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



IN THIS ISSUE


      Meditation: The Patience of Job

       Editorials: The Erring Views of Dr. H. M. Kuitert

                             The Joy of the Ministry


       "The Dutch Meet Dixie"
                             (see Examining Ecumenicalism)


      PCUS-RCA Merger
                             (see All Around Us)




                                                 Volume XLIV  / Number 19 / August 1, 1968


,434                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER


                             CON%-ENTS:                                                                     THE STANDARD  BEARER
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Meditation  -                                                                            Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
    The Patience of Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .434         Editor-in-Chief:  Prof.  H.  C.  Hoeksema
                                                                                 Department   Editors:   Mr. John M. Faber, Rev. Cornelius Hanko, Prof.
                                                                                    Herman  Hando,  Rev. Robert C. Harbach, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev. Jay
Editorials -                                                                        Kortering, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Marinus Schipper,  Rev. Gise J.
                                                                                   Van Baren, Rev. Herman Veldman, Rev. Bernard Woudenberg
    Editor's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .437    Editorial Office: Prof. H. C. Hoeksema
    The Erring Views of Dr. H. M. Kuitert . . . . . . . .437                                        1842 Plymouth Terrace, S.E.
    The Joy of the Ministry                                                                         Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
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Meditation
                                         "THE PATIENCE OF JOB"
                                                                       Rev. J. Kortering
                                           "Behold we count them happy which endure. Ye have
                                           heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of
                                           the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender
                                           mercy," James 5: Il.


Job!                                                                             memory before our consciousness. How he suffered.
The mere mention of his name recalls flashes of                                    The Sabeans fell upon his thousand oxen and five


                                                   THE.STANDARD BEARER                                               435


hundred asses and took them away.                             this text, "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and
  The fire from heaven consumed his seven thousand            have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very
sheep and their shepherds.                                    pitiful and of tender mercy." The Holy Spirit writes His
  The Chaldeans divided themselves into three bands           own commentary on events recorded in the Scriptures.
and went off with his three thousand camels.                  When James, in the Spirit, tells us, "the end of the
  The wind from the wilderness smote the house of his         Lord" was revealed in Job, he means the purpose of the
eldest son, killing his seven sons and three daughters.       Lord, the goal of the Lord was to  dem40nstrate in Job
  Woeful list!-                                               that- He, the Lord, is very pitiful and of tender mercy.
  Worst of all a terrible plague of boils afflicted Job       Don't you see then, no child of God ever suffers
from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet.          needlessly. God's purpose .with afflicting Job and God's
Writhing in pain he sought refuge among the ashes,            purpose in afflicting His children today is the same: He
potsherd in hand. His three friends saw his grief was         shows how pitiful and merciful He is.
very great, they sat speechless for 7 days.                     Paradoxical? Indeed, it seems contradictory: God
  0, how he suffered.                                         directed Satan to sorely afflict Job in order that through
  But,. why?                                                  that affliction He would reveal to Job that He loved him
  It's all right to ask that question. In fact, God wants     and was merciful to him.
us to ask it, because the entire significance of Job's          This is the good news for God's suffering people.
experience lies in the answer to exactly this question.         It shines so brightly in God's dealings with Job.
To be sure we must ask it from a proper motive. It will         To appreciate this we must say a few words about
not do for us to ask, why did Job suffer such poor luck.      God's pity and mercy. Both of these virtues of God are
That's -blasphemy. Rather, we must formulate the              rooted in His love to His people. They are unique
question, why did God afflict Job this way.                   expressions of His love to His people who are in distress.
  The evidence submitted to us in the Book of Job             Basic then, is God's love to His people. This love is that
indicates clearly that none other than God, the Lord          of a father to his children. As a Father He has begotten
Almighty, brought so great afflictions upon His servant       us unto Himself. The wonder is that He has adopted us
Job. Satan appeared among the sons of God before the          to be His children. By nature we are strangers, conceived
throne of His Holiness. During the Old Testament times,       and born in sin, and therefore of  OUT father the devil.
Satan still had access to heaven. Jehovah addressed a         Our Father loved us with so. great love that He signed
question to Satan, hast thou considered my servant Job,       the adoption papers with the blood of His only begotten
that there is none like him in the earth? Satan retorted      Son. His love reached out for His elect children and
that it was little wonder that Job was upright and feared     according to His own divine justice, He laid their
God, God had lavished so much material prosperity             iniquity upon His own Son who was qualified to bear it
upon him that Job would be foolish not to serve God.          away. When Jesus cried out from the cross, "It is
Satan challenged the Almighty, "put forth thine hand          finished" He explained for us the significance of His
now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee       death, viz. that He had removed the reproach of the sins,
to thy face." The answer from God came forth, "Behold         of His own. In this. way Father has the right to take
all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself put       strangers into His house to dwell with them forever.
not forth thine hand." Notice carefully, Satan could not      Having sealed this work by the resurrection, Father
touch Job without a divine mandate.  God very  really         raised His own Son to His right hand and gave to Him
sent the Sabeans, the fire, the Chaldeans, and the wind.      the power of grace to be dispensed by the Holy Spirit so
Still Job persisted in faith. The second time Satan           that these sons might be gathered into the family. By
appeared before God he had another challenge; "Skin           the preaching of the gospel each one is brought into a
for skin, all that a  `.man hath will he give for his         living relationship of faith whereby we cry out, "Abba,
life . . . put forth thine hand now and touch his bone        that is, Father!"                                       -
and his flesh; and he will curse thee to thy face." The         The love of father is manifest in different ways. One
divine answer? "Behold, he is in thine.hand; but save his     important way is that a true father desires to teach his
life." The conclusion is the same, God did indeed put         son patience. We use this word as it is used in our text,
forth His hand and touched his flesh through the              literally, endurance! A father wants his son to be
instrumentality of Satan and the plague itself.               strong, to be a good son, to be a hard worker, to be a
  These trying circumstances didn't just happen to Job,       reliable person, to make a good husband and father, and
they were sent to him from God Almighty. Thus it              so to be durable and well established.
always is for God's people.                                     If we apply this to our relationship with God this is
  But why? Does Jehovah have a purpose in doing such          even more true. The love that our heavenly Father has
a thing?  Is there a reason, a good reason?                   for us teaches us to be durable. The figure of speech
  The answer is in the affirmative. What a glorious           applied here is that of tempered steel. If the blacksmith
gospel for the suffering people of God. God has a             takes molten metal and submits it to the blows of `a
purpose in afflicting His children. Listen to the words of    hammer or places it under pressure, the result is that


436                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER _-                                                            I


this steel becomes harder and more durable. This  is what                   No, ?s a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitied
God does in love to His children. He deals with us in a                  Job. His pity was very great and mercy was tender. He
way that we learn patience, endurance! He sends the                      gave Job the light of hope in the midst  ,of darkness.
hammer blows of distress,.not to punish, not to destroy,                 Even while he groaned in suffering, he saw the light of
but to cause us to become  Strong in our faith, to                       God. As lightning flashes amidst the dark storm clouds,
become fixed in our doctrine and pure in our walk of                     so Job saw and expressed faith in God. Stripped of all
life.                                                                    his possessions, he cried out; "Naked came I from my
   While He is doing this to us, He is not coldly                        mother's womb, naked shall I return thither, the Lord
indifferent to what effect this has  upon our life. The                  gave, the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of
Psalmist tells us, "As a father pitieth his children so .the             the Lord." Swooning in agony amidst the ashes he cried
Lord pitieth them that  fear him." Surely a father has                   out in faith, "Though i3e shall slay me, yet will I trust in
compassion upon his child when he hands him to the                       Him. " His ears ringing with the accusations of his
surgeon. He does not say, well, this is for his good and                 friends and his soul pleading, "Have pity upon me, o
so  I remains coldly indifferent to his cries; he suffers                have pity upon me my friends for the hand of God hath
along with that child. The pity of Jehovah for His                       touched me" he still cried out, "For I know that my
children is that in love He sends them affliction to make                redeemer liveth . . . and though after my flesh worms
them strong in faith, and that while this is taking place,               destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."
He is touched with their infirmities, He suffers along                      What a demonstration of God's pity and mercy upon
with them. It is this pity that activates the other                      His afflicted people. In the darkest  ,hour, Job saw the
attitude of God namely, mercy. Mercy is the result of                    light of God.
pity. It is that work of God whereby He is not only                         In the end this becomes even more evident. Surely
compassionate to  His children in distress, but He is                    Job's defense was not the strongest on every point; we
moved to  deliver  them from their suffering. In mercy                   even read that he cursed the day of his birth. Yet God
God sustahis His children by giving them the necessary                   vindicated Job overagainst his friends. After the
grace to bear their afflictions. He gives them the                       Almighty spoke to him from the whirlwind and revealed
spiritual understanding to press on in the midst of the                  to him that he was righteous and that His hand was not
trials. In the end He delivers them as soon as His                       against  .h.im because of his sins,  .Job makes the most
purpose is accomplished. Because God is merciful, He                     beautiful confession, "Behold I am vile, what shall I
never afflicts His children with a greater measure of                    answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon `my mouth."
affliction than is necessary, nor for a longer period of                 God restored to Job his possessions and blessed him
time than is necessary to make them durable. In mercy                    with sons and daughters.
God delivers His chiIdren as soon as possible.                              The whole experience had been spiritually benefficial
       According to our text, the measure of pity and mercy              for Job. The Lord had surely instructed him in
is comparable to the intensity of the affliction. God                    endurance and in the midst of this instruction the ILord
afflicted Job terribly hard; it was humanly speaking                     did not forsake him, but sustained him. This speaks of
impossible to bear; consequently God was very or                         pity and mercy in abundance.
abundantly pitiful and tender of mercy to Job.                              We count them happy that endure.
       The history recorded in the Book of Jo6 proves this                  No, we don't do that as natural creatures. We count
point. Job was spiritually distressed. His burden was                    them happy that have no troubles. But, as spiritual sons
more than being stripped of earthly possessions and                      of God we count them happy who receive from God
suffering pain in body. His distress was directed to God.                troubles and who endure in the midst  .of them. We
Why did God do this to him? This problem was further                     count them happy because ,they know the real meaning
aggravated by his wife who said, curse God and die. His                  of  sonship.  God draws them very close to Himself
three friends claimed that he was so sorely tried because                through these experiences. They stand upon a high
he was a greater sinner and when Job denied this they                    spiritual plane that bears evidence of the durability of
accused him of being a hypocrite. Elihu opined that Job                  faith, a faith tempered by affliction.
was an evil man and the plague was to correct him of so                     Are you one of God's afflicted? Are you in the class
much evil.                                                               of Job?
       Did Job cast up his hands hopelessly and curse God?                  We count them happy!
Did Job rebel against the Almighty? Did God forsake                         This is a profound joy in God our Father who is very
him and let him sink into the terrible depth of despair?                 pitiful and of tender mercy.

               It is, of course, quite impossible to make sure of our election first, and then of our calling. For it is in the
               calling that we receive the fruit of election. In the calling the God of our salvation that ordained us unto
               glory reaches down to save us and to give us eternal life in Christ. In the calling we experience our election.
               And. therefore, we must give diligence to make our calling sure, and through that personal assurance of our
               calling reach out, and lay hold by faith upon our own election from before the foundation of the world.
                                                                            - H. Hoeksema, "The Wonder of Grace, "p. II 7


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  437



Editoria 1



                                        Editor's Notes

  Our readers are reminded of the t cheduled  change in           The Standard Bearer will be commenting in this and
subscription rates announced in the last issue, and also       future issues on various burning questions in the
of the subscription drive announced in that issue. Since       Reformed community. In the present issue we begin our
we publish only one issue in August, this wilI be your         treatment of the views of Dr. H.M. Kuitert. But there
last reminder before the September 1 deadline to take          are various other matters, such as, for example, the
advantage of the old subscription price of $5.00. Be sure      sequel to the "Dekker Case," to which we shall also
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                          *  .*  I                             Cambridge Ave., S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506.




Editofial

                      The Erring Views of Dr. H.M. Kuitert

                                                  ProJ H. C. Hoeksema



  The Standard Bearer has from time to time reflected          the Netherlands, and particularly in sympathy with the
on some of the theological trends in the Netherlands in        theological method and views of Dr. Berkouwer.
the  Gereformeerde Kerken  because of the influential            It was of no little interest, therefore, that Dr. H.M.
position which these churches occupy in the Reformed           Kuitert came to our shores and was given the oppor-
community as a .whole and particularly because of the          tunity to air some of his views. Moreover, these views of
influence which Dutch theologians have exercised upon          Dr. Kuitert received considerable attention and created
theological developments in this country, especially in        no small stir when they were expressed, even to the
the Christian Reformed Churches. From time to time             extent that the Grand Rapids Press carried a report of
disturbing reports have come from the Netherlands,             an interview with Dr. Kuitert. I was especially interested
reports which have been connected with names of                in what this Dutch professor had to say about the first
leaders such as Dr. Berkouwer, Dr. Kuitert, Dr. Polman,        chapters of Genesis and about the inspiration and
as well as names like Koole and Baarda. Besides, the last      authority of Scripture, some of the most significant
General Synod of the  Gereformeerde Kerken  recanted           subjects under discussion at present in the Reformed
the decision in the Geelkerken Case (Assen,  1926), in         community; Dr. Kuitert had been invited to speak three
effect opening the door officially to various erring views     times at the Christian Reformed Ministers Institute, and
with respect to the first chapters of Genesis; Moreover,       two of these ,lectures were originally slated to be on the
it is a well-known fact that at least some of the so-called    above subjects. He had been scheduled to deliver a
liberal wing of the Christian Reformed Church in this          lecture on "The First Chapters of Genesis and the
country are in sympathy with some of the new trends in         Authority of the Bible," and another lecture on "A New


438                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


Approach to Creation and Evolution." The subject of           intentionallv or  unintentionallv.  And for the very
his third lecture was announced as "Changing Morality         reason that' Dr. Berkouwer is  a force to be reckoned
in a Changing World." For some unannounced reason,            with in the area of Reformed theology, Dr. Kuitert is
Dr. Kuitert did not follow this plan, but devoted only        also such a force.
one lecture to the subject of the First Chapters of             Before I enter upon my personal report of the lecture
Genesis, Creation and Evolution, and the Authority of         which I attended, let me conclude this part of my
Scripture. As far as I have been able to ascertain, this      editorial with a few quotations from the newspaper
lecture will not appear in print; however, I was allowed      account to which I referred earlier.
to attend this lecture and am able to report from rather             He's considered controversial when he comes to this
extensive notes which I took, so that I do not have to             country, but Dr. Harry M. Kuitert . . . doesn't believe
rely on the rather brief account which appeared in the            he is controversial in the hearts of many Christian
Grand Rapids Press.                                                Reformed ministers who attended that denomination's
                                                                   annual ministers' institute last week.
Who Is Dr. Kuitert?                                                  He believes it is his views on what he calls the
                                                                   "Genesis issue" that has created the stir.
  Dr. Kuitert is one of the younger theologians in the               "I don't think that Adam and Eve ever lived," he
Netherlands, a product of the Free University, and now             said. "It was the way the Bible writers wrote. They
a member of the theological faculty at the Free                   used them as teaching models to discuss creation. Why
University of Amsterdam. He is-professor of Ethics and             do I start this whole fuss? Because I believe the Bible is
of Systematic Theology. According to a recent news                not "Adam and Eve,' but `Who is Christ' and what
item in Christianity Today, Dr. G.C.' Berkouwer, pro-              Christianity is."
fessor of dogmatics at the Free University, is going into            On the matter of creation, he said, "We should listen
semi-retirement; and Dr. Kuitert will be his successor in         to the scientists. Why is it dishonoring God because we
that position.                                                     say creation takes the shape of evolution? What about
  This means that Dr. Kuitert occupies a very . in-               the fossils and earth layers?
fluential position. He has many a Dutch student of                   "Some of our orthodox forefathers. believed God
                                                                  put fossils and things on earth as a joke."
theology under his instruction. But more than this, he               In the first (of his three lectures, the one on creation
also is able to influence students from this country,             and Genesis, HCH), Dr. Kuitert said the first books of
particularly graduates of Calvin Seminary, who go to the          the Bible were written by men who wrote in their
Free University for graduate work. And even apart from            surroundings and in words and style of language no
this, the very prestige of his position enables a man like        longer used.
Kuitert to be a "voice of authority" in matters                 The above items are sufficient, I am sure, to cause
theological within the  Gereformeerde Kerken.                 more than a few raised eyebrows. They reveal, too, that
 Undoubtedly, therefore, Dr. Kuitert is a force to be         Dr. Kuitert does not fall short when it comes to being
reckoned with in the Reformed community. And if               outspoken in expressing his views; in fact, Kuitert's
attention was given to some of his views heretofore, one      frankness was the one thing I could appreciate about his
may certainly expect that more attention will be paid to      lecture. Yet this brief newspaper account hardly fur-
him in the future. Already one of his books, originally       nishes a realistic picture of the extremely radical position
written in Dutch, has made its appearance in an English       which Dr. Kuitert takes.
translation. This is his "The Reality of Faith," which I
hope to review in a later issue of the Standard Bearer.       An Account  of  Dr. Kuitert's Lecture on The Genesis
  To this information it ought to be added that the           Question
name and views of Kuitert are very closely related to the       As I mentioned, I took rather extensive notes on Dr.
name of Dr. Berkouwer. I believe it is fair to say that       Kuitert's 45minute speech on this subject. And while I
Dr. Kuitert ties himself to Berkouwer's apron strings.        am not able to make many direct quotations, I
During the lecture which I heard he spoke very                nevertheless -feel competent to give a rather accurate
glowingly of Berkouwer's theology, and especially of          account of the main points of his address. Dr. Kuitert,
the latter's most recent work on Holy Scripture. On the       understandably, did not speak very good English, and it
other hand, Dr. Berkouwer- by his views on Holy               was sometimes difficult to grasp some of his words; but
Scripture not only does not condemn the views of men          I feel certain that I am not misrepresenting him in what
like Dr. Kuitert, but he also actually creates room for       follows.
their views, supposedly under the banner of a Reformed          In his introductory remarks, first of all, Dr. Kuitert
doctrine of Scripture; Perhaps it may even be said that       pleaded to be accepted as believing Scripture. He asked
Kuitert is not only a disciple of `Dr. Berkouwer, but         his audience not to start by calling him bad names, but
even a protege of him. At any rate, this relationship is      to work with him (to work critically, if they would),
also important, for the simple reason that Dr. Kuitert, by    but to work with him. Right here, in my opinion, is the
tying himself in with Dr. Berkouwer, capitalizes on the       critical point in the entire lecture. For in his views about
latter's fame and standing as a theologian, whether           Genesis and the so-called creation-evolution issue and


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  439


the authority of Scripture, Dr. Kuitert does not present       discarded. And what reason did he furnish. for this
anything basically new. What is new about his and              statement? One would expect exegetical reasons, Scrip-
similar views is the fact that they are being presented in     tural reasons, or at least the semblance of an attempt to
the Reformed community and in what is supposed to              furnish exegetical reasons for such a. bold statement.
have been (until now) one of the strongholds of the            Such, at least, - whether one agreed with the attempted
Reformed faith, and that they are being presented as           exegesis. or not, - would have been scholarly. It would
being quite consistent with a Reformed doctrine of             have been worthy of a theological professor from the
Holy Scripture. Kuitert wants to be accepted as be-            famous Free University. But such attempted exegetical
lieving Holy Scripture. This, of course, is the crux of the    reasons were not forthcoming; What did we get instead?
matter. And I must insist not only that Dr. Kuitert's          In effect, the argument (a purely rationalistic one, and a
views' are in clear conflict with Scripture, but also that     poor one at that) that this view is "old hat": it must be
Kuitert made absolutely no attempt in the course of his        discarded simply because it is an idea which came down
lecture to proceed exegetically and to show that his           to us from the 17th and 18th centuries. Besides, the
views are founded upon Scripture itself. In other words,       argument was advanced that this traditional view does
- and I shall return to this point later, - Kuitert's basic    not take into account the matter of  where the  Genesis
approach is wrong. He starts out from a different view         story came j?om. It does not take into account the fact
of Scripture and its authority; and having a different         that inspiration involves a using of man in his historical
starting-point, he is bound to reach different con-            context. Inspiration, according to Kuitert, does not
clusions. Worse yet, however, this appeal to be accepted       mean that the Genesis story simply "dropped out of the
as believing Scripture is insidious. For while it sounds       blue," so to speak. It involves using man in his historical
innocent and sincere, it must be remembered that               context. The Genesis story had its origin in various
Kuitert means `Scripture as I understand its inspiration       accounts of the origin of things which were current in
and authority." But as I said, I will return to this point'    Israel's cultural community. There were current among
later in my account and critique. I mention it now as a        the various nations many such accounts which are
fundamental and crucial point, one which must con-             parallel to the account of Genesis, l-3; and Israel simply
stantly be kept in mind and one by which we must not           assimilated these stories of other nations and put them
be deceived. This, by the way, is the only point in the        into the framework which  `we find in Genesis, a
lecture where I considered Dr. Kuitert to be less than         framework suited to and in harmony with their worship
frank. Otherwise he was frank to the point of being            and acknowledgement of Jehovah. Israel annexed these
spine-chilling.                                                accounts of the other nations for Jaweh. They filtered it
   After his introductory remarks, Prof. Kuitert said          and refashioned it. They demythologized the myths.
that in the course of his lecture he would treat three         And thus they made these myths suitable for a
main subjects, namely: 1) The Exegesis of the First            profession of faith for their God, Jehovah. There are,
Chapters of Genesis; 2) The Implications of His View           therefore, no journalistic reports in Genesis, no accounts
for the Doctrine of Scripture; and, 3) The Implications        of how things happened, no historical data concerning
for Dogmatics. Admittedly, this was too much territory         creation and the fall. And Kuitert maintained that with
to cover in the course of a  45-minute lecture. The            his view he was not doing violence to Scripture, but the
advantage of this method of treatment was, of course,          very opposite: he was truly~honoring Scripture. On the
that Dr. Kuitert furnished his audience with the main          contrary, he claimed, that the old, traditional view of
thrust of his views, so that those who heard him went          Genesis does violence to Scripture.
away with a rather clear idea of the sweep and the                Again, however, it must be noted that no exegetical
radical character of those views. Nevertheless I cannot        grounds for this view were furnished. There was no
refrain from the remark that, in my opinion, the very          attempt at exegetical proof. It became very plain that
attempt to cover all this territory in one  45-minute          Dr. Kuitert simply `proceeded from the fundamental
lecture was far from scholarly. I certainly would not          viewpoint of the higher critic; from a viewpoint which is
even attempt to cover so much territory  in  a  popular        not at all new in the world of theology, but which is
lecture. Each of Kuitert's sub-topics would by itself          being introduced into the Reformed community in a
furnish more than enough material for one lecture. But         somewhat new form and under the guise of being a
certainly for a ministers' institute one would expect a        legitimate, Reformed view of the inspiration and
more thorough and theologically scientific treatment of        authority of Scripture.
subjects of this kind. Even from this point of view,              At this point there were also very definite overtones
therefore, I was disappointed and could hardly acclaim         of Dr. Berkouwer in Kuitert's lecture. For the claim was
this lecture as of university caliber.                         made that we must read the Genesis story as proclama-
   As to the exegesis of the Genesis story, Dr. Kuitert        tion, rather than as a journalistic account containing
began by flatly stating that the Genesis account must          historical data. And what is this so-called proclamation?
not be read as the story of "how it happened." The old,        y This, in brief: that creation is good; that we are the
traditional view of Genesis, according to him, must be         guilty ones; that man was meant to be God's represent-


I    440                                            THE STANDARD BEARER
I


     ative, God's'image-bearer; that God does not give up on        Kuitert pours a different content. When he speaks of
     man even if he is a sinner. This is the proclamation, the      creation, of guilt and of sin, etc., he does not mean what
     kerugma, the gospel. This is all that can be distilled out     Scripture and our confessions mean by these terms.
     of this Genesis story which is otherwise nothing but a         They are not, for one thing, historical facts: for Genesis
     synthesis, of myths of other nations in Israel's cultural      does not give us an account of how things happened.
     community.                                                     And if this be true, then we do not even have an
       I must break off my account at this point, and               account that things happened. And, finally, it requires
     continue this discussion in the next issue, D.V Already        little discernment to detect that Kuitert has absolutely
     the reader may obtain somewhat of an idea of the               no Scriptural and exegetical ground either for. rejecting
     radical departures involved in Dr. Kuitert's views,            what he called the traditional view, or for maintaining
     however. Nor does it require much discernment to               his own view.
     detect that there is absolutely nothing Scriptural about         Next time, the Lord willing, I will point out, among
     this view. Any similarity between Kuitert's view and the       other things, how Kuitert's view is destructive of all of
     Genesis-account lies only in the use of some of the            Reformed doctrine and how Dr. Kuitert claims that all
     words  and  terms  of Scripture, into which, however,          of Reformed dogmatics must be revamped.




     Editorial

                                         The Joy of the Ministry

                                                  Prof. H. C. Hoeksema



     The Importance of This Joy                                     pulpit, he goes only out of a sense of duty, and before
       We may readily see that the presence or absence of           long it will not be difficult to discern both his lack of
     such a real, spiritual joy on the part of a minister of the    study and his lack of enthusiasm. Catechism preparation
     gospel affects his entire ministry. On the one hand, it        and teaching will be given "a lick and a promise."
     affects the minister's approach to his labors. It affects      Pastoral visits will be dull and as brief and as few as
     the willingness and faithfulness and devotion and              possible. There is simply no zest  .for the labor. The
     readiness and zeal and alacrity and energy with which he       minister has a job, rather than a calling; and he must, of
     approaches his labors. On the other hand, the presence         course, do something in order to draw his pay.
     or absence of such joy will also necessarily have its            But there are further effects which arise  ,very easily
     affect upon the faithfulness and obedience of the              from such a lack of joy, especially if it persists. After a
     minister as far as his message, the Word of God, the           while, a pastor may begin to look for reasons for his
     gospel of Jesus Christ, the "faith of the gospel," is          gloomy and pessimistic situation; and he may begin to
     concerned.                                                     look for substitutes for the real joy of the ministry. It is
       Perhaps this can best be pointed out negatively and          right here, I think, that from a subjective point of view
     by way of contrast. What is the effect of a lack of true       we can pin-point the source and the cause for many a
     joy and its attendant confidence and contentment?              departure from the truth and from the true calling of a
     Having no joy in his labors, the minister consequently         minister. When a minister casts about for possible
     has no interest  .in them They hold no attraction for          reasons for his dissatisfaction, he may rather readily
     him. He would rather neglect them or find excuses to           focus upon the results, the fruits, of his labors,
     avoid them and to busy himself with other things. He           especially of his preaching. But he looks at those results
     becomes dull, lazy, slothful. When it is time for him to       from an outward and rather carnal point of view. There
     be in his study, laboring with the Scriptures, he will find    is not much growth. The congregation which he serves
     excuses to be elsewhere, or he may indeed be in his            remains rather small and struggling and insignificant and
     study but reading the latest best-seller or the newest         of little power. There do not seem to be  any. "great
     issue of some magazine. When it is time to go to the           things" accomplished. Perhaps there is very little  ex-


                                                                                                                                 I

                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                      441

pressed response to his preaching.. Society meetmgs'are        for his church a name and a place in the world and  @,
poorly attended and rather dead. Catechism classes are a       according to the standard of mere men.
drag, and it seems as though there is little interest and         To be sure, if this is a permanent thing and if this
cooperation on the part of either pupils or parents. And       tendency is not stopped, one can only conclude fmally
when the minister looks for a reason, he hits upon the         that such a minister is thoroughly carnal. He never was
message.  .That message must be changed.  It  must be          in his heart a true minister of the Word. He never was
made more popular, more appealing! This may begin by           spiritually motivated. Principally, he always did "make
merely fiig the "sharp edges" .from the truth. It may
proceed to making the message more "evangelistic." It          merchandise" of the church and of the gospel. But it is
may continue by making the message more "adapted"              possible also for the true minister of the Word to
and more "relevant," more appealing and more "geared           become temporarily discouraged and gloomy and pessi-
to the times.`? But somehow, unless the process is             mistic. And at such a time, if he loses his bearings and
interrupted, the end is that the gospel is corrupted into      loses from sight the real nature of the joy of the
the Arminiariism which is so common in our day or into         ministry and proper object of that joy, he stands in
the social gospel which is becoming ever more popular          danger of "going off the deep end" and of trying to find
in Reformed churches.  .Thus, gradually but inevitably,        the remedy for his lack of joy in the wrong direction
the truth of the gospel is lost and denied; and the final      and by the wrong means.
result is that the light is removed from the candlestick.        Hence, the minister must be mindful of the proper
   There are other departures which frequently go hand         object of the joy of the ministry. And we may confront
in hand with that which I just mentioned. "Gimmicks"           the question: what may and what ought the minister of
are introduced. Song services or evangelistic  .services       the Word rejoice in? What object should he keep in view
replace the evening worship. The choir upon special            in his ministry?      -=--d-;~Y\
occasions renders an oratorio at the.time of the evening       The Proper Object of the Minister's Joy
worship. So-called "youth services" are introduced.              In the first  ,place, and from a subjective and very
Liturgical&m  and formality makes inroads. The preach-,        personal point of view, the minister of the gospel may
ing of the Word is de-emphasized. Expository preaching         and ought to rejoice in the very fact that the Lord has
is neglected. All these - and anyone who watches the           called him and counted him worthy of the ministry.
ecclesiastical, scene can mention more such elements -           That is an amazing wonder, you know! You and I will
find their way into the church as substitutes for the true     never be able to fathom the wonder of that. How is it
preacliing of the Word.                                        possible that the Lord will use and does use a sinful
   But what is behind this?                                    man, a man who is altogether unworthy and unable in
   I do not know whether you have faced the question           himself to speak God's Word, - how is it possible that
as to what, from a subjective point of view, explains the      He uses such a man to proclaim His holy Word? How is
rise of all the departures and heresies which plague the       it possible that the Lord puts a mere man, and a sinner
churches, also the churches of the Reformed family here        besides, in the exalted position of being the ambassador
and in the Netherlands. Objectively; of course,. the           of the Ring Sovereign? And how is it possible that in
trouble lies in a departure from the authoritative             spite of all his weaknesses and sins, all hii failures to live
standard of the Word of God and a departure from the           up to the demands and the holiness of his exalted office,
confessions. But what explains this departure  sub-            the Lord maintains the minister in his office?
jectivelj??                                                      This is pure grace! It is a wonder that has no other
   You say, perhaps, that it is sin and carnality, both in     "explanation" than pure, sovereign grace!
the pulpit and in the pew. And this is true, in general.         And what a reason for rejoicing there is in the
But can we be more specific?                                   experience that one is the recipient and heir of such
   And then I answer: the trouble lies in a dissatisfaction    grace!
with the message, a dissatisfaction with the "foolishness        The apostles themselves rejoiced in this. Think of
of preaching," Along  ,with this goes a dissatisfaction        what Paul writes to his spiritual son Timothy in I
with the power and the effects of the preached Word.           Timothy 1: 12-l 4: "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord,
Behind this lies a lack of the real, spiritual joy of the      who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
ministry of the Word. Missing that joy, and failing to see     putting me into the ministry; Who was before a
wherein that joy properly consists, a minister (and  his       blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I
church `and  consistory may very well  -be party to this       obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
and encourage him in it) looks for substitute joys. He         And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with
tries to find delight in mere carnal things, in externals.     faith and love which is in Christ  ,Jesus." Or think of
He seeks pleasure in the things of man, mere natural           what Acts  5:41 says about the apostles when they had
man: man's work and man's accomplishments. He                  to suffer `in and because of their labors as Christ's
begins to substitute a gospel which is  .of man and            witnesses: "And they departed from the presence of the
according to man. He aims to establish for himself and         council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to


442                                             THE STANDARD BEARER


suffer shame for his name."                                    exalts no one else than the Christ gf the Scriptures, then
   But also from the objective viewpoint the faithful          he achieves, then he attains fulfillment as a minister.
                                                               Anything else is disappointing and futile. It may seem
minister has abundant reason for joy.                          glamorous and attractive to proclaim another gospel. It
   First of all, he may and ought to rejoice in the fact
that                                                           may seem `outwardly as though one accomplishes much
         Christ is preached.
   The apostles found their joy in this. Take the              more  by- doing so. He may attract large audiences by
example of the apostle Paul. Even when he was in prison        means of humanistically oriented `crusades." He may
and was hampered in his work, and even when there              become a popular figure of world renown. He may gain
were those who were his personal enemies and rivals and        status in the eyes of the world. But unless a preacher
preached out of strife and envy, it was his joy that           preaches  Christ,  he can attain  ."no fulfillment as a
Christ  ,was preached. Thus he wrote to the saints in          minister. He is engaged in an utterly vain and futile
Philippians `1: 18 : "What then? notwithstanding, every        labor which will surely prove to be disappointing and
way,  .whether. in  pretence, or in truth, Christ is           empty in the end. There is no genuine joy for the
preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will              minister except when he preaches  Christ only and
rejoice."                                                      always! For the minister is servant. And the glory of a
  Make no mistake. The apostles did not rejoice, and           servant lies exactly in the fact that he sewes!
we may not rejoice, simply in the preaching of a vague              In the second place, and in close connection with the
and general Christ, as though it made no difference what       fact that the proper object of this joy is the preaching of
was said about the Christ and how He was presented in          Christ,. the preacher may also rejoice in the confidence
the preaching. No, they always militated against  this.        of the certain fruit, the certain success,`of his preaching.
And now, as then, there are many false Christs preached             That fruit is both negative and positive. The preach-
in the name .of the gospel. And there is no real joy in the    ing bears fruit in them that perish `and in them that are
proclamation of a false Christ. On the contrary, Christ,       saved, in them that are hardened and in them that are
the Christ of the Scriptures,  .the Christ of God, the         called. We must remember this. The preaching of Christ
Christ .in all His fulness and riches as the revelation of     is always successful. It always bears fruit. It is never a
God's sovereign purpose .and power to save His people          failure. The fruit may not be fruit according to man and
and to realize His everlasting covenant of grace, - that       according to the standard of man. Judged according to
Christ must be preached. The Christ of the infallible          the latter standard, it may seem to be a total failure at
Word, the Christ Whose ,knowledge  has been set forth          times. And we must indeed be careful that we do not
and systematized in our Reformed confessions - and let         yield to the temptation of judging the success or failure
me add, because ,there are many who do no more than            of the preaching according to. human standards. If we do
lip service to those confessions today: those confessions      so; we will soon come to the conclusion that the
as they are adhered to and maintained in our Protestant        preaching of the cross is foolishness; and we will forget
Reformed Churches, - that Christ must be preached.             that the foolishness of God is wiser than men. No, the
  He must be preached! Heemust be set forth evidently.         preaching of the gospel is always successful. Also from
He must be expounded according to the Scriptures. He           this point of view the Word of God speaks very plainly.
must  ,be proclaimed with authority. He must be pro-           What is the secret of the apostle Paul's confidence?
claimed in all His meaning, both objective and sub-            What explains his consuming and never failing op-
jective, and in all His significance for the faith and the     timism? What is behind his joy? How is it that in the
calling of the people of God in the midst of the world.        face of all kinds of trouble and opposition and apparent
  In this there is joy: real, spiritual, solid joy. I have     failure the apostle can continue to rejoice, and in his joy
said it before from the pulpit, and I will say it again        can continue to labor with unflagging zeal? Just listen to
now: if I could not proclaim that Christ, I would rather       him in II Corinthians 2: 14-16: "Now thanks be unto
not preach. There would be no joy in the ministry for          God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and
me. I would resign.                                            maketh manifest ,the savour of his knowledge by us in
  And there is good reason for this. That Christ is the        every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of
sole content of the Scriptures. To make known that             Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: _- ___
Christ in all His exalted greatness and power to save, to      To the one we are the savour of death unto deatwand
exalt that Christ in all His fulness of riches as the          to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is
revelation of the God of our salvation, that is the sole       sufficient for these things?" There you have it:
                                                               "
purpose of the gospel and the sole purpose of the                   . . . God, which always causeth us to triumph in
preaching of the gospel. The gospel is not humanistically      Christ!" The apostle is never a failure, no matter what
oriented. It is not the proper purpose of the preacher to      may be the effect of his preaching! What could be more
"save souls" or "to save the world," as is the presenta-       joyful than to be engaged in a venture, a task; a mission,
tion of the social gospel. No, when a preacher preaches        whose success is absolutely guaranteed in advance? Yes,
Christ,  the Christ of God, and when all his preaching         that is the guarantee which the minister of the Word
                                                               has!


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                   443


    That fruit is certain, of course,. because it is Of Christ.    when thev shall be still more dissatisfied. They shall
                                                                            I
  The fruit is not of the preacher, nor of the hearer, but         never hear the Word of the Lord Christ:.  "Well done,
  of Christ.  It pleases Christ to work His work through the       thou good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy
  "foohshness of preaching.? It pleases Christ to gather           of thy Lord!" They shall be cast out into the place
  fis church through the means of the preaching. He it is,         where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Their final
  ~0 from the beginning to the end of the world gathers            lot shall not be joy, but everlasting grief and un-
  and defends and preserves, through His Spirit and Word,          happiness.
  a church chosen unto everlasting life and agreeing in              But by faithfulness I mean also devotion to the work.
  true faith.                                                      I mean a willingness to spend himself and to be spent. A
     Again, it is important to remember this, so that the          preacher, must not-look for a life of ease. He must not
  preacher seeks his joy in the proper object. We cannot           look for excuses to put the work on others. There is
  always see this fruit in the immediate scene.  .We are           always plenty of work to be done; and this is especially
, inclined to become impatient, to run ahead of the Lord.          true of the labors of the ministry in our little denomina-
I, We are inclined to put stock in outward, natural things,        tion of churches. One does not have to look for work.
  in outward growth and size and status and recognition.           And a preacher is not a man who may expect to put in
  And then we can become very disappointed. and                    his eight or nine hours a day, .punch  the clock, and be
  disillusioned. For  we. expect great things from the             finished for the day. He must expect to labor day  cand
  thunder and the fire of the preaching; and when we               night. This also is the example of the apostles, re-
  wake up to stark reality on "blue Monday" and discover           member. It is well to remember this. I have said upon
  that to all appearances the thunder and fire of the pulpit       occasion that I have great sympathy for the minister
  has produced but a scarcely discernible ripple on the            who is busy; but little sympathy for the man who
  surface of the congregational waters, we can become              complains t.hat he is busy; The danger is not usually that
  utterly despondent and find ourselves with Elijah under          a minister is too reckless about expending his energies.
  the juniper tree. We have forgotten that the power of            The preacher can well afford to be rather reckless in
  the preaching is not the thunder of the human word,              that regard. He must consider himself expendable. This
  but that its real power is the power of the speech, the          is the demand of his high calling. It requires his all, his
  indispensable and sure speech, of the still, small voice,        very best ,efforts, all his energies, and then just a little
  the effectual and silent and internal and invisible              more!  .After all, he has only one life to spend in this
  whispering of the Spirit of Christ.- Hence, never forget         glorious calling, at best only the short span of thirty or
  it: Christ  ,works His work through the ministry of the          forty years. Not only so; but the situation in, our day is
  Word, and the fruit of that work is absolutely certain.          critical, and all the signs of the times remind us that the
  God always makes the preacher triumph!                           time is short. The Lord is coming! Let us labor while it
                                                                   is day, ere the night cometh in which no man can work!
  The Way To This Joy                                                 Finally, the way is dependence upon divine mercy.
    About this, after all that has been said, I can be brief.      Notice how the apostle emphasizes this: `(Therefore.
 But let me be emphatic.                                           seeing we have this minisky, as we have r&ived mercy,
    The way to the joy of the ministry is,  fiist  .of all,        we faint not." Without that mercy, we would surely
 faithfulness. And there is no other way! Never be                 faint. Upon it the minister of the Word is dependent. He
 tempted to try another way!                                       has no sufficiency `of himself. His sufficiency is of the
    It is the way of faithfulness as far as the message is         Lord.
 concerned: faithfulness to the truth of the gospel! This             Hence, the way is the way of prayer. The minister of
  cannot be emphasized too strongly in our day. Ours is a          the Word must  .lead a prayerful life, particularly with
  day of apostasy; a day when preachers are no longer              respect to the specific needs of his ministry. For in
 satisfied with the message which the  .Lord Christ has            prayer he turns to the fountain and source of all mercy,
 commissioned them to preach. That is too tame. That is             expresses his dependence upon God's mercy, and opens.
 too old. That is too unexciting. That is too unpopular.           his soul to the blessings of divine mercy. Therefore, be
 That is too ineffectual. Ours is a day, too, of ecu-              instant in prayer!
 menism when the truth of the gospel is being sacrificed              May the Lord our God, in His providence and
 more and more `in the interests of a man-made unity of             blessing, soon give to our candidate a place in the
 the church which has absolutely nothing in common                  ministry of the Word, and then in that ministry give him
 with the true unity of the body of Christ. But be not             joy. And may He give that joy to us all as ministers of
 deceived! The way of corrupting the gospel, the way of             His Word, and also to  His church to whom He has
 heresy, is not the way to real joy! Just witness the fact          committed the ministry. Then we have joy indeed!
 that those who follow this path must `always be trying
 new, methods and new paths to satisfaction and joy.
 They are grossly dissatisfied, no matter what they try.
 And do not forget: these .false teachers are facing a day


444                                           THE STANDARD BEARER





                                        A l l   A r o u n d   U s

                                                    ProJ H. Hanko




PCUS-RCA  MER GER.
  The long talked of merger between the Presbyterian         and if the new church is formed, one of the first items
Church US (Southern) and the Reformed Church of              of business will be the formation of a new con-
America took another giant stride forward. The General       temporary and relevant confession.
Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church and the            The merger plan also contained no provision for the
General Synod of the Reformed Church, meeting                office of deacon. Several attempts were made to restore
concurrently, passed motions of approval on the merger       this office, but they failed. The new church will have no
and referred the merger plan drawn up by the joint           diaconate.
committee of 24 back to the presbyteries and classes for        The merger plan had made some provision for the
their vote.                                                  safeguarding of the property of congregations which do
  The General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterians,        not want to go along with the merger. If congregations
meeting at Montreat, North Carolina, passed the motion       left the new church within a stipulated time, they would
after a very short discussion and by a vote of 406 to 36.    be permitted to retain their property. This part of the
There was more difficulty in the Synod of the Reformed       merger plan was broadened by amendment to include
Church of America. Meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan,           not only the present merger but also any future mergers
the Synod spent hours debating the question and finally      into which the new denomination might enter.
passed the motion in a secret ballot by a 183 to 103            The opposition to the merger came mostly from
vote.                                                        members of the Reformed Church. Some of their
  The plan is now to be brought to the presbyteries of       objections include the following. There is the problem
the Southern Presbyterian Church where it needs              of the Southern Presbyterians' commitment to the
approval by three-fourths of the presbyteries and to the     COCU plan of union. (Cf. below.) Dr. Norman Vincent
classes of the Reformed Church where it must be              Peale, chosen as vice-president of the Reformed Church
approved by two-thirds of the classes. If the merger plan    Synod and author of the well-known book, "The Power
is successfully guided over this important and difficult     of Positive Thinking," argued that, after the merger, the
hurdle, it will be returned to the top ecclesiastical        new church could vote to discontinue affiliation with
assemblies .for final approval next year.                    COCU. Many in the Reformed Church also objected to
  Several amendments were made to the merger plan at         the plans to write a new confession, fearing that such a
this year's general assemblies  which are of some im-        confession would incorporate modern and liberal the-
portance. One amendment had to do with, the con-             ology after the pattern of the "Confession of 1967."
fessional basis of the newly merged church. The Classis      There were also objections to the dropping of the
of South Grand Rapids had petitioned the General             Canons of Dort, the Presbyterians' position favoring
Synod of the Reformed Church to reduce the number            ordination of women, the omission of the office of
of confessions from six to two, but they had wanted the      deacon, and important changes which will be made in
new church also to forget about a proposal which had         church polity.
already been adopted to form a new confession. Classis          Observers of the merger predict that, should the plan
South Grand Rapids was afraid that the writing of a new      pass the presbyteries and classes, it will be by a very
"contemporary Confession" would result in a position         narrow vote. There is considerable doubt that it will
similar to the United Presbyterian Church with its           pass at all.
"Confession of 1967." `However, while the part of the                                *  *  .*
proposal to reduce the'number of confessions passed,
the proposal to eliminate the writing of a new con-             In separate action, the Reformed Church refused to
fession failed. The result is that the confessions of the    become a participant in COCU. The standing committee
new church will be the Westminster Confession of Faith       on interchurch relationships had advised joining this
and the Shorter Catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism          proposed twenty-three million denomination. And,
and the  Belgic Confession.' Dropped were the Larger         while the Southern Presbyterians have partially  com-
Catechism and the Canons of the Synod of Dort. When          mitted themselves to joining COCU, the Reformed 


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                           445


Church, in what seems to be contradictory action, voted                 Zealand and Canada - though less than the rate of
to remain outside.                                                      some Latin American countries.
                              * *  .*                             Other experts turn to the political assassinations
  Many decisions taken by the General Assembly of the          which have characterized our history.
Southern Presbyterian Church were highly distasteful to                   Most ominous of all, the pattern of political
conservative leaders in that denomination. It was, in the               assassinations in the U.S. now resembles what one
opinion of many, one of the more liberal Assemblies; it                 would expect in a banana republic. "The assassination
committed the Church to a course of social action                       of Lincoln established a scenario for political vio-
which will take the denomination farther along the road                 lence." Starting the count with Lincoln, four of
of the social gospel and modern day liberalism. One                     twenty U.S. Presidents have been assassinated, and
member, quoted                                                          assassination attempts have been made on three more.
                    in the Presbyterian Journal, remarked:              Moreover, a Secret Service report released in January
"Knowing our Church, if the Reformed Church in                          shows that the number of persons arrested for threat-
America is made up of people willing to merge with us,                  ening the President of the United States has increased
I'm not so sure I want to associate with them!"                         alarmingly since John  Kemedy's assassination, from
                                                                        80 arrests in 1963 to 425 arrests in 1967.
THE CAUSES OF VIOLENCE.                                          Newsweek  reported sbme findings and opinions on
                                                               this.
  With the recent assassinations `of Martin Luther King                   The men (who have threatened a Chief Executive)
Jr.  tind Senator Robert F. Kennedy the nation is                       tended to have much in common: several were young
undergoing one of its periodic times of soul-searching.                 and many came from unhappy homes. Typically they
Prodded on by President Johnson's new commission on                     were raised by dominant mothers, while their fathers
violence which was asked to determine "what in the                      stood ineffectually by or were absent altogether - not
nature of our people and the environment of our society                 unlike the youth accused of murdering Robert
makes possible such murder and such violence," the                      Kennedy.
soul-searching has come up with some interesting                          Although their threats were directed at men, (one
answers.                                                                who studied these matters) found the underlying
  In a lengthy article entitled "Understanding Vio-                     source of their resentment was directed at their
lence,"                                                                 mothers. Rage against mother, he said, "is only later
            Newsweek  gives some of these answers. It is                displaced. on to male authorities," then to the govern-
instructive to listen.                                                  ment and finally to the President, "the embodiment of
  The floor is first of all given to the non-experts which              the U.S. Government."
Newsweek  lightly dismisses. California's Governor                So a dominant mother is an important cause of
Ronald Reagan blamed demagogic leaders in and out of           political violence.
office and the `Ispirit of permissiveness that pervades the       The experts in other fields were also given their day.
courts." Senator Eugene McCarthy found the cause in            One argues thus.
the violence of the Vietnam war. The young, when                             . Aggression is an evolutionary instinct - a drive
quizzed, blamed the "intransigence" of the establish-                   ir&&ed by man from the lower animals. He also
ment; the old, the disrespect of the youth. The whites                  holds that modern man finds himself trapped in his
blamed black militants and the blacks blamed white                      violent patterns because of a trick of evolution. Most
racism. The latter has, apparently, the most effect upon                carnivores, especially those equipped with lethal teeth
people. Estimates are made of 50 million private                        and nails like the wolf, have instinctive inhibitions
weapons in the hands of the citizenry because of the                    against killing members of their own species. On the
threat of racial conflict.                                              other hand. . . . evolutionary man never had to
  But quickly the floor is given to the experts. Here is                develop inhibitions against killing other men for the
                                                                        simple reason that he was so physically ill-equipped to
their testimony based on studies in the fields of                 kill  - until, that is, his brain grew, and he invented
sociology, ethnology, zoology,  neurophysiology,  etc.                  weapons. Among all the carnivores, man - and the rat
Many claim that  iriolence  has always been an integral                 - are the only species that kill their fellows.
part of the history of our Republic. From the violence
of the frontier days through the war for independence,            A physiologist weighs in with his views.
on to the civil war and urban riots of the 1800s and the                  Experiments in both animals and men show that the
labor disputes of the early 19OOs, we have lived with a                 brain contains a well-defined "aggression center." In
tradition of violence which makes "violence as                          humans the area is the amygdala nerve cells, located in
                                                                        the temporal lobe. When the amygdala of a  mild-
American as cherry pie."                                                mannered woman patient was stimulated electrically
  In support of this contention it is pointed out that                  with a thin wire passed through her skull, she turned
violence is greater in the U.S. than in any other                       abusive and threateded to strike the attending surgeon.
industrialized society.                                                 When the current was turned off, she became her
       The U.S. homicide rate is five per 100,000 persons               customary gentle self again. This aggression center is
     annually, a figure roughly eight times that of England             part of man's hereditary endowment, but it is affected
     and Wales and four times that of Japan, Australia, New             by changes in body chemistry and mediated by the


446                                                      THE STANDARD BEARER


       higher centers of the brain that have learned the            in Genesis  6:ll as  filled with violence. In that mem-
       evolutionary lessons of social adaptation, cooperation,      orable  Psalm of Asaph, Psalm 73, Asaph describes the
       empathy, loyalty to others, postponement of grtitifica-      wicked as being covered with violence as with a
       tion, attachment to ideas and symbols - in short, all        garment. The Word of God explains in a few words what
       the forces that can control and contain aggression.          all the experts in this country have not been able to
  TV also comes to its share of blame.                              understand.
         . . . .For most Americans, the Vietnam war is a                 President Johnson's second question is: "What in the
       television war, live and in color in U.S. living rooms
       nightly. And as such, it becomes another example of          nature of the environment of our society makes possible
       the sado-violence that. is    e new pornography on           such murder and violence?" The answer here too is not
       television and in movies. i!ite survey - made a few          difficult to find - if one is willing to measure society by
       years ago - showed that between the-ages of 5 and 14         the standard of God's Word. A complete breakdown of
       the average American child will witness 13,000 violent       the principles of authority-obedience in every sphere of
       deaths on TV. hi one Monday-Friday period on four            life, given impetus by an abandonment of the law of
       commercial channels in a major city, Stanford Uni-           God for some nebulous "new morality," has con-
       versity researchers counted twelve murders, a. guillo-       tributed to lawlessness. The higher courts of the land
    tining, 37 hand-to-hand fights, sixteen major gunfights,        have effectively handcuffed the law enforcement.
       two stranglings, an attempted murder with a pitchfork,       agencies by building legal walls of protection around the
       a psychotic loose in an airliner and two attempts to         criminal. Violence is condoned and preached and taught
       run cars over persons on sidewalks, among other
       episodes.                                                    in civil disobedience, marches, demonstrations, strikes,
  And so it goes.  Newsweek  points out that while                  boycotts, etc. The door is opened to violence knocking
politicians are talking about gun control, psychiatrists            always at society's threshhold. When it comes rushing to
"in their brisk professional way have now begun to                  plunge us into anarchy, do we have to ask silly
weigh the possibilities and problems of people control."            questions? If we can only ask silly questions, we shall
In an ominous way, Newsweek describes this.                         get silly answers. And then we are in for some bad days.
         Such a suggestion grew out of a meeting in Boston
       last week aimed at getting the U.S to establish one or       RESOLUTION ON COCU
       more $25 million research canters for the detectiqn               An interesting resolution on COCU was adopted by
       and treatment of potentially dangerous                       the American .Council  of Christian Churches quoted in
       individuals. :. . The program would treat violence just      Lutheran News.
       like typhoid fever or any other major public-health                   The Executive Committee of the American Council
       problem. Large numbers of citizens would be screened,              of Christian Churches, meeting in Dayton, Ohio, April
       perhaps when they apply for a driver's license. What               1-2, 1968, expresses emphatic opposition to the
       would be needed is a simple and reliable battery of                Consultation on Church Union for these reasons
       tests.to judge an individual's "impulse control". People           among others:
       with "poor impulse control" it seems, are often                       1. COCU creates a non-creeckd  church in which any
       involved in traffic accidents, beat their wives and                belief or radical unbelief is allowed. We hold the Bible
       children;. &d become uncontrollable on small amounts               to be our "only infallible rule of faith and practice."
       of alcohol.                                                           2. COCU creates a~"uniting" force which, according
  President Johnson appointed .a commission. on vio-                      to the remarks of President James I. McCord of
lence to find answers to two questions. The first is:                     Princeton Theological Seminary, moves "`beyond the
What in the nature of our people makes possible such                      unity of the church to the unity of mankind." Not
murder and violence? The answer to this question is                       "One Christian Church" is contemplated, but "One
easily found on the pages' of Scripture. Man is, in his                   Secular World."
condition of total depravity, desperately wicked,                            3.  COCU creates a power force in this country
capable` of every crime and filled with violence from                     which, fortunately, the USA has never known. As we
                                                                          see clergy-led riots, the thought of these same clergy-
birth. Paul quoting the Psalms writes in Romans 3:                        men claiming to represent, initially 25% million
"There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none                      Americans is frightening. We thank God fdr the unity
that understandeth . . . . Whose mouth is full of cursing                 in freely expressed diversity which Bible-believing
and bitterness:  _ Their feet are swift to shed blood:                    Christians have enjoyed, even while they have sought
Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way                     for Christian understanding and cooperative wit-
of peace have they not known." The earth is described                     ness . . . .

                                         Note to the clerks of the Protestant Reformed Churches:
                                             For Catechism Books, write or call
                                             Mr. Seymour Beiboer
                                                 1018 Fan-mount, S.E.
                                                 Grand Rapids, Mich. 49507
                                                 Ph: 454-2411


                                               THE STANDARD'BEARER                                                  447





Trying The Spirits



                 Effectual Redemption Confessional and Biblical -

                                               Rev. Robt. C. Harbach

  "In whom we have redemption through His blood."            Reformed churches have always confessed, and on the
(Eph.  1:7) We are here informed that the source and         basis of Scripture, we speak not merely of an intended
genius of redemption is not in ourselves. We do not          redemption, but of an effectual redemption. The latter
redeem ourselves. We have redemption, but only in Him,       is one which brings about the results intended! It is a
Christ. Redemption means deliverance, i a deliverance by     prevalent Arminian error that redemption "is inherently
the payment of a price which purchases the redeemed          universal." This is misleading, because the language-does
and sets them free.                                          not refer to real, actual redemption; it refers to the
  No subject is more misunderstood than that of              dream of "possible redemption." But this dream of a
redemption. The general .impression  most people have of     possible redemption has no basis of an inherently
it is wrong. They think of it as being first a "`possible    universal salvation to fall back on; hence it merely
redemption," which can then become an actual redemp-         shimmers on the background of a mirage. Nor is the
tion. "Possible redemption" requires a surrender to          dream of hypothetical redemption according to the
Christ and an accepting of His atonement to make it          Reformed Confessions. "The saving efficacy of the
availing, and so secure it as an actual redemption. A        death of God's Son extends to all the elect, bestowing
mere "possible redemption" is unavailing! It does not        upon  them alone  justifying faith, and bringing.  them
purchase or redeem! It is merely a conditional deposit       infallibly to salvation. Christ by the blood of the cross
put to the account of all men. It cannot, for this reason    effectually  redeems out of every people, tribe, nation
be said that the price has been paid for certain men and     and language (the only universality of redemption the
that therefore those men shall never be called upon to       Reformed confessions allow-RCH), all those and those
pay it!  This is the philosophy of "universal redemp-        only who were from eternity chosen to salvation. (Note
tion," namely, that Christ died for every son of Adam.       also the particularity of the redeeming cross: not "every
But the theory of universal redemption:, although it         people", but  "out  of" every people!-RCH). All the
seems to be one which cannot be more charitable and          other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit He purchased for
benevolent, and seems to hold out to all men the most        them  (chosen from eternity-RCH) by His death, and
comforting of prospects, is really a very gloomy hy-         preserved them to the end" (condensed from Canons`II,
pothesis, and one doomed to disappointment. For              8). "The idea of redemption in the Reformed Con-
unless a universal redemption be actually founded on a       fessions is not that of an inherently universal redemp-
universal salvation, it cannot have a well-meaning           tion, `but of effectuaZ,redemption, nothing else, nothing
universality. To offer all men a universal redemption        less. This is also borne out in the Belgic Confession. "By
unfounded upon the basis of a universal salvation is to      offering Himself on the tree of the cross and pouring
offer them an elusive phantom redemption,  which.can         out His precious blood, Christ made a full satisfaction
never be materialized. Universal redemption without the      for the remission of our sins. This only sacrifice, once
support of universal salvation is a vain, visionary,         offered, is that by which believers are perfected forever.
hopeless and impossible ultra-pious wish.                    This is also the reason why He was called Jesus, that is,
  But let us go back to the meaning of the word, which       Savior, because He should  save His people  from their
is that of deliverance. Redemption means the procure-        sins (condensed from Article XXI)." This reveals that
ment of deliverance by the payment of a, ransom price.       Christ's death was not merely  possibly redemptive. It'
With the payment of the price the ransomed go free.          was redemptive, and whatever is redemptive is saving.
The term does not denote mere part payment, nor an           According to the confessions, redemption has an in-
offer of full payment, nor simply the good intention to      herently "saving efficacy." The Heidelberg Catechism, is
pay. It denotes such full payment that there is nothing      in harmony with this. "Jesus Christ, with His precious
more to pay and consequently those for whom the price        blood, hat-h fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered
was paid are bought with a price, delivered and free!        me from all the power of the devil, and so preserves me
Therefore on the basis of what the Presbyterian and          and assures me of- eternal life.`? The result of that full


448                                              THE STANDARD BEARER


satisfaction and redemption through His blood is that           "Christ died for you" or  "Christ redeemed you." We
He "makes me sincerely willing and ready henceforth to          have the right only to say to them what Scripture says,
live unto Him (condensed from HC, 1)" Therefore it is           as, e.g., "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath
not man's willingness and readiness that makes redemp-          visited and redeemed His people. " (Luke 1:68) To the
tion effectual; but rather effectual redemption produces        question, "Did Christ die for me?" many answer rather
the fruit of willingness and living unto Him. Also HC, 54       glibly, "Of course He died for me. He died for all men.
tells us that Christ does now on the basis of His death as      Therefore He died for me." Here is a use of the universal
a once-for-all full satisfaction of saving efficacy: "The       term "all" in a way contrary to Jesus' usage of it. He
Son of God from the beginning to the end of the world,          spoke of "all Mine." That is the meaning of "all" when
gathers, defends, and preserves to himself by His Spirit        used in connection with redemption. It is to be
and Word,  out  of the whole human. race (note the              understood in the limited sense., When Johns disciples
particularity-RCH), a church chosen to everlasting              referred to Jesus' baptizing, they said, "the same
life." (condensed) This means that Christ does not fail         baptizeth, and aZZ come. unto Him." They did not mean
to seek, gather, win and save all the ransomed church He        that all men come to Him. The Pharisees said, "If we
redeemed with His own blood. This is the "all mankind"          leave Him thus alone, all will believe in Him." They did
of HC, 37. Mankind is saved, .but saved in the elect.           not include themselves among those believers. Luke,
That, because redemption and election are co-extensive.         recording the healing of the lame man, writes, "for all
None but the elect are redeemed. This is evident from           glorified God for that which was done." But he did not
the Ephesian passage before us. "Chosen in Him before           include the Sanhedrin in that "all." Jesushimself said,
the foundation of the world! predestinated to' the              "If I be lifted up, I will draw  all  unto Me." Admitting
adoption of sons, we, (the chosen ones) have redemp-            that the word "all" has a limited meaning elsewhere in
tion!" (1:4-7).                                                 Scripture, is it a non sequitur to maintain that it has the
  Universal terms there are which Scripture uses in             limited meaning in connection with Christ's death? It is
connection with the redemption of Christ. But`it is yloyl       not. Jesus did not mean that He would draw "all men"
sequitur reasoning to think that this connection infers         to himself, but "all Mine," i.e., "all that the Father
universal redemption. For the Bible also uses particular        giveth Me." Isaiah wrote that "He shall bear their
and restrictive. terms in connection with redemption.           iniquities,`? and explains that this was done thus: "the
But if the universal terms are to be understood in the          Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." He never
unlimited sense, then why did the Spirit. inspire the           said, "the iniquity of all" (which "universal redemp-
secondary authors of Scripture to use any particular            tion" theorists try to make it). Of what is the "us"
terms at all? The particular texts tell us that Christ died     embracive? The context answers, "For the transgression
for "the sheep," "the church," "His people" and "God's          of My people was He stricken."
elect," etc. There are universal terms used in connection         .Now that "us" ,is the restricted and very well known
with His death, such as "world," "all," and "every."            "us"~ of' the particular gospel. "The Spirit himself
The universal terms' harmonize with the particular, but         maketh intercession for us, " which,means, as the words
the particular never will with the unlimited.                   following prove, that "He maketh intercession for the
  Redemption is very specific. Negatively,.it is redemp-        ,saints.  `I Referring to them, Paul states, "If God be for
tion from bondage, from death, from the curse of the            us, who against us?" Then he says that God gave up His
law, from all iniquity. Positively, it is redemption unto       Son  for  us, and that the risen Son makes intercession
God. "Universal redemption" does not redeem uni-                also for us. Nor does Paul leave it in doubt ,as to whom
versally, and so is inherently contradictory. It redeems        he means by "us:`? "Who shall lay anything to the
from nothing to nothing. This is true because, although         charge of God's elect?" That the "US" ,are the "elect" is
a "universal redemption" is supposed to be sufficient           plain from,  ,"God hath not appointed us to wrath, but
for all, it is not able to  effect  the deliverance of any.     to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,`who
Only effectual redemption can do that. If, then, there is       died for us, that we might live through Him." (I Thess..
only one redemption, and it is "universal redemption,"          5:9f)
and on the basis- of it God offers deliverance to all'men,         Christ could not have died to render the salvation of
does He not mock while He offers? What comfort would            all men possible, for when  .He died there were multi-
it be to me to know that God offers me a salvation              tudes already in hell, and so beyond the possibility of
sufficient for all but not efficient for all? Only effectual    salvation. Nor could He have made only a conditional
redemption is truly kind, gracious and of service to me.        redemption, which He left to the will of man to render,
  Redemption is therefore not to be interpreted as              by man's act of faith, effectual, or by unbelief, leave it
pious men might wish to think of it, as expressing the          as it is, ineffectual. For He made it for such as will have
divine will as wanting everybody saved and nobody lost;         it (we have redemption), but none will have it, except
but as Scripture has it, that none should be lost of those      such as God makes willing, as He. certainly does all His
given to Christ (John 6:39). We have no right to say to         elect, and them  .only. In no sense is Christ  .Redeemer
all men to whom through us the gospel is sent that              without redemption.


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 449


                                        FROM, .HOLY .WRIT

                                              The `-Book Of Hebrews


                                                     Rev. G. Lubbers


Hebrews  6:9-l 2 (continued)                                   is not a spectator, but he is to run the race, keep the
                                                               faith and thus inherit and receive the promise. And thus
F O L L O W E R S O F   T H O S E   W H O   I N H E R I T      Abraham is not only the father of all believers, but he is
S.L l&4 TION (Hebrews 6: 12) - Continued                       also an example of faith in whose footsteps the Hebrew
   This passage from Genesis  12:2, 3 is worthy of             believers are to walk. As Abraham walked in  long-
careful reading and interpretation. Here we have, as it        suffering, thus also we are to walk. Of course,- each must
were, the grand framework of the promise. Here we              walk thus in his own time and dispensation of grace.
have the perspectives of the New Testament dispensa-           Abraham looked for the realization in his day in the
tion that the gospel is to be preached to the Gentiles         birth of the Son, the heir, and we look to Christ, the
also. Here we have that good-tidings which reads  "in          forerunner of our faith, who has gone before us within
thee shall all nations be blessed." It was before preached     the vail.
here to Abraham concerning the Gentiles. These too are             And this brings us to the second stage of Abraham's
Abraham's children. (Galatians  3:8) Hence, if  we. be         faith and patience! We read this in Genesis 12:7 "And
Christ's then are we Abraham's children and heirs              the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said "Unto thy
according to the promise. What distant perspectives,           seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar
both Christological and Eschatological! Abraham  .will         unto the LORD, who appeared unto him." Abram had
have many heir-children. They will inherit the promise.        passed through the land. And now he is assured that his
They will not merit it; it will be all of free grace. God      seed shall possess this land. We are told by the writer to
gives it to whom He wills. It is not of him that willeth,      the Hebrews that this "land" is really the "better
nor of him that runneth, but of God who giveth mercy!          country, the heavenly." (Hebrews 11: 1 O-l 3) However,
It is of the God of glory!- (Acts 7:2) This promise has its    it is doubtful whether Abram immediately saw this and
perspectives in the glory of the new heaven and of the         was given to understand this far-reaching perspective.
new earth. The heavenly and the better country is seen         God as the great artist puts on touch by touch. He did
from afar. (Hebrews 11: 1 O-l 3)                               not reveal all the details of the promise at once, but led
   However, Abraham can only inherit this promised             Abram on as the great Pedagogue! Now Abram's faith is
land, and set-forth salvation, by "faith and  long-            upon this land. This was the land that God would shew
suffering." Faith is the sure subjective basis of things       him. This land indeed fits in with the distant perspective
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By faith           of the nations being blessed in him and in the seed, but
Abraham walked as seeing the unseen God. Of this we            that Abraham must receive in faith and longsuffering!
shall see more when we come to our interpretation of               The next  stage. of the faith and longsuffering of
Hebrews 11. "Longsuffering" on the other hand, is that         Abraham we see in what is recorded in Genesis 15 :3.
virtue of grace and love which does not grow exas-             Here we have the deep cry of Abraham's struggle of
perated and frustrated and weary in the midst of many          faith and longsuffering when he says "Behold to me
disappointments and seemingly unnecessary tarrying on          thou has given no seed: and, lo, one born in mine house
the part of God to fulfil the promised salvation. Surely,      in mine heir." What a deep cry of faith- and  long-
if anyone had need of faith and longsuffering, it was          suffering on the part of this struggling saint! It seemed
Abraham.                                                       so contradictory. God would make his seed as the stars
   It should be remembered that the stage in which             of heaven in multitude. "So shall thy seed be." And
Abraham was to walk in faith and longsuffering is given        yet he has no seed. Must he look elsewhere? His wife is
in the promise "In thee and in thy seed shall all nations      childless and barren! And that too is of the Lord. Yes,
be blessed." Were it not for this Word of God, the             he will walk in hope against hope. But this is the way.
gospel, before preached to Abraham, there would be             then of faith and longsuffering. It is waiting God, out!
nothing toward which to look in hope and to await in           And the cry is not so .much "how long"; it is rather, will
faith and long suffering. Besides, it should be  remem;        the promise be realized at all, since there is not one
bered that the particulars  ,of the manner of the              child born to Abraham.  An"d what satisfaction does
realization of the promise ,are made known to step by          Abraham receive? He receives the sign of the multitude
step along this road of faith and longsuffering. Abraham       of the stars, and he also receives a revelation concerning


450..                                               THE STANDARD BEARER
   -.-_.

Israel's becoming a great nation in Egypt for four             4: 17) The hand of the LORD is truly not shortened. 0,
hundred years.  ,Here the lines are traced out in some         the faith of Abraham was great. He waxed strong in
detail in promissory form-before Isaac is born. Here the       faith, and he did not faint. He did not become bitter
stage is kept intact for Abraham's walk of faith and           with God, He loved God, and suffered long in this love.
longsuffering! (Genesis, 15: 13-13) Yes, and this people       And thus he inherited the promise in this long road of
shall live in this land. The time of Joshua the son of Nun     faith and longsuffering, going on from strength to
is foretold, some five hundred years in the future! And        strength! (Psalm  84:5-7) Truly, blessed is the man
in this faith and longsuffering `Abraham inherits. the         whose strength is in the LORD . . . who passing through
promise. It is given to him in grace. His faith is counted     the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also fillet11 the
for righteousness as it lays hold on the promise  `in          pools. They go. from strength to strength, everyone of
Christ.                                                        them in Zion appeareth before God!
    Yes, the way darkens and deepens!
    It is more and more a way of faith and longsuffering.      GOD CONFIRMS THE PROMISE BY OATH TO
   For the fact is that Sarah becomes older and all hope       ABRAHAM (Hebrews 6: 13-l 5)
of having -a child is gone. And the same inevitable lot           It was a glorious moment of faith and longsuffering
befalls Abraham. He too dies as far as the natural ability     there on mount Moriah, but it was also a moment of
to raise up seed is concerned. The record sounds like the      great obedience. Abraham did not withhold his son
death-knell! "And when Abram was ninety years old              from God. He sacrificed him in obedience of love. He
and nine, . . . ." But there`is hope! The names of these       was tried and his faith was perfected. Faith could rise no
two saints are changed. Abram is called Abraham, and           higher; it had reached the zenith on Moriah's heights. It
Sarai is-called Sarah. He is the father of multitudes and      was the full assurance of faith indeed. See Abraham
she is the princess among the women! The day-star, the         with hand-extended holding the knife to plunge it into
hope of the eternal morning may rise  ,in their hearts.        the throat `of Isaac.. Hear from heaven God calling:
`Listen! "I will make my covenant between me and thee          Abraham, Abraham it is enough! Lay not thine hand
and multiply thee exceedingly." You will have a son,           upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for
"and thou shalt call his name Isaac!" (Genesis. 17:2-8)        now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou has not
And in Isaac shall thy seed' be called! (Rom.  9:9;            withheld thy son,  tbine only son from me. (Genesis
Genesis21:12)        m                                         22:12)
    However, the  greatest-trial of Abraham's faith and            Yes, the Lord did prepare himself a sacrifice. It was
longsuffering is when the Lord comes and commands              not Isaac, but a vicar. The Lord prepared in such a way
Abraham to offer up-his son Isaac. We hear its staccato        that it was Jehovah-jireh, in the mount of the Lord it
sounds: take now thy son-thine only son-whom thou              shall be manifested. It was a picture of Calvary and of
lovest-and get thee into the land of Moria-and offer           the resurrection from the dead. Here the perspectives
him there for a burnt offering upon one of the                 open beyond the present life. It is through death and
mountains that I will tell thee of!" .(Genesis. 22: 1, 2)      resurrection that we become the multitude of the seed
Here is the ultimate test of Abraham's  ,fa.ith and            in Abraham, and that the word is fulfilled: in Isaac shall
longsuffering. It was faith. It took God at His word. It       thy seed be called. And here Abraham `did not merely
reasoned and computed in.the higher dimension of what          see the promised land of earthly Canaan. Here he saw
God is able to do and .what he will do according to His        Christ's day from afar and rejoiced. (John  8:56) The
sure promise. Thus we read in Hebrews 11: 17-l 9 "By           Mystery of godliness  .was unfolded here. And thus
faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and        Abraham  obtained  the promise. He actually obtained
he that had received the promises offered up his  only,        the promise by faith, and this was the end of the long
begotten son,  ,of whom it was said, in Isaac shall the        road of faith and longsuffering!
seed be called; accounting that God was abie to raise              That such was the case with. Abraham is evident
him up,  .even from the dead; from whence  also. he            from the oath which God swore to Abraham: God
received him in a figure." Such was the faith in which         swears this. oath as a-reward for Abraham's faith. Thus
Abraham inherited the promise.. Yes, and it was a way          we read in Genesis. 22: 15-l 9 as follows. "And the angel
ofa longsuffering  The road was long, the trials were many     of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the
and they were severe. They were humanly impossible,            second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the
and they seemed to contradict the very promise of God!         LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast
But faith. "accounted?' and it "suffered long. "               not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I
    Isaac is taken to the designated mountain. Hear the        will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
faith. of Abraham speak, "God is able, God is able . . ."      seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is
Once Abraham had received his son as born from those           upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gates
who were dead. He had believed in hope against hope            of ,his enemies; and in thy seed- shall all the nations of
upon him who raiseth the dead to life and calleth the          the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my
things which. are not as though they were. (Romans             voice."


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                               451


                                                                                                                         3         .            .





                         EXAMINING ECUMENICALISM
                                     "The Dutch meet Dixie"

                                                      Rev. G. Van Baren

   Our readers are aware of the fact that merger                 ing our unity in Christ and witnessing more effectively
proposals are being discussed by the Reformed Church             to the Gospel each of which seemed to be impractical,
in America and the Southern Presbyterian Church. This            the General Assembly and the General Synod instructed
past month (June) the Synod of the Reformed Church               the Joint Committee "to begin drafting a Plan of Union
and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in           for possible presentation not later than 1968."
the U.S. approved the merger proposal of their com-                 In 1967, after hearing a preliminary report as to the
mittee of  24. Time  presented a brief report in its  ,June      contents of the draft documents, the General Assembly
21, 1968 issue. It stated: (under the above title)               and General Synod affirmed "their confidence in the
         Meeting in separate assemblies, representatives         Providence of God and their serious and enthusiastic
     of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (1 ,OOO,OOO          purpose to proceed as rapidly as possible,looking toward
     members) and the Reformed Church in America                 the, union of our two churches."
     (400,000) last  ,week approved a tentative plan of             The Joint Committee has enlisted the help of a
     union. If the proposal is ratified by the local             number of members of both communions in the
     governing districts of the two churches, they will          preparation of the first drafts and sought comments and
     merge in 1970 to form a new denomination called             suggestions, from Presbyteries and Classes, sessions and
     the Presbyterian Reformed Church.                           consistories. Well over 2,000 suggestions have been
   Through the kindness of Rev. James A. Millard, Jr.,           received and studied. Many of these  : have. been, in-
stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church in the United            corporated in the final Plan.
States, I received a copy of the merger plan and the                We submit this Plan of Union to the General
report of the Committee of 24 presented to the Synod             Assembly and General Synod because, in the words off.
and the General Assembly of the two churches. I quote,           the Preamble,  ."we are convinced that by coming  .:
without comment, the report presented to these bodies            together in one new church the members  of. the
for your information.                                            Presbyterian Church in the United States and of the
                                                                 Reformed Church in America, both branches of the
                                                                 church universal, will
REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE                                        (1) bear a more effective witness tothe Gospel,
OF TWENTY-FOUR- TO THE                                               (2) seek a genuine renewal of the Church in com-
GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND GENERAL SYNOD                                         mitment to our Lord,                               :
                                                                     (3) increase obedience to the Will of God revealed in.
Fathers and Brethren:                                                      our Lord Jesus Christ and made known to man `-
   ,In 1962, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian                      by the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures,
Church in the United States and the General Synod of                 (4) to emphasize our obligation in the light of the
the Reformed Church in America directed the Joint                          Great Commission to meet the true needs of all
Committee of Twenty-Four to seek together "a fuller                        people.                                                        .'
expression of unity in faith and action" in order "to               (5) expand the horizons of our concern for the
give a more effective witness to the Gospel, and                           responsibilities we bear for all of life and for all
especially to the Reformation emphasis on the                              o f   m a n k i n d .
authority of Scripture and the Sovereignty of God as             Having sincerely endeavored to hold ourselves ready to-
expressed in the Lordship of Jesus Christ." Both                 be led into whatever forms of Church life and work are
Assembly and Synod reaffirmed their "readiness to be             revealed as God's Will for us," we propose the establish-
lead into whatever forms of church life and work are             ment of "a united Church to be known as The.  :
revealed as God's will for us." -                                Presbyterian Reformed Church in America."               :
    In 1965, after three years of study of our ways of
witness and their theological basis; and consideration of           1. In 1967, the General Assembly and the General
a number of possibilities, other than union, of express-         Synod voted to hold. their 1968 sessions  "simul-


452                                               THE STANDARD BEARER


taneously but not together.  ; . in view of the fact that                advice and consent (give its approval) to full
the Plan may be amended, changed, altered or otherwise                   organic union with the General Synod of' the
revised" by the two highest courts.                                      Reformed Church in America (with the General
       We therefore recommend that the following pro-                    Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the
cedure for dealing with the Plan of Union at our                         United States) under the proposed Plan of Union
simultaneous sessions be adopted by the General As-                      consisting of the Covenants of Agreement, the
sembly and the General Synod:                                            Form of Government of the Government of the
       (1) That the Joint Committee of Twenty-Four act as                Presbyterian Reformed Church (etc. `as
          a committee of reference in regard to the Plan of              above) . . .
          Union during the simultaneous.sessions.                    (2) The approval of three-fourths (60) of the Presby-
       (2) That there be a, first `reading' (by title only) as           teries and two-thirds (30) of the Classes will be
          early as possible at each session and that all                 needed.
           proposed changes in the Plan of Union be                  (3) .A certificate reporting the decision of the
          received and referred to the Joint Committee for               Presbytery or  Classis will be sent to the Stated
          immediate consideration.                                       Clerk immediately after the vote is taken.
       (3) That the Joint Committee report to General                We recommend that, in order to afford a reasonable
          Assembly and General Synod its recommen-                time for study of the Plan of Union and to insure some
          dations to which suggestions should be adopted.         degree of simultaneity in registering the votes of the
       (4) That a second `reading' then take place whereby        Presbyteries and Classes, the General Assembly and
          the two courts  .will by vote indicate their            General Synod recommend that no votes be taken by
          approval or disapproval of the proposed amend-          the Presbyteries and Classes until January, 1969.
          ments.                .                                    4. If the required number of Presbyteries and
       (5) That the remaining differences between the two         Classes approve the Plan of Union, the 1969 General
          courts be resolved by the Joint Committee and           Assembly and General Synod will make, the  final
          the final Plan be presented for, a third `reading'      decision. If the Plan of Union is adopted, the following
          and final vote.                                         procedures will assist the transition of the two denomi-
       (6) That at the third `reading' the rules of order of      nations into one united Church:
           both General Assembly and General Synod be                (1) In accord with Article 5 of the Covenants of
           set aside in order that the final Plan of Union               Agreement the offices of the General Assembly
          may be voted upon without consideration of                     and the General Synod will be continued until
          further amendments or changes . . . . (schedule                1971 under the supervision of the special Com-
          of readings omitted-G.V.B.)                                    mittee on General Assembly Operation, one-half
       2. We recommend to the General Assembly and the                   to be named by the General Synod Executive
General Synod the following resolution: "Resolved:                       Committee and one-half to be named by the
that the General Assembly approve and recommend to                       General Assembly Committee on Assembly Op-
the Presbyteries (that the General Synod adopt and                       eration.
recommend to the Classes) full organic union with the                (2) In accord with Article 14 of the Covenants of
General Synod of the Reformed Church in America                          Agreement the General Assembly and General
(with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church                    Synod will each appoint twelve members to the
in the United States) under the proposed plan of union                   Transitional Commission on Organization.
consisting of the Covenants of Agreement, the Form of                (3) In accord with Article 12 of the Covenants of
Government of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in                        Agreement the General Assembly and General
America, the Rules of Discipline of the Presbyterian                     Synod will each appoint six members to the
Reformed Church in America, the Directory for the                        Committee to Undertake `the Formation of a
Worship of God and for the Work of the Church of the                     New Confession.
Presbyterian Reformed Church in America, together                    We recommend that if the Plan of Union is approved
with all other documents and procedures incident                  by both General Assembly and General Synod in 1969
thereto, all of which are attached to this resolution or          that the Consummation of the Union take place at a
by necessary implication are incident thereto, and by             meeting of the New General Assembly of the Presby-
this reference are incorporated as a part thereof."               terian Reformed Church in America in 1970.
       3. If both General Assembly and General Synod                  5. We further recommend that the Joint Committee
adopt the Plan of Union, it will be `voted upon by the            of Twenty-Four be continued until the next meeting of
Presbyteries and Classes in the following manner:                 the General Assembly and the General Synod to be
       (1  j  The resolution to be acted upon will be as          available to the churches for guidance, counsel, and
          follows:                                                interpretation of the Plan of Union, and to offer
          For the Presbyteries and Classes: "Resolved:            whatever materials may be helpful to the Presbyteries
          That the Presbytery (Classis) of. . . . give its        and Classes as they prepare to make their decisions.


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                453





Contending for the Faith



                                    THE DOCTRINE OF SIN

                                      The Second Period- 250-730 A.D.


                                             T h e   P e l a g i a n   C o n t r o v e r s y


                                               The Augustinian System

                                                         H.  Veldman




  Toward the conclusion of our preceding article, we                 church father. Augustine was so theocentric in his views
had begun to call attention to Augustine's conception or             and conceptions! To know the Lord was surely ever-
doctrine of God's redeeming grace. We noted that this                lasting life to him. And it is certainly true that the
church father's conception of grace was so completely                undercurrent of this sentiment could not carry this
different from that of Pelagius. He had experienced                  father onward to all the views he developed in opposi-
personally this power of the living God. That Augustine,             tion to the Pelagian heresy. He himself had learned to
as guided by the Holy Scriptures, makes the proper                   know by experience'the power of the grace of God and
distinction between deism and pantheism is expressed                 what it means to have the love of that alone blessed God
very clearly in the following quotation from his Con-                poured out into his heart. And he had also learned to
fessions, as quoted by Schaff:                                       know, personally, the folly of the Pelagian heresy.
    How shall I call on my God, on my God and Lord?                     Schaff compares Pelagianism with the Augustinian
    Into myself must I call Him, if I call on Him; and what                   tion of grace as follows, in Vol. III, 844:
    place is there in me, where my God may enter into me,
    the God, who created heaven and earth? 0 Lord my                          While Pelagius widened the idea of grace to in-
    God, is there anything in me, that contains Thee? Do                   definiteness, and reduced it to a medley of natural
    heaven and earth contain Thee, which Thou hast                         gifts, law, gospel, forgiveness of Sillj enlightemnent,
    created, in which Thou didst create me? Or does all                    and example, Augustine restricted grace to the specif-
    that is, contain Thee, because without Thee there had                  ically Christian sphere (and, therefore, called it gratis
    existed nothing that is? Because then I also am, do I                  Christi), though admitting its operation previous to
    supplicate Thee, that Thou wouldst come into me, I,                    Christ among the saints of the Jewish dispensation; but
    who had not in any wise been, if Thou wert not in me?                  within tbis sphere he gave it incomparably greater
    I yet live, I do not yet sink into the lower world, and                depth. (what Schaff says here of Pelagianismis so true
    yet Thou art there. If I made my bed in hell, behold,                  also of Arminianism-H.V.) With him grace is, first of
    Thou are there. I were not, then, 0 my God, I utterly                  all, a creative power of God in Christ transforming men
    were not, if Thou wert not in me. Yea, still more, I                   fvom within. It produces first the negative ,effect of
    were not, 0 my God, if I were not in Thee, from                        forgiveness of sins, removing the hindrance to com-
    whom all, in whom all, through whom all is. Even so,                   munion with God; then the positive communication of
    Lord, even so.                                                         a new principle of life.
  The above quotation shows conclusively that, in the                    Following upon this, Schaff sets forth Augustine's
soul of Augustine, man is nothing without God, and                    view of justification and grace as. follows, calling
everything in and- through God. The consciousness that                attention to the fact that Augustine stands on essen-
he lived, moved and had his being in God thrilled this                tially Evangelical ground :


      4 5 4                                                           THE STAND.ARD BEARER


       -            The two are combined in the- idea of justification,               produces the merits! Grace, therefore, is not bestowed
                 which, as we have already remarked, Augustine holds,                 on man becwse he already believes, but that he may
                 not in the Protestant sense of declqjng righteous once               believe; not beca,use  he has deserved it by good works,
                 for all, but in the Catholic sense of gradually making               but that he may deserve good works."(how sound are
                 righteous; thus substantially identifying it with sancti-            these ,quotations  from Augustine!-H.V.) Pelagius re-
                 fication. -Yet, as he refers this whole process to divine            verses the natural relation by making the cause the
                 grace; to the exclusion of all human merit, he stands                effect, and the effect the cause. The ground of our
                 on essentially Evangelical ground. As we inherit from                salvation can only be found in God Himself, if He is to
                 the first Adam our sinful and mortal life, so the second             remain immutable. Augustine appeals to examples of
                 Adam implants in us, from God, and in God, the germ                  pardoned sinflrs, "where not only no good deserts,
                 of a sinless and immortal life. Positive grace operates,             but even evil .deserts, had preceded." Thus the apostle
                 therefore, not merely from without upon our in-                      Paul, "averse  `to the faith,  which he wasted, and
               telligence by instruction and admonition, as Pelagius                  vehemently inflamed against  .it, was suddenly con-
                 taught, but also  `in the centre of our personality,                 verted to that faith by the prevailing power of grace,
                 imparting to the will the power to do the good which                 and that in such wise that he was changed not only
                 the instruction teaches, and to imitate the example of               from enemy to a friend, but from a persecutor to a
                 Christ. ,Hence he frequently calls it the inspiration of a           sufferer of persecution for the s&e of the faith he had
                 good will, or of love, which is the fulfilling of the law.           once destroyed. For to him it was given by Christ, not
                 "Him that wills not, grace comes to meet, that he may                only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake."
                 will; him that wills, she follows up, that he may not                He also  .. points to children, who without will, and
                 will in vain." Faith itself is an effect of grace; indeed,           therefore without voluntary merit preceding, are
                 its first and fundamental effect, which provides for all             through holy baptism incorporated. in the kingdom of
                 others, and manifests itself in love. He had formerly                grace. His own experience, finally, afforded him an
                 held faith to be a work of man (as; in fact, though not              argument, to him irrefutable, for the free, undeserved
                 exclusively; the capacity of faith, or recep,tjvity  for the         compassion of God (indeed, how weighty is this
                 divine, may be said to be); but he was afterwards led,               argument, namely, the work of God's grace in the
                 particularly by the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 4:7: "What               hearts of infants, in support of the doctrine of God's
                 hast thou, that thou hast not received?' to change his               almighty and sovereign grace-H.V.). And if in other
                 view. In a word, grace is the breath and blood of the                passages he speaks of merits, he means good works
                 new man; from'it proceeds all that is truly good and                 which the Holy Ghost effects in man, and which God
                 divine, and without it we can do nothing acceptable to               graciously, rewards, so `that eternal life is grace for
                 God.                                                                 grace. "If all thy merits are gifts of God, God crowns
               From this fundamental conception of grace, accord-                     thy merits not as thy merits, but as the gifts of His
            ing to Schaff, arise the several properties which                         grace."
            Augustine ascribes to it  .in opposition to Pelagius:                        Grace is iwes@ible  in its effect; not, indeed, in the
                    First, it is absolutely, neceqry to Christian virtue;             way of physical constraint imposed on the will, but as
                 not merely auxiliary, but indispensable, to its exis-                a moral power, which makes man willing, and which ~
                 tence. It is necessary "for every good act, for every                infallibly attains its end, the conversion and  final
                 good thought, for every good word of man at every                    perfection of its subjects. !Ihis point is closely con-
                 moment." Without it the Christian life. can neither                  netted with Augustine's whole doctrine of predestina- ~
                 begin, proceed, nor be concummated. It was necessary                 tion, and consistently leads to it or follows from it.  ~
                 even under the old dispensation, which continued the                 Hence the Pelagians repeatedly raised the charge that
                 gospel in the form of promise:The saints before Christ               Augustine, under the name of grace, introduced a
                 lived of His grace by anticipation. "They stood,`? says              certain fatalism: But the irresistibility must manifestly
                 Augustine, "not under the terrifying, convicting, pun-               not be extended to all the influences of grace; for the
                                                                                      Bible often speaks of grieving, quenching, lying to, and
.~               ishing law, but under that. grace which fills the heart
              .~ `with joy-m what is good, which heals it, and makes it               blaspheming the Holy Ghost, and so implies that grace
                 free."                                                               may be resisted; and it presents many living examples
                   It is, moreover,  unmeri{ed.,  Gratia  would be no                 of such resistance. It cannot be denied, that Saul,
                 gratia  if  it were not  grahlita,   .gratis data.  As man           Ananias,. Solomon, and Sapphira, and even the traitor
                 without grace can do nothing good, he is, of course,                 Judas, were under the influence of divine grace,. and
                ' incapable of iEese@ng. grace; for, to deserve grace, he             repelled it. Augustine, therefore, must make irresistibly
            . ' ~must do something good. "What merits could we have,                  grace -identical with the specific grace of regeneration
              `- -ivhile as yet we did not lpve .God? That the love with              to the  elect,  which at the same time imparts the
      .       ' `-which we should love might-be created, we have been                 donum persfrvq-a3 tiae, the gift of perseverance.
              `,T loved, while as`yet we had not that love. Never should
              " we have .found strength to love,- except as we received            A few remarks in  connection with the above par
                 such a love from Him who had loved us before, and               graph are certainly in order. In the. first  ,place,  whc
                 because He had loved us before. And, without such a             Schaff declares in the above quotation that the grace  (
                 love, what good could we do? Or, how could we not               God may be resisted, I am sure that he is expressing :
                 do good, with such a love?" `!The Holy Spirit breathes          these words his own personal opinion. To say that  tl
                 where He will, and does not follow merits, but Himself          irresistibleness  .of God's grace is not to be extended  1


                                                                  THE  STANDARD.BEARER                                                      455


all the influences of God's grace, that even the traitor                           predestination. This doctrine must follow from the
was under the influence of divine grace, as evidently                              doctrine of the irresistible character `of God's grace. If
meant by Schaff, is surely in conflict with the very plain                         we maintain the one, we must maintain the other. If we
and lucid language of the Word of God. Does the fact                               are dead in sins and in trespasses, then it is certainly true
that Ananias and Sapphira lied' against the Holy Spirit                            that we can do nothing toward our own salvation. And
imply that the .Holy Spirit was in them and attempted                              if the Lord must begin the work of salvation in us, then
to lead them in the way of truth and life? Of course                               it must follow that He begins that work of salvation
not! The Holy Spirit was in Peter, and, lying before the                           where He wills. Then it must follow that He is never
apostle, they therefore lied against'the Holy Spirit. Was                          determined by the will of the sinner. Then He is
Judas under the influence of Divine grace? But do not                              determined exclusively by His own will, and this must
the Scriptures teach that Christ selected him to be one                            imply that truth of God's sovereign predestination, that
of the twelve exactly in order that he `might fulfill that                         He does not save who will to be saved but whom He
which had been prophesied of him, as in Ps. 41, and                                wills to save. Augustine's doctrine of man's utter
stated in John 13: 18-l 9? Secondly, it is certainly true                          corruption and God's sovereign predestination are in-
that Augustine championed the truth of God's sovereign                             separably connected.




The Heidelberg Catechism Books by Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                       ANNIVERSARY
have recently been marked down! ! Special prices are:                              On August 9, 1968 our beloved parents,
Vol. I        In tie Midst of Death              Lord'sDay   i - 4   $ 2 . 0 0                MR. AND MRS. RICHARD DEPPE
Vol. III     The Death of the Son of God         Lord's Day 11-16         2.00     hope to commemorate their 40th wedding anniversary.
Vol. IV      The Lord of Glory                   Lord's Day 17-20         2.00     We give thanks to our Covenant God for sparing them
Vol. V       Abundant Mercy                      Lord's Day 21-24         2.00
Vol. VIII Love The Lord Thy God                  Lord's Day 32-38         2.50     for each other and us these many years. Our earnest
Vol. IX Love Thy Neighbor for God's Sake         Lord's Day 39-44         2.00     prayer is that they may continue to experience God's
Vol. X       The Perfect Prayer                  Lord's Day 45-52         2.50     loving kindness in their remaining years.
                                                 Total.. . . . . . . . , $15.00    Their children:
Sale Price of Complete set of Seven Books                              $12.00         Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Deppe
                                                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Frank Deppe
Order from the Reformed Witness Hour                                                  Mr. and Mrs. John Wigger
          P.O. Box 1230                                                               Dr. and Mrs. Glenn Van Dommelen             -
          Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501                                                Mr. and Mrs. Walter Sellers
                                                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Rotman
                                                              Oscar Faber            Mr. and Mrs. Jack Deppe
                                       Publicity & Book Committee                     Mr. and Mrs. Gary Vander Schaer
                                                                                      Mr. and Mrs. John Deppe
                                                                                      Mr. and Mrs. Dick Deppe
                                                                                          33 grandchildren

The Hope Prot. Ref. Christian School needs 1 Junior
High Teacher for the  196869  School year. A teacher
that could fill a part-time position would also be
considered. If you can fill this need, please contact:
Mr. Clare Kuiper                                                                                      50th ANNIVERSARY
2450 Boulevard Dr., S.W.
Wyoming, Michigan 49509                     _                                      With heart-filled gratitude to our faithful covenant God,
Phone: LE 4-0098                                                                   we plan, D.V., to commemorate the fiftieth wedding
                                                                                   anniversary of our beloved parents, Mr. and Mrs. John
                                                                                   Dykstra, Sr., on August 15, 1968. Many days have they
                                                                                   walked the path of their pilgrimage here below. as
                   MEMBtiRS0FTHER.F.P.A.                                           strangers journeying to a far country. We received their
Copies  of the New Constitution of the Reformed Free                               instruction and confess with them: "hitherto hath the
Publishing Association are available. Contact:                                     Lord helped us." I. Samuel 7: 12.
            Mr. G. Pipe                                                                               Their grateful Children,
            1463 Ardmore S.E.                                                                         Grandchildren and Great
            Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507                                                                  Grandchildren.


456                                            THE  STANDARD  BEARER


                               News From Our Churches
                                             July 16, 1968    warfare as a Naval Reservist.  And,  a man wrote from
  Loveland's pastor, Rev. D. Engelsma, has declined the       Paw Paw, W. Va. to express his joy that  ,h.is family is
call which he had received from South Holland, Illinois.      being helped to a better understanding of the Scriptures
  Our church in Hull, Iowa has extended a call to Rev.        through the copies he receives. The U.S. Mails will
G. Lubbers, of our Southwest Church in Grand Rapids.          deliver those valuable sheets to anyone whose name you
  Candidate R. Moore is at this writing considering two       would like to add to Rev. Woudenberg's mailing list.
calls, one from Isabel and the other from Forbes, in the      Just ask him.
Dakotas.                                                                                  *  .*  ,*
                         *  *  .*                               Some young couples of First Church in Grand Rapids
  Rev. G. Vos, emeritus minister of Hudsonville,              are sponsoring, a once-a-month discussion group which
suffered injuries in a car-truck collision in that village    meets after the evening service in the church. The first
June 21, and was taken to Zeeland Hospital, where it          meeting was held in June, and it was a real success,-with
was learned that he suffered some fractured ribs and a        about eighty people of all ages participating. The group
punctured lung, besides other injuries of a more              was split into four smaller units, each with a chairman
superficial nature. Rev. Vos was later transferred to         to guide the discussion. June's topic was the church's
Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids, where his lung             relation to the race question and the civil rights
injury might receive proper attention. The brother was        movements in the neighborhoods. The topic under
released from the hospital July 13 to recuperate in the       discussion in the July meeting was "Local Mission
atmosphere of home and family. Mrs. Vos continues to          Work," another timely subject well worth an evening's
suffer much pain in her extreme arthritic condition. We       time. The subject chosen for August is "Prayer."
`commend this aged couple to the love and care of our                                     * *  .*
sympathetic High Priest for succor in time of need.             Our Seminary will be a much busier place this Fall.
                         *  .d *                              At least six young men will join seminarian Rodney
  The Jamaican Clothing drive provided Southeast's            Miersma in many of his classes as they receive  pre-
Diaconate with enough material to make up twenty-nine         seminary training for the next three years. A five-year
good-sized bales. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one       plan has been tentatively set up which is intended to
of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto       provide us with ministers who have had all their training
me." Matt. 25:40.                                             from High School forward under Protestant Reformed
                          *  +  +                             instructors. A more complete report of our Seminary
  The summer bulletins are meager news reporters. The         has been scheduled to appear in one of the Fall issues of
extra activities of the congregations have come to an         the S tandard  Bearer.
abrupt halt as they reached their seasonal close. It is                                   *  *  .h
possible that we could profitably take a leaf out of the        As a result of a  synodical decision, Rev. and Mrs.
activity book of our Baptist friends and hold a               Heys, of Holland, Mich., and Mr. and Mrs. T. Feenstra,
mid-week Bible Study meeting for the benefit of those         of Redlands,  ,Calif., have been sent to Jamaica for a
who can hardly wait a whole week for spiritual                two-month tour of labor. Rev. Heys is expected to
"re-fueling."                                                 instruct the ministers and elders, and Mr. Feenstra's
                         * *  .*                              contribution to the work will be that of giving advice
  Hudsonville's consistory has considered the plight of       and assistance to our Jamaican friends' project of
the deacons' families and has decided to allow the            providing church buildings which will meet with govern-
fathers to take their places in the auditorium with their     ment approval. And if the calling church is unsuccessful
families of small children. Another innovation intro-         in obtaining a missionary for the Island, the consistories
duced  this summer is the practice of partaking of the        will be asked to release their ministers for periods of six
elements of Holy Communion in unison.                         months in order to give continuity to the work we have
                          ***                                 begun there.
The Hope School Board thankfully announced that                                           8 * *
their financial drive netted almost $7,000.00 in cash and       A filler in Southeast's summertime bulletin printed
pledges.                                                      the following "Quiet Thought": "Would you approve of
                                                              discontinuing our Sunday evening service? You say, `Of
  Rev. Woudenberg's "Studies in Biblical Doctrines"           course not!' But have you ever realized that your willful
are finding their way to the river boats that engage in       absence is a vote to discontinue it?" That was a `"quiet
warfare in Viet Nam. A certain `John Bouma, whose             thought" which spoke quite loudly!
home is in Bellaire, Texas, wrote from Viet Nam telling                                   *  *  +
of his appreciation of those sheets while serving in river    . . . see you in church,                             J.M.F.


