                                      IIe



                                             earer


A   R E F O R M E D   S E M I - M O N T H L Y   M A G A Z I N E



IN THIS ISSUE:

        Meditation: The Blessedness of the Tried

        Editorials: Editor's Notes
                    The Nature of the Atonement: Limited or General?
                    That Bothersome A.C.R.L.!

        Billy Graham-The Rebutted Dilemma

        All Around  lJ8: WCC in Geneva
                          cocu
                          The Southern Presbyterians and COCU                   i


                                             Volume  XLI./ Number 1  / October 1, 1966

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

                                                                                                                                               Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August
                                                 C O N T E N T S                                                                                    Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association

                                                                                                                                                                 Ed&v-   Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                                                               Communications relative to contents should be addressed to
                                                                                                                                               Prof. H. C. Hoeksema, 1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E., Grand
Meditation  -                                                                                                                                  Rapids,  Mich.      49506. Contributions will be limited to 300
      The Blessedness of the Tried . . . . . . . . . .,... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2                                                     words and must be neatly written or typewritten. Copy dead-
                                                                                                                                               lines are the first and fifteenth of the month.
              Rev. M. Schipper                                                                                                                 All church news items should be addressed toMr.  J. M. Faber,
Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4                                 1123 Cooper, LE.,  Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
Editorials  -                                                                                                                                  Announcements and Obituaries with the $2.00 fee includedmust
      The Nature of the Atonement: Limited or General? . 5                                                                                     be mailed 8 days prior to issue date, to the address below;
              Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                                             All matters relative to subscriptions should be addressed to
      That bothersome A.C.R.L.! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7                                                         Mr. James  Dykstra,  1326 W. Butler Ave., S.E.
              Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                                                                               Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
In His Fear -                                                                                                                                       Renewal: Unless a definite request for discontinuance is
      Holiday or Holy Day? (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8                                         received it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the sub-
                                                                                                                                               scription to continue without the formality of a renewal order.
Trying the Spirits -                                                                                                                                          Subscription price: $5.00 per year
       Billy Graham  -  The Rebutted Dilemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10                                                                  Second  Class Postage paid at Grand Rapids, Michigan
              Rev. Robt. C. Harbach
The Church at Worship . . . . . .._.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._........... . . . . 12                                                            RESOL  UTION OF SYMPATHY
              Rev. G. Vanden  Berg                                                                                                       The Ladies Society of Hope Protestant Reformed
All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14            Church wishes to express its deepest sympathy to two
              Prof. H. Hanko
Examining Ecumenicalism -                                                                                                                of its members, Rev. and Mrs. H. Veldman, in the loss
      cocu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17    of his father
              Rev. G. Van Baren                                                                                                                                  MR. JAMES VELDMAN
FROM Holy Writ -
      The Good Shepherd of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19                                       Psalm  103:17, "The mercy of the Lord is from ever--
              Rev. G. Lubbers                                                                                                            lasting to everlasting upon them that fear him."
Contending For The Faith -                                                                                                                                       Mrs. David Meulenberg, Secretary
       The Providence of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _.._.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
              H. Veldman                                                                                                                               OFFICE BEARERS CONFERENCE
Book Reviews -
       Slavery, Segregation and Scripture                                                                                                An Office Bearers Conference will be held, D.V.,  8:OO
       The Plight of Man and the Power of God                                                                                            p.m., Tuesday, October 4, at the First Protestant
       Church Growth in Central and Southern Nigeria                                                                                     Reformed Church, Holland,  Mich.
       The Soul of the Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23                                     The speaker, Prof. Herman  Hanko, will address the
News From Our Churches -                                                                                                                 meeting on the topic, "Partaking of the Means of Grace
              J.M.F. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._.__...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24                     in Other Denominations."
                                                                                                                                            All present and former office bearers are invited to
                                                                                                                                         attend.

       MEDITATION-

                                                   The Blessedness of the Tried

                                                                                                                  by Rev. M.  Schippev

                                                   "Blessed is the man that  endureth temptation:  fov when he is  tried,  he shall
                                       Yeceive the crown of life, which the  Lovd hath  promised  to them  that love  him."
                                                                                                                                                                              James  192

        Another beatitude!                                                                                                               when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that
        0, the blessedness of the man that endureth temp-                                                                                the trying of your faith worketh patience..."                            "Be
tation!                                                                                                                                  patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the
        He shall receive the crown of life, which  the Lord                                                                              Lord."        "Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts:
hath promised!                                                                                                                           for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." "Behold,
        The blessedness of the tried!                                                                                                    we count them happy which endure."
        Repeatedly the thought of trial, temptation, is set                                                                                  Evidently the thought of trial and temptation must
forth in this Epistle.                                    "My brethren, count it all joy                                                 be understood in its broadest sense. The word itself


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     3

is a picture of one's life-long experience. It presents       through the midst of the fight, whose clothing was torn
a way which comes to us out of the past and projects          to shreds on the barbed wire that crossed the trenches,
itself and stretches out into the future, -- your way and     whose daring was revealed in the hand to hand struggles
mine, as we go through this world. On that way is an          with the enemy, who lay for days in the pools of mud
enemy, a conflict, a trial, a temptation.        A mighty     while he was under fire of the enemy. So also is the
triad of evil that always seeks to draw us from the           one tried and approved who endures the temptation. And
path of duty, of faith, of endurance!                         it is this objective God seeks to attain and does attain
   There is, first of all, the world which lieth in           when He so governs'our way that we not only are tried
darkness! She offers you pleasures, wealth, and fame,         with the temptation but endure!
if you will give heed to her. That world offers you              The motivation and possibility of that endurance
bread if you will only join her unions. She offers you        James tells us is the love of God!
wisdom if you will attend her schools and study her              The love of God!
philosophy.      Always she seeks to -entice you by an           Not His love to us, though this is always first, and
attractive display of her wares, urging you to buy at         without which there can be no love  .for Him. But our
the seemingly cheap yet costly price of one of your           love for Him! Those loving Him, who have Him always
religious principles.     She makes it easy for you; only     before their face, who see Him at the end of their way,
one step is necessary for you to take to receive of her       and who have fellowship with Him while they are on that
hand.                                                         way!    That love of God is the power that moves us,
   There is also the devil and the host of evil spirits!      that gives the ability to endure a super-human char-
Not always do they appear in their most vicious forms.        acter. It is the motivating incentive andenergy where-
Sometimes they appear as angels of light. But whether         by we can endure!
as the lamb, or the ravening wolf, they are bent on              God's work of grace in us ! For no one loves God
drawing you from the path of truth and righteousness.         of himself. By nature we love the world, and even its
   And along with these enemies is perhaps the great-         enticements to evil.      But God Who is rich in mercy
est and most troublesome of all, your and my own              works in us by the power of His sovereign grace. He
corrupt natures. No power could these other enemies           loves us! He sheds abroad in our hearts His love! And
have over us, were it not for this carnal and corrupt         it is the very nature of that love of God to seek Him in
nature. That internal power of corruption belongs also        love and to do that which is pleasing to Him. In His
on that way of temptation and trial through the world.        love to us He chose us and unites us to Himself in a
   Not only does the Scripture here have in mind those        living bond of love. And this living stream of love goes
trials that take on the form of persecution and trouble       through us and returns back to Him as our love for
from without, but in the midst of the trials and testings,    Him.    It is the energy of this working love that moves
the evil work of temptation takes place. And God in           us to endure faithfully unto the end !
His providence puts us on that way. No, He is not the            0; how blessed is the man that so endures !
Tempter, as James makes clear in the verses that                 Scripture speaks often of the blessed and their
follow our text; but it is He Who so directs our life         blessedness !    "Blessed is the man that walketh not in
that we have the experience. And because we are so            the counsel of the ungodly."          Blessed is. he whose
weak in ourselves and know all the propensities to evil       transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."
that are inherent in our natures, we often take upon our      Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound, they
lips the prayer taught us by our Lord: Father in heaven,      shall walk, 0 Lord, in the light of thy countenance."
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the          "Blessed is the  man. that feareth the Lord, that  de-
evil one! In and by ourselves we know that we cannot          lighteth greatly in his commandments."            "Blessed
stand, not even for a moment!                                 are the poor in spirit."           "Blessed are they that
   How blessed is the man that endures !                      mourn. ' '    "Blessed are the meek."        "Blessed the
   Temptation is not something to be consistently             the hungry and thirsty after righteousness." "Blessed
avoided, but something which must constantly be               are the pure in heart." "Blessed are they which are
endured!       As long as we are in the flesh and in the      persecuted for righteousness sake." Blessed! Blessed!
world, so long must the ever present temptation with          The Scriptures never tire of pronouncing God's people
its attending ..trials be endured!       The crown of life    blessed!
which is promised to those who endure is at the end of           The word "Blessed" has in it the fundamental idea
the way. Therefore we must endure to the end to be            of fulness and satisfaction that is brought on because
crowned.       And enduring is the power to bear up under     one lacks nothing. Then, too, it holds in it the thought
the temptation and trial, the power to be yet standing        of happiness which is due to perfect satisfaction. One,
when all the fiery darts of evil have been shot at us,        therefore, is blessed who lacks nothing, he is full and
and when all the smoke of the battle has dissipated.          completely satisfied, and therefore, very happy! You
   The purpose, the divine purpose, of the temptations        understand, of course, that this blessedness isuniquely
and trials is that we may be approved. He is not a good       spiritual.    It does not refer to a material fulness and
soldier who during the war sits behind a government           happiness. True happiness and blessedness never con-
desk. He may be called a good clerk or a good adminis-        sists in the abundance of earthly things apart from
trator. But a good soldier  hemw not be rightly called,       God.    A rich man may appear to be happy who has an
though often such an one has the most to say about the        abundance of earthly things, so that he seems to lack
horrors of war.       But he is a good soldier who came       nothing. And men today are inclined even to pronounce


4                                               THE STANDARD BEARER

him blessed of God. But such is not the case. Blessed-           He is God! The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
ness does not consist in the abundance of earthly things.     and our Father for Jesus' sake! Theunchangeable God,
Rather, blessedness consists in the fulness of the            Who is unchangeable in all His works and ways, and
blessings of Christ, which He merited, which He               therefore with respect to His promises to His people!
showers upon His people, which are manifested in                 The crown of life which the Lord hath promised!
gifts of His grace. Righteousness, holiness, joy and             Not to any particular promise does James refer,
peace, light and life, that is spiritual and eternal,  -      that is, there is no specific passage of God's Word
these are the graces that make up this blessedness !          where this promise is made. But James is interpreting
     James sums up this blessedness in the concept:           here the general tenor of the Scriptures which contain
Crown of Life !                                               the promise and the promises of God. In the second
     Life, that is, spiritual, heavenly, and eternal life!    chapter of his Epistle, verse 5, he again speaks of the
Mere earthly life is not in itself a blessing. It is a        promise, and there of the promise of the kingdom.
blessing only when it is connected to eternal life.           "Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the
For an ungodly man, it were better that he had never          poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom
been born.     Such an one is dead while he lives, But        which he hath promised to them that love him?" And in
the life of our text is other worldly! It is God's life!      our text it is: the crown of life which the Lord hath
It is the life of Christ which He took with Him through       promised to them that love him.
the grave, resurrection life, which He instills in our           The promises of God, also this one, find their root
hearts by the Spirit of regeneration. It consists in our      and beginning in the eternal counsel of God. There the
being able to be constantly adapted to the life and           Lord ordained the crown of life for His people. There
friendship of the living God. It begins here in this          also He determined the way to the obtaining of the
present world and in our real experience. He who              crown, the way of antithesis, the way of sin and grace.
has not' this life now in the present world will not have        The promise of the crown of life is revealed and
it in the life to come. It is given to us in regeneration     fulfilled principally in Christ. He also went the way of
as a principal. The perfection of it waits for the last       temptation and trial, endured the wiles of evil even
day.                                                          unto death. His way took Him through the grave unto
     Then it will be given to us as a crown!                  the glory and crown He received at the Father's right
     Symbol of perfect victory!                               hand.    So He prepared the way to the.fulfillment of the
     Not the royal, kingly crown does James have in           promise for all those who later would endure!
mind, though there can be no doubt that as kings and             The promise God declares in the Gospel, not so
priests we will be crowned and rule with Christ.              much in a particular text, as in its very heart and in
But the garland or wreath of victory that is placed on        all its revelation.    Always that Word is good news
the head of the runner in the race, or the athlete who        concerning eternal life in contrast to that which is
was victorious in the arena! That is the crown that is        earthly and temporal; concerning everlasting glory in
placed on the head of each blessed one who endures            contrast to the shame and reproach, suffering and death
temptation.    That will be his permanent possession,         which are our experience in this valley of tears. It
for the crown is life!                                        speaks of the crown of life which God intends to give
     But this crown he does not receive until the end of      to everyone loving Him, after they for a little while
the struggle. When the fight is over, and the race is         endure the temptation.
run,' then he shall receive the crown that  -fadeth not          And that promise of God cannot fail !
away!                                                            The tried shall receive the crown!
     This crown of life is certain!                              And this makes them blessed!
     For it is the Lord Who has promised it!                     Even now!



                                          Editor's Notes

                                                by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema

NEW VOL VME          -                                        will appear less often, with Prof. H. Hanko contributing
     With this issue we begin a new volume. No major          the contents. The Rev. D. Engelsma also asked to be
changes will be made in the contents or format of our         relieved of his writing duties; the staff granted this
magazine in Volume 43.             However, a couple staff    request partially. The result is that Rev. Engelsma
changes must be reported. A change became necessary           will finish his current series on Scripture, and then
in the department  The  Lovd Gave The  Word. The  Rev.        will not write again until next June, D.V. Regrettably,
C. Hanko asked to be relieved of writing this rubric,         therefore, the department Heed@ the Doctrine  will not
- we hope only temporarily, -due to the stresses of           appear very often in this volume. As space allows,  The
illness in his family. Hence, one more contribution           Voice of  OUT  Fathevs  will resume the treatment of the
will appear from his pen; and thereafter this department      Belgic Confession.


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      5

   While on the subject of the new volume, let me take            Dogmatics" at the pre-publication sale price. Use the
the opportunity to thank all my associate editors for             order-envelope which was enclosed with your September
their past labors and to encourage them in their task             15 issue of the Standard Beaver.
for the new volume.                                                                         * *  * *
   Let me also once more urge the various correspond-
ents to cooperate with our News Editor.              As noted     BOOKLET
before, he cannot publish news of our churches unless                My recently published booklet, "In the Beginning
the news is sent to him. Ministers and/or clerks,                 God....," was intended by the Mission Board for as
please send him your weekly bulletins !                           broad a distribution as possible. If you have not yet
                            * * * *                               received a copy, send for one.          And if you know of
"REFORMED DOGMATICS"                                              friends who would be interested in reading it, send
                                                                  their names and addresses to: Rev. M.  Schipper,  1543
   If  YOU  have not already mailed your order, do not            Cambridge Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49506.
put it off any longer, but order your copy of "Reformed           Copies of the booklet are free for the asking.



  EDITORIALS-


                              The Nature of the Atonement

                                                 Limited or General?


                                                  by Prof.  H. C. Hoeksema


THE  THlRD ELEMENT: DEFINITE AND PERSONAL                         in its duty to preach the gospel if it fails to reach
   In our discussion of the nature of the atonement we            every individual with this message. It follows, too,
have now arrived at the very heart of the entire question,        that the church has frequently been remiss in this
namely: is the atonement in its very nature limited, or           duty: for millions upon millions of men since the fall
is it general? Dr. Daane, Prof. Dekker, and others take           have never heard the gospel proclaimed. It. follows,
the position that the atonement is not limited in its             too, that we must join those who take the position that
nature.      The Study Committee in the "Dekker Case"             it is the church's fault that millions go lost: for if
also takes that position; but the Study Committee is              these    millions never even received the tidings,
rather vague on this score, as I hope to point out in the         "Christ died for you," they must not be their fault,
future in my critique of their report. It is my intention         but the  church's. It would also seem to follow that we
to point out that the only possible position on the basis         must re-examine and revise our confessions, which
of Scripture and the confessions is that the atonement            repeatedly teach that it is not God's will that the
is in its very nature  limited,  not general.                     gospel should reach every man, but that the gospel is
   Some introductory remarks are in order, however,               proclaimed wherever and whenever it pleases Him.
before we enter into the discussion proper.                          Indeed, the implications of this question are  far-
   My first remark is that this is a very important               reaching with respect to the church's task to preach.
question.      This is true, first of all, with respect to the    In fact, it `may safely be said that if Prof. Dekker's
position of Prof. Dekker.          His entire position with       position is the correct one, the entire position of the
respect. to the preaching of the gospel (whether in               church and the entire attitude of the church on these
mission work, which he emphasized in his writings,                matters must be radically revamped. And I some-
or in the established church), -his entire position               times get the distinct impression that this is exactly
stands or falls with this question. If the atonement is           the intention of Prof. Dekker and those who hold with
in its very nature limited, then it stands to reason that         him. In turn, however, the blame for this must not be
no preacher of the gospel has the right to say to every           placed merely on the professor; he is merely taking
and any man, "Christ died for you." If he nevertheless            the "bit" of the First Point in his mouth and running
does SO, he is surely aliar and a fraud. If, on the other         away with it. And how, then, are those who agree with
hand, the atonement is in its very nature general (and            the First Point going to restrain him? They will find
this is the only conceivable alternative if it is not             it impossible.
limited), then it also follows with inexorable logic that            But even apart from the Dekker Case this question
this gospel, that Christ died for all men and for every           is important. We live in an age when the gospel of the
man, not only may but must be proclaimed to every man             atonement is spoken of in very loose and ill-defined
personally.      It follows, then, that the church is remiss      terminology.      And the tendency is all too often that we


     6                                              THE  STAN&RD  BEARER

     ourselves fail to practice discernment and precision in        fooled by the motto, "The Bible says...  ." After all,
     speaking of the death of Christ. True, we probably             the devil also said, "It is written...." And "The Bible
     are able to detect and to expose blatantly Arminian            says...." can be reduced to an absurdity too. For the
     propositions.     But what about what I would call covert      Bible says, "Judas went and hanged himself." And the
     Arminianism?       Are we able to give the proper and          Bible also says, "Go thou and do likewise." But. do
     distinctively Scriptural and Reformed answer to the            not forget: "Every heretic has his text."
     question, "For whom did Christ die?" Are we able to               Hence, we must be specific in our thinking and in
     discern whether or not someone else is giving that             our language concerning the atonement,  - specifically
     answer? Are we able to discern whether or not some-            Scriptural and specifically Reformed.
     one speaks about the death of Christ in vague general-            My second remark is that we must be careful to
     ities, which at best leave it an open question whether         distinguish between this question of limited  versus
     those generalities are intended in a Reformed or in an         general atonement, and the matter of the infinite value
     Arminian sense?                                                of the atonement. The former might be said to look
          There are many such generalities proclaimed in our        at the nature of the atonement from a quantitative point
     age, which is largely Arminian and Pelagian.  .Are we          of view; the latter looks at the atonement from a
     sensitive about them?       Do we have a good pair of          qualitative  point of view. Or, if you will, the question
     Reformed antennae, Reformed feelers?           Or are we       of limited  ve%%ysus general atonement considers the
     satisfied with them, and do we easily say, "That man           nature of the atonement from the viewpoint of its
     believes in the atonement and preaches it?' Let me             scope, or its beneficiaries. But when we speak of the
     give some examples.       "Christ died for sinners." Or:       infinite value of the atonement, we are considering the
     "Christ died for sin.' Or: "Christ died for the un-            nature of the atonement from the viewpoint of its
     g o d l y . " O r : "Christ died for the sins of mankind.".    value,  its  quality,  its  woyth,  its  ability to blot out sin
     Or again: "Christ is the propitiation for the sins of          and to obtain  e'tevnal  life.  Both of these aspects belong
     the whole world."       Or even: "Christ died for our          to the  nature of the atonement.        But they must not be
     sins." Someone might say: "What is wrong with these            confused.    The statement that the atonement of Christ
     statements.      Are they not true? Isn't it possible to       is of infinite value does not at all cancel out the truth
     show that these are Scriptural statements? And does            of the statement that the atonement was limited, and
     not such terminology occur in our confessions also?"           that too, in its very nature. This probably brings to
     My answer is, in the first place, that everyone of the         mind the statement of the Canons (II, A, 3) that the
     above statements, taken by itself, could be either Re-         death of the Son of God was "abundantly sufficient to
     formed or Arminian. They are, taken by themselves,             expiate the sins of the whole world." This we shall
     general and vague, not specific. In the second place,          discuss in connection with the fourth element in the
     they are all characterized by a very peculiar failure          nature of the atonement.          But we must remember,
     to be specific, a failure that lies not in what they say,      even now, that in our Canons this could not possibly
     but in what they  fail to say.    They fail to say: which      be intended to mean that Christ's atonement was a
     sinners? whose sin? which ungodly?           They fail to      potential  Yedemption   for every man, or, in other words,
     define "mankind" and "our" and "the whole world."              that it was potentially general. And why could not this
     And therefore it makes a world of difference whether           be the intention of the Canons? For the simple reason
     an Arminian or a Reformed man makes statements of              that then no Canons would ever have been written about
     this kind. We must listen carefully and discern. And           the death of Christ! For it is exactly the Arminian
     the preacher must take care that he speaks specific            position that the atonement is potentially general. If
     language, language that is not capable of an Arminian          that were the position of our fathers, there would have
     interpretation, and language that does not leave the           been no controversy, and therefore no need for the
     real meaning up to the choice of the hearer. In the            Canons. But we shall return to this later.
     third place, such language, while it may have a                   My third remark is repetitious; but this repetition
     Scriptural sound, is not truly Scriptural. It is grossly       is necessary. It is this. We are discussing the nature
     improper to single out a text or part of a text and then       (or design, if you will) of THE atonement. We are not
     to say of that aphoristic statement that it is the             discussing atonement in the abstract. We are not dis-
     "gospel."        Every statement of Scripture must be          cussing what the atonement, abstractly considered,
     understood in the context of the whole of Scripture            might  have been, in view of the infinite value of the
     ultimately, and certainly first of all in its own specific     death of the Son of God. We are discussing  the atoning
     and immediate context. Only thus may it be proclaimed.         death of Christ. That was an historical event. What
     This is also one of the reasons why all sound preaching        was the nature of that event? What belongs to it? What
     is necessarily expository and exegetical. The preacher         actually took place when that atonement by His death
     must not bring a so-called evangelistic message. He            was made? This, of course, stands closely related to
     must not even merely preach a certain  text,  He must          the question: how did God. design the atonement, how
     proclaim the  Wovd of God according to the  Scviptuves.        did He conceive of it, plan it, from before the founda-
     Failure to do this is disastrous. Insistence upon this         tion of the world? For that atonement could never be
     fundamental rule will make absolutely impossible the           anything other than what God designed it to be. And
     type of pseudo-evangelistic, emotional "preaching"             this, in turn,, stands closely related to this question:
     that is so common today and which is aimed at pro-             what does the Scripture tell us about that event in the
     ducing "decisions for Christ." We must not even be             economy of salvation? For it is only from Scripture
I


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        7

that we can learn the nature of the atonement.                  reprobate.
   This -stands, in turn, closely connected with the               And when, therefore, we use the proposition, "The
entire subject of the efficacy of the death of Christ,          Atonement is in its very nature limited," we mean
the entire doctrine of efficacious atonement, a subject         just exactly that: the atonement of Christ in its very
which we shall certainly have to discuss further,               nature is for the elect alone.
particularly in connection with Canons 11, 8. Effica-              That a Reformed man cannot see the truth of this
cious atonement is,  - let me emphasize once more,  -           proposition and subscribe to it is a conundrum to me.
atonement that actually atones.        It is, --to put it in    Any other proposition will involve one in insoluble
terms of the elements already discussed, -- atonement           difficulties and contradictions. And I mean this not in
which through substitutionary satisfaction of the justice       a rationalistic sense, but  I refer to insoluble dif-
of God with respect to sin actually blots out the sin,          ficulties and contradictions in the light of Scripture
actually obtains redemption, actually merits and ob-            and the confessions.
tains eternal life for all those for whom such sub-                One more remark.        I believe we should speak in
stitution was made.                                             this connection of the atonement as being definite and
   It is in this connection that I maintain'that the third      personal.      Our Lord Jesus Christ did not die an
element of the nature of the atonement is that it is            abstractly particular death. He did not die for a mere
limited.                                                        number of men, no matter how definite that number
   As is well known, there has been considerable dis-           may be.       He died for His church, His elect, beloved
cussion of that term "limited." It is in itself not a           bride.    And He died for every individual elect member
confessional term, nor a Scriptural term. However,              of that church personally. This is a far warmer pres-
everyone knows what is meant by the expression                  entation than the cold idea of "limited" or "general".
"limited atonement" as over against "general atone-             As I hope to point out this is also the presentation of
ment." And in as far as the term has come into com-             Scripture and the confessions. And it is this fact of a
mon usage, there is no basic objection to it. It is             definite and personal atonement that is,reflected in the
better, however, to speak of particular, or definite,           Christian's confession, "Christ died for  me."
atonement.       AI1 three of these terms are intended to          Next time, D.V., we shall turn to our confessions,
express the truth that in His death Christ atoned for all       in order to see how the truth of definite and personal
the elect, and for them only, that is, not for the              atonement is there taught.





                           That Bothersome A.C.R.L.!

                                                by  P~ofi H. C. Hoeksema


   The A.C.R.L. is the Association of Christian Re-             expressed the same agreement. I now emphasize again
formed Laymen.                                                  in this concrete instance that these concerned Christian
   And it seems to be bothersome,  - not to me, but to          Reformed brethren have not only the right, but the duty
certain of the Christian Reformed leadership. On my             of going the ecclesiastical way if they have serious
own part, I think there is something commendable about          objections against this instructional material. I would
the concern of this organization.        But at least one       imagine that the ecclesiastical way would be to file
classis  of the CRC,  Classis  Grand Rapids South, has          these objections with their local consistories, first of
made this organization the object of investigation and          all; and, lest they be accused of working behind the back
published its conclusions in both  The  Bannev   and  De        of the Committee on Education, a copy of such objec-
Wachtev.      But especially the editor of  De Wachtev has      tions should be filed with said committee also. But
more than once paid editorial attention to this associa-        certainly the local consistory is primarily responsible
tion. Most recently he was disturbed by a letter which          for supervising and guarding the purity of the catechism
they circulated to Christian Reformed consistories con-         instruction in its own congregation. That is  their   right
cerning catechism books published by the Christian              and also  their  duty, regardless of what any Committee
Reformed Committee on Education.                                on Education may have decided about these instructional
   Now I am completely in accord with the position of           materials. Hence, I repeat: let these concerned "lay-
Rev. Haverkamp that those who haves objections against          men" have the courage of their convictions and let
these instructional materials should go the orderly             their voice be heard in the ecclesiastical way.
ecclesiastical way, i.e., the way of filing these objec-           This, however, was not my chief concern in the
tions in a protest.      In fact, in a previous editorial I     present editorial.


8                                              THE STANDARD BEARER

     I am concerned to say, first of all, that the letter     criticism to them?     Is it perhaps only because they
which these brethren circulated was not a bad letter.         happen to send letters to consistories?
It certainly was far from an evil letter. With a little
good will, one could easily read this letter without             For example, I recall that recently in  The  Banner
taking any offense.    The letter is certainly not in the     someone made mention of instances of violation of the
nature of a generally circulated protest. It is an urgent     Formula of Subscription without having himself filed
request that consistories take the time to scrutinize         a protest. Then I read no criticism from the pen of
these catechism materials before they put them into           De  Wachtev  editor. Not long ago the Formula of Sub-
service, and expresses the confidence that the  consis-       scription itself came under public attack, and then I
tories will make their own evaluation and informed            read no criticism from the Rev. Haverkamp. Others
decisions.                                                    can spout open heresy, as in the  Reformed  Joumutl,  or
     Now what is wrong with that? Certainly, it is the        may strongly suggest something that sounds very much
duty of a consistory, is it not, to examine any catechism     like doctrinal freedom; and in such cases the editor
materials used in their congregation before they allow        does not seem very eager to take up his editorial pen,
them to be used in the instructionof covenant children?       nor to author an official protest. But is the A.C.R.L.
Certainly, no consistory has the right before God to          a different story?
accept anyone's material simply on the say-so of a               Finally, I would suggest to the Rev. Haverkamp,  -
denominational committee, not even if that committee's        speaking now of the material aspect of this issue, --
work may have been approved by a synod. And,                  that there is a far more important issue at stake. That
certainly, it would be the part of wisdom for a  con-         issue is the catechism materials themselves. Some of
sistory to inspect especially  new  materials.       And,     these materials I have seen. Let me make a friendly
surely, these instructional materials are a public            Suggestion.    As a Christian Reformed pastor the Rev.
matter: for they are available not only to the Christian      Haverkamp would do well to take a long and hard look
Reformed constituency, but they can be purchased on           at the catechism materials referred to.     Perhaps he
the public market at a book store. Why, then, may not         would find material for a few editorials. Perhaps, too,
a "layman" or a free association of laymen make a             he would thank the A.C.R.L. for their advice.
respectful and urgent request that consistories do their         But to the A.C.R.L. I repeat myfriendlyadvice that,
plain duty?                                                   while there is a proper place for propaganda and even
     But I have another concern.                              for advice or requests to consistories, nevertheless
     Why is the Rev. Haverkamp apparently particularly        they have a duty to go the ecclesiastical way with any
bothered by the A.C.R.L.? And why does he limit his           objections based on Scripture and the confessions.


     IN HIS  FEAR-


                            Holiday or Holy Day?

                                                  by Rev. J. A. Heys

     If we are to believe everything that we read and         comfort to carry on in business in the swelteringly
everything that we hear over the radio, then the cross        hot days of July and August, but it would be unthinkable
of Christ has brought us into the dubious "advance-           to spend all that good cash and gold to make it more
ment" that we have gone back to what the church had           "advisable" for them to hold church services during
before she was enriched by the law of God at Mount            these hot months. Scripture must be interpreted in
Sinai.    Indeed, to some that law was a dubious gift that    the light of science, but scientific advancements and
"was not given in grace, because now we are not under         technological achievements must not be used to serve
the law but under grace and should not read that law          the church-life of man, because it takes away so much
in our worship services on the Sabbath.' And so we            of the fun of going to the beach, water skiing, and
are back to where Adam and Seth,  Enoch and Noah,             hypocritically claimed, of seeing God in His wide
Job and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were. For we are             creation. After all a holiday is so much more fun than
told that there was no Sabbath observance until Mount         a holy day. For we are unholy people. And children
Sinai.    And that is practically where we are today, at      of darkness enjoy the darkness.       Children of light
least as far as a Sabbath day is concerned.                   enjoy and seek the light and Him Who is the light of the
     Divine worship services must have their abbrievated      world.
form abbrieviated some more. Churches must and                   All this does not change the fact that, as we wrote
widely do have vacation during the summer months.             last time, the ten commandments have not lost one of
They can air-condition their offices and stores for           their most lengthy and spelled-out commandments to


                                              THESTANDARDBEARER                                                        9

become the incomplete number of nine rather than the          temple a holy place and a most holyplace. These were
complete number of ten. That commandment was  en-             precincts set off, marked for entrance only by the
graven into the granite, the very same granite and just       priest or the high priest. The one was more holy than
as deep, wherein the other nine commandments were             the other and was the holy of  holies because it was
engraven. The form and the day may be changed. But            set apart more specifically. Into it only the high priest
the holy day has not become a holiday and never will.         might enter, and that only once a year and only with
Adam and Abraham were not sabbath breakers. Job               the blood of atonement, which he was to sprinkle upon
and Jacob were not guilty of desecrating the Sabbath.         the mercy seat of the ark behind the veil. God is an
Seth and Shem did not despise the seventh day and the         holy God because He is cut off from all evil, is the
rest, that God had prepared for His people in Christ.         Light in Whom is no darkness at all. And we are a
Just because we do not find the word Sabbath until            holy people because we have been separated from the
Exodus  16:23, does that mean that the Old Testament          world, cut off not only from our guilt, which is all
saints until Mount Sinai had no Sabbath at all? And let       removed, but especially cut off from the love and
it be observed that Exodus  I6 comes before Exodus 20         power of sin in principle as regenerated, born again
wherein is the account of God giving His law on Mt.           Christians.
Sinai to Israel. In connection with thewonderful supply              And our Sabbath must be a day that is distinct, cut
of manna to Israel Moses points out to the Israelites         off from the rest of the days of the week. And it will
before that law was  engraven  into stone and presented       be if we make it the kind of rest day that God gave it to
to Israel that they were to gather food only for six          us to be. To rest is to enter into and enjoy a perfected
days and on that sixth day to gather a double portion,        work. One cannot find rest until all one's work is done.
for there would be no manna on the seventh day which          We really do not know here below what physical rest
was "the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord."             is.     Our rest is simply a temporary cessation of work
Consult your map and you will find that from Elim to          to be refreshed for more work. What we make is never
Mt. Sinai was a long distance upon which the Israelites       perfect. So soon we have to repair it, replace parts of
walked.     Consult the book of Exodus for the events         it, repaint it, trade it in for something newer and in
recorded there of Israel's journey from Elim, through         better repair.     But we do have a faint glimpse of what
Rephidim, and you will find that Israel observed the          the rest that remaineth for the people of God is when
seventh day for quite some time before they encamped          we have, for the moment at least, finished a particular
before Mt. Sinai and were impressed by the awesome            work and can sit down and enjoy the fruit of our hands.
sight and received a "printed" copy of God's law.             We toil and labor to build a house, and then we can
Even from that point of view it is not true that Israel       rest from that labor and move into the home to enjoy
began, or, shall we say, the believers began, to observe      its protection and conveniences and beauty. The house-
the Sabbath.                                                  wife slaves over the hot stove and puts in many hours
   The very commandment itself takes us back to the           of preparation to the delicious meal and then sits down
very beginning of this world when it reminds us that in       to rest, not simply in the sense of ceasing to cook and
six days God created the heavens and the earth and then       prepare -- for this she must do and more cooking will
rested the seventh day. Man was created in the very           burn and spoil the food --but to sit down and eat, and
spirit of the Sabbath.    God created him to rest on the      so enjoy what she has prepared. If then, our Sabbath is
seventh day. There are no afterthoughts with God. And         set apart and made to be distinct from all the days of
the Sabbath surely is not one of them. What a strange         the week, it will be exactly in that we, unhindered by
situation we get according to the thinking of some. God       the daily toils which never cease to be demanded,
had a Sabbath day at the very dawn of history, when He        enter into and enjoy by faith God's finished work of
rested the seventh day. For 1500 years there is no            salvation.      It is a day of setting aside our work and
Sabbath. From Mt. Sinai onward till the cross of Christ       concerning ourselves with God's work. It is a day of
there is a Sabbath, which God in His grace removes for        spiritual exercises.      If then we fill the day with this
His church. Thus we continue until presently we enter         instead of our usual physical labors, it will be a dif-
into an everlasting Sabbath. Now you see it, now you          ferent day. And such it ought to be.
do not. Now it is here,  andnow it is gone. And  all  this           Shall we take the position that the saints from
is attributed to the works of an unchangeable God, the        Adam through Moses' generation did not do this? And
I AM Who never can say I Was or I Will Be! That is            shall we say today that this is not required of us? Shall
not the testimony of Hebrews 4.                               we say that we will not suffer spiritually, if this is not
   Let us ask, therefore, what it means to rest and to        our life? Will a holiday actually be beneficial for  US
keep the Sabbath as a holy day. To begin with the             and not testify against us in the day of days? No, we
latter, a holy day is a different day. Is it in your life?    say again, we are not interested in legalism, and we
And the question then is not simply whether your              certainly insist that we are freed from the curse of
Sabbath day is different from that of the unbelievers         the law and may never, no never, place ourselves
and ungodly. That it surely ought to be and will be, if       under the ceremonial laws of Mt. Sinai. But even as
you have the life of the Lord of the Sabbath in your          man cannot violate the physical laws of his natural
soul.      But the question is whether the Sabbath is         existence without suffering for it, so man cannot go
different from the rest of the days of the week in your       contrary to the laws of his spiritual existence and
own personal life. The word holy means to be cut off,         enjoy the blessings of God upon him. Touch the flame,
set apart. There was therefore in the tabernacle and          and you will suffer pain.        Go above the layer of air


10                                               THE STANDARD BEARER

wherein God has placed the necessary oxygen, or go              arrange his Saturday so that it does not spoil His
into the water out of which the lungs cannot extract the        Sunday.
oxygen,. and take no supply of it with you, and you are            And if the glow of the Sabbath does not remain on
going to die! And whenever we walk in hatred against            Monday, there is also something wrong. If with the
the living God, we are playing with fire, whether that          last "Amen" of the worship service suddenly the
be in the first or the fourth, the seventh or the tenth         Sabbath falls away and we are ready to talk business,
commandments.          The inner principle of each is the       spend an hour or two of gossip or slander rather than
same, and that principle is love to God.                        a spiritual discourse and consideration of the Word
        As non-legalists we will not wait for the first         preached or, among the younger set, a card game, a
second after midnight Saturday night to observe our             chase down the road in a jalopie or luxury sedan, the
Sabbath and wait till the first second after midnight           Word has not touched us very deeply. The Sabbath
Sunday night to cease that observance. But we will              has not been so different after all. Different habits,
prepare for it already on Saturday; and `if we have truly       different hours were kept, but the same old activities
entered into the rest which God prepared for us in the          of the things of our natural life were sought; and the
perfected work of salvation in Christ on the cross, the         spiritual was still shelved for a "more convenient
afterglow will be there yet on Monday, and the farther          time."
we progress during the week, the more eager we be-                 Is this perhaps also the reason why on Monday or
come for the Sabbath to be there again, when we can             the following days of the week we are not interested in
again gather with the saints to feast on the Bread and          group or society discussion and study of the Word?
Water of Life and to taste and see that God is good.            Have we too many holidays during the week that we
        Our young people especially, although not exclusive-    cannot get out of the habit on Sunday? The world gets
ly, should bear in mind that Saturday night may belong          such a grip on us, you know. We have to know on Sun-
to the week; but when its activities and its results            day what the world is doing in the field of sport. It
extend over into Sunday to make it difficult for us to          gets such a grip on you that you cannot leave it alone
stay awake in church and too weary and ill-disposed             one day in a week. The day is not different because
even to get out of bed in the morning, we have begun            we are not different inside. 0, the new man in Christ
our Sabbath desecration on Saturday already. And the            is different -- the exact opposite of the old man of sin.
man who sleeps in church because he did not and would           But who.rules us on the Sabbath?
not retire early enough Saturday night because of                  Be sure that it is the new man in Christ. Be sure
pursuing the things of the flesh not only misses the            that you walk in His fear on the Sabbath. You will be
real rest which the attentive listener enjoys, but he           richly rewarded and will enter into and enjoy a finished
suffers spiritually of spiritual undernourishment. And          work of God, to be able to
this is a vicious cycle, a tragic syndrome. He misses                    Sing a new song to Jehovah,
out on the spiritual food and becomes weaker, and be-                         For the wonders He has wrought;
cause of his weakness spiritually he has neither the                     His right hand and arm most holy
strength nor the desire to seek food. Let the believer                        Triumph to His cause have brought.



          TRYING THE SPIRITS-




                   Billy Graham  - The Rebutted Dilemma


                                                  by Rev. R. C.  Havbach


        Billy Graham is, undeniably, a prominent  revival-      as a public figure. To be prominent means to be  con-
ist.      That is not the same as saying he is an eminent       spicuous in position, character or importance. Graham
preacher.         Strictly, a preacher represents a true        is so in all these respects. But "eminent" is a richer
church, is called and sent by such a church, and labors         term.      It means to be outstanding, distinguished,  dig-
both out from and with a view to the church. Billy              nified, rising above others, high in rank. Many  in-
Graham does not necessarily do any of these things.             ventors became rather prominent; a few became  emi-
Nevertheless, he is prominent, we do not say eminent,           nent.      Of the two servants of God, Barnabas became


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     11

prominent, while Paul alone became eminent. It is             will and not to choose, all manner of good which may
possible a man may be prominent in a secondary                be presented to it" (C anons of Dort, III-IV, R.3).
position who could be eminent in a primary position.          Graham ought never to speak like this, for it is con-
Graham is a prominent revivalist. He could be an              trary to the declaration of Scripture that "no man can
eminent preacher.      Charles  Haddon  Spurgeon  was a       come to" Christ (John  6:44), that being born again is
reformationist who preached unequivocally from a              "not of the will of man, but of God' (1:12f), and that
Calvinist platform, and was of such great eminence            "it is not of him that  willeth,  but of God that showeth
that he was known as "the prince of preachers."               mercy" (Rom.  9:16). Nevertheless  Grahamunceasing-
Graham is not in the  Spurgeon league. He is to be            ly harps on his favorite Arminian string of "free
classed and viewed as  Toplady  viewed John Wesley.           will." He speaks of man in his unfallen, paradisaical
   It is therefore somewhat surprising that one               state enjoying fellowship with God. In the same breath,
Graham-critic refers to him as "The Pastor's Dilem-           not yet considering the fall, he states, "God did not
ma.' What is meant by a dilemma is a predicament              create man to be a puppet or a robot. He gave us
in which one is forced to choose between two mutually         (that "us" means all fallen men  - RCH) a will of our
exclusive possibilities, both difficult, both unfavorable,    own, so that we can live any way we want to. We can
both undesirable, both of great disadvantage. The di-         accept or reject God -- that is our privilege. . .we are
lemma which Graham and his ministry are said to               `little gods'. .  ." (Decision,  March 1966, p. 1). While
create the pastor is not whether to co-operate with his       it is true that God "does not treat men as senseless
crusades or not. Rather, "it is whether to keep silent        stocks and blocks, nor take away their will and its
or not" about his methods and doctrine. Now view              properties" (C anons, III-IV,  16), still the will of men
this in the light of a classic illustration of a dilemma.     is "incapable of saving good, prone to evil. . .in bond-
In ancient Greece, a mother seeking to dissuade her           age thereto, and. .  .neither  able nor willing to return
son from entering politics, put before him this di-           to God to reform the depravity of their nature, nor to
lemma.       "You should not enter politics because           dispose themselves to reformation" (ibid., 3). So that
justice will make men hate you, and injustice will            "man could have no hope of recovering from his fall
make the gods hate you."          The son rebutted this       by his own free will" (ibid.). Nor is it true at all that
dilemma with another of an opposite conclusion, an-           we. can live any way we want to, so that we can will
swering his mother, "I ought to enter politics because        "to be regenerated or not, to be converted, or to con-
injustice will make men love me, but justice will             tinue unconverted" (ibid.,  la), or so that we "can yet
make the gods love me." So we might say, in the eyes          hunger and thirst after righteousness and life, and
of some, the pastor's dilemma in this connection is,          offer the sacrifice of a contrite and broken spirit,
"You should not get caught in the Billy Graham issue,         which is pleasing to God" (ibid., R. 4) while unregen-
because criticizing him will lead to embarrassing             erated or unconverted. For to live any wicked way he
controversy, stir up animosity against you, rob you           wants to is peculiar to the unregenerate and those that
of your friends, and decrease your sphere of influence,       are cursed of God. But to be able to live and want to
while remaining silent concerning him is tacit agree-         live unto God "is peculiar to the regenerate and those
ment with his pronouncements and policies, will mark          that are called blessed. Ps.  51:10, 19; Mt.  5:6" (ibid.).
you as a compromiser, unfaithful to your Master and           Strange, very strange, though, to think it a privilege
calling, and brand you as one afraid to expose error."        to be able to reject God!          Does Christ have that
To this it may be answered, "I ought to expose myself         privilege?    Do the angels in glory have that privilege?
on the Billy Graham issue because silence will gain           If not, do they have less privilege than mere men?
me only weak, vacillating, hence untrustworthy friends        Then what fleshly pride to boast that we are all little
and influence; but speaking out will mark me a faithful,      sovereigns! 0 that philosophy of Almighty Man! The
fearless servant of Christ adhering to biblical prin-         Word of Truth teaches that it is only the corrupt gen-
ciples ." For the Calvinist pastor and the Reformed           eration of Adam in its unregeneracy which claims,
believer there is in this connection no dilemma. It is        "We are lords!' (Jer.  2:31).
purely and simply a matter of Isaiah  8:20, "To the              But this great evangelist, who does so much good
Law and to the Testimony! if they speak not according         in reaching the unchurched with the "gospel!" is in
to this Word, surely there is no morning for them!"           the habit of ascribing great ability to the spiritually
(ASV).                                                        dead, totally depraved sinner, and tragic helplessness
   That Graham creates no dilemma for us ought to             to the Almighty sovereign King of kings and Lord of
be quite evident from his Pelagian language and  anti-        lords.    Says he, "For centuries mankind has been on
Calvinistic preaching. Says he, "When we reach the            an incredible journey taking him across every gener-
age of accountability' (whatever that is  - RCH) we           ation and through every conceivable experience in his
"are faced by the choice between good and evil"               search for God"  (Wovld Aflame,  89). Notice, he does
(Wovld Aflame,  p. 71). We regret it, but it must be          not think of man in search for a god, but in search for
replied to this remark that here we have an innovation        God. This is a flat denial  ofthe insistence of Scripture
and an error, for man fallen, totally depraved as he          that "there is  none. that seeketh after God" (Rom.
is and dead in trespasses and sins, cannot choose             3:ll).    But Graham is not careful to avoid contradic-
good.     He can choose only evil and that continually.       tion of Scripture. "Ever since man's separation from
Nor is' it true, as Graham often presents it, "that the       God in the garden of Eden, man has been trying des-
will of itself is able to will and to choose, or not to       perately to find his way back to paradise" (ibid., 89).


12                                             THESTANDARDBEARER

Man, indeed, has been trying to' find his way, but not        must devise a plan to restore fellowship with man in
back to paradise.        Fallen man is a monster with a       spite of his sin"  (WA,  93)?        "who  sought  to bring
vicious nature. His heart is where his feet ought to          about a reconciliation," who "is using every means
be, on the earth. His heels are kicking against heaven,       possible to reach us, to  tvy to break through to us"
where his head ought to be uplifted. His face hangs           (Decision,  March 1966, 14, ital. added)? Graham him-
downward, toward hell; his back is to God; his hands          self does not have complete respect for the god he
are groveling and muckraking in the things of earth,          finds himself representing. We wish Graham would
while his mouth swills in the swine-trough of the             forsake his semi-Pelagian conception of God along with
world.       He seeks his way back to paradise the way        his free will philosophy. For his doctrinal aberrations
Mr. Formalist and Mr. Hypocrisy proceeded in the              put him outside the line of the true church. It places
narrow way, not as having entered through the Strait          him in conflict with Jesus, who denied free will: John
Gate, but as having climbed up some other way as a            5:40. He conflicts with Paul, who denied it: Romans
thief and a robber. The end of all such as continue in        9:16; with Luther, who denied it in his book, "The
sin's delusive dream is to die like Turn-Away who             Bondage of the Will"; with Calvin, who denied it in
went everywhere with his head hanging down like a             his "Man Despoiled of Free Will" and "A Refutation
thief caught in the act, and went by the back door to         of the Objections Commonly Urged in Support of Free
hell.      Graham does not even begin to approach such a      Will"; he conflicts with  Toplady,  who denied it in his
view of man in his preaching. What he has to say of           "Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the
and to man is most flattering to the carnal mind.             Church of England," and conflicts with Jonathan Ed-
      But in order to continue discussion, suppose the        wards, who denied it in his monumental "Freedom of
nonsense that lost and dead man is trying to find his         the Will.' ' We mention all this conflict, not because
way back to God. What must he do to find God? He              we need the support of such great men, but because
"must `tune in' " on God (ibid., 94). This means that         they were severely scriptural in their anthropology.
you must "let Him enlarge your capacity to love your          Therefore Graham is flatly in conflict with Scripture
neighbor.      Let Him take you into a new dimension of       which teaches that the spiritually dead sinner has no
living.     He can change your life, if you will let Him"     natural ability to good, and therefore cannot of himself
(Decision,  June 1966, p. 9). This statement is made          repent and believe the Gospel, though he is responsible
just after saying that Christ "has not abdicated his          to do so.     Billy Graham teaches, and this is where he
sovereignty in the affairs of men." For a Christ who          ruins anything good he may ever preach, that in the
has done so "is not the Christ of the Bible. He is too        final analysis, salvation depends on the free will of
weak and too small" (ibid., p. 8). But is not a Christ        man.    The issues of eternity hang on the decision of
who "can,  if  you  let  Him" a "weak, emaciated, im-         the individual man.     So the truth is perverted and God
potent Christ of 1966 (who) bears little resemblance          is robbed of His glory.      Graham does not understand
to the Christ we find in' Scripture? Furthermore,             the great truth taught in Psalm 37, "The salvation of
what sort of god is he who  "somehow,  some way. . .          the righteous is  of  the  Lord!"



      THE CHURCH AT WORSHIP-




                      The Form for Excommunication

                                                by Rev. G.  Vanden  Berg



THE FORM FOR EXCOMMUNICATION                                  her purity when, through her official organs, she
      The ministers and the elders perform the act of         severs from her fellowship those who are guilty of
excommunication not only as the official organs of the        gross sin and remain impenitent. As representing
church but also as the representatives of Christ Him-         Christ Himself, the office bearers function in the
self.      Insofar as they function in the former capacity    name of and upon the authority of Christ, so that the
the whole congregation, as represented in them, par-          act of excommunication is as though it were done by
ticipates in this disagreeable but necessary work.            Christ Himself. This factor alone gives significance
The church, as the bride of Christ, acts to preserve          to the excommunication. If the act is not one of Christ


                                               THESTANDARDBEARER                                                      i3

Himself it  .is meaningless. It accomplishes nothing           no excommunication has then taken place.
really.      Christ holds the keys of David; and when He          In the second place, when we speak of excommunica-
opens, no man shuts, and when He shuts, no man                 tion as applied to those who are reprobate and who,
opens.       And this is what Christ does through and by       therefore, by that very act are finally severed from
means of the official organs of His church.                    Christ and His Kingdom, we must again consider this
        The second thing to consider in this connection,       in the same light, only now from a reverse point of
then, is the fact that excommunication implies sever-          view.        Such a person never was  actually  in Christ.
ance from the body of Christ. When the church de-              Such a person then cannot be actually severed from the
clares that for reason they "do excommunicate N.               I<ingdom in which he never had a part. However, in
from the Church of God, and from fellowship with               the outward sense of the word, he sustained a real re-
Christ, and the holy sacraments, and from all the              lationship to Christ and the things of His Kingdom. He
spiritual blessings and benefits, which God promises           lived in the sphere of the church, came under the
to and bestows upon His Church' , the meaning is not           preaching of the Word, used the means of grace,
simply that said person is cut off from a local con-           partook of the sacraments, etc. That he had no  Yea,?
gregation.      This, of course, is also true. He loses all    participation in these things becomes evident from his
rights and privileges of membership in that particular         sinful walk and impenitence. Hence,  whenhe is excom-
church and he also cannot become a member in any               municated from the church, he is severed from all
church within that denomination. This follows natur-           these blessings also in the outward sense of the word.
ally; but the matter is of much more serious conse-            He is completely outside of the Kingdom. His ex-
quence than this.        He is severed from the body of        communication serves to expose or bring to mani-
Christ and has no communion with the true gathering            festation his reprobation. For such persons, who have
of believers.      He has no access to spiritual blessings.    outwardly tasted the blessings of the Kingdom and
The benefits of the cross of Christ, which are indis-          fallen away, there is no possibility of again bringing
pensable unto life, are not for him. He has no for-            them to repentance. (Heb. 6) Their excommunication
giveness of sins and eternal life. By the act of ex-           is final.
communication he is officially declared to be outside             Thus from both points of view the act of excom-
of the body of Christ and has no part in the Kingdom           munication is extremely important. The church, of
of God.                                                        course, is not able to determine conclusively the
        This raises a very interesting question. Since,        election or reprobation of the person who is being
according to the Scriptures, it is impossible for those        excommunicated. If, however, that person is a child of
who are once in Christ (they are in Christ from all            God the act of excommunication will be instrumental in
eternity) to be severed from Him (not one of them shall        eventually bringing him to repentance, and so in
be lost), it follows that the elect cannot, in the true        reality it serves him as a means of grace. If he is not
sense of the word, be excommunicated. But if ex-               a child of God, the same means works effectively to
communication in the true sense of the word is applied         harden him in his transgression and greatly aggravates
to the reprobate, how can we speak of severing them            his final judgment.
from Christ and the benefits of His I<ingdom when                 Since the church is unable to and therefore may
they never were in Him and never partook of the                not even attempt to determine this matter, room must
blessings which God promises to His Church?                    be left even after the excommunication for the possi-
        In attempting to answer this problem, there are        bility of repentance. This brings us to the third im-
two things that must be considered. First of all, it is        portant consideration in this part of the Form for Ex-
certainly possible that the act of excommunication by          communication.        The act of excommunication, per-
the church is applied to an elect child of God. We             formed by the church, is always conditioned on con-
would assume that in most instances where a child of           tinued impenitence.        The Form states: "We do ex-
God falls into sin, the labor of admonition and the            communicate N.. . SO  long as he obstinately and im-
initial disciplinary steps would succeed in bringing           penitently persists in his sins." The implication is
repentance.       But if this is not the case, the act of      plain. Our excommunication act is not the final one.
excommunication will take place. Christ, however, in           Only Christ can and does execute that. Neither is our
such a case, does not cast His child away. For a time,         act of excommunication irrevocable.           The verdict
during his impenitence and through his excommunica-            arrived at in the case and resulting in the decision to
tion, such a person is, from the viewpoint of his own          excommunicate is not an unchangeable one. Roommust
consciousness and experience, devoid of the blessings          be left for revocation or withdrawal of this excom-
of God although in the deeper sense of the word he is          munication and this must be done too if and when there
not.      He is still in Christ; and in His own time Christ    is genuine evidence of repentance. The way in which
will bring him to repentance. That repentance is not           this is to be done is stipulatedinanother of our Forms,
something that comes apart from God's blessing, but            which we hope to consider later. But it is just because
it is effected by means of those blessings. God gives          of this conditional element in the act of excommunica-
him grace to repent, and then he is also readmitted            tion that the church also can and must continue to
into the fellowship of the Church. His excommunica-            pray for those who, by reason of gross sin, have been
tion then is not final but temporary. It is real only in       severed from her fellowship.
the consciousness of the sinner and before the mind of            In the fourth place, we note that as long as there is
the church, but in the deeper, actual sense of the word        no evidence of repentance, so that nothing changes the


14                                           THE STANDARD BEARER

status of the excommunicated in relation to the church,      ication, I do not fully acknowledge it either. Within the
the members of the church are enjoined to regard him         sphere of the church'1 must regard him as an outsider,
as "a heathen and a publican' , that is, as one who is       but in other spheres of life in this world his friendship
outside of the Kingdom.      In a practical sense of the     can be enjoyed and appreciated. If this reasoning is
word this does not mean that toward such a person            correct, then on the same basis we can be friends with
the members of the church assume a "holier than              the world while the Scriptures tell us that "whosoever
thou" attitude.     This is often done. We then cannot       will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
speak with him any more. We intentionally avoid any          (James  4:4b).
further contact with him.        He is given the "cold
shoulder" treatment which is, of all treatments, the            Our calling with respect to the excommunicated
least effective toward bringing one to repentance. And      brother is explicit. We may not ignore him, but neither
then not infrequently we are able to talk about this        may we be his friend. In our contact with him, as one
person, his sin and his excommunication from the             outside the I<ingdom of God, we must continue to ad-
church, but not to him.       Such conduct and attitude     monish him as we have opportunity, and strive through
cannot be justified.                                         every legitimate way to bring him to repentance. Doing
      On the other hand, the exhortation to "account him     this faithfully, he will not desire our friendship as long
as a heathen and publican" plainly cannot mean that he       as he continues in his sin. A relation of hostility will
is to be regarded the same as before. We may not act         ensue, so that ere long it will even become impossible
toward him as though nothing has happened. We may            to direct an admonition of love toward him. But, and
not continue social fellowship with him, enjoying his        this is the important thing, we will then have done our
"good company,' ' for then we become partakers with         utmost; and the resultant hostile relationship will be of
him of his sin.     Such a wrong attitude and conduct is     his own creation and responsibility. He will then not
sometimes justified by reasoning that admittedly the         be able justifiably to point the finger at the members
excommunicated person has some fault, but this is also       of the church and say that they showed no concern for
true of every member of the church; and the fact that        him and his welfare. Neither will he be able to allege
he became a victim of the disciplinary action of the         that the church's members are inconsistent and  two-
church cannot disrupt my friendship toward him outside       faced, who, on the one hand, excommunicate him from
of the church.      Besides, perhaps the church in its       their fellowship while, on the other hand, they walk with
dealings with him was not 100% right either; and so,        him in the very things for which they severed his fellow-
although I do not wholly condemn the act of excommun-        ship in the church.



ALL AROUND  US-


                            WCC in Geneva
                                    cocu

                                              The Southern `Presbyterians and COCU


                                                 by Prof. H.  Hank0

WCC IN GENEVA                                                   There was some conflict at the meeting; but the
      If there were any lingering doubts in the minds of     conflict was not over fundamental principles -- a clash
anyone that the World Council of Churches is a mani-         between conservatives and liberals; it was rather con-
festation of the false church, last summer's "Confer-        flict over the best means to bring about social revolu-
ence on Church and Society" must surely have dispelled       tion in the world. In several hundred pages of speeches
them.                                                        and reports there was only one passing referencemade
      Delegates from all over the world (including dele-     to Scripture. The delegates were concerned only with
gates from the Russian  Qrthodox  Church) met together       bringing about social and political change in an effort
for two weeks in Geneva, Switzerland under the auspices      to solve the world's ills. One delegate even urged the
of the WCC to discuss "the need for a new ecumenical         church to use a new strategy of revolution- small
examination of Christian social ethics in a world per-       guerilla units similar to those used in military cam-
spective."                                                  paigns to attain these revolutionary objectives. All the


                                                THESTANDARDBEARER                                                  15

efforts of the church had to be directed towards these       of services in which all theministers of all the churches
ends.                                                        would unite, perhaps in a mutual laying on of hands.
   While the council had nothing to say about Scripture,     But for a generation or more, the united church would
it had a great deal to say about Viet Nam. Especially        be a loose federation governed by a provisional council
American involvement there came up  time,and  again.         representing all the participating denominations. Most
Some wanted the American military efforts there to be        administrative matters would remain within the separate
condemned out of hand.      Releases were sent out con-      denominations for the time being. Only after all the
demning the bombing of North Viet Nam. A cable was           members had lived together long enough to develop
sent to President Johnson asking him to refrain from         mutual trust would an attempt be made to draft a
reprisals against the North Vietnamese for their treat-      constitution which would finally merge all the de-
ment of American prisoners. The Russians urged loud          nominations into one ecclesiastical structure.
and long in support of the Communist position in that           A basis for unity was also accepted by the rep-
war. And, as usual, a resolution was passed demanding        resentatives.      The following summary will give
the admission of Red China into the United Nations.          some idea of the type of decisions made on these
   Visser `t  Hooft  andEugene  Carson Blake spoke of        crucial issues.
the Council as very fruitful and beneficial.                    1) On the question of faith, the church would affirm
   Obviously the meeting looked for a Kingdom of Christ      the authority of the Bible as the norm according to
to come upon this earth through solution of the world's      which all doctrines must be measured, along with the
problems.      And those who are entrusted with bringing     Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. But this must
this kingdom to earth are the world's ecumenical lead-       be understood in the light of the calling of the church
ers --to hear the delegates speak. These men have all        to make reformulations of the faith from time to time
the solutions in their pockets. Apparently they were         to present a confession which is always relevant to
convinced that if only enough people would listen to         new times and new situations.
them and do what they say, heaven would come to-                2) On the question of worship, freedom will be
morrow.                                                      permitted within the united church so that each con-
   Such pompous conceit is hard to imagine. But              gregation may continue with its familiar rites and
there is a deadly serious implication in all this none-      forms. But there will be considerable experimentation
theless.      These men are the spokesmen for a large        in the hope that, after a generation or so, a new form
part of the church in today's world. They have count-        of worship will evolve to be used by all and which
less supporters abroad and here in this country. Their       includes all the diverse traditions of the participating
views are current theology in innumerable places.            denominations.
Their arrogance stems from the assurance that they              3) As far as the sacraments are concerned: both
really are riding the wave of the future.                    infant and adult baptism will be permitted, and that
   Consequently also these men have no time for the          either by sprinkling or immersion. No congregation
church which maintains that the kingdom of heaven is         is required to baptize infants against its will. But
to be realized above in the return of Christ. They           every church must make provision for a solemn act of
deride those who refuse to become enmeshed in political      confirmation at which time each member accepts "his
and economic issues, but who preach the gospel of            personal responsibility as a Christian" and makes
Christ.     Obviously, as their voice becomes louder in      appropriate affirmations to membership in the church.
ecclesiastical circles, the alternative for the people of       The Lord's Supper will be celebrated after the
God will be: Go along with all this or be rudely shoved      manner of any of the uniting churches. The service
aside. There is no room in the WCC for the Church            must be under the direction of an ordained minister,
of Christ.                                                   although laymen and women may assist "in appropriate
                                                             ways.' The question of how Christ is present in the
COCU                                                         sacrament was conveniently side-stepped -- most likely
   COCU stands for Conversations On Church Unity.            because there was too much difference of opinion among
And this title is the name given to the merger  balks        the delegates. The assembly was content to declare
between eight denominations (United Presbyterian             that the Eucharist is "an effective means whereby God
Church, Southern Presbyterian Church, Methodist              in Christ acts and Christ is present with his people."
Church, Episcopal Church,  AfricanMethodist  Episcopal          4) With respect to the ministry,' the new churchwill
Church, United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ,        have bishops, presbyters or elders, and deacons. Bish-
and Evangelical United Brethren.) which will eventually      ops would be chief pastors of districts or dioceses,
become a super church of some  25,000,OOO  members.          but their decisions would have to be approved by
   We have reported on this movement before in these         broader gatherings. There will be two kinds of elders
columns. There are some new developments.                    or presbyters: a group of full time professionals who
   -- A union proposal has been drafted and sent to all      are theologically trained men, qualified to serve as
the churches for study. This proposal also lays a plan       pastors.    And there will be non-professionals who will
for union to be accomplished in various stages. It is        labor in secular work along with ministerial duties.
envisioned that it will take from 5 to 15 years more to      These would be ordained to administer the sacraments
work out all the details of a union and to get approval      and do other  \work  of a pastoral nature in which a
from all the participating denominations. The union          theological education is not required.
itself would come about through a service or series             5) The organization of this new church will be along


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER

the following lines. All local units of the church would      Southern Presbyterian and the Reformed Church which
be governed democratically, with some decisions made          opposes participation in COCU, but also strongly fights
by elected representatives and others made by the whole       against all the liberalism rampant in these denomina-
congregation. The next higher unit would be comparable        tions.     The  Pyes  bytevian  Joumzal is the conservative
to a diocese, presbytery or  classis.  It would normally      voice among the Southern Presbyterians. The  edi.tor,
include from 40 to 120 local units and would be ad-           G. Aiken Taylor, in a recent issue of the  Joum~al  takes
ministered by a bishop and a representative council.          a hard look into the future in order to come to some
Above these units would be regional units, comparable         conclusions about what must be done as his denomina-
to particular synods. And at the top would be a national      tion drifts deeper into liberalism. Among other things
convention, meeting every four years, with a presiding        he writes:
bishop elected for five years and an elected council to                 We never intend to separate, or counsel separation
administer affairs in the interim.                                from the historic Presbyterian and Reformed tradition,
   There are several features of this plan which im-              or from the Presbyterian Church as represented by
                                                                  those who committed their faith and lives to that
mediately strike us.                                              tradition. Others, including some denominational lead-
   In the first place, it is apparent that, with the              ers and executives, already are openly separating
exception of one statement on the Bible, there is no              from that tradition and calling for the whole Church to
mention of any doctrines. With the vast diversity of              leave it.
beliefs within these denominations, it appears that one                 In view of the separation which has begun, and
can believe anything one chooses to believe and still be          which can be abundantly documented, it should be said
a member.       It is well-known that there are men in-           that the Presbyterian Church US, as an  organized
fluential in those COCU talks who deny the very                   Church,  must continue, yea, will continue.
fundamentais of the Christian faith -- the Apostle's                    The Church may be a bit smaller in size and num-
                                                                  bers after separation has been complete. But it will
Creed notwithstanding.                                            continue as presently constituted, by presbyteries
   Secondly, there is no mention at all of Scripture              . . . . . by synods...and  as a continuing General Assembly
as a rule of doctrine, life or polity in the actual de-           of the Presbyterian Church in the United States....
cisions on the points mentioned above.        Scripture is              We have no intention of being any part of, with-
after all irrelevant, despite a passing reference to it.          drawing  from the Church movement. No. We intend to
On the important questions, decisions are made on the             stay with the Church--with as much of the Church as
basis of expediency only.                                         proves willing to stand on the historic Presbyterian
                                                                  faith and order.
   In the third place, the proposals are so broad that                  We believe there are enough faithful Presbyterians
it appears sometimes as if all the delegates did was              to keep intact the formal structure of nearly every
take the various beliefs of all the denominations, throw          presbytery and synod in the present organization.
them together, and state them as a basis for merger.              While we admire this firm stand taken by the
   Finally, the strong impression is left that the COCU       editor as he envisions a split within his denomination,
talks have one eye constantly fixed upon the Romish           we cannot help but ask whether or not he is evading the
Church and later possible union with it.                      issue.     He speaks of staying with the Church-with as
   The result is that such a union cannot possibly            much of it as stands for the historic Presbyterian
express the unity of the church of Christ.                    faith and order.        But the Church, in its highest ec-
   --Very recently a new denomination joined the              clesiastical assemblies, no longer wants to do this --
COCU' talks.     This brings the total up to nine. The        obviously.       The church has decided, in effect, to dis-
new denomination is predominantly Negro, is called the        card all this. The editor does not suppose, does he,
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and numbers          that those who forced through joining COCU are them-
some 770,000 members. This addition gives hope too            selves going to leave the Church? This will never
of the new denomination speaking strongly on the              happen.       What then will he do? And what will those do
question of civil rights.                                     who agree with him?           How can they maintain their
   The delegates are encouraged by recent additions           principles within the Church that has officially decided
of other denominations and look to yet more churches          to abandon them.          The question seems to us to be
coming into the talks.                                        urgent, for we can conceive of the possibility of their
THE SOUTHERN  PRESBYTERLANS  AND  COCU                        being dragged along (if they refuse to separate) in
                                                              spite of their good intentions, and all their firm re-
   We have noted before that the Southern Presbyter-          solves notwithstanding.
ians have decided to join. This was done in  a. surprise          COCU' is on the way. The Southern Presbyterians
move at last Spring's annual Assembly meeting. Since          are officially a part. What now?
the Reformed Church of America was involved in its
own merger talks with the Southern Presbyterians,                               EASTERN LADIES L EAG UE
some thought that the decision to join COCU would end         Our Fall meeting will be held, D.V., on Thursday
these private merger talks. But such is not the case.         evening, October 13, at 8:00 p.m., at our Southeast
The Reformed Churches decided to go ahead with                Protestant Reformed Church. Rev. M.  Schipper  will
merger talks with the Southern Presbyterians, with the        speak on the topic, "Praying for those in Authority".
result that quite possibly the Reformed Church itself         We invite all our ladies to gather with us for an evening
will some day join COCU.                                      of edification and Christian fellowship.
   There is a strong conservative element in both the                                     Mrs. H. Velthouse, Vice-Sec'y.


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           17
                                                                                                                                   I



     EXAMINING  ECUMENICALISM-


                                                     cocu

                                                 by Rev. G. Van  Buren


    "Truly catholic, truly reformed, truly ecumenical"               Regarding his own faith, Dr. Blake said that the
    For those who have read concerning developments              heart of the matter is that Jesus Christ is the son of
in the church-world of our day, the letters COCU have            God and that absolute adherence to the doctrine of the
been observed with ever increasing frequency. The                Virgin birth is not necessary to be a Christian.
letters indicate the "Consultation on Church Union."                 Asked about other religions, he answered that God
Just recently we have read of its fifth meeting held             is the one to decide questions of salvation and that "I
                                                                 am not one to say." He urged that "we are humble in
at Dallas, Texas. There have also been comments on               our judgment of others."1
the possibility of the breaking up of the merger talks
between the Reformed Church in America and the
Southern Presbyterian Church because the latter de-              Pike also makes his position known in his own
cided this spring to become full participants in the          writings:
COCU discussions. What is this COCU which claims
to be seeking the realization of the church which is                 I had a good conversation with Martin Buber in
"truly catholic, truly reformed, truly ecumenical?"              Paris several months ago, and I am with him in think-
What does the development of COCU mean in these                  ing that all the verbiage associated with the Trinity is
last days ?                                                      quite unnecessary. He understands what we Christians
                                                                 are trying to say about the remarkable, and for
THE ORIGIN OF COCU                                               Christians, unique, revelation of God in Christ. But
                                                                 as sophisticated about Christian thought as he is, he
    According to its own documents, COCU began in                cannot understand why we had to develop the Trinity
December of 1960 when the Rev. Eugene Carson Blake,              concept.     I understand why we had to at the time of
stated clerk of the United Presbyterian Church preached          its formulation, but can't see its permanent value. I
a "sermon" in Grace Cathedral of the Episcopal                   stand in the tradition that requires all doctrine to be
Church in San Francisco on the subject, "Toward the              under the standard- of <he -Bible,  and I see nothing in
Reunion of Christ's Church.' (This sermon is avail-              the Bible, as critically viewed, which supported this
able in print from 520 Witherspoon Bldg., Philadelphia           particular weak and unintelligible philosophical or-
7, Pa. for 20C.) In this sermon Blake suggested "a               ganization of the nature of God.
                                                                     . . .I am more broad than the church. This means
plan of church union both catholic and reformed on               that I am more liberal in theology than I was ten years
the basis of the principles I shall later in this sermon         ago. When Norman Pittenger and I were writing THE
suggest.       Any other churches which find that they can       FAITH OF THE CHURCH, he did not find reason to
accept both the principles and plan would also be warmly         accept the historical  virgin birth; I thought I did.
.invited  to unite with us."                                     Our wrestling over the matter --not only a personal
    Blake suggested that the United Presbyterian Church          wrestling but a wrestling with both theological profes-
ask the Episcopal Church to issue a joint invitation to          sors and bishops in our church -- resulted in the book's
the Methodist Church and to the United Church of                 leaving an opening for people like Pittenger. Now I
Christ to "explore the establishment of a unitedchurch           am with him. While neither he nor I would deny the
truly catholic, truly reformed, and truly evangelical."          possibility of the miracle, the Biblical evidence and
                                                                 the theological implications seem to be in favor of
    The above plan was called the "Blake-Pike' pro-              assuming that Joseph was the h  urn an fat h e r of
posal for church union. It is noteworthy, I think, that          Jesus. . .  .2
the names of these two men should be originally
associated with this "merger" plan. Both are regarded         My point is not first of all that these men are heretics
as "liberal" in their own churches. In fact, not long         in light. of the historical confessions of the church,
ago there was an attempt to remove Pike from his              and in light of Scripture itself, but that these are the
position in the Episcopal Church because of what was          men who propose union of the major protestant de-
termed his  Itheresy." Blake is about as suspect as           nominations in adherence to the "will of God" that
Pike.       The one newspaper reported Blake's position       they "may all be one." If such men are the moving
as follows:                                                   forces behind the rush toward unity, one begins to get


                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER

a clear picture what such a united "church" will be.                   the kind of life together whichmarks Christian brother-
"Can a corrupt tree bear good fruit?"                                  hood at its deepest level. With all their accomplish-
                                                                       ments  - and their records furnish an astounding chapter
THE DEVELOPMENT OF COCU                                                in modern ecumenical history -- the councils leave un-
      Of course, Blake's proposal attracted widespread                 challenged the radical separation between the churches.
attention.         It became the Number One religious news             When therapeutic surgery is needed to make the church
                                                                       whole, councils can give only light medication.
story of the year in the secular press.                In May of              . . .Through church union, whatever its eventual
1961 the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian                   shape, we must seek unity so visible and intimate that
Church enthusiastically asked the Episcopal Church to                  the Church can be seen and experienced as truly one
issue a joint invitation to the Methodist Church and                   body.4
the United Church of Christ. Each participating church                 But the aim of COCU, or at least some of its driv-
would appoint a committee of nine to work out plans                 ing leaders, is higher yet. They envision the eventual
of union. The combined committees could also invite                 union of all churches into one grand organization. Two
other churches to join them in the discussions.                     quotations ought to show this.
      At its first meeting, COCU invited also the Disciples
of Christ and the Evangelical United Brethren to join                         Notice that "truly reformed" and "truly evangeli-
the  conferenc'e   l- and these accepted. Two other de-                 cal' are descriptions of the united Church we seek.
nominations subsequently jointed the discussions: the                   Our real problem is to see what these terms ought to
                                                                        mean : fov the new Church we hope to bring into being.
African Methodist Episcopal and the Southern Presby-                    We therefore have to do our thinking together, never
terian Church. Other denominations have observers                       separately.      Moreover, if we really wish to be re-
present.                                                                sponsible to the whole Church of Jesus Christ, we must
      Some five meetings have been held. The first was                  do our thinking as  if all other Christians were present
in 1962 at Washington, D.C. In 1963 the meeting was                     at these union discussions: Roman Catholics, Orthodox,
at Oberlin, Ohio; in 1964 in Princeton, N.J.; in 1965                   Lutherans, Baptists, and the rest.5
in Lexington, Ky.; and in 1966 in Dallas, Tex. I hope,                        Moreover, we cannot consider the accomplishment
D.V., to give a brief review of the progress made at                    of union --  if  it is accomplished -- as the final end we
each of these meetings.                                                 seek.     On the contrary, that will be only the beginning.
      After the last meeting, participating church leaders              The achievement of unity will mark a step toward
                                                                        clearing  away- some residual ecclesiastical problems
are optimistic concerning the possibility of one grand                  which have little relevance in the twentieth century.
union. The press release read:                                          We shall then be free to turn toward even wider efforts
         The Rev. Dr. Eugene Carson Blake. .  .said Monday              at union, and toward an ever fuller and richer sharing
      he is more optimistic than ever before about the                  of the life God gives the world through his Son.6
      prospects for achieving a merger of eight Protestant             And what must one say? Is the above the seeking of
      denominations with 24 million members. . . .                  the unity of the true Church of Jesus Christ? One can
         Dr. Blake's optimism is shared by leaders of other
      denominations. . . .                                          not help but see in this mad rush toward union that
         Episcopal Bishop Robert F. Gibson of Richmond,             here are the beginnings of the antichristian church in
      Va., chairman of the meeting, called attention to a           the United States. That "church" is not here yet, but
      public opinion poll which indicated that rank-and-file        the  time  is at hand. Denominational walls are crum-
      members of the eight denominations favor the proposed         bling.       Old, tried-and-true, confessions are being
      merger by a 2-to-1 majority. . . .                            discarded.         "Winds of change" are blowing through
         Dr. James I.  McCord,  president of Princeton              churches which were once staunchly Reformed. One
      Theological Seminary. .  .said he was not surprised by        must say with Scripture, "Watch;" and, "Hold fast
      the poll.                                                     that thou hast, that no man take thy crown."
          "God has been preparing the way for this union for
many years," he said. "What we have to do is simply
      to catch up with Him."3                                       1. Quoted from Santa Barbara  News-Press,  March 20,
                                                                       1961
THE GOALS OF COCU                                                   2.  Chvistiun  Centuvy,  December 21, 1960
 _                                                                  3. Grand Rapids  Press,  May 3, 1966
      Obviously, the first goal of COCU is the union of             4.  Wlzeve we  aye  in Church Union;  edited by George L.
the, eight denominations . presently involved in the                   Hunt and Paul A. Crow, Jr.; pgs. 31-32
Conference.          Discussion of differences, the possibility     5. ibid.; pg. 56
of, working together in limited areas, -- this is not               6. ibid.; pg. 65
enough.       The denominations have to become one or-
ganization.         Paul A. Crow, Jr., associate professor of
church history at Lexington Theological Seminary and                                         ANNOUNCEMENT
associate executive secretary of COCU, writes:
                                                                    Classis East of the Protestant Reformed Churches will
         If visibility in such intimate terms is the mark of        meet, the Lord willing, on Wednesday, October 5, 1966
      the church's unity, mere co-operation of separated
      churches in councils of churches is insufficient. Though      at 9 a.m. in the Holland Protestant Reformed Church.
      the councils have brought us "out of isolation into           Consistories will please take notice of this in the
      conference," `and still continue as creative forums for       appointment of their delegates.
-interchurch conversation and action, they do not reflect                                              M.  Schipper,  Stated Clerk


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                            19



FROM HOLY WRIT-                                                                                      . . .
                                                                                            _  -

                                                                                                                             `: 7 L


                       The Good Shepherd of Israel  !,                                                                   ,' :-_. . -
                                                                                                                           `.  .'





                                                      John lo.%  -39
                                                   by                                                                     _'
                                                          Rev. G. Lubbers                                 __'

                                                                                                           .
THE VENGEANCE OF UNBELIEVING JEWS: STONES                           However, there is also the legitimate and  God-
John 10:31-39                                                    ordained stoning in the Name of God. Those who broke
   Those who speak the Word of God in the midst of               God's covenant and served other gods and  attempted.to
unbelieving Israel are always the object of persecution,         lead Israel astray from God, the God' of Israel, were
and not seldom are they hypocritically and falsely               commanded to be killed with stones and thus removed
adjudged and stoned. Thus it was with Moses and with             from out of Israel.     Thus we read in Deuteronomy
all the true prophets and servants of the Lord. Here-            13:lO: `*And, thou shalt stone him with stones that he
with Jesus also is confronted as He vindicates His               die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from
eternal  Sonship  over against the unbelieving Jews in           the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land
Jerusalem.     The cardinal question is: What say ye of          of Egypt, from the house of bondage." See, further-
the Christ, whose Son is He?                                     more, such passages as Deuteronomy  17:5, 2  :21, 24,
   It is important for the correct understanding of the          and Joshua  7:25, in all of which we see the vengeance
matter here to take notice of the meaning and implica-           and holy wrath of God exhibited.
tion of "stoning" in the Holy Bible. A perusal of both               There is one point more which ought to be noticed
the Old and New Testament Scriptures shows that there            in this connection. It is that stoning was God's execu-
is both a God-sanctioned use of stoning and a  man-              tion of His justice through the hands of men, of those
initiated stoning. The former is the executionof divine          who were of the party of the living God, who were con-
justice upon blasphemers and covenant-breakers, while            sumed by the zeal of the Lord's house and its purity of
the latter is simply sinful human vengeance which would          worship.    And it is exactly here where we have the
usurp to itself the place of the Judge of all the earth.         either/or situation which we signalled above; either this
   When "stoning" took place by the people them-                 was done in the zeal of the Lord or it was the mere
selves, contrary to the Word of God and not upon God's           fire of hell in the hearts of those who did not know the
expressed commandment, then it was tantamount to                 Lord, yet purported to be defenders of the honor and
popular revolution and upheaval of the people against            majesty of God.
authority.    It was taking the law into one's own hand;             Now to the point at issue here in John 10:31-39.
it was a mere lynching party. Only when stoning was                  Let us not forget that we may see here the Jews
upon God's command was it justifiable. Thus we have              standing ready to throw the stones at Jesus. The first
the either /or situation in all instances of stoning. It is      stone is about to be thrown. Jesus speaks. He asks a
either in the Name of God and having His sanction, or            question, and it is a heart-searching one. He states a
it is in the name of man and with God's disapproval!             fact and asks a question about it, Says he: "Many good
   Instances of sue h human vengeance we have in the             works have I shewed thee from my Father;for  which of
case of Israel well-nigh taking up stones to stone               those works do ye stone me?"
Moses at Rephidim when there is no water. (Exodus
17:4) Or we have the instance of stoning in the history              The question is arresting. Jesus states here his
of Ahab's wife writing out the prescription for Naboth's         entire case and defends it with one question. He. speaks
death, which was accordingly executed by her hench-              of his "works'". The blind He had given sight, the lame
men. (I Kings 21:10,13)  Suchmust  have been the general         He caused to walk and the blind to see, the lepers were
rule of unbelieving Israel according to the parable in           cleansed by Him, and the demon-possessed He liber-
Matthew 21:35: "And the husbandmen tookhis servants,             ated, and the poor had the Gospel preached to them.
and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another".           These works were not isolated cases. They are many!
And the Lord upon pronouncing the tenfold woes upon              And they are all good; they are beautiful and excellent
unbelieving Israel, says: -"Wherefore, behold, I send            in nature. They all refer to`the breaking of the power
unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and                of sin and death, and of wresting the children of God
some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of              from the grip of Satan and all his hosts  .of hell. These
them ye shall scourge in your synagogues.. . . .O Je-            were His works! They were good.
rusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and               Furthermore, the Savior says that these works were
stonest  them which are sent unto thee...."                      of such a nature that they were "out of my Father".


20                                              THE STANDARD BEARER

-From Him they had their origin and source. And they            above those to whom God speaks in the Psalm. Yet,
give a very distinct testimony to that effect. They             these are called "gods," rulers, kings and judges
testified that He was sent by the Father to perform             among men.
His work on earth, that He had been sanctified and set             Secondly, there is the pre-eminence pointed out, that
aside by God for these works, and had been sent into            in the Psalm quoted the word mere came to these
the world for this very purpose. Such is Christ's  self-        ' `gods' ' , while here is one who is "sanctified" and
attestation to all men, whether they are disobedient or         "sent into the world by the Father".         And when we
whether they believe.                                           take a closer look at this word that came to these
      Now the searching question can be asked: for which        "gods," it was a word of reproof from the Lord who
of these works do ye stone me? Christ asks in effect            stands in the midst of the congregation to judge and
for their "Bill of particulars". His works were many,           reprove these "gods", while here the works testify
and they were good. Will they now single out one or             that they are direct works of the Father from heaven
more of these works which were reprehensible in that            in the Son. Here is one who is far greater than all the
they did not have and did not bear the evidence that            prophets and all the judges of the earth.
they were out of the heavenly Father? If there is even             Thirdly, and now we have the closing of the argu-
one of all these works which belies this boast, that they       ment by Christ's placing in the arch-stone. How can
are works which are shown from the heavenly Father,             these the Jews in good propriety complain that Christ
these Jews have a case!                                         says, "I  ana the Son of God", if such mere, sinful,
      They side-step the question. Rather they will forget      transitory men are called "gods". If the latter is not
about these many works, and speak only of what He               blasphemy and incongruous with God's nature, why
claims to be.       They will pin-point their case on a         would the former be thus adjudged to be.
statement. Now Jesus does not argue the context and                But Jesus presses the matter to the end. Although
the meaning of the statement! Nor does He deny that             these Jews are evidently still standing with stones in
He ever made the statement attributed to Him. He                their hands, he continues to speak to them, and He
says: I am the Son of God. He makes himself God, the            gives them two alternatives, two possibilities to con-
great Shepherd of Israel in the flesh. And, in so doing,        sider from the evidence. They have not given him a
He is guilty of the sin of blasphemy. Thus it is alleged.       "Bill of particulars" concerning any works which were
      That is a serious, grievous and heavy charge. For         weighed in the balance and found wanting. He has shut
blasphemy is a horrible offense against the majesty of          their mouth concerning the charge of blasphemy by
God.(*) Calvin gives a brief definition when he says            quoting the Scriptures. But now He presents them with
"that in which God is wounded and insulted in His               two alternatives.      He tightens the thumb-screws on
majesty".      And he continues: "There are two kinds of        them.
blasphemy.      The one is when  God. is despoiled of His          The first alternative is that all His works taken as a
due honor.      The other when anything unworthy of or          whole and one class, which ever He did perform, are
foreign is ascribed to Him" (Commentary, Gospel                 not works which He performs directly from God. If
according to St. John)        In this case they allege that     such should be the case, they must not believe Him
Jesus, being but a mere man, is sacrilegious because            that He is the Son of God. Then His claim is spurious
he ascribes to himself what only belongs to God, His            and false. He is guilty of blasphemy.
being, nature, attributes, and works.                              The second alternative is that He does do the works
      They feign interest in the majesty of God!                of God. Then they do not simply need to believe it upon
      But they will not listen to .the evidence of the works    His word, but they surely must believe because of the
of God in his Son. Jesus does not demur. He meets               implicit testimony of these works that they are from
them head-on. They will measure His statement and               God.
words by the Law, the Holy Scriptures? Go to, then,
ye who purport to know the Scriptures and to live  .by             Two alternatives. It is either/or. He is the Son of
                                                                God, the great Shepherd of Israel, or Heis not that One
them as the end of all contradiction. He will lay them          to come.      He is either unworthy of faith or worthy.
low with the sword of the Spirit. He quotes from Psalm          The evidence is in the works. They testify of Him!
82. Says he: "Is it not written in your law, I said, ye
are gods? If he called them gods unto whom the word                *See Kittel's "Theological Dictionary of the New
of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, Say            Testament" translation by G. Bromiley, pages 621-
ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent            625.     Suffer me to give just one instance from what is
into the world, Thou blaspemest; because I said, I am           written under the term  blusphemia,  etc, particularly
the Son of God?"                                                under "C.  blasphemiain   the NT. 1. In the NT the con-
      What is the force of this argument and refutation?        cept of blasphemy is controlled throughout by the
      First of all, there is a difference in station and        thought of violation of the power and majesty of God.
calling between these who were called "gods" and Him            Blasphemy may be directed immediately against God
Whom the Father "sanctified and sent into the world".           (Rev.  13:6;  16:11, 21; AC.  6:11, against the name of
Those were mere men, although they were judges of               God (R.  2:24, quoting Is. 525;  I Tim.  6:l; Rev.  16:9,
the earth. They shall "die like men and fall like one of        against the Word of God (Tt.  2:5), against Moses and
the princes". (Psalm  82:7) He is not like these, but           God and therefore against the bearer of the revelation
was "sent into the world." The argument is from the             of the law AC. 6:ll)" See further the article in Intern.
less eminent to the more eminent.            He towers far      Bible  Enclyclopedia by T. Rees, Vol. I.


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               21



 CONTENDlNG FOR THE FAITH-


                             The Providence of God

                                                    GOVERNMENT

                                                       by Rev. H. Veldman


   The three elements of the providence of God are                    universal Fatherhood of God.         Moreover, the New
preservation, cooperation, and government.               In our       Testament also teaches the universal kingship of God
last article we called attention to the Lord's preserva-              in such passages as Matt.  11:25; Acts  17:24; 1 Tim.
tion of all things. In this article we wish to call at-               1:17;  6:15; Rev.  1:6;  19:6. He is both King and Father,
tention to that phase of the providence of the Lord that              and is the source of all authority in heaven and on
is known as government. We wish to reserve our last                   earth, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
article for the discussion of cooperation because this                   b. It is a  govevltment  adapted to the nature  of  the
aspect of the providence of God concerns the relation                 creatures  which He  governs.    In the physical world He
                                                                      has established the laws of nature, and it is by means
of sin to God's sovereign and constant control over                   of these laws that He administers the government of
all things.       We have mentioned that there are three              the physical universe.      In the mental world He ad-
elements which constitute the doctrine of .the provi-                 ministers His government mediately through the prop-
dence of God.          Really, we may speak of only two               erties and laws of mind, and immediately, by the direct
elements.       What we call  ` cooperation" is really not a          operation of the Holy Spirit. In the government and
third element beside and in addition to "preservation"                control of moral agents He makes use of all kinds of
and "government."           What we call "cooperation" is             moral influences, such circumstances, motives, in-
really God's government, but as controlling the acts                  struction, persuasion, and example, but also works
of all His moral-rational creatures. In this article                  directly by the personal operation of the Holy Spirit
we wish to call attention to this government of the Lord              on the intellect, the will, and the heart.
                                                                         2. THE EXTENT OF THIS GOVERNMENT. Scrip-
from a general point of view.                                         ture explicitly declares this divine government to be
   Writing on this phase or aspect of God's providence,               universal, Ps.  22:28, 29;  103:17-19;  Dan.  4:34, 35;
Prof. H. Berkhof, in his Reformed Dogmatics, writes                   1 Tim.  6:15.    It is really the execution of His eternal
as follows on pages 175-176, and we quote:                            purpose, embracing all His works from the beginning,
   D. Government.                                                     all that was or is or ever shall be. But while it is
      1. NATURE OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT.                 The         general, it also descends to particulars. The most
   divine  government may  be defined as that continued               insignificant  things, Matt.  10:29-31, that which is
   activity  of  God whereby He  &es  all  things  teleologic-        seemingly accidental, Prov. 16:33, the good deeds of
   ally so as to  secure  the accomplishment  of  the divine          men,  Phil.  2:13, as well as their evil deeds, Acts
   purpose.       This government is not simply a part of             14:16,-they  are all under divine control.         God is
   divine providence but, just as preservation and con-               King of Israel, Isa. 33:22, but He also rules among
   currence, the whole of it, but now considered from the             the nations, Ps. 47~9. Nothing can be withdrawn from
   point of view of the end to which God is guiding all               His government.
   things in creation, namely, to the glory of His name.              In connection with this quotation of Prof. Berkhof,
      a. It is the government  of  God as King  of  the  uni-
   veme.       In the present day many regard the idea of God      we would make a few observations. First, we have no
   as King to be an antiquated Old Testament notion, and           criticism of what the late professor writes here of the
   would substitute for it the New Testament idea of God           government of the Lord. We may certainly endorse
   as Father. The idea of divine sovereignty must make             this definition, namely that the divine government may
   place for that of divine love. This is thought to be in         be defined as that continued activity of God whereby
   harmony with the progressive idea of God in Scripture.          He rules all things teleologically so as to secure the
   But it is a mistake to think that divine revelation, as         accomplishment of the divine purpose. And, secondly,
   it rises to even higher levels, intends to wean us grad-        he also declares that "Jesus does not teach a universal
   ually from the idea of God as King, and to substitute           Fatherhood of God." How wonderful it would have
   for it the idea of God as Father. This is already con-          been had the late professor been consistent along this
   tradicted by the prominence of the idea of the Kingdom
   of God in the teachings of Jesus. And if it be said that        line! On the one hand, he declares that Jesus does not
   this involves merely the idea of a special and limited          teach a universal Fatherhood of God. But, on the other
   kingship of God, it may be replied that the idea of the         hand, he also taught a universal love of God, and he was
   Fatherhood of God in the Gospels is subject to the same         also prominent in the drawing up of the Three Points
   restrictions and limitations. Jesus does not teach a            of 1924 by the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church


22                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER

at Kalamazoo. And, this universal love of God, accord-                 the forces of iniquity the victory.
ing to him, was of such a nature that the Lord would                      But with this same conception we can also depart
have all men be saved, would lead all men to repent-                   from the truth in a different direction, namely, in that
ante . However, also according to Berkhof in his ex-                   of common grace.       According to this theory, God has
planation of Romans  2:4, the result did not answer to                 in mind the creation ordinance; and He still maintains
the purpose.         This means, of course, that what the              it: the riches of creation must be brought to light
Lord purposed to do fell short of fulfillment. In the                  under the dominion of man. Satan meant to frustrate
light of this, it certainly constitutes a glaring contra-              this purpose of God through the fall of man. But God
diction on the part of the late professor when he de-                  through common grace, by which He restrains sin and
                                                                       checks the curse in creation so that man does not be-
clares that God's providence is His sovereign control                  come a devil nor descends into hell or falls dead in
over all things, that the government of the Lord means                 paradise before the tree of life, counteracts this
that He rules all things teleologically so as to secure                attempt of the devil and maintains His original ordi-
the accomplishment of the divine purpose. It must                      nance of creation, realizing His purpose. In the mean-
surely be apparent that a God Who would save all men                   time, however, the Lord begins a new work, through
but fails in His purpose is not in sovereign and complete              which the chief purpose of all things is realized and
control over all things.         According to his view, man            all things will be reunited in Christ Jesus as their
certainly has much to say as far as his salvation is                   Head.
concerned.                                                                Also this conception finds no support in Holy Writ.
      Aho  of interest, of course, is what Rev.  H.  Hoek-             Besides, it is certainly a dualistic conception: for it
                                                                       proceeds from the erroneous assumption that sin,
sema has to say in his Dogmatics.              After he has set        death, and the curse, instead of being powers which
forth the doctrine of God's preservation, writing of                   God works, manifestations of His wrath, are powers
the divine government over all things, he writes as                    outside and apart from Him, which He must restrain.
follows, and we quote:                                                    Hence, we must have a different presentation of
         But even so all is not said.                                  the matter, and establish at once the fact that God did
         The creation  of God, as the Almighty formed it in            not have all kinds of possibilities in mind when He
      the beginning, was indeed good. There was no defect              created the world, but had before His mind only one
      or flaw in the works of the Most High. For God saw               purpose.     That purpose was not to perfect all things in
      all that he had made, and behold, it was very good.              the first Adam, which was out of the earth, earthy, but
      It was so formed that it could serve the purpose of              to bring them to final perfection in Christ, Who is the
      its existence. But this does. not mean that the end of           Lord from heaven. The final goal of all things which
      all the works of God was reached in the beginning.               God conceived in His counsel was the new creation, in
      Even the fact that God made the cosmos a living                  which righteousness shall dwell for ever, of which
      creation, that was adapted to development, proves                Christ shall be the eternal Head in whom all things
      that the end was not yet. The human race was or-                 shall be united.      This is the only purpose God ever
      ganically created in one man, out of whom millions               conceived in His eternal counsel. And the providence
      upon millions were to come forth.        Hidden powers           of God certainly implies that from the veryfirst begin-
      were working in creation, that must still be brought             ning to the end of the world, that is, till the return of
      to light.    Creation stood only at its beginning. It            Christ, God governs all things and guides them by His
      must develop and pass through a history. We must                 counsel unto the end He has in view. And from the
      therefore not connect the providence of God with                 beginning to the end nothing ever occurs in all the
      creation without anything further, without taking into           world which, does not happen according to the counsel
      account the history of the world along the lines of sin          of the Most High.       That is why the doctrine of the
      and grace. For if we do, we run the danger of harbor-            providence of God affords us unspeakable consolation:
      ing the mistaken notion that God from the beginning              all things are in the hand of our heavenly Father; all
      conceived of a two-fold purpose, the one according to            things must work together for good to them that love
      which He wanted His creation to develop normally                 God; and, in the end it will become manifest that all
      according to a so-called ordinance of creation, the              the power of darkness worked together for the realiza-
      other according to which He aimed at the final perfec-           tion of God's eternal purpose in Christ Jesus and to
      tion of all things in Christ Jesus. And with this con-           the glory of His holy Name."
      ception it is possible to depart from the truth in two
      different directions.
         On the one hand, it is possible to conceive of the
      matter as if God really had a double counsel: one in                         RESOL  UTION OF SYMPATHY
      which the Lord purposed to cause His creation to de-
      velop normally, in case Adam remained standing in            The Martha Ladies Aid Society of the Hull Protestant
      his original integrity; the other in which He provided       Reformed Church wishes to express its sympathy to
      for the. possibility of Adam's fall and for the salvation    one of its members, Mrs. Peter Hoekstra, in the death
      of His people in Christ Jesus.       And of course, the      of her sister
      latter happened. The outcome, of course, was in that
      case entirely contingent upon the free will of Adam.                           MRS. RUIRT DE GROOT
      As far as creation itself is concerned, it is for ever-
      more deplorable that the devil succeeded in his pur-         For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
      pose to mar and spoil the beautiful works of God; and        were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not
      the work of salvation is after all repair work. Such         made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
      a conception is really blasphemous: for it robs God                              Rev. J. Kortering, President
      of His honor, and to a large extent gives the devil and                          Mrs. T. Kooima, Secretary


                                                   THESTANDARDBEARER                                                               23

 BOOK REVIEWS

                               Slavery, Segregatioa  and Scripture

                                      The Plight of Man and the Power of God

                                               Church Growth in Central and Southern Nigeria

                                                           The Soul of the Symbols

SLAVERY, SEGREGATION AND                       author writes in the "evangelical"          claiming to be `Biblical,' is in fact
Scripture, by James Oliver  Bus-               vein with its emphasis on the offer of      contrary to Christ's command to `make
well, III; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing          the gospel as a manifestation of God's      disciples of all nations.' "
Company; 1964; 101 pp.; $2.50.                 concern for the salvation of all men.          The books are filled with charts,
                                               Nevertheless the book gives important       graphs and maps and are interesting
   This book is an examination of the          and interesting insights into the ter-      from a statistical point of view. Any-
Scriptural, cultural, and sociological         rible power of sin in the lives of men      one interested in this phase of .mission
arguments that have been adduced over          and the hopelessness of man apart           work will enjoy the book. But from a
the years in support of slavery and            from grace.                                 theological point of  .view one wonders
segregation.       Examining these argu-                                 Prof. H. Hanko    what gospel is being preached in Ni-
ments from the viewpoint of a Chris-                                                       geria.
tian anthropologist, the author finds
them all wanting as support for the in-
stitution of slavery and current segre-        CHURCH GROWTH IN CENTRAL AND                THE SOUL OF THE SYMBOLS, A
gationist practices.                           SOUTHERN NIGERIA, by JohnB.  Grim-          Theological Study of Holy Communion;
   While the book is of some value in          ley  & Gordon E. Robinson; Wm. B.           by Joseph R. Shultz; Wm. B. Eerdmans
that it demonstrates the wrong of              Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966;          Publishing Co; 1966; 198 pp.
many such arguments, it fails to find          386 pp, $3.25 (paper).
Scriptural solutions to the racial prob-                                                           Beginning with the doctrine of the
lems which trouble this country and               This is really two books under one       Person of Christ as the Host of Holy
the world. And this, in turn, follows          cover, the first dealing with Central       Communion, the author treats the in-
from the author's failure to put the           Nigeria and the second with Southern        stitution of the sacrament, its signif-
question of racial differences in the          Nigeria.      The books contain a brief     icance and meaning , and concludes
perspective of Scripture. The book is          description of the land, the people         with the believer's response of faith.
almost entirely negative.                      occupying it and the history of mis-                While there are some interesting
                             Prof. H. Hanko    sion work in the country. The greater       points in the book and while the im-
                                               part of each book deals with a des-         portance of the sacrament is strongly
THE PLIGHT OF MAN  & THE POWER                 cription of the growth of the Christian     emphasized, nevertheless the book is
OF GOD, by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones;              Church in the area, an analysis of the      weak.        It is not clearly written; the
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,            factors of growth and lengthy discus-       doctrinal implications of the sacra-
1966; 94 pp. $2.50.                            sions of methods of missionary work,        ment are not thoroughly treated as
                                               past and present. There is also an          one would expect in "a theological
   D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is minister           evaluation of future work and pros-         study"; the meaning of the author is
of Westminster Chapel where this book          pects and discussions of different          not clear on the spiritual presence of
was first given in sermon form. It             methods to obtain greater results.          Christ in the sacrament. He rejects
was later reorganized into a series of            This is the weakness of the book         Calvin apparently, but does this with
lectures, and then published in book           also.       While there is no elaborate     a brief wave of the hand. It is also
form in England.                               discussion of the principles of mission-    possible       that    he misunderstands
   The book consists of an exposition          ary endeavor, obviously all the em-         Christ's omnipresence, seeming  tofall
of Romans 1 beginning with vs. 18 and          phasis in the book falls upon the work      into the Lutheran position of ubiquity.
concluding with an explanation of Rom.         of man.       The authors indicate that     His remarks about the two natures of
1:16.      It is intended to be an elucida-    they are not satisfied with the progress    Christ united in one person are sadly
tion of the power of sin in the life of        of the work there and are ready to          deficient: he dismisses the doctrine
man and his hopelessness without the           alter their methods considerably and        with the remark that  Christ was not
gospel.      The author insists that while     perhaps even make adjustments in the        interested Himself in it in His teach-
the Church itself has grown, she has           preaching to gain more converts. One        ing and the whole truth is  supra-
lost the spiritual strength which she          quotation will suffice to demonstrate       rational.       He pleads for a  re-insti-
possessed in her earlier history after         the truth of this: "Even more impor-        tution of the ceremony of foot-washing
the time of the apostles.                      tant is our general attitude toward the     and castigates the Church for abandon-
   I cannot agree with all the exegesis        adult population and the urgency of         ing the love feast practiced by the
in the book, e.g., the author refers           the task before us.       Do we really      early Church.
Rom. 1 to the revelation of God in             desire to win the whole population                  As a book emphasizing the  impor
Scripture as well as in creation, and          for Jesus Christ? Or are we satisfied       tance  of the sacrament, it is success-
also suggests that Rom.  7:15,  ff. refer      with an attitude that rejoices in a few     ful.       As a theological study of Holy
to the natural man.           Further, the     `called ones'? This attitude, while         Communion, it is a failure.


24                                              THE STANDARD BEARER

                                         NEWS FROM OUR CHURCHES-
                                         September 15,  1966        On August 28 Rev. Kortering exchanged pulpits with
      Hope Church, of Grand Rapids, has tendered a call         Seminarian Moore in order that Hull might hear one
to Rev. J. Kortering, of Hull, Iowa. The trio included          of the products of our Seminary.
the Revs. M. Schipper and C. Hanko.                                                       * * * *
                            *  * * *                                From Kalamazoo's (keep them coming!) bulletins we
      Our Theological School opened the  `66-`67  school        learn that their latest production  - a 53 page booklet
year with a convocation led by the Rector, Prof. H. C.          containing the Three Forms of Unity, the Athanasian
Hoeksema.         After a short chapel talk on the Scripture    Creed and the Nicene Creed -- is for sale to the mem-
dealing with "Men of discernment" - those who know              bers of their church. Rev. Harbach suggests that they
the times  - the Rector and Prof. H. Hanko gave the             buy them, at  35C each, for gifts, "to pass on to friends
initial assignments. If you could have heard the huge           and acquaintances in the Reformed Church of America,
assignments each student received you would have                thus providing them with that which they are other-
wondered, as we did, how many hours are contained in            wise without, `the Rejection of Errors', which shows
their days! Four members of the School Committee                the contrast of Arminianism and Calvinism". We
were present, and Rev. Schipper gave the faculty and            suppose that if any of our readers should order booklets
students a word of encouragement, and led in closing            from Rev. Harbach, those orders would be honored
prayer.        We would like to see an improvement made         also.
in.arranging the program for Opening Day. We believe                                      ****
the public should be invited! Public attendance would              The Annual Meeting of The Protestant Reformed
serve to remind us of the importance of our Seminary,           Action Society was held in  Doon, Iowa Friday, Sept.
and would tend to make for it a bigger place in our             9. Rev. J. Kortering, of Hull, spoke on, "Holding Fast
prayers for this institution from which flows the life-         to Our Profession." This lecture was followed by a
blood of our denomination.                                      business meeting with election of officers, etc.
                            * * * *                                                       *  * * *
      Oak Lawn's congregation was again invited to a                An old Dutch proverb was placed in the fill-in-space
Home-Talent program scheduled for Aug. 31. This                 in a recent bulletin of Redlands, which we think is
talent probably could not compete with that on the T.V.         worth repeating, "He who dies before he dies will not
scheduled for that evening (according to the world's            die when he dies". This sounds like a conundrum and
standards), but the music produced by the church in             would make a good riddle to ask our children at the
her gatherings surely is a foretaste of the Song of the         dinner table this evening: "What does that Proverb
Redeemed, augmented by the Heavenly Choir which                 mean?"
had practiced for some six thousand years! How could                                      * * *  *
anyone pass up an opportunity like that for T.V. fare?              The bulletins of our Michigan churches all carried
Not anyone who  .meets the description of the "We are           a notice of the first meeting of The  Radio,Choir; and
of God" found in I John  4:6, who confess "hereby know          the Iowa churches are also calling members and pro-
we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."                spective members to a business meeting and social of
                            * * * *                             their Choral Society. This is a good time of the year
      The tornado damaged church at Forbes has  be.en           when all of the winter activities of the church get into
moved back upon its foundation and the necessary                full swing!
repairs have begun.                                                                       * * * *
                            * * * *                                Doon's Sunday afternoon sermon Sept. 11 was based
      Oak Lawn's church made use of the National Holiday        on Hebrews  10:24, 25. About this, Rev. Decker said in
Sept. 5 to picnic at Bachelor's Grove. A noon lunch             the bulletin, "Our sermon this afternoon is in con-
was scheduled, followed by a program and afternoon              nection with the beginning of the catechism and society
activities.      The committee said, "Come and enjoy a          season. May we hear the Wordof God with joy and have
day of Christian fellowship".                                   a blessed season of fellowship as we `assemble our-
                            * *  *  *                           selves together' to study and learn God's Word".
      The book, "In the Beginning God...." furnished by                                   * *  * *
the Mission Committee, has found its way to all our                The above ,text from Hebrews 10 is worth quoting in
churches.        Rev. C. Hanko, in Redlands' bulletin, sug-     full for the admonition of all;  IrAnd  let  us  consider  one
gests: "When you are finished with it will you kindly           another to provoke unto love and to good  works;   rwt
pass it along to some interested friend?" From  Red-            forsaking the assembling  of  ourselves together, as the
lands we also learn that Mrs. Hanko is quite well, but          manneT  of  some  is; but exhorting one  another; and so
feels her best when she gets her quota of rest and              much the  more,  as we see the day approaching."
quiet living.                                                       . . .see you in church.                           J.M.F.


