                                    he

                                tandard

                                           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:- Thanking Jehovah For His Goodness


                 Editorials: The C. R. Synod and the "Dekker Case"


                 New Department: Pages From The Past


                 Our liturgy


                                          Volume XLIV / Number 4 / November 15, 1967


     74                                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER
I

                                                                                                                               THE STANDARD BEARER

                                                                                                             Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August.
                                                                                                             Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
                                       C O N T E N T S                                                     Editor-in-Chiefi  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
     Meditation  -                                                                                         Department Editors: Rev. David J. Engelsma, Mr. JohnM.Faber,
            Thanking Jehovah For His Goodness, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,74                              Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman Hanko, Rev. Robert C.
                   Rev. M. Schipper                                                                           Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. George
     Editorial -                                                                                              C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus Schipper, Rev. Gise J. Van Baren,
                                                                                                              Rev. Gerald  Vanden  Berg, Rev. Herman Veldman, Rev.
            The C. R. Synod and the "Dekker Case" ..*....... 7 6                                              Bernard Woudenberg
                   Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                                    Editorial Office: Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
     Pages From The Past -                                                                                                     1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
            On-Going Reformation (1) . . . . . . . . . . . ..*............... 79                                               Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
     From Holy Writ -                                                                                      Chzcvch  New6 Editor: Mr. John M. Faber
            The Book of Hebrews . . . . . ..*..................*........ 81                                                        1123 Cooper Ave., S.E.
                                                                                                                                   Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
                   Rev. G. Lubbers
     The Church At Worship -                                                                               Editorial   Policy:  Every editor is solely responsible for the
                                                                                                              contents of his own articles. Contrib+ons  of general interest
            Our Liturgy . . . . . . . . . . . . ..a................................. 83                       from our readers and questions for the  QuestionrBox  De-
                   Rev. G. Vanden Berg                                                                        partment are welcome.         Contributions will be limited to
     In His Fear -                                                                                            approximately 300 words and must be neatly written or
                                                                                                              typewritten.     Copy deadlines are the first and the fifteenth
            The Blessed Giver                                                          8
                                             . . ..*.................................. 5                      of the month.      All communications relative to the contents
                   Rev. J. A. Heys                                                                            should be sent to the editorial office.
     All Around Us -                                                                                       Business Office: Mr. James Dykstra, Bus. Mgr.
            Confession of Guilt '                                                                                              1326 W. Butler Ave., S.E.
            Freedom For Lawbreakers                                                                                            Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
            Merger Progress                                                                                Subscription Policy:  Subscription price, $5.00 per year. Unless
                                                                                                              a definite request for discontinuance is received, it is assumed
            Pike Exonerated                                                                                   that the subscriber wishes the subscription to continue without
                   Prof. H. Hanko . . . ..s.........................*..m..*. 87                               the formality of a renewal order and he will be billed for
     A Cloud of Witnesses -                                                                                  renewal.     If you have a change of address, please notify the
                                                                                                              Business Office as early as possible in order to avoid the
            David Called To Fight Against Isreal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89                             inconvenience of delayed delivery. Include your Zip Code.
                   Rev. B. Woudenberg                                                                      Advertising Policy:  The  Stanhvd Bearer  does not accept com-
     Contending For The Faith -                                                                               mercial advertising of any kind. Announcements of church
            The Doctrine of Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*..*...........*...... 91                       and school events, anniversaries, obituaries, and sympathy
                                                                                                              resolutions will be placed for a $2.00 fee. These should be
                   Rev. H. Veldman                                                                            sent to the Business Office and should be accompanied by the
     Trying The Spirits -                                                                                     $2.00 fee. Deadline for announcements is the 5th or the 20th
            The Prophetic Office of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93                   of the month, previous to publication on the 15th or the 1st
                                                                                                              respectively.
                   Rev. R. C. Harbach
     News From Our Churches -                                                                              Bound Volumes: The Business Office will accept standing orders
                                                                                                              for bound copies of the current volume; such orders are filled
                   Mr. J. M. Faber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..**............... 96               as soon as possible after completion of a volume.  Alimited
                                                                                                              number of past volumes may be obtained through the Business
                                                                                                              Office.
                                                                                                                Second Class Postage paid at Grand Rapids, Michigan



     MEDITATION-

            Thanking~  J:ehov_ah  .Fo.r His Goodness
                                                                                by Rev. M. Schipper

                                   En& into his gates  with2ha`k&sgivi&   .and into  h&courts  with  praise:  be  thunh-
                                ful unto him, and bless his name. FOV the Lord is gopd; his mercy is everlasting;
                                and his truth  enduyeth  to  all generations."                                                         Psalm  100:4,  5.

            Be thankful unto the Lord1                                                             that       too:       for  it is He that hath made us, and
            Bless His name1                                                                        not we ourselves. And we acknowledge that be-
            Most worthy object of praise and thanksgiving1                                         cause He is the Creator He is also Almighty, Supreme
            Not        Ol-JY      Is He            Almighty God, Creator of                        in Being, and the Governor of theuniverse; an acknowl-
     all      things,           and our Creator. 0, indeed, He is                                  edgment that is not forced out of our lips as it ap-


                                             'THESTANDARDBEARER                                                      75
                       -L-                                                                                            m
parently is out of the-lips of the children of this world     on our health and sickness, on rain and drought, on
at thanksgiving time.         They, too, will speak of the    peace and war.
Almighty, the Supreme Being, Whom somehow they                   Sole Object of our thanksgiving1
recognize as Creator of all Whose existence they can-            Thanksgiving is not a rejoicing in things1 It is the
not deny, for He has revealed Himself to them in the          rejoicing in gratitude to Jehovah, and the blessing of
things He has made, so that in their inexcusable con-         His Name1
sciences they are fully aware that He is. They also                                  **********
speak of God as Blind Force and Beneficent Father.               Be thankful unto Him1
Though they also express many eulogies in praise to              Most beautiful grace 1
themselves for their manifold accomplishments, how               For it means literally, to point out with.the hand,
they have preserved the peace, how they harvested a           away from ourselves, to the object of our thanksgiving.
great crop which will supply not only the needs of our        It implies that the one who thanks knows his dependence
country but also the needy in the world, and how they         on Jehovah alone, that what he is and has he has only
made the wheels of industry to turn, theyfeel that after      Jehovah to thank. It implies, too, that he knows that
all they should call on Kind Providence to express            he has forfeited the least of Jehovah's bounties, and
their elation over the abundance they enjoy. They ap-         deserved nothing but the curse of death because of his
pear -as the heathen who need a god before whom they          sins and his guilt.
can dance and sing, and they seem not to dare exclude            Bless His Name1
him.from  their feastings.                                       That is the manner in which the thanksgiving must
   Not so does +he poet, and not so does the child of         be given. The term "bless" comes from a word, `the
God;                                                          root meaning of which is: to bend the knees, to kneel
   Though the object of thanksgiving is the Almighty          down. Hence, when one blesses he humbly adores with
God, Supreme Ruler of the universe, Who is at the             bended knee. Bowing the knee before another is the
same time Beneficent Father, always giving, and to            sign of humility, obeisance. And-humbling self, one
Whom nothing can be given that He does not already            exalts the other. This implies that only one who has
possess, the object of our thanksgiving is more than          the grace of humility can really bless, bless Jehovah.
a vague reminiscence of some super-being whom we              Sacrifices of bulls and goats without humility is an
are forced to acknowledge. His Object is to be feared,        abomination.      Jehovah delights in a broken and con-
not with the fear of dread, but of love; and the thanks-      trite heart.      And having been humbled, the child of
giving is not mixed with expression to the divine and         God kneels before His God. It implies, too, that God,
the human, but one of filial devotion.                        Jehovah, and His Name, are to the child of God ex-
   Moreover, that Object of thanksgiving is more              ceeding great, and worthy of all adoration. He loses
particularly defined in the text.                             himself in his God, and bowing before Him points his
   He is Jehovah1                                             hand away from himself to Jehovah's Name which he
   The I AM THAT I AM!                                        sees engraven  on all he has received.
   That is, the perfectly suffi ient One in Himself1             Bless His Name1
This is most important to a correct understanding of             This means also that thanksgiving is accompanied
thanksgiving. Nothing can be given to Him, not even           by praise., `And to praise means to glorify with song.
thanksgiving as a payment for value received. For                Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His
He is in Being and Works the eternally independent            courts with praise; thank Him, and bless His Name1
God.                                                             How beautifully all the actions of the child of God
   That He is Jehovah also points Him out as the All-         harmonize, how they move forward in ascending scale,
Wise God; Who eternally has ordained all things ac-           until Jehovah is glorified with thanksgiving, blessing,
cording to His predetermined plan, and Who ably               and praise 1      He begins on bended knee, and most
reaches His purpose by the very best means.                   properly with bowed head.         He raises his hand and
   That He is Jehovah also indicates that He is the           points with the finger to Jehovah and His Name. Then
Unchangeable One. He is that in Himself, eternally set        he glorifies his God with song and adoration., Thus
as He is in the meridian oft His own glory, so that           Jehovah receives thanksgiving.
there is no shadow that is cast by turning. And He is            The most opportune place where this may be done
that also in respect to His covenant people whom He           is Jehovah's house1
has chosen in Christ from everlasting, whom He loves             Enter into His gates1
with eternal, immutable' love. All that He has spoken            And into His courts1
and promised concerning that people, shall be realized           The gates and the courts for the psalmist were
absolutely.                                                   those of the temple, the place where Jehovah dwelt in
   Jehovah! That is His Name!                                 the midst of His people.       Through those gates and
   He is His Name. His Name is not a mere abstrac-            into those courts God's people came before His holy
tion, but a tangible reality. When you touch His Name         presence, to worship and adore Him. There in com-
you touch Him. When you bless His Name, you bless             munion with God's people the psalmist exhorts the
Him. "That His Name is near, His wondrous works               people of God to come with thanksgiving and praise.
declare."      It is written on all the creatures of HTs         0, indeed, thanksgiving is primarily a personal
hand.    It -is written on all that takes place, on our matter1 It begins with one's soul. "Bless the Lord, 0
prosperity and adversity, on our riches and poverty, - my soul, and all within me bless His holy name"


  7 6                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


  (Psalm  103:l).       And again, "I will offer to thee the       every perfect gift is from above, from the Father of
 sacrifices of thanksgiving." (Psalm 116:17). Even in              Lights.       And in the center of all the goodness is the
 the congregation thanksgiving is a matter of each                 highest and central Good, Christ Jesus, Go.d's  Son in
 individual.       "I will praise thee with my whole heart         the flesh.      It is this goodness which the poet senses
 in the assembly of the upright andin the congregation." most of all.
 (Psalm 111:l). And again, "I will pay my vows unto                   Jehovah's goodness is revealed in His eternal
 the Lord in the presence of all his people." (Psalm               mercy  I
  116:8).                                                             Mercy, that grace of God's goodness according to
         But the child of God can never really stand alone         which He bends down in pity and bowels of compassion,
 when he gives thanks, When he points his finger to                with the fervent desire to make the chosen, regenerated
 Jehovah, he at the same time directs the attention of             and justified sinner blessed as He is blessed. This
 his fellow saints to follow his example.                          mercy He revealed in the giving of His Son Whom He
         Hence, the most opportune place for thanksgiving          sent into the state of our guilt and condition of our
 is the Lord's house, in the company of God's people.              misery to deliver us and bring us to the Highest Good.
 And all together on bended knee they point to the sole               And His truth endureth to all generations1
 object of their praise and thanksgiving, offering praise             That is, His faithfulness abides throughout all the
 that glorifies Jehovah's Name 1                                   generations of the objects of His mercy. His faith-
                        **********                                 fulness consists in His firm resolve to realize His
         For Jehovah is good1                                      covenant promises to them. Hence, His truth. From
         His mercy is everlasting1                                 generation to generation He utters His truth that He
         And His truth endureth to all generations1                will continue in faithfulness to realize His mercy to
         Sufficient reason indeed for thanksgiving and praise I    His covenant people.
s When the poet says that Jehovah is good, he implies that            God's covenant faithfulness and the blessings of
 Jehovah is good in Himself, first of all. He is purest            that covenant are the chief goodnesses of Jehovah. All
 perfection.       With perfect mind and will He lives the         other gifts are revelations of goodness only when they
 life of purest goodness. He is immaculately beautiful.            are related to His mercy. Though material things are
._ There is no evil, no darkness in Him. He is light and           good in themselves, they are not good for us unless
 dwells in the unapproachable light. And because this              they are related to the Good, Christ Jesus. Therefore
 is true, the poet means to imply, in the second place,            when the child of God sees Jehovah's goodness and
  He is also good to His creatures. He is good when He             thanks Him for His mercy and faithfulness, he does
 lavishes profuse abundance on all the wide creation.              so in the light of the cross.
 His goodness adorns the lily of the field. His goodness              Seen in this light, it is only the redeemed child of
  clothes the cedars of Lebanon with majesty.              His     God who can properly thank and bless Jehovah's Name.
 goodness causes the eagle to renew his strength and                  With this in mind, let us this Thanksgiving Day,
 supplies the roaring lion and the chirping sparrow                enter into His house in the company of His saints to
 with food.        All that the creature receives from the         thank and praise Jehovah, and to bless His Holy Name1
 hand of the Creator is goodness. Every good gift and                 For Jehovah is good1

  EDITORIAl.S-

               The Christian Reformed Synod
                                                           and the "Dekker Case"

                                   The Evolution of the Charge "Abstract"

                                                   by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema

         At the conclusion of my last editorial on this sub-       their approval to this charge. This stands to reason:
  ject I promised to say more about this matter of                 the term was not explained in Synod's decision. Nor
 being "abstract." This I now do. And I do it because              did Synod say what it meant when it decided in partic-
 I am convinced that here we are getting at the heart              ular that Professor Dekker's expressions on the
  of the entire. theological conflict exemplified in the           atonement and the love of God were abstract. Nor did
  "Dekker Case,"-not indeed from a material point                  Synod give any proof whatsoever that the charge was
  of view, but from the point of view of theological               true. As I suggested before, this is a thoroughly un-
 method.                                                           worthy way of making decisions. Nevertheless, thus
         I suggested that some, if not many, delegates were        matters stand.
 `unaware of what they were adopting when they gave                   To me it is not inconceivable that when the first


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                       77


reluctance to discuss these subjects disappears, and               demptive love' is ambiguous and liable to be mis-
when some. of the former disputants are brave enough               understood. For if the word `redemptive' be under-
to resume the debate, there may even be considerable               stood in the sense in which it is used in the Canons of
difference of opinion about what is meant by "ab-                  Dort, II, 8 (`effectually redeem...all those, and those
stract."        When  synodical decisions leave matters            only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation'),
vague and ill-defined, such decisions have a way of                the statement says more than Scripture or the creeds
                                                                   permit us to say. Because this is the sense in which
rising to plague the churches anew. One may say in              . the word `redemptive' is commonly used among us,
the future, "Synod meant this." Another will retort,               the above statement is likeiy to be so understood.
"No, that was not my understanding of the matter                       "Again, a statement like `Christ died for all men'
when I voted in favor of that motion."                             is ambiguous and likely to be misunderstood. If it is
    However, much as it may seem so, a term like                   understood to mean that all men will eventually be
this is not simply pulled out of thin air, so to speak.            saved, it says too much; if it is understood to mean
It did not find its way into Synod's language by some              that Christ only gives men an opportunity to be saved,
kind of magical hocus-pocus.                                       it says far too little. Besides, the statement, `Christ
    Hence, let us investigate the evolution of this                died for me,' is a confession one can only make in
                                                                   faith, not an abstract statement which holds true
charge. Let us trace, if we can, its origin. Probably              whether one has faith or not.
it will have to be granted that the evidence is cir-                   "Other types of abstract theological statements
cumstantial. That is due only to the fact that Synod did           may give the impression that we may not urge every
not give account of the meaning and the reasons for its            man to whom the gospel comes to believe in Christ
own decision. But when the evidence is in, I think the              and be saved.
reader will have to agree that the case is strong, if                  "We can therefore best solve the problem which
not airtight.       It may even be that some delegates to          here confronts us, retaining full loyalty to Scripture
the 1967 Synod, if confronted with this evidence, will              and the creeds, and at the same time doing full
                                                                   justice to the well-meant gospel offer, by following a
cry, "We've been takenl" But that will be only be-                  concrete, kerugmatic approach both in theologizing
cause they failed to do their home-work; or could it be             and in preaching.       For example, instead of saying
that they were so very eager to have "unity and                     `Christ died for all men,' we can better put it this
peace" that they were tricked into accepting the de-               way, `We may say to any man whom we confront with
cision only because it- seemed to be a way out of a                the gospel, "You must believe that Christ died for
difficult situation?                                               you.IP  ' Or again, instead of saying, `God loves all men
    The first ancestor of Synod's decision is, of course,          with a redemptive love,' we can better put it this way:
the preliminary observation of the advisory committee               `We may say to any man whom we confront with the
in Report IX-D.            The committee said: "After long         gospel, "God shows his love for you in entreating you
                                                                    now, through us who bring the gospel, to be reconciled
consideration and much  discussion....your  advisory                to Him." '
committee is convinced that Professor Dekker has                       "If this approach be followed we shall'be  able to
erred in making ambiguous statements and using them                 retain the essence of what Prof. Dekker has been
in an  abstmct   way." (emphasis mine) Judging from                 driving at, while at the same time avoiding expressions
the record, Synod simply took over this judgment of                which are ambiguous, confusing, and which can easily'
the committee (altogether ungrounded and undefined,                 be misinterpreted.")
mind you) and said, "Yes, abstract 1"                              In a way, it is too bad that this part of Report IX-C
    But where did. the Advisory Committee get this              never came up for discussion on the floor of Synod.
`idea?                                                          That might have been very interesting. And it would
    The answer is that the second ancestor of Synod's           be very interesting, too, to compare Prof. Dekker's
decision is in Report IX-C of the same Advisory                 statements with the above example with respect to
Committee.         This was the report, you will recall,        ambiguity.        Talk about a studied effort to be am-
which was drawn up in the interim between the June              biguous 1
and August sessions.           That earlier report already         The discerning reader will recognize, I take it,
advised to "admonish Prof. Dekker for the ambiguous             that the entire difficulty in the above quotation is
and abstract way in which he has used" certain quoted           basically this, that the anonymous author (who could
statements.        But this report had more to say on the       that be?) is trying desperately to reconcile the ir-
subject of being abstract.           For you find in it this    reconcilable, that is, Reformed truth and Arminianism,
recommendation, followed by an anonymous "Elabo-                or, Reformed truth and the well-meant offer of grace.
ration" :                                                       Or perhaps he is trying desperately to avoid the neces-
          That Synod warn against making abstract theo-         sity of attempting to reconcile the two.
    logical statements which may give the impression               But this is not the point at present. We are
    that either the doctrine of particular atonement or         tracing the evolution of the charge "abstract." And
    the well-meant gospel offer is being denied.                here it is evident that some time during the summer
          (Elaboration:    The following statement was sub-
    mitted to the `advisory committee as an illustration of     recess of Synod this idea had found its way into the
   `a concrete approach to the problem that faces us --         report of the Advisory Committee.
    an approach that, seeks to avoid the abstract theol-           Where did it come from?
    ogizing warned against in recommendations a and b              You will not find it in Report IX-B, the Minority
    immediately above.                                          Report of June. Nor will you find it in Report IX-A,
          "A statement like `God loves all men with a re-       the Majority Report of June. You will find what was


78                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER


perhaps a first cousin of it in the Majority Report.                      of understanding are not suited to the Revelation
That Majority Report does not speak of "ambiguous"                        given by the living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and "abstract." It refers, in connection withy. Prof.                  -. .and -by the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dekker's statements, to the "faulty use" of such                          We are beginning to understand that biblical truth is
expressions.         It also recommends that "Synod ad-                   historical, kerygmatic, and existential, and that it
monish Professor Dekker for the : imprecise a@                            exists and has meaning, not in static isolation, apart
                                                                in-       from the divinely addressed human situation, but only
discreet way in which he used'* the quoted statements                     within the context of man's response, only within the
(emphasis mine).           And especially if one studies the              context of belief and unbelief;
Majority Report in detail and recalls some of the                          It has become evident to many of es-the point
mention of paradoxes and of the "kerugmatic ap-                           has often been made by Dr. Daane and is currently
proach" by adherents of the Majority Report's posi-                       being made by Dr. Pietersma and Rev. J. DeMoor-
tion, he can see a relationship. The fact remains,                        that the present dispute revolves about a  pseudo-
however, that while there is a similarity between the                     problem, a problem stated in terms of non-biblical
two reports, -Report IX-A does not literally mention                      categories, and a problem, therefore, which cannot
the charge  .of abstractness.                                             be solved by the biblical givens. Neither Professor
                                                                          Dekker nor the Committee is questioning the faith;
      Again, therefore:       where did this idea originate?              both wish to honor the Scriptures and the Creeds.
How did it find its way into Report IX-C, then into                       But both are caught in the toils of a method--the
Report IX-D, and finally into Synod's decision?                           Committee, I'm afraid, much more than Professor
      An investigation into the many writings about the                   Dekker--which prevents them . from resolving their
Dekker Case and into the various opinions, pro and                        differences.      Both, though in significantly different
con, which have been expressed will lead the in-                          degrees, disengage biblical truth from the kerygmatic
vestigator to hut one conclusion.                                         situation and, by abstracting it (italics mine, HCH),
      This charge of abstractness came directly from                      inadvertently, and contrary to every intention, falsify
                                                                          it.
the pro-Dekker camp. It came from those who, at all                              Take, for example, the question: Did Christ die
costs, did not .want the recommendations of the Study                     for everybody?        Consider that as an abstract (em-
Committee adopted and did not want to see Prof.                           phasis mine, HCH) question of fact, consider that as
Dekker's position condemned as being anti-confes-                         a scientific question concerning an objective state of
sional.                                                                   affairs (italics mine, HCH), and you have an insoluble
      In other  words,  Synod, as far as the  languuge  is                question on your hands. If you answer Yes!, how is it
concerned, though it did not define its terminology,                      then that not all'men are saved? If you answer No!,
adopted literally the position of the pro-Dekker camp.                    how is it then that the crucified and risen Christ can be
I say again: I do not know how many delegates were                        genuinelq and unreservedly offered to all? To avoid
                                                                          this impasse, to escape this cul-de-sac, we must
aware of this and knew what they were really voting                       descend from the cold heights of  abstract  trtruthr'
for. But the fact is very plain.                                          (italics mine, HCH) and ask the biblical question:
       And here is the evidence,- at least, the clearest                  What is every man who hears the preached Gospel -
piece of evidence; there are several more such items                      every such man without exception- called upon to
which could be presented. I quote from the article by                     believe?
Dr. Henry Stob in the Reformed Journal of May-June,                       Dr. Stob at this point attempts to answer this
1967, pages 5 and 6. It is entitled "Synod, The Com-                   question.      We  shall  return to that matter later, when
mittee, and Professor Dekker - Again."                                 we criticize  this "new" method of theology. We are
           What has become plain in the last few years is that         busy now investigating the evidence, remember. And
       the. issues raised in Professor Dekker's article of             in this connection I must quote one more paragraph.
`. December 1962 are complex and not easy to resolve.
       And what has become equally plain is that the scien-                      It is this, I am sure, that Professor Dekker wished
       tific method which we have customarily employed in                 to say.....But partly in accommodation to inherited
       our address to theologmal issues is in need of patient             modes of thought, and chiefly in forced response to
       review and  important  revision. No one is here en-                abstract questions framed in isolation from the' exis-
       titled to cast stones at any other; all of us have in the          tential situation of Gospel preaching,, he was led to
       past been victimized by what increasingly appears'to               make less felicitous objective assertions about the'
       bc2 an tibstract  and rationalistic method of doing theol-         atonement  which were qualitatively no better, but
 ogy (italics mine, HCH); but we can ill afford now,'                     certainly no worse, than those the Committee has
       when we are just beginning to reach out for a new and              hitherto been urging for adoption. (italics mine, HCH)
       more biblically oriented method of theological. under-
       standing- and construction? to arrest our advance by               There. you have it. Synod's, language is obviously;
       making pronouncements dictated by a purely  objec-              by a process of evolution, the language of the  Re-
       tivistic  mode bf thinhing  (italics mine, HCH).                f o r m e d   J o u r n a l .
           We are experiencing today a theological  renais-"              As I reread this language .of, Dr.. Stob, I am con-
       sance (winds of change? HCH), and as in every case of
       rebirth and renewal, there exist in the present theo-           strained to say that -when he spoke of a"`miracle" on
       logical world a number of excesses and aberrations.             the floor of Synod, he probably meant,- be it, then,
       Hut, on the other hand, the Holy .Spirit is manifestly          only sub-consciously- that the red .miraclk  was,, that
      renewing the Churchls .understanding  of things divine.          the view of the Reformed  Jown@  had officially gained
       New. and responsible biblical.studies.  have taught us          the field!
       to recognize that inherited Greek-philosophic modes                                     (to be continued)


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           79



   S-PECIAL FEATURE-                                                    _.`.



                           On-Going Reformation                                                                               `
                                                               1
                                                                    with that prayerful longing in the heart surely re-
   (Editor's Note,: At our last annual staff meeting it was         veals. a sincere interest in the cause  ,of the Lord.
   decided to introduce a new department in our  Standard              But the fear is not ungrounded that such questions
   Betirer   which would feature worthwhile articles from           arise sometimes out of a less spiritual interest, are
   early volumes of our magazine which are no longer
    available to most of our readers.      It was felt that         asked out of the desire to become big again, also ac-
   there were a goodly number of such articles which                cording to the standard of the world, out of the desire
   would also be pertinent today. Besides, many such                to develop power and have a name.
  articles  .in our early days appeared in the Holland                 The desire for external growth is imbedded" in us,
   language, which most of our readers are unable to                in our bone and marrow.
   read today. The committee appointed .to.take care of                It has been one of the causes of the deterioration
   this department has chosen as the first feature a series         of the Christian Reformed Churches.
   of articles by the Rev. H. Hoeksema which originally                This applies, for example, to their school. -They
    appeared thirty-seven years ago under the heading,              wanted to expand and become  -great.   They wanted, to
    "Voortgaande   Reformatie,"  that is, "On-Going (or:
    Continuing) Reformation." There- were four articles             grow according to the standard of the world. Large
   in this series, some of which were considerably longer -         buildings had to be built. Much money had to be spent
   than today's average article. These will appear                  for external greatness. People even spoke of a million
   serially in several  instaJlments.    Our thanks to the          dollar endowment fund. The instruction must become
    committee, Rev. M.  Schipper  and Prof.. H. Hanko,              more and more scientific! They sought acknowledger
    and to the translator, who, wishes to remain anony-             ment by the world. They were proud of the fact that
   mous. HCH)                                                       young men who had studied for a time in the school of
                                                                    the Churches now sought further training in institu-
   Is there any increase?                                           tions of unbelief and won laurels in those schools, But
   Are we growing?         Are we becoming larger as                the' necessity of holding fast to principle and of de-
churches ?                                                          veloping that principle more and more, of being dis-
   These,,are  questions not seldom asked, also among               tinctive in faith and confession, of maintaining the
us, when men would like to know whether the cause of                principle of spiritual isolation, was forgotten; who-
the Lord as we are called to represent it is making                 ever spoke of it was not infrequently tolerated with
good progress.      If only these  questions can be ans-            a kind of compassionate disdain1
wered affirmatively, then there is joy and good cour-                  But-let us not forget this -that desire for out-
age for the future; if, however, the answer must be                 ward greatness is also in our blood.
negative, or if the answer must be that we lose mem-                   It is one of the traits of our. sinful nature to want
bers now and then, that there are also those who in                 to judge things according to the standard of external
time reveal themselves as never having been of us,                  glory, to want to evaluate also the Church of the Lord
then faces fall and men appear inclined to-hang their               according to the number of members, to "weigh it by
harps upon the willows.                                             the, pound."
   Now it is very well possible that these questions                   This we may.never do.
harbor an element of sound and -genuine interest.                     To long for growth from such motives is sin before
 .Whoever believes that  -with regard to  the.  Thre.e              God. And the striving which-  arises out of such. a sin-
Points the Christian Reformed Churches hav.e truly                  ful desire for' greatness, soon brings us again into
departed from the truth of God's Word and of the                    misery, contributes immediately again to the ruin of
Reformed confession; whoever. also trusts that. there.              the Churches.
continue `to be many in those Churches. who, in the                    The chief question is not: is there <any increase?
final analysis,, continue to love the Reformed truth,-                 This applies also to my garden: often there is con-
these must surely long. prayerfully that the Lord may               siderable growth.     And if it be merely a matter of
not, only open their eyes but a..l.so,give them the courage         satisfying the -eye,. then one would be inclined to say
of faith no longer to remain responsible for what has               that. this garden is in a prosperous. condition when
been done. by ..those Churches, both from the viewpoint             everything  .grows  luxuriantly. But if I do not maintain
of. the trampling-- under foot of justice and from the              daily. watch over it, to -pull out undesirable growth, then
viewpoint. of the. violation of the. truth of, God; And             the fruit chokes among the weeds.          It isgood that
whoever inquires' whether. the churches are growing there is increase, provided that the increase is good;

                                                                                                        -.


80                                             THESTANDARDBEARER

      It is, and ever remain's, the chief question: is there    not rooted in proper principle, and before long ap-
spiritual growth? Is there a holding fast to principle?         peared false!     The one "had sought it everywhere"
Do our Churches stand firmly for the truth of God in            and believed that now he had finally found it; but soon
doctrine and in life?        Gideon also had assembled a        he discovered his mistake. Another imagined that he
considerable army.        With such a mighty army one           would be a far greater man in a small and insignificant
could attack the Midianites and put the battle in array         group than in the midst of a great multitude; he longed
with results.       But alas!    When it was proclaimed         to be a big frog in a small pond; but when even in that
throughout the host that the timid and faint-hearted            small pond they gave no heed to his tremendous croak-
might remain behind and depart for the mountains of             ing, he soon left, greatly disappointed. A third had
Gilead, then the mighty army shrank to one-third its            a delusion that he had to preach, and he saw the op-
size. And <when the remaining ten thousand men were             portunity of becoming a preacher among us. A fourth
led to the water and given the opportunity to refresh           desired the exercise of the ministry (oefenen); a fifth
themselves with a cooling drink, it appeared that there         was so determined to be an elder that he even voted for
were only three hundred who did not give themselves             himself (he had all the votes); a sixth was simply a
time to rest upon their knees to lick up the water with         windbag,. who had need of a new movement now and
their tangy!  And only three hundred men were finally           then, in order to rid himself of some wind if he were
called to wield the sword of the Lord and of Gideon             not to burst; a seventh.. . . But why mention more?
against Midian!                                                 We know them by experience in the short history
      The Lord does not will any greatness.                     which now lies behind us,-those who sought their
      Be glorifies Himself in that which is small and in-       own "I," who had the most to say for a while, but who
significant.                                                    then would destroy the cause of the Lord when they
      Also we as Churches may never forget this. And            were not flattered sufficiently.
instead of always and again inquiring whether there is             In the second place, we must- not forget that there
any increase, it could be profitable for us also to stop        is always an element which joins our churches, but
and consider the necessity of continuing Reformation.           which is not prompted by principle. When men are
      Immediately after a tense period of battle and            in difficulty -with others (we do not now refer to those
struggle, such as we experienced when a place was no            who are oppressed in a righteous cause), then it is so
longer granted us within the Christian Reformed                 easy that there is still another church which they can
Churches, people are inclined, out of reaction, to rest         join. Or people will establish relations with others,
on their laurels, imagining that the battle has been            outside of our churches, and these latter will then
won once and for all, and acting as though the ideal of         affiliate with us.    It cannot possibly be avoided that
a pure Church has finally been reached. Whoever                 also among them who join us from without there will
takes such a view of things is nevertheless mistaken.           always be found those who do not actually understand
And bitter disappointment must certainly soon follow            the issue, those for whom it was never a matter of
upon such an expectation.                                       principle. And however we may rejoice when the Lord
      Fact is that there is a continuous deformation and        open the eyes of others and moves them to join us,
degeneration of the Churches. This is inevitable; it we must never forget that also in this respect it is
can never be avoided.                                           true that all that glitters is not gold.
      Such a process of deformation has also been in               In the third place, there is the undeniable fact that
operation among us from the very beginning, and it              also from within the carnal seed always springs up;
became manifest in various ways.                                branches shoot forth on the vine which never bring
      There are .various causes of this phenomenon that         forth fruit. All is not Israel that is called Israel. It
may be cited.                                                   was thus in the old dispensation; it is thus today. The
      First of all, the phenomenon asserts itself that in       line of election and reprobation runs directly through
every Reformation-movement many go along who do                 the historical line of the generations of the covenant;
not carry the principle of such a reformation in their          and always it makes separation.             A two-fold seed
heart. They go along for various reasons and out of will always grow up in the midst of the Church of
widely divergent motives, which, however, generally             Christ. And not seldom the relation is such that the
concentrate about their own "I." It was thus with the           carnal seed grows and develops much more abundantly
departure of the Israelites out of Egypt. A mixed               than the spiritual. The Church is always corrupted,
multitude went along with Israel. And it is conceiv-            not only from without but also from within. There is
able that Moses later often wished that many of them            always the development of an element whereby the
had drowned in the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his host.           process of deformation enters into the church and
This was also true of David when he had been anointed           comes to manifestation.
king and was fleeing before the face of Saul., Whoever             In the fourth place, in explanation of this phenom-
had a grievance joined his b&id. It has been ever thus.         enon of continuous deformation and degeneration, this
This was also true of us\ How pten this has become falling away and decline of the Church, we must also
evident in the past!         0-w many could we not not forget this, that among the believers even the
mention who seemed to be full of enthusiasm for the             very holiest has but a small principle of this obedi-
cause of the Lord, who joined us of their own volition,         ence. The old power of sin, it is true, has been broken
went along with us when we were cast out of the                 in principle; but it has not been completely rooted out.
Christian Reformed Churches, but whose fervor was               There is also with believers, with those who really


                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      81

joined us out of principle, or those who grow up in the      discipline and in the worship services.
midst of the Church as the true seed of Israel,-there           And if, finally, we add to this that the Church of
is always a strong inclination to go along with the          Christ- is called to live in the midst of the world, that
world.     The desire to be great according to the           the enemy never sleeps, that Satan goes about as a
standard of the world plays an important role with           roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, that the
them.      Or they permit themselves to be lulled to         world seduces, offers to the Church its sham beauty,
sleep at their post.     They do not always watch and        sings its siren song, allures and threatens, and that
pray. They permit themselves to be swept along with          the power of the temptation of sin is great, then we
those who would deliver the Church over unto the             can understand that the danger of deformation always
world. They do not protest when the carnal element           threatens the Church; in fact, the process of de-
in the Church sits upon the throne, takes over, would        generation and decay is ever present.
enforce its will. And thus they cooperate in the de-                              (to be continued)
generation of the Churches in doctrine and in life, in



           FROM HOLY  WRIT-


                          The  Bo'ok Of Hebrews

                                                  by Rev. G.  Lubbem


Hebrews 4:12-13  (Read from own Bible)                          This all makes for a very vivid and total picture of
NOT AN ABSTRACT THEORY ON BIBLICAL                           man; it is a picture of man as he concretely in life
PSYCHOLOGY  (Vss.  11-13)                                    moves and lives and has his being. There is merit in
    Biblical scholars often have a strong leaningtoward      the brief resume of Calvin's commentary on this
theorizing and dogmatizing on the concepts of a given        section where he writes "Whenever the Lord ad-
text. When this is brought into the text, the result is      dresses us by his word, he deals seriously with us,
not interpretation of the word of God as it is profitable    in order that he may touch all our inmost thoughts
to equip the believer unto every good work, but rather       and feelings; and so there is no part of our soul
that we then have an abbreviated biblical lexicon. And       which ought not to be roused (Calvin's Commentary
in the matter at hand in the text the concepts soul,         of Hebrews, page  loo)."       For the preaching of the
spirit and heart are so worked out that we arrived at        word is most serious on the part of God. And this is
theological definition without having Scriptural ex-         the word which by the gospel is proclaimed to us.
hortations through which God works repentance unto           Unless we hear this serious admonition here in the
life and glory.                                              text, we have not heard what God speaks to us in his
   The Bible is not dogmatics in the formal sense. It        exhortation and in the great example of his dealings
is the word of God, spoken through His Son in these          with unbelieving Israel in the desert. Let us there-
last days. Of old time God spoke this word through the       fore rather fear, and give heed!
prophets. They said: thus saith the Lord. And when
Christ opened his mouth, God was speaking in Christ,         A STRONGLY MOTIVATED EXHORTATION (Vs.  12)
in the Son. This speech of God may not be distilled             This exhortation in the text reads as follows
by theological study into mere abstract theory, or even      "Wherefore let us give all diligence to enter into
into mere theological concepts, important though such        that rest, lest (in order that not) any fall in the same
labors may be as guide-posts for correct thinking as         example of unbelief ." This exhortation is clear and
to the structural truths taught in the church.               concise. The KJV translates the Greek verb "Spou-
   It is true that the, verses 11-13 of Hebrews 4 speak      dasoomen" by the term "let us labor." The term
of the "soul," "spirit" and "heart" of man as en-            really means:      to give  diligence. A certain English
tities created by God.       And the thinking of inter-      divine says of this term "It includes a fervent spirit,
preters grapples with these concepts to come to con-         a. strong desire, a serious attempt with all the powers
ceptual clarity.    But we must do more than try to          and faculties of the soul and body to enhance this ef-
come to a conception of the terms in the text, and           fort," Interesting it is to notice that II Peter l:lO-also
.that, too, according to hermeneutical. rules. For the       speaks of "spoudazein," to give diligence in. this
text also speaks. of the "joints" and "marrow" of            sense.     It means to add in faith virtue, and in virtue
man, together with the "thoughts and intents of the          knowledge, and in knowledge self-control, and in
heart."                                                      self-control patience, and in patience. godliness, and


82                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


in godliness brotherly love, and in brotherly love the         they fall upon the rocks and suffer shipwreck. God
love! This shows that entering into the rest is a              has set as a constant warning to all men, and partic-
battle of faith against all unbelief and against all that      ularly to the church of all ages, the example of Sodom
which opposes God's word and promises. Such is the             and Gomorrah in their destruction for sin. It is a bit
battle of faith.        Such was the battle of the Hebrews     of eschatological display in the beginning of the post-
against all  who. would deny the reality of Christ's           diluvian period of the world. That is the meaning of
King-Priesthood and equate the mere types and shad-            the word of God when he says "Shall I hide from
ows with the reality. It is the battle against unbelief        Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham
in whatever form such unbelief raises its foul head.           shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and
      In this diligence we have a strong positive purpose.     all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For
It is to enter into that rest, that is, the rest into which    I know him, that he will command his children and his
Jesus brought us by his death and resurrection and             household after him, that they shall keep the way of
glorious ascension, passing through the very heavens.          the Lord, to justice and judgment; that the ,Lord may
(vs. 14) Here we have strong eschatological motifs.            bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of
Christ has sat down on the right hand of the majesty           him."        (Genesis  18:17-19) This means that, in the
on high, having brought about the purification of our          generations of Abraham, what God does. to Sodom, will
sins. (1:3b)- And, therefore, the entering into the rest       be perpetuated as the example which we must flee.
in its final consummation is the entering with body            First it was told by Abraham to Isaac and Jacob and
and soul into the heavenly Canaan, a new heaven and a          the patriarchs, and it is written in Moses and the
new earth where righteousness shall dwell. Into that           prophets.          In II Peter 2:6 we read of this perpetual
rest Jesus brings us. Ever that rest remains for the           example up to the present moment in all the Scriptures.
children of God from Joshua's day till now, and from           Says Peter "And turning the cities of Sodom and
henceforth till Jesus comes with clouds!                       Gomorrah into ashes condemning them with an over-
      That which is the legal ground for not entering'into     throw, making them  an  example  unto those that after
the rest is unbelief. The legal ground for not entering        should live ungodly." The term in the Greek for
into the rest is not reprobation. Says the writer to           "making them" is "tetheikoos," a perfect participle,
the Hebrews "therefore they could not enter because            indicating completed action and state up to the present
of unbelief !" (3:19) Now the great example. of unbelief       moment. This example is established in all of Scrip-
in all of the -history of the church is the basic attitude     ture.      See Deut.  29:23;  32:32; Isaiah  1:9, 10;  13:19j
and manifestation of unbelieving Israel in the wilder-         Jeremiah  23:14;  49:18;  50:40; Amos  4:ll; Zephaniah
ness.     It is Meriba and  Massa. There is only one           2:9; Matthew 1O:lS; Mark 6:ll; Romans 9:29; II Peter
spiritual-psychological way in which not to fall in the        2:6; Jude 7. It is the classic example of the destruc-
example of unbelief. That is to give diligence in faith        tion of the world. We do not need many of such. Only
to enter into the rest. It is a fine point of distinction      One is sufficient. Thus also there is one classic ex-
which we may notice in the text. In the Greek we read          ample' of unbelief! It is that of Israel in the desert and
"en too autoo...hupodeigmati,"  that is "in" the same          of their perishing, due to their unbelief.            It is the
example. The English translation has "according to             example.       And it was written for us upon whom the
the same example of unbelief," or "after the same              end of the ages .has come, that we should not walk in
example." Perhaps the emphasis falls on the prep-              the same example of unbelief!
osition "en", indicating that the writer thinks of the             In this destruction of unbelieving Israel-unbeliev-
danger of walking in the very example, and thus falling        ing over against the preaching of the Word of God-
under the same judgment of God; let none of you be             we see the great and powerful and living Word of God
refractory and unbelieving! For to us is the word of           at work. We see it also in those who believe.
God preached as it was to them. From that viewpoint                For the word of God is living . . . . . . ...!
our status quo is the same as that of Israel of old.
God, who spoke of old time through the prophets, hath          THE PREDICATION OF THE WORD OF GOD
in these last days spoken unto us through His Son! In          (Vss.  12,  13)
both there is the serious preaching!                              Yes, the word of God is living, and powerful, and
      That example of Israel's `unbelief was not a mere        sharper than any twoedged  sword, piercing even to the
weakness of believers; it was something quite radicaliy        dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and
different from the "daily to strive against the weak-          the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
ness of our faith, and that we do not have perfect             the intents of the heart.
faith, for which sins we are as believers sorry from              It is a remarkable thing that the emphasis falls not
the heart. Nay, this is the sin of unbelief, that is, the      on what the word does first of all, but on what the
stubborn, persistent and increasingly progressive re-          word of God is. Really, the text in the original Greek
fusal to bow  ,before the word of God. To truly flee           says: Living, the word of God.. . . ! (zoon ho logos tou
from this the only recourse is to give diligence to            theou).     The emphasis falls on the predication: living.
enter into the rest.                                           The adjectival notion of the participle. stands on the
      Navigators at sea have buoys to guide them to keep       foreground.         That the word is living indicates that it
them from the shallow channel through which the boat           is not dead, lifeless, weak, fruitless. It is living and
may pass; they have lighthouses, built on the shore,           operative.         It is living as God is living. (Matthew
from which the beacon light shines to guide them lest          22:32) Jesus lives through the living Father. (John


                                                                                          .a

                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    83

6:57) Christ is the living one, and therefore we shall        whether the "word of God" (ho logos tou Theo4  must
live, for even as the Father hath life in Himself thus        be interpreted as the personal, the hypostatical Word,
hath he given the Son to have life in himself. (John          which- became flesh and dwelt among us, or whether
5:26)    And as the living God he is the very opposite        this refers to the inspired word, which is preached in
of idols which do not exist. As the living God he is the      the word. It was none less than Augustine, Ambrose,
eternal God. (Revelation 4:iO; 10:6) All this too must        Dr. Owen and Doddridge who held the position that the
be attributed to the word of God as spoken of here in         word here refers to the hypostatical word, the Christ
the text.      Were the word of God `not "living" then it     Himself.       Others, such as Calvin, Beza, Macknight
could not be powerful, sharper than any  twoedged             and Scott held that the "Word of God". refers to the
sword, etc.      Only because the Word of God is living       preached word, the infallible Scriptures. The ques-
does and can it do what it does in the deepest recesses       tion is really of importance to understand, less we
of the being, and heart, and existence of man!                fail to hear and heed the exhortation and admonition
   The question has been one of exegetical difference         of the Lord.


THE CHURCH, AT WORSHIP-
                        "0 worship the Lord in the beauty  of  holikess."
                                                             Psalm  96:9a

                                           Our Liturgy

                                                by Rev. G.  Vanden Berg

   Before we consider the meaning of the various              for the populace.      Ultimately the term acquired a
elements that constitute our public worship, there            wider meaning and was used for all manner of work
are some matters that demand prior consideration.             or services by whomsoever performed, viz. the labor
A general orientation in the science of Christian             of slaves, the work of artisans, the conduct of busi-
Liturgies  will give us the necessary background for          ness, etc.       It is worthy of note that by calling all
the proper understanding of the material of our sub-          manner of work, the ordinary word for which was
ject. It is difficult, if not impossible, to form a real      "ergon," "leitourgia" the Greeks expressed their
sense of appreciation of the elements that constitute         philosophy of work.       According to their views the
our public worship without realizing first the prin-          connotation of all labor performed was  social and
ciples, the history, the doctrine and interpretation          altruistic; it was done ultimately in the interest of
that lies behind these elements. The science is not           the people, and not for personal enrichment and
complete unless it is viewed in this broader perspec-         aggrandizement.       How far would this conception of
tive. Much then as we might like to delve immediately         work be accepted in our modern American society?
into the consideration of questions and problems that         Furthermore, how many are there who belong to the
relate directly to the things we do in our public wor-        church who would be quite ready to approve this view
ship, this. will have to be held in abeyance until we         of the labor of man, forgetting of course that the sole
have finished our preparatory study.                          objective of man's labor and service must always be
                   The Name-  Liturgies                       the promotion of the Kingdom of God and His glory.
   In our last article we stated that the term "Liturgy"      "Labor not for the meat that perishes!" (John 6:27)
is derived from the Greek term "leitourgia" or                   In the New Testament the word (leitourgia) occurs
"leitourgein" which is a composite of two terms,              repeatedly in various forms.        According to Zahnl,
"leiton" meaning people, and  "ergon" meaning work            Paul uses the term consistently in the antique Greek
or service.       Hence, the root meaning or idea of the      sense and with particular reference to the financial
term is that it denotes the "people's workor service."        sacrifice involved in serving the people.2        Public
   In Classical Greek the term was used primarily             service, spiritedly rendered at considerable cost,
to denote civic service required by law of wealthy            would seem to be the sense of the passages mentioned.
citizens, or voluntarily proffered by them, as the dis-          In other New Testament writings the term appears
charge of the duty of public-spiritedness. Since reli-        to have a more specifically religious  signification.3
gious services were conducted under the auspices of           This use of the term was not arbitrary.  Among the
the civil magistrate, the term could have a religious         Greeks this term, as we have found, might denote
connotation in some instances.        But even so it was      financing a religious festival and rendering assistance
primarily  ivic and so  ial and only secondarily reli-        to the religious leaders upon such occasions. The
gious in its specific character.        A very prominent      Septuagint accordingly used the term for the services
instance of "leitourgia" was providing entertainment          of the priests and Levites in the Temple. In Luke


84                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


1:23 it is used for priestZy,.service  with reference to      on the assumption that the position of the clergy must
the labor of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.       be construed not only in terms of authority but also
In Hebrews  1O:ll the sense is similar. In Hebrews            of. fellowship, and that even the authority of the clergy
9:21 mention is made of the vessels that were em-             has as its corollary the liberty of the laity. It is to
ployed in the service (leitourgia) of the temple. In          be noted that a strong element in the liberty which the
Hebrews  8:2 reference is made to Christ as the min-          apostle Paul advocated and defended was freedom
ister (leitourgos) of the sanctuary; in  8:6 to his           from Old Testament ritualism, i.e., liturgical free-
ministry (leitourgia) as being more excellent than the        dom.       The implication of that freedom is activity.
Aaronitic ministry. In ,Hebrews 1:14 the angels are           The New Testament idea of worship includes not only
called ministering spirits (leitourgika pneumata). The        the leadership of the ministry, but a series of litur-
meaning might be simply ministering in general but it         gical activities on the part of the people. The Roman
is more likely that the term here too has the connota-        Catholic liturgician, Thalhofer, therefore  conclndes
tion of temple-service, since the writer to theHebrews        that Protestants cannot properly use the terms liturgy
represents heaven, the abode of the angels, as the New        and liturgical.     However, this conclusion is entirely
Testament temple into which Christ has entered with           unwarranted. The use of a term in the course of his-
His own blood.       If it be remembered that in Paul's       tory is not conditioned by the retention of all its
writings the church is considered God's temple, this          original implications.         Lexicography is an organic
term as apexegeted in Hebrews 1:14 would also appear          growth and is not dominated by etymology. The ex-
to signify temple-service. Acts 13:2, where the verbal. ample of Acts 13:2, `mentioned above, is proof against
form of, the term is used, is an-interesting passage.         Thalhofer. The application of the originally political
The entire verse reads: "AS they ministered to the            term to the temple-service of the Old Testament by
Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me            the Septuagint also is a telling instance of the new
Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have               adaptation of old terms. Moreover, the fundamental
called them."       Some contend that this ministering        idea of "leitourgia" is that God is  wovshipped.   The
refers to the public worship `of the congregation at          manner how is accidental.          The term then denotes
Antioch.      Others hold that it signifies the specific      worship,  however performed, whether after the Old
services or functions of the prophets and teachers            Testament or after the New Testament fashion. Be
mentioned in verse 1. At any rate, these men no doubt         that as it may, Protestantism could hardly help as-
exercised their function upon the occasion of public          sociating the blight of hierarchy with the term Liturgy,
worship and so it would seem that we have here a              and was therefore inclined to avoid the term in order
foundation for the technical use of the term in the           to steer clear of its obnoxious historical implications.
history of the Christian Church.                              According to Rietschl the term does not occur in the
      Even so, however, in ecclesiastical literature the      multitudinous Kirchenordnugen of the 16th and 17th
term was not used to designate public worship at              centuries in which public worship was regulated. It
first.      Subsequently the Eastern church styled the        seems to have come into use in England in Angelican
administration of the Lord's Supper "leitourgia" and          circles toward the end of the 17th century. It was
still later the official public labors of bishops, presby-    soon adopted in other lands and before long was
ters and deacons were so denominated. The Western             everywhere in use.        There is however a slight dis-
church at first called the public services of its             crepancy in the use of the term. The science of Pub-
office-bearers  ofiicium  or  ministerium  divinum,x   but    lic Worship is generally called  Liturgies;  the adjec-
eventually also adopted the word "Liturgia."                  tive Liturgical is used as the technical description
      Protestantism was slow to use the term for its          of public worship; yet some writers persist in clas-
pqblic worship. In light of all the foregoing the reason      sifying the churches as  liturgical  and  non-1ituVgical
for this is not difficult to see. In its original meaning     churches, on the basis, not of engaging in worship or
and exclusive Old Testament and partial New Testa-            not, for obviously all churches without exception have
ment usage, the word did not altogether suit Protestant       worship, but of the distinctive manner in which wor--
public worship.       In Athens and among Israel the          ship is exercised,  rituallistically or not.     In other
"leitourgoi" (worshippers) were set over against the          words, liturgical and ritualistic are mistakenly con-.
people sharply; their work was done for the people, the       sidered  convertible terms. This is obviously an error
people themselves meanwhile being utterly passive:            although it may also be said that the two are often
not serving at all, but being `served. In spite of the        difficult to differentiate.      Perhaps we may say that
New Testament a hierarchical spirit arose in the church       because ritual is so often interwoven into the liturgy,
at an early date. The Greek Orthodox, the Eastern             ritualistic practices become part of the liturgy but at
section and the Roman Catholic, the Western section,          the same time all ritual is not liturgical.
of the original Ecumenical church to 1054 A.D. have              The term "Liturgy" then, in our present study, is
o&principle excluded the laity from active participa-         to be taken in the broadest.sense  to include all that is
tion in public worship. The term "leitourgia" con-            embodied in the  worship  of the people of God, the
s,equently  suited their ecclesiastical views but was         church.
militant to Protestant views of worship.
      The Protestant conception of worship is based on                           The Concept of Liturgy
the New Testament and takes into account the majority            Liturgies  is that theological science dealing with
which the church attained at Pentecost. It proceeds           Public Worship. Some liturgicians will not subscribe


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     85

to this but hold th.at it is the science dealing only with       "By public worship", wrote Rev. H. Hoeksema,4
the  prescribed  fovms  of Public Worship. One of the         "we mean that service of God which takes place
objectives of' this distinction is to exclude from the        wherever God meets with His people as the instituted
field of Liturgy the sermon or the preaching and to           church on earth, and that too, through the medium of
relegate this to another theological science which is         the offices. Public worship must principally always
known as Homeletics.     These then further distinguish       be `in Spirit and in truth.' This implies that it is not
the prescribed forms of worship as being either pye-          limited by a prescribed, code of laws or rules that
scribed!  or  free. By the former is meant those forms        determine its external form, but is characterized by
whose character and content have been prescribed by           freedom, so that the form of public worship is con-
the church institutionally while the latter are deter-        trolled and determined by and is .the proper expression
mined by the choice of the worshippers. Conceivably           of its idea, viz., the meeting of God with His people."
all the forms of public worship might be either pre-
scriptive, as in the hierarchical churches, fully or
nearly so, or free, as the Puritans desired. Lutheran            1. Romerbrief, pg. 560
and Reformed Churches condemn neither prescriptive               2. Rom.  13:6,  15:27, II Cor.  9:12, Philip.  2:17,
nor free forms of worship in principle; and have so                   25, 30.
signified by combining the prescriptive and the free in          3. Luke  1:23, Acts  13:2, Heb.  1:14,  8:2, 6,  9:21,
their public worship. Hence, there is really no reason                1O:ll
why these should not be treated in the same science.             4. Liturgies,  pg. 1.



            IN HIS  FEAR-


                                   The Blessed Giver

                                                 by Rev.  J. A. Heys


   From the moment of his creation man had a                  has explored the depth of the sea and seen creatures
calling.                                                      that Solomon in all his wisdom never knew existed. He
   In Genesis 2:15 we read, "And the Lord God took            has gotten possession of and placed his name upon
the man, and put him in the garden to dress it and            objects and creatures that the patriarchs never
keep it." Whatever that work in that day consisted in         dreamed would exist.
and required, it was man's calling before God. From              But two truths lie behind this whole experience of
that moment onward he was God's steward.              God     man and must be borne in mind by him. The first is
placed certain creatures in his hand, under his con-          that "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof,
trol and wherewith he could serve.         God gave him       the world, and they that dwell therein." Psalm 24:l.
tools and means wherewith to serve. And only today            The cattle on a thousand hiils, the hills on which they
do we see how complex and manifold those means                graze, each blade of grass growing upon those hills,
and tools are.      Adam had the garden to dress and          the men who tend the cattle and the sun that shines
keep; we have a whole world of goods and creatures.           upon them, all are God's in the absolute sense of the
Our reach is so much greater than  Adam's.  Our               word. Man possesses goods relatively. The one man
earth is bigger than his small garden before his fall,        owns that to which his neighbour has no right; but he
and the expanse of the land of Eden after that fall.          owns it only as God's steward and for a few brief
Today a man flies in less than a day from continent           years. He owns what he has in relation to his fellow-
to continent.     He reaches out and touches the moon         men.      In relation to God he has only received some
and distant planets.     This he .does not do with his        tools, some means wherewith he is to serve His
hand in the literal sense.      But he is able to hold in     Creator.
his hand the close-up pictures he has taken of these             Man was created as the most unique among all of
heavenly bodies.     He has reached them with his eye         God's earthly creatures.      He was created so that
to see their detail as Adam could never see it.. He           spiritually he faced God and physically he faced this
has touched many creatures in between as he rockets           earth with all that which it contains. He was created
through space at speeds unbelievable to Adam and to           with a spiritual side to his soul that knew God, loved
the whole human race only a few hundred years ago.            Him, recognized Him as his master and himself as
He digs down into the bowels of the earth to a depth          the friend-servant.     And he likewise had a physical
that man found impossible in centuries gone by. He            side to his soul whereby he could work with that whole


.86                                          THESTANDARDBEARER

earthly creation in God's service and then render Him           when He created her. And that was a serious thing!
praise and thanksgiving. With his hand he could keep            For that was everything1
and dress the garden, but then with his lips and soul              ~What can we give to God other than praise and
he cried out, "0 God, How great Thou art!" He could             thanksgiving? Since those cattle on a thousand hills
reach out and eat the fruit of the ground and of the            are His; since we with all of our possessions also are
trees and herbs as a purely physical act; but then his          His; and since we cannot do anything without the
soul would respond, and he would look away from the             breath of life and heart beat which He gives us; what is
earth unto the Creator thereof and sing, "0 God,                there to bring to Him that He does not already pos-
How good ,Thou art 1" Through man the lifeless rocks,           sess? What goods can we bestow upon Him? How can
the speechless beasts, the irrational creature all              we ever enrich Him and add to His wealth? And, by
came before God's face in praise and adoration. They            the way, did you ever hear of anyone making God the
did this through Adam's soul. Through Adam in his               beneficiary in his last will and testament? Not that
state of righteousness all creation came to God and             He wants that.        He does not. And it cannot be done
said, "Thank you, Lord."         Picture in your mind a         anyway.    But no man ever thinks of doing that. God
triangle with its base, downward and its apex pointing          wants it during your life and not after you have given
up to heaven, and then you have a figure of Adam, the           your last breath of life. God wants it in the form of
king of all that earthly creation in his state of righ-         praise and thanksgiving. Listen to what He says Him-
teousness. At the base in all its broadest extent Adam          self in Psalm 50:7-15,  "Hear, 0 my people, and I will
touched the earthly creation; but through his soul it           speak, 0 Israel and I will testify against thee. I am
all pointed upward to his Maker, the God of heaven              God even thy God.         I will not reprove thee for thy
and of earth.                                                   sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been con-
       All this ceased when Adam became a rebel against         tinually before me. I will take no bullock out of thine
the living God and the point of that triangle became            house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast
turned downward and inward.          He became a  self-         of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand
seeker, a selfish, greedy, covetous rebel. And he be-           hills. I know all the fowls of the mountain: and the
came a thief. For he still stood on God's earth and             wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I
increasingly began to reach out to the extent of that           would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the
earth until he has today, as we pointed out, reached it         fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink
almost as far as he can go. But he no longer goes to            the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving: and
God with that creation even though it everlastingly             pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me
remains God's in the most absolute sense.               Paul    in the day of trouble:       I will deliver thee, and thou
writes in Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and come            shalt glorify me."
short of the glory of God." `And one of the most fre-              Indeed, Offer unto God thanksgiving and glorify
quently used words in Scripture for sin means "to               Him! That is your calling. And if you do not, you rob
miss the mark."          Man is not even aiming in the          Him of that which rightfully is His. And because it is
general direction. The apex of that triangle, we said,          His, He is going to get it. Because all things are in
is now pointed downward and inward towards the                  the absolute sense of the word His, He is going to take
flesh of man himself.        He does. not come anywhere         them all back in the fire of the judgment day. And He
near the glory of God but goes in the opposite direction        will still get Himself that praise and glory through the
of the glory of self. And it is not merely a matter of          salvation of His people in Christ and through the
"losing the game" when he .does not hit the target.             everlasting desolation of the other thieves in the tor-
It is far more serious, for he goes "on strike" ment of hell.                      The one thief on the cross goes by
against the living God! He sits in God's factory and            Christ's cross into a perfect life of praising and
uses his raw material, machines and tools, and then             glorifying God for salvation and a new creation. The
sells the goods, pockets the money and goes home                other thief from his cross goes into terror where he
with it!      He takes over God's creation, and then he         will confess the glory of a righteous and sovereign
says, "There is no God; all this is mine to do with             God. His knee will bow. His tongue will confess that
as my flesh pleases." He may be "cultured and                   Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. He will say
civilized."      He may profess even to be a Christian.         in hell that God is great and that God is good, even in
His name may be inscribed in the books of a church              and because of this terrible punishment.
here below.       He may even be. a regenerated child of           But, again, Offer to God thanksgiving and render
God.      But whenever he uses any of the goods of this         Him praise,       That is your calling.      That is what
earth for himself and does not render the due praise            salvation enables us to do once again, Peter calls us a
and thanks to God, by his actions he does say, "There           royal priesthood that has been called out of darkness
is no God; all this is mine to do with as I please."            in order that we should show forth God's praises. I
       You see, then, the first theft of Adam and Eve was       Peter 2:9. We are,- first of all (and such we were in
not that they robbed the neighbour of any of his goods.         the beginning) the blessed givers who give praise and
They had no neighbour yet. We may say, perhaps,                 thanksgiving to God; who give Him service and render
that Eve through her temptation robbed Adam of his              Him the honour of being GOD! These we can give to
righteousness and thus of his life. But even then her           Him because He has given them to us. We can take
first deed was to rob, God of His glory, .to come short         the cup of salvation which He gave, and we can come
of it, to miss the mark that He had placed before her           with the contents of that cup which He has filled, and


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     87

render thanksgiving and praise to the most High. It                  When this is the case, there will be the faithful
is quite obvious, is it not, that we cannot give thanks          labor so that we "may also relieve the poor," as the
unless we are thankful.         There is no thanks-giving        Heidelberg Catechism points out in its explanation of
when one is not thank-fill. The heart full of thanks,            the meaning of the eighth commandment. Where this
the heart filled with gratitude by God, can give it ,back        is not the case, there will be nothing but stealing
to Him.       Even as the river and brook must continue          away from the neighbour - be he rich or poor--the
to receive and be filled. in order to give water to the          tools which God has given him for his stewardship.
sea or ocean, so God fills our cup; and we by that               Either we are faithful stewards ourselves -with all
power and gift, with the point of the triangle lifted            that God gives us, or we are going to try to prevent
again on high to Him, give praise as we are given                others from being steward by stealing their goods.
grace.       We receive a new `man in Christ who once            In His fear we face God spiritually; and it has a
again faces God spiritually in his soul. Once again              tremendous effect upon our whole attitude towards the
through the mind and heart and by the tongue of the              man God brings across our path. In His fear we give
regenerated man the whole earthly creation in. its               to him rather than take away from him, because we
much wider extent and multiplicity of creatures in               would be the blessed givers who render unto God the
their complex forms comes in a steady stream of                  praise and glory and thanksgiving due to His Holy
praise' and thanksgiving and glory to God, being ded-            Name.
icated to His service.

ALL AROUND  US-

                   Confession of Guilt
                                    Freedom For Lawbreakers
                                           Merger Progress
                                                        Pike Exonerated

                                                      by  Pyof.  H.  Hank0

CONFESSION OF G UIL T                                            general confession of guilt, they did not specifically
   The following article appeared in the R.E.S. News             say what actions of theirs were wrong. They spoke
Exchange:                                                        generally of things "done in the conflict, especially
                                                                 in disciplinary action, which was not according to the
      Following an animated discussion, the General              Spirit of Christ or the catholicity of the church;" but
  Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands              they do not make mention of specific errors. If some
  (Gereformeerde Kerken) decided to express guilt for
  the church conflict that led in 1944 to the formation          sort of reconciliation is to be effected (and this seems
  of the Liberated Reformed Churches in the Nether-              to be the intent of the decision), the question comes up
  lands.                                                         how this can be done without treating specifically the
      The Synod made clear that it was not trying to fix         causes which led to the breach. It will be interesting
  the blame solely on those who were the only ones to            to see what the reaction of the Liberated Churches is
  recognize their guilt.      It rather wanted to state in       to this confession.
  humble confession that in the entire quarrel among
  brothers it was not guiltless.                                 FREEDOM FOR LAWBREAKERS
      The Synod thereupon asked the Liberated churches               In an editorial which was first given over WRAL-
  for forgiveness for everything done in conflict, espe-
  cially in disciplinary a.:tion, which was not according        TV in Raleigh, North Carolina and which was quoted
  to the Spirit of Christ or the catholicity of the. church.     in the Presbyterkin  Journal, some interesting statistics
      The decision was occasioned by numerous re-                were cited.       The editorial was dealing with the part
  `quests received by the Synod from church councils,            the church has played in bringing about recent race
  from eleven theological students in Kampen and sev-            riots.       But the article also gives some figures con-
   er al ministers. The Synod decided to send the letter         cerning what has happened to those arrested in the
  to the Synod of the Liberated Churches -and to urge            rioting.
   its own congregations to seek reconciliation with local           Speaking of the Watts riot in Los Angeles in 1965,
   sister churched.    Except for a single dissent, the          the claim is made that, while 3,827 persons were ar-
   decision was unanimous.                                       rested for crimes of violence, looting and destruction,
   It is interesting that, as far as can be judged from          only seven have been given prison sentences. The
this report, while the Gereformeerde Kerken made a               same thing is true in Chicago. In 1966, 533 people


88                                          THE STANDARD BEARER

were arrested for participating in the riots there. Of       last summer to instruct their joint committee to come
these only three were given prison sentences.                with definite merger proposals.
      In May of 1967 rioting broke out on the campus of         It appears now as if the committee is going to
Texas Southern University in Houston. A police officer       recommend that all congregations of both denomina-
was murdered and 400 were arrested, including 5              tions be obligated to join the newly merged Presby-
charged with the murder of this police officer. The          terian Reformed Church when it is brought into exist-
results to date are:       1) Not one of the five charged    ence. However, this will last for one year. During a
with murder have been tried and convicted. 2) These          second year to follow every congregation will be given
five have had their charges reduced and are presently        the option of withdrawing from the new denomination
free on bond awaiting trial tentatively scheduled for        with their property if it chooses.        If personally a
last month. 3) Congress is investigating charges that        congregation is not happy with the marriage, it has the
federal funds were used to post bond. 4) Two of the          right to call it quits without being penalized in any way.
men were on government payrolls as poverty workers.          But if, after the second year is over, a congregation
They were fired after their arrest, but the Houston          has not withdrawn, withdrawal after that is no longer
poverty office is protesting their firing and is asking      possible.
that their salaries be continued even though they are           It strikes me as a strange way to marry. In a
accused of murdering a policeman.                            marriage between a young man and a young woman the
      Presumably the figures are not yet in on last          marriage partners first attempt to learn whether they
summer's riots, and the machinery of legal processes         are suitable to each other before the wedding is
has not yet finished processing the many cases of            celebrated and the marriage consummated. If their
arrest. But the fact is that this is the general course      marriage is in the Lord, this is surely what they will
this country is taking. In the Congress the charge was       do. But it seems that this same principle holds good
raised that rioters are being rewarded by the Federal        in an ecclesiastical marriage. Surely the two contem-
Government when, even though they destroy property           plating such a union ought to decide before the wedding
and steal, the government pours federal funds into           whether before God they are suited to each other. A
these areas to rebuild them and eradicate the scars          trial marriage seems to be out of keeping with the
caused by the violence. This is surely true and a dev-       dignity and sanctity of ecclesiastical affairs.       The
astating indictment of what goes on in this country.         trouble is that those congregations who want no part in
But the fact remains that murder, theft, arson, and          the merger will not need a year of experimentation to
general lawlessness go unpunished. What will `be the         find out their mutual compatibility.     They must know
end of this?     Is it not plain to those in positions of    that in advance. But if they are forced to join in the
authority that such action can only increase lawless-        marriage against their better judgment and wishes, it
ness? The argument is raised that to crack down hard         will be extremely difficult to sue for divorce after the
on law breakers will only incense rioters to great           year is up.     A separation seems to .be a trying and
hatred and move them to worse acts of destruction            difficult process, fraught with many dangers.
than ever before.       But if a man can steal with im-         It is still a question whether the two denominations
punity, commit arson without fear of punishment, en-         will accept such a plan as this.
gage in acts of brutality and murder without having to
endure the consequences of his crime, then lawless-          PIKE EXONERATED
ness will be "encouraged and crime will continue to             Pike has been in trouble with his churchfor denying
increase to unimaginable proportions.                        cardinal truths of the Christian faith. Last year the
      The trouble is that men will not recognize that        House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church to which
these things are violations of the law of God. The           Pike belongs had called his statements irresponsible.
little word "sin" is no longer in style. Men find            This mild rebuke made Pike furious; and, in a fit of
the root of these problems in social, economic and           pique, he demanded a heresy trial. This kind of trial
environmental maladjustments and not in the wicked           the leaders in the church wanted to avoid at all costs
heart of man. The result is that these acts are con-         fearing what it would do to the church's "image". To
doned as being but natural outbreaks and protests            avoid it a committee was appointed to advise on the
against social injustices. And so guilt and punishment       general subject of "theological freedom". Pike let it
are no longer good words to use.                             be known that if this report was favorable and if the
                                                             Episcopal Convention adopted it, he would drop his
      But it still remains the God-given calling of those request for a trial. When the report ame out it was
vested with the authority of Christ to punish evil- apparent that Pike had gained the victory. The report
doers with the power of the sword. To fail to do this advised the Convention to declare that the term
will result in anarchy.                                      "heresy" was out of date and that therefore censure
                                                             should never be brought against a person for opinions
MERGER PROGRESS                                              and teachings. The Convention ratified this report and
      We have tried to keep our readers posted on Pike seemed to have gained the day.
developments in the merger talks currently going on             However, in the course of the discussion, someone
between the Presbyterian Church US (Southern) and the        asked whether last year's action to censure was still
Reformed Church' of America.          The two broadest       in force. The presiding officer said it was. Pike began
ecclesiastical assemblies of these denominations voted       to scribble furiously and shortly advised the assembly


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        89

that he was renewing his call for a heresy trial. A             decisions of the Christian Reformed Church on the
motion was made to erase last year's censure of Pike,           Dekker case. The truth of God means nothing. And
but .a motion to adjourn carried before this could be           the-churches-go the sad way to apostasy.
acted on. In the recess the leaders huddled and came
up with a compromise. This compromise was pre-                                             * * *
sented to Pike (also behind closed doors) and he agreed            Meanwhile Pike succeeded in staying in the news by
to it. It stipulated that while the censure was still in        means of another strange ploy. He claimed that he  _
force the House of~Bishops was also to be reprimanded           spoke with his dead son James Jr. who committed
for denying Pike due process of law. The compromise             suicide in February of 1966.        This ,conversation  was
was ratified by the Convention.                                 supposed to have taken place through a medium in a
   As far. as the Episcopal Church is concerned, there          seance taped for television in Toronto. Pike claims
is no longer any such thing as heresy. Yet, even                not only to have spoken to his son, but claims too that
though the Episcopal Church openly took such a stand,           his son seemed to be aware of what Pike was going
nevertheless,      this is      implicitly the position of      through in his struggles in the church, and that his son
practically every denomination in the country. It is            seemed to be optimistic about the outcome.
almost impossible these days to get an ecclesiastical              It is a striking thing that those who abandon the
assembly to declare any statement to be heretical.              authority of God's Word in favor of the authority of
Ministers, professors or members teach anything they            man's reason or science can nevertheless fall into the
please; but, while some voices of protest may be raised,        black superstition of necromancy. And yet, this is to be
the power to condemn such statements has disappeared            expected when one turns his back upon the truth of God
from `the churches.           This was evident too in the       revealed in Scripture.

A CLOUD OF  WITNESSES-


                  David Called To Fight Against Israel

                                                 by Rev.  B. Woudenberg

                    And it  came  to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered  their   armies  to-
                 gethev   for  wavfave,  to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou
                 assuredly, that thou shalt go out with  me to  battle, thou and thy men.
                    And David said to Achish,  Surely  thou shalt know what thy  servant can  do. And
                 Achish said to David,  Thevefove  will I make thee  keeper  of mine head  for  evey.
                                                                                          I Samuel  28.-l,  2
   For a time in the land of the Philistines,-it  seemed        ducted by them before.        It was just that David had
as if David was carrying off his ruse quite well.               failed to consider the likelihood of such a situation.
Through a careful plot of pretense, he appeared to              All at once he found himself on the side of the enemies
have everything working in his direction. Dwelling              of Israel with a great battle looming up before him.
within the borders of Philistia he had escape and               Achish, of course, had taken him at his word and was
protection from the hatred of Saul. By marching each            quite convinced that David had come to hate the people
morning in the direction of Israel, he made it appear           of Israel because of their treachery.            He fully ex-
that he was fighting against his own people and alien-          pected that David's loyalty would continue with him,
ating himself from them. Meanwhile, David and his               and that David's forces would join his own in the
men were actually raiding the cities of the Geshurites,         coming battle. Without hesitation, he called David to yr
the Gezrites, and the Amalekites, enemies of Israel             him and said, "Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt              '
and friends of the Philistines; but he kept Achish              go out with me to battle, thou and.thy men."
from learning of it by destroying every human being               Actually the answer of David was veiled in vague-
in each city that he invaded.         It was indeed a pre-      ness and ambiguity. He said to Achish, "Surely thou
carious balance that he was maintaining; but it seemed          shalt know what thy servant can do." For Achish,
as if he was pulling it all off quite well, that is, until      convinced as he was of David's loyalty to him, it was
God intervened.       Suddenly David found himself in a         enough.      David was promising to do his utmost for
most difficult situation.                                       him.       But what was actually meant by David is con-
                                                                siderably more uncertain; in fact, David very likely
   It all began when the Philistine kings got together          did not know himself what was actually intended. The
and decided to put forth a mass campaign against the            whole situation as it was. suddenly thrown in his face
kingdom of Israel.       It was a most natural thing for        was such as to tear his soul and all of its convictions
them to do.       Mass campaigns had often been con-            asunder.


9         0                                    THE-STANDARDBEARER

     Life was becoming infinitely more complex for              confidence in God, and in Samuel through whom Saul
David than he had ever thought possible. -As a young            had been anointed to be king over Israel. That ap-
man he had had a strong conviction of loyalty to God            pointment- he had to recognize; it might not be denied.
and His people, and he had foilowed  that conviction            For this reason, with all of the determination that was
with a simple confidence. He was sure that faithful-            in him, he had always refused to .do anything that
ness to God would win out against all opposition.               might bring the least harm to God's anointed.
Even. when Saul had turned against him for no apparent             Still, the time came when even David began to
reason, David had been willing to follow this conviction.       wonder.       He was always so much alone in the con-
No- matter what Saul did to him, he was determined to           viction that Saul should not be harmed. The only one
answer with subservience and humility, convinced that           he had ever shared it- with was Samuel, in fact he had
in this way he could surely prove his love'to-the  king         first learned it from him, but now even Samuel was
`and -restore Saul's favor as at the first. But it hadn't       gone.      He had ,only recently died, an old man, but of
`worked out that, way.        No matter how he tried, he        course David had not been able to go to mourn his
could not turn that man from his wickedness. In                 passing like `everyone else in Israel.        It was just
fact, the more David demonstrated his humility and              another of the cruel results of Saul's wickedness.
hi.s love for the king, the.more  fanatically hateful Saul      Was there no end to that man's dastardliness? Would
became, until he was persecuting David unrelentingly.           it actually be so bad to assist in his overthrow?
It was finally as a move -of almost complete despera-              The time had come when David could withstand
tion that David left his native country to take escape          the pressure no longer. Actually, he was carried
in the land of the Philistines. .There  at least `he would      along with hardly any choice in the matter. All of the
be able to fight for his rights and life. But ironically,       land of the Philistines was in preparation for the
it wasn't necessary.         In the land of the Philistines,    coming. campaign against Israel and for David to have
the enemies of Israel which he- had always hated, he            failed to make the same preparations would have been
was freely given the peace and security that Israel             altogether too evident.     ,Moreoyer, even as he was
had -refused him.         It hurt almost more than if the       doing so, there happened something that almost seemed
Philistines had, met him with open battle. What was             to be a sign in favor of his doing so: a large company
he now supposed to think?                                       of men from the tribe of Manasseh .came across the
     It was not, of course, that David. had lost his            border to join David just because they too wanted to do
faith. He had tasted the true love of God, and once that        what they could to overthrow their'king. Gradually,
-has happened a person cannot renounce it. In fact,             slowly, but very surely David found himself giving in.
separated as he was in the town of Ziklag, it was the           He had not real heart for it. He stalled until, when the
God of Israel alone that he and his men worshipped.             armies were all come together, he and Achish were
These were men, of deep-set conviction, and they did            the last ones to appear.. But he was there, nonethe-
not quickly waver because of some external change               less, carried along by a lot of things that he had
of fortune. So generally understood was this that the           started until he could control them no longer and he
most faithful of Israel continued to come to him in             found himself. controlled by them. But in these days,
great numbers (see I Chronicles 12). Even men of                he was not very close to God, his conscience was
Saul's own tribe, disillusioned with their king's wicked-       numbed, and he was just going along wherever cir-
ness, came across the border to join themselves to              cumstances led him. It was a sad day in David's life.
David.         Some of them were the most valiant fighting         But God had not forsaken him, and when David was
men in all of the kingdom. But their righteous souls            found too .weak,  He .intervened.    It happened when all
were vexed beyond endurance. under Saul, and they               of the .Philistine armies .were gathering together at
came to be with David where Jehovah was worshipped              Aphek to form their  .lines for battle-.     There were
in truth.                                                       hundreds and thousands of Philistines there, a.nd last
     Nevertheless, the problem remained.          What was      of all to draw up were Achish and David with his men
the proper thing to do in the situation? After all,             of battle.     It was a strange situation for them, to be
there was no question but that Achish had befriended            present with the Philistines as they prepared to do
them in time of need; and much more so than anyone              battle with Israel.      Somehow they didn't fit. David
in Israel had. It was not surprising or unfair, there-          and his men were Israelites. About them were going
fore; that he should expect loyalty of David when he            on all kinds of :heathen ceremonies and superstitions
was himself called to go out into battle. And the fact          which they did not understand and with which they
of the matter was. that a good many of David's own              would have .no part. Huddled together .,.as they were
men were quite anxious to march against the army' of            on the sidelines, these men. felt as if they didn't belong
Saul. It was not that they had really renounced their           and looked- as if they didn't belong. -Neither did it take
own country. To, them it was just a matter of con-              long for the lords of the Philistines to notice this.
sidering Saul `to be. the greatest enemy of Israel that         Quickly they turned to Achish demanding an explana-
there was, and they would' do anything that they could          tion, "What do these Hebrews here?"
to undermine or overthrow his`position as head of the              To. Achish, naive man that he was, it was quite
nation..-  It was .as simple as that to them. They would        simple.       David had been living. in his domain many
not be fighting~ against Israel; just against Saul.             days and years now. Everyone' knew .this. : He con-
     As. ,easy as it seemed,. David's mind had never let        sidered it his own. chief claim to recognition. He had
.him take that position. He had always had absolute             converted the  very. slayer of mighty Goliath and


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                             91


brought hini' over to their. side. Now he was going to            this day: nevertheless the lords favor theenot. Where-
use this  Dajid  against his very own people. Almost              fore: now return, Bnd go in peace, that thou displease
indignantly, he stood before- the greatest lords df%e             not:-th'&lords  `of the Philistines;"        "
Philistine& and explained, "Is ndt this David, the ser-              Well might David hatie felt.the sting of those words,
vant of Saul the king of Israel, which hatli been with            for he had not been as honest as Achish thou&t he hid.
me these .days, or these years, and I have found no               But David was not in a moment of mar@ setisitivity.
fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?"                He felt only the humiliation of not ,being trusted: In
                                                                  self-righteous indignation he answered back: "But
   But the princes of the Philistine& were not all so             what have I done?-and what hast thou fouild in thy ser-
foolish.    They understood the situation much better             vant so long as I have been with thee untd this day, that
than Achish, and for that matter than did David at                I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the
the moment.        Disgustedly they  arqwered Achish,
!`Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his            king?' '
                                                                     But there was nothing Achish could do. He could
place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not              only say again, "I know that thou art good  in'my
go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be               sight, as an angel of God; notwithstanding the princes
an adversary to us; for wherewith should he reconcile             of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with
himself unto' his master? should it not be with the               us to the battle. Wherefore now rise up early in the
heads of these men'? Is not this David, of whom they              morning with thy master's servants that  tire come
sang one to another in dances, saying; Saul slew his              with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morn-
thousands, and David his ten thousands?"                          ing, and have light, depart."
   Achish stood `humiliated, first before his fellow                 So it was that David returned toward Ziklag with-
Philistine's, and then. he had to return and pass the             out going to battle". It was well, for there was more
word along himself to David.           He had insisted that       for him .to do at Ziklag than he realized. But even
David fight along with him, and now he had to tell him            more, had he actually gone into battle, he might well
that he couldn't.      Calling David to him, he tried to          have found that there was more to the warning of the
explain, "Surely, a%- the LORD liveth, thou hast been             Philistine lords than even he was willing. to admit.
upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me              The fact was, he was an Israelite and the Philistines
in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found             were his enemies. This he should have never doubted
evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto             as he did.


CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH-


                                       The Doctrine Of Sin
                                    The Second Period  -  250-730 A.D.

                                             The Pelagian Controversy

                                        Life of Augustine (Philip Schaff)

                                                     by Rev.  H. Veldman

   We now continue with our quotation from Philip                    him or after him have trod. As a theologian he is
Schaff. (`Vol. III, 988 f.f.), on the life of Augustine.             facile  prince@,  at least surpassed by no church fa-
                                                                     ther, scholastic, or reformer. With royal munificence
       Augustine, the man with upturned eye, with pen in             he scattered ideas in passing, which have set in
    the left' hand, and a burning heart in the right (as he is       mighty motion other lands`and later times. He com-
    usually represented), is a philosophical and theological         bined the creative power of Tertullian with the church-
    genius of the first order, towering like a pyramid               ly spirit of Cyprian, the speculative intellect -of the
 above his age, and looking down commandingly upon                   Greek church with the practical tact of the Latin. He
 . succeeding benturies.      He had a mind uncommonly               was a Christian philosopher and a philosophical theo-
    fertile and deep, bold and soaring; and with it, what          logian to the  fuI1. It WE& his need and his delight to
    is better, a heart  full of Christian love and humility.         wrestle again' and again with the hardest problems of
  He stands of right by the side of the greatest philos-             thought, and to comprehend to the utmost the divinely
    ophers of antiquity atid of modern times. We meet him            revealed matter of the  faith.     He always asserted,~
    alike on the broad highways and the narrow footpaths,            indeed, the primacy. of faith, according-to big maxim:
   on the giddy Alpine heights and: in the awful depths of          Fides praecedit intellecturn  (faith precedes intellect);
    speculation, wherever philosophical .thinkers before            appealing, with theologians before, to the -well. known


           92                                                  THESTANDARDBEARER


                 passage of Isaiah  7:9 (in the LXX): "If ye will not              Augustine a purely Old Testament form." (it seems
                 believe, surely ye shall not be established." But to              to the undersigned that this can hardly be designated
                 him faith itself was an acting of reason, and from               `a sniall difference between Origin and Augustine, to
                 faith to knowledge, therefore, there was a necessary              substitute the fall of man for the pre-temporal fall
                 transition. He constantly looked below the surface to             of souls, and to exchange the pagan Platonic point of
                 the hidden motives of actions and to the universal laws           vilew for the teaching of the Old Testament. - H.V.)
                 of diverse, events. The metaphysician and the Chris-                  The learning of Augustine was not equal  t9 his
                 tian believer coalesced in him. His meditatio passes              genius, nor as extensive as that of Origen and Eusebius,
                 with the utmost .ease  into oratio,  and his oratio  into         but still considerable for his `time, and superior to
                 m  editatio.      With profundity he combined an equal            that of any of the Latin fathers, with the single ex-
                 clearness and sharpness of thought.          He was an            ception of Jerome. He had received in the schools of
                 extremely skilful and a successful dialectician, in-              Madaura  and Carthage a good theoretical and rhetori-
                 exhaustible in arguments and in answers to the objec-             cal preparation for the forum, which stood him in
                 tions of his adversaries.                                         good stead also in theology.      He was familiar with
                     He has enriched Latin literature with a greater               Latin literature, and was by no means blind to the ex-
                 store of beautiful, original, and pregnant proverbial             cellencies of the classics, though he placed them far
                 sayings, than any classic author, or any other teacher            below the higher beauty of the Holy Scriptures. The
                 of the church.                                                    Hortensius of Cicero (a lost work) inspired him during
                     He had a creative and decisive hand in almost                 his university course with enthusiasm for philosophy
            every dogma of the church, completing some, and                        and for the knowledge of truth for its own sake; the
                 advancing others.       The centre of his system is the           study of Platonic and Neo-Platonic works (in the Latin
                 FREE REDEEMING GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST,                            version of the rhetorician Victorinus)  kindled in him
                 OPERATING THROUGH THE ACTUAL, HISTORICAL                          an incredible fire; though in both he missed the holy
                 CHURCH. He is evangelical or Pauline in his doctrine              name of Jesus and the cardinal virtues of love and
                 of sin and grace, but catholic (that is, old-catholic,            humility, and found in them only beautiful ideals with-
                 not Roman Catholic) in his doctrine of the church. The            out power to conform him to them. His City of .God,
                 Pauline element comes forward mainly in the Pelagian              his book on heresies, and other writings, show an ex-
                 controversy, the catholic-churchlyin the Donatist; but            tensive knowledge of ancient philosophy, poetry, and
                 each is modified by the other.                                    history, sacred and secular. He refers to the most
                                                                                   distinguished persons of Greece and Rome; he often
                     Dr. Baur incorrectly makes  freedom  the funda-               alludes to Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Plotin, Por-
                 mental idea of the Augustinian system (it much better             phyry, Cicero, Seneca, Horace, Virgin, to the earlier
                 suits the Pelagian), and founds on this view an.in-               Greek and Latin fathers, to Eastern and Western
                 genious,        but only half true, comparison between            heretics. But his knowledge of Greek literature was
                 Augustine and Origen. "There is not church teacher                mostly derived from Latin translations. It is some-
                 of the ancient period," says he, "who, in intellect               times asserted that he had no knowledge at all of the
                 and in grandeur and consistency of view, can more                 Greek.    But this is certainly a mistake. However,
                 justly be placed by the side of Origen than Augustine;            with the Greek language, as he himself frankly and
                 none who, with all the difference in individuality and            modestly confesses, he had, in comparison with
                 in mode of thought, so closely resembles him. Bow                 Jerome, but a superficial acquaintance. Hebrew he
                 far both towered above their times, is most clearly               did not understand at all. Hence, with all his extra-
                 manifest in the very fact that they alone, of all the             ordinary familiarity with the Latin Bible, he made
                 theologians of the first six centuries, became the                many mistakes in exposition. He was rather a thinker
                 creators of distinct systems, each proceeding from its            than a scholar, and. depended mainly on his own
                 definite idea, and each completely carried out; and               resources, which were always abundant.
                 this fact proves also how much the one system has that
                 is analogous to the other. The one system, like the               We need not at this time call attention to the tre-
                 other, is founded upon the idea of freedom; in both           mendous literary labor of this father of the church.
                 there is a specific act, by which the entire development      Extending through a period of forty and four years,
                 of human life is determined; and in both this is an act       they constitute a mine of Christian knowledge and ex-
                 which lies far outside of the temporal consciousness          perience. It is certainly true what Philip Schaff writes
                 of the individual; with this difference alone, that in one    of him: "AS we survey this enormous literary labor,
                 system the act belongs to each separate individual him-       augmented by many other treatises and letters now
                 self, and only falls outside of his temporal life and
                 consciousness; in the other, it lies within the sphere        lost, and as we consider his episcopal labors, his
                                                                               many journeys, and. his adjudications of controversies
I                of the temporal history of man, but is only the act of
     .:          one individual.      If in the system of Origen nothing
                                                                      _ ---    among the faithful, which often robbed him of whole
                 gives greater offence  than the idea of the pre-exis-         days, we must be really astounded at the fidelity,
~                tence and fall of souls, which seems to adopt heathen         exuberance, energy, and perseverance of this father
                 ideas into the Christian faith, there is in the system        of the church."
                 of Augustine the same overleaping of individual life             Of interest, as far as the life of Augustine is con-
                 and consciousness, in order to explain from an act            cerned, is the influence which Augustine exercised
            " in the past the present sinful condition of man; but the
                 pagan Platonic point of view is exchanged for one             upon posterity and his relation to Catholicism and
                 taken from the Old Testament....What therefore es-            Protestantism. On this Philip Schaff has the following,
                 sentially distinguishes the system of Augustine from          vol. III, 1016 f.f.:
                 that of Origen, is only this: the fall of Adam is sub-               Augustine, in the first place, contributed much to
I                stituted for the pre-temporal fall of souls, and what             the development of the doctrinal bases which Cathol-
                 in Origen still wears a heathen garb, puts on in                  icism and Protestantism hold in common against such


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          93


         radical heresies of antiquity as Manichaeism,  Arian-          gelical Protestantism on the other.        He ruled the
         ism, and Pelagianism. In all these great intellectual          entire -theology of the middle age, and became the
         conflicts he was in general the champion of the cause          father  of, scholasticism in virtue of his dialectic mind,
         of Christian truth against dangerous errors. Through           and the father of mysticism in virtue of his devout
         his influence the canon of Holy Scripture was fixed in         heart, without being responsible for the excesses of
         its present form by the councils of Hippo (393) and            either system. For scholasticism thought to compre-
         Carthage (397). He conquered the Manichaeandualism,            hend the divine with the understanding, and lost itself
         hylozoism, and fatalism, and saved the biblical idea           at last in empty dialectics; and mysticism endeavored
         of God and of creation, and the biblical doctrine of the       to grasp the divine with feeling, and easily strayed into
         nature of sin and its origin in the free will of man. He       misty sentimentalism; Augustine sought to apprehend
         developed the Nicene dogma of the Trinity, completed           the divine with the united power of mind and heart, of
         it by the doctrine of the double procession of the Holy        bold thought and humble faith. Anselm, Bernard of
         Ghost, and gave it the form in which it has ever since         Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventura, are
         prevailed in the West, and in which it received clas-          his nearest of kin in this respect. Even now, since
         sical expression from his school in the Athaniasian            the Catholic church has become a Roman church, he
         Creed.    In Christology, on the contrary, he added            enjoys greater consideration in it than Ambrose,
         nothing, and he died shortly before the great Christo-         Hilary, Jerome, or Gregory the Great. All this cannot
         logical. conflicts opened, which reached their ecu-            possibly be explained with an interior affinity.
         menical settlement at the council of Chalcedon,  twenty
         years after his death. Yet he anticipated Leo in giving
         currency in the West to the important formula: "Two            The Lord willing, we will conclude this statement
         natures in one person."                                     on the influence of Augustine in our following article,
            Augustine is also, the principal theological creator     and also call attention to Pelagius, Augustine's chief
         of the  Latin-Catholic  system as distinct from the         opponent in the struggle involving the doctrines of sin
         Greek Catholicism on the one hand, and. from evan-          and grace.


        TRYING THE SPIRITS-


                         The Prophetic Office of Christ

                                                       by Rev. R. C.  Havbach

        The office in general to which our Lord was dele-            should therefore be the incarnate Deity who should
     gated was that of Mediator `between God and men. It             take up into union with His divine person a perfect,
     is to be noted that "the office is essentially one, not         whole and holy humanity. We saw, too, that He was
     three. We may indeed distinguish the one office into            fitted for the execution of His office by His "anoint-
     three aspects of it that are denoted by the  terms              ing' ' which was His experience in eternity as well as
     prophet,  priest   and  king;  but these may never be           in history. The office has its three functions of proph-
I    separated.                                                      et, priest `and king which is adumbrated in the anoint-
I                  They are not three separate offices, but
     rather three different aspects or functions of the one          ings of Israel's prophets, priests and kings.              But
     office. There is one fundamental thought in them all,           these three functions are not separate, nor successive,
     one idea that lies at the basis of all three. And this          not of isolated performance. "They are rather like the
     fundamental notion we may briefly express by saying             several functions of the one living human body - as of
     that by office is meant the position of servant-king in         the lungs in inhalation, as of the heart in blood cir-
     relation to God. We might also express the same idea            culation, and as of the brain and spinal column in
     by describing an office-bearer as the official repre-           innervation, they are functionally distinct, yet inter-
     sentative of the invisible God in the visible world.            dependent, and together they constitute one life. So
     More fully defined, by office is meant the position in          the functions of prophet, priest and king mutually
     which man is authorized and qualified to function in            imply one another.       Christ is always a prophetical
     the name of God and in behalf of God's covenant and             priest, and a priestly prophet, and He is always aroyal
     kingdom, to serve Him and to rule under Him. There              priest and a priestly king, and together they accom-
     are, therefore, two sides to the office. With relation          plish one redemption, to which all are equally essen-
     to God, the office-bearer is servant...with relation to         tial (A. A. Hodge,  Popular Lectures on Theological
     the creaturely sphere in which he functions, the                Themes,  235).,,
I    kingdom of God. in the visible world, the office-bearer            Christ stood in His mediatorial office in all of its
     is king (Rev. H. Hoeksema, ReformedDogmatics,  363)."           three functions in order to be a complete Saviour and
        We saw that in the decree of God the Mediator was            Redeemer of God's elect. Man had originally been
     ordained to be Emmanuel, "God With Us," that He                 created a perfect office-bearer.          A prophet, priest


94                                          THE STANDARD BEARER

and king was he, created in the image of God in knowl-         "Christ is  "the  Prophet" (Jn.  7:40). It was pre-
edge, holiness and righteousness. But through the fall      dicted that He should come to reveal the whole counsel
he lost -that image and.became  so totally depraved that    of God, not to the world, but to the Israel of God. "I
the image of God was reversed-he  reflezted  the            will raise them up a Prophet." He himself would be of
image of the devil in folly, sin and. rebellion. To         Israel, for He would be raised up "from among their
effect, then, the complete redemption of His people,        (Israel's) brethren." He would also be a Prophet, like
Christ could not put aside one of the aspects of His        Moses, that is, the fulfilment or antitype of the typical
office.     For all those He had come to redeem were        prophet Moses was. For the Lord said, I will raise
steeped in ignorance, guilt and bondage, which indi-        up a prophet "like unto thee." .He would deliver
cates that the image in which man had been originally       himself of the whole counsel of God: "He shall speak
created had been turned into its opposite. Christ then      unto them all that I shall command Him." Any who
had to come -as Prophet to remove their ignorance           should refuse Him that speaketh would do so at the
and their darkened understanding, and restore true          peril of His eternal destiny. "And it shall come to
knowledge; as Priest to atone for their sins; as King       pass, that whosoever will not harken unto My words
to set them free from the slavery of sin. As Prophet        which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of
He reveals God. As Priest He brings us to God. As           him (Dt. 18:18f)."
King He restores us in the image of God. He Himself            Christ being  the  Prophet, has in the prophetic
bears that perfect image of God in knowledge, right-        function as in everything else, the preeminence. All
eousness and holiness.       For He "of God was made        the prophets were in His shade and in His line. They
unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification         always had to preach, "Thus saith the  Lord!"  He
and redemption (I Cor. 1:30)."                              proclaimed, "But I say unto you!" They said, "Hear
      Modern day altar-call evangelism does not pro-        the Word of the Lord." He said, "I am the Truth!"
claim a complete Saviour in that it does ,not preach        They were commissioned with a message to proclaim.
Christ performing His functions in His office. He is        He delivered the whole counsel of God. They under-
rarely alluded to as Prophet or Priest, much less,          stood the Word of God according to their capacity and
King. He was merely a Saviour who did all He could          the gift of God.      But "it pleased the Father that in
to save all men, but left the matter of whether any         Him should all the fulness dwell (Col. 1:19)." They
will be saved, to the whims of men. His chief end in        never fully understood their own message. In Him
coming into the world was not the glory of God (as He       dwells all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Himself taught,  Jn.  17:1,  4), but the effecting of a     He was not only the Messenger of the Covenant, but
scheme of universal redemption put at the disposal of       He was also the Message; the Preacher of the Word,
man's convenience.       Never is it so much as hinted      and the Wovd!
that it- is Christ in His official character as covenant       Christ exercised the office of prophet first from
Head that renders the salvation of His whole Church         the fall to the incarnation. For it was He through all
a matter of infallible certainty.                           the ages of history who was the Saviour of the elect.
      -What is the prophetic function of the office of      The theophanies , appearances of God, were mani-
Christ?      "How does Christ execute the office of a       festations of the trinity, but especially of one of the
prophet?      Christ executes the office of a prophet in    divine persons in human form, the Angel of the Lord,
His revealing to the church in all ages, by His Spirit      who was also the Angel (Messenger) of His Presence,
and Word, in divers ways of admmistration, the whole        the Captain of the Lord's Hosts (who was He but the
will of God, in all things concerning their edification     Captain of our salvation!), the Angel (Messenger) of
and salvation (Westminster L. C.,  43)." The prophet        the Covenant (who but the Mediator!), He appeared
speaks from God, for -God, to men.          He is a seer    for the help, blessing and protection of God's people
because he has the mind of. Christ, knows the things        and was an anticipation of Christ the incarnate Son
of God (I C.  2:12),  a,nd knows the needs of men.          of God (I Cor. 10:4, 9).
      As Prophet,` He is our omniscient Seer, seeing           Christ next exercised the office of prophet from
the end from the beginning. Known unto Him are all          His birth, or, officially, from His baptism to His
His works from  `the beginning of the world. The            death.    It was then that the only-begotten God (Jn.
predictions of all the prophets are His foreordinations     1:18, Gk.), the One being in the bosom of the Father, -
which `must come to pass (AC. 4:27f). Every event in        declared the invisible God, visibly and personally.
history, every. act of the church of all ages, every        He was the true Light, the Light of the world, the
minute ~circumstance in the lives of His people was         effulgence of God's glory, God manifest in the flesh
foreordained by Him.       His friends, enemies, men,       (Jn. 1:14; I T. 3:16), Emmanuel, God with us, the Mes-
angels z-and all creatures live, are moved and have         senger of the Covenant finally come to His temple.
their being only as He appointed in His determinate            Christ then exercised the office of prophet_ from
counsel.     Waiting on the Word of our great Prophet       the ascension, and now continues to the consummation
we live calmly, peacefully in the vicissitudes of a         of the age. At the present, He does this in the Scrip-
changing, inimical world. "Fire and hail, snow and          tures, which are the Word of Christ (Col. 3:16), and
vapors, stormy wind, fulfilling His Word!" He "still-       which are indispensable -to make wise unto salvation;
eth` the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves,       through His. ordained, sent ministers who as ambas-
and the tumult of the people." All things are under         sadors have no other message than that of the same
the controlling decree of our Prophet.                      Scriptures; and by His Spirit who opens the Scriptures'


                                                    THESTANDARDBEARER                                                               95


to us and our understandings to the Scriptures. That in the prophetic ministry of our Chief Prophet and
great Prophet (Lk.  7:16) still speaks to us, and the Teacher.
same warning given through Moses to hear Him .is                            To hearken to this great Prophet means? not to
given  us.        "If they escape not who refused Him that            bow to a woman god, a wooden god, a wafer god, nor
spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we                   to build magnificent temples, mass-houses,  joss-
turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven (Heb.                    houses, shrines and mosques, but to surrender un-
12:25)." Man knows nothing of God, of His sovereign,                  reservedly, body, soul and spirit, to the Word of
irresistible will, His eternal counsel, of His purpose                Christ, be guided by His law, determined by His
in the creation and government of the world, of the                   principles, employed in His service and having the
epiphany of the world to come, except that revealed                   glory of His name the whole business of life.



  BOOK  R&IEWS-

                                      The Invitation System

                                                                 The Davidson  Affciir


THE INVITATION SYSTEM, by Iain                  is a sample of what the reader may          igate  and finds himself plunged into a
Murray; 32 pages (paper); Banner of             expect: "The invitation system mis-         tense political crisis. dr is it, perhaps,
Truth Trust, London, England; dis-              conceives the role of an evangelist.        something more than that? In the space
tributed by Puritan Publications, P.O.          The gospel preacher is not a `spiritual     of thirty-six hours he interviews. all
Box 652, .Carlisle,  Pa. 17013. Price:          obstetrician' appointed to supervise        sorts of people from the  Governor-
15c.                                            the new birth of sinners; still less is     General to a notorious belly-dancer.
                                                he called to propose ways which, if         Out of a tangle of conflicting reports'
        This is a very worthwhile booklet,      complied with, will accomplish the          he struggles to construct a documen-
as `are many of the books and booklets          rebirth." (p. 29)                           tary program to be screened on Mon-           .
published by the Banner of Truth Trust.            It is encouraging to note that also      day evening, which will reflect the
        By the "invitation system" is           in Great Britain there are still those      truth about Davidson.        But what, in
meant the practice of calling people to         who have not been deceived into de-         fact, is the truth? And how can Ten-
the front which is so widely followed           parting from the truth of the gospel        nel, and through him the millions of
by Arminian evangelists in their                and from true methods of evangelism         viewers, come to terms with it?"
crusades.        Probably the best known        in this day of Arminianism gone wild.              This book has been widely praised
example of those who follow this                But American readers can profit             by reviewers, even in magazines from
practice is Billy Graham. This invita-          greatly from the reading of this little     which I would not expect such praise.
tion system is regarded by many as an           booklet. In fact, if you are looking for           This reviewer has serious reserv-
essential part of evangelism.                   good theological reading, you could do      ations as to the legitimacy of this kind
        Iain Murray, who is pastor of Grove     worse than to send for the latest           of attempt to put the gospel, of the
Chapel, London, and is also editor of           catalogue of Banner of Truth Trust          Resurrection into a twentieth-century
The Banner of Truth,         a bi-monthly       publications.                    H.C.H.     setting. There is something very re-
magazine, examines the various argu-                                                        pulsive about making a novel out of the
ments adduced in. favor of this in-                                                         gospel.
vitation system. Such an examination,--         THE DAVIDSON AFFAIR, by Stuart              But even apart from the above
of course, isdependent on an accurate           Jackman;. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing        reservations,       the    book is to be
presentation of the arguments, first of         co., Grand -Rapids, Mich.; 181 pp.,         criticized on one fundamental point.
all.       And while this booklet is very       $3.50.                                      There is no blood of atonement in the
brief, the author. nevertheless suc-                                                        story. Jesus Davidson was not cruci-
ceeds in presenting the arguments                  This is a novel; and it. is both         fied, but hanged. What the author fails
fairly and accurately; and his present-         interesting and unusual.                    to see, or deliberately ignores, is that
ation is well-documented by  $&ations              It is an attempt to put the Resur-       there could have been no-resurrection
from the proponents of the system               rection of Jesus Christ into modern         without the cross. This is a fatalflaw.
being criticized.                               dress.    It is an attempt to give the      If for no other reason than this, the
        The chief value of the booklet, how-    Passion of Jesus immediacy. As the          story is a failure.if it purposes topre-
ever, lies. in. the thorough and Reformed       dust jacket puts it, in this story Jesus    sent the gospel.
manner in which the arguments are               Davidson is executed for treason on                Once again: the book is unusually
refuted... Moreover, the refutation is          Friday, and is rumored to be along          interesting, and it is fastmoving. But
presented in a simple and thoroughly            again on Sunday. "Cass  Tennel, TV          it is a failure. Do not be deceived by
readable and interesting manner. Here           reporter, flies to Jerusalem to investi-    it.                                H.C.H.


I                                                                                                                         1

     96                                           THE STANDARD BEARER

                                           NEWS FROM OUR  CHURCHES-

     REPORT OF  CLASSIS  EAST -- October 4, 1967                   Kuiper pronounced the blessing upon his flock. A
     At Holland, Michigan                                          reception followed the ceremony, and the congregation
                                                                   enjoyed a social hour with their new pastor and his
           Rev. R. C. Harbach led in the opening devotions,        family.
     and declared. Classis properly constituted after all                                      ***
     the Credentials were read and adopted.                           The Eastern League of Men's Societies met in
           Rev. H. Veldman then presided, and Rev. Harbach         annual meeting Oct. 9 at Hudsonville's church. Rev.
     recorded the minutes.                                         J. A. Heys, of Holland, was the speaker, and gave a
           All the churches were represented by two delegates      talk on, "Evangelism, what is its office, and what has
     each.                                                         happened to it." Rev. Heys held his audience's atten-
           The Stated Clerk and the Classical Committee            tion with his description of this early-church-office,
     tendered their reports.                                       to which Holy Writ refers in only three passages. The
           Mr. J. De Vries and Mr. H. Kuiper were appointed        speaker deplored the corruption of this office by those
     to serve on the  finance committee.        The chair ap-      who call themselves evangelists today.            After the
     pointed the Revs. Harbach and Lubbers and Elder D.            annual business was conducted, refreshments were
     Langeland to prepare the classical appointment sched-         served  in- the church parlors. After recess Rev. Heys
     ule which was later adopted as follows:            SOUTH      answered questions from the floor pertaining to the
     HOLLAND:         Oct. 15  - R. Harbach, Oct. 22  - J.         general subject of evangelism.
     Kortering Oct. 29 - M. Schipper, Nov. 5 - R. Har-                                         ***
     bath, Nov. 19 - G. Lubbers, Nov. 26 - J. Kortering,              Our friends in Jamaica are the happy recipients of
     Dec. 3 - R, Harbach, Dec. 10 - M. Schipper, Dec. 17           the 400 Bibles and 100 Psalters we sent them recently.
     - G. Lubbers, Jan. 7 - J. Kortering.                          They sent "their glowing and heartfelt thanks for those
     HULL:       Oct. 15, 22  - G. Van  Baren, Nov. 12, 19  -      gifts of love, and express a special word of thanks to
     J. Heys, Dec. 24, 31 - H. Veldman.                            the Sunday Schools, churches, and individuals who
     The above appointments were made upon the request             were the donors of those gifts." By the way - You can
     of Classis West.                                              hear them sing some of the Psalter songs and hear the
           The Classical Committee prepared and distributed        children recite some of the Heidleberg Catechism if
     copies of the Constitution relative to this committee.        you get the tape specially prepared by the Reformed
           Classis treated a Protest registered against a de-      Witness Hour staff for the after-recess programs in
     cision of the July meeting of Classis. Classis Adopted        your societies.
     the advice of a study committee composed of Revs.                                         ***
     Heys, Kortering, and Elder Kalsbeek.                             Doon's School Dedication program was held Friday
           Rev. M. Schipper was re-elected to the office of        evening, Oct. 6. Mr. Edw. Van Egdom, president of
     Stated Clerk, and Rev. J. Heys was chosen assistant           the Board, led in opening devotions and Rev.  R. Decker
     Stated Clerk.                                                 gave the address, speaking on the truth of God's Word
           Mr. H. Vander Kolk was appointed to thank the           as recorded for us in Deut. 6:7. Refreshments were
     ladies of Holland for their excellent catering.               served in the church basement after the program., and
           Classis decided to meet next time on Wednesday,         the new school was open for inspection for friends and'
     January 3, 1968, in South East Church.                        visitors.    The names of the thirty-nine pupils were
           Questions of Article 41 of The Church Order were        listed on the printed programs with those of the two
     asked and answered satisfactorily.                            teachers. The glowing reports coming from Doon all
           Rev. G. Van Baren closed this meeting of Classis        express the joy and gratitude for this gift of grace by
     with prayer and Thanksgiving.                                 which they may "teach.. . . diligently.. . s their children."
                                         M. Schipper, S.C.         as prescribed in the sacred text from Deuteronomy.
                                                                                               ***
                                                                      Holland's consistory sponsored a public program
                                                 Oct. 25, 1967     giving their pastor the opportunity to give a detailed
           Candidate D. Kuiper was installed into the office of    report of his labors in Jamaica which he did with the
     the ministry Friday evening, Sept. 29, with Rev. G.           aid of colored slides. From viewing those pictures
     Vanden Berg, of Oak Lawn, officiating. Rev. Vanden            one can learn, among other, things that abject poverty
     Berg chose to preach on, "And I will set shepherds            is no deterrent to spiritual happiness; one is forced
     over them which shall feed them", found in Jeremiah           to admit that "the have nots" truly have something!
     23:4.     The sermon's theme was, "Shepherds, a Gift                                      * * *
     of God", and was treated under these three points:               Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am
     The gift as such; The need for such gift; and, The            pure from my sin? Prov. 9:20 . . . see you in church.
     benefits derived from that gift, After the sermon Rev.                                                             J.M.F.


