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A  REFORMED   SEMI-MONTHLY  MAGAZINE





  ril  THIS  ISSUE:


         Meditation: Christ, lasting But Not Drinking

        Editoricils:  Unambiguously Ambiguous (and others)

        Sanctified Freedom of Speech

        An Obstacle on the Road to Rome Removed

                                          (see  AlI Around Us)


                                     Volume XLN  / Num  bev 13  /  April 1, 1968


290                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


Meditation  -                                                                                      THE  STUDARD  BEARER
   Christ, Tasting But Not Drinking *0......*0...D.o.. 290
       Rev. J. Kortering                                                        Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July and August.
Editorials  -                                                                   Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
   Unambiguously Ambiguous ! . . . . . . . ..00.0.......0..0. 293             Editor-in-Chiefi  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
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       Prof. H. C. Hoeksema                                                      Rev. Gerald  Vanden  Berg, Rev. Herman Veldman, Rev.
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                    Christ,  Tastin-g But Not Drinking
                                                             by Rev. J.  Kovteving

                          "They gave him vinegar to  drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted
                     theveofi he would not  drink."                                                           Matt.  27:34

    When He had tasted, He would not drink.                                      The soldiers smirked with indignation as they
    Strange !                                                                 reached for the hammer and nails. This enmity was
   It would have made dying so much easier. Yet He                            the culmination of a veritable sea of wrath that swelled
refused.                                                                      upon our Savior, one billow after another.
    And heaven was weighed in the balance. So serious.                           The contrary winds began to disturb the placid sea


                                            THESTANDARDBEARER                                                         291


of unbelief when Judas delivered Jesus into their midst          According to Roman custom, the drink offered was
earlier than anticipated. Under the cloak of darkness,        that of crude wine mixed with myrrh or gall. This com-
the workers of iniquity taunted their "victim." In the        bination had the effect of drugging the victim, much
presence of. Annas, a soldier in an act of idle contempt      like an anesthetic.     This custom was not of Jewish
smote Christ and no one deemed it unjust. Becoming            origin as some suppose; rather crucifixion was a
more bold and incensed with greater rage these same           Roman form of death and with it this offering of a
soldiers, assured that Caiaphas cared little for justice,     drink. We should also understand that the purpose of
began to spit in His face and buffeted Him; and others        this drink was not that of mercy for the poor victim.
smote Him with the palms of their hands saying,               The Romans were not of a mind to be touched with
"Prophecy unto us, thou Christ, who is it that smote          pity for one they willed to murder by so torturous a
thee?" Even Pilate, the Roman judge, realizing that the       death. The motive was far more selfish, it expedited
multitude was bent on forcing him to choose between           the whole bloody business by yielding the victim more
Caesar of Rome or Jesus the King of the Jews, cast            manageable. The Romans were efficient in everything
his lot with the people. He knew that Jesus was in-           they aimed to do, it was no different in the execution
nocent, he was afraid. His wife had warned him of her         of their prisoners.
disturbing .dream,  he had done all that was humanly             Christ refused this drink.
possible, he had told the Jews to judge Him for them-            He had a reason. We may be sure that His reason
selves, he had offered the people the choice of Barabbas      was not grounded upon the whims of human nature.
or Jesus, he had sent Christ to Herod,  and yet Christ        From the point of view of human desires, it would have
stood before him. Finally he resorted to the basest           been advantageous to do much more than taste, He
form of human capriciousness.         Thinking that man       would have drunk deeply and found sweet relief. The
basically had pity for a victim, he instructed his            very thought of death by crucifixion evokes deep human
soldiers to beat Jesus by giving Him the alloted  stripes.    emotions - outstretched hands being torn by crude
The bits of bone dug into his flesh and the blood flowed      nails that tear nerves, muscles and veins make even
from His tortured back. Yet they screamed the louder,         the hardest wince.      We can only imagine what this
"Crucify Him, crucify Him!" The soldiers made sport           must have meant to the one being crucified. Even
of Christ, they placed the crown of thorns upon His           though Rome intended it not as mercy, yet for the
head, put a reed in His hands, decked Him with a pur-         victim it would give him escape from the conscious-
ple robe and in sarcastic humor defiantly cried, "Hail        ness of pain and the stinging sensations as the ex-
King of the Jews."                                            ecutioner would nail his hands to the horizontal beam
   Pilate washed his hands.                                   and then lift it up so that it could in turn be fixed to the
   That was all this mob needed.                              vertical one and the feet nailed to the post.
   The soldiers led Him to Calvary. Whathumiliation!             His reason for not drinking had to be more than
Jesus walked at the' head of this strange procession.         human.
Upon his shoulders were the cross beams. Around His              Indeed it was. It was rooted in His divine calling
neck was suspended the piece of wood containing the           as the obedient servant of Jehovah.
charge which made Him worthy of death, "Jesus of                 This He understood.
Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Soon it would be                He had set His face to Jerusalem knowing that His
nailed as a superscription, claiming in bitter irony the      hour was about to strike. In deepest submission He
truth.    Behind Him followed the 2 malefactors, sur-         uttered these words, "Father, the hour is come, glorify
rounded by the soldiers.       On their heels came the        thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee; as thou
daughters of Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, and the mob. It        hast given him power over all flesh that he should give
was time for satiating their barbaric thirst for blood.       eternal life to as many as thou has t given him." He
What sport, what a parade. Interspersed in the midst          knew that the way of that glory lay in the deep shadows
of this drive for vengeance we hear the words of              that gradually overtook Him.           Prostrate upon the
Christ to the weeping women, "Weep not for me, but            ground He groaned thrice amidst bloody sweat, "Father,
weep for yourselves and for your children." Simon of          if it be possible let this cup pass from me, neverthe-
Cyrene took His cross, together they walked up Col-           less not my will, but thine be done.". Strengthened by
gotha and awaited word from the centurion.                    an angel He was once again assured that the way of
   All was in order. The morning sun shone upon the           the cross would lead Him to that glory.
scene.      The walls of Jerusalem lay shrouded in the           The Father had willed that He would glorify Him-
shadows.      Around the base of the hill the throng as-      self in the way of the salvation of His people through
sembled. `The vertical beam was already fixed in the          His Only Begotten Son. Ever since the fall of Adam
earth, the soldiers directed Christ to the cross-beam         and Eve the promise of the Savior elicited a song of
lying upon the ground. They stripped Him of His gar-          hope from the lips of the covenant people. This cul-
ment and paused a moment. One of the soldiers reached         minated in the stirring song of Zacharias, "And thou,
across and handed Jesus a drink. Jesus accepted it,           child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for
but as soon as He tasted it, He refused it and returned       thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare
it to the giver.                                              his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his peo-
   This seemingly insignificant event carries an              ple by the remission of their sins." This prophet of
eternal weight..                                              the highest soon stood in the midst of the people and


292                                         THESTANDARDBEARER


said, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the           a willing act, it required a willing act of Eove. Sin is
sins of the world."                                          an act of hatred against the holy God. Thus it was
   This was the purpose of His coming.                       from the beginning. Adam and Eve willingly hated God
   Christ was fully aware of this during His entire life     and chose the friendship of the devil overagainst the
upon earth. He was keenly aware of this as He climbed        friendship of God. The Mediator had to undo this. His
the hill of the skull.       How the love of the Father      work of the reconciliation of His own to the Father
throbbed within His perfect heart. Before His mind He        demanded that He love the Father. This love was so
contemplated the wonder of the Father's electing love.       profound that He had to love the Father while the
He knew that it was in this love that His heavenly           Father in righteous vindication visited Him with His
Father had sent Him to these terrible depths. To             infinite wrath. Satisfaction of the divine law demanded
consummate this perfect union of love He had come to         of Christ that He willingly give Himself to death not
do what those whom the Father had given Him could            only, but that as an act of love for the Father and His
never do. He had come into the flesh to make perfect         own.
satisfaction before the bar of divine justice.       His        This He could never have done if He was sublimely
Father had said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."      asleep, drugged.
The only way to escape death was that He should pass            He tasted, but He would not drink!
through it.                                                      He entered the threshold of suffering, a willing
   It was time for Him to drink the cup of divine            obedient servant Who loved His own even unto death.
wrath.                                                          0, what love. To spare us the suffering of wrath
   Only in this way could there ever be expiation for        and judgment, He bore it all to the full. He refused the
the sins of His own.                                         least relief in order that He might drink the bitter cup
   This He could never have done if He had tasted and        to the very last dreg. Active in His suffering He cried
drunk deeply. Divine expiation of sin demanded that          out, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
the Mediator of the covenant had to undo what sin had        Even then we see the wonder of divine love; alone in
done. The first Adam willingly walked in the way of          hell, writhing under the pains of punishment, Christ
sin.       The last Adam must willingly give Himself a       suffered this willingly in love. In love the Father had
ransom for many. Jesus understood this. He said,             sent His Own'Son to such depths of suffering. All this,
"No man taketh my life, I lay down my life for my            that we might be spared the heavy hand of judgment.
sheep." To satisfy the justice of the holy God, Christ          He tasted, but would not drink.
had to subject Himself freely as the obedient servant to        He performed a perfect work. He satisfied for the
the accursed death of the cross. From this point of          sins of those whom His Father had sovereignly given
view we may look upon the offered drink as an attempt        unto Him. He merited the perfect accounting so that,
of His arch-enemy the devil to strip Christ of the           we may now gaze in wondrous faith at the victorious
Mediatorial office.      If Christ had done more than        death of the Son of God and say, "Surely this was the
tasted, He would have become a victim of the wine and        Son of God."
gall and the limp form of Christ would have been fixed          "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God
to the beams without His being conscious of it. If           through our Lord Jesus Christ."
this had happened, Christ could never have said as the          The wrath of God is gone forever. He removed it
obedient servant, "I lay down my life." To make per-         by carrying it away. No longer does it touch His own,
fect satisfaction, our Lord Jesus Christ had to willing-     not in our diseases, not in our sufferings, not in our
ly give Himself to the cross. He had to literally stretch    perplexities, not in our struggles in life, not in the
out His arms and open the palms of his hands and bear        hour of death.
the anguish and pain as an act of obedience to the              There is only the smile of divine favor upon the
Father.                                                      children of God. And that is everything, it is heaven
                                                             in our souls.
   This He did. He gave Himself to the hellish tor-             We have reason to live to the glory of God.
ments .                                                         Think what it will be by and by.
   But there is more. Expiation demanded more than              Thanks be to God, "He tasted, but would not drink."



                         NOTICE                                 Hone Prot. Ref. Christian School is in need of a
   The Free Christian School of Edgerton  is in need         principal for the 1968-69 school year. If you wish to
of a teacher for the lower room, Grades 1 thru 4. If         be considered for this position, please contact:
interested in filling this position, please contact:                                      Mr. Clare Kuiper
                               Mr. Allen Hendriks                                         2450 Boulevard Dr., SW.
                               RR II, Box 87                                              Wyoming, Michigan 49509
                               Jasper, Minnesota 56144                                    Phone: 534-0098


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                                          293.
                                                                                                               0

       EDITORIALS-

                      Unambiguously Ambiguous
                                                     by Prof. H. C. Hoeksema

        The infamous Dekker Case Decision of the Chris-                  If I were pressed for a simple answer to question
     tian Reformed Synod of 1967 has been followed, for the           number one I might say Yes, and for proof quote
     most part, by journalistic silence on the,,part  of Chris-       among other texts I Timothy 2:5-6: "Christ Jesus,
     tian Reformed writers. Apart from a couple of mildly             who gave himself a ransom for all."
                                                                         Or I might say No and quote Matthew 1:21, "He.. .
     critical articles in Torch and Trumpet there has been            shall save his people from their sins," in conjunction
     little journalistic opposition voiced to the decision.           with Matthew 20~28, "The Son of man came . . . to give
     And from the  Refovmed  Jownal  there has been a                 his life a ransom for many."
~ rather strange silence about the entire subject. Are                   If I were pressed for a simple answer to question
~ the men of the Refovmed Journal perhaps still stunned               number two I might say Yes and cite II Peter 2:1,
     from their rather total victory in the recent contro-            "False teachers, who shall privily bring in destruc-
     versy? Even Professor Dekker seems  to..maintain  a              tive heresies, denying even I the Master that bought
     rather sphinx-like silence. I had rather expected that           them.  I'
     by, this time he would have recognized the fact that the            Or I might say No and quote the Lord's words in
                                                                      John 10:28-29, "I give unto them 
     Synod did not condemn his doctrine, but only his                                                         eternal life.. . and
                                                                      no one shall snatch them out of my hand."
     alleged ambiguity, and that therefore he would have                  Arminian  and Lutheran Christians answer these
     stated his doctrinal position with respect to the love           two questions affirmatively; we Reformed answer
     of God and the death of Christ in still more unambig-            them negatively.
     uous language than heretofore, if that were possible.                I do not mean to be facetious in the aforestated re-
     In fact, I am still hopeful that he will break his si-           marks. I mean to emphasize the truth that there is a
     lence; afterall, there should be liberty of theological          body  of pavticularistic  teachings about redemption in
     expression under the decision of 1967! If only one is            the Bible, but also a body of universalistic teachings
     not ambiguous and abstract!                                      on it. And we need to do justice to both and place the
        It appears, therefore, that the said decision is thus         proper qualifications on each one. We may not overdo
     far having its intended effect, namely, to calm the              the particularistic passages so as to obscure Christ
     troubled waters without removing the. cause of the               as cosmic Savior, and on the other hand we may not
                                                                      overwork the universalistic ones so as to lose the
     trouble.                                                         biblical teachings of election and reprobation. There
        But that the cause of the trouble has not actually            is a tension here and when the correspondent, whose
     been removed, and that here and there are souls who              request for a clear and unambiguous answer is per-
     are troubled about this issue, and that the decision in          fectly understandable, asks for a simple affirmative or
     question has produced the pathetic situation in which            negative answer, he is asking for the impos.sible.
     such troubled souls cannot be satisfied, - all this is               Let us not forget that the Bible contains the thoughts
     plain from a question and answer which appeared in               of God. As such it is a deeply profound book. True
     the department "The Reader Asks" in The Banner of                enough, its basic message is simple and clear. The
     February 23, 1968. In the interest of fairness I will            way of salvation is plain to all. The Bible's funda-
     quote the question and answer                                    mental redemptive message is: "Christ died to save
                                          in toto before I com-
     ment on Dr. John Bratt's answer.                                 sinners." But at the same time, God's thoughts  -
                                                                      imbedded as they are in the Scriptures  - are vastly
        Here is the question:                                         superior to ours (Isa.  55:9). This will mean problems
~           A Westerner who is a firm believer in brevity             and  questions that do not lend themselves to easy
        writes: "Dear Dr. Bratt: I have three questions that          solution. Our recent discussion on the atonement and
        I would like answered in your column. It is not that I        the love of God was eloquent illustration of this fact.
        do not know the answers (every believer does), but            We did not resolve the particularistic-universalistic
        because men talk and write about them as if they do           tension. But we were driven back to the Scriptures for
        not know.    That it may be clear to everyone, I desire       reexamination and restudy.       We asked once again:
        a simple Yes or No answer. First, did Jesus die and           What does God's Word really say? And that can only be
        pay the penalty for every man's sin? Second, Does             for the good.
        anyone for whom- Jesus suffered and died go to hell?
        And third, If anyone answers the first two questions       PATHE TIC AND FR USTRATING
        affirmatively is he a believer or is he a heretic?"
        And here is the answer. It should be kept in mind,            Thus I would characterize the situation when a
     by the way, that the author of this answer was a mem-         questioner and the readers of the Banner cannot get a
     ber of the Doctrinal Committee which proposed that            straightforward answer to a simple and direct question
     Synod declare Prof. Dekker's statements contrary to           concerning the truth of the Word of God.
     Scripture and the confessions.                                   Consider that this questioner asks three very


      294                                          THE'STANDARD BEARER
I

     simple `and clear questions. Consider that his ques-          would step into the breach and furnish some unequiv-
     tions concern' the very essence of Reformed doctrine.         ocal answers?
     Consider, moreover, that these are questions which                Would a reply like this not make one rub his eyes
     are not only of dogmatic importance, but that they are        in disbelief?
     very intimately connected with the Christian comfort,            Would it not almost cause a questioner to tear his
     with the believer's assurance of salvation: this is           hair out in frustration and to exclaim: "That is not
     very evident from the second question, "Does anyone           what I sought! I told you that the very reason for my
     for whom Jesus suffered and died go to hell?" Con-            question was the fact that men talk and write as if
     sider, further, that this questioner specifically asks        they do not know the answers.             And now you are
     for a Yes or No answer to his questions. Consider,            exactly  ,like these other men. You say neither Yes
     too, that he furnishes a reason for his questions:            nor No.     You try to say both Yes and No. Where,
     "because men talk and write about them as if they do          where, can I get answers to my questions? What is
     not know (the answers).". Consider, besides, that this        truth and what is heresy? Did, or did not, Jesus die
     auestioner 
     .              exnected
                     ,.          that Dr. Bratt and the  Bannev    and pay the penalty for every man's sin? Does, or
     would not "talk and write. . . as if they do not know"        does not, anyone for whom Jesus suffered and died go
     the answers to these questions.                               to hell? Answer me!"
          And then consider the answers given. "I might say           But the situation is pathetic, besides.
     Yes. . . Or I might say No. " And mark you well: Dr.,            For make no mistake about it: this reply reflects
     Bratt does not intend to be facetious when he says            the situation in the Christian Reformed Church today,
     this !                                                        - the official situation.     It has become impossible
          True, he also states that "we Reformed answer            with respect to the questions put by Dr. Bratt's
     them negatively." But he immediately contradicts              questioner to furnish a firm, binding, official, eccles-
     this faint note of certainty by claiming that there is        iastical answer to these questions. In this respect
     a body of particularistic teachings and a body of             Dr. Bratt is not to be blamed personally for his
     universalistic teachings in the- Bible, and that justice      frustrating reply:     he is writing as a faithful son of
     must be done to both. While he can understand the             the Christian Reformed Church.           For the Synod of
     desire for a simple affirmative or negative answer,           1967 was unwilling to affirm the doctrine of definite
     such an answer, he claims, is an impossibility. More-         atonement, but also unwilling expressly to deny it.
     over, he ultimately attributes the impossibility of a         It was unwilling to condemn the doctrine of-universal
     clear simple affirmative or negative answer to God            atonement, but also unwilling expressly to affirm it.
     and His Word. True, he employs many words to make             Though thrice confronted by the issue of what was
     this point; but that is the point, nevertheless: God          orthodox and what was heretical, the Synod delib-
     Himself does not give us a simple affirmative or              erately sought to avoid that issue. And thus the situation
     negative answer in His Word!                                  obtains today that there is no firm, unequivocal, yes-
          This I characterize as frustrating, first of all.        or-no answers to the questions put.
     For is it not the purpose of "The Reader Asks" De-               This is very really the situation.
     partment to furnish answers to questions, to furnish             Prof. Dekker can answer and can teach in the
     solutions to problems? And may not a member of a              seminary that the answers to these questions are Yes.
     church rightfully expect that his church will answer          And remember:         nothing was decided at last year's
     questions concerning fundamentals of the faith? And           synod to prevent him from teaching universal atone-
     is it not the duty of the church to spell out what is         ment ! Only, he must not be ambiguous !
     orthodox and what is heterodox, what is the faith and            Dr. Stob is free to say that we must not even ask
     what is heresy? And is it not as clear as the sun in          such questions, and then by some legerdemain to
     the heavens that the answers to these questions cannot        agree with Prof.' Dekker's position after all.
     be both Yes and No? And especially in the light of the           Dr. Bratt is free to say that the answer must be
     fact that the Synod itself took cognizance of the fact        Yes-No, and that a simple affirmative or negative an-
     that there was "considerable misunderstanding and             swer is impossible, but that we must be ambiguous in
     confusion within. the (Christian Reformed) churches           our answer.
     concerning the doctrine of the atonement," and "wide-            Others are free to say that the answer must be No,
     spread uncertainty concerning his (Professor Dekker's)        but they are not really free to say that an affirmative
     adherence to the creeds,"- due to the alleged ambiguity       answer is heretical: they may only say with synod that
     of one of its seminary professors on this very sub-           an affirmative answer is ambiguous and abstract!
     ject, might not a church member expect of an official            And in this day of many and fierce winds of doctrine
     ecclesiastical paper like the  Bantzev  some clear-cut        the ordinary member -of the church who. seeks real
     and unambiguous answers to burning questions ? And            answers to his questions is simply set adrift by his
     more especially still, when the questioner himself            own church!
     mentions that the very reason for his questions at such          This is pathetic! It is lamentable!
     a time of "considerable --misunderstanding and con-            . Oh, if it were a question of some minor difference,
     fusion" is the. fact that men ,talk and write about these     if it were a question of some dark exegetical problem.,
     questions as if they do not know the answers, might           or if it- were a. question of some practical problem
     this questioner not expect that surely the  Bannev            about which there was room for differenceof judgment,


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     295


then a reply like this could be understood. But here          the way of salvation. It would be difficult to imagine
is a question of the fundamentals of the Reformed             questions which more deeply concern the way of
faith, the truth of the gospel, a question about which        salvation.     Is. this not a question which goes to the .
Scripture itself is exceedingly clear, and a question         heart of this way of salvation: "Did Jesus die and
which was decided in the Reformed churches three              pay the penalty for every man's sin?" And is this not
hundred fifty years ago!                                      a question also which is very serously concerned with
   And today the Christian Reformed Church is im-             the way of salvation: "Does anyone for whom Jesus
potent to give an unequivocal answer!                         suffered and died go to hell?" Especially when you
   This is nothing less than pathetick                        consider the latter question, it seems to- me, it
   From whence did this pathetic situation grow?              becomes plain that these are real question,  life-
   From 1924 and its First Point and its well-meant           and-death questions, about the way of salvation! And
offer of grace1                                               yet Dr. Bratt plainly states that the answers to these
                                                              questions are not clear: an unambiguous answer is
UNAMBIG UO USL Y AMBIGUOUS                                    an impossibility1 How then can he at the same time
                                                              say that the way of salvation is plain to all?
   To be ambiguous is to express one's self in such a            Again, he is unambiguously ambiguous1
way that what he says has a double meaning. It is to             And this ambiguity is devastating with respect to
talk out of two sides of your mouth. It is to express         the truth of the gospel.
one's self in such a way that you leave two different
impressions  .and rule out neither of the two.                ECCLESIASTICAL HYPOCRISY
   And to be unambiguously ambiguous is to be
straightforward and clear and unequivocal about one's            These words constitute my final comment on Dr.
ambiguity.                                                    Bratt's reply.  -
   This characterizes Dr. Bratt's reply.                         In August of 1967 the Synod decided to admonish
   If pressed for a simple answer to these questions,         its professor of missions for. the ambiguous and ab-
he might answer Yes; or he might answer No. In                stract way in which he expressed himself when he said,
other words, the answer is .Yes-No.                           "The atonement itself is inherently universal" and
   There is a body of  pavticulavistic  teachings; but        "there is neither need nor warrant for retaining, the
there is also a body of  univevsabistic  teachings. Both      concept of limited atonement.. . "      Now I do not be-
are Scriptural. And there is a "tension" between the          lieve that Prof. Dekker was ambiguous. Certainly he
two!_, In other words, Scripture pulls one in the direc-      was far less ambiguous than the editor of "The .Reader
tion `of universalism; but it also pulls one in the direc-    Asks." For Prof. Dekker gave an affirmative answer
tion of particularism. The teachings of Scripture are         to these questions. It was the wrong answer; it was
particularistic-universalistic.      Or -in other words,      Arminian. But it was not ambiguous. Nevertheless,
they are ambiguous.                                           Synod declared that he was ambiguous and said that it
   Or again, "The Bible's fundamental redemptive              was wrong to be ambiguous: Prof. Dekker was ad-
message is `Christ died to save sinners.' " Do not be         monished for this.
`fooled by this apparently Biblical-sounding expression.         In February of 1968 the official journalistic voice
In this connection, that statement is ambiguous. It           of the Christian Reformed Church is with respect to
may mean:          Christ died to save elect sinners, His     the very same question of the atonement deliber,ately
people, from their sins. But it may also mean: Christ         ambiguous.     It is even maintained that it is impossible
died to save all sinners.                                     to be unambiguous in answering two pointed questions
   But why question the matter? Dr. Bratt himself             concerning the -atonement.. It would seem to me that
says in plain language that it is impossible to give clear    Dr. Bratt could not help being reminded of Synod's
and unambiguous answers to the questions put to               admonition to Prof. Dekker when he penned the words
him: "There is a tension here and when the corres-            "unambiguous" and "impossible."           :
pondent, whose request for a clear and unambiguous               In effect, -therefore, the  Banner is stating that
answer is perfectly understandable, asks for a simple         Synod demanded the impossible of its seminary pro-
affirmative or negative answer, he is asking for the          fessor.                                           :
impossible." Now it is plain that if a clear and un-           And if this is true, it is sheer hypocrisy;
ambiguous answer is impossible, then the only possi-             Or will  the 1968 Synod perhaps `admonish the
bility left is-an unclear and ambiguous answer.               professor of Bible at Calvin College for the unambig&
   And by the same token, it is plain that Dr. Bratt          uously ambiguous way in which. he expressed himself
is deliberately and unambiguously ambiguous !                 in his writing on the atonement?
   And it is also plain that Dr. Bratt flatly con-               If only the concluding words of Dr. Bratt's reply
tradicts himself.       For in the last paragraph of- his     were true !     If only the Synod had asked or will still
reply, when he philosophizes about the deeply pro-            ask, "What does God's Word really say?" If that
found character' of the `Bible in order to cover up his       question is asked in truth and sincerity, there are
ambiguity, he makes- this statement; "The way of              surely answers; and the answers dare unambiguous !
salvation; is plain .to all." Yet the very questions          "And that can only be for the good."
asked by his correspondent are questions concerning              But God is not mocked!.


 296                                          THE STANDARD  Bl&lRER



                                        An Anti-War Ad
                                                 by  Prof.  H. C. Hoeksema

   A recent Saturday issue of the Grand Rapids Press           making such a statement, and the. Christian Reformed
carried an advertisement on the religion-page entitled         Church should call its faculty members to account for
"A Statement On Vietnam." Since the subject of the             affixing their names to such a statement.
war is a burning issue of the day, one's attention is             For one thing, the statement has no real content.
quite naturally drawn to such an ad. The statement             It does not produce a single substantive reason for
read as follows:                                               "action toward peace.?' It refers to a group of retired
                                                               military men. On a military basis, I suppose it might
        Recently a group of military men, now retired, '       be argued that since these men are retired, they are
    issued a call for cessation of the bombing .of North       out of touch with the situation and therefore cannot
    Vietnam. Included are General David Shoup, former
    Marine Corps Commandant; Rear Admiral Arnold E.            qualify as experts on the issue. It also cites a state-
    True (wounded at the Battle of Midway in World War         ment made by the Catholic bishops of South Vietnam.
    II); Brigadier General R. L. Hughes (on MacArthur's        One might ask: are these Catholic bishops experts on
    staff in World War II); Brigadier General W. W. Ford       the subject? Or is this some kind of indication of
    (commanded a division in Europe during Worid War II);      ecumenical thinking?        The simple fact is that this
    and Brigadier General S. B. Griffith (a leading expert     statement has no substance: it mentions not a single
    on Communist China). A similar statement, urgently         reason for action to end the war. It engages in name-
    calling for an end to the war, was recenrly  issued by     dropping, apparently.
    the `Catholic bishops of South Viemam.
        We, the undersigned, college teachers in the Grand        For another thing, the reference to the fact that
    Rapids area, hereby affirm our support of these ap-        the signers of this statement are "college teachers in
    peals for action towards peace.                            the Grand Rapids area" makes a strange impression.
                                                               If they had mentioned the name of their college, the
   Appended to this statement was a list of 48 names,          statement would at least make known how part of the
47 of which were the names of college teachers at              faculty of Calvin College feels on the subject. But
Calvin College.                                                perhaps the statement means to express that "college
   Now it is quite conceivable that one might argue on         teachers" are in a class all by themselves: sometimes
the basis of Reformed and Christian moral principles           I think they are.        Perhaps the idea is that college
in favor of one position or the other with respect to          teachers are a notch or two above the hoi polloi and
the present war, although it is very difficult for me          therefore have some special claim uponthe  attentionof
personally to assess the rights and wrongs of either           the general citizenry, I know not. I would suggest that
side in the war from a Christian point of view: I can          they are college teachers only in their proper domain,
hardly imagine, for example, that the nations of this          their college; but evidently their being college teachers
world (pro-communist or anti-communist) could sit              is supposed to have something to do with the weight of
down and read the Ten Commandments to one another.             their statement on Vietnam, whether they are teachers
Besides, I hardly think that the question of the morality      of history or of philosophy or of mathematics or of
or immorality of modern wars and of this war in                English or of religion, or of whatever subject. I am
particular is the chief point of interest for the believer.    really surprised that they did not list their degrees
There is a great ado about these questions; but there          behind their names. But what value or weight this adds
is little attention to today's war and rumor of war as         to their substance-less statement is a conundrum to
one of the signs of the times. There is much ado about         me.
the morality of the war and the individual conscience             But what is especially disturbing about this state-
with respect to the war and military service, but very         ment is the fact that. it does not even purport to be or
little ado about the Christian's duty to obey his govern-      give any `evidence of being a  Christian,  let alone
ment,  - not out of patriotism and national loyalty,           a  Reformed, testimony.
mind you, but for God's sake. Nevertheless, it is at              I suppose this is supposed to be an instance of not
least conceivable that one might choose a position on          being isolated in what some choose to call a Christian
the subject concerned, whether for or against ending           Reformed ghetto, an instance of getting involved in the
the war.                                                       social and political issues of the day. And I suppose
   It is also conceivable that a group of Christian            that the signers of this statement were aware, too,
citizens would formulate` a statement and would pub-           that many readers of the  Grand Rapids Press would
lish that statement as some kind of Christiantestimony         recognize their names as members of the faculty of
in the daily newspaper. In itself, of course, there is         Calvin College. Again, I say, there is nothing wrong
nothing wrong with such a testimony.                           with a group of Christian citizens publicly making
   But this is indeed a strange statement. In fact,            known their Christian position on a given subject. And
Calvin College ought to be ashamed of its teachers for         it is not my purpose to argue the question what would


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      297


be the Christian position on this particular question.            worldly university or college. No one coulddistinguish
My point is that there is absolutely nothing Christian            whether these are Christian, Calvinistic, Reformed
about this testimony. It agrees with military men; it             college teachers.
agrees with Catholic bishops; but does it agree with
Christian principles? There is not a hint of it. It is a              As such, regardless of the pros and cons of the
statement utterly lacking in any kind of Christian                issue, it is a bad testimony. It is not commendable.
distinctiveness.    It lays no claim to being Christian.,         It is not neutral. It is bad: principally carnal. And it
It is `purely secular in character. It could as well be           reflects shamefully on a college which bears the name
a statement by a number of. faculty members of any                of John Calvin.


                                   The Social Gospel!

                                                   by  Pvof. H. C. Hoeksema


   It stands to reason that as the church becomes                    answer their needs, we are able to direct them to other
"involved" in the affairs of the community and of                    kinds of help that are available. We act as a kind of
society in general, it creates a certain public image                clearing house.' '
of itself. That image is either the image of the church
as the true church of Christ, or it is the image of the               I ask: what does all this have to do`with the calling
modernistic church and its social gospel. One might               of the church to preach the gospel? This is so-called
gain some idea of the image which the Christian Re-               social  Bction. But where is the Christian character of
formed Church is creating of itself from an in-depth              this social action?
article about the Eastern Avenue Community Center                     But the rationale behind this movement becomes
which appeared in the Grand  Rapids Press on March 9,             abundantly clear from the following paragraph:
1968.
   That image is not a good one.                                            "The Church has not been active enough in the
   It is, I do not hesitate to say, the image of a church            past," says White, a seminarian, "but rightfully
                                                                     Christianity should be leading in the struggle for a
addicted to a social gospel.                                         better life. Christ did not preach `pie in the sky', but
   And those who are concerned to keep the "image"                   said: `Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of
of the church what it'ought to be, according to Scripture,           these, you have done it to Me.' Black Power, in the
should be deeply disturbed about the reflection of this              sense of giving a man control over his own life and
image in the public press.                                           destiny can be a Christian Power."
   The Eastern Avenue Community Center was started
in 1966 by the Eastern Ave. Christian Reformed Church,               This is the `.`gospel" behind this project. It is the
and it is now supported by nine inner city Christian              social gospel, pure and simple.
Reformed Churches. ' This center is described as not                 I ask: is it the calling of Christianity to be "leading
having been set up to conduct mission activity, though            in the struggle for a better life?" Can a Reformed man
it has a religious tone. But here are some snatches               refer disparagingly in this way to Christ not preaching
of the description furnished in the newspaper article:            "pie in the sky?" Though a text is partially quoted,
                                                                  and jerked out of context, is that indeed the gospel, that
      Two men and a woman, students at Calvin College,            Christ said, "Inasmuch as you have done it to the least
   are giving new meaning to the term "Black Power" in
   Grand Rapids. For distrust, they are substituting con-         of these..." rather than preaching "pie in the sky?" Is
   cern; for violence, patience, and for ignorance, the           Black Power capable of being converted into Christian
   power of understanding;                                        Power, and does  .that Christian Power consist in
      Established as a neutral ground where members of            "giving a man control over his own life and destiny?"
   the white and black communities might meet, the                   All this kind of talk smacks, on the very serface
   center is building a degree of trust between the two.          of it, of the same social gospel being proclaimed by
   Its programs include tutoring for grade school young-          so many churches today.
   sters,  cooking and sewing classes for girls and rec-             I had not imagined that the Christian Reformed
  reation programs.         A basketball program directed         Church was so deeply "involved" in the same sort of
   by  Harris is held Tuesday nights at Baxter School. A          thing.
   Christian' group, the center holds devotional services.
   once a week.                                                      And. it seems to me that anyone with a remnant of
      "The center's function," White says, "is toprovide          Reformed sensitivity must be disturbed, deeply dis-
   a sort  of.focus point for those in need and those desiring    turbed, about something like this, - so disturbed that
   to help. Unlike a government program, we can go out            he must rise up in protest and express radical dis-
   in the street and find people, people who .would not           agreement.      What, in Christ's name, is becoming of
   contact a bureaucrat.      If our own resources can't          the church?


iis3                                               THE  STAivDilRD BEARER


                                                                             !     :-
                                   _.         "My  Brethrd"

                                                    by.Prof.  -H. C. Hoeksema

 - I had first thought to leave it to the alertness of the         preached by a Christian Reformed minister from the
reader to -detect in .what respect the text quoted in the          pulpit of one of the Grand Rapids churches on this
preceding editorial was only partially quoted. But then            very passage of Matthew  25:31-46.  You will recall
I thought better of this, because the omission of part             that in this passage a separation is made between the
of that text really goes to the heart of the issue, namely,        "sheep" and the  `tgoats.".  But in this sermon the
wnivwsalism.               It is, after all, universalism which    separation is denied, as follows:
forms one of the key principles of the adherents of the
social gospel.                                                        "`It is at this point that we are ready for the climax
   The text; of course, occurs in the context of the               of the whole picture - climax of this powerful picture
parable of the sheep and the goats, a parable of the               of triumph `and tragedy which is sketched in terms of
find judgment, in Matthew 25. There, in response to                cosmic judgment. The Judge waves His hand toward
the question of the righteous, "Lord, when saw we thee             the  entire  group  present  (italics mine,  HCH).     He an-
an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee                nounces softly to. the blessed - To whomever of these,
drink?     When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee              -these least my brethren, you did it, you did it to
in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee                me..."
sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?" the King re-                 `You see, this preacher did not omit the words "`my
plies: "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have                 brethren." He explained them away by making "my
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye             brethren" the entire group present, that is, the sheep
have done it unto me."                                             and the goats !
   .You see, the key words "my brethren" were                         And a concrete instance of what this means is ex-
omitted in the quotation cited in the preceding editorial.         pressed in the following quotation:
And this omission points to a tacit universalism.                     "Jesus, however, embraced them.              We may be
   But lest anyone imagine that this omission and this             repelled by Castro, and Krushchev, by the late Marilyn
universalism were the mistaken expression of an im-                Monroe, and Sophia (Loren), by Billie. Sol Estes, and
mature and over-enthusiastic seminarian, or were                   Bobby Baker, by Soekarno, and Nkrumah. The Son of
perhaps due to the inaccurate `reporting of a newsman,             Man, however, says concerning them one and all - To
let me correct such an impression. This sort of thing              whichever these least my brothers you did it, you did it to
is openly preached, - not merely by seminarians, but               me. And to whomever of these least you did it NOT,
by mature ministers, - and it canbe preached with.im-              you did it not to me."
punity.                                                               I could quote more. But this is sufficient to show
   Essentially, of course, this is the same universalism           what kind of principle is at the basis of the social
maintained by Prof. Dekker and tacitly approved by the             gospel that is proclaimed and practiced  inthe Christian
Synod of 1967.                                                     Reformed Church.
   But I have documentary evidence that this idea was                 It is later than many think!

   IN -HIS FEAR-


                     _.
                           .     Sanctified Freedom of Speech                                                       .-
                I





                                                       by&i  J. A.- Heys
                                                                       .-

   "S i l e n c e   i s   G o l d e n . "                          to each other .our- thoughts, and by speech we are able
   Someone said that, and. as far as human wisdom                  to plant our inmost thoughts in the minds and hearts
goes; it -is -a commendable statement. Silence cer-                of-. others.          A good orator -makes contact with his
tainly is golden- when compared with the sounds that               audience through his words and is able to move them
an unsanctified tongue is able to produce. : "                     to laughter or to tears. Radio and.television  as means
  ~- We said last time that speech was a means for of communication have power to mold man's thinking.
fellowship. - Through speech  we get to'know each other            And: by:our speech we may attract others to ourselves
"and `to know each other' better. By speech we convey              and our viewpoint and position.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER'                                                    299


   However, there is another side. The tongue is also          heart.      And the longer she listened to such filth, the
a potent weapon for causing enmity andfor feeding the          more her heart became filled with the abundance of
flame of hatred.        Who was it that said, "The pen-is      hatred against God. From out of Satan's heart through
mightier than the sword." So very often we have by             the tongue of the serpent, his hatred of God flowed
a careless word destroyed a friendship and terminated          into Eve's .      And that continues every day as men
fellowship.      How often have we not by a deliberate         speak evil of God, teach their children the lie concem-
word thrown others into a rage and into a tirade               ing Him, feed them the poison of heresy and false
against us?       We do well to listen to James when he        doctrine. In facts whenever. the. natural man speSk&
tells us that the tongue is like a little spark that -is       he shows that his heart is filled Itith hatred against
able to set the whole world on fire, that it is's world        God. He never confesses God hut ignores Him in all
of iniquity, and that it is set on fire of hell! Very          his speech. He. never, praises Him and thanks Him but
soberly we ought to consider that this is the hardest          boasts of what he .dill do without God and of what he
of all our members to -control, so much so that James          has done without Him. And one generation presents
declares that the man  -who  ,is able to control that          the next with words of hatred against the holy God!
tongue is a perfect man and able to bridle the whole              Therefore it is that when we speak,. we incite and
body.      That is a mighty strong statement, but every        feed hatred among ourselves. The, natural heart has
word in it is true..                                           no love of God but only hatred of Him. It has therefore
   Words cause trouble .because words express ideas.           likewise no love toward man but only hatred. And out
Words reveal what is in the heart. Jesus said,  "0             of the abundance of that hatred toward God and man the
generation of vipers, how can ye being evil speak good         natural man speaks; and the tongue becomes a world of
things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth        iniquity, .a spark that sets the whole world on fire.
speaketh." Matthew 12:34 There are especially two              Therefore it his that in that quotation of Jesus to the
matters in this statement of Jesus to which we would           effect that this `fgeneration  of vipers" cannot speak
direct your attention at the moment.          First of all,    good things, being evil in the heart, that we would note
notice that the heart determines what the mouth will           exactly that He calls the natural man offspring of the
speak. The tongue, so to speak, is connected directly          devil. "Generation of vipers" or "Viper's brood" is
to the heart, from a spiritual point of view. It is the        the same as "Children of the devil." And that is what
sounding board of the heart. It is the faucet out of           we are by nature. By speech, by unsanctified-speech,
which what is in the heart issues forth. And it is for         Satan begot us to be his spiritual children. He drove
that reason that evil speaking is an act of hatred.            a wedge between us and God by his lie. And we as
 Speaking the lie or speaking a lie, gossip, back-             exact images of him drive wedges between each other
biting and slander reveal what is in the heart. And            by the things we say and write. Our hearts are like
they also reveal then to all who are present when such         Satan's heart because through the lie in paradise the
speaking begins what is in the heart of the speaker.           hatred of his heart was allowed to flow into our hearts
Listening to it wilfully and with `joy indicates also to       to be a well in us and a power that controls our tongues.
the gossiper what is in the heart of the listener. -If         Our first sin against the ninth commandment was
we listen to instead of stop the slander and backbiting,       listening to Satan's slander. And let us not forget that
it indicates that our heart is not right either towards Satan's words were chosen and designed exactly to get
the victim of such speech.                     `-              Eve to listen.       His first words were, therefore, a
   When Satan began to speak through the tongue of the         question. Thus far Eve had to listen. But she did not
serpent he revealed to Eve what was in his heart. And          need to go on from there. She did not even need to
that which he revealed -was that he had no.use for God         answer that question.       She- did have to answer the
and hated Him with all his being. The words of the             serpent.      But then her answer should have been that
serpent, as sweet as they may have sounded, and                her husband was the head of the. house, that God had
pronounced with a sweet compassionate note of pre-             given him the instruction and that the serpent should
tended friendship, showed the abundance of hatred              ask Adam, if he wanted an answer. But, be that as it
against God that was in. the heart of Satan. And what          may, and in this connection we might also read I Tim-
he spoke through the -serpent -condemned him- .as an           othy 2:12-15, W& are by nature a generation of vipers,
enemy of God. Remember that Jesus also said, "Do               offspring of Satan, and our hearts are now filled with
ye not understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the          hatred against God and the neighbor, and we only
mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the           speak what is in the heart.         Therefore there is so
draught ?      But those .things  which proceed out of the     much bitterness and hatred and evil speaking among
mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile a             men, SO much backbiting and slander, so much falsifi-
man.`! Matthew 15:.17, 18. They reveal what is in the          cation of words and of lying, of judging unjustly and of
heart and brand man -to be .an enemy of God. And we            condemning without a hearing.            :
do well to be .more -careful of what comes out of our            -. Let a man like that go free, let his tongue wag with
mouths than what we put. into our ,mouths. what comes          liberty, .-and you can understand what a worid we have
out, is farmore  --dangerous than -what, .goes into the        today. And that.is not freedom of speech but captivity
mouth..                                                        of - tongue! What then our Country promises us; and
   And, when she listened to these defiling words from         in a sense -tries even to protect for us, is not freedom
Satan's heart, Eve defiled and corrupted her own               of speech. .It is only freedom to talk as a generation


 300                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


of vipers.      0, yes, there are some curbs. Even the        right to speak what you want. F-reedom of spe.ech is
world will accept a case in court of libel, defamation        the' power to speak only what is good in God's sight.
of character, lying and thereby cheating, falsification       Freedom of speech is being so set free from Satan's
of weights, shortchanging, counterfeiting of money and        heart and Satan's lie that we are incapable of uttering
the like.      That is, the world will to a degree punish     it except to condemn it thoroughly. Freedom of speech
these.       But the world cannot prevent these. Man is       is to be incapable of committing gossip, slander, back-
free to speak all his evil; and then will be punished if      biting, lying, falsifying another's words. Freedom of
proven guilty.                                                speech is to be able to speak the truth in love. And if
   True freedom of speech is sanctified freedom of            you can do all this, then you are a perfect man and
speech.                                                       capable of serving God with all the members and
    And by sanctified freedom of speech we mean that          faculties of your body.            For then your new heart,
on the basis of the cross of Christ and by the power of       completely, freed from the old heart of sin, will move
the Spirit of Christ our hearts are cleansed. We get a        your other members even as it moves your tongue in
new heart wherein the love of God is shed abroad. And         His fear.
then we speak out of the abundance of that heart!                 "Silence is Golden."
    In that sense. we need a "heart transplant." There            No one can say that who has this true freedom of
is no other way. But then it cannot be the transplant         speech because of a new heart. Heaven will not be
of the heart of another one among the generations of          silent, although living there will be "golden"; and the
vipers. We would simply have our old heart trouble            street upon which we shall walk in the new Jerusalem
back again. It cannot even be the heart of Adam be-           shall be golden. But heaven will be filled with God's
fore he fell.      For as wonderful as man was in that        praise. And true or sanctified freedom of speech is
state of righteousness, he did not have full freedom.         the. ability to praise God from Whom all blessings flow,
Adam was capable of falling. He was able not to sin,          to thank Him for every gift and to confess His name in
but also able to sin; and.in fact he did sin. The.human       love. If. you can do that, and when you can do that, you
race became "not able not to sin." But sanctified             have freedom of speech. When you glory in nothing
freedom of speech means that we receive a new heart           save the cross of Christ and confess that Jesus Christ
and a new life whereby we are not able to sin and are         is .Lord to the glory of God, when you give thanks unto
completely freed from the dominion of sin.            This    Him in everything, when your tongue extols Him and
happens when the old heart is stopped, never to beat          the theme of your song is, "Worthy is the Lamb that
again with that hatred against God, and the new heart         was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
is there alone to beat with the love of God.                  and- strength, and honour, and glory and blessing,"
   You have freedom of speech?                                then you have freedom of speech.
   Then you have complete control of your tongue so               Silence is golden?
that no evil is ever committed by it. Freedom of                  0, no!    But to be able to use the tongue freely to
speech is not that men allow you to say what you want.        sing and speak God's praises- and to reveal a heart
Freedom of speech is not even that God grants you the         full of the love of God.                 _      -
                                                                                            '




        TRYING  iHE SPIRITS-


                                   T h e   F a i t h   of  ChCst

                                                 by Rev. R. C. Havbach



   By the words of ,the above title, reference is not         treating. We are justified by means of a faith and on
had to "the faith of Christ" mentioned in such pas-           the principle _ of a faith that is filled with Christ and
sages as Gal.  2:16 (twice),  2:20;  3:22 and Phil.  3:9.     produced by, Christ. Indicated is the object trusted,
There `we .have the objective genitive, as in "the fear       not the subject -trusting.
of `God," which is obviously not the fear God experi-          But' the idea we have in mind is the latter; not the
ences, but the fear He instills. So'here "faith" is.the       object of faith, but the subject of faith, not the faith
object on"which trust rests, which is Jesus Christ. It        resting on Christ, but the faith. exercised by Christ.
is the object and the content of faith which Paul is          Nevertheless, at the outset we.must  avoid the idea that


                                           THE STANDARD  BEA$ER                                                 301


Jesus presented himself merely as an example of             and righteous life. "Mine ears hast Thou opened. a D o
faith, not as the object of faith; as though He called      Then said I, `Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it
men to have faith in God like the faith He had in God.      is written of Me. I delight to do Thy will, 0 My God:
No, He did something much more fundamental. He              yea, Thy law is within My heart. I have preached
commanded men to have faith in Him. He was not, as          righteousness in the great congregation' !' (Ps. 40:7-
modern religion views Him, a "Christian." Liberal           10).    From birth our Lord lived by faith. Again He
theology teaches that just as Buddha was the founder        spoke from His counsel to the old covenant church:
of Buddhism because he was the first to propound and        "Thou art He that took Me out of the womb: Thou
demonstrate its principles, so Jesus became the             didst make Me hop.e .when I was upon My mother's
Founder of Christianity because He was the first to         breasts. I was cast upon Thee from the womb: Thou
live the Christian life. To Him must go the honor of        art My God from My mother's belly (Ps. 22:9f)." In
being the first Christian. But Jesus was no more a          infancy, childhood and manhood He lived unto and
Christian than He- was a penitent. It was His redeem-       trusted in the triune God.
ing work which opened the way so that a given man              All through His earthly life the Lord lived by faith.
would become a penitent, and so, a Christian. But a         In childhood He was always about His Father's busi-
Christian is a man of a certain class called sinnevs,       ness. He prayed without ceasing. He was praying dur-
and Christianity is a way of ridding man of his sin.        ing. His baptism (Luke 3:21). Before He called His
Therefore Jesus could be no Christian, for the very         twelve apostles, He spent all night in prayer to God on
idea denies both His sinlessness and His impeccabi1it.y.    a mountain-side (6:12). It was on the Mount of Trans-
Jesus is not a Christian. He is the Chvist who bids         figuration that "as He prayed." He was transfigured,
US  have faith in Him. We are Christians, not because       metamorphosed in glory (9:29). The adversary, Satan,
we imitate Jesus' faith in God, but because we have         continually opposed Him, but was always repulsed and
faith in Him !                                              overcome. Again, the Psalmist, who richly portrayed
   "Without controversy, great is the mystery of *. .       the experiences of Christ in conception, birth, life and
God..  .manifest-  in the flesh" (I Tim.  3:16). Such a     death, records these words of His mouth:  "By the
great mystery is too dazzling to attempt to gaze at         word of Thy lips I have kept Me from the paths of the
even for the eye of faith. ."The Word became flesh,         destroyer.  *. Hold up My goings in Thy paths, that My
and we beheld His glory." .But the sight is blinding.       footsteps slip not  (17:4,  5)."
We are unable to stare for long. at any one part of His        Often during His ministry, "the Jews marvelled,
aspect any more than we can at the sun.. For the head       saying, `How knoweth this man letters, having never
and hair of the Son of Man shine as sunlight on snow.       learned (John 7:15)?" Jesus had never studied in the
His eyes are as the blazing prominences of the solar        rabbinical schools. The Jews knew this and were of-
orb; His feet as gold-bronze heated to incandescence.       fended that one without formal education should stand
His whole appearance (the word used in John 7:24) is        forth as a teacher. They therefore sought to belittle
as the sun shining to its greatest intensity (Rev. 1:14-    and embarrass Him. But they were ignorant .of how He
16). `It was this person of the Son of God who made         received His training. The prophet Isaiah informs us
himself of no reputation, taking upon himself the form      with His word, "The Lord God hathgivenMe the tongue
of a servant and veiling .His glory under holy humanity.    of the learned that I should know how to speak a word
So the divine person and the human nature were united,      in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning
the latter never having a separate existence but            by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear -to hear as the
possessing the qualities of human personality. In the       learned (50:4)."    The Father instructed Him, not in
second person of the trinity, the true God was true         dreams and visions but, when sleep was over, every
man, with a human spirit, a rational soul and a             morning. Thus God taught the Christ the holy Scrip-
physical body. In every way He was perfect man. He          tures, so that He joyfully affirmed, "I do nothing of
lived in unbroken fellowship with God, never for a          Myself, but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak
moment wandering from His presence; He said, "`I            these things (John 8:28)."
have set the Lord always before Me: because He is              Jesus was not counselled in His work by "com-
at My right hand, I shall not be moved (Ps. 16:8)."         mon sense," by the "common consciousness," public
   It was the purpose of the Son of God to bring many       opinion, pragmatic thinking, the latest political com-
sons to glory. The means He took to accomplish this. promise or the policies of negotiation. He always saw
purpose was "to be made like unto His brethren," so         Him who is invisible, saw eye to eye with His Father:
that He who was rich for our sakes became poor. He          "I speak that which I have seenwithMy  Father (8:38)."
who was Creator took the frame of a creature.               He was never left without good counsel, as was King
He who was sovereign became subject to the Almighty         Saul (I Sam.  28:6). He was always doing the will of
Father. He who upholds all things by the word of His        God, and always His prayers were heard. `.`I am not
power, had to be supported through weariness, hunger        alone. . . He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath
and thirst.                                                 not left Me alone; for I do always those things that
   The human nature of the Mediator was dependent.          please  .Him (John  8:16, 29). He prayed, "Father, I
upon the divine, so that in all .His earthly ministry He    thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that
lived a life of faith in the Father. Speaking from the      Thou hearest Me always (11:41f)." There were times
eternal counsel of God, He prophesied His incarnation       when He suffered intense distress of mind. Then He


 302                                                                                THE STANDARD BEARER


"offered up prayers and supplications with strong cry-,                                               not Thou far from Me, 0 Lord: 0 My,strength, haste
ing and tears unto Him who was able to save Him from                                                  Thee to help Me (Ps. 22:1, 11, 15, 16,. 19).`? He was
death,. and was heard, in that He feared (Heb. 5:7) -                                                 confident, too, that God was not far from Him. "He.
for .He, prayed `in ,godly =fear, in reverential trust in                                             is near that justifieth Me. 0. Behold, the Lord God will
God. In every pressing moment, He relied on His God.                                                  help Me (Isa. 50:8f)." Though .He was dying a crimi-
`.`Preserve- Me, 0- God, for in Thee do I put my trust                                                nal's death, He knew He would be exonerated. Under-
(Ps.  16:1)." His whole life had its ground and reason                                                score in the last passage the word "justifieth."
in God.                                              "As the. living Father hath sent'Me,  I also                                                         .
live because of the Father; and he that eateth Me, he                                                       Complete trust in God is evident in His death. His
also shall live because of Me" (John 6:57, Gk.). As the                                               last words were in faith: "Father, into Thy hands I
Son of Man; .His human nature is full of divine life.                                                 commend My spirit (Luke 23:46)." So was His last
"In- Him dwelleth all the- ,fulness  of the Godhead,                                                  act:      "He bowed His head, and gave -up the spirit
bodily.  (Cal.  2:9),`: and that because of the Father                                                (John 19:30)." -He died in hope of resurrection, as His
whom it ;pleased that :in Christ all the fulness should                                               cry of victory, "It is finished!" implies. For the
dwell (1:19). `"For .as the Father hath life in himself,                                              finish included His exodus, the way out, through-res-
so hath He given to .the Son. to have life in himself                                                 urrection.       His prophetic hope was, though brought
(John 5~2.6)~" In all His life He suffered, but in every                                              down into the dust of death (the grave), ;`I will declare
adversity He "committed himself to Him that judgeth                                                   Thy name unto My brethren: in the midst of the Church
righteously (I Pet. 2:23)." When men neither believed                                                 will I sing praise unto Thee. For He hath not despised
on .Him,' nor repented, He was neither vindictive, dis-                                                . . .the affliction of the Afflicted; neither hath He hid
appointed nor frustrated. In fact, He took comfort in                                                 His face from Him; but when He cried unto Him, He
the sovereign;will  of..God  and in His divine double pre-                                            heard. My praise shall be of Thee in the great con-
destination. For He "rejoiced in spirit, and said, `I                                                 gregation (Ps. 22:15; Heb. 2:12; Ps. 22:24f)." He was
thank Thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that                                                  full of the resurrection hope. "My flesh also shall
Thou. hast hid these `things from the wise and prudent,                                               rest in hope. For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell,
and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father;                                                   neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see cor-
for so  `it seemed good in Thy sight (Luke  10:21)."                                                  ruption. Thou wilt show Me the path of (resurrection)
                Even on the cross where His sufferings are some-                                      life! In Thy presence is fulness of joy! At Thy right
times referred to as His passive. obedience, He was                                                   hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. ~16:9-11)"
active in turning' to His God. Even when God had for-                                                 -the latter including a view of His ascension and
saken .Him, He clung to --His God. "My God, My God!                                                   session. His faith was open and undeniable.. Even His
Be not far.from Me, for trouble is near; for-there is                                                 enemies bore witness to it. "He trusted on the Lord
none. to help. -:My strength is dried up like a potsherd;                                             that He would deliver Him!" (22:8). No wonder Christ
and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou hast                                                      Jesus is not only the example of our faith and life, our
brought Me into the dust of death. For dogs have com-                                                 righteousness and peace, but also the central object
passed ,Me o . . They pierced My hands and .My feet. Be                                               of our faith!

      -
     THi~:CHUR&:AT   WORiHIP-
                                     :-
                  .                                           "0  worship the  Lovd in the beauty of holiness."
                                    .;
     ..                  _:.                                                                         Psalm  96:9a
;                 :  I  *

                              `_                                             Worship Order
                                     L

             ,  .- ;

       :                ,,.                .             .


                        .-                                                           by Rev.  G.  Vanden   Berg
     ,..                                        j
       .-                -`,
              -The' principal -function of the .worship  of the church                                 .
                                                                                                      plmhes  its positive or redemptive purpose in the indi-
is indisputably the ministry of the Word of God.-- Pray-                                              vidual can there be prayer, singing and offerings made
ers, offerings, singing, and.: whatever, else `may be                                                 as true acts of:. worship. It is characteristic of the
properly included as acts of worship must be consid-                                                  modern church service to crowd into it all kinds of in-
ered-assubordinate to that primary function. In fact, a                                               cidental practices, and to crowd out the preaching of
careful r analysis of .the whole structure of our worship                                             the Gospel.      This is demonstrably contrary to the
will disclose that -all these other relevant functions .of                                            principles of the Reformation and is but one of many
worship: are actually fruits of the. ministry'of the Word.                                            evidences of the ,apostasy  and decline of the church.
In -the measure that .the ministry of the Word accom-                                                 Always we must insist upon and maintain the primacy


                                              TBESTANDARDBEARER                                                    303


 of. the preaching in worship. As one author put it, "In       transcend the world in which `we. live as ,wefix.our
 worship the word of Christ,: His Gospel, His ,prophetic       mind meditatively, devotionally, upon--God and dwell
 testimony, is central, pivotal and dominant. In that          uponHis  `greatness, goodness and glory.".
 Word inscripturate the Logos incarnate reveals .the             A fundamental element of truth. is lacking hered
 Father whom we worship, teaches us true self-knowl-           This becomes very evident when. the author adds to
 edge .and discovers to us His own mediatorial identity.       the above quote the following sentence: "This should
 That Word of Christ' is the light that is the indispens-      be done, notably, when the set season of worship ap-
 able condition of approach to God and fellowship with         proaches ." Worship is considered to be a "momen-
 Him. Hence no worship is truly deserving of the name          tary" thing. Gathering. in God's house consists of a
 in which the administration -of the Word is lacking, or       "set time" in which -we "compose our spirits in the
 even denied spiritual primacy."                               midst of prevailing turmoil and transcend the .world
     Before we can then understand the various functions       in which we live as we fix our mind meditatively, de-
 in our order of worship and see how these individually        votionally;' upon God. and dwell upon His greatness,
 relate to the whole, it is of paramount importance that       goodness and. glory." Clearly the implication is that
 we -consider the function of the ministry of the Word,        we do not do this and do not have to do this as. we are
 It is, of course, true that the ultimate aim of the minis-    carried along by this present world during the six days
 try is the glorification of God, the Almighty Creator of      of each week. The sabbath becomes a sort of spiritual:
 the universe and the Sovereign Redeemer of His peo-           oasis and the aim of the preaching of the word is then
 ple. His whole counsel as revealed to us in the Scrip-        to give us a bit of "spiritual science" to off-set the
 tures must be preached in order that we, through such         over dosage of "natural science" which unavoidably
 preaching, may behold -the beauty and glory of His            we imbibe every day. The glory of God does not come
 Being and Works. However, the question remains con-           to visible expression through preaching in this way,
 cerning the manner in which this is accomplished. In          as is abundantly evident in the church today. There is
 attempting to shed some light on this important mat-          something vital that is lacking.
 ter, we would first point out that preaching the Word            The preaching of the Word through the instituted
 is not the same as lecturing on some theological or           church is directed primarily to the saints that are in
 religious subject. Going to church to worship does not        Christ Jesus. It' is certainly true that this preaching
 consist in spending a couple of hours a week listening        is also a savor of death unto death in the unbeliever
 to a verbal dissertation of the catechism or a given          and disobedient but this aspect of the preaching is not
 text of the Bible. Perhaps even more than we realize          our present concern.       Positively the' preaching is
 or `are willing to admit, we in practice regard it that       directed to the people of God and aims to re-direct
 way. Our life is divisible into two main categories,          their entire life to His service. in obedience to the
 the secular and the spiritual. -Because we are earthly,       heavenly calling. The Gospel of- Christ, according to
 we are preoccupiedmost of the time with non-spiritual         Romans 1:16, "IS the POWER OF GOD unto salvation
 or earthly things. We do not consider this occupation         to everyone that believeth." By the power of .that `Word
 to be sinful, but it is of necessity laid upon us. How-       a new creation is formed, the body of Christ. which is
 ever, being religious creatures and, more particularly,       the church.     Dr. Ridderbos said, "Jesus, as. the
 saints in Christ, we need some diversification, and so        Messiah, as the Son of Man and the Servant of the
 on the Sabbath we lay aside these secular activities          Lord, is the great Representative of the people,of  God.
 and devote ourselves to spiritual matters. The result         What He creates is not a new. religion or a new moral-
 is that we go to church, listen to a sermon or two, and       ity, but a new people of God, a New Covenant, the
 perhaps even conclude that it was very nice and in-           ecclesia of the Messiah. Christ is the second Adam;
 structive, but the day is soon over, and with it we lay       the church is the new mankind and is as such-the body
 these things aside and return again to our secular            of which Christ is the head. -Belonging to Christ
 preoccupation.                                                means belongings  to-this body."
     Although there is a considerable. amount of truth            "The Church," according to Dr. A. Kuyper, "is
 in the following quotation, it seems to lend itself to        not a new creation, but the re-constitution of mankind
 this same basic error. We quote, "Life today is in            in Jesus Christ. And as such, as the new humanity,
 danger of becoming thoroughly secular; the tremen-            the Church comes to expression everywhere. The be-
 dous speed at which mind and matter move; the monop-          lievers, united in their common faith, constitute a
 oly upon our interest and attention which the many            people, a community.      They do not only function as
 and marvelous inventions of our age and day are cal-          such within and as members of the institutional church,
 culated to exercise; the pre-occupation of the human          but they are the people of God and the.body of Christ,
 mind with the things of matter at a time when the             which must necessarily: come to expression..in all the
 natural sciences far outrun the sciences of the spirit        activities of the community of believers and not only
 in popular appeal; land the intensely .humanistic spirit      in their church-life.    Wherever there are people of
that has intrenched itself in public opinion, in a word,       God, there the Church is to. be f0und.t Dr. Kuyper .was
 the manifest `and dominant situation today renders it.        constantly aware of .the -danger and the far-.reaching
 imperatively necessary, indeed, to habituate ourselves        consequences of limiting the ecclesia to the institu-'
 to pause. in the -mad rush of modern life, to compose         tional church. Over against this tendency he posed-the
 our spirits in- the- midst of prevailing turmoil and to       radical unity of life and the absolute kingship of Jesus


304                                         THE STANDARD BEARER


Christ over all of creation. Christ's rulein the hearts      Christian faith. We worship in order that under the
of His `people- must come to expression in all that they     lively preaching of Godrs Word we may be directed to
do in every area of life.                                    live in harmony with our calling as saints to the glory
   We cite all of this to establish the point that the       of the God of our salvation. The desire to seek that
worship of the church, centering in the preaching of the     way moves us in the spirit of worship to go up to the
Word' and the administering of the sacraments, must          house of God. It is as we sing, "They come to learn
serve to give direction from the Word of God to the          the will of God."      All the various functions of our
whole. life of the worshippers. There is a unity of be-      worship must be conducive to that end, and in this the
lievers, a communion of saints, that must come to            preaching is central. Furthermore, if then we speak
manifestation not simply in the gathering together in        of an "order of worship," the important thing is not
worship on the Lord's Day but in every sphere, phase         the chronological arrangement of the various functions
and facet of life in this world. They are called of          of worship but rather the inclusionin worship only of
God to live `and to work together, not as the world,         those practices that are contributory to that end and
but as a distinctive and peculiar people.        And the     the exclusion of all else. And, of course, that necessi-
preaching of the Word must give forceful and proper          tates exclusion of all preaching that, explicitly or
directive to the realization and the way of realization      implicitly, fails to proclaim the absolute sovereignty
of this calling exactly because when this life of the        of Jesus Christ over all of life and, therefore, demands
church comes to manifestation, God will be glorified         the re-direction of all living in His service and to His
in it. It is certainly true that when this comes to pass,    praise.
the unbelieving and ungodly world is going to manifest
its hatred of that life, for this is unavoidable. As long       We conclude this article by pointing out briefly.
                                                             how this is all demonstrated by the apostle Paul in
as the members of the church will conform to the
world's way of life six days and will do no more than        Ephesians 4.     Firstly, he calls the saints to "walk
                                                             worthy of the vocation wherewith they were called."
isolate themselves in worship on the seventh'day, the        He then shows that they are a united body to which has
world will be content to leave them pretty much alone.       been given the gifts of the Spirit. To that body is given
But if the Word preached on that seventh day directs         the ministry of the' Word "for the edifying of the body
us to a communal life as believers that involves world-      of Christ." Hence, under that ministry the saints are
fight, we will need the encouragement of I Peter 4:12-       not to be "as children tossed to and fro and carried about
16, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the"fiery      by every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and
trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing      cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive."
happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory       They are not  to walk "as other Gentiles walk, in the
shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding        vanity of their mind.. . . ." but they are to "put off
joy. If.ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy       concerning the former conversation the old man,
are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon      which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and
                                                             be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and put on the
you:     on their part he is evil spoken of, but on youv     new man which after God is created in righteousness
pad He is  glorified.    But let none of you suffer as a
murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a          and true holiness.." Then, from verse 25 ff. he tells
busybody in lother  men's matters.       Yet if any man      us specifically how this is to be done, concluding the
suffer as. a Christian, let him not be ashamed: but          fourth chapter with these words: "Let all bitterness,
                                                             and wrath, and anger, and clamour,  and evil speaking,
let him glorify God on this behalf."                         be put away from you, with all malice; And be ye kind
 .We see then how this all relates to our worship.           one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
When we go to church we do not do this to be enter-          even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
tained, to listen to a few stories containing humorous
moral lessons, to listen to trained choirs, or in some          When worship then fails .to realize these fruits in
way to placate a- god of superstition. Neither is the        a re-directed, God-glorifying life, it too, belongs to
motivation `of our worship the mere hearing of well-         the things that are characterized by "Vanity of vanities
formulated expositions of the various doctrines of the       and vexation of spirit."

The Scholarship Fund Committee reminds all those                          RESOLUTItiN OF SYMPATHY
interested in applying for the 1968 Scholarship Fund
Award to mail their applications to:                            The Men's Society of the Edgerton  Protestant Re-
                 Prof. H. Hanko                              formed Church expresses its sincere sympathy to Mr.
                 `4665 Ju-Lee-On S.W.                        William Buys and Mr. Allen Hendricks in the passing
        ..     .Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504                 of their brother and brother-in-law,
Deadline for filing applications is May 1,1968. Applic-                        MR. EVERT BUYS.
ations may be obtained from your Young People's                 May the Lord comfort these brethren' and their
Society Secretary.                                           families in their sorrow.
                             The Federation Board                                         Rev. G. Lanting, President
                             Ruthellen Bol, Sec'y.                                        Tom De Vries, Secretary


                                          THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     305


ALL AROUND  US-


              An Obstacle on the Road to Rome Removed

                        Strange Prophets

                              The Reformed Churches and the World Council

                                                by Prof.  H.  Han.60


AN OBSTACLE ON THE ROAD TO ROME REMOVED                        Prof. Plomp wanted to examine the question whether
   In the March 1 issue of the Standard Beaver Prof.       these two types of church government were so in-
H. C. Hoeksema spoke of events in the Netherlands          compatible that they could not exist together in one
which indicate that the Reformed Churches there are        denomination.
increasingly interested in walking the ecumenical              His point of departure was the question of the ad-
road that leads back to Roman Catholicism. In the          visability of a         denomination having a "pas tov
last issue of the Standard Beaver there was another        pastomm   " (i.e., a pastor of pastors). The Synod of
remainder of this in our column.       These articles,     the  Gevefovmeevde Kevken  had faced this question in
however, spoke rather generally about the advisability     1961 and 1962. It had been rejectedon the grounds that
of such an ecumenical endeavor. In a recent issue of       it tended towards an episcopal system of church
the news bulletin from the Theological school of the       government. This, of course, implies that any kind of
Gevefovmeevde Kevken  in Kampen appears a more             episcopacy is bad.
specific treatment of this problem and an attempt              Dr. Plomp turned to the examination of the question
to remove one big obstacle, the obstacle of Roman          whether the Presbyterian-Synodical system is really
Catholic episcopal church polity.                          so Scriptural and Calvinistic as it has been claimed.
   At the time in which he was appointed to the chair      In answer to this question he discovered that while
of Church History and Church Polity in the Kampen          indeed there were Scriptural elements in our type of
Seminary, Dr. Ji Plomp gave an inaugural address on        church government, there were also elements which
the subject "Presbyterian-Episcopal?" According to         were not Scriptural. At this point he introduced the
the review of the speech appearing in the news bulletin    observation, however, that even if it should be that our
Dr. Plomp raised the question whether the "Presby-         entire system was firmly grounded in Scripture, the
terian- Synodical" system of church government is          question would still need to be answered whether
really completely incompatible with the "Episcopal"        Scripture is a rule of faith and practice on matters of
system.                                                    church polity. He seemed to suggest that this was not
   The Reformed Churches. have always maintained a         necessarily so.
Presbyterian-Synodical system of church government.            He also found evidence lacking to prove that our
By this the Reformed Churches have meant that the          system as used in the Reformed Churches was really
authority to rule in the church, coming from Christ,       Calvinistic to the extent that it is usually claimed. He
is vested in the local congregation and exercised          pointed out that in his opinion Calvin himself, as well
through the appointed and called officebearers in the      as his fellow reformers and successors and many
church  - officebearers who, while holding different       churches standing in the tradition of Calvin, at least
offices, are nevertheless equal in authority. The addi-    did not oppose episcopal elements in church govern-
tion of the word "`Synodical" to this kind of church       ment and often favored an introduction of them.
government refers to the fact that autonomous con-
gregations nevertheless join in church fellowship and          Turning to the practical implications of the ques-
meet in classes and synods in order to solve their         tion, Prof.. Plomp found that the Presbyterian system
mutual problems and perform the work of Christ's           has serious drawbacks. Among others, it is inefficient
Church in cooperation with each other.       The term      and, as appears from history, is conducive to schism
"episcopal" on the other hand, is a description of the     in the church and a proliferation of denominations.
type of church government found in the Roman Cath-             He found therefore that it would not be contrary to
olic Church where the authority of rule is vested in       Scripture or the genius of the Calvin Reformation to
a hierarchy of church officers beginning with the pope     introduce an episcopal element in our church polity.
and continuing on down through cardinals, archbishops,     And from a practical point of view it would have all
bishops and priests.                                       sorts of advantages.


306                                              THESTANDARDBEARER


 ' This :is- quite a major concession;                            recently come to my attention.           It seems to be the
   ~There-. is no doubt but that Plomp is wrong on                purpose of this magazine to demonstrate  .how Scripture
several important counts. Surely Scripture is a rule              is being fulfilled in the current events of our day and
of `faith--`and practice"also  in matters `of church polity.      to give to these current events their true Scriptural
And surely. our Presbyterian-Synodical system is                  interpretation. This is, of course, a laudable enter-
scriptural throughout. It is a perversion of Scripture            prise, although fraught with grave dangers.
to say that it is not.                                               But apparently the editor and writers of this
    But what disgusts me is the fact that Church His-             magazine are quite oblivious of these dangers. They
tory can be so badly mauled to prove an erroneous                 plunge ahead.        And the. result is some very strange
contention.         And that by a professor of church history.    interpretations of God's Word which are -also exceed-
Anycme with ~evea a passing. acquaintance with the                ingly dangerous. We pick out. some random illustra-
R-eformation  knows how violently Calvin and his suc-             tions in the January, 1968 issue.
cessbrs  opposed the whole episcopal system of Rome.                 In a long article the paper discusses the recent
Anyone who has done even cursory reading concerning               devaluation of the British pound and the near bank-
the .Reformation  under Calvin knows that part of its             ruptcy of the British nation. In speaking of the great
genius'was a complete break with this episcopal sys-              economic, military and political power Great Britain
tern.-of  Rome and the re-establishment of the Scrip-             once exercised, the magazine writes:
tural form of church government which has continued                      While her sailors ruled the seas, her .soldiers
in `the Reformed churches till now. One cannot help                  manned the fort-s guarding. the major strategic gate-
but think `that Prof, Plomp either does not know his                 ways of the whole earth.. Britain gained a strangle-
church history (which he is going to teach) or that he               hold on most of the strategic areas of the world.
deliberately perverts it. This is ,disturbing.                       Long ago, God Almighty promised that our people
   `And,, it is-. not .an isolated instance. I recall that           would possess `these vital sea gates of the Gentiles.
during the August session of the Synod of-the Christian              ( G e n e s i s   22:17.)
Reformed -Church `the,same:  thing was' done in a diffek-            Although the text is not even quoted and no ex-
ent context. The Dekker case was being debated. The-              planation is offered in the article. as to its meaning,
professor of Church History, at Calvin Seminary, Dr.              we quote it here.          It is part of the blessing of God
Zwaanstra, made a long speech in which he attempted               spoken to Abraham in the establishment of His
to prove that the fathers of Dordrecht were themselves            covenant.       "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in
men who held to the very position which Dekker oc-                multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the
cupies `and for `which `he was, being criticized. How is          heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;
it- ~possible  that a man could take such a position when         and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies."
the whole ,$$nons were written against views similar.             Exactly how this is supposed, to predict the rise of
to those, propounded by Dekker? It is a wonder that               the British Empire is impossible to see.
such a. thorough twisting of church history can escape               The economic trouble in which Britain found her-
unscathed and uncriticized.                                       self after World War II is supposed to'be predicted in
   But to.; return `to' Dr. Ploinp.-- The trouble is that         Hosea  5:13.       Once again the text is not even quoted,
this. is really `a' major concession to Rome.  One  of            much less explained. It reads: "When Ephraim saw
the chief obstacles in the path of-ecumenical unity with          his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went
Rome is the episcopal system of church government
         _- .-.- _ -. .                                           Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent. to. king Jareb: yet
and the position of supreme' authority in the church              could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound."
with which the pope has presumptuously clothed him-               One wonders whether America to whom Britain turned
self.       -It is increasingly apparent that the Roman           for help is supposed to be Assyria.
Catholic Church will never surrender this position.                  Along another line the magazine contains an article
(Pope Paul recently re-affirmed it in an encyclical).             about the terrible effects of the foot-and-mouthdisease
So those who will bring the Reformed Churches into                recently plaguing Great Britain.         This inspires the
Rome's embrace will have to accommodate themselves                author to say:        _
to it.        This apparently they are getting ready to'do;
This speech was laying the groundwork.                                  God, knowing what is in the heati of man, inspired
   And this is what is so sad. The speech was not an                 His Prophets to record today's tragedies - and the
honest investigation of these problems of churchpolity.              blessings of the -world tomorrow - for us to read
The conclusions would then have been quite different.                with our own eyes in this 20th Century.
It. was a determined attempt to introduce into Presby-               The reference is to Deuteronomy 28. The magazine
terian church government elements of Romanism to                  continues :
prepare the way for return.                                             Here God plainly tells us a curse such as this
SIkRANGEPROPHgTS                                                     foot-in-mouth epidemic results from disobedience to
                                                                     His laws.
 I An interesting magazine called "The Plain Truth"                  Turning then to the great economic and industrial
and edited by Herbert W. Armstrong (well known for                advance of Japan since World War II, the magazine
his ---radio" -broadcast "The World Tomorrow")  Ye has-           also finds several prophecies fulfilled.- `One has to do


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  307


with the place which Japan occupies in world history.            lead multitudes away. .into unbelief. There.. are- also
The magazine claims that Japan, in Bible prophecy,               false prophets who come with their Bibles under, their
is "The `Tarshish' of the Orient."                               arms but use it to twist God's Word and lead people
   But all this is in preparation of the people for the          into false utopias of heaven here -on,earth. One won-
realization of the kingdom of heaven here upon earth.            ders who are the most dangerous. There are always
   In an article dealing with present problems of                some shouting: "Lo, here is Christ," or "Lo, there."
science the magazine affirms:                                    The people of God must not go after them.
      And, true  to what most world leaders have rec-            :pHE REFORMED CHURCHES
   ognized, the answer is ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT!                  .AND THE WORLD  COUNCLI;
   But, not knowing God, these same world leaders have           .
   not remotely suspected HOW any world government
   could successfully RULE this earth, and bring it                   In a nearly unanimous decision; according to the
   peace, at last!                                               RES  Ne+!etiev, , the General Synod of  then  Geve-
      But Jesus Christ of Nazareth proclaims a  world-           fovmeevde Kevhe?en  decided not to jam the World Coun-
   ruling government, taken out of the hands of man.. . .        cil of Churches just yet.. They have already decided
                                                                 that there are no principle objections to joining, and
   And in its article on Japan:                                  they recently reaffirmed this decision.        But -actual
                                                                 joining must wait. The reason given is that the
      Before the dawn of the 21st century all nations will       opinion of the church is divided on the matter.. Hence
   be experiencing an unparalleled time of peace and             Synod will send out a pamphlet providing clear infor-
   prosperity.    By then, however, a totally new and dif-       mation on the decision.
   ferent world  - the wonderful World Tomorrow  - will
   have replaced this world's present political, social,              This is becoming increasingly the practice.. An
   economic and religious structure. The entire world            ecclesiastical assembly wants to go the way of false
   will be reaping the abundant blessings of living under        doctrine or false ecumenicity. They decided to,do  this,
   the rulership of the kingdom of God.. . . .                   but have to reckon with a certain amount of protest by
                                                                 those who want to maintain the historic faith. So they
   The writers of the magazine are really the only               wait in the execution of the decision until some soothing
ones who understand  all this, of course. Garner Ted             and blithe pamphlet can still the protest, lull the peo-
Armstrong writes:                                                ple to sleep  and give time for the opposition to  dis-
      We, of The WORLD TOMORROW program both on                  appear.
   radio and television, of this PLAIN TRUTH magazine,                This is the case once again with the Gevefovmeevde
   and the many books, booklets, and articles on various         Kevken.     After all, if the calling .of the Church is to
   subjects concerning this wonderful GOOD NEWS which            participate in the ecumenical movement, if this-calling
   Jesus brought,  .are your WATCHMEN to proclaim the            comes from Christ Himself, if there are no principle
   impending disasters which are going to strike mankind,        objections to joining the World Council, the  Geve-
   and which are SURE  - and also to proclaim the good           fovmeevde  Kevken  had better get on with fulfilling
   news to you and to anyone who will listed or read that        their calling in spite of any objections. But it's not all
   there IS a way out  - that there is hope of a solution
   in the years ahead.                                           that simple.    The W.C.C. is false ecumenicity. Would
                                                                 that rather than trying to soothe the objectors they
   These are false prophets who deny Scripture and               would instead listen to them.





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                                Bound Volumes of the Standard Bearer, Vol. 7 through Vol. 43.

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308                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


CONTENDING FOR  THE  FAITH-

                                  The Doctrine of Sin
                                 The Second Period  - 250-730 AD

                                        The Pelagian Controversy

                                                    Pelagianism

                              Primitive State and Freedom of Man

                                                    by Rev.  H.  Veldman


   In our preceding article we quoted from Philip                  heathen," he objects to Augustine's view of the cor-
Schaff in connection with the fall of Adam and its                 rupt nature of heathen virtue, "were no chastity, then
consequences.     Pelagius, it was noted, destitute of all         it might be said with the same propriety that the bodies
idea of the organic wholeness of the race or of human              of unbelievers are no bodies; that the eyes of the
nature, viewed Adam merely as an isolated individual;              heathen could not see; that grain which grew in their
                                                                   fields was no grain."
he gave him no representative place, and therefore his                Augustine justly ascribed the value of a moral act
acts no bearing beyond himself.          In this article we        to the inward disposition or the direction of the will,
continue with Philip Schaff, as he now sets forth the              and judged it from the unity of the whole life and
Pelagian system with respect to the doctrine of human              according to the standard of love to God, which is the
ability and divine grace. Writing on Pelagius' doctrine            soul of all true virtue, and is bestowed upon us only
of human ability, Vol. III, 808  f.f., he writes as fol-           through grace. He did not deny altogether the exist-
l o w s :                                                          ence of natural virtues, such as moderation, lenity,
       The PRESENT  ,MORAL   CONDITTON  of man is, ac-             benevolence, generosity, which proceed from the
   cording to the Pelagian system, in all respects the             Creator, and also constitute a certain merit among
   same as that of Adam before the fall. Every child is            men; but he drew a broad line of distinction between
   born with the same moral powers and capabilities with           them and the specific Christian graces, which alone
   which the first man was created by God. For the free-           are good in the proper sense of the word, and alone
   dom of choice, as we have already seen, is not lost by          have value before God (this, I believe, is a striking
   abuse, and is altogether the same in heathens, Jews,            statement as far as Augustine's view of the natural
   and Christians, except that in Christians it is aided by        man is concerned  - H.V.).
   grace (how similar Pelagianism is to the theory of                 The- Holy Scripture, history, and Christian experi-
   Common Grace; also this theory sets forth that the              ence, by no means warrant such a favorable view of
   heathens were groping for the light, were seeking after         the natural moral condition of man as the Pelagian
   God, and were aided by the gospel of Jesus Christ when          system teaches. On the contrary, they draw a most
   it was proclaimed to them  - H.V.). Pelagius was a              gloomy picture of fearful corruption and universal
   creationist, holding that the body alone is derived from        inclination to all evil, which can only be overcome by
   the parents, and that  every  soul is created directly by       the intervention of divine  gracex(to  this we say Amen
   God, and is therefore sinless. The sin of the father,           - H.V.).     Yet Augustine also touches an extreme,
   inasmuch as it consists in isolated acts of will, and           when, on a false application of the passage of St. Paul:
   does not inhere in the nature, has no influence upon            "Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin," (Rom.  14:23) he
   the child.    The only difference is, that, in the first        ascribes all the virtues of the heathen to ambition and
   place, Adam's posterity are born children, and not,             love of honor, and so stigmatizes them as vices (this
   like him, created full-grown; and secondly, they have           may be the conclusion of Philip Schaff, but we would
   before them the bad example of his disobedience, which          like to know what interpretation he would give of Rom.
   tempts them more or less to imitation, and to the               14:23   - H.V.). And in fact he is in this inconsistent
   influence of which by far the most  - but not all  -            with himself.     For, according to his view, the nature
   succumb.                                                        which God created, remains, as to its substance, good;
       Julian often appeals to the virtues of the heathen,.        the divine image is not wholly lost, but only defaced;
   such as valor, chastity, and temperance, in proof of the        and even man's sorrow in his loss reveals a remaining
   natural goodness of human nature (does this not sound           trace of good.
   very much like Common Grace?  - H.V.).                             Pelagius distinguishes three elements in the idea
       He looked at the matter of moral action as such,            of good: power, will, and act  (posse,  velle, and  esse).
   and judged it accordingly.      "If the chastity of the         The first appertains to man's nature, the second to his


                                                THESTAtiDARDBEARER                                                         309


free will, the third to his conduct.           The power or        fourth, the gospel, with all its benefits.    In the gift
ability to do good, the ethical constitution, is grace, and        of'the  Son of God grace is completed (Is not the simi-
comes therefore from God, as an original endowment                 larity striking between this conception and arminian-
of the nature of man, It is the condition of volition and          ism.? Heresy, also of the modern day, is not so new
action, though it does not necessarily produce them.               after all!  - H.V.).
Willing and acting belong exclusively to man himself.                 Grace is therefore a useful external help to the
The power of speech, of thought, of sight, is God's                development of the powers of nature, but is not ab-
gift; but whether we shall really think, speak, or see,            solutely necessary. Coelestius laid down the proposi-
and whether we shall think, speak, or see well or ill,             tion, that grace is not given for single acts. Pelagius,
depends upon ourselves.                                            it is true, condemned those who deny that the grace of
       Here the nature of man is mechanically sundered             God in Christ is necessary for everymoment and every
from his will and act; and the one is referred ex-                 act; but this point was a concession wrung from him in
clusively to God, the others to man. Moral ability                 the controversy, and does not follow logically from his
does not exist over and above the will and its acts, but           premises.
in them, and is increased by exercise; and thus its                   Grace moreover, according to Pelagius, is intended
growth depends upon man himself. On the other hand,                for all men (not, as Augustine taught, for the elect few
the divine help is indispensable even to the willing and           only), but it must first be deserved. This, however,
doing of good; for God works in us both to will and to             really destroys its freedom. "The heathen," he says,
do.      The Pelagian system is founded unconsciously              "are liable to judgment and damnation, because they,
upon the deistic conception of the world as a clock,               notwithstanding their free will, by which they are able to
made and wound up by God, and then running of itself,              attain unto faith and to deserve God's grace, make an
and needing at most some subsequent repairs. God,                  evil use of the freedom bestowed upon them; Christians,
in this system, is not the omnipresent and everywhere              on the other hand, are worthy of reward, because they
working Upholder and Governor of the world, in whom                through good use of freedom deserve the grace of God,
the creation lives and moves and has its being, but a              and keep his commandments."
more or less passive spectator of the operation of the                Pelagianism, therefore, unduly restricts the speci-
universe.     Jerome therefore fairly accuses the  Pela-           fically Christian grace to the force of instruction and
gians (without naming them) of denying the absolute                example.     Christ is indeed the Supreme Teacher, and
dependence of man on God, and cites against them the               the Perfect Example, but He is also High-priest and
declaration of Christ, John  5:17, concerning the un-              King, and the Author of a new spiritual creation. Had
interrupted activity of God.                                       He been merely a teacher, He would not have been
       IV. The doctrine of the GRACE of God.                       specifically distinct from Moses and Socrates, and
       The sufficiency of the natural reason and will of           could not have redeemed mankind from the guilt and
man would seem to make supernatural revelation and                 bondage of sin. Moreover, He does not merely influence
grace superfluous.         But this Pelagius does not admit.       believers from without, but lives and works in them
Besides the  nacuVal  grace, as we may call his  con-              through the Holy Ghost, as the principle of their
created ability, he assumes also a  supevnatwal  grace,            spiritual life.    Hence, Augustine's wish for his op-
which through revelation enlightens the understanding,             ponent: "Would that Pelagius might confess that grace
and assists man to will and to do what is good (here,              which not merely promises us the excellence of
where we read of the word, "assists" we are re-                    future glory, but also brings forth in us the faith and
minded of the arminians who use the same language                  hope of it; a grace, which not merely admonishes to all
in their Five Points of the Remonstrants  - H.V.).                 good, but also from within inclines us thereto; not
This grace confers the negative benefit of the forgive-            merely reveals wisdom, but also inspires us with the
ness of past sins, or justification, which Pelagius un-            love of wisdom. (This superficial conception of grace
derstands in the Protestant sense of  declaring   right-           is inevitable, with the Pelagian conception of  sin.-
eous, and not (like Augustine) in the Catholic sense of            H.V.).
making       righteous;     and the positive benefit of a              Pelagianism is      a fundamental anthropological
strengthening of the will by the power of instruction              heresy, denying man's need  of redemption, and answer-
and example. As we have been followers of Adam in                  ing to the Ebionistic Christology, which rejects the
sin, so  should.we  become imitators of Christ in virtue.          divinity of Christ. It is the opposite of Manichaeism,
"In those not Christians," says Pelagius, "good exists             which denies man's  capability  of redemption, and
in a condition of nakedness and helplessness; but in               which corresponds to the Gnostic denial of the true
Christians it acquires vigor through the assistance of             humanity of Christ.
Christ." He distinguishes different stages of develop-
ment in grace corresponding to the increasing corrup-              Pelagianism, as we know, was never rooted out
tion of mankind. At first, he says, men lived righteous         and is rampant today.         In our following article, the
by nature, then righteous under the law, and finally            Lord willing, we will begin to call attention to the
righteous under grace, or the gospel (we may do well            Augustinian system.
to compare this to the arminian conception of various
decrees in God, as set forth in our Canons --  H.V.).
When the inner law, or the conscience, no longer suf-
ficed, the outward or Mosaic law came in; and when                 The Student Aid Committee will meet on request
this failed, through the overmastering habit of sinning,        before May 12 to process any applications for aid.,
it had to be assisted bythe view and imitation of Christ,       Please notify Mr. Peter C. Cnossen, 2151 Godfrey
as set forth in his example. Julian of Eclanum also             Ave., S.W., Wyoming,  Mich.   49509.
makes kinds and degrees of the grace of God. The
first gift of grace is our creation out of nothing; the
second, our rational soul; the third, thewrittenlaw; the


 3 1 0                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


 BOOK  REVIEWS-                                       At The lord's Table
 He! Laatste Woord                                     Job, Our Contemporary
        ~Famous Biblical. Hoaxes                                The Vietnam War: Christian Perspectives
  .'
  or Modern  Apocrypha                                                Guiding Your Son or Daughter
  _-        .The  Aierican Far Right                            -       Toward Successful Marriage
                 Ckeative Questions                                     letters To An American Lady
                 eon  .Christian Living                                         Jerusalem Through The Ages
 HET  LAATSTE  WOORD (The Last                   author briefly sketches their contents           The book is composed of 103 dif-
 Word), Prof. Dr. J. L. Koole;  J. H.            and demonstrates that they are for-          ferent lessons on such subjects as
 Kok, Uitgeversmij, Kampen, The Ne-              geries, "pious frauds" or not so pious       "Old Testament Characters," "The
 therlands; 19 pages; price, f 2, 75             frauds.     Interesting to anyone liking     Psalms and Proverbs," "The Sermon
                                                 this kind of study.                          On The Mount, " "New Testament Par-
        This- is `No. 5 in a series of book-                                                  ables," "Gospel Characters," "Char-
 lets issued by the Theological School           THE AMERICAN FAR RIGHT (A Study              acters From Acts" and "The Epis-
 of Kampen under the general heading             of Billy James Hargis and Christian          tles."       Each lesson is a series of
 Kampev  Cahievs   (Kampen  Exercise-            Crusade), by John H. Redekop; Wm. B.         questions suggested by the title. Some
 books).      I have not received the first      Eerdmans Publishing Company; 232             of the questions are silly, some thought-
 three of these, `which have been rather         pp., $4.50.                                  provoking, some based on  mis-inter-
 severely criticized, as not Reformed.                                                        pretations of Scripture; many are writ-
        This booklet is on the subject of the       This book gives a detailed, schol-        ten from the viewpoint of mental health
Aaronitic blessing of Numbers  6:22-27.          arly, dispassionate and honest evalua-       (the author is        chaplain a t   P.ine
 While it . contains many interesting            tion of Billy Hargis' Christian Crusade.     Rest Christian Hospital); all are of a
 exegetical insights into this passage of        And in doing so it gives an evaluation       very practical nature. The purpose of
 Scripture,      I am nevertheless not           of much of the Far Right which is            the book, suggested in the subtitle, is
 greatly impressed by the main thrust            formed in different organizations. It        to stimulate group discussions. The
 of this essay. My reasons are two:              is one of the most objective studies         book may be of some value to society
 1). The author is, to say the least,            which I have seen and accordinglycar-        leaders casting about for subjects to
 uncritical with respect to literary             ries considerable weight. Its strength       treat in after-recess programs.
 criticism of this passage which roots           lies particularly in its evaluation of
 in the higher critical documentary              the odd mixture between religion and         AT THE LORD'S TABLE, by Ralph G.
 hypothesis concerning the Pentateuch,           politics which characterizes many of         Turnbull; Baker Book House, 1967;
 (page 5, footnote 11). 2) The funda-            these organizations. It points out that      141 pp., $2.50.
                                                 the Christian Crusade in particular
 mental idea of this blessing as the             and most rightwing organizations in             A large number of books have re-
 efficacious and distinctive word of             general hold that the American people        cently been published by book houses
 favor of the covenant God over His              occupy a special place in God's purpose      specializing in religious publications
 elect `and covenant people in Christ            similar to the place held by Israel;         on the subject of the Lord's Supper.
 Jesus does not come to the fore.                that this country is uniquely of divine      Evidently this gives indication of in-
        For those who can follow the Dutch,      origin, with special favor shown to it       creased interest in this important
 however, it is worthwhile to read               by God; `that our Republic is the highest    sacrament.      This book, written by an
 material of this kind, if only to keep          expression of God's will for govern-         "evangelical" is part of "The New
 one's self informed as to what is being         ment, the Constitution being almost of       Minister's Handbook Series" currently
 produced in the Gevefovm  eevde Kevkin          divine origin.       It demonstrates that    being published by Baker. It contains
 nowadays.,                                      while, as conservatives claim, it is         sermons the author preached and in-
                                                 true that America has always been            cludes such subjects as "The Lord's
 FAMOUS BIBLICAL HOAXES OR                       Christian, this has been true only in a      Supper:' A Stewardship, A Witness, A
 MODERN APOCRYPHA, by Edgar J.                   formal and external sense. The weak-         Forecast,      A Legacy, A   Chorus,~  A
 Goodspeed; Baker Book House; $1.95,             ness of the book is that it presents no      Tryst, A  .Service, A Season." It does
 124  PP. (paper).  _  `.  _ .                   proper evaluation either from the            not add anything of a doctrinal nature
                                                 Scriptural or political point of view of     to recent discussions on the meaning
        The author treats the genuineness        the whole role of government. It offers      and significance of the Lord's Supper.
 of various documents which have ap-             no alternative to the. right wing nor        It is more a devotional book. Recom-
 peared `from- time to time which claim          spells out the Christian's calling in        mended to anyone interested in this
 to be very old and to give light or             relation to government.       It is, from    subject from a devotional point of view.
 incidents related to Scripture but not          this point of view, wholly negative.
 included in Scripture. Such documents                                                        JOB, OUR  CO.NTEMPORARY,  by H.
 are, e.g., "The Unknown Life of Jesus           CREATIVE QUESTIONS ON CHRIS-.                Harold Kent;  Wm..  B: Eerdmans Pub-
 Christ,"        "The Report of Pilate,"         TIAN LIVING (A Guidebook for Group           lishing Co., 1968; 65 pp., $1.25 (paper).
 "The Confession., of Pontius Pilate,"           Discussions), by Ralph  Heyen;.  Baker
 "The. Letter From Heaven,  " "The               Book House,         1967; 111 pp., $1.50        Many men have struggled with the
 Book of dasher," and others,  _ The             (paper).                                     problem of affliction. Those who have


                                                                                                                                  311


struggled with it within the context of       gation towards his government in times       most intimate correspondence. This
faith have turned to the book of Job to       of war would, no doubt, have shed light      book is a mistake. It would be well
seek answers to their questions. This         also upon the present conflict. The          that publishers learn  from-~ it. The
is also what the author does in this          trouble is that the general perspective      book contains a large number of let-
short book.         In many ways this is a    of the book (as one might well expect        ters which C. S. Lewis had written to
nice book, and it is surely worth read-       from these authors) is not the Chris-        an American woman from 1950 to the
ing.    It contains a brief survey of the     tian perspective, but rather the per-        time of his death but whom he never
discussions between Job and his three         spective of those who seek a kind of         met.       The letters were not intended
"friends"; between Job and Elihu; and         heaven here upon earth. While inter-         to be for publication, as is pretty
between Job and God. It gives some            esting reading, it is of little help in      obvious from their contents.           They
valuable insights into these discus-          the solution of the problem of the           ought not to have been made public.
sions and attempts to expose the basic        Christian and war.                           They shed no new light on Lewis's
argument.      From this point of view,                                                    thought. They make no contribution to
the book is really too brief. Its value                                                    Christian doctrine.       They are filled
lies in the concise survey it makes of        GUIDING YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER                 with references which have meaning
the whole book. But it does attempt to        TOWARD SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE,                  only in the light of the American wom-
answer the problems of suffering faced        by Leslie E. Moser and Ruth Small            an's letters  - which are not in-
by saints even today in the light of          Moser; Baker Book House, 1967, 110           cluded. This American woman comes
this book of Scripture. And it con-           pp., $2.50.                                  out in the letters as being little else
cludes correctly that the ways of God                                                      than a cantankerous hypochondriac  -
are past finding out and that Jehovah            The book is just what the title           although she consented to their pub-
is under no obligation to puny man to         suggests.      The chapter titles give       lication and furnished the manuscripts.
reveal His purposes.          Perhaps the     some idea of its contents:         "Happy    They can all be read in a few hours.
author is too severe with Job, and            Marriages:       A Matter for Christian      The book is not worth the steep price
surely the author mistakes the intent         Concern";      "Keeping Communication        of $3.95.
of the speech of Elihu when he puts           Lines Open";       "Guiding Your Young
Elihu in       the same camp as the           Person toward Marriage";           "Reli-    JERUSALEM THROUGH THE AGES,
"friends." The price may be a little          gious Influences on Successful Mar-          by Charles F. Pfeiffer; Baker Book
steep, but it makes good devotional           riages"; "Preparing       Your      Young    House, 1967, 94 pp., $1.95 (paper).
reading.                                      Person for the Roles of Marriage"
                                              among others.
                                                 Written by a husband and wife team           This book is one of a series pub-
                                              who had children of their own, it con-       lished by Baker under the general
THE VIETNAM WAR:               CHRISTIAN      tains many practical and helpful ideas       heading "Baker Studies in Biblical
PERSPECTIVES, edited by Michael               on the difficult task of giving covenant     Archaeology."        Making use of the
P. Hamilton; Wm.  3. Eerdmans Pub-            instruction to children in this area of      latest archeological studies, the author
lishing Co., 1967; 140 pp., $3.50 (paper      their life.    It is not as Scripturally     traces the history of the holy cityfrom
edition, $1.65).                              orientated as one would like, but the        the time of its founding prior to the
                                              references to Scripture are many and         days of Abraham through the recent
   Most of the chapters in this book          the suggestions worthwhile. We cannot        conquest of the city of the Israeli
were originally sermons preached in           agree with all that is written; but the      armies.       It is an interesting book,
the Spring of this year in Washington         book is highly recommended nonethe-          filled with photographs containing a
Cathedral. The authors of these ser-          less to our covenant parents.                great deal of important information.
mons range from Dr. R. Paul Ramsey                                                         The section dealing with Jerusalem
through Rev. Martin Luther King to                                                         during Bible times is relatively small
Rev. Eugene Carson Blake. They pre-           LETTERS TO AN AMERICAN LADY,                 while most of the material is con-
sent the "hawks," the "doves" and             by C. S. Lewis; Wm. B. Eerdmans              centrated on the history of the city
various positions in between. While           Publishing Company, 1967; 121 pp.,           after the crucifixion of Christ. Recom-
the book attempts to put the distasteful      $3.95 (published posthumously).              mended to those interested in archeo-
war in Vietnam in Christian perspec-                                                       logical studies and to those who wish
tive, it does not attempt to discuss             It is a sad mistake which modern          to increase their knowledge of Scrip-
the problem of war in general for the         publishers make when they think that         ture.      It is particularly valuable to
Christian.      This is an important          because an author's writings sell well,      teachers and ministers, but can easily
omission because a correct Scriptural         everything that author has ever writ-        be read by Junior High School  chil-
presentation of the Christian's  obli-        ten has to be published  - even  hi.s        dren.


              REJOICE, THE LAMB REIGNETH                                            EASTERN LADIES LEAGUE
is the theme for the annual  all-school program of the
HOPE          PROTESTANT         REFORMED         CHRISTIAN         Ladies, be sure to attend our Spring League Meeting to
SCHOOL.         You are invited to attend this presentation         be held, D.V., Thursday, April 25, 1968 at 8:00 p.m. at
                                                                    Holland Protestant Reformed Church. Rev.-John Heys
which is based on the book of Revelation, chapters
4-6:1-8,  in the First Protestant Reformed Church,                  will speak on "That Wonderful Gift of Memory'.`> We
Grand Rapids, Thursday, April 11, 8:00 P.M.                         are looking forward to an evening of Christian fellow-
                                       Miss Agatha Lubbers          ship.
                                       P r i n c i p a l                                                Elsie I<uiper, Vice ,Sec'y.


 312                                            XHESXANDARDBEARER

                                         NEWS FROM OUR  CHURCHES-
                                             March 11, 1968     were appointed to thank the ladies of Southeast Church
                 REPORT OF CLASSIS EAST                         for their long and excellent catering service.
              January 3,4, - February 7-12, 1968                   Classis decided to hold its next regular meeting
                     At Southeast Church                        the first Wednesday of April in First Church, Grand
       Rev. H. Veldman, who presided over the October           Rapids .
Classis, led in the opening devotions. All the churches            Article 41 Questions of the Church Order were
of Classis East were represented by a full delegation.          .asked and answered satisfactorily. With the approval
       After the  Classis was declared properly constituted,    of the concept minutes, the longest and most wearisome
the Rev. J. A. Heys presided, while the Rev. H. Veld-           sessions of Classis in recent times came to an end.
man recorded the minutes. Later Rev. Veldman was                   Rev.  M. Schipper was called upon to offer the
excused, and the Rev. R. C. Harbach took his place.             closing prayer.
       The routine reports of the Stated Clerk and the                                                   M. Schipper, SC.
Classical Committee were read and filed.                                                   *  * *
       Elders G. Pipe and P. Koole were appointed to               If our denomination should ever adopt the custom of
serve on the Finance Committee for this session.                the Christian Science churches who usually read a
       The Committee appointed to prepare a proposed            designated sermon in all their churches on the same
Classical Appointment Schedule was the Rev. J. Kor-             Sunday, we would favor one preached in First Church
tering, and Elders J. H. Kortering and W. Kamps. The            March 10 to be read in our churches for a "prepara-
schedule later adopted was as follows:                          tory sermon" before one of the quarterly celebrations
       SOUTH HOLLAND: Jan. 14, M. Schipper; Jan. 21,            of The Lord's Supper. The text was James 3:5, 6. and
G. Van Baren; Jan. 28, J. Heys; Feb. 4, H. Veldman;             the theme was, "Examining the Tongue." The Holy
Feb; 18, G. Van Baren; Feb. 25, M. Schipper; Mar. 3,            Spirit here clearly outlines one of the approaches we
J. Heys; Mar. 10, H. Veldman; Mar. 17, G. Van Baren;            may well take in our "self-examination," realizing
Mar. 24, M. Schipper; Mar. 31, J. Heys; Apr. 7, H.              that as a bridle turns about a horse and a small helm
Veldman.                                                        a large ship, so our tongue defileth our whole body in
       HULL: Jan. 14, 21, G. C. Lubbers; Feb. 11, 18, J.        a given direction "whithersoever the governor listeth."
Kortering.                                                      And, should our custom be such, not one of us would
       DAKOTAS: Jan. 14, 21, R. C. Harbach.                     dare excuse himself from this examination, but would
       Classis received and read several protests, and          be pressed to confess "that we do not come to the
committed these to two committees for study and ad-             supper of the Lord to testify that we are perfect and
vice. The reports of these committees were treated              righteous in ourselves" but that our righteousness is
in executive session in the extended meeting of Febru-          only in the sacrifice once offered on the cross - the
ary.                                                            sacrifice we so poignantly and thankfully remember in
       Classis voted for Synodical  Delegates, and chose the    this celebration.
following:
Ministers: Primi - J. Heys, J. Kortering, M. Schipper,                                     * * *
                        and H. Veldman.                            The Society for Prot. Ref. Secondary Education met
              Secundi - R. C. Harbach, G. C. Lubbers, and       in Southwest Church in annual meeting March 7, and
                        G. Van Baren.                           made many important decisions regarding tuition rates
       Elders:  Primi  - P. Cnossen,  T. Engelsma,  J. M.       and plans, building cost and financial arrangements, as
                        Faber, and G. Pipe.                     well as the election of three new board members. The
              Secundi - D. Langeland, H. Meulenberg, R.         dream is now reaching for reality!
                        Teitsma, H. Zwak.                                                  * *  *
       Rev. J. Heys and Rev. G. C. Lubbers were chosen             Loveland's bulletin carries an announcement con-
Delegates ad examina  primus and secundus respective-           cerning a Casserole Supper to be held in their school,
ly.                                                             but what piqued our curiosity (was that its design?)
       The Subsidy Requests of Holland and Kalamazoo            was the mention of an unusual after-dinner program
were approved and sent on to Synod for approval.                that had been planned. We wonder what was its unusual
       An overture from Southwest Church to Synod was           character.
approved, requesting that elder working delegates be                                       * * *
remunerated at $20.00 per day.                                     In order to spur his people on to purchase the
       Another overture of First Church was approved that       booklet, "The Five Points of Calvinism" - the `66-`67
Synod make assessments based on the number of                   winter lecture series - Rev. Schipper, in his bulletin,
families on- the church rolls as of January of the pay-         reported that South Holland's congregation of 59 fam-
able year.                                                      ilies had ordered 50 copies !  _  '        `-
       E1de.r T. Engelsma and later Elder P. Cnossen               . . . . . Seeyouinchurch . . . . .             J . M . F .


