                                                I




                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R - E R   `/                                             463

of the book,  is. just as good. But the money is needed!
Please! Do not leave it to the other fellow; zjour support,                            WEdAL REPORT-
small or large, is essential. Let us flood the treasurer with                                                                            I
mail!                                                                                        '
   2) I know, from personal contacts, that more than one                                The Book "Honest to God"
of our churches has sent in nothing as yet. The local com-                    It was in January of 1963 that a bishop in the Anglican
mittees in charge of steering the drive in the various                     Church of England by the name of John A. T. Robinson
churches should get busy. I would not be surprised if there                published a book under the title `Honest to God," It was
are several of our people waiting to come across with large                a small book, and expectations were that it would receive
sums -if only your committee would come around and                         but a small circulation, mostly among the clergy and serious
collect or help make out the pledge. By all means, let us                  students of theology. There was something about this .book,
put our shoulders to the wheel!                                            however, which immediately struck the attention of the
   Need I emphasize how valuable a publication. like                       public, and its sales soon  soared into the tens of thousands.
`H.H.`s"  dogm'atics  will be? Ask any of our ministers or                 Reviews of this book have been given in' many of the                     t
students whether there is any of Rev. Hoeksema's writings                  principal theological journals of our day and also through
that is more worthy of `publication. There has never been                  the media of mass communication: ne-wspapers,  radio, and
a dogmatics like it produced by the Reformed community.                    television. It has become one of the greatest best-sellers of
Our own people - and I mean all of us, not just ministers                  the modern religious market, reaching a total circulation of
and students  - can benefit greatly from this master-work.                 well over 350,000 copies. To this day  it  may still be dif-
It will serve as a clear and complete statement of our Prot-               ficult to find a bookstore that has not sold out its stock.
estant Reformed doctrinal position to the Reformed com-                    The reason fox this amazing popularity is to be found, no
munity at large. Others, outside our churches, for example,                doubt, in the shocking nature of-its contents.
ministers in the Reformed and Christian Reformed                              The book opens tiith the statement, "The Bible speaks            -
Churches, have inquired as to if and. when the dogmatics                   of God `up there.' No doubt its picture of a three-decker
will be published.                                                         universe of `heaven above, the ,earth beneath and the waters
   Right now I could think of no project that is more de-                  under the earth,' was once taken quite literally" (p. 11).
serving of the support of  a11 our  geople throughout our                  From this he goes 
denomination than this one.                                                                       ori to establish the point that after the
                                                                           Copernican revolution this became impossible. Once it was
  Consider it your personal responsibility, will you?                      established that the ehth was but one small planet circulat-
   For your convenience, here are the instructions to follow:              ing around the sun in a universe consisting of many `other
   1) Make out your check, money-order, or pledge either                   planets and many  other suns, man could no longer conceive                         `.
to the Permanent Committee for the Publication of Prot.                    of God as being  "up there" even if he continued to use that                  .
Ref. Literature (P.C.P.P.R.L., for short), or to Thomas                    language. In his mmd he began to think of God as being
Newhof, Treasurer. Do not forget to indicate whether you                   `out there' in some far distant part of the universe among
are making an outright gift or only underwriting.                          the distant stars. This type of conception has continued
   2) Mail your contribution to:                                           until the present day, except that with modern develop-
         Mr. Thomas Newhof                                                 ments in optical and radio telescopes as well as in rocketry,
         2317 Leonard St, N. E.                                            even this is becoming' impossible. The distant spaces of the
         Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505                                      universe have been searched, and there is no room left for
 3) Be sure to  inslude your own name and address for -God; there are no vacant places. This has brought a crisis
the committee's records.                                      H.C.H.       to the Christian Church. The informed mind of modern.
                                                                           man is finding it increasingly difficult to conceive of God
                                                                           at all and cannot take Him seriously. The result is that the
                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                   Church  is- swiftly losing its  in$uence and respect in the
                                                                           modern  vvorld. Unless a new type of reference to God is
   It pleased the Lord to take unto Himself out of our midst one of
our members,                                                               found which people' can understand and believe, it may
                       MRS. G. M. OPHOFF                                   well mean the end of the Christian Church. The effort of
Although she could not  elipress  herself of late years we know from       this book is to do just that.
previous conversations  thtit  her desire was to be with the Lord.
   Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.                The suggestion of Bishop Robinson is that all reference
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me, at that day and         to God in terms of "up there" or "out there" should be dis-
not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
                                                           II Tim.  423     pensed with. These terms, even though they are found in
                                                                           `Scripture and in historical theology, no longer have mean-
                         The Ladies' Aid Society of the
                         First Prot. Ref. Church                            ing for the modern mind. Rather God should be found and
                         Grand Rapids,  Mich.                               described in terms of depth, that is in the depth of human
                                Mrs. J. Vander Wal, President               existence. God is in man. He is the "depth" or the "ground
                                Mrs.-B.  Woudenberg, Vice Secretary


                  464     -                              .THE            STAND'ARD          BE,ARER
            -.
                  of our existence." This, he claims, is the deepest reality of     then religion must be abandoned; and the `Bishop expresses
                  the universe and therefore identihes  it with God. By this        great sympathy for those who have done just this by ceasing
                  "ground of our existence" he seemingly means the principle        to frequent the Christian Church. True Christianity has
                  or purpose out of which man must live if this world or life       no necessary tie to such practices. It is to be found among
       y          is to have any meaning at all. In the end he identifies it        those who are reconciled to "the ground of their existence,"
                  with love, a love which accepts others and gives itself in        that is, those who give themselves in love for others whether
                  concern for them. This is God because "God is love."              they any longer observe the conventionalities of Christianity
                     This is a radical departure from historical theology, and      or not. Accordingly he proceeds to reconstruct what the
                  the Bishop acknowledges its far-reaching. implications. It        true practice of Christianity should be. "The Holy Com-
                  means, in the first place, that God cannot be considered a        munion," he says, `is the proclamation- to the Church and
                  transcendent Being who rules this world and affects it with       to the world that the presence of Christ with his people is
                  supernatural power. With his -approach to God, all super-         tied to ,a right receiving of the common, to a right relation-
                  naturalistic ideas must go, for only that can be  a&no&l-         ship with one's neighbor" (p. 88). In turn, his views on
                  edged which is in accord with the nature of man and of the        prayer are even more radical. In his own life he acknowl-
                  world itself. Even more, it means, in the second place, that      edges that the setting apart of a certain time to speak per-
                  God is not a person.- Although he would maintain that God         sonally to God has proved almost completely meaningless.
                  is' personal because love is a personal relationship, never-      Besides he  .feels  that this practice usually reflects an un-
                  theless God is not an individual and distinct person in Him-      healthy withdrawal from the world and life. He would
                  self as the Scriptures present Him. He is rather "the ground      rather reconstruct prayer as nothing `more than a thinking
                  ,of existence" for those who are personal. It means, finally,     upon the needs of others. So he writes, "My own experience
                  that all of the old, accepted terminology -for God must be        is that I am really praying for people, agonizing with God
                  done away with. It is "mythical" and an offense to the            for them, precisely as I meet them and really give my soul
                  modern mind. It is all meaningless jargon and must go             to them. It is then if ever; in this incarnational relationship,
                  even if it includes our image of God himself.                     that deep speaks to deep and the Spirit of God is able to
                     As the book proceeds it applies this view of God to some       take- up our inarticulate groans and turn them into prayer
                  ,of the basic principles of the Christian religion.               -. . . To pray for another is to, expose both oneself and him
                                                                                    to the common ground of our being; it is to see one's con-
                     The  iirst of these applications is made to the doctrine of    cern for him in terms of ultimate concern, to let God into
                  Jesus Christ. The traditional view of Christ is dismissed         the relationship" ( p.. 99 ) .
            with a- sarcastic parody. "The traditional supernaturalistic
                  way of describing the Incarnation almost inevitably suggests          Finally, the Bishop applies  his views to the sphere of
                  that Jesus was really God almighty walking about on earth,        morality. He firmly rejects any thought of an authoritative
                  dressed up as a man. Jesus was not a man born and bred -          law or standard of morality which stipulates things which
             , he was God for a- limited period taking part in a charade.           are right or wrong in themselves. Such he would identify
                  He looked like a man, he talked like a man, he felt like a        with the legalism which Paul so-strongly condemned. Even
                  man, but underneath he was God dressed up  - like Father          such things as divorce and sexual relationships outside of
                  Christrnas. However guardedly it may be stated, the tradi-        marriage he is not ready to say are necessarily wrong. There
. .         tional view leaves the impression that God took a space-                is only one precept which he will recognize, that is the
                  trip and arrived on ,this planet in the form of a man" (p.        command to love, to give oneself in concern for others. As
                  `66). This supernaturalistic and mythological framework           long as one does what he does in love, he is bound to be
                  must now be abandoned. Jesus was not God; but God was             right. Anything beyond this is but a remnant of the super-
                  in him. The importance of Jesus is that he is the window          naturalistic ethics which must now be abandoned.
                  through whom we see God. In him  we see `the "ground                  Thus having presented his thesis, the Bishop in his con-
                  of our existence," namely love. In'his life he emptied him-       cluding chapter states, "But I have a great deal of  syrn-
                  self and surrendered his own self so that others might be         pathy  `also with those who call themselves atheists. For the
                  accepted. He gave himself for others even when it required        God they are tilting against, the God they honestly feel.
                  his own death. "Jesus is `the man for  others;:  the one in       they cannot believe in, is so often an image of God instead
                  whom Love has completely taken over, the one who is               of God, a way of conceiving `him which has become an idol'
                  utterly open to, and united with, the Ground of his being"        (p. 136). +And again, in another part of the conclusion he
                  (Pm  76).                                                         states, "It will doubtless seem to some that I have by in%
                     Continuing from there, Bishop Robinson applies his             plication abandoned the Christian faith and practice alto-
                  views to Christian. worship and prayer. The long estab-           gether. On the contrary, I believe that unless we are pre-
                  lished practices of Christian worship which are found in the      pared for the kind of revolution of which I have spoken it
                  church he feels are a form of withdrawal from the world           will come to be abandoned... . . But it means that we have
                  which is no longer adceptable  in our day. They no longer         to be prepared for everything to go into the melting : even
                  speak to "the man who has come of age." If this is religion, :I our most cherished religious categories and moral absolutes.


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B.EA.RER                                                 465

     And the first thing we must be ready to let go is our image      pressed these views very bluntly in a work which most
     of God himself" (pp. 123,. 124). This is what Bishop Robin-      people can understand. He states openly what has been
     son means by being `honest to God.'                              going on for a long time behind the scenes.
        There is little question,. of course, that this all is ex-       In the end, however, also Bishop Robinson's `honesty"
     tremely radical and shocking. It is an outright rejection and    breaks down. Although he affirms his willingness to-discard
     denunciation of God and of all that God has revealed to us       the concepts and terminology received from the Scriptures,
     in the Scriptures. For this is substituted the philosophy of     he fails to do it. He is not yet willing to `make a free and
     man; and this is done in the pretense of recognizing God         clean break with the historical Christian Church. He re-
     and under the name of Christianity.. It deserves the strong-     veals no willingness at all to renounce his right to a place
     est terms of Christian condemnation.                             in the Christian Church, to say nothing of the  ofFice of
        As amazing $s the book itself, though, are the reactions      Bishop which he holds. He makes repeated, even though
     which it has received especially from the religious press.       superficial and perverted, appeals to passages of the very
     A few have gone so far as to question the right of the bishop    Scriptures whose concepts and `authority he would reject.
     to retain his off&e in the Church, while others have only        He can not resist playing the theological game of taking
     questioned his discretion in stating such radical views so       certain fundamental terminology of Scripture to twist it and
     bluntly even if they be true.. Generally, however, the reac-     turn it, redefine and pervert it so that it might be made
     tion has been enthusiastic, if not always for the conclusions    to fit within his scheme. He would still maintain that he is
     of the book, at least for its thought-provoking and honest       a Christian, in fact the true Christian, even after he has        _
     presentation.                                                    denied God and rejected God's Son Jesus Christ. Bishop
        In a sense, perhaps, it is true that there is a certain       Robinson's "honesty" is not true honesty at all, but only a
     honesty to be found in this book, not indeed a complete          boldness that dares to speak with strange winds of doctrine
     honesty, and surely not an honesty to God or to the Word         whibh  deny the fundamental faith of the Word of God.
     of God, but an honesty which is at least greater than one           There are certain facts which may be able to explain this
     usually finds in our day.                                        unusual boldness on the part of the Anglican Bishop.
        The fact is that the views expressed in this book are            In the first place, he appears to be moved by a certain
     not really new or original with Bishop Robinson. In their        feeling of desperation. He has found in his own experience
     inception they go back a good century or more. Particularly      within the modern church that the church as he knows it
     since the theory of evolution has become generally accepted      has lost its respect and significance with the common man.  8
     as the true explanation for the origin of the universe both      He suspects, and perhaps rightly so, that people have come
     by the world and by the greater part of  .the Christian          to realize that when the modern preacher of the day makes
     Church, it has been felt necessary by many to make some          repeated use of the language of Scripture and of historical
     qualifications as to the accuracy of the statement of Scrip-     Christian doctrine, he. no longer believes himself what he
     ture. Through the years the most generally accepted way          says. Therefore the Bishop suggests-his radical  .revolution.
     of doing this has become to reject the Scriptures as an in-      He feels that the respect of the people can be regained only
     fallible revelation of God and to. consider them merely to       if he tells them exactly what he thinks, even if it stands in
     be a collection of ancient religious myths which can not be      radical contradiction to that which historical Christianity
     considered literally true even though they may have implied      has maintained.  One, can not help but think how much
     morals which are worthy of note. In fact, so popular has         better it would be if .the Bishop would maintain the his-
     this approach become that it has been expanded to cover          torical concepts and language of Scripture which his posi-
     not only the account of creation, but also the flood and all     tion as preacher and bishop in the Church demands, and
     of the Old Testament Scriptures, together with the New           that he-would only take care to mean what he really says.
     Testament Scriptures, including the life of Jesus Christ.           In the second plade, the boldness of this book appears
     Thus it has become quite common for theologians to speak         to stem from a sense of safety. The bishop realizes full well
I    of "demythologizing the Bible," by which they mean casting       that what he has to say will be highly offensive to those
aside whatever is offensive to their minds and scientific             who still have a feeling- for the historical Christian faith;
theories while retaining certain favored moral teachings              but this provides little cause for fear. After all, in our day
     which they choose. In this, of course, is implied all of the     nothing is considered more precious than the right of com-
     principles which Bishop Robinson brings to such a,shocking       plete freedom of speech, the right of everyone to say exactly
     conclusion. It is just that in the past this has been done       what he thinks. The reviews of this book bear out  how
~ more or less in secret. It has been presented in vague,             completely, protected by this feeling the Bishop is. Again
     theological works. which the ordinary person is not able to      and again, even by those who disagree. with him, apprecia-
     read; while before the public great care has been taken to       tion is expressed for the boldness with which the Bishop has
     retain the terminology of Scripture even though it has been      expressed himself, and his right to do so is maintained. In
     redefined so as to deny the original meaning of Scripture.       the modern  churchYworld  Christian discipline is dead, even
     Now  Bishop Robinson in the name of "honesty" has  ex-           against those who in contradiction to the duties and vows of


     466                                          T H E   STANDA'RD'  B E A R E R

     their offices in the church deny the reality of God and of
     His Son Jesus Christ,                                                   THELORDGAVETHl!WORD.,..
            Finally, however, the motivation behind this book must
     be found in Bishop Robinson's utter lack of faith. He very                                                         (Psalm 68:ll)
     evidently does not have that spiritual power which is able
     to recognize the Scriptures for what they are, the personal
     speech of the living God to His people in Jesus Christ. To                 The Evangelical Approach In Missions
     him theology is nothing more than the wrestling of the
     human mind with the problems of reality, just as are all of              Missions is receiving more emphasis than- ever before.
     the other philosophies of man. He cannot recognize God;               In cities where there are already many established churches
     he cannot recognize true and ultimate authority; he cannot            representatives from various church' groups canvass the
     see the difference between right and wrong, truth and the             neighborhood distributing literature and urging people to
     lie; he cannot pray; he cannot worship; he cannot believe.            attend church. Mission stations are established, summer
     And then, when we, consider in addition how broadly and               schools are initiated, and by every possible contrivance
     enthusiastically this book has been  ,welcomed,  we can only          people are urged to go to church. Often they are en-
     conclude that there are many more like him in the same                couraged to go to the church of their choice, as if any
     state. Countless numbers of them who would go under the               church will do, but by all means they must `<Go to `church."
     name Christian cannot as much as recognize the reality of             Radio broadcasts and television programs are adapted to
     the living God who has revealed Himself in Christ. This is            draw converts and to bring the unchurched into some
     a generation devoid of faith.                                         church home. Missionaries are sent out to every part of the
        It is in this latter fact, perhaps, that the chief significance    world to preach and to teach, to set up mission schools and
     of this book is to be found.. To us it must appear as a               hospitals, and to establish churches wherever possible. And
     strange, repulsive, godless book, embracing atheism while it          along with all this there are the Billy Graham campaigns
     mockingly rejects all that is dear to our hearts. But we are          which are geared as a powerful machinery by an ever ex-
     farremoved from the main-stream of that which calls itself            panding organization to make its voice heard through per-
     Christian, and we form but a small, minority group. The               sonal contact and through radio and television programs all
     time has come when those who would oppose and destroy                 over the earth. This is, indeed, the age of mission endeavor.
     the truth of God's Word dare to speak out without reserve;               Al1 these efforts are supposedly based on the Great Com-
     and no one among men is able and willing ,to stop them.               mission'of  ChristZ "Go ye into all the world, and preach the
     They are working for a `Christian Church" which has no                gospel to every creature. He that believetb and is baptized
     ,God and no true Christ, and does not want them. They                 shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned"
     have begun to speak with a, marked success, and we may                (Mark  16:15,  16). Viewed in that light one cannot avoid
     .expect,  if it is possible, that more radical and repulsive          questioning some of the methods that are employed and
     works will soon follow.  Iti is a sign of the times; and we           criticizing the manner in which all this mission work is
     may well remember the warning of John, "Who is a liar but             carried on. But that is not the purpose of this article.
     he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist,              It is far more important right now that we ask ourselves,
     that denieth  the Father and the Son" (I John 2:22).                  What is the import of Christ's mandate to preach the
                                                                   B.W.    Gospel to all creatures? What is the proper evangelical
                                                                           approach in missions?         .
~                                                                             Is it the purpose of the preaching of the Gospel to save
                                                                           the whole human race? Is it the goal of missions to win the
                       RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                              whole world, if possible, for Christ? When God sends out
        The Men's Society and the Ladies' Society of the First Prot-
     estant Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan, expresses its heart-     missionaries into the world is He motivated by a love for all
     felt sympathy to its members Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cammenga in          mankind, desiring to'save as many as possible and whoso-
     the passing of his Father,                                            ever may be willing to be saved? Must that be the evan-
                           MR. JOHN CAMMENGA                               gelical approach of the church today?
        May our  -Lord  comfort the bereaved family.                          This seems to be the purpose of missions that is most
                                    Mr. Bernard Windemuller, Secretary
                                    Miss Lafem Kortering, Secretary        generally advocated even in Reformed circles. For many
                                                                           years already the Protestant Reformed Churches have been
                       RESOLUTION  CF. SYMPATHY                            accused of a lack of proper mission zeal. It has been said
        The Men's Society and Ladies' Society of the First Protestant      that we have no message for the unsaved because of our
     Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan, expresses its deepest sym-
     pathy to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Van Der Kolk in the death of his          emphasis on God's sovereign grace, unconditional election,
     Father,                                                               and>,inviolable  covenant. According to the theory of com-
                      -MR. JOHN VAN DER KOLK                               mon gratie, preaching the Gospel does not include emphasis
        May, the God of' all Grace comfort the bereaved family.            on total depravity, for by the restraint of sin in the heart
                                   --Mr. Bernard Windemuller, Secretary
                                    Miss Lafern Kortering, Secretary       the unregenerate can still perform that which is good. And


                                          T H E   ST,ANDARD   B E A R E R                                                          467

more recently the contention is made that the evangelical, What  is the Gospel?
approach in missions requires that we maintain a universal             The word "Gospel" means "good news" or `rglad tidings."
atonement. To insist on an atonement restricted only to the         The Word of God often speaks of this Gospel. Sometimes it
elect makes all mission endeavor impossible. The evan-              is referred to as "the  Gospelof God," sometimes as "the
gelical approach in missions requires that we maintain that         Gospel of His Son," sometimes as `the Gospel of Christ,"
God loves all men without exception, that Christ died for           or as `the Gospel of the kingdom." And this Gospel has
all men, and that God. desires to save all.                         always been, is, and must always be preached.
   Thus Prof. Dekker wrote some time ago in the Reformed               Paul writes to Timothy concerning "the glorious gospel
Jou,rnaE, "The most basic .and comprehensive of all mission-        of the blessed God" (I Tim.  1:ll). God is the Author of
ary principles is the love of God. In divine love missions          the Gospel., He has willed to reveal Himself that the
finds both its conception and its initiation. `God SO loved. . .    creature may glorify and praise Him. And God reveals
that he gave . . . .`- From God's love missions draws its           Himself through the Scriptures. Even the revelation of God
motivation and its methodology. As Paul put it, `The love           in nature can be understood only in the light of the Scrip-
of Christ constraineth  us.' Moreover, the message of mis-          tures.'
sions is a message of the love of God. It proclaims that God           Those Scriptures are God's infallible Word. "`Holy men
is love, that He has acted in love for. man's salvation and         of-.God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II
that this love demands decisive response." This love, he            Peter  1:21). Or, as Paul expresses it in II Tim.  3:16,  `All        I
goes on to explain, is universal; God loves all men. There-         Scripture is given by the inspiration (in-breathing of the
fore it is perfectly proper and Scriptural to approach any-         Holy Spirit) of God."'
one with the assurance, "God loves you," `Christ died for              This Word is true, since it is the revelation of Gods own
you." (See Reformed  Journul,.December  1962. )                     dear Son Jesus Christ, Who is the Word, the Truth.. God
   Thus one by one the five points of Calvinism are deemed          reveals Himself to us in His Son, Who is the brightness of
unfit for mission work. For some time already these points          His glory, the express image of His person (Heb.  1:3). God
of doctrine have been ignored and denied in the mission             Himself speaks to us from all the pages of Holy Writ con-
field. They were replaced by a general, well-meant offer of         cerning Himself as the God of our salvation in Jesus Christ.
salvation. Only after the converts were drawn into the                 And that Word  must be-preached. God Himself pro-
church were they informed that the Confessions teach the            claims His own Word through the official ministry of the
five points of Calvinism; and the fact that these were ob-          church, that is, through those who are called by Christ
viously in  con&t with all the preaching these new con-             through His church to preach His Gospel. No one else can
verts had heard in the past was explained as a mystery, or          assume the right and authority to proclaim that Gospel.
even a "balance" which was peculiar to Calvinism.                   This is entirely according to the Scriptures, as is evident
    But now it becomes obvious that consistency demands. from Rom. 10:14, 15, `How shall they call.on  him in whom
that the five points of Calvinism either be maintained as           they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him
the truth of Scripture or be rejected as heresy.                    of whom (or better, whom) they have not heard? and how
    If they are the truth according to the Scriptures they          &al.! they  h.ear without  a: preacher.?' Notice that! But
must be maintained and preached at all times as the in-             notice also what follows, "And how &a.11 they preach, ex-
fallible Word of God. They -must be regarded as the truth           cept they be se&?"
of Scripture which is the power of God unto salvation. They             That Word is a power. It is the power of God, for God
alone can serve the purpose of God, for God will work only          has instituted the preaching of the Word as the chief means
through His own appointed means. -It is, after all, the truth       of grace.. ,The Holy Spirit binds Himself to that means and
that makes men free. And nothing but the truth can do that.         refuses to work apart from it. - As God feeds us with daily
   If, -on the other hand, they are not the truth of Scripture,     bread to sustain our bodies, He employs the Bread of Life
they must be openly refuted and rejected. Then it follows           in the Gospel to quicken and strengthen the faith of those
that they never can serve as the contents of the pure preach-       who are saved. Through the Word and by the operation of
ing of the Word. Then they certainly have no place in the           the Spirit in the heart Christ makes His people partakers
evangelical approach in missions, but they also have no place       of Him and of all His benefits. But just because that Word
`in the Confessions upon which the church is founded. Then          is -a power. of God, it never is without effect, but always
`the Three Forms of Unity, and particularly the Canons of           serves `the purpose for which God has appointed it. God
Dordt, which have served so long as the Scriptural basis for        reveals Himself antithetically, SO that this Word is "Foolish-
the Reformed Churches, must be declared outmoded, no                ness to those perishing, but unto US who are saved it is the
more acceptable as the Confessions of the church.                   power of God." Therefore Paul can add in II Cor. 2:15, 16,
    But what does Scripture say about all this? What is the         "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that
Gospel according to the Scriptures? What is the  content.of          are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the
the Gospel according to the Scriptures? And to whom is              savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of
that Gospel directed according  to.,the Scriptures?                 life unto life. And who is sufficient for. these  .things?"      _

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

The Contents of tjie Gospbl
       As has already been said, the contents of the Gospel-is                  11 FROM HOLY WRIT  11
God. God reveals Himself in His Son, Jesus Christ, as the
God of salvation to all those who are in Christ Jesus. There-
fore God speaks throughout all of Scripture concerning His                                  Exposition of Romans 5:12-21
covenant. There is probably no single truth that is more
consistently stressed throughout the Bible than the truth of                    An  Argu?men.t: Death3 Reigning From Adam `To Moses.
God's covenant. And therefore Scripture also speaks re-                         Rom. 5:13,  14.
peatedly of, the promise of the covenant. It cannot escape                         It ought to be` clearly kept in mind, that Paul's great
us how often the promise appears in Scripture. Sometimes                        theme is here not really the Fall, Sin, Death and all its
the emphasis is upon the rich variety of benefits that are                      consequences; but rather he is writing concerning the re-
included in the promise, so that God speaks of "exceeding                       dem.ption which is ours in Christ Jesus, as the fulfilment  of
great and precious promises," using the plural. But always                      the promise of God and of His sovereign good pleasure. In
we are told that the promise is God's promise, the promise                      so writing, he makes a comparison between the legal rep-
of the Father, the promise of- Jehovah, the Almighty. The                       resentation of Adam to the entire human race and of Christ,
promise tells of the coming of Christ, the great good that                      the last Adam, to the new man  which shall perfectly be
is in store for His people, or the kingdom that is eternal in                   saved and glorified. This we ought not to forget.
the heavens. God sums up that promise by assuring the                            However, before we consider this comparison as drawn
partakers of the promise, "I will be thy God, and ye. shall                     in the verses 15-21 we must still take notice of Paul's
be My people forever." Gen. 17:7, II Cor. 6:16, 18, etc.*                       clinching argument in the verses 13 and 14, where we read,
                                                                                "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not im-
The Recipients of  the Gospel                                                   puted when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned
       The recipients of the Gospel are, therefore, always the                  from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned
,elect, the true believers.                                                     after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the
       The promise is very specifically for those .who are des-                 figure of him that was to come."
ignated in Scripture as "the children of the promise," or as
"`the heirs of the promise."                                                       It should be noticed that Paul really reasons here some-
                                      The Word of God is directed to
the "weary and heavy laden" in distinction from those who                       what in the form of a syllogism. A syllogism, you must
-are "rich, and increased with goods, and have need of noth-                    know, is the regular logical form of reasoning or argument
ing." For it is eternally true that faith is God's gift, wrought                consisting of three propositions, the first two are called the
                                                                                premises and the third the 
by the Holy Spirit in the heart of those who are given to                                                      conclusion.   Thus there is the
                                                                                well-known syllogism:
~Christ  by the Father. "By grace are ye saved through faith,
.and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."                               1. All men are mortal.            .
       That does not mean that the Gospel is not preached to                     --~ 2. I am a man,
the ends of the earth. God certainly causes many others to                         3. Ergo: I am mortal.
hear the Word besides the elect, in order to bring separa-                        -In some such way Paul here too reasons. The syllogism
tion between the chaff and the wheat, between the sheep                         here runs about as follows:
and the goats. But the glad tidings are specifically directed                      1. Major premise: where no law is, there is also not
to the elect.~ In the old dispensation Israel had the promises                  any imputation of sin and guilt.
and the covenant in distinction from all the other nations of                      2. Minor premise: the fact is that sin reigned over all
the earth. Even when Christ was on earth He limited His                         men from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not
ministry to'the small area in and around Palestine. And the                     sinned in the similitude of Adam's transgression.
apostles specifically address their epistles to "`the beloved of                    3. Conclusion: all men are accounted guilty and subject
-#God,  called to be saints," Rom. 1:7, `to them that are sanc-                 to the dominion of death, due to Adam's transgression;
tified in Christ Jesus," I Cor. 1:2, "to the saints and faithful                through  ooze man sin entered into the world, and passed
brethren `in Christ," Col.  1:2, or to the "elect strangers," through unto all men.
I Pet. 1:2.                                                                         It is well to observe that the major premise is an axiom
       This is quite different from addressing every individual                 of Paul and of all the moral-order: where no law is there is
with the assurance `<God loves you," "Christ died for you."                     no transgression, and also not any imputation of sin and
       As I hope to point out in the future, the evangelical                    -guilt. On the other hand, the minor premise is taken from
approach in missions'must be on the basis of the five points                    the undeniable testimony of some 2300 years of the history
of Calvinism. There is no other evangel, no other Gospel.                       of mankind, as this is recorded for us in the Genesis record,
And it is the truth of the. Gospel alone that can make men                      the Chapters 4-50, as well as the history of Israel and the
free.                                                                 C.H.      world up till the law-giving at Sinai, as is written in Exodus,
*  ,For  a thorough study of the "promise" I would refer you to the pamphlet    Chapters l-20. The conclusion is therefore iron-clad and
  of Rev.  .H.   Hoeksema  entitled "The Gospel."

                                                                                  -_I


                                          T.HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R - E R                                                  469

      binding. Why? Because the content~here  of both the major        passive or middle, but refers to a state or condition, a state
      and  of. the minor premises is not given by unbelieving          of being. The -@perfect tense refers to action incompleted
     denial of the moral world-order and of the facts of history in past time. Here it expresses incompleted state of being
     as recorded in the Holy Scriptures, but it is given with due      in past time. It is a descriptive imperfect, which is here
     consideration of faith of both of these with the only pos-        used by. Paul to give vivid presentation of what was .the
     -sible and legitimate conclusion. The conclusion too is taught    state of the man under sin in past time. It is the moving
     in the Holy Scriptures.                                           picture and not the snapshot. The entire panorama un-
                                                                       folds before the eyes of us, concerning sin being in the
     Some Exegetical-grammatical Considerations. Rom. 5:  13,14.       world, upon the pages of Holy Writ in which this era from
         Paul writes here, `for until law sin was in the world." Adam to Moses is revealed and recorded for us.
     See verse 13. For a correct understanding of this we ought           That sin was in the world from Adam to Moses is plain
     to attempt to study the meaning of the term "law" as it is        from the clear testimony of `Scripture. Do we not read
     here and often employed by the apostle. The KJV of the            there of the first son of Adam, a man by the name of Cain?
     Bible translates "the law," although in the Greek text we         He rose up against his brother in the field. He was an evil
     simply read "law," without the definite article "the." We         unbeliever! Gen. 4:3-15; Heb.  11:4;  I John  3:12; Jude 11.
     believe that the omission of the definite article here in the     Or take a look, long and hard, at the history of the gen-
     Greek text is intentional on the part of the Apostle. He did      erations of Cain as they end in the proud boasting of La-,
     not intend to single out the law of Sinai in distinction from     mech. Gen. 4:19.  There you see sin in the world in moving-
     other laws, but merely intended to designate the nature of        picture action! Or look at the amalgamated church-world
     the dispensation of Sinai as belonging to the principle of        in the days of Noah as portrayed in Gen.  6:1-S Do not
     law: the man that doeth the same shall live thereby; the          forget to read carefully the account of-,the  world after the
     law-principle in distinction from the grace-principle. All        Flood, when men -would build the Tower of Babel in the
     law is such that, for the transgressor, it is, only the source    days of Peleg. Gen. 11. Does not sin and death reign here,
     of the lmowledge of sin:                                          even so *that' the Lord says, "and now will nothing be re-
         This principle of "law" as a characteristic law-principle     .strained  from them, which they have imagined to do." Or
     Paul often brings forward and sets it in bold relief. Thus        look at the great type and. outburst of sin in the beginning
     we read in Rom.  3:20,."for through `law' (not the  Zaw) is       of the post-Diluvian world, when God destroys Sodom and
     the knowledge of sin." And, again, in verse 21 we read,           Gomorrha, the cities of the plain of Jordan and the Dead
     "but now without law a righteousness of God is mani-              Sea, setting them forth as an example of what God, in His
     fested, being witnessed of by the law and the prophets." righteous judgment, will do to all the world! To appreciate
     Notice that in both of these instances Paul writes simply         for what great example this was set in history we have but
     "law" and not "the law." When the article in Greek is ab-         to look .at the many, many references to this judgment of
     sent no particular things, class of things is pointed out         God as recounted in both the Old Testament and the New
     demonstratively, but rather the qua2ity is emphasized in-         Testament Scriptures. See such passages as Deut. 29:23;
     stead of the identity. This does not mean that P.aul leaves       32:32; Isaiah 1:9, 10; 13:19;  Jer. 23:14; 49:19; 50:40; Amos
     it an open question, a certain grab-bag for us, to decide to      4:ll and Matt.  10:15;  Mk.  6:ll; Rom.  9:29; II Pet.  2:6,
     which law he refers here. It is quite evident that he refers      Jude 7!
     to the. law-giving at Sinai, as the special dispensation of          Surely sin was in the world from Adam to Moses. Look
     the law, given by angels into the hands of the mediator,          at the life of the saints in their sins and weaknesses, of an
     Moses. Only he here emphasizes that that dispensation was         Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Do not fail to observe the sins
     really purely law, it was the "law" added to the promise.         of a Judah and the twelve,sons  of Jacob, not to mention the
     But sin did not come into the world with this law-giving          idolatry of Abraham's posterity. Think of the might and
     at Sinai. It zoos  there even up till that point on the clock     sins of the Egyptian Pharaoh, whom God destroyed utterly
     of God. That men were subject to death is not due to the          in His wrath from heaven.
     law-giving at Sinai. We must look for an earlier judicial
     act of God and the application of the principle of "law," as         Forsooth, sin was ever in the world from Adam to Noah.
     applied to the transgressor. `Such is the cogent reasoning        And sin was there not by virtue of imitation as the proud
     here of Paul.                                                     heresy of Pelagius teaches, but it was there by virtue of the
                                                                       one man, Adam. And it was  there even though God had
         Sin as the transgression of law was in the world up till      not yet promulgated His law amid thunder, lightning, and
     the enunciatio~n of the law-principle at Sinai. Hence, there      earthquake from Sinai's lofty crown. Such is the inter-
     must have been an earlier law-principle which was trans-          pretation' of the Bible concerning the phenomena and reality
     gressed. For sin was in the world. The force of the Greek         of sin in the world.
     verb and its -nature .and tense should not be overlooked
     here. It is the imperfect tense of the verb to ,be in Greek.         Thus God looked from heaven upon all the human race!
     Now the verb `to be" (einai)  does not have voice, active,          `It was all because we sinned in Adam, legally. Upon




I


 470,                                        T H E   STANDAR.D   B E A R E R

 sin came death, and death passed through to all men. All
 have  simred  and come short of the glory of, God. `All are                      IN  H~ISFEAR`
 under sin, under the dominion of death!
     The term "death" (thumtos  in Greek) refers first of all                          Counting and Recounting
 to the legal and just verdict of God. Our guiZt is our death;            After the earthquake, the storm, the fire, or war men
 man is subject to the fearful wrath of God revealed from              walk about the cities counting the damage and loss.
 heaven upon all men. But death is also the corruption and                They examine the buildings and find that the cost runs
 the perversity of our mind and will. Our mind is darkened             into millions and millions of dollars.
 and our will is perverse. Man is wholly incapable of doing               A stroll through the fields will reveal that the count of
 any good and is irmlined  to all evil. Such is the implication        hail damage is great or little.
 of the term `ieigned." Death `is a fearful king - spiritually,           And the cost in lives will soon be published -for all to
 ethically, He is a fearful king and brought all to the grave          know.
 from Adam till Moses, even though they .did not sin as                   This all may be a very cold and mechanical counting. It
 Adam sinned. We all sinned in him, being represented by               may be a painful counting of the loved ones who suffered
 him, and the death which came upon his transgression is               loss of relative and friend, or the loser of property and
 imputed to all of us!                                                 goods. And `what a joy when, walking about, surveying the
                                                                       whole area, all is found to be intact! What unmitigated
 Christologicab  Perspectives.                                         bliss to count and find all  ,safe; to examine and find no
     We must say just a word about this here too. Paul is,             damage and to investigate and see all things in perfect
 strictly speaking, not writing simply about the Fall of the' order and safety!
 human race in Adam. He is writing on the subject of our                  That is the experience of the child of God who walks in
.redemption. Notice the "therefore" in Rom.  5:12, "Where-             His fear. He, according to Psalm 48, walks .about Zion and
 fore as by one man sin entered into the world . .  ." He              goes round about her. He tells the towers thereof, and
will pick up this subject further in the verses 15-21.                 marks well her bulwarks. He considers her palaces. And
                                                                       he finds everything in all its beauty and strength. He counts
     Let us suppose here for the sake of argument that                 the towers and finds not one missing. He marks off on the
 Pelagius-is correct when he teaches:                                  sheet before him this bulwark and that, and  hnds  each one
   1. "Adam was created mortal, so. that he would have                 in place and unscathed. And he rejoices that her palaces
 died whether he had sinned or not;                                    are a .thing of beauty and a shining picture of glory and
         2. "Adam's sin only affected himself, and not the human       blessedness.
 race;                                                                    But you must understand that he does all this counting
         6. "The law is as good a means of salvation as the            after the battle is over. He is not examining all these with
 gospel;                                                               the blue print after which they have been fashioned and as
                                                                       soon as the workman declares his work to be .finished. .Then,
         7. "There were some men, even before the appearance           too, he could say with the psalmist, "Beautiful for situation,
 of Christ, who did not commit sin."                                   the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the
         When we suppose that Pelagius is right, for the sake of       north, the city of the great King.". Indeed! But this count-
 argument, let it then too be seen that he is right when he            ing of Psalm 48 is some time later. The enemy had come,
 denies that Christ really is the free gift of grace for all His       "For, lo, the kings were assembled,. they passed by>together.
 people, so that out of many transgressions we are justified.          They saw it and so. they marvelled; they were troubled and
 The one stands and falls with the other.                              hasted- away. Fear took hold upon them there, and pain as
         We .will denounce this teaching as having its origin with-    of a woman in travail." For they saw that "God is known
 in the gates of hell which would prevail against the church.          in her palaces for a refuge." And He broke "the ships
 Our fathers of Dort say that the Remonstrants took out of             of Tarshish with an east wind." After the battle, after the
 hell once more the teaching, the proud propositions, of               enemy has arrayed `itself against Zion and hurled all its
 Pelagius, of all Greek wisdom and philosophy. We say:                 might against her, the citizens of Zion go round about her,
 Amen! We will bow before the stark and dreadful reality               walk through her streets, tell her towers and bulwarks and
 of the Fall, but with our eye of faith directed upon Calvary,         count to find all things well. As they have heard, so have
 the place of the skull. There hangs the second, the last              they seen. As their parents taught .them the safety and se-
 Adam, the Lord out of heaven. And we will now already                 curity of Zion,. so they found it to. be. And the outcry of
 fill out Rom. 5:12 and add what Paul writes in Rom. 5:18,             praise is, "God will establish it forever."
 << thus also through one man
  . . .                              's righteousness unto all (in        We know not the particular setting of this Psalm. It may
 him) unto justification of life." We rejoice in these Christo-        have been in the days of Jehoshophat, when Moab and
 logical perspectives which are .implied in the manner. of the         Ammon came with an host. It makes little difference. Zion,
 Fall, and we are comforted!!                               G . L .    the church of God, is always under attack; and that church


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R 'D   B E A R E R                                                   471

   is always safe. The church is in one continuous conflict.         cannot be the case, if you live in His fear. When we live
   Her enemies are legion and to be found in hell and on this        by sight, that which we see is disturbing to say the least.
   earth; and at one time also in heaven. Because that church        That which the eye of flesh may see of the church-is enough
  represents the living God in the midst- of an evil world she       to fill us with another fear. Terror must strike our hearts.
   is hated as that living God is ,hated. The natural man is an      For the `forces of ~darkness .are today more powerful than
   enemy of God. He has not the enmity against the serpent           they have ever been before. And they will build their
   and his seed, but instead against the living God and His          strength until they have produced the man of sin, the son
   elect children. To love God is to keep His commandments           of perdition that skilled and talented master of wickedness
   and be subject to that law of God. `But `Paul declares in         and evil. God has produced and begotten the Christ, born
   Romans 8:7 that "the carnal mind is enmity against God:           of a virgin. Satan will produce and present to the world the
  for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can        antichrist. In Bethlehem we saw that "holy thing" that was
   be." Get the full force of that statement! The natural mind       born of Mary; but we saw Him there only by faith. And we
   cannot be subject to the law of God. It is not simply a case      &all see that son of perdition also only by faith.
   of what that carnal or natural mind does. It certainly is a          What we will see of the man of sin with the fleshly eye
   matter of what that mind CAN do and CANNOT do. It                 will be that which is mighty attractive. He will do many
   cannot be subject to the law of God. Paul knows of no             signs and wonders. What we see by sight will cause us to
   "civic righteousness" which that carnal mind still performs.      worship the beast and to cry after him, "Who is like unto
   Paul dares to disagree with those who would leave a little        the beast? Who' is' able to make war with him?" We will
   good in man, a little innate power whereby he can at least        see safety and security in him. And because he is religious,
   will to be saved ,from that state of incapability to do any-      because he has for his press agent, his publicity man, the
   thing good and thus. to be saved. The carnal mind is enmity       false prophet, we will hail him as a Godsend. We will learn
   against God. And to call Paul a liar and to contradict him        to hate the truth and to see the `beauty" of the lie. Chris-
   is to contradict the living God .Whose  Spirit revealed this      tianity will become synonomous with culture and civiliza-
1 truth to Paul. It is at the same time therefore one of those       tion and, social progress. We will walk about this  anti-
~ `evil acts of that carnal mind. The faith of God will never        Christian kingdom, the world power, and count its towers
   speak that way. The flesh can only speak that way.                and bulwarks' and palaces and feel smug and safe in that
      And we are surrounded by those with carnal minds, un-          confidence that no man can make war with the beast. All
   regenerated children of ,darkness.  The world is full of them.    this the eye of flesh shall see until fear, real fear, terror, and
   In comparison the,church  is but a handful. Today as well         panic shall grip us because we see the Christ coming in
   as in ages past "the heathen rage, and the people imagine         His glory to judge the quick and the dead. That also the
   a vain thing." "The kings of the earth set themselves, and        eye of flesh shall finally see. Every eye shall see Him, and
   the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and             they-that pierced Him shall look upon Him.
   against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands               But by faith - which is seeing. all things in His fear -
   asunder, and cast away their cords from us." That is no Old       we shall see the antichrist as the son of perdition and Zion's
   Testament philosophy. That is every .day reality. Today it        security and ,will count not the towers and palaces of the
   ought not to be questioned at all when open attempts are          world but of Zion. By faith we sha,ll see that Zion is the joy
   made to destroy the church of God on every side, to harass        of the whole earth and that she stands unscratched after
   her, to take away her privileges, to place upon her financial     every skirmish and battle. For we shall see that `%od is
   burdens `of taxation and to wipe out all faith in the onetrue     known in her palaces for a refuge." We will look for Zion,
   God!                                                              that City of God, in Holy Writ. We will not look for it in
      The battle is on. The armies are set in array. There           the kingdoms of this world. We will turn the pages of
   soon will be the gathering at Armageddon, when Satan and          Scripture to count those towers and see those bulwarks and
   his host in one mad, desperate fling shall pit all the world      mark her palaces. Nothing man can `do will erase that
   against that church. Victory `shall seem so very close and        beautiful picture which by faith we see there.             .
   imminent. The cause of Christ cannot stand a day longer.             We will see Christ and His cross. We will see a finished
   Then Christ will come and take His people by the hand to          reconciliation. We will see that all things, nbsolz~tely none
   walk about Zion and count her towers and bulwarks and ,erc.Med,  work together for good to those that love God.
   palaces. And the church shall see the complete safety and         We will see that "our light affliction, which is but for a
   the unmarred beauty and glory of that church.                     moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
      What a pleasant and delightful occupation this counting        weight of glory; While `we look not at the things that' are
   of Zion's towers and bulwarks and palaces. What joy and           seen, but at the things which are not seen." II Cor. 4:17, 18.
   comfort and peace it affords. But have you ever'done it?          We will see that the Lord hath dealt well with His serv-
   Have you come expecting the worst? Have you conceded              ants. Psalm 119:64.  We will see that the world serves the
   the victory already to Satan and his host? Has your heart         church as the chaff serves the wheat and as the scaffold
   fainted and have your legs been given  to. trembling? These       serves the building. Walking around Zion on the pages of

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

     Holy Writ, we see a glorified Christ seated on the throne            lem to count all God's promises, and all the things that He
     with power over all things, nothing  .excluded,  realizing the       has promised, and find them intact and  fulhlled to the last
     day of His return, and the plan of that Zion engraven  upon          degree. And they will recount the praises of Him Who
     the  palms of God's hands wherewith He forms it exactly              saved us by the'blood  of the Lamb and accomplished all
     according to that pattern. We see it all intact in the power         our salvation for us.                                  J.A.H.
     of an almighty and unchangeable God.
            But there we must not stop. And there we do not stop,
     if in His fear we have seen all this. We count but we also           II -- Cokending FOP The Faith
     recount. And we recount particularly to the generations
     following; Do we.p It is time for our children, the genera-                  The Church and the Sacraments
     tion that follows us, to go back to school. Who is going to
     recount and what is he going to recount to your children?                     THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION
     .Can and would the world ever recount the security and                VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENTS (LORD'S SUPPER)
     beauty of Zion? To ask the question is to answer it. Can
     the enemy even desire to sing the praises of God? Will the                           THE REFORMED VIEW
     instructor of your children recount the glory of the king-              It belongs, of course; to the essence` of a sacrament that
     doms of  -this world, its achievements, its successes and            it be instituted by God through Jesus Christ. The sacra-
     "glorious future?" Will he tram your child to live merely            ments are signs, but all signs are not necessarily sacraments.
     for this life and to make this world his goal? Will he refuse        All things are signs. ,Bread and water and wine are always
:    your child the right to pray to that God Who is known in             signs. God created. the entire universe as one gigantic pic-
     Zion for a refuge?                                                   ture. The Lord created the earthly with a view to the heav-
            He, that unbelieving teacher, has but. one eye; and his       enly. The heavenly renewal of all things in Christ Jesus does
     eye of flesh can. never see_ anything but ridicule and scorn         not simply replace the earthy as created with Adam at its
     for Zion. Religion, he has said, is the opium of the masses.         head. The heavenly renewal of all things is not merely a
     Man came from a monkey and not from the hands of an                  divine after-thought, a divine remedy, another decree of the
     all-wise and glorious God. We are the captains of our                Lord to save as many men as He possibly can after Adam
     .souls and the masters of our fate. The world is before you          failed in the so-called covenant of works. Gods decree of
     to conquer it and make it a better place to live. High sound-        election and reprobation, in God's eternal counsel, surely
     ing but empty slogans and phrases fall from the lips of              does not follow upon the creation and fall of man. When
     t h e s e .                                                          the Lord, then, in His eternal counsel, created mankind in
            Send your children where they may have Zion's beauty          Adam, He had not as yet determined or decreed His counsel
     and security recounted and the praises of God related.. And          of election and reprobation. His decree of election and rep-
     if there is no such institution yet in your area, strive with all    robation occurred only after mankind had fallen into sin
     the talents and resources which the living God has given             and death. And according to the so-called  co,venant of
     you to realize it as soon as possible. And where there are           works, Adam was in the position, in the way of obedience,
     such schools, hold on with might~and main to THAT truth              to gain for himself and all his posterity eternal life and
     that your children may see that "this God is our God for             heavenly immortality. This implies that Christ was really
     ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death." Let            not necessary, inasmuch as Adam could have `attained unto
     not the lie creep in and be harbored, the lie that part of           the same heavenly glory in the way.of obedience. But this
     that security of Zion depends upon the citizens of that king-        also means that it may be regarded, everlastingly, as a
     dom. Let them not be deceived into thinking that it de-              tragedy that he did not succeed, because, had he succeeded,
     pends upon us whether we will to be in that city or not. Let         all mankind would have entered into the everlasting glory,
     the glorious gospel of a sovereign and unchangeable elec-            instead of a mere remnant according to election. This is
     tion from before the foundation of the world be taught               certainly not the presentation of the Scriptures. The apostle
     them. Then the security of these.towers  wiil be seen. Then          teaches us emphatically in his epistle to the Ephesians that
     it does not depend upon the ilimsy, changeable and fickle            it was the mystery :of God's will to gather in one all things,
     will of an enemy of the living God, but upon the almighty            in heaven and on earth, even. in Christ Jesus. Indeed, the
     and unchangeable grace and power of the God of all glory:            Lord created the entire universe as one gigantic picture of
            What you recount and/or provide for your children to          the heavenly. He made the earthly with a view to the
     have recounted- unto them will be what they recount again            heavenly. The sun, moon, and stars in the heavens above,
     to the generation that follows them. In His fear recount to          the world of color, plants, animals, numbers, are all signs.
     them the truth about God and His church. Then mount                  But signs are not necessarily sacraments. A sign becomes a
     Zion shall rejoice, and the daughters of Judah will `be glad.        sacrament only when Christ institutes the same in His
     Having the fear of the Lord, they have no fear of what man           church, to be used `by His church. Only when the church
     can or will do to them. They will expect in the new Jerusa-          partakes of bread and water, in accordance with Christ's

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

institution of the same, do we have a sacrament. It is also        the bread and wine are changed into the actual body and
for this reason that these sacraments must be. observed in         blood of our Lord. The old dispensational  passover  is the
the church and within- the church, in the midst  -of the           Old Testament, type or symbol of the New. But, the old
gathering of the believers.                                        dispensational  passover  is the Old Testament type or sym-
   The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is the new dispensa-         bol of the new dispensational Lord's Supper. Where, then,
tional fulfillment  of the Old Testament Passover. We need         was transubstantiation present in the Old Dispensation?
not enter into a detailed discussion of this old dispensational    Were the lamb and the unleavened bread also changed
feast. Christ, we know, instituted the sacrament of the            from their natural substances into the spiritual reality of
Lord's Supper before His crucifixion and at the time when          Christ? The answer to this question is, of course, obvious.
He celebrated His last Passover with His disciples. We             The answer must be given in the negative. Christ, histor-
understand that the Passover, as observed by Christ and            ically, was not yet in the Old Testament. But then it must
His disciples in the upper room the evening before His             also be true, upon the standpoint of Rome, that the Old
death, was the last possible Passover. There could not pos-        Testament Passover could not have been a true picture of ,
sibly be another. He was about to die upon the cross of            the Lord's Supper of the New Testament..
Calvary, His death.would  be the fulfillment of the lamb of             In connection with the Old Testament sacraments of
the Old Testament Passover, and another passover  could not        circumcision and the Passover, one wonders whether the
possibly follow upon His death upon the cross. The signif-         feast of the passover  was celebrated during Israel's desert
icance of the Old Testament Passover, as observed in the           wanderings, from the land of Egypt to Canaan, except for
land of Canaan, was two-fold. On the. one hand, the pass-          the passover  that was observed at Mount Sinai (Numbers
over was a remembrance feast. Israel was always reminded,          9:5). It is evident from Joshua 52-9  that circumcision was
through this feast, of its deliverance out of Egypt, the Old       not administered during all these years. Apart from the fact
Testament house of bondage. It always looked back to that          that this sacrament was not administered because of Israel's
mighty deliverance of the Lord when the angel of the Lord          daily wanderings, the text in Joshua explains this withhold-
"passed over" the houses of the Israelites because of the          ing of the sacrament from the people in the light of the
blood upon the doorposts, and when that same angel of              disobedience of the church of God in the. wilderness (see
death visited death upon the land of Egypt because there           Joshua 5:5-6). Israel's idolatry and the curse of the Lord
was no blood upon their doorposts. And, incidentally, Egypt        that followed them all during those forty years in the.
never was informed of the blood, never `had a chance," in-         wilderness rendered the administration of the rite impos-
asmuch as it was reprobated of the Lord and it was the             siblie..
will of the Lord to reveal His power to them. Deliverance               The-sign of the Lord's Supper is clearly understood. It
was divinely reserved only for Israel, the elect people of the     contains the following elements. We have, first of all, the
Lord. On the other hand, however, this feast was also              bread and wine. Bread is the "staff of life," refers to food
proleptic; it looked ahead. Israel's deliverance out of Egypt,     which is indispensable for our earthly existence. Christ is
the angel of the Lord "passing over" the. houses of the            for us the Bread of Life, and this life, eternal life, is fellow-
Israelites because of the blood upon the doorposts, was a          ship with God. Wine, in the natural sense, rejoices the
mighty type of the church's deliverance and. redemption            heart, is something "extra," and symbolizes Christ as He is
through the blood of Calvary, even as the church's deliver-        for us the Bread of Life in heavenly glory and immortality.
ance through the waters of the flood was also a type of            Christ does not simply save us, lead us back to the perfec-
Christ's deliverance of His own through His blood upon             tion we had in Adam; but He gives us this fellowship with
Calvary. In the light of the fact that the church's deliver-       God in heavenly glory, in far richer sense than Adam ever
ance through the waters of the flood and again through the         enjoyed or could possibly enjoy. Secondly, the sacrament
waters of the Red Sea was a symbol of the sacrament of             of the Lord's Supper speaks of the bread as broken and the
Baptism, as also stated in our Baptism Form, one might             wine as poured. This, too, is an essential element. The
well ask how the sacrament of baptism can ever be a token          broken bread and poured out wine speak of the body and
of grace for all those who are baptized. The sacrament of-         blood of the Lord as broken and shed for us upon the cross
baptism and Christ's death upon the cross are surely as sov-       of Calvary. The third essential element in the sacrament is
ereignly particular as was the love of the Lord. as revealed       the sign of eating and drinking the bread and wine at the
to His people when He delivered them from the world                table of communion. Here we have an important difference
through the flood and the deliverance through the Red              between the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and that of
Sea. Hence, looking back to Israel's deliverance out of            Baptism. There- are also other differences. The sacrament
Egypt, Israel then looked ahead to the fulfillment of this         of baptism,-for example, is administered only once. Besides;
mighty type in the coming. of the Messiah, Israel's Hope, of.      this sacrament is administered first; one is always baptized
redemption. In this connection, however, `we may ask an            before he partakes of communion, and this also applies to
interesting question. Roman Catholicism believes in the            adult baptism. The baptism of an adult must precede his
doctrine of transubstantiation. According to this doctrine,        partaking of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And, the


4    7    4                             T H E   S T A N D - A R D   B E A R E R

sacrament of baptism is administered to infants. However,
the sign `of eating and drinking is also an important  dis-      11 THECHURCH ATWORSHIP /I
tinction. In the sacrament of baptism we are wholly passive,
and properly so. Our incorporation into God's covenant             "0 Worship the Lo& in the beauty of holiness." Psalm  96:Qa
surely does not require any conscious activity on our part.
Regeneration is exclusively immediate. But in the sacra-                                    Qows
ment of the Lord's Supper we eat and drink. -A fourth im-.          Following the description of and Scriptural arguments
portant  sign in the sacrament of the Eucharist is the word      for the doctrine of infant baptism, we come upon the state-
of the minister. The minister exhorts the congregation: "Eat,    ment in the Baptism Form, "And parents are in duty bound,
this is my body; do this in remembrance of me." This is im-      further to instruct their children herein, when they shall
portant because this word, of the minister represents the        arrive to years of discretion." Then follows an intercessory
Word of Christ. It is Christ Himself Who addresses His           prayer. The expressed purpose of this prayer is that the
own Word to the hearts of the communing believers.- And          sacrament may be administered `to God's glory, to our com-
the last element in this sacrament is ,the sign of the table     fort, and to the edification of His church." The real implica-
-of communion, signifying that we eat and drink with God         tion here is the confession that we are unworthy of the
in His tabernacle through our Lord Jesus Christ. The sacra-      sacrament, unable to meet its obligations and that our suf-
ment of the Lord's Supper is a feast of fellowship, and it       ficiency in all these things is God alone. His grace is, there-
is hardly conceivable for this sacrament to be administered      fore, to be implored. But the consideration of the content of
to only one individual.                                          this baptismal prayer we will pass by for the present and dis-
     The sign of ,the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, con-       cuss it later in connection with the prayer of thanksgiving.
sisting of the five elements set forth in the preceding para-       After the prayer of intercession, the parents of the child
graph, speaks for itself. We need not enter into a detailed      or children to be baptized are addressed with the following
discussion of them. But we must emphasize that, as far as        important exhortation:
the Reformed conception of the sacrament is concerned, the          "Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have heard that
sign remains unchanged. The Romish doctrine of transub-          baptism is an ordinance of God, to seal unto us and to our
stantiation teaches a change of the substances. To this we       seed His covenant; therefore it must be used for that end,
have already called-attention. The bread and wine become         and not out of custom or superstition. That it may then be
the actual body and blood of Christ, and Christ, is actually     manifest, that you are thus minded, you are to answer sin-
present upon the altar according to His human and divine         cerely to these questions."
natures. Having officially established this as the doctrine         In answering the questions put to them, the parents, in
of the Church at the Lateran  Council of 1215, Rome, in its      the presence of the church and before the face of God Him-
Council of Trent, in the sixteenth century, declares accursed    self, speak the baptismal vow. Also this is not done out of
whoever denies this change. Lutheranism holds to the  doc-       custom or tradition but in all sincerity and truth. The sol-
`trine of consubstantiation, and maintains that we receive       emnity of the occasion must be deeply impressed not only
the actual body and blood of Christ through the mouth, in        upon those making the vows but upon the whole congrega-
and$with  the elements of the bread. and wine. And we know       tion that witnesses them. Promises are made to God. Con-
that Rome and Lutheranism, as far as the sacrament of bap-       fession of the' truth is expressed and convictions of the
tism is concerned, also apply this theory to the water of        .truth, based on the Word, concerning the incorporation of
baptism, ascribing magical power to the water itself. The        the seed of the covenant into the body of Christ through
Reformed symbols, however, must have nothing of this.            sovereign grace are heard by God and His church. Matters
They maintain most ,emphatically  that the various elements      these are that may not be trifled with and-neither are they
in the sacraments retain their substances and remain un-         things that. we must concern ourselves with only at the
changed. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is emphatic-         moment of baptism. These  VOWS  and their many implica-
ally a sign. However, this is not all. The Reformed concep-      tions are of force throughout our entire life, and our atten-
tion recognizes the fact that the Lord's Supper is also a        tion.must be focused on them constantly. Our concern for
sacrament. They recognize the fact that we do not-merely         the material, temporal things of life must be secondary,
eat bread and drink wine. They recognize the fact that this      while we may never forget our promises to God. The im-
sacrament is definitely a means of grace; and, as a means of     portance of this we will point out from the Word of God
grace,' it is certainly characterized by an operation of the     presently.
Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. The question is therefore          Vows of various kinds are found in almost all religious
certainly in order: What, then, is the connection between        traditions. It is common, for example, in Buddhism for lay-
the sign and the thing signified? What, according to the         men to take upon themselves some of the extra practices of
Reformed view, takes place at the celebration of the Lord's      monks, such- as eating no solid food after midday and
 Supper? To this we expect to call attention the next time.      avoiding worldly entertainment for a day, week, or month.
                                                         H.V.    Then there is also the long-term or even lifetime vow,


                                           T H E   STA.NDARD..BEAR-ER.                                                        4 7 5

 particularly among special religious sects or orders. Among         as binding as an oath and it is therefore made to be kept.
 the Old Testament Hebrews the Nazarites vowed not to cut            Caution is repeated that once made it must be kept, and the
 their hair nor drink wine, sometimes for life (Num. 6). A           one making it must devote all diligence to its execution. Our
 Roman Catholic priest vows himself to chastity; and yaws            Baptism Form stresses this point with the insertion of the
 of chastity, poverty and obedience are  -taken  in Roman            phrase, `to the utmost of your power." And Scripture makes
 Catholic religious orders and congregations. A Hindu                clear the severe penalty which God inflicts upon the vow-
 sadhu (holy man) may vow never to lie down to sleep. A              b r e a k e r .   -
 Buddist monk gives up all personal possessions except a                In Deuteronomy  23:21  the Lord says, "When thou shalt
 few living necessities, begs his food, and devotes himself to       vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack
 meditation and study. These are organized patterns of               to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee;
 religious living; yet persons enter them voluntarily and live       and it would `be sin in thee.". And again in verse 23, "That
 in them a life of effort or self-denial, much beyond the            which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform;
 standard required of ordinary' believers. Hence such a' even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto
 life may be called a life of vow-fulfillment.                       the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy
    Without passing a judgment upon the validity or even             mouth."
 advisability .of these special religious vows, we point out            Ecclesiastes  5:4 is very explicit on this  -matter. There
 one basic difference between them and the baptismal  VOWS           we read: "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not
 which are our present concern. As has been stated, the              to pay it;`for he hath no pleasure in fools; pay that which
 former are entered into voluntarily. In a sense this is true        thou hast vowed. Better it is that thou shouldest not vow,
 when we present our children in baptism also. That is, it is        than that thou shouldest vow and not pay."
 true-in the sense that we are not compelled by force or law            We might add to this yet the instruction`of Leviticus 5:4
 to do so. However, the baptizing of our children and the            where the vow-breaker is declared to be `guilty in one of
 taking up of the vows in this connection is, strictly speaking,     these."' The principle of these passages applies to us today
not a voluntary thing. It is a binding, ethical duty which           as much as it did to Israel of old. Our vows must be spoken
 God imposes upon every believer. Although there are oc-             intelligently and sincerely and followed by a manifest ardor
 casions in our -life- when it is optional whether we shall          to fulfill them lest the punishment of God comes upon us.
 make a vow (Deut. 23:22), this is not the case with respect         Now we know that also this law is fulfilled in Christ for
 to the duty to present our children in baptism. The church          us and that apart from Him we are not able to realize our
 is remiss that fails to discipline parents who`wilfully  neglect    VOWS,  but this fact does not abrogate our duty. It only           -
 this sacrament and thereby refuse to take these vows upon           accentuates the cry of the believer in Christ  ~imploring day
 their lips. And the reasoning is completely fallacious that         by day that measure of indispensable grace that enables us
 contends that one is free from the obligation when he re-           to keep ,the precepts of our God even as we vow. The sev-
 frains from making the vow of baptism. The responsibility           erity of the punishment upon this offense is cited, therefore,
 remains to confess' the truth and to instruct the children          not to instill fear and apprehension into our souls but to
 God entrusts to our,care in it. From this we can never be           excite in us a greater.diligence'in  seeking the Lord. and His
 free, and futile is every attempt to circumvent the institu-        grace, in walking with our children in His ways, so that we
 tions of God so as to release us from this responsibility.          may in faithfulness to that which we have vowed to Him
    Scripture itself does not speak explicitly of the baptism        show forth His praise in all our works.
 vow. It does,' however, speak of vows on different occasions.          The matter of punishment brings before us another mat-
 Jacob, on the way to Padanaram, vows a tithe to the Lord,           ter. This is the question of the ethics of our vows. .Oh, there
 "if God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that          is no question about the ethical rightness of the baptismal
 I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,         vow: for that, as we have stated, is required of us by God.
 so that I come again to my father's house in peace" (Gen.           But we consider many other vows which we often make
 28:20). Jepthah utters a rash vow, pledging the sacrifice of        carelessly, promises we utter without fully realizing their
 that which first meets, him on his return from battle (Judges       implications, and consequently which are frequently broken.
 11:30). Hannah, in the bitterness of her soul, prayed to            We must exercise due caution before we speak such VOWS
 God and vowed a vow concerning a child she sought from              and be certain that our intentions are serious and sincere
 the Lord (I Sam. 1: 11) . Although the New Testament is             when they are uttered. A certain J. Kostlin expressed an
 more silent on this subject, Paul took a vow to show his            opinion on this matter in the following quote:
 Jewish brethren that he is  willing~ to keep the forms of              "It must be remembered that all action is conditioned
 Jewish piety so long as they do not clash with his Christian        by a variety of subjective and objective circumstances
 conscience (Acts  21:23,  24). And Jesus Himself did not            which may alter from time to time. What seems now a
 condemn the vow although He does severely condemn the               positive duty may some day be superseded by a more
 abuse of the vow (Matt. 15:4-6).                                    pressing one, and -man must then  -be free to follow the
     On this last point Scripture is very emphatic. A vow is         higher call. There may be cases in which a vow to remain


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 476               -                         `T H E   S T A N D A R D .   B E A R E R                   -                 1

 unmarried should be taken by an evangelical Christian;
 but-if he is to make it unconditionally, he must be absolute-           l/ALL  ARiNND  US/l
 ly sure that he will never be placed in a position in which
it would be better for him to be married. An unconditional               A CHURCH ON THE MOVE
 vow of the sort may amount to tempting God, with no                        The one denomination that more than any other is on
 promise of blessing in return; and the same may be said. of             the march is the Roman Catholic Church. This is especially
 the pledge by total-abstinence societies. If the-formal ex-             true in the United States.
 pression of the resolve becomes a burden on the conscience, ~              There are several reasons for this. In the first place, the
 it exposes the soul to an additional danger; in that case               Roman Catholic Church is rapidly making itself more at-
 such special and formal vows will be required only seldom               tractive to people without too, many convictions by its
 and under extraordinary circumstances in the life of evan-              efforts towards renewal and reform: This has come about
 gelical Christians. In most cases their place will better be            especially through the  inlluence  of Pope John XXIII and
 taken by an earnest laying before God of the impulses of                the Vatican Council. Secondly, the Roman Catholic Church
 devotion, with a prayer to be kept firm in purpose."                    gets a lot of publicity that puts it almost continuously in
     The apostle James instructs us on this point when he                the eyes of the world. The Vatican Council made thousands
 tells us, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on, the mor-               of headlines; John Kennedy's brief tenure in office, assas-
 row. For what is your life? It is even a  vapour,  that  ap-            sination and funeral (carried over TV) gave extensive m-
 peareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away, For that            formation of the-catholic Church to millions; its increasing
 ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and .do this,         influence in every sphere of life makes reams` of propaganda
 or that." That small but significant "D.V." is too often ab-            for the Romish Church. Thirdly, to those who have no
 sent in our thinking, planning, vowing of this or that with             interest in the truth, the Romish Church has a certain at-
 respect to things that are not in our control. I may promise            tractiveness. Its religion is an easy one. One can live
 to work for a mtin for so much a week, and a condition of               practically as one pleases, believe almost anything one
 employment may be that I .pledge  to remain in the job for              wants to believe -if he isn't too noisy about it-do and
 which the employer  trains.me  for a minimum of five years.             say anything he chooses to, if only he will come to mass,
 But if the- Lord incapacitates me, or I die, I cannot fulfill           contribute his money, and enter an occasional confessional.
 my pledge. We are simply unable. to make absolute prom-. Practically all he has to do is give his soul into the hands of
 ises, for we are not sovereign. That is also why God's prom-            the Church and receive in exchange a reserved place in
ises to us are always unconditional and sure. He is our                  heaven. Besides, for those who love pageantry and pomp,
  sovereign Lord.                                                        outward show and beautiful liturgy,' the Romish Church
     But our concern now is primarily with the vow of bap-               has many attractions.
  tism. Connected with this are two other major vows which                   Statistics show how huge the Church has become in
  God,requires of us and which are made in the course of our             America. It is now numbered officially at 44,874,371 mem-
  earthly life. This triad constitutes the expression of Chris-          hers,-although there. are probably  4,000,OOO  to  5,000,OOO
  tian living that affects every phase and sphere of our ex--            more since,many parishes report considerably less members
~ istence each day we live in the world. We mention these                than they have to escape the burden of assessments. It has
  three with the intention of discussing them more fully in              an estimated  24,000,OOO children of school age and under,
  subsequent articles. They are: (1) The vow the Christian               1,300,OOO  which were baptized last year. It has 244 prelates,
  makes in his public profession of faith, in which one con-             57,000  priests,~lSO,OOO  sisters. Of the 244 prelates, five are
  sciously assumes- the responsibilities of baptism and vows to          cardinals, 32 are archbishops, and 207 dare bishops. It has
  live in accordance with the Word. (2) The vow the Chris-               4,594 missions in this country, 1,502 stations, and .12,076
  tian makes upon entering the holy state of marriage and in             chapels where mass . is regularly celebrated. There are
  which one vows in that relation to reflect  the beautiful.             I4,370  educational institutions, including 112 diocesan sem-
  union of Christ and His Church. (3) The-vow  which-  be-               inaries, 459 religious communities' seminaries, 295 colleges
  lieving parents make in presenting the gifts of God, their             and universities, 1,557 diocesan and parish high schools, 901
  children, before Him in baptism, pledging to instruct and -private  high schools, 10,452 parish elementary schools, 450
  bring them up in the truth to the utmost of their power.               private elementary schools. There are 944 hospitals' under
                                                           G.v.d.B.      the church's control, 255 orphanages and infant asylums,
                                                                         376 homes for invalids and the aged. 123,986 converts were
                              IN MEMORIAM                                recorded last year by the Church., It has become far and
     We give thanks to our heavenly Father, that, for so long time,      away the largest and richest church,in the nation.
  92 years, we could have our mother,                                        And, as  `it grows, it becomes a greater threat to the
                        MRS. FRED (De Borst) FABER                        Church of Christ.
  whom it pleased to take from her pilgrimage on July 23, 1964.              It is, however, the rapid renewal and reform of the
  "For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth  en-    church that attracts the greatest interest.
  dureth to all generations." Ps.  100:5.


                                         T H E   STANDARDS  B E A R E R                                                     , 477

   Well-known is the fact that by ruling of the Vatican           though many Catholics protest that this would be no good
Council, English is soon to be introduced into the mass.          since it would make confession too difficult. One cardinal
Although some parishes will start sooner, the date set is         is quoted as saying that confessing to a woman priest would .
November 29.                                                      be like making confession on television.
   Further, the difference in attitude over against Prot-            Strikingly however, all this talk of reform is limited
estants has attracted considerable attention. Formerly all        pretty much. to matters of morality and church practices.
who were not of the Romish Church were apostates bound            Doctrine is left out of the picture.  Time  magazine, in a
for hell. Now suddenly they are brethren, although one            recent issue featuring the Romish Church and Cardinal
still should add the adjective "separated." This. change in       Cushing, says, "This surge of renewal is more concerned
attitude has led to all kinds of seminars, "dialogues,"`"con-     with the structure of the church than the substance of doc-
versations," contacts and meetings between Catholics and          trine, more with practical questions of morality and  Chris-
Protestants which have as their hope advances towards             tian living than with abstract theological problems."
unity. Cardinal Gushing, famous for presiding at Kennedy's           This is correct. The heretical doctrines stand unchanged.
funeral, has boasted that he has visited nearly 80 churches       And, indeed, the church could only change them at its peril.
of Protestants and Jews, spoken in some, prayed in many.          Still standing (and bound to stand till the world ends) are
   One of the fastest growing aspects of this so-called re-       the heresies of papal infallibility, the immaculate  concep-
newal is participation of the laity in affairs of the church.     tion of Mary, her assumption into heaven without death,
There was a time, not so long ago, when the clergy was            the authority of tradition besides Scripture,  justihcation  by
considered the church and the laity obligated to obey the         works, the Church's right to slaughter the saints of the
rulings of the clergy, observe the commands of the Church,        Reformation, the presence of Christ in the  eucharist, the
and, for the rest, not ask~questions.  This is changing. The      apostolic succession of the clergy, etc. It stands to reason         -
laity are being urged to take an active role in affairs, ask      that these doctrines must remain. If they are seriously
their questions and discuss the issues of the day. The result     altered or abandoned, the doctrine of papal infallibility will
is, often led by prelates and priests, that active discussions    also have to be abandoned,. for they were established by
are going on about all sorts of changes the Church should         papal dictum. And if the papacy loses its claim to infal-
make.                                                             libility, it loses its very reason for existence. There will then
                                                                  be no pope. And without a pope there will be no Roman
   For example, the question of birth control is a discussion     Catholic Church. Pope Paul, in a recent .encyclical,  spoke
now raging in the Church. The ruling has hitherto been            of this: "In reflecting on this  subect (of papal primacy),
that mechanical contraceptives are contrary to natural law        it distresses us to see how" the Popeis regarded by many
and therefore forbidden. The only types of birth control          non-Roman Catholic Christians as being a stumbling block
condoned were abstinence and the rythmn method. But               to unity. `Without the Pope, the Catholic Church would no
there is an increasing clamor for .change in these rulings.       longer be Catholic."
It is estimated by some Catholics themselves that as many            In other words, there is to be no compromise of doc-
as 50% of married couples violate the law. Others are leav-       trine. Perhaps; -for the sake of unity, these doctrines may
ing the Church because they cannot live with this law. So         be circumscribed somewhat (the church is very adept at
the question has. become a burning issue. Pope Paul has           maintaining a doctrine while leaving the impression that. it
recently announced that -the authorities in Rome are re-          is altering it); they may be shoved- into the background
studying the entire .matter, which seems to indicate that         where hardly anyone notices them; they may be de-em-
some changes will be made. In the meantime, however,              phasized to quiet the fears of the "separated brethren";
Catholics are urged to maintain the stand of the Church.          but they will continue'to stand.
   Other subjects are being discussed, and many are urging           Therefore, even though the Church grows ever larger
other changes. : .There are some, including members of: the       and wealthier; even though a certain unity with Protestants
clergy, who want the index of forbidden books to be abol-         may be attained; one who seeks fellowship with the Romish
ished; More and  .more  members  .of the Church are con-          Church only by paying the price of the heritage of the
demning the practice of making a Protestant spouse promise        Reformation and imperilling one's soul.
when marrying a Catholic to bring up the  .,children  as            . . To many of today's Protestants this does not seem to be
Catholics and not to interfere with the practicing of the         an obstacle:
Catholic religion by the marriage partner. There is also an
increased  aemand`for the laws of celibacy to be relaxed so
that at least the lesser clergy, such as deacons (and perhaps     RiGION  IN. SCHOOL
even priests ) , can marry. There was a case recently in             Several different times we have talked about the most
Germany  of, a man converted `to the Catholic religion who,       recent experiments, in alleviating the burdens of those who
although married, was permitted to enter the priesthood.          support private or parochial  scl~ools; i.e., the so-called
Some are even pleading for the ordination of women, al-           `shared time plan." To refresh your memories, the shared

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

 time plan proposes to send private and parochial school            taught. in the school where God can safely be ignored be-
 pupils to public schools for instruction in certain subjects       cause He is irrelevant.
. where religion can supposedly be eliminated.  These sub-           The `argument is fallacious all down the line. It is not
 jects are such as science courses, gym classes, home econom-       possible to be neutral anywhere in life, including the public
 ics, etc. The advantage is supposed to be two-sided. For           school system. One cannot ignore-God without denying
 those who support private and parochial schools, tremen-           Him. If the subject of religion is studiously avoided in the
  dous savings in money are made, for the private or parochial classroom, God is avoided, and, consequently, denied. For,
  schools no longer need equip their `schools with elaborate        "`He  ,that is not for me is against me." And there is no
  gymnasiums and expensive laboratories for science courses.        neutral ground. This is' why the public school system is
  Besides, parents of private and parochial schools have every      becoming a mighty engine for the propagation of atheism.
  right to send their children to public schools inasmuch as           Besides, there is no neutral subject where God is  iri
  they support public schools with their tax dollars. For the       relevant. For every subject taught in a school is part of the
  public school system the advantage is lower costs because         revelation of God. This includes even science which is the
  they are not obligated to educate floods of private school        study of God's world. Once again, to ignore Him is to deny
 pupils whose tax dollars they nevertheless receive.                Him.
        The idea has  shread  rapidly so that now 350 school          j Further, if there is one subject that is neutral, why are
  districts in 36 states have some sort of shared time program.     they not all in the same class? If science is neutral why not
        Recently however, a school `board in  Maywood,  New         geography? And if geography, why not history? So why
  Jersey attracted the notice of the public by refusing a           not send the pupils to a public school for all their courses
  Roman Catholic schooi the use of its facilities for several       except a few courses in Bible? But you don't need a school
  courses. The Roman Catholic parochial school, <which has          for that; a catechism class will do.
  144 students, asked the use-of the public school gymnasium           It appears as if the public school will presently take over
  and science laboratory. The school board refused on the           all the education of all the children in America. But when
  grounds that this would entail the hiring of an additional        that day comes, you will see the public school as a tool of
 science teacher, and the necessary expense would be wholly         the state become the mightiest and most efficient machine
  unjustified. The parochial school involved is now suggesting      for the training of atheistic- slaves of an atheistic state this
  that it close its doors completely and send all 144 pupils        world has ever seen.
  to the public school on a full time basis. This would make           How urgent to maintain our own schools at all costs in
  it necessary for the local board to hire many more teachers,      the face of this terrible threat.
  expand its plant and. greatly increase its e,xpenditures.  It
  could not refuse to take the children because, as a matter of
  fact, if the parochial school closed, the pupils would  be-
  obligated by law to attend the public school.                        .There  is one brief development in the  "religion-in-
        There are some critics of the shared time plan. Some        public-schools" issue that is worth noting.
  criticize it as being unconstitutional; `others are opposed to
  it because it helps the parochial school system. The Romish          Evidently some school boards were a little bit too hasty
  Church is fervently in favor of it to help them relieve their     in banning every form .of religious exercise in the school _
  financial obligations.                                            when the Supreme Court struck down devotions. In a recent
                                                                    ruling the Supreme Court said in effect: "No, not all re-
        I cannot see why, if we can send our children part time     ligious exercises have to be abandoned; just devotions."
  to the public school, we need our own schools at all. Ob-         Baccalaureate services and religious tests for teachers were
  viously anyone who `establishes a private or parochial school     the issue. The ruling came on an appeal from the Florida
  does so because he is not satisfied with the public school        Supreme Court which had judged that all this was uncon-
  system and is.determined  to have his child taught according      stitutional. But evidently this is not so.
  to his own convictions and religious beliefs. But then to
  send them to the public school after all seems to be a flat          Why is difficult to. see. If devotions are unconstitutional
  contradiction.                                                    because they introduce religion into the school, why is not
                                                                    this also true of baccalaureate services. These are just as
        Of -course the argument is that the-public school is        religious as devotions.
  neutral in religious matters. Evidently this is supposed to
  mean  ,that the public school refuses to take a .stand  on any        Is the Supreme Court afraid of its own ruling on devo-
  religious question; and on the question of the existence of       tions? afraid the matter will go too far and get out of hand?
  God. They do not say there is a God; they do not say there        Is it afraid of the public outcry that was made that the
  is no God. Besides the argument for shared time rests on          Court was encouraging an atheistic state? It is no longer a
  the assumption that there are also neutral subjects. And          question of law, but of practical politics.
  again, this is presumably to mean that there are `subjects                                                             H. Hanko


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                479 . .
                                                                                        . . .
                                                                                   _
                  ACTS OF SYNOD                                                                       NOTICE
    The Acts of the 1964 Synod of the Protestant Reformed                     ANNUAL MEETING of the Reformed Free Publishing
Churches in America are now available and have been  dis-                  Association will be held Thursday, September 24, in the
.tributed to all of the churches. Copies may be obtained for               Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church at 8:00 P. M.
$1.00 from undersigned. Make. your checks payable to Mr.                   Rev. R. Harbach will be the speaker.
C. Pastoor, Synodical  Treasurer.                                                                                  G. Bouw~~m, Secretary
                              Stated  Clerk   of  Synod
                                    l&iv.   GERALD VANDEN BERG                                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
                              . 9402 S. 53rd ,Comt                            On September 11, 1964, our beloved parents
                                    Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453                            MR. AND MRS. OTTO VANDER WOUDE
                                                                           will, the Lord willing, celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
                    AllIl&lIlCt?IIA                                        We, their children, are grateful to God for the privileges and
                                                                           blessings of His covenant grace in which they and we have shared
                         P U B L I C   L E C T U R E                       through the years and for the assurance given us for the future..
Time:     September 15, 1964 L 7z,45 P. M.                                                                Their children:
Place:    Oak Lawn Protestant Reformed Church                                                            Mr. T. Redder
          9536 So. Minnick Avenue                 ,                                                         Mr. and Mrs.  WiIliam Corson  `,
                                                                                                            Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Byker
          Oak Lawn, Illinois                                                                                Mr. and Mrs. John Vander Woude
Speaker: Rev. D,. Engelsma, from Loveland, Colorado                        Grand Rapids, Michigan
Subject:  -A Phase of Protestant Reformed Education; a
          follow-up of the lecture given by Rev. Engelsma                                        RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
          last March in Doon, Iowa.                                           The Men's Society of the First Prot. Ref. Church of Holland,
    Sponsored by the Board of the Oak Lawn Protestant                      Michigan; herewith expresses its sincere sympathies to Henry Vander
    Reformed Christian School.                                             Kolk and Edward Camminga in the passing on of their respective
    (Delegates to  Classis  West, meeting the following                    fathers. May the God of  all grace comfort the brethren by His
    day, are asked to take notice of this announcement.)                   Word and Spirit.
                                                                                                                Rev. G. Laming, President
                                        Louis R. Regnerus, Treas.                                               Erv Kortering, Vice-Secretary



                                                                1924 -1964
                                                RESERVE:,
                               THURSDAY, ,OCTOBER 1. ~
                           -,  4bth  AN!i!ERSARY
                    -
                                      STANDA~E BEARER '
                                                                     at
                             . .                       FIRST CHURCH
                                                        G r a n d   *Rapids
                                           Watch your local ,bulletins  for detaiis.


                                                I                                                                   I



.48b  . . . .  :            .'  .i  _  ,_ .                                                  .--
                                               T-ii-E  STAI'iDiRti   `B`E'ARER

                                                                          Hanko preached his. inaugural'sermon in the evening service
                                                                          based on Eph. 6119,20 under the heartfeIt theme, "Rec&est
                                                                          for Intercesspry  Prayer.". The congregation'tidcomed  their
               "All  the saints. salt&e thee . ..'l .", PHIL: 4 :21       new  pa&: and his  -f&iiy the following Friday  evenirig
                                                                    ".    demonstrating their thanks to Gbd for His providing, for
                     .(      ;                                            them, and their gratitude to.-.&eir  past& f& heed@  : t&`e
                                               Augusts  20, 1964          ball to come over and help them
    Rev. J, Kortering, of Hull; declined the call to Lynden,                 Holland's  congregation is jqyfully proceeding with the@
Washington.                                          :                    plans  fgr the  co&truction.  of  a- new church edifice. Final
    Rev. G. Van Baren, of Randolph; declined thk .;a11 which              plans, bids and financing for this building project was
came to him from First Church in Grand Rapids.                            adopted in a July congregational meeting. They now `await
    Rev. H. C. Harbach, of Kalamazoo, declined the call to                the builder's convenience. .
be Missionary for our churches.                                              Rev. J. A. Heys, of South Holland has recently  cop-
    First  Chur&`s  new trio includes the  Revs. J. A.  H&ys,             eluded  a series of sermons on "David, the Type of Christ."
B. Woudenberg and J. Kbrtering.                                           A series of this kind most surely links the Old with the
                                                                          New Testament in a very effective manner. Have you
    The new Missionary trio consists of  +he Revs. D. En-                 ever wondered if David composed the Psalms as type of
 gelsma, H. Hanko and  &I.  Schipper.                                     Christ?
    Rev. H. Hoeksema suffered' a stroke Monday, August 10,                   Holland's young people  .organized  a Young People's
which resulted in paralysis of his left arm and leg. Now,                 Society which is scheduled to meet Sunday afternoons. They
ten days later, we can report niuch improvement and the                   have chosen the Book of Esther for Bible study and the
 stricken musdles  are responding to therapy.treatments. Rev.             after recess discussion will be on the Canoris  of Dordrecht.
Hoeksema expects to leave the hospital in a few days, and                 This timing gives the new organization a  .month to get
is looking forward-to preaching again if the Lord SO directs              settled before the Young People's Convention to be held at
his way.                                                                  Hope Church in Grand Rapids.
   `Rev. G. VOS, of Hudsonville, spent a few weeks &I the
Grand Rapids Osteopathic Hospital. After having a bout                       Mr. Arthur Bleyenberg, of Edgerton, @Iinn., delebrated
with pneumonia the Reverend submitted to an operation                     his 92nd birthday Friday, August 7. Is he ,now the oldest
from which he is slowly recuperating. The Doctor. gives                   member. of the denomination?
him permission td enter his pulpit after eight weeks.                        Sharing the services of ministers is a qbite common prac-
   -Mrs. G. M. Ophoff, widow of the late Prof. ,G. R/r. Ophoff,           tice among our churches, but the Grand Rapids churches
was called Home July 28. Funeral services  were conducted                 even shared their organists this  stimer. Hope church
by Rev. M. Schipper of Southeast Church of Grand Rapids.                  loaned their Mrs. Gerald Kuiper and Southeast Church
                                                                          loaned their Mrs. C. Lubbers to First Church to lead that
   .The Sr. Young People's Society of Firsti Church, Grand                congregation in singing to the accomhaniment  of the mighty
 Rapids, recently shipped over a half ton of used cloth&g  to             pipe organ. Such "togetherness" between sister churches is
 our Jamaican friends. We note from all the church bulletins              a  welcome  evidence of the unity of our  pebple,  and was
 that the Society has given the churches opportunity to. share            greatly appreciated by First's congregation.
with them the expense of shipping that heavy cargo. API of
 our congregations have very generously responded to the                     Quoted  from a letter received from' a minister assigned
 invitation thus making the gift of clothing again a denomi-              to Lynden on Classical appointment this summer: "The con-
national venture.                                                         gregation is small, but flourishing. They are vitally inter-
                                                                          ested in the cause of our churches. They have a beautiful
    Hull's increase in operational expense has resulted: in a             little church building, which represents the labors of many
 one dollar raise in the weekly budget since the acquisition              of the people, of some of the ministers, of Mr. Henry Meu-
 of their own church building. But what a worthwhile                      lenberg,  -of Grand Rapids, who made a pamphiet  rack for
reason!                                                                   the lobby, and especially of Mr. F. Aalpoel, of Lynden, who
    A welcome to o& mailbag is the steady ,flow of weekly                 handicrafted a beautiful walnut pulpit matching the panel-
bulletins from our "out West" congregation in Redlands,                   ing of the back of the platform. The parsonage- here is
Calif. The first of these announced the fact that Rev. Her-               adequately furnished for visiting ministers and their fam-
man Hanko, of Doon,  preached the installation service of                 ilies, apd the larder is well-stocked upon arrival."
his father Jiily 19. This s_ermon was an exposition of I. Cor.
9:16 under the theme, "The Preacher's Necessity." Rev. C.                    .  .  . s&e you in  church . .  ._.                  J.M.F.
                                                                               I


